Authors Note; Still don't own any rights to TVD or the Covenant, I did ask for Stefan to be under my tree at Christmas but obviously that didn't happen I only have rights to Verity and the plot.
Really pleased to be hearing that people like my story, thank you to Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dee for making me laugh at your honesty, you're rock stars!
Please review!
Chapter 28.
The winter had been harsh that year; ice cold winds, several inches of snow and ice decorating every window, tree and spiders web. It had made for a beautiful Christmas day. Verity looked through the photos with a smile, the hectic antics of the holiday had taken over and she had almost forgotten her nerves and emotions over hearing nothing from the adoption agency. Several times she had asked Stefan to compel not to think about it, but he still refused. He was going through the same emotions, so he suggested the entire family spend Christmas day at the boarding house, he had asked Lena, Kol and his brother to keep her as occupied and as busy as possible. They really did an excellent job; Christmas Eve Verity's parents arrived and spent the night along with the entire Salvatore family. They had eaten ginger bread in front of the fire and watched old Christmas time films and talked and laughed at memories they had. Verity and Stefan prepared everything for lunch the next day, slowly cooking the large Turkey overnight an making sure all they had to do was turn on the rest of the oven to heat the vegetables the next day.
By the time they were all ready for bed it was midnight. While the rest of the house slept, Stefan, Damon and Kol had gone to feed, leaving the warmth of the house for the bone chillingly bitter wind and snow.
Christmas day had provided a hectic distraction for both Stefan and Verity; unwrapping gifts, finishing the cooking, eating and cleaning up followed by falling asleep on the sofa in front of the fire with everyone else.
Verity was sad to see her parents leave on Boxing Day evening, but the rest of the vampire family remained, playing drinking games and forming a large conga line and prancing around the house. The day after Verity and Lena both woke to very bad hangovers and spend the day tucked up in Verity's bed, dosed up on painkillers.
New Year's Eve was just as bad, with the gang headed to the Mystic Grill to party and welcome in the new year. Pogue and Ann had made an appearance, Ann doing her best to try to communicate with Kol, who had still secretly struggled to stay on track. Stefan greeted Pogue and shook his hand with a smile, Pogue clearly tried his best to be accepting of his friend's husband, but still stayed a distance away from him for most of the evening.
Again, Verity had spent the next day sleeping off a ferocious hangover, vowing she would never, ever drink again.
By the time mid-January had arrived, the snow had slowly begun to disappear, the ice was no longer clinging to windows and the wind had died down. It was just a few degrees above freezing, but already Verity was down to wearing only one woollen jumper as opposed to two. She smiled and wrapped her arms around Stefan's neck as he wrote in his diary.
"The house feels so different without the decorations and dozens of people." She pouted.
"That's what happens when Christmas is well and truly over Princess. Did you speak to your parents yet about why they were acting so strange lately?" He pulled her on to his lap and wrapped his arms around her.
"They invited me over tonight, they said they needed to talk to me. Will you come too?"
"They invited you Verity, maybe I should leave you have time alone with them?"
"Not a chance buddy, you're my husband, which means that we come as a package deal. And seeing as I'm just going to come straight home and tell you whatever they told me, it's only fair to cut out the middle mad and have you with me." She smiled.
"I guess I can't argue. What time are they expecting us?"
"I guess any time within the next hour or so, they weren't specific with the time."
"You want to get ready to go now? I need to shower before we go."
Verity smiled and nodded, placing a lingering kiss on Stefan's forehead.
"You want some company?" She asked, a wicked smile appearing on her lips, he winked.
"I always want company, but maybe just this once we shouldn't. I don't want to be having flashbacks while trying to keep my hands off you in front of your parents." Stefan grinned. Verity playfully pouted.
"Maybe I should just sit by the door so you have a little company?" She asked, fluttering her eyelashes.
"You just want to spy on me." Stefan smiled, kissing her neck softly, causing her to giggle.
"Well, aren't I allowed to spy on my very sexy husband?"
"Yes you're allowed. But can you keep your hands to yourself?" He teased.
"Possibly."
"Then let's put it to the test." He winked, speeding up the stairs with Verity in his arms. Placing her on the bed he took his t-shirt and shoes off and walked in to the bathroom, grinning. Verity sat still and pretended not to notice. She heard the shower being turned on and Stefan called out to her playfully.
"I'm getting in the shower now. Naked." He grinned. Verity rolled her eyes.
"Noooo, you don't say?" She answered sarcastically. She could hear him laughing.
"I'm getting all soapy." He smirked playfully.
"I don't care." She replied, her voice light-hearted.
"The water is lovely and warm."
"I'm warm enough sat right here. Fully clothed." She silently crept over to the open door and peeked in, Stefan was stood by the shower, still in his jeans. He saw her and grabbed hold of her.
"Gotcha! I knew you couldn't' resist! My wife is a little pervert!" He laughed, she squirmed under his touch, trying to break free, so began to tickle her sides, causing her to shriek with laughter.
"Okay! Okay! You caught me!" She gasped in between bursts of laughter. Stefan stopped tickling her and slid his hands up her jumper, stroking the soft skin on her stomach, kissing the back of her neck.
"Are you going to be able to let me shower in peace?" He said lightly.
"I think it's you who can't keep your hands to yourself you know." She smiled, tilting her head to the side.
"That wasn't an answer to my question you know Princess."
"Maybe I'll let you shower in peace, or maybe I'll just sit on the stool in the corner and talk total nonsense to you?" She turned her head to face him, placing a kiss on his cheek.
"I'll shower very quickly, I'll be in and out as fast as you can say get out the shower!" He smiled.
"It's not how quickly you can shower Mr Salvatore, it's how quickly can you dress? Those few minutes are very entertaining to a pervert you know." Verity gave him a playful wink and giggled.
"I think I should just shower, can you give me five minutes?"
"Yes I can, but I'm going to be timing you." Verity smiled, breaking free of Stefan's grasp. "3, 2, 1, GO!" She smiled as she ran out of the bathroom and dived on to the bed, landing on her stomach and pulling her phone from her pocket to check her messages while she waited for Stefan to shower and dress.
An hour later, Verity and Stefan found themselves sat in her parent's kitchen.
"I'm sorry, say that again?" Verity said, feeling very confused.
"You have a half-sister." Mr Hanes said softly, sipping from his mug.
"Because you had an affair sixteen years ago?" Verity asked.
"Yes, something I very much regret." He replied, Mrs Hanes simply hmph'd from beside him.
"And she lived in Brooklyn the whole time and you didn't tell us?" Verity's voice was becoming angry, if it weren't for Stefan holding her hand she would have lost it.
"I had a letter not long after Alice was born to say that they were moving away. Her mother gave me an ultimatum; let go of you and Katherine and live with her, or lose her and Alice. It was the hardest decision I ever had to make. I gave her money for a house and child support, sent her cards and letters, but her mother wouldn't let me see her. I didn't know she lived so close until a few weeks after we moved here. Judy, Alice's mother, had passed away. I was asked to take custody of her, she was still in the middle of the school term so she stayed with family friends. Your mother and I have been to see her several times." Her father explained.
"And you didn't think to tell me when you found out?" Verity asked abruptly, her mother answered her this time.
"We were going to, but then you told us you were moving out to live with Stefan, then you got engaged. We were going to tell you after that, but then you two decided you were getting married. We figured it would be best to let you have a happy start to your married life without having to deal with out problems and stresses." Katherine explained. "It was part of the reason I was so short and abrupt with you when you announced you were leaving home."
"But why leave it this long?" Verity begged for an answer, her voice becoming quiet.
"We were going to, we planned to have Alice visit for the Christmas holidays, but she wanted to spend it with her grandparents. We went to see her after we left on Boxing Day. She's looking forward to meeting you. She'll be moving here at the start of the Spring term and going to the same school as Stefan and his sisters." Her father took over the explaining.
Verity sighed, Stefan squeezed her hand gently and gave her a small smile. She bit her bottom lip and waited. The room was silent.
"What is she like?" Stefan asked, knowing it was the question Verity wanted the answer to.
"She looks a lot like Verity, she has long dark hair, brown eyes. She's pale though, like me." Marcus answered. He pulled out his phone and showed a picture to Stefan and Verity.
"She does look like you." Stefan said softly, Verity nodded.
"She's smart, very tuned in. She likes books, she's a book worm like you Verity. She likes to shop and go to concerts. She'll miss her friends when she moves here, I'm hoping you'll show her around. And that Stefan's sisters will take her under their wing." He added, giving Stefan a hopeful look. Stefan nodded and answered.
"Of course they will. They adore Verity and I'm sure they'll take well to Alice." Stefan nudged Verity's foot with his, she came out of her trance and nodded.
"Of course. Lena will love her! And I'm sure she'll like it here once she's settled in. I can't wait to meet her." Verity lied. She was slightly confused about the entire situation; was this the reason her parents worked all the hours they could? To avoid each other because of her father's indiscretion?
Stefan could sense Verity's emotions were clouding her, and made the decision to remove her from the situation until she could get a grasp on her thoughts and feelings.
"I think maybe we should go. It's a lot for everyone to take in. Thank you for the tea." Stefan said to his in-laws, Katherine nodded and left the room. Verity stood up to get hers and Stefan's coats from the hall, leaving the two men alone.
"Do you think she'll be okay?" Marcus asked Stefan.
"I hope so." Stefan sighed. "I think she'll be more worried about you. Will you and Katherine be okay?"
"I hope so. I feel like we kept it secret for too long. Katherine knew from the start of course. I wanted to tell Verity sooner but she wouldn't let me." Marcus hung his head to look at the bottom of his mug.
"I can see why; Verity has always adored you. Even though neither of you were there much, it was still you she looked up to."
"I'm pretty sure that's all about to change."
"I wouldn't count on that, she just needs time. A big secret was kept from her. Once she processes that then I'm sure she'll be fine with you." Stefan tried to reassure his father-in-law, but was unsure himself of how his wife was going to react once they had left to go home.
Stefan drove at a comfortable speed, Verity sat behind him looking out the window in to the dark night. Neither of them exchanged any words, the radio played silently in the background. The silence wasn't uncomfortable, but Stefan wanted to break it buy asking her if she was okay.
"Verity-" He began.
"Get me drunk. Take me to a bar and get me drunk." She said, turning to look at him. It pained him to see her so torn, but he nodded and slowed down.
"How about we go home and have a few drinks?" He suggested, she shook her head.
"I want to dance. I want to do shots and act like I don't have a care in the world, then deal with everything else tomorrow." She said quietly. Stefan sighed and nodded.
"Okay then." He placed a hand on her leg and drove until he saw Nicky's bar, the place where they had their first date. She smiled slightly to himself and pulled the car in to a free space. "Let's go crazy." He said, leaning over and kissing her cheek. Preparing himself for a long night of shots, dancing and tears.
