A/N: Hey all! There's a little goodness for everyone in this chapter. ;) Anyways, I just wanted to say that there will be 4 more chapters left of Must Love Dogs before I bring it to a close.
Anyways, hope you all enjoy this update and thanks so much for reading!
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Must Love Dogs Chapter Thirty-Six
Whimpering cries had waken him up late in the night. Elena's tossing and turning had finally stirred Stefan awake and now, there he was staring at her as she slept soundly beside him. Stefan slowly lifted up his hand, caressing her cheek and hearing her groan out loud with a sweet sigh. "I know that you think marriage is pretty stupid. But, I'd die a lucky man knowing that you would ever agree to be my wife." Stefan said in a hushed and honest tone. There was something about waking up in the middle of the night beside the person you loved and knowing that every time you looked at them that you never wanted to see someone else beside you. There was something about that realization that hit him hard and in which he saw in Elena that made him feel exactly this way.
He leaned over slowly and kissed her cheek instead of waking her up just because he was bored and wanted someone to talk to. Stefan exhaled deeply, pushing the fallen covers up and placing them against Elena's bare shoulders again. It was early, a little after 5:30 in the morning and he couldn't seem to close his eyes and find peaceful slumber long enough to feel well rested. It didn't matter that the warm bed sheets seemed enticing or that he had been sleeping beside Elena. Stefan still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that in about less than 2 months from now, he was going to be a first time father.
The jitters were driving him nuts ever since he and Elena had talked about baby names and paint colors for the nursery. Everything was becoming a lot more surreal and part of him had figured that a lot of his restlessness had to do with the stress of it all.
"Can't sleep?" Elena's soft spoken and sleepy voice came echoing into the room as she found Stefan sitting on the couch, holding another parenting book in his hands that seemed in the distant like they were sharking.
"No." Was all he uttered out, not even wanting to remove his eyes from the book as he heard her slowly make her way towards him. Her hand brushing against the back of his neck when he finally turned around and heard her rummaging through their pretty bare cabinets. "I was going to go grocery shopping later today." He explained while watching Elena stand near the fridge, her eyes locked on to him as she yawned out a breath and smiled. "It's fine, just please tell me that we have some pickles and vanilla ice cream around here?"
Stefan stared up at her blankly after what she had just said. "Pickles and vanilla ice cream? That sounds really disgusting." Elena laughed as he made a sour looking face at her, and then continued to go back to reading the book in his hands. He could hear her in the background, moving things around and groaning in what sounded like utter despair when she didn't find the pickle jar she knew that they had.
"Where are they?" Elena asked him as she spun around on her heels, feeling a bit dizzy and sick to her stomach all at the same time. "I'm eating for two, Stefan. Please, tell me that we still have those sweet, savory and crunchy dill pickles that you bought to put on hamburgers and that I'm now going to use to put on top of my ice cream." The room fell silent as he slowly got up without a word. Elena could tell that he was probably a bit irritated with her just in the way he was moving with such tension in his body. But, she didn't care because when he finally reached up above the refrigerator to a small cabinet and brought them down into her hands, she was giddy inside. "Here." He replied, handing them off to her as their hands touched and she grinned widely.
"You are the absolute best!" She declared, putting the pickle jar down and leaving a kiss against his cheek as he coughed out a breath. "Elena," He paused, twirling his thumbs in a circular motion as she batted her eyelashes at him playfully.
"Yeah?" She asked with a hopeful tone in her voice and a sweet loving smile across her lips.
"What do you really think about marriage?" He suddenly asked, forcing her to raise an eyebrow at him. Was he really asking her opinion this early in the morning, surely this kind of talk could wait- couldn't it? Unless, he was going to...
Elena quickly shook the idea once more out of her mind. If Stefan wanted to get married to her, he would have asked her already. And, if she really wanted it too. She should have brought it up. Although, she did like living with Stefan the way that they were now. Maybe being married to him would make things even more complicated. Or, maybe- they wouldn't complicate matters at all. However, the unknown scared her and she really avoided wanting to find out.
"I'd love to be married one day, Stefan. To you. But, I just don't really think that marriages last too long nowadays. What if we wake up beside each other one morning and the first thing that both of us blurts out is "I've made a huge mistake!" She giggled at the thought as he moved to stand beside her, once again caressing her cheek and admiring how radiant she looked this early even if she had bags underneath her eyes and her hair was a disheveled mess. He still loved her.
"I don't think we would." He smiled at her, lowering his hand to the middle of her back as she leaned into him and exhaled deeply.
"I can't believe we're talking about marriage." He heard her say, closing her eyes to his touch while he kissed her temple and took a step back.
"Well, we kind of did things backwards, getting married would just make sense. I want Ben and you to have my last name. There are benefits of being married, Elena." Stefan told her, grinning a little and resting his hand against the middle of her back while he made a small circle upon the fabric of her shirt and then added in with a beaming smile. "Lots and lots of benefits."
"Are you proposing to me, without really proposing to me?" She questioned, tilting her head to the side and resting it against Stefan's shoulder as she waited for him to glance back at her. She could see the hope in his green eyes when he shrugged his shoulders back and said softly. "Maybe I am."
"Katherine!" Damon shouted, bending down and picking up what looked like his wife's t-shirt from the floor as he ran upstairs and called out her name again.
"In the bedroom!" Damon heard Katherine shout out as their bedroom door opened up just slightly and all Damon could see was his wife's leg rubbing up and down against the door frame.
"Nice to see you playing hooky this early in the morning, husband." She smirked, running her hand up and down his tie as she leaned into him and kissed his lips softly, pulling back for a minute to secure her eyes on to his face.
"What did your dad say about selling the business?" Katherine whispered against his ear while undoing a few buttons to his shirt. It had been too long since she'd seen him last. Okay, it had been more like six hours since Katherine had seen him last. Although, Katherine clearly didn't care because there was only one thing on her mind at the moment and it was keeping up with a schedule of sorts.
Damon suddenly removed her hands and inhaled sharply as she frowned at him. "Damon, are you going to talk about it or are we just going to stand here with me feeling completely ridiculous and lusting over you!" She exclaimed as he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"He said that we should take over or sell it. Although, both of us would have to agree on selling it." He told her flatly, tugging off his tie and tossing it on to the floor as Katherine watched his movements. She was biting down on her tongue hard because the last thing she wanted to do was say something against her father in law. However, the urge of saying something was becoming too much to bear as she watched Damon walk past her and go into their bedroom.
"Babe, we're going to sell it. I don't give a damn what Stefan thinks anymore. This business was great when we were young and not so family oriented. I want us to do something else with our lives, Damon. I want to do something else with my life." Katherine uttered out, watching Damon slip off his shirt. Her heart raced and she could feel her body beginning to sweat from the display of him standing half naked in front of her, his hands on his belt buckle while he looked up at her and sighed.
"Baby, there isn't much that I can do until I get a hold of my brother and to be honest. Lately, getting a hold of Stefan has been pretty hard." Damon told her, stepping into the bathroom as Katherine sat on the edge of their bed, digging in his suit pocket for his cell phone.
"I'm going to call him and I'm going to tell him that if he doesn't agree to this that he's an even bigger idiot than I had previously thought!" She shouted out, hearing Damon laugh as he popped his head out from behind the door and glanced at her with pursed lips. "Don't do it, Katherine." He warned.
She shrugged her shoulders back. "And, why shouldn't I? Damon, this business was fun when Rebekah was around and it was great when we all got along and went out to party. But, you said it yourself. Everyone's moving on and we should too. Selling SD Realty would be the best decision that we've ever made together. It would be the best thing for everyone involved." She encouraged, hearing Damon scoff at her words.
"Tell that to my brother." He replied simply, going back into the bathroom as she stared down at the cell phone in her hands. "Oh, I sure will. I'll also make sure to tell him to bring his ass back home before I go over there and drag him back." She yelled, getting another laugh from Damon as her fingers flipped through his contacts and her thumb stopped at Stefan's name. She smiled to herself as the dial tone rang into her ears and his cheerful voice answered.
"Damon. It's been a while." Stefan said. Katherine leaned back into the bed, covering up her bare legs with the light turquoise colored robe she was wearing as she stared up at the ceiling and spoke to her brother in law.
"This isn't Damon. It's actually your other most favorite person on this planet. But, Shhh...Don't tell the baby mama. She'd get pissed." Katherine smile while she listened to Stefan laugh.
"Katherine. It's good to hear your voice." Stefan replied, hearing her sigh out a breath. "I miss you, terribly. I want you to come home, Stefan." Katherine suddenly admitted as the conversation went quiet for a minute. She could tell by the way he was breathing into the phone that he was thinking about her words and probably contemplating them too. But, her heart broke when he said that he missed her too, however he couldn't leave Elena at the moment just so that he could come back to his family in Florida.
"I can't just get up and leave this instant, Katherine. Elena and I going to be taking these parenting classes this week, her brother's coming over to help me with the nursery and-." She cut him, closing her eyes and thinking about how far he'd come since the last time they'd both had a deep heart to heart about his relationship with Elena.
"I know that you can't. And, I'm not asking you to do it this instant. But, there's something that we need to talk with you about, Stefan. And, it's going to require you coming out here to sign some paperwork." She informed him.
"What kind of paperwork? Katherine, what are you talking about?" He questioned as she exhaled deeply.
"I'm talking about your brother and I selling the real estate company, Stefan. Listen, I know that with selling it that it'd take a while to do just that because of all the legal action we'd have to take, the fees and assets, the purchase price and contingencies. The list of things to do before we sell is pretty damn huge. But, I think it's time that we all move on." She stated, hearing him quickly disagree with her.
"I'm not selling it, Katherine. If you and Damon don't want to work there any longer, just tell me. I can have Lexi take over in my absence until I'm able to move back to Florida." He replied, hearing her let out a laugh.
"And, that's just the problem. You keep handing your damn company over to a bunch of incompetent bimbos that have no idea what the hell they're doing and as result, our stocks and financial outlooks are slipping. Damon and I, we don't know what we're doing! I mean, yes. He's the Chief Operations Officer and part co owner of your real estate firm and Klaus is the Chief Financial Officer. But, you are the Chief Executive Officer. You're the CEO, Stefan. You're the damn boss and you should be here!" She shouted into the cell phone, getting irritated by his reluctancy.
"I know that and as the boss, I'm refusing to sell. Look, if we sold the business. We can't just live off of the money we have in our savings accounts for the rest of our lives. That will eventually all run out and we'd be left with having to go find work again, most likely working for someone else." He tried saying as she rolled her eyes and then asked him why he was so against the idea. Stefan sighed out a breath, glancing back over at Elena who was in the kitchen, looking over a recipe book and attempting to not burn down their kitchen. "I can't sell the business because I want to have something left over to hand to my son one day. I want to live comfortably with Elena and I want us to be financially secure."
Katherine lifted her body up slowly when she heard the door to the bathroom push open and Damon appeared with a towel wrapped around his waistline. He gave her a perplexed look while she rolled her eyes and simply stated. "Here, you talk some sense into your younger brother. He said he doesn't want to sell the company."
"Stefan." Was all Damon managed to say before Stefan dug right into him. "I haven't talked to you in weeks and the first thing the two of you call me up for is to tell me that you want to sell SD Realty. What in the hell, Damon!" He shouted out at his older brother.
"We've got a good reason behind it." Damon quickly said with a defensive tone as he heard Stefan go silent and tell him to explain whatever the reasoning was. Katherine watched with irritation as her husband ran his fingers through his damp hair and licked his lips. "We want to start a family, Stefan. Katherine and I want another baby and we've been trying since we went on our lovely vacation to Boca Raton. But, this business is stressing her out so much lately and it's stressing me out too. As a result, we just can't seem to find the right time to get pregnant." He replied with a flat tone. Saying it out loud made the realization a lot more real for Damon. Saying that he wanted to move on made everything feel like it was caving in on him. Although, he didn't care because he knew that deep down letting go of the business would be the best thing for him and Katherine to do.
"If you want to keep it, you can. But, I don't think that I want to work there any longer. I'm done, Stefan. I'm ready to step up and be a dad to my kid. My little girl who hasn't seen a lot of me since we took over this thing from our own father. I don't want Izzie growing up and saying that I wasn't there in her life because I was too damn busy stuck in my office all day." He explained, hearing his younger brother exhale heavily. Damon had a point and Stefan understood him now more than ever before. Maybe it was the fact that he was going to be a father himself or maybe it was the understanding that their children and their families mattered a lot more than a real estate firm that he could easily have someone else take over.
"I'm not saying that this has to be permanent, Stefan." Damon added in, inhaling sharply.
"I know." Stefan replied, nodding his head as he thought about it for a while. "Fine, how about we meet up with Lexi? I'll make arrangements to come out to Florida for next weekend and we can talk about it then."
"Fine. But, what does Lexi have to do with our business?" Damon questioned with a puzzled expression on his face as Katherine leaned against the door frame and anxiously waited for her husband to hang up the cell phone.
"I was thinking we could sell it to her." Stefan replied, quickly telling Damon that he had to get going because he and Elena were running late for an appointment. But, that he'd be in touch.
Katherine watched as Damon finally hung up the phone and laid back on to the mattress, a stressed expression on his face. "What did he say?" She asked him, crossing her arms and pushing away from the door as she came over to the edge of the bed.
"He said we should sell SD Realty to Lexi Branson." Damon recalled as he placed both of his hands on top of his head. His body suddenly stiffened when he felt Katherine climb on top of him and lay her head on to his chest, inhaling through gritted teeth. "Good, we should do just that then." She replied, tracing her finger across the bare skin of Damon's collar bone as she closed her eyes and lifted her head up.
"So, what are we going to do about our little problem in the meantime?" Katherine purred into Damon's ear as she moved her body so that she was now straddling her lap, her fingertips lingering over the towel that he had wrapped himself in.
"Katherine. I love you, sweetheart. But, not now. I should go call Lexi and see when she can meet with us." He stated, getting up and kissing her cheek as she sat in his lap. A clearly displeased look colored Katherine's features. She hated this, they were trying so hard to move on from being stressed out and go right into what she knew they both wanted. However, something seemed to always rear it's ugly head into their plans.
"I'm really getting sick of this. Damn it, Damon. We send our daughter off with Klaus and Caroline for the day and instead of getting peaceful and uninterrupted alone time with you. I get you all stressed out because of Stefan and now you won't even pay attention to me because your too damn busy thinking about that stupid business." She nearly screamed as she watched him get up and go back into the bathroom where he had left all of his clothing.
"What else am I supposed to do, Katherine?" He shouted at her as she rolled her eyes and pushed open the door to the bathroom, not even caring that he was practically naked before her eyes, it wasn't anything she hadn't seen before.
"What do you want?" Damon hissed out at her, irritation filling his tone as she watched him stand up straight with his boxers on, sweat dripping down his chest made Katherine exhale deeply while she took his hands away from his sides.
"I want you to shut up for once about work and I want us to act like we're still in Boca Raton." She smirked, taking his hands and placing them on to the strings of her robe as she watched his blue eyes fill with a bit of confusion. "And, what's going to happen once I stop talking about work?" He teased, licking his lips and closing his eyes as Katherine heard him let out an uneven breath.
She smiled widely, racking her fingernails up and down against the back of his neck while she closed the space between them and silenced him with a kiss. He was lusting after her, begging her for more the minute their lips parted and she caressed his face. "I'm going to make sure that I give you something else to focus on. Something that I know you like." She stated as she locked her eyes on to him and smirked with a mischievous grin when Damon asked in a low and dry voice. "And, what could that be?" He watched while she took his hand and turned her head so that he could lean down and kiss her neck. Katherine immediately felt Damon sucking his moist mouth and scrapping his teeth along her collar bone and down her shoulder as she stammered out. "Sex."
"Lunch is served!" Klaus announced with a bright smile, watching as Izzie picked at the broccoli on her plate and every so often, they'd begin to disappear underneath the dining room table. However, her sneaky movements stopped when she took a bite of one and made a disgusted face up at her uncle Klaus.
"Why do I gotta eat healthy stuff?" She whined, tilting her head to the side as Caroline smiled over at the dark and curly haired brunette little girl with her big curious eyes.
"Because it's good for you and don't you want to grow up to be a big and strong girl?" Caroline asked her as she looked over to feel Duke placing his paw on to her foot, exhaling heavily when he stared up at her with his big brown eyes.
"Izzie, have you been feeding Duke broccoli?" Caroline questioned, noticing pieces of what looked like the green vegetable stuck in the dogs dark brown fur.
"Noope." Izzie replied with a bashful smile, acting as if she wasn't the guilty party at all. However, the more Caroline examined the dog standing in front of her, the more she knew the little girl was lying.
"Honey, if you don't like it. You should have just said so." Klaus chimed in from the kitchen as he continued working on their lunches and signaled over for Caroline to come and help him. He smiled when she finally made her way to him and then he whispered into her ear. "Make sure she eats all of the food on her plate. Her mother says she eats way too much sugar at home and not enough good stuff. Like, the broccoli she clearly keeps giving to the dog."
"I love you." Klaus said to Caroline, instantly both of them stopping in their tracks when they heard the little girl at the dining table shout out. "Are you two gonna get married?"
Caroline's eyes widened, her posture instantly changed as she looked over at Klaus who had dropped the knife in his hands and shook his head while laughing. "Not anytime soon. But, maybe one day." He replied, looking back to see Caroline as stunned as he had been with Izzie asked the question.
"My daddy said that uncle Stefan and auntie Elena are gonna get married because auntie Elena has a baby growing in her belly." Izzie declared, dropping her fork down on to the light green colored plate mat underneath her plate before she added in proudly. "That means I'm gonna be a crouton!"
Caroline tried hard to stifle a laugh. But, the little girl's words were making her eyes tear up from preventing herself from laughing. "A what?" Klaus asked her, smiling at Izzie as she looked them both over and suddenly sunk down into her chair. With a small voice she repeated once again. "Daddy said that I'm gonna be a first crouton!"
Klaus moved out from the kitchen, smiling at her and slowly walking over to the table where she and Caroline had been sitting. "Darling, I think your daddy meant cousin. You and the baby are going to be first cousins." He tried explaining to Izzie as she slowly lifted up her body and sat back up straight. Izzie smiled at Klaus and gave Caroline a confused look while watching the blonde sniffle and try to catch her breath.
Caroline leaned over and placed her hand on to Klaus's as she continued to laugh a little bit and they both watched Izzie shrug her shoulders back. "Yeah, whatever. So, when are you two gonna get married?" She repeated once more, staring at them both intently while appearing to wait for a better answer than what Klaus had said before.
"Sweetheart," Caroline paused. Since she had been with Klaus. Caroline hadn't even thought about them getting that serious. She was just taking it all day by day and hoping that eventually, they'd get there. And, she knew that as much Klaus wanted to be a married man. He also respected her wishes and he wasn't pressuring her into being with him like that at all.
"One day, a long time from now. When your uncle Klaus and I decide to get married then I'll make sure that you'll be there too." She smiled, watching Izzie's face light up as she asked loudly. "Really?"
Caroline nodded sweetly at her, glancing back over at Klaus who looked more than relieved by Caroline's answer. "Yes, really." She remarked, pointing back to the three pieces of broccoli still on Izzie's plate as she tried bribing her. "Now, if you eat the rest of those. You, me and Duke can go on a walk on the beach." Those simple words were all it took for Izzie to clear her plate as she excitedly said. "Okay."
Caroline leaned back into her chair, feeling Klaus grab a hold of her hand again when he leaned over and whispered softly into her ear. "One day when we get married. I'm going to make sure that you have everything you've ever dreamed of. I can without a doubt promise you that, Caroline."
"Miss Gilbert." The nurse called out into the waiting room. Her eyes were scanning the small room with the few left over empty chairs as Stefan and Elena sat near the exit doors, holding hands and laughing about something with each other. They were completely oblivious to her name being called out in to the waiting room until Stefan heard it and nudged her shoulder.
"Do you want to come in with me?" Elena asked him, blushing a little and tightening the grip on his hand as Stefan leaned forward and looked over at the nurse as he whispered into Elena's ear. "Are you sure boyfriend's are allowed in the obstetrician's office?" He teased as she kissed his cheek and whispered back. "Of course. Now, come on so that we can hear his heartbeat and make sure everything's fine."
Stefan leaned back into his chair, getting to his feet briskly and then helping Elena up as she leaned against him and they passed by the nurse who was leaning her back against the door that lead into a long hallway of rooms. She looked Stefan up and down and then greeted Elena sweetly. "Elena, nice to see you again. Please, follow me." She instructed, still staring at Stefan who was biting his tongue to say something. However, he waited until the nurse comfortably settled them into the room and left them alone before he uttered out a word.
"Did you see the way she was looking at me?" He questioned, hearing Elena exhale deeply and watching while she placed her hands on to her stomach.
"She was checking you out. What's the big deal?" Elena laughed, lowering her head back on to the pillow behind her as she turned her face to see Stefan rolling his eyes. "No, she wasn't checking me out. Elena, she was looking down at your hand and then staring at me like she was going to gasp and say something along the lines of "Oh My God. You two aren't married and having a baby!"
Elena shook her head, laughing a little and trying to make a joke of the whole situation. "So what? I could have just as easily replied back. We love living in sin!"
"This isn't funny, Elena." He told her, closing his eyes and huffing out a breath as she heard him unzipping what sounded like his pocket. "Are you leaving me in here and going out to the car because you're pissed off that the nurse was staring at you all funny. Oh for goodness sakes, Stefan-."
Her voice went silent, her eyes glued to the silver diamond engagement ring in his hands as he bent down on one knee and smiled at her. "I know you think weddings are stupid and marriage isn't for us. But, how about we make it official, Elena? How about we start this whole being a real family the right way with you making the choice to be my wife?"
Elena's brown eyes grew, her vocal cords seemed paralyzed as she just sat there and stared at him. Although when she finally blurted out something, it wasn't really what Stefan wanted to hear. "You're asking me to marry you at my doctors appointment? Stefan, you could have at least waited until we got back into the car or back home to ask me!"
He laughed, tucking the ring back into his pocket as he got up off the floor and shook his head. "Well, I figured I could ask you now since we've done everything else fairly backwards in this relationship. Why not have a marriage proposal that's completely awkward and memorable all at the same time?" He joked with her as she inhaled deeply.
"Put that thing away." Elena stated simply while Stefan tilted his head to the side with curiosity at her words.
Elena smiled at him and cleared her throat to speak just as they heard a light knock on the door and a smiling and bubbly red head came marching inside the room with Elena's chart in her hands. "Elena. It's so nice to see you again."
"You redo that proposal when we get home and make it good!" Elena added in with a warning tone while her demeanor instantly changed as her eyes rested on to the smiling doctor who was washing her hands and just before she could ask who Stefan was. Elena quickly stammered out. "Doctor Fraser, nice to see you again too. That guy over there is my son's dad."
"And, that right there is the heart beat." Doctor Fraser stated as she slowly moved the wand around Elena's abdomen and turned back to the screen with a beaming smile on her face. "Baby Ben has a strong heart beat." She smiled, taking a warm cloth and wiping the cold feeling jelly off of Elena's skin as she pulled down her shirt and looked up at the pair. Stefan looked as if he was about to cry and Elena just looked relieved.
"I was worried about that you know. Worried that this late in the pregnancy that I was doing something wrong..." Her voice trailed off as she turned to feel Stefan grab a hold of her hand.
"You've got a healthy baby boy, Elena and you've got nothing to worry about." Doctor Fraser paused, glancing over Elena's chart and with a sweet smile she asked. "Would you two like to see him?"
Elena squeezed Stefan's hand tightly, exhaling deeply as she nodded. She couldn't fight the smile on her face even if she tried because she knew that this was going to be one of the very first times that Stefan had ever seen an ultra sound of their baby up close and personal; aside from the one she had sent him months ago.
"Yeah." He excitedly stated before Elena could even open her mouth.
"Great. Well, let me just write a few things down and we can get to it." The doctor smiled as she turned her back to the couple briefly, allowing them just a few short minutes of privacy.
"Thank you for coming in here with me." Elena whispered into Stefan's ear as he hovered over her face and attempted to steal a kiss.
"I wouldn't have missed this." He closed his eyes for a minute, it was almost like a painful memory was running through his mind as he uttered out softly. "I'm sorry that I wasn't here before. I shouldn't have allowed you to leave." He told her, feeling Elena tighten her grip against his hand as he caressed his thumb over her fingers.
"But, you're here now and that's all that matters." She corrected him, readjusting herself when doctor Fraser cleared her throat and smiled brightly once again at them both.
"So, are you ready to see your son?" She asked, watching them both nod as Stefan smiled widely at her and kept his grip on Elena's hand while speaking. "Yeah, we are."
He had left her to change back in the doctors office as he waited outside just a few feet away from the car that her mother had allowed them to borrow. It was an older looking BMW with black shiny paint and a busted up CD player. But, Stefan didn't care at all. It was odd, he thought. He much the materialistic things didn't seem to matter as much as they once did while he waited near the exit doors of the clinic.
"Ready to go?" Elena's voice came into ear shot as he felt his body shiver from the cold. He turned to glance over at her. It was raining out and the car looked as if it was a good 25 feet away from where they were standing.
"I'll go bring the car around." He blurted out, feeling a bit jittery as he thought about what he had almost done in the doctors office. He almost asked her to be his wife in there and for some reason, the thought of it now was making Stefan anxious with anticipation.
He paused for a moment, taking his jacket off and wrapping it around her shoulders while Elena clutched on to it and stared up at him with a worried glance.
"Are you alright? Ever since we saw the ultra sound picture and heard the heartbeat back there. You've been all quiet." She remarked as he turned away from her, pinching the bridge of his nose. He didn't say anything while his back was turned and his shoulders were hunched over. He was in too much of a shock to really say anything at all. However, he knew that if he didn't act quickly, Elena wouldn't let it go.
"Being in there with you just now. It made things a lot more real for me. I'm going to be a dad, Elena and I am terrified." He suddenly admitted which made Elena's eyebrows raise at him as she still held on to his jacket that was keeping her warm.
"You don't think I'm scared about everything too? Stefan," She stopped, licking her lips and exhaling heavily before shifting her gaze to be looking at him directly as people walked in and out of the building behind them.
"I'm just as scared as you are. Probably even worse. I never pictured myself being a mother this young. I'm not even 25 years old yet, Stefan. I know that people have kids way younger and all that. But, I just never felt ready and I don't think I ever will be. But, knowing that he's healthy and that he's okay brings me some sort of peace of mind. Because it makes me realize that maybe I can do this after all." Elena told him with a shaky tone in her voice as she inhaled through gritted teeth, fighting back tears.
"I know that's why you weren't able to sleep this morning, because you're scared. I could see it on your face. I know that you're scared and that neither of us know what it's going to be like. But, we're going to figure it out. And, Ben is going to turn out to be a wonderful and amazing little boy." She told him, closing her eyes and feeling a fresh new set of tears begin rolling down her already warm cheeks.
"I know he will be and I know you're scared too. However, you don't need to be because I'm right here, Elena. I am right here and I'm not going anywhere anymore. I promise you that. It's taken me a long time to grow up and to realize that there are more important things in life than just screwing around. Before I met you, we both know that I was a pretty big idiot. I still am. But, I'm working on being better." Stefan paused, taking her hands into his own as she glanced at him. "Are you-?" She began to ask as he lifted his hand up and placed his finger against her lips.
"Let me finish." He smiled, taking his finger away while Elena watched him bend down on one knee in front of what looked like a crowd beginning to form as a few of them kept walking by the couple. But, a few others stopped and looked on.
"I love you with everything I have and that is never going to change. I love you and I want to wake up with you and our son every morning of every day, I want to be by your side through the good and the bad times." He stopped, squeezing her hands and releasing his grip for a minute to wipe away her falling tears. Stefan got a little choked up too before he continued. "And, I love that you snore at night, I love that we can both laugh at stupid things, like the fact that you completely hate the idea of being married. That we can talk about our future together with our son with smiles on our faces. I love that even though I hurt you and I never meant to do it that you had enough love in your heart to bring me back into your life and give me a second chance. I love everything about you, Elena and I know that we're going to figure this all out together. So, those are just a few of the reasons why I love you and I'm hoping you'll spend the rest of your life with me." He told her, tears welling up into his eyes as he finally lifted himself up from the ground and squeezed both of her hands tightly, staring at her with a cautious look in his green gaze. Elena released the grip she held on his hands and gently wiped away her tears once more while she inhaled sharply. He could feel her warm breath tickling his neck as she kissed his cheek and whispered softly into his ear. "Yes. Yes. Stefan Salvatore, I'll marry you."
A/N: Thoughts? Did anyone get a little teary eyed at Stefan's proposal? Also, what about Damon and Katherine being all flirty. ;)
Reviews are always appreciated.
More goodness to come!