They drove for over three hours before they finally stopped. Caroline practically jumped out of the car and squealed.
"Fantastic!" Rebekah yelled appearing next to Caroline.
"We're having a spa vacation!" She said unloading the bags from the car.
"Where did you find this place?" Elena asked slowly getting out.
"I've been scoping it out for months and now I finally had a reason to check it out. Come on!" She grabbed the backs and almost raced towards the door.
The inside was absolutely beautiful and they were immediately met by a group of men who took all their bags and Caroline checked them all in.
Caroline led them all to their rooms. They were both huge and were connected so they could always have access to each other.
"You really out did yourself Care." Bonnie said throwing herself on one of the beds. "It's so soft!" She exclaimed. Elena walked into the other room and touched one of the beds. Bonnie was right, it was really soft.
"What's up?" Caroline asked appearing behind her.
"I'm okay." She smiled and sat down on the bed, she laughed lightly as she sank down into it.
They spent the next two days going from treatment to treatment together. Elena was feeling more and more relaxed. Elena got her hair cut so she had bangs and got red highlights.
They were all sitting in a room waiting to get facials. Two women entered with a tray of different lotions.
"Here we are ladies!" One said excitedly. Caroline immediately jumped up and sifted through all the bottles.
"Bonnie." She tossed one of them to her and she caught it. "Rebekah." She threw a different bottle to her. "And this one for Elena." And handed the jar to her. They all opened the jars and began to smell them.
"This smell awesome!" Bonnie said putting it all over her face. Rebekah and Caroline did the same with theirs. Elena opened her jar and immediately felt like she was going to vomit.
"Oh god, this is awful!" She exclaimed closing the jar again. Caroline snatched the jar and smelled it herself.
"It smells good to me." She said handing it to Rebekah and Bonnie who both agreed. "Are you feeling alright?" Elena took it back and smelled it again.
"I'm going to puke!" She threw it on the cart and ran out of the room.
"Elena!" Bonnie followed her as Caroline picked up the jar and smelled it again.
"This smells fine." She said confused.
"Uh oh." One of the attendants said.
"What?" Caroline asked.
"That's the baby lotion." She said.
"What are you talking about?" Rebekah asked.
"I don't know what's in it but that's the lotion that makes pregnant women sick. Never fails." She laughed. "Is your friend expecting?" Rebekah and Caroline both just stared at her.
"Excuse me? Can you please repeat that?" She was in shock.
"That's not possible." Caroline said. "I mean she's only been with Elijah, unless she hasn't told us something." Caroline raised an eyebrow.
"She has been acting really weird. Mood swings, crying fits." Rebekah said.
"No Rebekah. She's with Elijah, it doesn't make sense." She protested.
"I don't know what you're talking about but I do know that every single pregnant woman throws up at the smell of that stuff." She was confident in her answer as she closed the jar and left the room. "I'll just put this away." Elena came back in the room holding her stomach.
"I feel terrible." She said sitting back down and saw Rebekah and Caroline's faces. "Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked.
"Don't get offended Elena but I need to ask you something." Rebekah started.
"What is it?" Elena was getting nervous.
"You haven't been with anybody besides Elijah have you?" She asked.
"What kind of question is that? Of course not!" Elena stood up looking angry.
"You're sure?" She asked again.
"What the hell Rebekah! Yes I'm sure! Why are we talking about this?" She was getting offended.
"I'm sorry. I just needed to know." She said and dropped the subject.
"I'm going to lie down." She left the room still irritated.
"That was a little rude, wasn't it? Elena isn't like that." Bonnie asked Rebekah.
"I know. That girl just said something a little strange." Rebekah said.
"We need to call Elijah. He'll be able to tell, right?" Caroline asked.
"I sincerely doubt it. I haven't picked up on it. Plus, I don't want to say anything to him unless we know for sure." Rebekah argued. "We'll look like lunatics if it isn't true."
"What are you two talking about? Why do we need Elijah?" Bonnie knew she had missed something.
"We think Elena might be pregnant." Rebekah said.
"That's insane. She can't be." Bonnie said.
"Think about how she's been acting." Caroline pointed out.
"Oh god. How would it even be possible? And if she is what if it's some evil Demon baby. Oh god!" Bonnie started freaking out.
"That's ridiculous." Caroline said.
"No. I think she has a point." Rebekah argued. "No vampire has ever been able to reproduce. We don't know what is going to happen."
"That's why we should call Elijah. He'll know what to do." Caroline insisted.
"We need to find out if she really is pregnant first and we'll have to decide what to do then. I don't want to tell him unless I'm one hundred percent sure it's true. I'll look like an idiot if this just turns out to be nothing." Rebekah said.
"We can't keep this from him." Caroline said.
"We won't." Rebekah insisted. "We just need to be sure."
"We have to tell Elena." Caroline said with force.
They were finally heading home. It seemed like it was taking forever even though Caroline was driving well over the speed limit. The ride back was quiet which none of them were really used to. They hadn't told Elena what they thought yet and everyone was nervous. They were halfway home when Elena fell into a deep sleep.
When she woke up again Caroline and Bonnie were gone and Rebekah was driving like a maniac down a highway.
"What's going on? Where are we?" Elena asked suddenly realizing they weren't anywhere near Mystic Falls.
"Do you trust me Elena?" Rebekah asked.
"Yes." Elena responded without hesitation.
"Good. We're going to see a friend of mine who can help." She sped the car up even more.
"Help with what?" Elena asked rubbing her eyes. She had been sleeping for a while but she was still tired.
"Your condition." Rebekah answered and Elena relaxed. They had been driving for a little more than an hour before Elena's phone started to ring.
"It's Elijah." She answered it but all she got to say was hello.
"Give me that." Rebekah grabbed the phone from her hands and answered it. "Hello brother." She could hear Elijah's voice but didn't know what he was saying. "Sorry Elijah, Elena's access to her phone has been temporarily suspended." Elijah's voice was loud now. "Ah yes well, Elena and I have decided to take a second little trip. We'll be back tomorrow." She could hear his voice getting louder, he was upset. "None of your business!" Rebekah yelled. "I promise she'll tell you everything when we get back." His voice lowered again. "I don't know exactly when Elijah, stop worrying so much. See you tomorrow. Bye!" And she hung up on him and set the phone in driver door.
"Hey!" Elena argued. "I want to talk to him!"
"You can call him when we're done. Go back to sleep Elena, it's going to be a while." Elena leaned her seat back and crossed her arms out of frustration. She tried not to fall asleep but she couldn't help it.
When she woke they were in the middle of a city and it was dark out. The lights were bright and there were so many cars.
"Where are we?" She asked rubbing her eyes.
"New Orleans." Rebekah said and Elena nodded. "We're almost there." They drove another fifteen minutes or so before Rebekah pulled off the street and parked. "Come on." The neighborhood was sketchy and it made Elena nervous. "Stay close." Rebekah instructed and Elena stayed near her as she approached and knocked on a dingy door. There was some rattling on the other side and the door opened slowly.
"Yes?" A small, elderly woman poked her head out.
"Hello." Rebekah greeted and the woman the door open wider and smiled.
"Rebekah. What can I do for you?" She asked excitedly.
"Not me. My friend here needs some answers to some very disturbing questions." She motioned to Elena.
"My oh my." The woman said as she looked Elena over. "You look just like Katherine." She looked Elena in the eyes. "But you are human. You must be the next doppelganger. How interesting she should show up with you, Rebekah." The woman raised an eyebrow. "I had heard your brother broke his curse and became a hybrid and yet she still lives."
"Many things have changed. This is Elena Gilbert." The woman nodded and moved aside.
"Please come in." They entered the small house and sat down on a dusty couch. The woman sat in an arm chair across from them. "Would either of you like a cup of tea?" She offered from the tray that was sitting on a coffee table. Both politely declined. "What is it you need from me?" She asked.
"Elena has found herself in a spot of trouble." Rebekah said.
"I should say so. How old are you dear?" She asked Elena.
"Eighteen." Elena answered and the woman shook her head.
"Pity. Eighteen and pregnant." The woman said and Elena gasped. "Oh yes. A little more than a month I should say. You want to know who the father is, is that it?" She questioned.
"What!?" Elena shrieked. "No! That's not!" She could form a coherent sentence. "It's not possible!" Rebekah's offensive questions finally made sense.
"No. That's not the problem." Rebekah said. "The problem is we know who the father is."
"Why would that be a problem?" She asked as she took a sip of tea.
"Because the father is my brother, Elijah." Rebekah said and the woman choked on her drink. She coughed for a bit before she finally composed herself.
"That can't be." She said.
"That's what we thought and yet here we are." Rebekah said. "You don't know any way this could be possible?"
The woman stood and approached Elena whose face was now covered in tears.
"Please. I can't be pregnant." Elena begged. The woman put her hands on either side of Elena's head and closed her eyes. She remained that way for a few minutes before she opened them.
"You poor dear." She patted Elena's hands. "You've been through so much at such a young age." She returned to her arm chair. "I can definitely tell you that Elijah is your child's father." Elena sighed then wiped the tears from her face.
"I don't understand. It doesn't make any sense." Elena argued.
"You are a doppelganger. Although you possess no outward supernatural abilities it's always been clear you possess some kind of power." The woman said. "You had the power to break the hybrid curse on Klaus. She absorbed Ester's magic and could protect herself from the Travelers the night they were after you. She possesses a great deal of power."
"I protected myself?" Elena asked.
"Oh yes my dear. The lightening that kept your enemies away, the knife that went flying. You did all those things." She confirmed and Elena thought back to that night. Many strange things had happened but she had thought it was all the witches.
"What does this mean?" Elena asked.
"It means my dear, that you being a doppelganger changes all the rules." She took a drink.
"But I was with another vampire and nothing ever happened." She said thinking of Stefan.
"Yes, but you never truly loved this other vampire. You and Elijah both must have greatly desired this and your magic complied with your wish." She took another drink. "That's all I can tell you."
"It is dangerous?" Rebekah asked.
"Dangerous?" She laughed. "How could a baby be dangerous?"
"It's not some evil demon vampire baby?" The woman burst out laughing.
"Oh don't be silly. That sort thing only happens in movies." It took her a moment to compose herself. "Your child will be perfectly normal and it will not cause you any harm." Elena felt instant relief at her words.
"Thank you." Elena said.
"I should warn you before you leave." The woman started. "You must be very careful. If any of Elijah's enemies get wind of this is could prove fatal for you." Elena nodded and thanked her again. She led them out the door they heard the woman locking it behind them.
"Are you okay?" Rebekah asked.
"No." Elena admitted. "I'm afraid to tell Elijah."
"Why?" Rebekah asked as they both got in the car.
"I don't know how he's going to take it. What if he gets upset? Like that woman said, his enemies will come after me just to hurt him. How can I put him through that?" She was getting herself worked up as Rebekah pulled out of their parking spot.
"Elena relax. Elijah is not going to get upset about this. She also said both you and Elijah wanted it." Rebekah argued but Elena just broke down in tears.
"He's going to hate me!" She cried and her tears poured out uncontrollably.
"Elijah will not hate you. You're being ridiculous!" Rebekah argued.
"I know I am!" She couldn't stop herself from crying.
"You're not crying the entire way home. The sound is positively irritating." Rebekah said. They drove about five minutes and Elena was doing her best to get hold of herself. Rebekah knew Elena was upset but really didn't know how to comfort her. She wished there was something she could say to assure Elena everything would be alright. Elena was her first real friend after all. "Hey, everything is going to be okay. Elijah is not going to be upset about this. Want to call him?" Elena nodded and Rebekah took her eyes off the road for a split second to get Elena's phone. When she looked back someone was standing in the road. She slammed on the brakes barely missing the person. Rebekah and the man stared at each other and two more appeared beside him. "Damn! Listen to me Elena. Don't say anything, don't tell them who you are or why we we're here. Understand?" Elena nodded as a man approached the car. Rebekah rolled down the window.
"Rebekah Mikaelson. Long time no see." The man smiled. "What in the world are you doing back down here?"
"That is none of your business. Now get lost, I was just leaving." Elena could tell Rebekah was purposefully trying to not to draw any attention to her.
"No. You can't leave yet. Marcel will want to see you."
"Marcel can bugger off." Rebekah snapped and the man laughed at her.
"You misunderstand. You were found using magic in the city limits. You and your friend here are both going to see Marcel. Now." A second man Elena hadn't noticed opened the passenger side door and pulled her out.
"Rebekah!" Elena cried out.
"Hey! Don't touch her!" Rebekah was suddenly by her side and pushed the man off.
"You should come willingly. It will be much more pleasant for everyone." He led them to a different vehicle and shoved them both in.