Elena's mouth tightened when she saw the blond wolf in the courtyard. Why Jack decided to bring him along, Elena wasn't sure, but there he was.
"Elena." He slid his hands into his pockets, and puffed out his chest a little.
"You're Oliver, aren't you?" Elena wrapped her arms more tightly around Astrid. His loud mouth very nearly cost her her daughter and her life. A cramp passed through her in response to the stress and her stomach felt tight for a moment.
"Yeah."
"You're the one who told everyone that the latest doppelganger was a vampire and pregnant and living in New Orleans, which brought all those people to town."
He deflated a little in the face of her anger.
"I heard you and Elijah became a thing," he responded petulantly.
"I don't see how my personal life is any of your business."
"You know he had a thing for Hayley."
"I know. I also know that he and Hayley didn't work out because she is a werewolf queen who needed to marry someone else to save her people and so because he wanted her to be happy, he left town, to look for me."
"So you're just gonna jump into bed with him?"
"Again, my personal life is none of your business."
"Oliver!" Jack snapped. "Who she gets involved with is none of our concern. As long as she's safe, she's not someone we need to worry about."
"You're just happy that Elijah's found someone else so you can have Hayley."
"If he's found someone else, I'm glad for him. And the mother of his kid seems like a pretty good woman to fall in love with." He shot Elena an apologetic look. "We're here to get to know Raphael, not to further traumatize someone who's been through enough."
"Oliver." Elijah strode into the courtyard and looked at the werewolf with one brow raised.
Another cramp tightened her stomach and she winced. She couldn't be in labor, could she? It was too early! She still had almost just over three weeks before Astrid was due!
"Remember that the only reason you're not dead for what you did to Elena is because Hayley pleaded your case to Finn and Freya. Were it up to me, I would have mount your head on a spike and put it in front of the house."
"What is it with you and pregnant girls?"
"I'm guessing you're the one speaking loudly enough for Elena to hear about your misguided opinions of me, though why you would do that is beyond me."
"So, what, you're denying that you have a thing for girls like that? Pregnant girls in need of your family's help?"
"I have a thing, to use your own inelegant turn of phrase, for women with more strength than they knew, willing to face impossible odds for the people they love. And Elena's pregnancy has no bearing on my feelings for her, so keep your disgusting opinions to yourself. They're unwelcome here."
""She deserves better than to be someone's second pick because they couldn't get the girl they wanted."
"You're right, she does deserve better than that. So how fortunate that I didn't fall in love with Elena until after I'd gotten to know her better."
"You honestly expect me to believe that you're not convincing yourself you have feelings for her because she's the girl you can get, but not the girl you want?"
"Kindly remember that if it weren't for me, your entire pack would have been wiped out and I will not tolerate such nonsense from you."
"Oliver." Jack's voice was barely above a snarl. "Your obsession with Elena has gone on long enough."
"Jack!" Oliver protested.
"Oliver, enough." Hayley strode into the courtyard and crossed her arms. Her eyes flashed yellow as she continued.. "Return to the bayou, now. We'll discuss this later."
Oliver shot Elijah a dark look over his shoulder as he left the compound.
Elena braced herself against the banister as another cramp twisted her insides. Before she could deny that it was anything more than the stress of the situation, a gush of liquid down her legs told her it was happening. Astrid was on her way.
"Elijah!" Elena screamed.
"What's wrong?" A second later, he was at her elbow.
"My water just broke."
"Rebekah! Call Freya and Keelin! Elena's in labor!"
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Hayley asked.
"Keep Landon and Raphael away. They don't need to hear her screaming."
"Right. Okay."
With that, Elijah scooped her into his arms and flashed her to her bedroom.
"Okay, that hurt." Elena hissed through a stronger cramp.
Rebekah rapped on the door twice and Elijah opened it.
"Freya and Keelin are on their way. Elena, may I come in?"
"Yeah. Come in." She grit her teeth around another wave of pain.
"Breathe, Elena." Rebekah came around the bed. "Elijah, get some towels and Keelin's emergency medical kit."
"I'll be right back." Elijah kissed the top of her head, then flashed away.
"Come on, let's get you out of those clothes." Rebekah helped Elena strip out of her soiled bottoms and pulled her top off. "Here."
Elena took the loose fitting gown from Rebekah and the older vampire assisted in dressing her.
"They're coming pretty close together," Rebekah commented when Elena winced. "How long have you been having contractions?"
"I don't know. I didn't think anything about it until right before my water broke."
Elijah returned with the items Rebekah requested.
"Help me pull these blankets down," Rebekah directed.
Elijah gripped the covers on the other side and they stripped the bed.
"Now, put some towels down before we put her onto the bed."
Once she was situated back on the bed, Rebekah pulled on a pair of gloves and Elena looked from Elijah to Rebekah, terrified.
"Elena, I need to check to see how dilated you are."
"Check me. Like put your hand inside me?"
"Yes."
The thought of having a woman touching her like that brought Davenport sharply into focus. Elena hadn't thought about the good doctor in weeks, so it shocked her that the woman crossed her mind. Elena closed her eyes and fought back the need to hide. Rebekah didn't want to hurt her. She wanted Astrid to make it through delivery and make sure things were progressing in a way that meant Elena and Astrid were fine.
"It's alright, Elena." Elijah brought her hand to his lips.
Looking up at Elijah, Elena whispered, "Okay."
"I'm just checking to see how much time I think we might have until you need to push."
"I know. I know."
"Breathe, Elena." Elijah caught her hand and held it to his chest.
Elena hardly felt Rebekah prodding between her legs due to the next contraction.
"How much time do we have?" Freya entered the room, with Keelin on her heels.
"Not long. Once her water broke, the contractions started coming pretty close together and she's already dilated to just over three fingers, almost four now."
"Alright. Looks like our niece is eager to make her appearance and your body is not fighting the idea."
The next contraction came even stronger than before.
"Oh, wow, this hurts." Elena gasped as she lay back against the pillow. All the pain in the lab didn't prepare her for this.
"You've been in labor for hours if you're this far along, so the lab probably allowed you to ignore that you were in any form of discomfort."
"I thought it was too soon," Elena admitted. "I thought I still had a few weeks."
"A human baby, maybe, but she's not human, so the rules don't apply to her."
Several contractions later, Freya said, "Push, Elena. Come on, push."
Elena screamed as she followed Freya's directions.
"That's it, Elena, I see her head. She's coming fast."
Elena's grip Elijah's hand became so tight that she broke bones.
"Almost there. Just a little bit more. Push!"
With one last great push, a sense of relief washed over her and a moment later, a newborn cry broke the silence.
"Give her to me." Elena reached out her hands. "Please. I need to hold her."
"Let's deal with the afterbirth first." Freya placed her hand on Elena's already healing lower belly, and a moment later, the placenta slipped free.
"Okay, here we go." Keelin placed the blood covered, screaming baby on Elena's chest.
Immediately, Astrid stopped crying, nuzzling against Elena's chest. A soft whimper escaped her rosebud mouth as she curled up.
"Hey, you." Tears filled Elena's eyes as she explored her daughter's face. "You're here. I can't believe you're actually here."
Astrid burrowed deeper into Elena's top in response to her voice.
"Come on, let's get you both cleaned up." Rebekah scooped Astrid up and instantly, the baby started to cry.
"You'll get her back. We just need to get you cleaned up first." Keelin placed her hand on Elena's arm and she realized she nearly jumped off the bed.
After they got the bed cleaned up and Elena changed into a new nightgown, Rebekah placed the squirming baby in Elena's arms. Once Astrid was against her mother's chest once more, she quieted again.
"She recognizes your heartbeat," Freya said, a soft smile on her face and with that, the ladies left the new parents then, to get to know their baby.
"She's so tiny," Elijah whispered, cupping the back of her head.
Elena picked up one of her hands and brought it to her face, pressing a kiss to it.
"All ten fingers," Elijah murmured. He picked up one foot, then the other.
"And all ten toes."
"She's perfect. So perfect."
"Would you like to hold her?" Elena asked.
Carefully, Elijah scooped her up, cradling her tenderly. He explored her face, his breathing uneven and a tear trickled down his cheek.
"My daughter." He brushed the wispy baby hairs back. "She has your mouth."
"She has your jawline and nose. They're already so prominent." Elena reached up and brushed her fingers along Astrid's nose.
"The best of both of us in one perfect, little bundle."
"I wonder if she'll have blue eyes or brown. My father has blue eyes and you have siblings with blue eyes, but we both have brown."
"I suppose we'll find out in a few days at least."
Astrid started to stir, nuzzling against Elijah's chest and whimpering.
"I think she's hungry."
Elijah passed the baby back to Elena and helped adjust her so that Astrid was level with her nipple. Elena guided Astrid's mouth to it with shaky hands. Thankfully, Astrid latched on and started to suck.
A lump formed in Elena's throat at the sight of her baby taking nourishment from her and she glanced at Elijah, to see a similar expression of wonder on his face.
"All that trouble, making me feed only from you, and now she's nursing." Elena traced Astrid's cheek with one finger. "Freya doesn't know if I'll be able to nurse her for more than this first time though."
"What do you mean?"
"My body produced colostrum because I was pregnant. But as you can see, I'm already healed, so now as I'm returning to normal for a vampire. Once she takes everything my body made during my pregnancy, I might not produce anything else. So this time and maybe one more, if she only feeds from this one breast."
"Hence the formula I saw Rebekah with earlier."
"At least I get this."
A few moments later, Astrid suckled the breast in her mouth dry and she pulled a few more times before releasing. Her breathing changed and she drifted into sleep.
"I suppose now, we'll know for sure whether or not I can continue nursing her."
"What do you want?"
"I want what's best for her." Elena adjusted her top to cover her breast once more. "Yes, I would like to be able to continue nursing her, but if I can't, then we will use formula and whatever else she needs."
Elijah slid into the bed beside her and wrapped his arm around her, then pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
"I love you," he murmured against her hair.
"Love you too." Elena glanced at him, but returned her gaze to the tiny form in her arms.
This was what she'd endured hell for, for this moment, right here, to hold her little girl in her arms. She laid her head against Elijah's chest. Life wasn't perfect, but once in a while, it had its moments and this was one of them.