Chapter 33
"I can't believe the trial is tomorrow already." Caroline mumbled.
"I know." Elena agreed the past week had gone by so fast. It was as if the second they got the actual court date everything just seemed to speed up. Elena was so nervous about testifying she didn't stop to think about what she was going to wear to court until way too late. Her blue dress was a little too tight now and she only owned one dressy pair of black pants. They were a little snug too. Her hips were already starting to get a little wider and she could see a tiny but visible little bump on her stomach now. It was easily camouflaged with clothes, but she wasn't sure how long that would be the case. She called Caroline in a clothes panic and her chipper friend was quick to promise Elena she'd save the day.
Caroline seemed to be pro at dodging the media she and Vicky came to pick her and Bonnie up. Elena ducked down and hid in the backseat while Carline maneuvered out of there quickly and efficiently. The media was doubled now with the court date so close. Damon insisted Eric and Marcus one of the biggest guards Damon hired follow them even though Elena was hidden. He didn't want to take any chances he wanted the guards following them from a distance in the mall too.
"How long is it going on for?" Vicky asked.
"I have no idea." Elena sighed she was ducked down in the backseat it was difficult to talk to her friends like this. She couldn't see anything but Bonnie's legs.
"It's so clear he's guilty." Bonnie said. "You'd think it would go fast."
"I hope so." Elena sighed.
Caroline finally stopped the car and Elena let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank god." Elena said as Bonnie helped her off the floor and out of Caroline's car. "I'm starving."
She started be-lining it for the mall and the rest of the girls hurried to catch up with her.
"You just had oatmeal." Bonnie pointed out.
"Oatmeal is not French fries." Elena grinned.
"Wait for the guards or Damon will kill us, well me." Caroline said looking behind her as the two big black blazers finally pulled in.
"You lost the guards?" Elena gasped.
"It's not, my fault they are so much slower than me." Caroline shrugged.
Eric looked irritated when they walked over to them.
"I can't follow you when you're racing ahead of me like that." He said frowning heavily.
"Hey, you're the bodyguard you should be able to handle a little speed." Caroline said flippantly.
"Caroline." Elena chided. "I'm sorry Eric, can we not tell Damon about this?"
"That's fine with me I'd like to keep my job." He sighed.
Elena felt weird having the guards follow behind them as they walked into the mall. She felt like everyone was staring at them. They were both big buys especially Marcus. They both were wearing black tee shirts and jeans. Eric had sunglasses on and his square jaw was set in a firm line as usual. His dark hair combed back and tucked under a bandana. His face and arms were tanned from all the time spent outside their estate. He had a scruffy five a clock shadow on his face and his right cheek and forehead were both adorned with small scars, Elena imagined from fights he had been in.
Marcus didn't have sunglasses on but his trained brown eyes were constantly watching the area. He was much older the Eric probably in his forties his face was only slightly weathered with age though. His dark complexion was smooth, but his features were sharp and he could easily look intimidating. He kept his hair shaved short and had a more professional look then Eric. He like Eric always had a serious expression on his face.
She wondered what either of them would look like if they smiled. She figured Damon may have seen it. He sometimes went down to the gate and talked to the guards. She stepped back a little, so she was in between Caroline and Bonnie all the stares were starting to make her really uncomfortable.
"The guards just draw more attention to you." Vicky pointed out putting herself in front of Elena.
"You guys should stay further out of sight." Bonnie turned and looked back at the guards.
"We have to stay within a certain amount of feet of Miss Gilbert," Marcus said politely.
She knew Damon didn't just pick him because of his size he was huge and as Caroline called him totally ripped, but he was also a father of four. Damon trusted that he would watch over Elena in her condition with more understanding than anyone else.
"Let's just ignore the looks." Elena muttered. "I want fries."
"You heard the girl; she wants fries let's move." Caroline commanded linking her arm through Elena's, Bonnie linked her arm on the other side. Vicky was still in front of her sort of blocking people off.
Elena giggled a little, but she swallowed back a lump in her throat, being guarded like this...having so many people supporting her, really did still amaze her every day. After three years of being alone she had come to appreciate it and everyone around her on such a deep level. They would never understand how much they meant to her, what it was like to go from such a lonely place to this it was indescribable.
They hurried to the food court and went to the Mc Donald's to order Elena some fries and a milkshake. For once the girls all went along with her craving and ordered the same.
"We used to do this at the Grill when we were kids all the time." Caroline said dipping her fry into her chocolate milkshake.
"Who owned it back then?" Elena asked.
"My dad," Caroline said quietly. "He gave it to me when he took off."
"Oh." Elena said softly.
"Like some kind of parting gift or something." She scoffed her blue eyes looking sad something Elena wasn't used to seeing her eyes.
"I'm sorry." Elena said softly.
"Me too, I know we just met a few days ago, but I get it. My dad took off too." Bonnie said empathically. "I was only ten at the time."
"I was seventeen, but it was still so difficult and then on top of that I had felt like I had to make the Grille succeed from high school." Caroline sighed.
"I hear that too." Bonnie said obviously thinking of the burger shop and the three women running the place for as long as they had. "But who needs 'em? If they can't stick around, they aren't even worth our thoughts."
"I'll drink to that." Vicky muttered taking a sip from her malt. "In my case my mom drove him away though. I mean we could have lived with him if we wanted too. I just I don't know, I guess Matt wanted to take care of my mom and I liked the freedom I had at home with her."
Elena patted her belly softly she was so glad she would never know that, and neither would her child. She was certain in one thing over everything else and that was that Damon's love was constant. It wasn't ever going to falter just like she knew hers wouldn't.
"I think it would be worse in Elena's case. I mean you were left with a dad that didn't know you." Caroline said and Elena blanched a little. "I can't imagine how scary it must have been for you."
"Yeah, um it was hard." Elena mumbled feeling flushed this could get awkward really quick.
"Well he knew her." Bonnie looked confused. "But of course it was harder for Elena, it's totally different then having a parent leave, where at least you have the memories."
"But I don't know if she wants to talk about it…" Bonnie trailed off when Elena threw her a desperate look.
"What do you mean; you don't remember your mom Elena?" Caroline asked.
"Car, I think this is a pretty sensitive subject." Vicky cut in and Elena took a deep breath sending her a grateful look. She wasn't sure if Jeremy told her anything or if she just sensed Elena's discomfort either way, she was grateful.
Caroline, like everyone in town, thought Isobel dumped her on John's doorstep one day never to be heard from again. Bonnie knew Elena's mother died at childbirth but none of the actual details.
"I know but we were taking about parents leaving." Caroline muttered looking confused and a little hurt.
"I never knew my mom." Elena said nudging Bonnie under the table with her foot to go with it. "I was a baby when she dropped me off."
"Oh…The way Jer said it you sounded older, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." Caroline said wide eyed.
"You didn't." Elena assured her. "But I don't want to talk about that right now."
Bonnie nudged her foot under the table and Elena knew she'd have some explaining to try to do later.
"Done," Vicky said, "Too depressing anyway."
"What are we doing for clothes here?" Caroline asked. "I think we need a plan, because you're going to keep getting bigger so maybe we should buy a few different sizes of things."
"Gee tanks for reminding me." Elena stuck her tongue out. "I can always go shopping again."
"You're not going to want to keep needing to go buy bigger clothes all the time. That will depress you." Vicky pointed out.
"True." Bonnie nodded. "I'm all about planning ahead."
"For court I need to not look pregnant." Elena whispered.
"Well you don't now so that shouldn't be a problem." Bonnie said.
"What are you writing now?" Elena asked Caroline who was scribbling down a list.
"A list of stuff you'll need. For court we want you to look conservative but also innocent and kind of fragile. I'm thinking pants and light blouses with cardigans to hide your belly. You're also going to want some lounge clothes and some dresses for after this is over, and Damon takes you out." She said as she wrote.
"Long flowy summer dresses are so cute on pregnant women." Vicky whispered.
"Well what are we waiting for, let's shop." Caroline smiled brightly.
Damon had Jeremy out mowing since he didn't want to fire him and he nothing else for him to do. The pool guys showed up a few minutes after Elena left and he was hoping they'd be done before she got back. He was lounging around the house trying to mentally prepare himself for tomorrow. He wasn't sure how this court thing was going to go he just knew he had to remain cool. He sensed it wasn't going to be easy.
His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. He sighed, hoping it wasn't Meredith again she had been around a few times to coach Elena. She was supposed to be coming by tonight, but he told her to wait until after dinner. He didn't want Elena stressing about the trial all day long.
"Stefan?" Damon's jaw dropped open in surprise when he opened the door.
"Hey." He ran his hands through his hair which he seemed to be letting grow back. His green eyes seemed tired and Damon could swear he was already getting frown lines on his forehead.
"What are you doing here?" Damon asked.
"Dad thought one of us should be here to show support during the trial and it made more sense for it to me. He's so busy with the casino." Stefan shuffled on his feet.
"Well I don't need it. It's not about me it's about Elena, and I don't want any added tension here." Damon said frowning.
"I thought we buried the hatchet?" Stefan smirked. "Come on, no tension. I just want to help you out. You might need someone to remind you to stay calm. I know how these things can get and more importantly I know how you can get especially considering how crazy you are about this girl."
"You sure this was Giuseppe's idea?" Damon challenged.
Stefan just shrugged and walked inside.
"It looks even better then I remembered it." He remarked glancing around.
"What about Katherine?" Damon asked awkwardly. "She can't be happy your here?"
"The doctors say she's fine to travel right now, but she didn't want to risk it." Stefan said a little too quickly. "That would have been a little weird anyway. I didn't want to add any tension. I wanted to help."
"Yeah I appreciate that." Damon said he tried to picture Katherine as a protective mother and the image just didn't fit. He shrugged it off and brought Stefan over to the east wing so he could see the progress they made.
"It looks great." Stefan seemed impressed when the crossed back through the library. "Not that I'm surprised. I knew you'd turn it around."
"I haven't yet." Damon said.
"You will." Stefan said sounding certain of it.
"So uh… you're not just going to be a dad." Damon grinned a little.
"Oh?" Stefan turned around and looked at him.
"You're going to be an uncle too." Damon said his grin widening at Stefan's gaped mouth.
"You mean your?"
"Elena's pregnant." Damon confirmed. "Another reason things need to remain peaceful here."
"Wow that's great, congratulations." Stefan smiled.
"And good luck, the hormones are maddening." He added with a smirk.
Damon laughed. "It's actually kind of amusing."
"Just wait." Stefan warned.
Damon felt an ounce of pity for Stefan, Katherine was moody and bitchy naturally he couldn't imagine how much that had multiplied now.
He finished up the tour and Stefan was really impressed with the place. He really liked the tribute Damon made for their mother as well. He didn't remember her as much as Damon did but it still meant a lot to him. Stefan chose a room downstairs near Rick's room and they settled into the kitchen with Rick who has on his laptop.
"The worlds buzzing about this trial tomorrow," Rick murmured.
"Don't want to talk about it." Damon replied. "Meet my brother."
"Oh Stefan?" Rick looked up surprised. "I didn't even hear you come in, I'm Rick."
"Nice to meet you," Stefan shook his hand.
"Not that I could hear anything with that crew outside." Rick snapped at Damon. "Woke me up."
"At one a clock in the afternoon? Boo fricken hoo," Damon scoffed pouring himself and Stefan some coffee.
"So where is the famous Elena?" Stefan asked.
"Out shopping," Damon said.
"She's going to flip out when she sees that thing." Rick pointed out the window.
"She knows about it. Jer told her." Damon shrugged. "She's all excited. She's been asking me all week if I really ordered one, or if it was just cover for Bonnie."
"All Jer said to her was, Damon ordered you a pool. Not Damon ordered you a twelve-thousand dollar, underground luxury pool." Rick said.
"Well she knows me." Damon grinned but he was a little nervous all the sudden, this was half of the west side of the yard after all, maybe he should have been a little more specific.
"Twelve thousand?" Stefan whistled. "Does dad know?"
"I bought it with my own money, not that stupid." Damon rolled his eyes.
Jeremy came in and grabbed a juice box from the fridge and sat down.
"Can you get yourself a pop or a beer or something?" Damon groaned. "I try to stock the place up with stuff for Elena and you two clowns are constantly eating her food and drinking her juice boxes."
He motioned to Jeremy and then Rick who was eating one of Elena's little oatmeal packets.
"These are so good though." Jer stuck the straw in and sucked it dry. "I'll buy her more."
"This is my brother Stefan by the way. This is Elena's cousin, Jeremy."
"Hey." Jeremy nodded absentmindedly; he started looking down at his phone like he was willing it to ring.
"What's up Jer?" Rick finally asked.
"I'm a little freaked out. Meredith said she'd call me today to go over my testimony again. I feel like I'm going to screw up." He admitted.
"You won't." Damon assured him. "You'll be fine, just tell the truth and don't let that woman freak you out."'
"It's not her, but man she's tough." Jeremy shuddered. "It's Craig he's like this big thing I've always hated and never faced."
"I know, but don't think about that. Just think about your cousin you've always done right be her." Damon said.
Stefan glanced at him looking surprised.
The doorbell rang and Rick got up to answer it. Damon recognized the click of Meredith's heels and cringed.
"I thought you were going to come over later." Damon pointed out rudely as soon as she walked in.
"Don't start with me Damon, Jeremy called me." Meredith snapped sitting down.
"And your phone wasn't working to call him back…" Damon challenged.
"Why waste time? We can go over his testimony again here." She said. "Then I can stay here and wait for the 'great Damon' to allow me to speak to his girlfriend."
"Whoa." Stefan said looking like he was holding back a laugh. "I've never seen anyone talk to you like that."
"I have no choice. I have to deal with her." Damon muttered.
"Who is he?" She turned sharply and looked a Stefan who blanched a little at her harsh tone and scrutinizing gaze.
"My brother Stefan he's here as a Salvatore to show support." Damon said.
"As long as he doesn't butt into my case and tell me how to run things with my star witness. I think we'll be fine." Meredith said throwing Damon a pointed look.
"I didn't mean to come off like I would." Stefan said sheepishly.
"You didn't she's just a judgmental..."
"Damon." Rick stopped him.
"I really did think it was funny seeing you tell off Damon. All my life I only saw people kiss his butt." Stefan said staring at her intently. "I didn't mean anything against you with my remark."
"Gee thanks for the support bro." Damon scoffed.
"Oh…I guess I overreacted." Her eyes shifted slightly, and she looked sort of awkward.
"This is good actually. Your family being well known won't hurt us." She said slowly still staring at Stefan.
"This is Meredith Sulez, the special prosecutor." Damon explained.
Stefan's eyes seemed to be locked on her, he shook his head as if coming out of a trance.
"It's nice to meet you Miss Sulez." Stefan said reaching out to shake her hand politely. She seemed surprised by the action and sort of let her hand limply fall into his until he nervously dropped it.
"You're more polite then your brother." She stated then focused her attention back to Jeremy.
Stefan watched curiously while Meredith went over Jeremy's testimony with him again. He looked impressed when Meredith played the role of the defense attorney and tried to beat Jeremy down. What was with his little brother and bitchy women anyway? Damon forgot about it though and watched Jeremy, worried now. He was so focused on Elena and himself he didn't think about Elena's young cousin's thoughts on everything. Jeremy's part was the pivotal moment in the trial as Meredith put it. It would set the stage for Elena's story and Craig's conviction.
Stefan's phone went off and he opened it and read a message on the screen. Damon watched his face seem to go white. He bit his lip angrily and politely excused himself from the room. Damon watched him curiously but stayed put not sure if he should follow or not. This new-found truce between them was still new, after all.
"Aren't you even going to go see if your brother's okay?" Meredith asked.
"Is that any of your business?" Damon snapped back.
He got up nonetheless and found Stefan outside leaning against the side of the house, gripping his phone as if he wanted to strangle it.
"Stefan?" Damon asked walking up towards him slowly.
"I'm having a boy." Stefan said closing his eyes and pressing his lips together.
"That's great Stef...isn't it?" Damon stepped closer.
"Of course it is, but I asked her to wait, one week. Just one week, the doctors said it was fine we could wait as long as we wanted to find out. But she can't do one week? She has to text it to me?" He imploded.
"What?" Damon's eyes popped open. "That bitch went and found out without you, and then texted it to you?"
"That's what she did." Stefan said through gritted teeth. He stepped back from the wall and started clenching his fists.
"These are the things she does. I guess it's better than going out to a club, like she did when I had to go to Vegas to meet Walsh, or the fake tan and blond highlights she was sporting when I got back from a trip to Japan, I had to go on with dad." He started pacing back and forth Damon was feeling the anger come off him in droves. He had clearly been burying it all this time.
"How can she be so callous about her health?" Damon questioned feeling Stefan's anger himself; this was his nephew they were talking about.
"She gets over emotional when I'm gone. She blames it on her hormones." He moaned. "She promised she was okay this time. She knew I wanted to make things right with you."
"I guess she didn't do anything dangerous to herself." He muttered looking defeated; Damon didn't want to see that look on his young brother's face, it bothered him.
"Just hurtful to you," Damon pointed out. "She's hurting you and the baby to get her way. You can't let her do this to you Stefan, or your son."
"What do I do? Yell at her? Threaten to leave her? All that will do is make things worse." Stefan said with a sigh.
"I was so surprised when you pushed the wedding back." Damon remarked. "Now I get why, that was smart you need to think about this."
"Dad asked us together she couldn't say no, she was livid of course." Stefan rolled his eyes.
"But it's going to be fine Damon." Stefan shrugged. "My son will be here soon; things will get better then. Kat's an over-exaggeration of herself right now, that's all."
Damon sighed, he felt like Stefan was deluding himself he understood wanting to believe in happy endings, but Stefan needed to consider the world he was bringing this child into. Damon just didn't think Stefan was going to really hear it if he said it. Considering the past, he was the last person who should tell Stefan to leave Katherine the second the kid was born and take him with him. But someone needed to tell him. He had to hear it.
"Look I'm sorry for unloading on you; you have enough to worry about. I'll be fine." Stefan patted his shoulder and rushed back inside. Damon followed with heavier footsteps.
Several stores and armloads of clothes later Elena was exhausted as they finally got ready to leave the mall, she had put a huge dent in her savings account in a short amount of time. But it had been so long she figured it was worth it.
Marcus graciously took her bags for her and she wearily headed to the doors stopping in her tracks when she spotted a little baby shop.
"Baby clothes!" She exclaimed.
"It's way too soon to start buying baby clothes." Bonnie laughed. "You'll end with truckloads of clothes before he or she even gets here."
"I know but we can look." Elena walked in and started owing and awing over all the tiny little shoes and socks.
"Look at this dress." Caroline cried. "Oh, I want one."
"These little boots are so Damon." Vicky held up some tiny little black boots.
"Okay I have to buy those." Elena gushed grabbing them from her.
"What if it's a girl?" Bonnie asked.
"Then she'll have some cool rocker chick boots." Vicky grinned and Elena giggled dancing them around the air.
"Look at these bibs they are so adorable." Caroline gushed.
"Matt's going to get an earful tonight." Vicky whispered.
Elena kept trying to picture what both a boy and a girl would look like while she gazed at all the little clothes. They looked at the clothes for a while daydreaming about their future babies before Elena purchased the boots and they headed out.
It was almost dinner time when they finally got home, and she was starving. But her eyes immediately went to huge hole on the left side of her yard with plates of concrete and tiles lying everywhere.
She hurried outside and ran over to one of the men. The girl's followed behind her she could hear Vicky laughing.
"What are you guys doing?" She called out.
"Installing a pool, miss." The man said with a smile.
"Installing a pool?" She gasped.
She turned and headed for the house, walking quickly.
"Wow this must have cost a fortune." Caroline murmured.
"Not helping Car." Vicky said and Bonnie laughed out loud.
She hurried inside the house and found Damon in the parlor with Rick. Jeremy and Meredith who Elena assumed wanted to meet with her again before tomorrow. She noticed someone else a familiar looking guy was sitting on the couch next to Damon. He looked up at her curiously and Damon scowled at him for it. She was too concerned about the hole in the yard to wonder further at the moment though.
"What is happening in the yard?" She asked staring down at Damon.
"You knew we were getting a pool." He pouted giving her a puppy dog look.
"Damon that is not a pool, it's a lake." Elena said crossing her arms he looked up with an amused grin, and so did his friend who looked like he was trying not to laugh.
"No, it's a pool." He said. "It's just a big pool."
"Jer!" She glared at her cousin. "You said he was getting a normal pool."
"What? No I just said a pool." Jeremy snickered.
"I thought you meant like from Target or something." Elena said, "A normal pool that normal people get and fill up with hoses."
"Why would I get you some crappy kid's pool? You'll love this one." He flashed her his charming grin.
"It's way too much we aren't even open right now." She sighed.
"I bought it… not the boarding house." He got up and brushed her hair back kissing her forehead.
"Besides Jer picked out a much bigger one," He smirked when he pulled back. "Not to mention it was all his idea."
"Throw me under the bus why don't you?" Jeremy mumbled.
"Trying to make my cousin your scapegoat Damon?" She put her hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow, but her mouth was twitching into a smile.
"You'll love it when it's done, I swear." Damon promised flashing his grin again. She melted a little and smiled slightly wider.
"It'll be nice we can all hang out in the pool." Caroline offered.
"Okay then you're off the hook, but the next humongous lake in our yard or anything like that, it gets run by me first, okay?"
"Yes Ma'am." He said in cheeky tone.
"...and don't help him." She chastised Caroline who snickered. "But it's an awesome fricken pool."
"You must be Elena then?" The guy laughed "Your even prettier than my brother said." He stood up and she finally recognized him as Stefan from the picture.
"Watch it." Damon muttered.
"Stefan?" She said.
"It's nice to meet you Elena." Stefan took her hand.
"Yeah you too… wow, what are you doing here?" She said surprised to see him in person, she hoped Katherine wasn't here too. She figured if Stefan was marrying her, she'd have to deal with her someday but today wasn't the day.
"Family support," Damon explained.
She smiled happily, from the first day Damon told her about his estranged brother she saw the pain it caused. She always hoped they would become brothers again and finally it seemed like they were.
"Thanks for coming." Elena smiled at him.
"I hate to interrupt, but I've been here a while. Elena can we go over your testimony now?" Meredith interrupted.
"I need to eat first." Elena said giving her an apologetic look.
"We're making pizza's." Damon grinned and put his arm around her steering her towards the kitchen.
"You might as well join us." She heard Stefan say from behind her and raised her eyebrows, but Damon just shrugged.
"Leave it to Stefan to side with anyone who's against me." He joked rolling his eyes.
He pulled her into the kitchen, and she looked at the large pile of dough on the counter.
"What do I do?' She asked.
"I'll show you." He said picking up a ball of dough and bringing it to the table she watched him knead it and roll it out.
He started tossing it in the air and catching it.
"Show off." Stefan smirked from behind them.
Stefan mimicked Damon's actions and Elena giggled watching them try to one up each other. Meredith was oddly quiet and seemed sort of amused standing next to Elena. Everyone else had come in and started tossing dough around themselves, begging Stefan and Damon for lessons.
She got a huge kick out of Rick who just couldn't get the hang of it and cracked up laughing.
Elena tried it herself, but it stuck to the ceiling which only made her laugh harder.
Rick made a maple syrup breakfast pizza with eggs and bacon and bunch of other stuff Elena kept suggesting. Damon would wince and she would laugh as Rick obliged even when she added blueberries, she had a thing for salt and sweet mixed. It made her smile when Rick ate her crazy foods with her. She knew it was his special way of supporting her and she really appreciated it.
Jenna finally joined them at the end and got a kick out of all the pizzas and dough everywhere. It was really fun trying everyone's pizza creations. Damon and Stefan's pizzas were the best of course, Elena liked Damon's better but as a group they couldn't decide. Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun though. Even Meredith seemed to be enjoying herself.
Elena let herself enjoy the moment knowing tomorrow was going to be hard. But knowing she had her friends and family waiting for her made it seem easier somehow.