Author's Note: The chapter is finally here, folks! It's time for Sawyer's birth. In honor of this, there will be two chapters dedicated to it. I thought Caroline and Stefan deserved their own chapter for this and then there will be another chapter about Sawyer's birth, but from Damon's POV, to see more in depth on how he and Elena deal with it all. So, enjoy! I had so much fun writing this one. Thank you to Sandra and Daisy for being such a huge help through this. I'm already working on the next chapter, so it shouldn't be too long now!
Chapter 35
I was made to love you strongly
Caroline startled as her phone beeped in her purse, alerting her to a new text message. The noise or sudden movement, or maybe both, seemed to wake Sawyer, and moments later, his eyes fluttered open to reveal his baby blue orbs that seemed to be the owner of everything perfect in her life. She watched him for a moment, waiting to see whether he would begin crying again, but when his tiny mouth opened and a soft yawn fell from his lips before he seemed to snuggle deeper into her embrace, she released a sigh of relief.
The limo came to a stop outside of the church that Damon was supposed to be getting married in in an hour, and a sense of dread filled her. An hour still left a lot of time for things to happen in Damon's mind, and she wasn't particularly looking forward to the results of either decision. If he went through with this marriage, she would have a husband that had felt like he'd failed on some level, because he'd know that Damon wasn't completely happy, and she'd also have a heartbroken best friend. If he did what people were probably betting on him doing at this point, and called the whole thing off, a firestorm of anger would rain down on them all from Giuseppe.
Stefan slid out of the limo and held his arms out for Sawyer, so she could more easily climb out of the car. She carefully passed her son over to him, and quickly climbed from the limo. She reached out to retrieve Sawyer again, but Stefan stepped back and shook his head. "It's okay, I've got him," he insisted. "Your arms could use a rest."
"You just want to hog him now that he's not crying anymore." She and Stefan had a tendency of fighting about who got to hold Sawyer. They both wanted him all the time it seemed, and the other was always stealing him. "I'll let you get some time in with him, but only because I need to see what this text is about." She playfully stuck her tongue out at him before digging her phone out of her purse. She went to her inbox and soon realized it was a text from Bonnie. Hoping it might be some sort of news about what Elena was up to, she was anxious to see what it said, but as her eyes read over the words staring up at her, she could hardly believe it. "Those sneaky little—"
"What is it?" Stefan asked worriedly. "Something wrong?"
Caroline glanced back at Damon, who was deep in conversation with Alaric just outside the front of the church. Certain that he wasn't paying attention, she said, "Bonnie apparently got into Elena's credit card stuff and saw she bought a plane ticket to Nashville. They're leaving right now."
"I don't get it."
"Matt lives in Nashville, Stefan. If they're going there, they're going to see him. Or rather Elena is."
"Why would Elena go see Matt?"
"I don't know," she sighed. "I'd call and ask her, but oh, wait, I can't! All she'd tell me when she talked to me on the phone was that she was leaving town for a few days, and Bonnie waited until they were about to take off to tell me that she was even involved. I'm stuck in the dark."
"I'm sure it's not what you think it is," Stefan assured her.
"I don't care what it is," she snapped. "Elena just had her heart stomped on by your brother. She needs to be here, not off in Podunk, Tennessee." Caroline rolled her eyes and threw her phone into her purse, not caring what it might hit. "This day is such a freaking disaster, Stefan. I don't think I can take this anymore. My best friend is off doing god know's what with her life right now, and your brother is about to ruin his."
"Hey," Stefan warned quietly, "I thought we agreed to stay out of this."
"On what planet are you living, that you think I'd ever agree to stay out of this. I know a few things about my labor have gotten fuzzy over the past few months, but I don't remember agreeing to anything."
The night she'd had Sawyer, she had reached her limit with trying to stay out of the whole debacle that Elena and Damon had gotten themselves into. She'd opened her mouth and let everything she thought come out. She didn't care how badly they didn't want to hear it. After reaming out a half-awake Damon, she'd told Stefan she'd let it go for the duration of her labor, not permanently. Then she had Sawyer and her plans seemed to fall to the roadside.
The moment they'd placed her son in her arms, everything else ceased to matter. Her life had been consumed with that tiny human in her husband's arms. It was only during the past couple weeks, when she could see tensions rising higher and higher, that she'd truly remembered her plan of action. In fact, she believed that she was a big reason that Elena went to Damon today. She hadn't meant for things to happen like this, but she knew she was partly responsible. Now she just had to figure out how to fix it.
"Oh, no you don't," Stefan warned, seeing the look on her face. "I see where your thoughts are going. Stay out of it, Care."
"He's your brother, Stefan. How can you ask me to stay out of this?"
"Because this is what he wants."
"You don't believe that for a second, and you know it."
"What I believe is that this isn't any of our business. Stay out of it; I'm serious."
As Caroline watched Damon coming toward them, a worried look on his face, she knew that she couldn't do what her husband asked. She couldn't stay out of this, not anymore.
"Hey, what's going on?" he asked.
Before Stefan could come up with some stupid lie to tell Damon, Caroline blurted out, "Elena left town. She's going to see Matt."
Stefan's head dropped at her words, and his eyes closed in annoyance as he mumbled, "Son of a bitch."
"She did what?" Damon demanded, his eyes wide and panicky.
"You heard me. What are you going to do about it?"
"Pajama bottoms? Check. T-shirts? Check. Nursing bras? Check. Underwear? Check. Slippers? Check. Toothpaste, toothbrush, and mouthwash? Check, check, and check. Phone charger? Check. Hair ties and hairbrush? Check and check."
"Care?"
Startled, Caroline jumped and looked at her bedroom door, in the direction of Stefan's voice. "In the bedroom!" she called back.
Moments later, he appeared in the doorway, pulling his coat off. He smiled at her as he dropped the coat on the floor and kicked off his shoes, leaving them in the middle of the floor. Most days she would order him to pick his things up and put them where they belonged, but she had other things on her mind right now, and she wouldn't mind his help. She could complain later.
"What are you doing?" he asked as he sat down on the bed, taking in the array of items scattered around her.
"Making sure I have everything in my hospital bag. So, it's actually good that you're home now, because we need to make sure you have everything you need, too."
Stefan grabbed her list from her and scanned over the items. "I don't need anything except clothes and a toothbrush."
"No," Caroline snatched the list back from him to look at what she'd put down for him, "You need water, snacks, and a sleeping mask."
"Babe, I think the hospital is going to have food and water for me, and I don't need a sleeping mask."
"You can't sleep unless it's completely dark, and there's no way the hospital room is going to be completely dark, especially with nurses coming in and out throughout the night. Also, if you don't want to wait for nurses to get food and water for you, you better bring it, because if you think I'm letting you out of that hospital room while I'm in labor, you're out of your damn mind. For however long it takes me to have this baby, you're stuck to me like glue, with the occasional bathroom breaks."
"How are we supposed to update the family if I can't leave your side?"
"You can send a text message or call them. I don't care if you send a freaking carrier pigeon, you're not leaving my side."
Caroline knew she might sound a tad ridiculous, but she didn't care. She had never given birth before. She had no idea how long it would take, or how bad or well it might go. She wanted Stefan to be by her side through the whole thing. She wanted his support.
"Okay, okay," Stefan pushed the bag to the side of the bed so he could slide in front of her. He lifted his hands to gently cradle her face. "Whatever you want me to do, I'll do. It's gonna be fine."
As of last week, Caroline was well aware of the fact that she'd reached levels of being completely unbearable to be around. She felt like she couldn't possibly get any bigger than she already was. She was ready to have this baby out of her, but she also wanted him to stay in for a little longer. She was smart enough to know that all of the books she'd read and the advice she'd heard wouldn't be able to truly prepare her for giving birth, and she was just scared.
She was also scared for what would come after. She and Stefan had had more conversations than she could count about having a baby before she got pregnant, and they'd had tons of conversations since, but she was still nervous. Things were about to change in ways they wouldn't even be able to imagine. In a matter of days, this person that she'd been growing inside of her for nine months would be in her arms. He would be looking to her and Stefan to fulfill every single need he had, no matter the time of day.
Her relationship with Stefan as she knew it was about to be changed forever. It had been just the two of them for five years. They'd always gotten to be selfish with their time, and pick up to go on a random weekend vacation if they wanted to. There was never anyone they really had to think about but each other. Now, they were going to have a son to think about all the time. She was more than ready to meet her child, but the unknown was a scary thing, and she knew Stefan felt the same way.
His mother had died when he was a little boy, and then his father completely checked out. He didn't have that role model of what a good dad was supposed to be, and that scared him.
In the middle of Stefan's eloquent speech, there was a swift kick to the middle of her belly. Though her son now felt huge inside of her and his kicks were definitely powerful, she couldn't help but smile. "Someone's awake." She grabbed Stefan's hand and placed it over the spot where she was sure she would be kicked again in a matter of moments. Her son was a kicker and a puncher. He wanted her to know he was in there at all times.
There was no movement for a few moments, and she could see the signs of disappointment forming on Stefan's face when suddenly, both of their son's little feet pounded against her. "There he is." A broad smile spread over Stefan's face, and it made her heart swell with love. Stefan had a tendency to be a bit of a brooder sometimes, always concerned with other people's problems and wanting to take care of everyone, so when he smiled, it filled her heart with love. Seeing him smile because of their son, only served to make her fall more in love with him than she thought possible.
"I think he's saying hi to you."
Stefan leaned forward, placing his face right in front of her stomach, his grin still firmly in place. "Hey buddy, how you doing in there? You ready to come out yet? You have to be running out of room."
"He ran out of room a month ago," Caroline interjected.
Stefan glanced up at Caroline, a playful spark in his eyes. "Maybe he's not coming out because he doesn't have a name." He focused his attention back on her stomach. "Are you waiting for your mom to get it together and decide on a name? I think she should pick one. I'd like to call you something other than buddy or he."
"Tell your father to stop picking stupid names and I'll name you."
"I am picking classic names, Caroline. They are from some of the most known works of literature in the history of the world."
Caroline lovingly rolled her eyes and questioned her stomach, "Do you want to be named Huck, after Huckleberry Finn?" The question received a firm kick to her stomach. "That's what I thought."
"And what makes you think that was a 'no'?" Stefan asked her.
"Our son is living inside of my body, I think we're very in tune with each other. That was an 'absolutely not'."
"What do you think about Oliver, little man? You like that?" He stared in anticipation at her stomach for several moments, but no kick ever came. Finally, he looked back up at her, a smile on his face. "I think he likes it."
"No he doesn't," Caroline insisted. "He's just not justifying that with a response. Trust me, I know these things."
"Oh," Stefan smirked and sat up straight, "You do, do you?"
"Yeah." She shook her head, while fighting the smile that was desperately trying to find it's way back onto her face. "I know my child."
Stefan began to slowly shake his head. "You little minx. He is not even born, and you're already using our child to fight your battles for you."
"I would never!" she exclaimed and clutched her hand to her chest. "How could you say such a thing?"
"I don't know, how could I ever get an idea like that?" he teased. "It's not like you've ever done something of the kind before."
"I did not!" Caroline hotly denied, knowing exactly what past conversation he was referring to. "Elena hated those suits as much as I did."
"And she hadn't been encouraged by anyone to vocalize those thoughts? Quite loudly if I remember."
Caroline pursed her lips at the mention of the teeny-tiny manipulation she might have done with him in regards to his suit for the wedding. They'd been absolutely horrible for the entire scheme she'd planned though, and Elena had agreed. She thought they weren't a good choice either, but she hadn't wanted to voice her opinion because it wasn't her wedding. It was only at some gentle nudging on Caroline's part that she vocalized these thoughts to Damon and Stefan and convinced them to get a different suit. One that Caroline may or may not have told Elena to suggest.
"I'm sorry that I cared about what our wedding pictures looked like. Those outfits will live on forever, and I was just making sure they'd live on timelessly and not infamously. Forgive me for caring about fashion."
"And Elena was going on pure, best friend instinct when she helped me pick out your engagement ring, of course. You'd never pointed a ring out to her before, you know, just in case I might propose." Stefan's face inched closer to her with each word he spoke, the smile remaining wide and filled with glee. When his breath brushed gently over her lips he whispered, "Just give it up, babe." He placed a soft and swift kiss on her parted lips. "You use others to further your own agenda."
"You make me sound like a manipulative shrew," she whined.
"Not manipulative, and not a shrew," he assured her softly. "You're just very certain about what you want. I happen to like you like that."
"Well that's good," she deadpanned and pointed to her stomach, "Cause it would kind of suck at this point if you didn't."
As Stefan stared at her while his hands absentmindedly rubbed her stomach, she couldn't help but think back on everything they'd gone through to get to this point. She'd been twenty when she first saw him stand up in the back of that class on the first day, and something had clicked inside of her. To this day, she couldn't explain it, but when he gave that self-depreciating smile of his that she now knew to be a sign of his extreme nerves, and his hand awkwardly shot through the air as he waved and introduced himself as the teaching assistant, she knew that she had to meet him.
There had been nothing romantic or suave about their first meeting. She'd pretty much thrown herself at his feet after class, only for him to tell her that it wasn't going to happen. The rejection had stirred up a few insecurities she'd carried with her through most of her life, feelings of never being good enough, but then the semester started to tick by and the more she saw of him, the bigger her crush grew. Elena and Bonnie told her she was masochistic, but there had just always been something about him that she couldn't deny.
One day, over a month into the semester, a paper had been handed back to the class, but she didn't get hers, which she'd known she turned in. So she went up to him after class, knowing he was the one who graded them, and asked him about her paper. He watched to see that everyone was out of the room before he pulled her paper from his folder and looked down at it.
When he looked back up at her, a knowing, yet confused look in his eyes, and pondered that she was a lot different than people let on, she had been confused. She had no idea what she could have written in her paper that would make him say that, but months later, when they were in love and practically inseparable he finally told her that he'd known he was wrong about her when he read the paper.
"You know I still have that paper," he confessed.
Her eyes widened in surprise. "How? Didn't you give it back to me?"
"Well, if I remember correctly, between the yelling at me that you hadn't had someone else write your paper, and then telling me to wear red to that stoplight party, when I told you I was single, you never got your paper back. I was going to give it to you later, but then I walked you home, and I couldn't bring myself to give it back to you." He brushed a few unruly blonde strands of hair behind her ear and gently held her face in his hand, rubbing his thumb softly over her cheek. "That was the first part of you that you ever gave me, and I wasn't about to give it away."
"I can't believe you've kept it after all this time."
"It's a part of you, and I want every part of you that I can get."
Caroline closed the small distance between them and captured his lips. In moments like this, when they were allowed to shut out the world, she was filled with so much love for him that she didn't know what she would ever be able to do with all of it. With Damon, Elena, and his father, things got tense and rough sometimes between them, but when they were allowed to just be, they were perfect.
Stefan's hand roamed down her stomach, to the hem of her shirt. He began to pull it up when she hissed and pulled away from him. A wave of pain hit her and she squeezed her eyes shut as she let out a soft whimper. "Ouch."
"Care, what's wrong?" Stefan's voice was filled with worry and fear. She could feel his hands move back to her stomach and nervously feel it; to see if something was different. "What's happening?"
She kept her eyes closed for several more seconds, trying to breathe through the pain until it finally subsided. Once it was gone, she quickly relaxed and opened her eyes to find Stefan's fearful ones on her. "That one hurt."
"That one?" Stefan repeated, his voice raising slightly in panic. "What do you mean, that one? Are you having contractions?"
She grimaced at the sound of accusation in his voice. "Maybe, just a little."
"What?" he nearly shouted. "You're in labor and you didn't tell me? How long has this been going on? Have you been timing them? Has your water broke?"
"Stefan," she cut off his rambling by placing her hand over his mouth, "It's okay. I've been having contractions for a few hours now. At first, they were fifteen minutes apart, and now they're about 10 minutes apart. They're roughly thirty seconds long. Do you promise not to freak out if I remove my hand from your mouth?"
He mutely nodded his agreement, eyes wide, but the moment she lowered her hand, he shouted, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"They're still so far apart. I figured I'd wait until they got closer before I said anything."
"You can't go into labor and not tell me, Caroline."
"It's not labor labor," she tried to rationalize with him.
"You're having contractions," Stefan argued. "That's labor labor. We have to call your doctor, let her know, finish packing your bag, tell everyone who needs to know."
Caroline rolled her eyes and shook her head, slightly frustrated with his level of freaking out. If this was how he was going to behave when they were in the hospital actually having the baby, she was scared. She needed him to be the strong Stefan that she married, the one that totally and completely supported her through her freak outs. She couldn't have a baby and take care of him at the same time.
"You need to calm down," she sternly told him. "You were with me at the doctor's yesterday, and she told us not to go to the hospital until contractions were five minutes apart and about a minute long. I'm not even close to that right now. Things are fine. I'm fine."
Stefan's green eyes swirled in a storm of worry, but he remained silent for several moments, and she simply watched him internally work through his fear. He was like an open book to her, one she'd read from cover to cover fifty times, and that she knew better than she knew herself. He was scared; she could see that clear as day. She'd often worried how he would actually handle this all when the time came.
He was a protector; always out to take care of those he loved. Being the woman who he loved more than anything or anyone in this world, she knew his desire to protect and save her ran deep. So, she was unsure of how he would react when the time came that he would have to see her in pain, and be able to do nothing about it. She trusted that when the time came and she needed him beside her, he would not let her down. She merely had to be the one to take care of him right now, and when the roles were reversed in a few hours, he would return the favor.
"Okay," he finally sighed and his posture relaxed enough for her to relax with him.
She reached out and gently ran her thumb over the worry line between his eyebrows, until he closed his eyes and blew out another deep breath. "Baby, this is going to be fine," she assured him. "We're prepared for this." She glanced down at the various items scattered around her on the bed. With a chuckle, she looked up at him again and shrugged. "Well, we will be once I get this bag packed. So you need to go get what you are going to need at the hospital."
Stefan nodded his head and slid to the edge of the bed to stand up. He turned to face her. "So, I'll go get some things together that I'll need for the hospital, and you'll continue timing your contractions. Then we'll reconvene at around six. Sound good?"
"We're having a baby, Stefan, not going on some secret undercover mission."
Stefan came around the side of the bed so he could lean down and turn Caroline's face up toward his. "I'm going to remember all this lip you threw at me when you're begging to squeeze my hand in a few hours."
Caroline grabbed hold of his face in her hands to hold it in place above hers. "We'll see who's begging who to hold their hand." She tugged his face down to hers and gave him a quick kiss before jokingly shoving him away. "Now go get food and whatever else you need. I'm not joking about refusing to let you leave my side."
She smiled and watched him leave, before shaking her head and going back to her task at hand. If labor continued to move like it had been, they'd be in the hospital before too long. She needed to make sure her bag was packed, she was showered, and completely ready.
Thanks to the intense case of nesting she'd had over the past few weeks, everything in the house was ready for the baby. Despite the threat of divorce papers, she had rearranged the nursery for the hundredth time. All of the baby clothes had been washed and put away, along with all of the bedding for the crib. The bassinet was set up in their bedroom, so he could stay in their room for as long as they wanted him to. Their house was officially ready for a baby. Now she just needed to make sure she was.
For the next forty-five minutes, she went about making sure she had everything she needed for her hospital bag. Right when she had placed the last item in the bag, Stefan reentered the room, a small plastic bag in his hand and a few bottles of the cold coffee drinks he liked. "How you doing in here?" he asked her as he handed her what he'd decided he needed. Have your contractions gotten closer together?"
"They're about nine minutes apart," she told him while finding room for his stuff in the nearly full bag.
"How's the pain?" He retrieved the bag from her and set it beside her nightstand.
"Not the best feeling in the world, but I'm hanging in there. They're mostly really uncomfortable." As if to illustrate this point, another contraction hit her. She went still and clenched her eyes shut to try and focus on her breathing. In the midst of her pain, she felt the bed dip and Stefan's hands began to massage her back. When the pain faded yet again, she relaxed and allowed herself to fall back against Stefan. "This having a baby thing is no joke."
"How far apart was this one from the last?"
Caroline glanced down at her phone sitting next to her. "Eight and a half minutes."
"So what do we do now?"
"Keep timing them. We aren't supposed to go in until they're at least five minutes apart for an hour. I guess we'd go in if my water broke, but it hasn't."
"How do you suggest we pass the time?"
"Figure out a name? He does have to have one. Now might be the time to give him one."
"That will definitely pass the time." Stefan leaned over and retrieved a notepad and pen that Caroline always kept on the nightstand. "We might not be married anymore at the end of this, but it will occupy us."
And for five hours, well into the night, it did pass the time. Between every contraction, they would bicker and throw the occasional piece of rumpled up paper at each other. As each contraction grew in intensity Stefan's worry only mounted, but he never let it show. It was hard to watch her go through more and more pain with each passing minute, knowing that he couldn't take the pain away from her. He stayed by her side and did everything she asked of him, from rubbing her back to her feet and even running a bath for her when the contractions were six minutes apart. The water helped some, but soon the contractions were five minutes apart, and there was little he could do to help her other than support her.
And finally, after a particularly painful contraction, Caroline pried her eyes open that were not filled with the normal joy and love that he was used to seeing. She was tired and disheveled, beyond caring about how her hair looked or whether her makeup was perfect. The only thing she cared about right now was this baby. And him, all he cared about was her and this baby.
"Okay," she breathed out, "Get the hospital bag, it's time to go to the hospital."
Ecstatic that she'd finally given him the go ahead for them to go to the hospital, Stefan rolled from the bed and jumped to his feet. If she'd told him they could, he would have had her in the hospital at the sign of the first contraction. He knew that they weren't supposed to go that soon, and that the hospital would have tried to send him home, but he didn't care.
There were very few occasions in his life where he felt comfortable with his last name helping him out in a situation, but this is one instance he would have used his last name to get whatever he wanted at that hospital. He'd do anything Caroline wanted him to do, and if she had wanted that, he would have done that. Staying home was what she'd wanted though, and now that she wanted to go to the hospital, he wasn't about to sit around and second guess her. They were going, and they were going now.
They made their way to the hospital in just under thirty minutes and were soon admitted into labor and delivery. This was no false alarm. It was the real thing, which was good, because they'd already called everyone and told them to get to the hospital. If it had been fake, he figured their friends and family would probably hate them for dragging them out of the house at eleven at night.
Stefan had just gotten Caroline situated in the room when his phone rang and he looked down to see it was Damon. "What?" he barked out, not in the mood for whatever other stupid questions his brother had. There were more pressing things going on in his life at the moment.
"What room are you in? I'm totally lost."
"How can you be lost? There are signs everywhere."
"I don't know, Stefan. I'm used to having a GPS when I go somewhere I'm not familiar with. I have no idea where I am."
"You're worthless," Stefan mumbled before looking down at Caroline, who was happily chewing on her ice chips provided by one of the nurses. "Damon's lost in the hospital. I'm going to go help him find the room."
Caroline glared at Stefan and rolled her eyes. "This is the one and only time you get to leave my room." She glanced at the clock on the wall and then back at him. "You have four minutes before another contraction. I suggest you run."
And run he did. Caroline couldn't help the chuckle that fell from her lips as she watched Stefan rush from the room, barking out a command for Damon to tell him where he was immediately because he didn't have time to screw around. She wasn't lying when she told Stefan he didn't get to leave her side during labor, but she'd allow it this one time and have fun while she was at it.
"Knock-knock," a quiet voice rang out as the door to the room opened and Elena slipped in with a tired Bonnie behind her. "Word is you're having a baby tonight." She smiled at Caroline and gently closed the door behind her.
"That's the plan." Caroline ran her hands over her rounded belly, a wide smile on her face. "At least, that's what he seems to want. If he puts me through all this pain only to take a break, forcing me to get a caesarian, we're going to have to have a talk."
"Nice to know labor hasn't changed you in the least," Bonnie joked tiredly.
Elena cautiously walked further into the room until she came to the end of Caroline's bed. "Have you gotten an epidural yet?" she asked.
"Nope," Caroline immediately replied, "And I'm not going to. You seriously think that I'm about to let someone come near my spine with a needle that big?"
It was true, Caroline was petrified of needles. She was petrified of pain as well, but her fear of needles won out. She was the last of her friends to get her ears pierced for that very reason, and then she'd had to have her mom hold her hand. It had also been the major downside of her pregnancy. No one had ever told her how many times she'd have to get stuck with a needle while growing a baby, and she was not pleased with it. If she was given an option to have a needle shoved in her back and to not have one shoved in her back, she was taking the second option every single day.
"Are you out of your mind?" Bonnie came forward then, her eyes wide. "You know this whole labor thing is supposed to be painful? You're going to do it without any help?"
"I've been in labor for like eight hours. Kind of caught onto the painful part a long time ago. It sucks, but have you read about the side effects of an epidural? It could take my pain away, but then make my labor last longer. I'm not doing this for a second longer than I have to."
"You're crazy."
"Nice to know my being in labor hasn't changed you in the least," Caroline repeated Bonnie's previous words back to her with a slight twist.
"Where's Stefan?" Elena looked around the empty room.
Caroline rolled her eyes, feeling her irritation with her husband come back all over again. "Bringing Damon to the room, because apparently he can't find his way around a hospital. I swear if Damon tries to pull Stefan from this room again, I'll hit him. Stefan isn't allowed to leave this room once he steps back in here."
"What if he gets hungry?"
"That's why I had him bring snacks and drinks for. I'm not joking. He's glued to my side the moment he comes back. And if he doesn't like that, he should've had a baby in the 50's when the husbands weren't allowed back in the delivery room." At that moment another contraction began. "Here, now," she snapped, reaching her hand out for whoever would grab it. In an instant she felt Elena's hand slide into hers and she instructed, "Put your hands on my lower back and push."
She placed her free hand on her back to show Elena where to push. Her hands were timid on her back at first, but soon pushed firmly. "Like this?" she asked.
"Little more pressure." Soon she felt just enough relief to make the contraction slightly more bearable and she focused on breathing and trying to get through it. Her brain that normally ran at a mile a minute now seemed to pause mid-thought. Everything fell from her brain and all she could focus on was this contraction. "Now that that's over, let's chat."
She could see the surprise and confusion on Elena and Bonnie's faces at how quickly she'd bounced back from the contraction, but it wasn't that hard. Once the pain was gone, it was easy for her body to relax again and return to normal. She knew it wouldn't be like this through all of labor, but she was okay between the contractions for now.
"What do you want to talk about?" Bonnie asked.
"Elena and Damon."
"Caroline," Bonnie warned softly. "You're in labor, let's not talk about this stuff."
"No, we have to talk about it, because I'm going to have a baby in a few hours. I don't know when I'll get to talk about this again, and the longer I wait, the less time there is."
Elena looked at her nervously. "What are you talking about?"
"They set the wedding date." Elena's eyes widened at the news. "They're getting married at the beginning of May."
"That's three months away."
Caroline could understand the shock Elena felt. Damon and Andie had barely been engaged, and now they were getting married in just a few months. This was why she couldn't keep her mouth shut anymore. She'd tried to bite her tongue for as long as she could, but she couldn't do it anymore. Maybe it was the fact that she was in labor or maybe it was that she wanted everything to be right. She had tried to stay out of things and everyone had tried to keep her out of them, but it had gotten everyone absolutely nowhere.
"Damon's still in love with you," she blurted out, unable to hold it in for a moment longer. "I haven't said anything because I was stupid and listened to Stefan when he told me it wasn't my place, but Stefan isn't having this baby, I am, so I get to say what I want about whatever I want. What I want to say happens to be about you and Damon. I am still furious with him for what he did to you, and I still think you are an idiot for running off to Chicago, but what's done is done, so we all need to focus on the here and now. The here and now is that he's still in love with you, but he's too damn stupid, stubborn, and scared to do anything."
"Caroline, stop!" Elena pleaded. "Damon and I are over."
"No, you're not," Caroline insisted.
"We are!" Elena nearly shouted, but quickly calmed herself back down to softly apologize. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to get upset, but we are. I didn't tell you this because I didn't know how, but he was waiting for me after we had lunch when I got back from Mystic Falls. He apologized and tried to make things better, but I sent him away. I told him to leave me alone, to stop calling me, showing up at my place, or following me into deserted rooms. I can't do this anymore Caroline. We have to be over."
"I don't believe that. I refuse to believe that. He loves you and you love him."
"But he's marrying Andie. He wants to be with her, not me. So do me a favor and let this all go, because I can't do this anymore."
"I don't care if he's marrying the most gorgeous woman on the face of this planet, he loves you. Don't let go of that."
"I have to," Elena hissed. "For my sanity, I have to let go of it."
"He's not going to marry her if I have anything to say about it."
Elena's retort was poised and ready at the tip of her tongue when the door opened and she saw Stefan step into the room, Damon right behind him. Stefan rushed to Caroline's side, a concerned look on his face. "Are you okay? Did anything happen while I was gone?"
"Just a contraction or two," she answered distractedly, her eyes glued to Damon and Elena.
Elena watched Damon shut the door, a pained and longing look in her eyes, but it vanished the moment he turned and looked at her. Her eyes quickly found the floor and her hands fiddled nervously behind her back. Damon stood frozen in front of the door, watching Elena, his hands fidgeting at his sides, as if he were trying to resist the desire to reach out and touch her. He looked like there were so many things he had to say to her, but he said none, and after a few moments, his gaze swung to Caroline.
"How's my favorite sister-in-law doing? I take it labor is for real this time since you're in a hospital room."
"You bet this is the real thing. He's coming out whether he likes it or not."
Almost as if proving a point, she felt another contraction come on. Stefan, knowing the signs at this point, was quick to react, doing what he could to help her in any way possible. The pain was the worst thing she'd ever felt, and while a part of her just wanted to scream from the agony of it all, she remained silent. She couldn't seem to open her mouth and make any noise other than a small whimper. She didn't have the capacity right now.
When the pain subsided she looked up to find her three guests wide eyed and seconds away from making a run for the door. Bonnie was the only one who said anything though. "I think this might be a good time for Elena and me to go get some caffeine. Any takers?" She waited a few moments for an answer, but when everyone shook their heads, she grabbed Elena's hand and rushed toward the door.
"I like where her head's at." Damon smirked at the door Bonnie had just slammed behind her in her haste to leave the room. "Can I leave now too?"
He started to step backward toward the door, but Caroline held her hand up, signaling him to stop. "Not so fast. You and I have a few things we need to discuss."
"Right now?" He took in all of the tubes and equipment surrounding her, a confused look in his eyes. "Don't you want to talk after you're done having a kid?"
"No, because I can't force you to sit and listen to me like I can now. I'm in labor, which means you have to do what I say when I say it. Right now, I'm telling you to shut up and listen."
"Caroline, I don't think this is the best idea," Stefan spoke quietly from behind her.
She turned to him and scoffed. "I'm sorry, are you in labor right now without the assistance of an epidural?" When he shook his head she said, "Didn't think so. Now shut up please."
"Okay, Blondie," Damon interrupted her staring session with her husband, "Just get it out before another contraction. I'd like to see as little of this labor as possible."
"You asked for it," she warned before she launched into the mini-monologue she planned all of fifteen minutes ago. "You're being stupid and you need to wake up. Proposing to Andie was one of the stupidest things you've ever done in your life, and I'm tired of acting like I'm okay with it. I get it, you're an adult and you can make your own choices no matter what I think, but I get to state my opinion, and my opinion is that this engagement is a huge farce. You love Andie, but you are not in love with her. No, you're in love with Elena, and you need to pull your head out of your ass before you destroy everything in your life because you're too scared to take Elena back."
"I'm not discussing this with you," Damon tried to tell her, but she cut him off before he could leave or say anything else.
"You slept with my best friend and proposed to another woman the next day. You're damn sure discussing this with me. You think you're doing something noble by proposing to Andie and marrying her. Somewhere in that messed up head of yours, you think this is your way of not hurting her, but let me tell you something, Damon. Marrying a woman you're not in love with, while leading her to believe you are, is the worst thing you can do. If you marry her, you will break her heart one day, mark my words."
"You don't know what you're talking about."
"I don't think you want to play that game with me, Damon. We both know how much I know exactly what I'm talking about."
"What is that supposed to mean, Care?" Stefan questioned, now curious about the conversation going on in front of him, wondering what he was being kept in the dark about.
"Damon and Elena sleeping together wasn't something that happened out of the blue," Caroline revealed. "I caught them holding hands in our guest bedroom on Halloween, and I know that's not the only time they've been in there together. That's like their secret hiding spot. He's spent months finding excuses to show up at her apartment and the bar so he can see her, even if it's just to be mean to her. He got mad when she kissed Colin; so mad he waited for her in a bathroom until she came in. He still has voicemails Elena left him when she was in Chicago. And he still has the letter Elena wrote to him the night she left, but he hasn't read it."
Damon stiffened at Caroline's words and she could see the anger building inside of him. "How do you know half of this?"
"I'm not blind," she shot back at him.
"No, but you're nosy. Stop going through my things!"
"I found out about the voicemails by accident, and I wasn't sure about the letter until just now. Thanks for confirming my suspicion for me."
"I cannot believe you," he mumbled under his breath. She could see the tension rolling off of him in waves, but she didn't care. She'd held so much of this inside for so long she finally had to get it all out, consequences be damned.
"It's for your own good, Damon."
"You don't know what you're talking about."
"I know that you love and Elena and that she loves you. If both of you would grow the hell up everything would be fine. Get some therapy, go on a vacation on a deserted island for a couple weeks, hash out all of your drama, and figure this all out. You can make it work. You just have to wake up and realize it."
"There's nothing to wake up about, Caroline. I'm marrying Andie, end of story."
"You're gonna break her heart, Damon. Just like you broke Elena's. Fix this before it's too late."
"There's nothing to fix. I'm happy, Caroline, accept that."
"I'm not accepting any of this. You're making a mistake, Damon. One you will regret for the rest of your life."
Damon took a step toward the bed. "Okay, let's say for a moment I do what you say and end things with Andie, it won't fix things with Elena. She wants nothing to do with me. It hasn't even been a month since she told me she wanted nothing to do with me."
"Elena wants everything to do with you, but she's too scared to try, because last time she did, you went out and proposed to Andie. It makes a girl a little gun shy. If you went to her and told her the truth, she'd take – OW!" Another contraction hit, effectively ending her rant toward Damon. Anything she had to say to him disappeared from her mind until the contraction was over. By the time she opened her eyes and looked back up, Damon was gone. "Son of a bitch."
Stefan stood up from his spot behind her on the bed and moved in front of her. He sat down again and rested his hands on her legs. "Okay, I don't know what kind of mission you're on tonight, but I'm ending it now. This is not the time to go around trying to fix everyone's lives."
"I've waited too long already, Stefan," she argued with him. "Damon's already set the date for the wedding. We're running out of time here."
"We're not running out of anything. It's Damon's life, and he can do whatever he wants."
"You hate the idea of this wedding as much as I do."
"It doesn't matter what I feel, Caroline. I have to stand by him."
Stefan couldn't sit in front of his wife and say that he agreed with Damon's decision, but he wasn't going to try and stand in the way of it. While he knew his relationship with Caroline was different than his brother's and Andie's, he knew how devastated he would have felt if Damon had ever suggested that he should not go through with his marriage to Caroline. If Damon had told him before he got married that he thought he was making a mistake, he would have felt betrayed by his brother. He couldn't do that to him. He didn't have to act like he was okay with everything, but he could keep his thoughts to himself. Knowing Damon that was all he'd really want anyway.
"This is how you stand by him. Standing by someone means sometimes telling them what they don't want to hear so they won't ruin their life."
"How about we table this discussion until you're not in labor anymore? Let's just focus on having this baby."
"This is the only time I get to say this, Stefan. They have to listen to me when I'm in labor."
Stefan paused for a moment, thinking of a different tactic to use to get Caroline off the topic of Damon and Elena. He understood she was passionate about this, and she thought she was doing what was best for everyone, but this was not the time. She had given him the job of being her birth coach, and he was going to follow through, whether she liked it or not. He could play ruthless too, especially when it came to doing something for her own good.
"Think about the leverage you'll have once we have the baby. I know we don't have him yet, but I have a feeling if we put him in anyone's arms, they'll listen to anything we say."
Caroline pondered his suggestion for a moment. "I didn't think of it that way."
"So, we're dropping this?" he asked.
"Yeah, we're dropping this."
"Good," he sighed in relief. "Now let's figure out how to get this labor moving along."
"They told us walking was good," she reminded him. "I guess we could go for a leisurely stroll with a few contractions thrown in there."
"You think you can walk?"
"They're contractions, Stefan, I'm not paralyzed." She nudged his arm. "Let's go. I'm ready to have a baby."
"Well, if you insist."
Stefan helped Caroline to her feet and out into the hallway where they walked for some time before they ran into Elena, who was coming to check on them. Caroline's contractions were closer together now and more painful, but she was happy to see her friend, happy that Elena wanted to be around for this. He knew Caroline had been scared of how Elena would deal with the pregnancy and subsequent birth of their child. Elena might not be his favorite person, but he couldn't deny the empathy and sadness he felt for her on this night.
She followed them back into the room, where she stayed with them for a while, trying to keep Caroline amused through everything. She kept a good game face on between Caroline's contractions, but he didn't miss the sea of pain she seemed to be floating in when Caroline was in the middle of a contraction. He believed a part of it was due to seeing her friend in pain, but he knew a big part of that pain was seeing Caroline go through something she never got to.
He didn't think he'd ever forget the night he'd run with Damon into that bathroom, scared that something might be wrong with his wife, only to find a bleeding Elena passed out on the floor. He'd known the moment he took in the scene on that bathroom floor that nothing would ever be the same again, and it hadn't. When he'd been outside of that hospital with his brother who was breaking down, his wife had been inside of it, curled up in bed with her best friend. She rarely ever spoke of that night, neither of them did, but when she did, she'd often say that something broke inside of Elena that night. She swore that she'd looked in Elena's eyes in that hospital room and seen something die behind her eyes.
"Come here." Caroline motioned for Elena to come sit on the bed with her between contractions. She obliged and moved from the small couch by the window over to sit on the edge of the bed. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I don't want you to think I'm pushing you. I just want you to be happy."
Elena reached out for Caroline's hand. "I am happy. I don't need you to worry about me."
"No you're not," Caroline cried. "You're sad and you have a broken heart. You're just telling me you're happy because I'm having a freaking baby that refuses to come out, and I can't get the nurses to leave me the hell alone or stop touching me during contractions, when I keep telling them not to."
"Caroline," Elena laughed, despite her attempts not to. "You are the only person I know who would try to conduct business from your hospital room during labor, like the Godfather."
"I'm special like that," she joked right as another contraction came on, causing Stefan to jump back into his job of helping her through it.
He saw Elena step away from the bed and glance at the door, and he motioned toward the door. "Go," he whispered, wanting to end her misery for her. She was staying because she was a good friend, but he felt that this was beginning to border on torture. "It's fine," he insisted when she shook her head. "Tell everyone it shouldn't be too much longer anymore."
Sure enough, not twenty minutes after Elena left, did the doctor and nurses come in.
Her doctor stood at the end of the bed as she slipped her gloves on. "Okay, Caroline, since your water hasn't broken, I'm going to go ahead and break that, and then we'll pretty much be good to go for the rest of this thing. You ready?"
Caroline's wide eyes met his and she shook her head like she wasn't ready. "Not yet."
"What do you mean not yet?" he asked her, shocked that she wasn't ready considering how much pain she was in, especially since not five minutes ago, she was complaining about the baby not coming out.
"We can't have him without giving him a name. What kind of message will that send to him? He'll think we don't care."
"I don't think he's going to remember that it took us time to settle on a name for him."
"Stop trying to be reasonable with me!" she snapped.
"Okay, Caroline, you ready to have this baby?" her doctor asked again as she took her position at the end of the bed, seemingly oblivious to the disagreement between him and Caroline, or she simply didn't care. He was going to bet she didn't care. She probably saw things like this on a daily basis. He doubted he and Caroline were anything original to her at this point.
"Is there any way we can postpone this for a little bit longer?" she questioned, somewhat pitifully.
"I don't think we have that option anymore. Your little boy is ready to meet you. So, I'm going to break your water, and I think you'll be ready to push really soon after that."
"He's not going to want to meet me once he realizes we don't have a name for him," she cried out, but before anyone could try to reason with Caroline further, Stefan felt her hand squeeze down on his hand and he knew she was having a contraction. "Why did we do this?" she groaned. "Why couldn't we name him? Why am I scared of needles?"
Stefan watched her writhe in pain and it almost broke his heart to watch her cry out in agony. He'd do anything he could to make this stop for her, but he knew there wasn't anything he could do. She had known what she wanted and what she hadn't wanted, but it didn't mean it didn't hurt to watch this all even if it was what she wanted.
"It's okay," he whispered to her, leaning down to brush a cool rag over her forehead. "Just breathe."
The pain calmed down enough a few moments later for her to glare at him and demand, "Why didn't you make me get an epidural?"
"Because you would have fainted in this room if they'd brought that needle in here. You would have died."
"Well, I'm dying right now, so I guess it doesn't matter!"
"Caroline, I need to break your water, okay?" Stefan held both of his hands out for Caroline to grab hold of and told her to focus on him until it was over. She groaned and whimpered some, but soon, the doctor was saying, "Okay, before long, you two are going to have that baby." She stood up and removed her gloves, a small smile on her face. "I'm going to go change into my scrubs, and then I'll be back soon. Hang in there, and tell the nurses when you have to push."
Caroline silently nodded with tears in her eyes, but he had no time to question her before she felt another contraction. "See, he already hates me, Stefan!" she shouted. "We should have picked a name!"
He didn't know what to do but listen to her and hold her hand through the pain. He didn't much know if she was really that scared about not having a name or if this was just how she was dealing with the pain of the whole experience. "It's going to be okay," he assured her. "Just breathe, Care."
"Oh my god, I'm never doing this again!"
"What happened to wanting a girl?" he tried to joke to lighten the mood, but after the words were out of his mouth, he realized this probably wasn't the best time for a joke.
"I lied!" she cried, but was soon announcing, "I have to push!"
One of the nurses rushed into the hallway and came back a minute later with the doctor, who was now changed and ready to go. "I hear you're ready to push."
"I'll do anything to make this end." He noticed the doctor chuckle, and he figured she must have been paying attention to their discussion earlier if she found amusement in Caroline's statement now.
"Just push and this will all be over soon." She took her position at the end of the bed and instructed, "Next contraction, I want you to push."
Everything seemed to happen in a whirlwind after that. For thirty long minutes, Caroline pushed and cried as she squeezed his hand. She looked pushed to the edge of her limit of how much pain she could take, but she kept on. She fought and she pushed, and then, a loud, piercing wail rang out and they both froze.
"You did it," Stefan whispered as he watched the doctor lift their son. "He's here."
He felt the moisture fall from his eyes down his face, but he didn't care that he was crying or what anyone thought. As he looked at his crying son, arms fisted by his face, he was overcome with emotion and love.
"We have to do this again." Caroline held out her arms toward her son, itching to hold him. Her face was damp with sweat and tears, but all she wanted was her son. The moment she felt him placed on her chest, the entire world fell away. All she knew in this moment was her son and Stefan. "Hi baby," she cried softly, running her shaky finger over his chubby cheeks. "I'm your mommy."
She was allowed a few minutes with him before they had to take him away to get cleaned off and whatever else it was they did with newborn babies. She knew she'd get him back in a few minutes, but her heart ached for him the moment they took him away. She'd only known him for a few short minutes, but she already loved him with every fiber of her being.
Stefan pressed kisses all over her face, murmuring how much he loved her. "We have a son."
She nodded her head. "We have a son."
They called Stefan away then to cut the umbilical cord. Exhausted, she watched from the bed, a soft smile on her face. She saw Stefan's hands shaking from over here, but he must have gotten the job done, because soon he was holding their son again, who was wrapped tightly in a blue blanket with a matching blue cap on his tiny little head. Stefan smiled down at their son as he carried him over to the bed so she could hold him again.
"Six pounds, eight ounces, and nineteen and a half inches long," he announced proudly.
"He's so tiny," Caroline said in awe. She didn't think she'd ever seen anything so beautiful in her life.
Not too long after, they stared down at their newborn son in awe, taking in the first real moment as a family without nurses and friends around. Everyone would be arriving soon to fawn over the newest addition to the Salvatore clan, but for these few moments, it was just them in their own world, where everything was perfect.
"I guess we really have to name him now." Stefan rubbed his hand gently over his son's head of barely there blonde hair.
"He can't be Baby Boy Salvatore forever," Caroline surmised. "It might be unique, but I think he'd feel we didn't care enough."
"Back to the baby name game it is then." Stefan kept his eyes trained on his sleeping son as he went through a list of names in his head, trying to see if any of them stood out, just perfect for him. "What about Oscar?"
"Oscar, really?" Caroline questioned incredulously. "What book are you pulling this one from?"
"This one actually isn't from a book. I'm thinking of the writer, Oscar Wilde."
"Well, our son is not an Oscar."
"At this point, I'm starting to think he's not anything," Stefan mumbled. "You keep shooting down every name I have."
"Because they're not him, Stefan. I don't know how to explain it. None of the names you've said feel like him. I know it sounds crazy, but I just know there's a name for him that is amazing and perfect. We just need to find it."
"Okay then," he sighed and went back to the mental drawing board he had going on inside of his head. They'd spent so many months going through names that he could hardly remember what he'd said and what he hadn't. So, he finally threw out, "Tom."
"Tom?" she scrunched her face up in deep thought over the name. "Why Tom?"
"He's one of my favorite literary characters. He's not very popular, but I remember thinking that I really wished I could be more like his character when I was younger, just a little more carefree and adventurous. I think I just thought Tom Sawyer was a pretty cool kid."
"Oh my God, that's it," she gasped in complete surprise. After months of back and forth arguments and torn lists of potential names, everything finally clicked into place. It all fit perfectly, and she knew, in this moment, she'd found his name. It had always been his, but they just had to get to it.
"What, Tom?" Stefan perked up at Caroline's excitement, partly out of joy that they'd finally found a name, and partly out of relief that they'd found a name.
"No," she shook her head, her blue eyes wide and filled with tears, "Sawyer. That's his name, Stefan. He's Sawyer."
When he looked back at the bundle in her arms, his eyes moments away from finding the back of his head, he felt something click as well. As he looked at his son, the name Sawyer floating in his head, it suddenly all made sense. Caroline was right; this was his name. There was no rhyme or reason to why it all fit, or why it seemed completely perfect; it just did. He looked at him and he just knew that this was his name.
"Hi Sawyer," he whispered, leaning down to brush a feather light kiss on his chubby, pink cheek. "I'm going to love you and your mom more than anything."
Caroline's eyes still shone brightly with tears when he sat back up. She smiled, her lip trembling. "And we're going to love you."