A/N: Eek! One more update! And, I have been asked to do an epilogue for this one as well. A little Baby Brooke and Daddy piece. So, really, it is like two more updates!
I had never planned to write this sequel, but so many of you convinced me to do it and I am glad I did. :)
Please let me know what you thought of this update :D I did jump time just a wee bit.
"So, things have been going well for you I take it?" Dr. Kosser asked, notepad open and pen ready to write down anything Elena had to say during the session.
Elena nodded enthusiastically. Sure, she had had a bit of a setback when she had to testify against Derrick. Being in the same room as him and seeing him look at her with absolutely no remorse had affected her more than she had cared to admit. When it was over, she had gone back to shutting Stefan out and he had talked her into seeing a psychologist. Reluctantly, Elena had agreed.
And it had been the best decision she had ever made. Twice a week for the last month she had been working with Dr. Kosser; working on her thoughts and feelings not only from her recent ordeal with Derrick, but also working through everything that had happened since the day she had met Derrick. Sure, she had a lot of work to go, but both she and Dr. Kosser were very happy with her progress. Elena was a very eager and willing client, participating in session and also completing homework at home. Her main reason for going at first had been to make herself better for Stefan. A few weeks in and she began to appreciate working to better herself, for herself too.
"I feel really good" Elena told Dr. Kosser, a huge smile on her face. "I've started yoga classes" she added. "And volunteering at the local animal shelter." All ideas Elena had come up with when Dr. Kosser had asked Elena to try and do things she liked to do – things that relaxed her.
The doctor smiled. "And how are things with you and your husband?" she asked.
Elena smiled again. "Really good" she said. "Maybe even better than before, if that is possible" she added. "We've been doing that exercise every night, you know, the one where we take five minutes to talk to each other about any concerns we had during the day."
"Good" the doctor smiled, making a few notes in her notepad. "It sounds like things are really improving for you, Elena. So what do you say we have you come in and see me once a week from here on out?" she asked.
Elena pondered that for a moment. "Yeah, I think we could do that" Elena agreed.
The rest of the session went on as usual. Elena worked on how she felt before, during, and after Derrick. She then compared those feelings to the way she felt with Stefan.
When the session had ended, Elena went to her favorite little antique store, having had her eye on a really old silver pocket watch she knew Stefan would love. "Good afternoon" the store owner said, smiling as Elena entered.
"I'd like to see the pocket watch please" Elena said. He grabbed it out of the window case and handed it to her. Elena examined it closely. It really was old. "How much?" she asked.
"Two hundred" he said. Elena opened up her purse and grabbed her wallet. She took out two hundred dollars and handed it to him. She then waited for him to wrap it and place it in a small gift box. "This must be for someone very special" he said, handing it to her.
Elena smiled. "He's definitely special alright" Elena said, thanking him before she went back out into the chilly air. She still had to pick up a few things for dinner before she headed home.
When she did finally walk through the front door an hour later, Stefan was there to greet her and to help with the groceries. "Hi" he smiled, kissing her quickly before heading into the kitchen to help put things away. "How was your session today?" he asked. He would never ask her to divulge what she discussed, but he liked to know how it was going for her.
"Really good" she answered, putting a box of cereal away. "We talked about you a lot" she said teasingly.
He might have been worried had he not seen that she was smiling. "Only good things I hope" he said, putting away some vegetables.
Elena walked to him, slipping her arms around him. "I told her how amazing you are. And how much I love you" she said, kissing his shoulder before letting him go.
He didn't let her go too far though, pulling her back to him and kissing her. Elena smiled as she let herself come down from the high that his kiss had just given her. "And how did that make you feel?" he asked jokingly, earning him a smack on his leg from her.
"You're so funny" she said sarcastically, finishing up with putting things away. "I have something for you, by the way" she said, digging through her purse. He made his way over to her, curious as to what she had for him. When she handed him the blue gift box, he smiled at her, looking at it. "Open it" she said, barely being able to contain her excitement. It was always him buying her things. It was about time she started buying him things too.
Stefan slowly unwrapped the box to find an antique silver pocket watch. He picked it up and examined it before a bright smile spread across his face. "This is awesome" he said, looking at her. "This has to be from the early 1900's" he added. He was a sucker for old things. "Thank you" he said, extending his arm out to pull her into a hug.
"I saw it and thought you might like it" she said, feeling his lips press against her forehead.
"I love it. I'm going to stick it with the old coins I have" he told her, putting it back in its box. "Speaking of gifts, I have something for you too" he told her, opening up the drawer in the kitchen and pulling out an envelope. "Open it" he said, handing it to her.
Elena did so, looking up at him when she took out the contents. The realization hit her fairly quickly. "Ireland?" she asked, failing miserably to hide the excitement coursing through her at the moment. She had always wanted to go to Ireland. He nodded, smiling as well because her excitement was infectious.
"You told me when we first met that you had always wanted to go to Ireland" he reminded her. "So, I am taking my beautiful, amazing, generous, and loving wife to Ireland" he said, barely having time to open his arms before she flung herself into them.
"Stefan, you are the amazing one!" she all but squealed like a small child. "When do we leave?" she asked, pulling back just slightly so she could see his satisfactory smirk.
"After Thanksgiving. We'll be back in plenty of time for you to get ready for Christmas" he told her. His first real Christmas with her. The last one hadn't counted because they hadn't liked each other all that much.
"God I love you" she said, leaning in and kissing him hard. Unfortunately, it ended almost as soon as it began. She was untangling herself from him before he could stop her. "I have to go and call Caroline and Bonnie" she said over her shoulder as he watched her run out of the kitchen.
He laughed, because really, that was all he could do, standing alone in his kitchen, totally deprived of her physical contact. Her happiness was worth it though.
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True to Stefan's word, they had made it back home from Ireland with plenty of time to prepare for Christmas. Two weeks to be exact.
Ireland had been amazing. Stefan had gone all out, putting them up in world famous chateaus and including so many tours to places she had never even heard of before. Of course, there was plenty of time for them to go off on their own, too.
Stefan had made a checklist of things he wanted to do while in Ireland. Elena thought it was a great idea, so she had made one before she left too. Her list included things such as, trying Irish dishes and drinking at a local pub.
Stefan's list included having sex in Ireland. That literally was the only item on his list when Elena had finally asked to see it. So, he decided to put a check next to it every time they did have sex in Ireland, telling her he had a personal goal of 8 times. And they had done it 8 times, because she wanted him to achieve something on their trip.
Needless to say, she was exhausted when she dropped her bags inside their front door. She shuffled into the living area and collapsed onto the couch. Stefan wasn't far behind her, landing almost on top of her. He sighed. "Should we unpack and make dinner?" Elena asked, slipping her hands under his shirt and rubbing his back.
Stefan groaned, clearly against that idea. "Let's stay right here, and order in" he said, turning his face in towards her neck and kissing her. "I'm so tired" he sighed. "But spending two weeks with you in Ireland was totally worth it" he said.
Elena smiled. "I bet just spending two weeks in Ireland would be worth it" she told him.
He shook his head no though. "Nope. Wouldn't have been worth it if you weren't there" he told her. "And not just because of the sex, which was amazing, by the way" he smiled, kissing her neck again. "It was a lot of fun seeing a new place with you" he told her honestly.
"Aren't you sweet" Elena told him in a teasing manner. They settled into a comfortable silence for a few minutes. "We should take Lily there one day" she said thoughtfully.
He popped his head up quickly and looked at her confused. "How would we have sex with Lily with us?" he asked, a slow smile forming.
Elena rolled her eyes. "We wouldn't" she said, rolling him off of her. She got up off of the couch.
"Don't leave me" he pouted, leaning over the edge of the couch and wrapping both his arms around both of her legs, nearly knocking her over.
Elena laughed, sitting back down on the couch with him. "I'm going to shower. Wanna join me?" she asked.
His eyes lit up like a small child seeing his Christmas presents all wrapped and placed under a tree on Christmas morning. "Umm yeah" he said, scrambling up off of the couch. He grabbed her, throwing her over his shoulder and hauling ass out of the room, up the stairs, and into the bathroom.
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It was early the day before Christmas as Elena was sneaking back into the house. She had just left the animal shelter she volunteered at.
Stefan was nowhere in sight as she tiptoed across the living area towards the stairs. "What are you doing?" she heard him ask. Elena spun around quickly, her arms folded around something . "What do you have?" he asked, walking into the room.
"Nothing" Elena said innocently. Though, she knew she was caught. Stefan approached her, pulling her arms apart slightly and unfolding a blanket. A small furry head popped out from the blanket and looked at Stefan. Stefan looked at Elena. She had the same look on her face that Lily had when she wanted something she knew she couldn't have, but knew she would get anyway eventually. "She's the only one that didn't get adopted out" Elena said, jumping right in with a pleading, almost begging voice. "I didn't want her to spend Christmas alone" Elena said with sad eyes as she looked at Stefan.
Stefan sighed. He didn't want an puppy in the house. Especially one that might go to the bathroom all over everything. "Elena …" he said.
"Please Stefan" she said, sticking out her bottom lip as she begged. "Just until after Christmas. Then we can find her a new home" she told him.
Stefan sighed again, running a hand through his hair. "I know you, Elena" he began. "And I know that if you keep this puppy for two weeks, you won't be able to give her up" he told her. Elena did not deny this nor confirm it. "So, you might as well go to the store and get her everything she needs to live here with us" he said. Yes, he caved. Yes, there were only two females in the entire world that could make him cave like that.
"Thank you!" Elena said, wrapping an arm around him and hugging him. Elena pulled away from him and brought the puppy out of the blanket, holding her out to Stefan. "Her name is Mimi" Elena told him, placing the puppy in his arms. Mimi licked Stefan's chin and Elena smiled brightly. "She already loves you" she told a less than thrilled Stefan. Stefan laughed at his wife. The dog would probably lick anything. "I'll be right back. I'm going to go and get the sweater I bought her" she said, disappearing out the front door.
"Well Mimi, you make Elena happy. So, I suppose you can't be all bad" he told the little puppy. He wasn't quite sure what breed the dog was. It kind of looked like a rat to him. But, he scratched behind her ears.
Then, he felt something warm against his chest. He pulled the puppy away and saw that she had peed on him and his shirt was soaking it up. "You are SO lucky I love Elena" he said, heading to the laundry room to change shirts.
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Lily loved the new puppy. And it loved her too. They chased each other around the house, outside in the yard, and were eventually found curled up together in her beanbag chair under a blanket a few hours before Christmas Eve dinner was to be served.
"She loves that little rat dog" Damon said as he stood in the kitchen with Elena and helped prepare dinner. "Maybe I should buy her one" he added, tossing a few more ingredients into his casserole salad.
Elena watched Lily walk by, the little dog following her. She was telling it all about Christmas and what kinds of presents she was hoping to get. "Let her take that one home" Elena said quietly, moving next to Damon.
He turned and stared at her for a moment. "That's your dog" he pointed out.
Elena shrugged. "I was supposed to only foster her anyway and then find her a new home after Christmas. I think she would be a lot happier with Lily. She seems to love kids" Elena smiled, finishing up with decorating the sugar cookies.
"You sure?" Damon asked.
"I'm sure" she said, smiling one last time before she went looking for Stefan. She didn't need to look far. He was wrapping presents for Lily upstairs. "So which ones are from Santa and which ones are from you?" she asked teasingly as she walked towards him, wrapping her arm around him and leaning her head against his shoulder.
"It's about 50/50" he smiled, admiring all the gifts he had bought her. It was the same every year. He bought more presents than any kid would ever need and marked half of them as from Santa and half of them as from him. Lily was always too busy tearing into them to care who they were from anyway.
"I think you have tough competition this year" Elena said. He looked down at her curiously and saw her smile. "I just gave her my dog" she told him.
"You love that dog though" Stefan told her. He couldn't say he was sad, especially after it had peed on him and found its way into their bed sleeping between them. But he knew Elena loved that little rat.
"I do" she said. "But you should see Lily and that dog. They belong together" Elena smiled.
Stefan leaned down some and kissed the top of her head. "That's why she loves you so much. Because you think of her before yourself" he said, tossing the last wrapped present aside.
Lily ran in moments later, the little dog right behind her. "Aunt Elena, you're giving me Mimi?" Lily asked with such surprise and such excitement that Elena couldn't help but smile.
"I think she belongs with you" Elena told her, smiling when she saw the little dog sitting next to Lily, looking up at her.
Lily broke out into a huge smile as she ran towards Elena. "Thank you!" she yelled, throwing her arms around Elena. Lily let go of Elena not long after and went running out of the room with the little dog yapping behind her.
Stefan watched Elena look sadly at the door. He put his arms around her and kissed the side of her head. "Do I need to find you another puppy?" he asked.
Elena shook her head. "No, I'll be okay" she laughed sadly, wrapping her arms around him too. They walked out of the room together.
Once downstairs, the door opened and in walked Caroline and Alaric, each holding a handful of bags. Jeremy and Bonnie squished their way in behind them. Lily's eyes lit up upon seeing even more Christmas bags and people. She wasn't sure where to go first as she made her way over. They all took their time giving Lily hugs and kisses and shooing her out of the gift bags.
Mimi ran towards Alaric and he freaked out. "Gah, rat!" he yelled, jumping from one foot to the other to avoid it.
Lily grabbed the dog and glared at him. "Her name is Mimi and she's not a rat. She's a … a … Aunt Elena what's she again?" Lily asked, turning to Elena for help.
Elena smiled. "A Chihuahua mix" Elena told her.
"Yeah, a Chihuahua mix" Lily corrected him.
"Oh she's so cute" Caroline gushed, reaching out and plucking the puppy from Lily's hands. "I want one" Caroline whined, turning to Alaric.
"No" he said simply before disappearing into the kitchen.
Caroline and Lily shared a look before giggling as they followed Alaric. Elena made her way over to her brother and Bonnie, giving them each an extra-long hug. "I'm so glad you two could make it" she told them.
"Us too" Bonnie said, smiling at Jeremy. "Can we help with anything?" she asked.
"Nope, just make yourself at home" Elena told Bonnie, ushering for Stefan to come and take care of their bags.
Stefan and Jeremy watched the girls walk off, chatting away as they did. "Why don't you go into the kitchen and grab a drink. I'll take these up to your room" Stefan told him.
"Sure, thanks" Jeremy said, finding his way to the kitchen.
Stefan grabbed the bags and headed up the stairs, depositing them in a guest room. He looked up and saw Katherine sitting in the window, looking out. "It started snowing" she said, holding her glass of wine between her hands.
Stefan looked out and noticed that it was in fact, snowing. "What are you doing up here by yourself?" he asked, walking into the room a bit more.
Katherine shrugged. "I'm not in a social mood" she told him. "You know, your house, your family" she said before taking another sip of her wine.
"Your husband and daughter are downstairs. They're your family" Stefan reminded.
"They're bonding with the rest of your family. I'd rather not get in the way of that" she shrugged again, looking back out the window.
Stefan sighed. "Don't be like that Katherine. If we didn't want you here, we wouldn't have invited you, trust me" he said, coming to sit down across from her in the window. "Where's all of this pitiful wallowing coming from anyway?" he asked.
Katherine raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm not wallowing" she told him, taking another sip of her drink.
"What's wrong?" he asked, giving her a pointed look that told her he knew something was up and that she had better start talking.
"You care all of a sudden?" she asked. Though he could tell there was relief somewhere in her voice, she was shielding that with a snarky attitude.
He didn't play into the snarky part though. "What's wrong?" he asked instead.
She held his eyes for a few moments before giving up and looking back out the window. "My family invited me to come and visit in a few weeks" she said, staring at a particularly large snowflake as it went by. "They want to meet Lily."
Stefan sat up some. "Are you going to go?" he asked curiously.
Katherine shrugged. "No. Maybe" she said, laughing to herself. "I haven't spoken with these people in over a decade. I left for a reason" she said, looking down at her wine glass. "But …" she trailed off.
"They're family" Stefan said, smiling softly at her. He understood that. "So, whatever you decide to do, remember you have family downstairs too" he added, patting her lower leg before he stood up. "You also have a new dog" he added as he began walking out of the room.
"What?" she asked.
"Elena gave Lily her puppy" Stefan grinned as he turned around to look at her. "Cute as can be, but, she's not potty trained. Or any kind of trained, really. Have fun" he said before disappearing out of the room.
Katherine downed the rest of her wine before getting up and going in search of this new dog she had acquired. Turns out, it was the perfect size for a brand new Coach purse Damon could buy her for when Lily wanted to bring the dog shopping with them.