Our Love Prevails {Stelena} (1)

11-In your arms at last

Same day
Stefan's POV
Being able to see, touch, hug, kiss Elena again is just amazing. These four months have dragged for so long and it felt like eight months. I hate the fact that I've missed the first four months of her pregnancy, but I have to be grateful for the fact that I'm here now. I can't believe how prominent her bump is, Elena said that it's grown quite quickly over the past couple of weeks. Since Elena's always been petite, it means that she'll show more, which she seems happy about.
"Everyone's really excited to see you," she turns to me and says. She returns her gaze to the road as I smile.
"I'm excited to see everyone else, especially my parents." She smiles and turns to the right. "Well I'm glad because that's where I'm taking you." She has a cheeky little grin on her face, which makes me wonder what she's up to. I give her a jokingly curious expression. "What?" She manages to keep a straight face for approximately 2 seconds before revealing another grin. I jokingly shake my head at her.
"You'll see," she says turning into my parents' driveway. She switches the engine off before looking at me with a smile. "Shall we?" She says gesturing inside. "We shall," I smile. We both get out of the car and I feel my excitement heighten. "Come here," I say, bringing her into a kiss, a kiss I need but also one that I think she'll appreciate. My lips feel whole when they connect with Elena's lips, her soft, gentle lips. We stand there for a few seconds as I hold her in my arms, both of us caught up in the kiss. "What was that for?" She asks laughing, I gently cup her face.
"I needed it," I simply say and she seems to agree. I take her hand in mine before we both walk up to their front door. I feel her squeeze my hand a little harder as I knock on the door. A few seconds later and I see my mother in front of me.
"Oh Stefan! I missed you!" She cries before she brings me into a tight hug, I hug just as hard, happy to see her again.
"I missed you mum," I say as we part. She wipes a few tears away from her eyes before she ushers us both inside. I walk in first as Elena walks in with my mother. I walk into the living room to see Elena's family, my dad and Damon, Caroline and Bonnie. Each of them are standing up, and I'm just so overwhelmingly happy to be in their presence again. "Stefan," my dad says as he gives me a hug, followed by Damon's hug and then everyone else's hugs. I must've spent at least twenty minutes greeting everyone, a few tears being shed in the process. Once everything had settled down, we all sit back down. I sit down next to Elena, wrap my arm around her shoulders, my fingers softly tracing up and down her arm. I'm comforted as she places her head on my shoulder, I've missed it so much.
"So Stefan, how was Australia?" Miranda asks as she and my mum sit down after looking at something in the kitchen.
"Well, it was...different. It took a lot of getting used to, but the weather was nice." I say, despite the fact that I didn't get a lot of time to enjoy the weather, I spent the majority of my time in the hospital or in the offices.
"Did you see any kangaroos?" Elena asks as she lifts her head from my shoulder.
"As a matter of fact I did. We went to see one just for you," I reply.
"Aw you did?" She smiles and giggles, such a perfect sight. I take my phone out of my pocket and show her the pictures I took of them, she smiles when she sees them.
"Aw they're so cute," she says with a giggle.
"Do you want to see what a platypus looks like up close?" I ask and receive a nod in return. I show her the other pictures I took and her smile grows at each picture, such a beautiful sight.
"Aw! They're funny looking," she laughs again.
"I'll take you there someday," I say quietly near her ear, keeping it between her and me.
"I'd like that," she says before kissing me on the lips. In appreciation of the kiss, I smile and slowly entwine our fingers together.
"Aw I'm glad you two are finally together again. You know, Stefan, Elena hasn't stopped thinking about you since you left," Caroline says. I look at Elena's face to see her blushing, meaning that's it's true.
"Well that's okay, because I haven't stopped thinking about her either." She smiles shyly before placing a kiss on my cheek. I instinctively tighten my grip around her waist, never ever wanting to let go of her.

When everything had calmed down and we had all settled down into our own individual conversations I decided on giving Elena her gift.
"I have something for you," I whisper into her ear. Ever since I came back she hasn't left my side, not that I'm complaining.
"You have?" She questions as she lifts her head from my shoulder. Her present's in my bag which, for some reason, my mother has placed in my old bedroom. I take her hand in mine and lead her up the stairs, the whole time with a smile on my face.
I lead her to the bed and she sits down on the edge. "Close your eyes." She obeys my request after giving me a questioning look. I place the box in her hand, watching as she opens her eyes and looks down. She opens it and honestly, her reaction is priceless.
She puts her hand over her mouth before looking at me.
"It's beautiful," she says as a tear runs down her cheek. I crouch down in front of her.
"No where near as beautiful as you are." I take my hand and gently cup her cheek, my fingers tingling as she places her hand on top of mine.
"I bought it after you told me you were pregnant. I looked online for the best gift and saw that there are such gifts for a first child together." I'm probably ruining this moment with my rambling but she's smiling so I'll take that as a good thing.
"This is so sweet, I love it so much." She sniffles as she wraps her arms around my neck.
I wrap my arms around the small of her back. "I'm glad you like it."
"How did I get so lucky to have someone like you?" I hear her say against my neck.
"I think I could ask myself the same question," I reply softly.
"Would you?" She holds up the ring, gesturing to it.
"I'd love to." I take the ring out of the box, slide it onto her ring finger. Once it's touching her engagement ring, I take her hand and lightly kiss it, not being able to get enough of her.
"Thank you baby, I love you," she says before bringing our lips together. Our kiss lasts until we're both gasping for breath which, in my opinion, still isn't long enough.
"I'll do anything for you, for the both of you." She smiles after hearing that and I can't help but smile at her smile, "We know you will."
We stay like that, our arms wrapped around each other and her head laying on my shoulder for a few minutes before my mother calls up to us both.
Knowing that we'll have more alone time tonight, I smile before taking her hand in mine and leading her down stairs to everyone else.
Elena immediately gets pulled away by Caroline and Bonnie, who instantly notice a new addition to her ring finger.
I smile at them all before bringing my attention to Damon, who's walking straight up to me.
"It's good to have you back brother," he says as he brings me into a hug.
"It's good to be back," I say, hugging him back.
"Congrats on the little tyke you'll have soon," he says with a smile.
"Thanks, Damon." I look back over to Elena, who's smiling at her enthusiastic friends, and admire her. How I got so lucky to have an amazing fiancée, I'll never know.
"I bet you're excited to be a dad, huh?" He asks nudging me with his shoulder, a grin on his face.
I smile back at him, "yeah, I am. Nervous, but excited."
"Nervous? You're going to be an amazing dad, you have no reason to be nervous."
"What about you, brother? Have you met anyone special lately?" I didn't expect him to react seriously but he blushes, telling me that he has indeed met someone.
"Actually, I have. It's nothing serious yet but I really like her," he smiles. "But how do you turn something like this into something serious?"
"You'll know when it's right, because it's just an indescribable feeling. If you're both feeling the same way then it'll become more serious on its own." To be honest, my advice sucks but this is how both Elena and I felt when things became more serious, we just let nature take its course.
"Thanks Stefan, you know, you're pretty good at the advice thing."
I laugh a little, "I try."
We both turn our heads to see my dad calling Damon over, looking cheery and happy as he does it.
"Now what does he want?" Damon asks sarcastically with a laugh.
"I don't know but you might want to find out," I reply. I watch as he walks over to our dad and smile. Damon and our dad haven't always gotten on over the years so it's nice to see them finally bonding. I have no idea how long their kindness towards one another will last but I'm enjoying every second of it.
I smile at the thought whilst making my way over to Elena, who's smiling soundlessly at her gushing mother as well as Jenna, Caroline and Bonnie.
She turns her head towards me, her beautiful face rosy pink from her blushing. She smiles as I approach.
"Hey beautiful," I reply whilst leaning down to kiss her forehead.
She wraps her arms around me from the side and I mirror her actions, I can't help but want to hold her all the time.
"Everyone loves the ring," she states whilst glancing over at the four of them. I look over to them nodding their heads with grins before distracting themselves with their own conversations.
"Well I'm glad everyone likes my taste in rings," I reply whilst taking her hand in mine.
"They do indeed." She smiles before wrapping her arms loosely around my neck as I hold the small of her back.
"I love you, so much." I brush hair gently away from her face as we continue to hold our gaze.
"And I love you, so much too." She leans up before meeting her open mouth with mine. Her lips against mine is something I'd become accustomed to over the past six years, loving every single kiss we've shared. There's no way I'm every going to express how much I love this girl and our beautiful baby, but I sure will try.

Elena's POV

Once it started getting late we all decided to head back home. We bought Chinese on our way home, we're both too tired to cook and personally I didn't feel it was right to ask Stefan to cook on his first night back.
Stefan's changing into comfier clothes as I get the plates and utensils. I keep staring at my new ring, it's so beautiful and I can't believe Stefan bought me it. Caroline and Bonnie practically freaked out when they realised it's an eternity ring.
As I'm opening boxes I feel two arms wrap around my waist and two hands stroke the sides of my bump. He snuggles his head into the curve of my neck, giving me small kisses on my shoulder and neck. I smile, it feels so nice to be in his arms again, I cannot even describe how much I've missed this.
"I've missed this," he says against my neck. It's as if he's taken the words right out of my mouth.
"Me too," I say. I tilt my head to the side, leaning it against his soft hair.
"I could stay like this forever." I exhale in appreciation of the moment we're having. He gently kisses my head before tightening his hug around me, enveloping me further into his comforting embrace. "I love you," I hear him whisper in my ear. I smile after hearing those three words and feeling the light kiss on my ear.
"And guess what?" I ask turning to the side to face him. My fingers lightly trace his jaw line.
"What?" He answers, sounding excited and curious at the same time.
"I. Love. You. Too," I say slowly before standing on my tip toes in order to kiss his lips. We're both smiling in the kiss, as well as after it.
"I was thinking..." I start before feeling his grip tighten around my waist, holding me securely close.
"Yeah," he says filling my silence.
"That, if you wanted to, we could get married before the baby's born," I suggest. It's very far fetched but if he's ready to then I don't see why we should wait. I have ideas already about my dress and the girls and I have been looking through wedding magazines ever since we got engaged.
"I think," he starts. "That sounds like a great idea, the sooner the better." I smile at his response before leaning closer to reconnect our lips.
"So we'll start planning?" I question as our lips part, he nods his head in response.
"Yay! I have a binder and everything," I say before taking his hand and dragging him upstairs. I open my cupboard and take out the binder we've made over the past couple of months.
"Where on earth did that come from?" He laughs, as I pass the binder over to him.
"We've been making it ever since we got engaged," I smile as I lead him downstairs and into the living room.
"You start to look through that and I'll get the food, I'm starving." I say, not leaving enough time for him to say anything before I leave.
I come back and we both settle down and eat as we look through the binder. Caroline left me a checklist of everything that we need to decide on, which we're both finding very useful. As we're looking through the binder, many cuddles and kisses were shared, smiles were produced and I laughed so much.
I have no idea how long we spent sitting there and going through the binder but by the time we've finished, I'm extremely tired.
"Wedding planning is so tiring," I say before yawning. He gently laughs before kissing my temple.
"Come on, let's get you to bed," he replies before he scoops me up into his arms.
"Just like old times," I say with a giggle.  Although I'm playing it cool, I feel so excited and tingly every time he touches me.
"Just like old times," he repeats with a smile. He carries me upstairs and places me down carefully on the bed.
"Your side of the bed hasn't been touched since you left," I tell him truthfully as he gets into bed next to me.
"I'm back now, for good." I'm comforted when I feel my back touch his chest and feel his arms protectively wrap around my body.
"Good, because I'm not letting you go ever again." I feel his smile against the back of my neck and feel the familiar tingling feeling in my body. He kisses the back of my neck which makes the tingling feeling heighten by about a million. I smile as we continue to cuddle together for the first time in four months, there's no hiding my absolute delight that I have the love of my life back.
AN: Okay, I owe you all a huge apology for not updating on time and taking so long to do it. I'm sorry, I've been under A LOT of stress lately with picking universities and coursework and just school in general. It's probably not very good but I knew I needed to update so I just finished the last bits off. Social media hasn't been my number one priority lately and in all honesty, I've been very distracted. I'm hoping to get quicker at the updates but if I don't, please understand. Thank you 💞
Also in the spirit of Halloween, I changed my icon to Dobsley's most iconic Halloween ever.
-Chelsea X