Our Love Prevails {Stelena} (1)

18-It's time

2 weeks later

Elena's POV

"Ew, what's that?" I ask as I point to the laptop screen.
"That is a bone flap," he replies whilst laughing at my reaction.
"No offence, but that looks disgusting."
"Well it's not for everyone I guess," he replies with a kiss on my forehead.
"When do you have to take your board exams?" I ask. At the moment, Stefan's a neurologist, which means that he gives consults to the patients however doesn't actually preform the surgeries. But for almost half a year he's been training and studying in order to become a neurosurgeon since you have to work your way up to that level.
"Two weeks," he says.
"You nervous?" I ask, smiling because I already know he's going to do so well.
"Kind of. I mean, a lot of people fail their boards first time around. Also, I've heard the exam is really difficult."
I take his hand in mine. "You're going to be fine. All hard work pays off, and you've put in so much effort and I promise you that you will do well." He smiles at my words before tightening his grip around me and placing his forehead onto mine.
"Thank you." He whispers.
"I believe in you. I always have, and don't you forget it." I tap his nose jokingly, and he replies with a smile, one that I hold on to since I can never have enough memories of his smile.

I'm so glad that I'm finally on maternity leave, it feels like I've been carrying this baby for a year. Although just because I'm on maternity leave, it doesn't mean that I don't have any work to do. I still have to work but I can do it in the comfort of my own home, instead of coming into work each day.
"Ugh, I've got to go finish this report before Amanda personally slaughters me." I say as I stand up, with Stefan's help, and make my way to the stairs.
"Okay baby, do you need any help?" He asks as he looks up from the laptop on his lap. I shake my head in response.
"No thank you, I'm all good," I say confidently as I start to climb the stairs. He smiles and I know he's watching me travel up them, I think it's cute how protective and concerned he is for me.
Once I'm in our study I sit down and get to work. It's not easy when you have a small, restless baby inside of you whose due date is in a matter of weeks. Every now and then I feel it move and I can't help but look down smiling. The look on Stefan's face was unforgettable when he felt the baby kick for the first time. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know what was happening. But when I realised what it was, my whole body filled with joy, which easily transferred to Stefan, who was amazed at the movement of his child.
Thinking about that makes me smile, Stefan's reaction related to anything about the baby is just priceless.
I get carried away with my work because the next time I look at the clock I realise two and a half hours have passed by and to my surprise, I'm almost done.
"Hey," I hear followed by a knock on the door. I swirl the chair around slightly to see Stefan with a cute smile on his face.
"I thought you might be thirsty," he says walking over with a cup of tea in his hands.
"Aw thank you, sweetie!" I smile before kissing his cheek. He places the mug down next to my laptop before he leans on the back of the chair, his closeness makes my heart skip a beat.
"What you writing about?" He asks as I feel a gentle kiss on my head.
"Something about petrol prices," I say uninterested in the topic.
"Wow, sounds interesting." I can hear the sarcasm in his voice and it instantly makes me laugh.
"Well no more interesting than your hematomas and craniotomies," I say back.
"I think you'll find that the study of the brain is quite fascinating," he replies. I laugh at his enthusiasm, he's always been so interested in the brain and how it works ever since we first met.
I smile at the thought. "What are you working on?"
"I'm revising over burr holes and craniotomies," he says which honestly doesn't surprise me. He's always revising his knowledge despite the fact he knows it all.
"How many times have you been over them?" I ask with another laugh, kissing his cheek again.
"Only a couple of times," he says innocently with a smile on his face.
"Exactly my point," I smirk.
"Speaking of which, I need to get back to it. Shout me if you need anything." He kisses my head for the last time before he starts to make his way out.
"I will and Stefan?" I call just before he leaves.
Holding the door handle he replies, "yeah?"
"I love you." I just feel the need to say it, to remind him that my love for him will never change. Plus, I love the smile it brings out of him, it's a unique smile that only I can bring out of him.
"I love you too," he says with that same smile that made me fall in love with him in the first place.
After our little moment, I pretty much have a smile on my face for the next half an hour. My smile is literally impossible to wipe off my face, or so I thought.
My smile fades as I feel a warm liquid running down my leg, followed by a sharp stab of pain. I drop the pen I'm holding on the floor as my hand immediately goes to my back, the pain making me double over.
"Ste- Stefan!" I call out to him, hoping that he'll hear me.
I stand up from the chair and I would've fallen over if I hadn't of had a grip on the desk.
"I'm here baby, it's okay. What hurts?" He asks as he wraps his arms around me for support.
"I think my water broke," I say out of breath. I see his eyes and they turn to a surprised, scared look.
"Okay, I'll get you to the hospital." He helps me walk across the landing and down the stairs, constantly with his arm around me. Every time I feel another contraction I have to stop, endure it, before continuing to walk. And every time he always comforts me by rubbing my back, whispering encouraging things to me and giving me his hand to squeeze. It takes a while but we finally make it into the car and the drive is awful. My contractions get more painful and I can't hold Stefan's hands since they're on the steering wheel.
"We'll be there soon baby," he says to comfort me as I continue to moan in pain.
Eventually, we arrive at the hospital and Stefan parks and carries me in. Luckily we're directed to a room immediately and Stefan helps me change into the hospital gown.
"Stefan, it's too early. I can't-," I cry out and break down into sobs. He wraps his arms around me, slightly rocking me whilst I cry into his chest.
"It's too early, it's my fault," I cry and cry, unable to stop the action. He continues to rock us both, saying how it's not my fault. I know how scared he is since I can feel the slight tremor in his hands as he runs them down my hair.
My sobs are cut off by the painful stabbing sensation I feel within my abdomen. There's no denying that this baby wants to come out.
"Breath, in and out. That's it, you're doing so well," he says calmly. I'm glad that at least one of us seems calm, even if he's actually panicking on the inside.
I guess he deals with scary situations all the time at work so he must know how to stay calm a whole lot better than me. I breathe in and out deeply like he said, helping me to cope with the pain.
My midwife enters the room, "hi Elena, how's the pain on a scale from one to ten?"
"About an eight," I say as she begins to put her gloves on.
"Okay, what I'm going to do is check how far you're dilated. From what you've told me about the pain, it seems that you're quite far along." I nod as she speaks, trying to cope with the amount of pain I'm in. Before I can stop myself I start thinking about how early it is and how there could be complications and the baby might not make it. I feel tears start to run down my cheeks which are followed by the soft touch of Stefan's hand gently stroking my hair.
"Elena, I know you're worried about your baby but listen, all I need you to concentrate on is delivering it. Okay? We've dealt with far earlier labours before so you and your baby are in safe hands," she says. Her saying this has actually made me feel a little better about the situation.
"You're about eight centimetres dilated so you should be ten within the next two hours maximum." I'm so relieved to hear her say that, to know that I'm dilating fast just helps me focus on the fact that soon we'll be able to hold our baby.
"I'll be back in a little while to check on you. Stay calm and if you need me, let one of the nurses know and they'll come and get me." She smiles before walking out and closing the door behind her. I know she told me that I need to stop worrying about the baby and that I need to focus on giving birth, but I can't stop my mind from questioning the different outcomes. Yes, I'm sure she's dealt with far earlier deliveries, but surely that doesn't prevent anything from going wrong?
Stefan's familiar touch brings me back from my spiral of thoughts that I had gotten sucked into.
"I know what you're thinking. It's going to be okay sweetie, everything will be alright." I smile at his words. I smile at the comfort that my husband brings me, and the fact that I know he'll always be here for me, as I will be for him.

Stefan's POV

An hour later

"Okay Elena, it's time to start pushing." She says as she lifts Elena's legs up.
She nods with understanding before sitting up, all the while having a strong grip of my hand.
"Your contraction will be along in about 15 seconds when you feel the urge: push!" She shakily nods her head before tightening her grip around my hand, moving me closer to her.
As the contraction comes she squeezes my hand harder, if that was even possible, as she leans forward and pushes with all her might. Tears constantly stream down her beautiful face, breaking my heart more. I continue to encourage her, understanding how much pain she's in and knowing how brave she is.

Another hour later

"Elena I can see the head, a few more pushes and you'll have your baby!" She calls and I see both relief and tiredness spread across her face.
"You can do it, sweetie, you're almost there," I whisper to her comfortingly, and receive a squeeze on my hand in reply. She hunches forward with another push, one that the midwife seems satisfied with.
"And it's...a girl!" She exclaims and honestly, I feel as if my heart stops beating. The relief, joy, excitement, and pure love consumes me at that very moment. Elena smiles before I gently ease her down to lie against the pillows.
"Oh my god," she cries with her hands over her crying face.
"You did it baby," I smile. We both draw our attention to the beautiful, crying baby the midwife is holding up towards us.
"Stefan, would you like to cut the cord?" I look to Elena, and she smiles and looks at the two of us with so much love. I move forward, tears still running down my face, and cut the cord in two, signifying the fact that our daughter has been born, and that we are now parents.
"We'll just get her weighed and cleaned up." She informs us before walking to the side of the room with our beautiful daughter in her arms. I make my way back to my wife, and cradle her as she wraps her arms around my torso.
"I can't believe she's here, we have a daughter," she cries into my chest. I think we're both so overwhelmed and happy and ecstatic with everything about this situation.
"Here's your daughter!" We both hear and immediately both our heads are turned towards the wrapped up bundle in her arms. She gently places her over to Elena, who gasps at the sight of the tiny baby.
"Oh my god look at her," she whispers. I crouch down to her level and admire our beautiful, perfect new addition.
"She's beautiful, just like her mother." She smiles before turning to face me; bringing her face closer to mine, allowing me to see her beautiful brown eyes more clearly. Our lips meet in a perfect, passionate and gentle kiss: one that signifies our love as well as our complete and utter joy. Once we've pulled away our faces remain close, since we only have to slightly turn our heads to see our beautiful baby girl.
"Are we going with the name that we decided?" I ask softly as I gently stroke our daughter's cheek.
She nods. "If you still want to." I nod too.
"She looks like a Layla," I state, happy that we're finally meeting our child.
"She does," she smiles. "Layla Skye Salvatore." We both smile at the name. Having Elena take my surname was a blessing in itself, I did let her know that she didn't have to but she insisted on it, saying that it was an honour for her to become a Salvatore. And now that we have a third Salvatore to add to our little family, it's just amazing and so unbelievable.
We both bring our attention to Layla's eyes, which are now starting to open.
"Aw she has your eyes," she gasps as her gaze swiftly switches between Layla and I. I nod with a smile, having absolutely no words to express the happiness I'm feeling. Despite only knowing her for a few minutes, I'm already feeling an consuming amount of love for Layla, a love that will never change.
AN: Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I know you're all probably a little sick of them having girls in my stories but I just loved the name Layla! Don't worry! If they have more kids *hint hint* I'm sure they'll be a boy in the mix! 😉
-Chelsea x