Silent Prayers

Chapter 54

Elena walked into the kitchen and sat two bags of groceries down on the counter.

"Hey" Stefan said, setting down the newspaper he had been reading.

"Hey" she smiled, leaning in and kissing him quickly. "I'm not too late, am I?" she asked, beginning to take items out of the bags.

Stefan shook his head. "Damon just fired up the grill. Perfect timing" he told her. "How did it go today?" he asked. Stefan had been anxiously waiting for her to come home so he could ask her that.

"Okay" Elena answered. "I had to fill out a ton of paperwork, prove to them I was who I said I was" she added. "They want to come out and do another home check within the next week or two."

Stefan nodded. The Department of Social Services had sent out a social worker a few days after Jeremy arrived to do a home check and interview all of them. Elena had been on edge the whole time, wanting to make sure she answered their questions correctly.

Stefan set his paper aside and stood. He placed a kiss against the side of her head. "They can come out every day if they want to" Stefan told her. "The only thing they will find is a stable home with people who love him" he added quietly.

Elena abandoned her task of emptying the grocery bags to turn and face him. "Thank you" she said, looking up at him. "I needed to hear that."

Stefan smiled. "You're welcome" he said, leaning down and kissing her lips gently.

"Where is Jeremy?" Elena asked.

Stefan smiled again as he nodded his head towards the window. "He's helping Damon man the grill" he answered.

Elena nodded and went back to unpacking the groceries. "Do you know who is coming to this barbeque?" she asked. Elena glanced up at the clock and knew people would start arriving within half an hour or so. While she wanted to celebrate how well Stefan was doing since his accident, she just was not feeling too terribly social.

"Some of the guys from work and their families" Stefan answered. "I told Damon I didn't want too many people" he added. Stefan watched Elena nod again and could tell something was wrong. "Hey" he said. "What's going on?" Stefan asked.

Elena shook her head. "Nothing" she told him.

Stefan could tell she was lying though. "Hey" he said again, grabbing onto her waist and turning her around. "You can tell me anything, you know that" he said, looking into her eyes. Stefan could see that her eyes were watering and that she was on the verge of crying.

Elena took a calming breath before she told him what the matter was. "Today, when I met with the social worker" Elena said sadly. "He said things that made sense..." she trailed off.

Stefan grabbed onto her hands and held them. "What kind of things?" he asked softly.

Elena let the first few tears fall. "That children do well in two parent households that are stable and consistent" Elena said. She heard her voice crack. "Stefan, I'm not a mother. And I'll be juggling him, and school and work ... and us" Elena told him with a drawn out sigh.

Stefan squeezed her hands. "So ... what are you saying?" Stefan asked hesitantly. He was not sure exactly what Elena was thinking.

Elena shrugged. "That maybe Jeremy needs more than I can give him" she admitted. It killed her to say that, but she was being honest.

He knew Elena could give Jeremy everything he needed. "Elena" Stefan said, ready to assure her. But it was Jeremy running through the sliding glass door towards them that prevented him from saying anything further.