Stelena: Eternal Love (2)

20- Finally Home

One week later

Stefan's POV

It's been a week since Elena gave birth to our beautiful little girl, and I was the happiest I could be. We had two beautiful little girls, and what made it even better was that Elena has recovered from the birth and was completely healthy. Her physical strength was so much better and the doctor said her episode was an aftershock of labour. She's just been discharged from the hospital today, so she's getting changed whilst I get Bethany ready. Since it was December and rather cold outside, I dressed Bethany in her onesie and coat that we recently bought for her. Having another baby around was just amazing as it was, but because she was mine and Elena's daughter just made everything a thousand times better. I began to lose track of time and ended up gazing at my gorgeous, sleeping girl for quite a while. The only thing that brought me out of my gaze was Elena coming up behind me and resting her chin gently on my shoulder.
"She's so beautiful," Elena whispered near my ear.
"A lot like her mother then," I smiled. I turned slightly and watched the colour rush to and tinge her cheeks. I found it adorable how she would always blush when she was complimented.
She turned me around completely, placed her soft hands on my cheeks and leaned up. Our lips met in a light kiss which I never wanted to end. My lips felt at home when they were against Elena's. However, sadly we weren't able to finish the kiss as we were interrupted by a knock on the door, shortly followed by a nurse entering the room.
"Sorry to interrupt but you're able to leave now, you just need to sign out," she said before swiftly leaving.
"Shall we?" I asked and held out my hand for her to take, a smile on my face. She took my hand willingly, I grabbed Elena's bag and carried our beautiful baby girl out of the hospital. I couldn't wait for her to see her new home.

Elena's POV

It felt so good to be out of the hospital. I've always hated being in hospitals, so to only have to spend a week in one was positive. I loved seeing Stefan hold Bethany, he was such a great father to her, as well as Isabella. I knew he was relieved when he found out that we were both healthy. I will admit, I was still sore and, at times, my back killed, but I didn't want Stefan to worry, so I haven't brought any attention to it.
Stefan drove us back home and I couldn't wait to show Bethany her new home; I could feel the anticipation build inside me. It felt weird to think that the last time I was home, I was pregnant with Bethany, but now I had a little baby to hold. I took Bethany out of the car seat and into my arms, whilst Stefan got the bags and car seat. I lightly kissed her head and quietly hushed her back to sleep.
Stefan and I walked side by side up the drive way and towards the door.
"Welcome home, Bethany," I whispered. We opened the door, stepped in and there we saw the whole family with banners, gifts and balloons.
"Surprise!" They all half-shouted, half-whispered as they saw the little sleeping bundle in my arms. I had to admit, I was surprised by this surprise gathering. I wasn't expecting anyone to turn up. Even my grand parents turned up, and they lived in Australia now so it meant a lot to me that they made the effort to come. Before greeting everyone, I handed Bethany over to Stefan, who placed her in the Moses basket that we kept in the living room.
"Mummy! You back!" Isabella practically sprinted over to me, a giant smile plastered on her face. Despite my aching muscles, once she reached me, I engulfed her in a hug and lifted her up in the air. She couldn't stop laughing and, to be honest nor could I. I missed her so much, it felt amazing to be able to hold her in my arms again, I never wanted her to leave them. I placed her back down on the ground after to give her a proper hug.
"Mummy okay?" I was still crouching down to her level, so I gently stroked her cheek and nodded.
"Mummy is all better, don't you worry," I said reassuringly.
"How are you feeling now?" Jenna asked, standing up from the chair she was sitting in.
"A lot better, not so emotional either," I said. She gave me a smile with a small laugh.
I spent the next few minutes hugging and greeting everyone with Stefan and then after, I finally got to sit down. Almost immediately after I sat down, Isabella made herself comfy on my lap. Thankfully, Bethany was sleeping otherwise I would've had to feed her; I wanted to have some time with Isabella since I haven't seen her much in the past week. Stefan brought her into the hospital with him sometimes during the day, and he came alone at night. Caroline and Bonnie looked after Isabella which I was so grateful for, I needed to have some alone time with Stefan. Although, over the course of the week, I haven't really seen much of anyone so it felt so nice to be able to catch up with everyone again.
We spent a lot of time catching up and Isabella showed me all the drawings she's done over the past week. I was glad that she's been occupying her time and has been happy rather than crying for me, which is what Stefan thought she'd do.
Despite the fact that I was literally drained, I still wanted to stay awake to talk to everyone.
It wasn't long before the random chatter turned into the wedding and surprisingly, it wasn't just Caroline talking about it.
"So... when is this wedding going to happen, Elena?" My grandmother looked at me, this hadn't been the first question we'd had about the wedding.
"Soon, we're working on it," I said before looking at Stefan. He shared the same happy and excited expression as I did.
"Are you still okay for me to plan?" Caroline asked, looking between Stefan and I with a hopeful glance.
"Of course we are, Caroline. Nobody could do it better," Stefan replied. She smiled so big that you'd think that she was the one getting married.
"Thank you guys so much! I'm so excited!" She squealed which made us all laugh in excitement with her.
"Ah! I can't believe Christmas is just around the corner," my mum sighed in, what sounded like, exhaustion.
"Tell me about it, we still don't have our Christmas decorations up yet," I sighed at the list of jobs that were just piling up. I felt Stefan's gentle hand on mine, his thumb gracefully tracing over my fingers.
"We'll get them up, don't worry," he consoled me. He knew that the Christmas decorations weren't the only thing that was making me stress.
"Grayson, we haven't got ours up yet and don't have the excuse of being busy with a baby," my mum joked. We all laughed at how unorganised my mother was making herself look.
"Caroline made us put ours up on the first of December and if Bonnie and I hadn't of protested, she would've put them up a lot earlier than that." Klaus playfully nudged Caroline's shoulder as she blushed.
"I like Christmas, is that a crime?" she defended. I laughed at the two of them, they were such a cute couple, I was so glad they got together in the end. Caroline always spoke about Klaus since the very first day they met so I couldn't explain how happy it made me that they were together.
"Don't worry, I would've gotten ours up early had we not of been preoccupied," I said in agreement with Caroline.
"What time are you coming over to ours on Christmas Eve?" My mum asked.
"Stefan's got work until about twelve so we'll leave after that." I couldn't wait to spend Christmas with my family and my parents. It was going to be the best Christmas ever.

A few hours later

Stefan's POV

Everyone left about an hour ago, which meant that now our house was peaceful and quiet, for how long, we had no idea. Elena's grandparents made us meals so that we wouldn't have to cook for a few days, which was more than appreciated by the both of us.
We put Isabella to bed about twenty minutes ago, all throughout the story she was talking about her Bethany. She was so attached to her little sister already and we couldn't be happier, we were scared that Isabella wouldn't like the thought of another baby in the house. I knew Isabella would be the best big sister and would do us all proud, she's already made me such a proud father.

I walked out of the bathroom after getting changed into comfier clothes and saw Elena stood by Bethany's bassinet. I stood behind her, wrapping my arms around her from behind and lightly brushing my lips on her neck. I snuggled my head into the curve of her neck as I also admired our beautiful daughter.
"I'm so glad we have her now," I said, my eyes fixated on our daughter.
"I'm so glad she's out of me," she laughed a little. I laughed with her as we both quietly walked to the bed. I sat down and not long after Elena was in my lap and my arms found their place around her waist.
"How do you feel?" I asked as a smile crept up on her face; she cuddled her face against my neck.
"Happy, amazing, excited but also tired," she replied. I gave her a light kiss on her forehead before she curled up in my arms. It's been a while since we've been able to do this, Elena was too pregnant to. As much as we both wanted to cuddle up on the bed together, we never could.
"I love you" she whispered, making me smile.
"I love you too, so much." I lightly kissed her forehead, treasuring every second I got with her.
Whenever Elena was in my arms, I knew I could protect her. It was the same for Isabella and Bethany: when they were in my arms, I could protect them. If anything happened to my family, I didn't know what I'd do, which just made me more thankful that my family was safe and sound.

AN: I know it's not near Christmas in real life but it makes sense in the story since it's December. I hope you like it! Please comment and vote! The support I've been getting has put a smile on my face and I love you guys for that!💖
I also know it's a crap chapter but the events to come are so interesting!
-Chelsea x