Elena's PoV
Elijah and I make our way to Matt's apartment. He invited us for an evening of board games, pizza and probably drinks. Matt also invited Vicky and - of course - Rebekah. Those two have been all over each other for some time now.
Upon our arrival, it's Vicky who opens the door. "Hi guys! Elijah, nice to see you again. I think it's been almost a year."
"Yes, I'm afraid so. I've been too focussed on work and neglected my social contacts." he answers.
Vicky grins. "Huh. I almost forgot you're always so formal."
"I hope that's not a bad trait?" he asks as we enter the apartment.
Vicky laughs and I lean over to kiss his cheek. "No, don't worry." I say, "I think it's cute."
"Well that's a relief." he responds and kisses my cheek too.
Vicky shakes her head in an amused manner and leads us to the living room. Matt and Rebekah are already sitting on the couch whispering with each other and looking incredibly cheerful.
"Hey guys!" I greet them. "Hope we're not interrupting?"
"Uhh, no no, not at all!" Rebekah quickly stammers and Matt gets up from the couch.
"Elena, Elijah, hey. Would you like something to drink? Wine perhaps?" he asks. Elijah gratefully accepts the offer and I decide to stick with water.
"Okay, what should we start with? Ludo? Codenames? Or perhaps Concept?" Matt asks.
We agree on codenames. My husband, Vicky and I against Rebekah and Matt. Since Rebekah and Matt are quite experienced with the game while Elijah is playing it for the first time, we agree it is fair enough.
"And if we lose, we can always blame it on being outnumbered and demand a rematch." Rebekah adds, grinning.
We start playing. Matt and his girlfriend quickly get a headstart making it difficult for Vicky, Elijah and me to catch up, but it is still a lot of fun. Matt's couch is really comfortable and it is very nice to talk to them.
"By the way, did we mention Matt and I are going on a weekend trip together next month?" Rebekah innocently asks.
I squeal and look at my husband with a huge grin on my face. "O my god, that's amazing! I'm so happy for you guys!"
"Sounds like things are getting serious then." Vicky states. She looks a lot more sober than me right now, even though she is the one drinking beer. Then again, she is always suspicious when it comes to her brother's girlfriends. One, because his first girlfriend dumped him and left him hurting badly and two, because she is working with less than friendly people on a regular basis. She told me once that her coworkers as well as her clients could be really hard to deal with sometimes.
Matt just grins and takes Rebekah's hand. "Guess you could say that, yeah." he says. Rebekah smiles shyly and even blushes a little. Wow. Seeing her behave like that tells me she must be completely smitten. Good for them.
"Wood, three." Matt adds. Rebekah considers for a moment. Then, she points at three different cards on the board, with the words 'forest', 'bench' and 'spoon' on them. Matt smiles and marks them as correct.
My husband interferes. "Wait, how did Rebekah know that 'spoon' was also a wood-term?" he asks confused.
I calmly explain again: "Matt said three. That means, there were three cards with terms related to the term 'wood'. So Rebekah chose the three words that sounded most related to wood to her. But she didn't know, she guessed. That's the point of the game, honey."
"Oh, right." he nods.
We keep playing and talking. It is nice, even though Vicky still casts a few suspicious glances towards my sister-in-law. But she will get used to her, I am sure of it.
At some point, the moment Vicky has been dreading all evening arrives: it is Elijah's turn to say words and have me and Vicky guess which cards on the table belong to them. Vicky makes him look her in the eye and poignantly tells him to do his best before letting him begin. I cannot help but giggle when she does that. Which earns me a sideway glance from Vicky and a grin from Rebekah.
"Umm, very well then. Country, one." he says.
Vicky groans. "Only one? Really?"
"This way the chances of guessing the wrong term are significantly smaller." Elijah explains.
Vicky looks like she is going to explode. "Elijah, if we can only guess one word at a time, Matt and Bekah will be finished before we even guessed half of our words! Meaning we'll lose spectacularly!"
"Oh. I suppose that makes sense." Elijah admits.
"Too late for the first one, though, he already said it." Rebekah says, grinning devilishly. Vicky sighs and Elijah nods.
The game goes on. Matt and Bekah are really good at this. They make a very dynamic duo. By the time we come closer to the end, Vicky, Elijah and I are lagging behind by three. Which has very different effects on all of us. Elijah seems like he is trying harder and harder to concentrate, Bekah and Matt are cheerful, Vicky is fuming but tries not to say something and I am having a hard time not to laugh, because Vicky's body language tells exactly how she is feeling right now and I cannot help but find it funny.
"Okay, big brother, only four more to go for you guys. I'm sure you can do this." Rebekah smirks.
"Please be silent, I'm trying to find a suitable term." he replies without looking up from the cards. Then, suddenly, he smiles and relaxes. When he looks up, he meets my gaze and says: "Change, four."
"All four in one?" Vicky is stunned, as her expression clearly tells. Elijah just nods and gestures at the board, encouraging us to pick the cards.
The first one is easy. "Clothes!" Vicky picks it immediately. "Like, someone's getting changed." I nod in approval and she tips the card saying 'clothes' with her finger. Elijah nods and marks it as correct.
I pick the second one. "Vacation. As you all know, Elijah and I made some major changes in our lives not long ago, starting with a vacation." Vicky nods. Another correct one.
My next guess seems less self-explanatory though. "Refrigerator."
Vicky, Matt and Bekah look at me in confusion. I explain: "When we still lived at the mansion, I sometimes told Elijah how I didn't like it that I had to share a fridge with Esther and Mikael. This way I couldn't get fast food and store it in the house for later because Esther would always scold me and say, food like that was, quote: 'beneath us'. So, one of the best changes in our lives recently was finally having our own fridge." Vicky contemplates for a second, then nods. Elijah smirks and marks it as correct too.
Only one left. Vicky and I search for a while on the board. There is nothing else that directly relates to any change as far as Vicky knows which leads to her giving the task of finding the last word on my own.
"Come on, there's gotta be something on that board you could see as that!" Vicky is audibly getting frustrated because I am taking so long. Truth is, I am nervous now.
In fact, I think I know what word Elijah means. It is part of our changes too. But it is a big deal and this is a strange way of revealing it. Still, I am nervous.
Taking a deep breath, I finally lift my finger and pick the word my husband meant with his clue: 'child'.
Elijah smiles at me with love and marks my guess as correct.
But before his hand reaches the board, Rebekah starts screaming.
"O MY GOD!!! Elena? You're pregnant? O my god! You're gonna be parents! And- and I'm gonna be an aunt!!!!" Rebekah shoots up from her seat and rushes around the table to me, practically glowing with joy. She pulls me into a bone-crushing hug with one arm and uses the other to pull Elijah into the hug too.
"Wow! Congratulations, guys!" Matt says, beaming.
"Way to break the news to us!" Vicky comments, but smiles too. Matt gets up and goes to the kitchen.
"O my god! A baby!" Rebekah is still completely overwhelmed and keeps hugging and jumping around us with joy. My wonderful husband lays an arm around my shoulders and gives them a loving squeeze.
Matt comes back with a bottle of champagne. "This calls for a celebration, guys! To Elena and Elijah having their first child."
"Good idea, Matt." I say, "But just water for me. Remember, the little one in my tummy is a bit too young for alcohol."