2 weeks later
Elena's POV
The last two weeks have been absolutely, undeniably, perfect. I can't even begin to explain how amazing it was to spend two weeks just solely being with Stefan, I've missed spending so much time with him. It was nice to give him my full, undivided attention for once and equally receive his in return. I think we've let everything get a little bit out-of-control recently and haven't allowed ourselves to spend much alone time with one another. However, after spending such an amazing honeymoon together I can guarantee that we'll make sure to improve upon this.
Now, back to reality. We're standing outside the airport's south entrance with our bags, waiting for Stefan's dad to arrive since he also offered to pick us up and take us home. The plan is to drop off our bags at home and drive to my mum's house so that we can pick Layla up. Just thinking about the fact that we'll see Layla in an hour's time makes my heart race at, what feels like, a thousand beats a minute. "I can't wait to see her." He knows exactly who I'm talking about and I can guarantee he's thinking the same, we've barely been able to hide our excitement.
"Me neither, I've missed her."
I smirk at him. "Daddy can't stand to be away from his daughter."
He takes my hand in his, squeezing it comfortingly. "More like he can't stand to be away from his family, period."
Before I can reply, a familiar car pulls in and stops a few meters in front of us, and not too long after both of Stefan's parents emerge from the car.
"Hiya!" Lilly calls from the other side of the car, making her way towards us, and smiles at the two of us.
"Hey! Long time no see," Stefan replies before she brings him into a hug, swiftly followed by me. I hadn't noticed that Giuseppe was packing the car with our luggage until I felt the weight of the suitcase move out of my grip and into his.
"So, how was it? How was Australia? Did you like it? What was the weather like? I mean, I checked the weather forecast but you know how unreliable they can be." Sounding like an exact replica of Caroline, she begins to bombard us with questions to the point where Giuseppe starts to usher us into the car, mentioning that he can't be parked here for too long.
Once we're in the car, she turns in the front passenger seat to look at us both, a grin taking over her face. "So tell me, how was it?"
"Absolutely incredible," I smile. I lean back in my seat. "But equally very tiring."
She laughs a little and her gaze flicks between the two of us as if she's watching a tennis match rally. "So I take it you both opted for the adventurous honeymoon rather than the chilled-out one?"
"Absolutely. You can't just sit in a hotel room when you're in Australia," Stefan replies.
She smiles at this before looking towards Giuseppe. "Maybe we should go to Australia."
"We can look into it," he replies. Giuseppe's never been a very enthusiastic traveller, so I could tell 'looking into it' won't be a top priority for him.
"I would 100% recommend it," I reply.
She smiles at the two of us. "I bet you can't wait to see Layla now, huh?"
"Elena hasn't stopped thinking about her."
"Neither have you," I point out defensively with a smirk.
"From what your mum has told me, she seems to have missed you both as well," Lilly says.
"Bless her," I say. "I can't wait to give her hug."
Although, it turns out I won't have to wait much longer since I look out the window to see that we're now turning into our driveway.
"I'll help with your bags," Lilly says before practically leaping out of the car.
Stefan turns to me. "Home sweet home." I nod in reply before placing a small kiss on his lips. We thank both of his parents for bringing us home before we gratefully take our bags from them. I say 'we' but Stefan takes most of them, for a reason that we can't verbally discuss just yet. Lilly makes us promise that we'll come over to theirs in the next couple of days and tell them all about the honeymoon, and when she has our word, and only then, does she get into the car with Giuseppe and they begin to drive off.
As we're waving the two of them off, Stefan drops a kiss on my temple and entwines our fingers together. "Let's go and get our daughter."
The drive to my mum's house was fairly short, mainly since it's a weekday and the traffic's pretty scarce. I watch as Stefan drives, the small smile playing on his lips that's containing all the excitement he's feeling about seeing his daughter for the first time in two weeks. I silently gush at what an amazing, no, perfect dad Stefan is to Layla, as well as the perfect dad he will be to our second child.
I smile before looking out the window and seeing my mum stood by the door, waving at us as Stefan parks the car in her vacant driveway. When we open our car doors to get out, she practically sprints over to us and engulfs me into a hug, followed by Stefan.
"Oh, it's so great to see you both again. I missed you!" We begin walking towards the house as I tell her that we've missed her too.
We follow her into the house and immediately I see Jenna holding Layla in her arms, both of them with a smile on their faces. "It's your mummy and daddy," Jenna says to her whilst walking towards us.
"Hi baby," I smile as she's being passed over to me. Stefan stands behind me as we both contently fuss over her whilst Layla smiles up at us. I tickle her under her chin, knowing how much she loves it, which then causes her to giggle and lay her head on my chest. I hold her towards me and rock her gently in my arms, never wanting to let her go. "Oh, I've missed you, Layla."
"I think we've lost her." I hear Jenna whisper to my mum with a laugh. I smile before kissing Layla's forehead and passing her over to Stefan, so he can hold her for a while. "I've wanted to do that for two weeks," I tell them.
I internally gush at the sight of Stefan reuniting with our daughter before we all sit down in the living room, Stefan and I sit on one sofa and my mum and Jenna sit on the other. Layla moves from Stefan's lap to sit in between us, where she's contently chewing on one of the toys Stefan gave her a few moments ago.
"So you both look like you've gotten some sun." We both laugh at her comment and I look down at my arm, noticing the light tan that I acquired in the Australian sun.
"I swear it was sunny every day, and a lot of days there wasn't a cloud in sight," Stefan replies.
"Yeah, it was so nice and warm." Layla mumbles absentmindedly in between us, holds onto my fingers and attempts to pull herself up but unfortunately to no avail.
"I really want to go to Australia," my mum leans her head back on the sofa in exasperation.
"Well, I would definitely recommend it," I say.
"Did you get any photos?" She asks, lifting her head off the sofa back.
I smile at Layla as she looks up at me before answering my mum's question. "Yeah we got loads, do you want to see them?"
"Oh yes, please! I'll make us all a drink and then I'll have a look at them." She gets up and begins making her way to the kitchen.
I call after her. "Do you want some help?"
"That would be appreciated." I stand up and follow her into the kitchen to help with the tea and once we're out of earshot she turns to me, her voice low and quiet. "So, how are you feeling? Have you had any morning sickness?"
"Surprisingly no. I had some at the start, which is when I took the first test, but other than that I haven't even felt sick." She nods as she turns to fill the kettle up with water.
"Aw, that's really good. How you told him was so cute." I filled my mum in on how I revealed the pregnancy after she sent me ten messages in a row asking about it, she was clearly very excited about it.
"I'm glad I got to tell him in person this time. Oh and also, we're planning on telling Jenna and Stefan's parents about the baby now, and then we'll tell extended family and friends a little further down the line. We don't know how my body's going to react to this, what with the surgeries and everything."
"I understand, I'm sure it'll all be fine. So, you're going to tell Jenna now?"
I nod. "That's the plan."
She pours the water into the individual mugs and I open the fridge to get the milk. As I'm doing so I catch the sight of Stefan talking to Jenna and, at the same time, holding Layla in his arms as she places her tiny hands on his cheeks. I smile at the sight before passing the milk to my mum and putting it back when she's finished.
"Although, I realised that I'm probably going to start showing before we announce the pregnancy, so I think baggy clothes are going to be my new best friend." She laughs at my comment before we make our way back into the living room and place the mugs on the coffee table. Almost as soon as I sit down I'm greeted by Layla's presence, who crawls over to me and kneels in my lap. "Hello Layla," I say and repeatedly kiss her face in the hope that she'll laugh, which of course she does.
"Should we tell her now?" I discreetly mouth to Stefan to which he nods in reply.
"We have something to tell you," Stefan starts and captures Jenna's attention. He looks towards me, and I take in a breath.
"I'm pregnant," I say, a smile emerging from my face.
Jenna's hands fly to her mouth, her expression taking on a more excited appearance. "Oh my god, really?" We nod in reply and laugh at her excitement.
"Both of you get over here and give me a hug!" She stands and makes her way over to us. We both laugh and meet her half way before she engulfs the three of us in a bear hug, where Layla ends up being in the middle of all three of us.
We draw out of the hug, all three of us laughing. "Congratulations to the both of you. How far along are you?"
"8 weeks, so we're not telling anyone yet. We're only telling you two and Stefan's parents. They don't know yet though."
"Well, I feel honoured to be one of the first to know. Miranda, you're awfully calm, are you not surprised?"
"Elena freaked out and told me just before they left. She wanted ideas on how to tell Stefan," she replies nonchalantly.
"I take it you freaked out over nothing?" She knows me all too well, I can't help but laugh.
"Pretty much." Stefan wraps his arm around my shoulder and kisses my temple in response and I smile at the tingling feeling I get whenever he kisses me.
"Let's see these photos then!" My mum chimes so I pass over my phone, which has the majority of our photos on, and watch their reactions as they flick through them.
"Wow, the landscapes are beautiful!"
"Aw, the photos of the two of you are adorable!"
My mum laughs at the photo of the kangaroo we saw in the zoo as well as the one that we took of the platypus. We spend the next half an hour or so watching their reactions to the photos and adding commentary and anecdotes that lie behind them.
After the cups of tea have been drank and all the photos have been looked at, as well as explained, jet lag decides to start taking its toll on us and so we start getting ready to leave.
I turn to my mum whilst putting my coat on. "Thank you so much for having her. We both really appreciate it."
"You don't need to thank me! I would do anything for you and it's been so nice to spend so much time with Layla."
"Okay, well, thank you. We'll probably see you during the week." We hug them both goodbye before making our way towards the car. Stefan straps Layla in as I get in, all the while with her soft babbling in the background.
By the time we get through the door, Layla's babbling has turned into whimpering as she makes it clearer that she's hungry and in desperate need of food. As soon as we get in, I feed Layla; I still breastfeed her once during the evening and she eats solid foods during the day. I had to freeze and refrigerate milk in advance so that my mum could feed her when we were away.
As I sit with her my mind begins to wonder about work and the fact that I'll have another year of maternity leave when the baby's born. Since Layla is eight months old now, I've been thinking about going back to work part-time or working from home so that I can ease myself back in for when I go back full-time when Layla's one. I haven't spoken to Stefan about this yet, since I haven't really thought it all through myself.
Layla pulls away, which indicates that she's no longer hungry, so I sort myself out before winding her and taking her upstairs so I can give her a bath. I lie her on the bathroom floor so I can start to run the water, which only results in her rolling over and attempting to crawl away. She doesn't get very far as Stefan enters and picks her up, all the while tickling her and making her laugh. "Where do you think you're going, Missy?" He kneels down next to me before placing a kiss on my head. "How are you feeling?"
"Tired." I place my head on my arm, which is resting on the side of the bathtub, the warmth of the porcelain soothing my skin. I think the jet lag is definitely beginning to set in now.
"Why don't you go and sit down and I'll give Layla her bath?"
I nod. "Thank you," I smile before I turn the water off and stand up. I make my way downstairs and practically fall onto the sofa out of tiredness. I hug a pillow to my chest, rest my head on the back of the sofa and close my eyes.
I must've fallen asleep because the next thing I hear is Stefan's footsteps on the stairs, and then see him make his way into the living room, Layla in his arms, her wet hair looking adorably fuzzy. I smile back at him before sitting up, allowing him to sit down next to me.
His eyebrows furrow in concern before he places the back on his hand on my forehead. "You're a little warm, how're you feeling?"
"I feel alright, I think the jet lag is beginning to hit me." I lean my head on his shoulder. Layla giggles at my proximity and curls her fingers around my hair which she's always had an obsession with. I laugh softly at this, I honestly don't have the effort to gently pry her hand away, so I let her run her tiny fingers through my hair which ultimately results in her taking advantage of this situation and pulling on it.
"Layla, don't pull on mummy's hair." I quietly laugh as I feel Layla's hands being removed from my hair, much to her disappointment.
"I think someone's tired," I note as I stroke her cheek. As soon as my fingers make contact with her skin, she leans towards me onto my lap. I bring her into my arms and smile as she snuggles her head into the curve of my neck, proving the point that I made a few seconds ago. Stefan smiles before wrapping his arm around my shoulder, allowing me to further minimise the space between us.
"I think that makes three of us," he replies. I continue to softly pat her back, smiling at the warmth that's filling my chest from having my daughter in my arms again. It's not long before her breathing becomes rhythmical and she stills in my arms, indicating that she's asleep.
I kiss her temple gently. "I'll take her upstairs." I move off the sofa and stand up with her in my arms. I smirk before turning around to face my husband. "Fancy coming with me?" I extend my hand out for him to take.
He feigns a sigh. "If I must." He takes my hand with a smile before kissing my forehead and leading us upstairs. We both kiss her goodnight before I gently place her in her cot and lightly drape the blanket over her body. I silently back away from the cot and into the arms of the love of my life and close the door behind us so that we won't disturb her slumber.
"You smell nice," I say before letting out a yawn against his chest. He quietly laughs before kissing my head.
"Come on sleepyhead, let's get you to bed." He takes my hand in his once again before leading me to the bed. As soon as my head hits the pillow and I feel Stefan's arms around my waist, sleep begins to take over my body.
"I love you," I say, though it comes out more like a whisper.
"I love you too," I hear before I allow my body to be taken over by sleep.
AN: Hey guys! So this is the first chapter of the second book in the series, after this one I will be doing a prequel that will feature their relationship from when they met to when they leave to go to university. I may be getting a little bit ahead of myself, but I was also thinking of doing sort of like a bonus book about their separate experiences at university- obviously they went to different universities but I'd make the chapters so that they feature the days/ weekends/ holidays that they spent together. Let me know what you guys think!
- Chelsea x