AN: I know it's not Christmas in real life, it just fits into the timeline of the story! Hope everyone is well and safe x
3 weeks later
Elena's POV
I wake up to the cold breeze travelling across the room from the slightly ajar window and instantly pull the covers up higher, which consequently results in Stefan tightening his grip around me. I smile at the feeling of his body against mine and slowly turn to face him.
"Merry Christmas," I say sleepily before resting my head on his arm. He smiles and kisses my forehead.
"Merry Christmas, baby. How did you sleep?"
"Not bad, the baby kicked a lot though." Although feeling the baby's kicks brings me such joy and relief, it also makes it incredibly difficult to get to sleep and often leaves me feeling drained and exhausted during the day. His hand moves from my waist down to my hip.
I close my eyes again and appreciate being able to slowly wake up with Stefan since Layla isn't up yet. We don't normally spend much time together in the mornings since we're either rushing to get ready for work and Layla ready for playgroup or Stefan's still resting from a night shift whilst I get up with Layla.
"I could get used to this," I sigh.
He softly laughs and kisses my head. "Probably shouldn't. Layla will be up soon."
I groan and move closer to him and bury my face in his chest. We lie in bed together for a further ten minutes before we hear Layla's voice through the baby monitor on Stefan's bedside table. When we enter her room we're met with our gorgeous daughter, dressed in her Christmas-themed pyjamas, stood in her cot with her smiling face pressed up in between the panels of the cot. I smile at the sight before opening her curtains whilst Stefan lifts her out of the cot. "Merry Christmas, Layla." She smiles at the sound of her dad's voice and reaches up to touch his face, something that she does frequently. Her fascination with Stefan makes my heart swell. Of course, she bonded with me first (as babies do with their mothers) but she became comfortable and familiar with Stefan so quickly, not that this surprises me since I had the same experience with him.
We make our way downstairs into the living room, which is the epiphany of Christmas. Our Christmas tree, that sits in front of the back wall, is decorated with fairy lights, tinsel and a range of baubles including one with 'Baby's First Christmas' written across it. Spread around the tree are all the presents that we bought each other and Layla, as well as a few from family members who we aren't going to see today. Since Layla is at an age where she doesn't understand what Christmas is or how presents work, we spend a bit of time helping her open presents. In reality, Stefan and I do most of the present-opening but Layla seems to enjoy herself nonetheless. It feels surreal to be having our first Christmas as a family of three, I always dreamed of having a Christmas morning like this, where we get to watch our daughter run around with excitement and occasionally help to open her presents in which she's only slightly interested in. It's even more surreal to think that we'll be celebrating our next Christmas as a family of four. The thought alone is enough to make me smile and feel butterflies in my stomach. This day has only just started but I can already tell what an amazing day this is going to be.
A few hours later
After opening the presents we went about our day, as usual, except perhaps a little more relaxed and slower than normal before the first of our family arrives. "I'll get it," I say before making my way over to the door, smiling as I walk past Layla playing with her new Christmas present on the floor. I say playing, but in reality, she's just chewing on it.
I open the door and see Stefan's parents stood outside wrapped up in their coats, bags of presents in their hands. "Merry Christmas!" Lilly cheers as the two of them smile and enter.
"Merry Christmas," I reply, also with a smile on my face. I close the door quickly since Layla was already making her way towards the front door with her arms reached out.
"Hi, darling!" Lilly crouches down to Layla's level, who grins at her proximity.
"How are you guys?"
"We're fine! Exhausted, but who isn't these days?" She laughs. "So... you're well into your second trimester now, how're you feeling?" Giuseppe turns towards me and asks.
"I'm feeling alright, my body not so much. Back pain is definitely getting worse," I explain. At hearing this, Lilly stands up.
"Bless you. I can't believe how fast your pregnancy is going!"
"I know. I kind of want it to slow down, it's scaring me how fast everything's going."
"I know what you mean. It feels like yesterday when Stefan and Damon were just little kids running around in the garden together."
"Speaking of Stefan, where is he?"
"In the kitchen." They both nod before going into the kitchen to see Stefan.
Layla starts crying by my feet so I take her into my arms in an attempt to calm her down. "What's up with you, misses?" I kiss her temple before we all make our way into the kitchen.
I smile at the sight before me. "Merry Christmas, darling!" Lilly says before embracing Stefan in a hug.
"Merry Christmas, mum." He hugs his dad next. "Merry Christmas, dad."
"Merry Christmas, son," Giuseppe replies.
"The food smells amazing already," Lilly gushes. "I clearly taught you well."
I laugh at her comment. I'm eternally grateful for the fact that Stefan can cook so well since everyone knows how absolutely hopeless I am at all things food. Cooking, baking... I'm terrible at both.
Over the next hour, everyone starts to arrive and now both our living room and kitchen are bustling with festivity, conversations and excitement as the last of our guests arrive. I smile at the sight of Stefan and my mum in full conversation as they continue with the meal preparation, which might I mention smells absolutely incredible, and at how both of their faces light up when either of them uses a culinary skill that the other has never used before. I continue setting the table, laying the table cloth over the table, placing the knives and forks in their designated places and adding the discrete Christmas decorations to finish. I pour Jenna and Alaric a glass of wine each since they've just arrived and in desperate need of some alcohol, as Jenna jokingly stated when they arrived. "Your husband and mum are miracle workers, the food smells absolutely amazing." I laugh at the comment as I pass the wine glasses over to Jenna and Alaric.
"You're telling me." I tidy away some of Layla's toys before feeling a light grip on my leg and look down to find Layla sat by my feet, her small hands gripping my leg in an attempt to get my attention.
"Layla, mummy can't hold you all the time." I sigh, knowing that she isn't going to give up very easily and watch as she starts to whine. "Fine, it's not like I need a back anyway." I pick her up and brush her hair out of the way of her face.
"Why ever would you need a back?" Lilly laughs, making her way towards me. "Come here Layla, give your mummy a break." She takes her into your own arms, hoping to calm Layla down but all she does is cry louder and reach for me.
"Oh Layla," she hushes.
"I think she's just being fussy today. There's a lot going on," I reply before bringing her back into my arms. She rests her head on my chest as her cries slowly die down.
I enter the kitchen with Layla still in my arms. "Hey, you okay?" He steps away from the oven and smiles warmly at the two of us.
"Yeah, just tired. She won't let me put her down, your Mum tried to hold her but she just cried more."
"Want me to take her for a while?"
"Don't worry, you're already working hard, you don't need Layla on you as well."
"You sure?"
I nod. "I moan but I do like her hugs." Layla can be hard work sometimes but she is 100% worth it and I wouldn't have her any other way.
"Anything I can do to help?" Jenna says, walking into the kitchen.
"I think we're all good here," my mum answers.
"That's probably a good thing, nobody wants to relive the experience of eating my cooking. Want me to help with loading the dishwasher?"
"No, don't worry. I'll do it later."
"Like we're going to let you bend up and down to load the dishwater." She tusks at me and, despite my protests, moves towards the sink and begins to fill the dishwasher with the used pots and pans.
"Thank you, Jenna," Stefan says before wrapping his arms around us from behind and kissing my temple.
"So how is Layla enjoying her first Christmas?" My mum asks, smiling at Layla's sleepy expression.
"She has absolutely no clue what is going on and thinks it's just another ordinary day but I think she's having a good time."
"Are you having a good time, Layla?" My mum coos with a smile on her face before tickling her under the chin. She stops as she hears the timer go off and soon after Stefan unwraps himself from me and goes to help, not before kissing the both of us on the cheek.
"Food's ready!" Stefan calls the others into the kitchen whilst I place Layla in her high chair. I think the short nap that she had on me must've revived her energy levels because she's currently giggling and hitting her hands on the highchair's tray in excitement.
"Are you excited, baby?" I laugh at her behaviour and kiss her head smiling. She immediately digs into her food as soon as it's placed on her high chair tray and, of course, consequently gets it all around her mouth. I am infinitely glad that I put a bib on her since her new dress would have been absolutely ruined by the mashed potato she's feeding herself. By this point pretty much everyone's smiling and laughing at the sight of our daughter. I feel a wave of gratefulness consume me at that moment for the fact that I'm able to spend Christmas with my amazing family and friends. "To family." I look away from Layla towards my mum, who's raised her glass towards the centre of the table. "To family," we all echo. We all smile as our glasses clink together. "Merry Christmas, everyone."
Once dinner had been consumed, the dishes had been done, and presents had been exchanged we all ended up sitting in the living room with mulled wine (obviously not for me) and, what seems like, all the blankets we own. Layla started off walking in between everyone and alternating between sitting on everyone's laps but eventually settled down and is now curled up in my arms.
My mum lightly tickles under Layla's chin. "I can't believe she turns one in just over a month."
"I know. The year's gone so fast, I need it to slow down. Everyone said that the first year would fly by but I didn't think they actually meant it."
"I know, they don't stay as babies for long. Enjoy it while you can." The thought of Layla growing up absolutely terrifies me, I want her to forever be my baby. If the first year of her life has gone this fast, how fast is the rest of her life going to go? I consciously cut off those thoughts since, if I don't, it's likely I'll become overwhelmed with worry and start overthinking the future. Instead, I bring my attention to Layla, who is currently trying desperately to fight off sleep. I kiss her head and smile as I hear, and feel, her breaths slow down and become more rhythmical and shallow and her muscles relax. I love how when she sleeps her mouth hangs open and she still holds a tiny fistful of my hair. I knew she was getting tired since she was getting fussy and kept looking away from everyone and burying her head into the crook of my neck. "I'm going to put her to bed." I stand with Layla still curled up against me and make my way upstairs to her bedroom. I lightly kiss her forehead and gently lower her into the cot before closing her curtains and turning on the baby monitor. She stirs slightly and I freeze and hold my breath in anticipation of her waking up. Thankfully, she doesn't and I quietly make my way out of the room before closing the door behind me. I smile to myself and rest my hand on my small, but growing, bump before hearing the soft laughter from everyone downstairs. This has officially been one of the best Christmases and I couldn't have asked for anything else.
AN: Another update?! Not sure what's happened to me, I haven't been this motivated for a hot minute but I am living for it. I hope everyone is safe and well, feel free to message me anytime because I know how anxiety-provoking the current situation can be. I hope these updates serve as a bit of an escape from the global pandemic, and I appreciate that TVD ended ages ago and not many people are interested in this story anymore but I enjoy writing it so I will continue to do so.
- Chelsea x
P.S- I will admit that this chapter is quite fragmented and I apologise for that. I'm clearly a bit rusty at the whole writing thing still.