Sam's been sleeping a lot lately. She's about 9 months in, and the baby is due in about 3 days. I'm getting nervous, because I'm 16 and I'm about to be a father. A father. It's surreal. I'm excited, and I know Sam is too. When I picture our little girl, I see her with beautiful raven hair and dark blue eyes. And... I'm planning on proposing to Sam the day Holly's born. She's the one, I can feel it.
I open my eyes and Sam sleeps peacefully. Mom can't really walk anymore, and she sleeps a lot too. I get up and I go into the kitchen.
"Morning."
"Hey Dad. How's Mom?"
"Hating the fact that she can't walk. She's a stubborn one. Much like your sister."
"I can hear you." Aimee comes downstairs and stretches.
"Morning sweetie." He kisses her head and she smiles.
"What's for breakfast?"
"Scrambled eggs, pancakes and bacon."
"Awesome!" He smiles then looks outside.
"I tested the lake yesterday. I went all the way to the center and back. I even jumped on the center and it didn't budge."
"Does that mean we can go ice skating?"
"Yes. And I'm gonna get your Mom to get outside. She needs the air." I smile.
"Sam can keep her company."
"Yeah. Ice skating and pregnant? Not a very good reality show." Aimee laughs and takes the tray.
"I'm going to take this to Mom."
"Okay." She goes into the bedroom and I run a hand through my hair.
Elena's POV
I wake up and Aimee smiles at me.
"Morning Mom."
"Hey sweetie. Where's Daddy?" I mumble.
"He's talking to Alex. In fact, Dad said that today we can go ice skating."
"That's awesome! I won't miss it."
"You haven't been outside in about 2 weeks. It'll be good for you."
"Yes it will." I sit up and I feel 2 thumps against my hand.
"Go get Aunt Mer."
"Okay." She runs off and I stretch. Meredith comes in and smiles.
"How are you?"
"I'm good. Can I stand up though? I want to watch the skating."
"You can walk around the room, but I'm gonna have to draw the line at anywhere else. So I can get the wheelchair while you change into something warm, then you can go outside."
"Yes Mom." She chuckles then goes upstairs. I change into a red long sleeved dress then I pull a pair of leggings on. Meredith brings the wheelchair down. She pulls a pillow off the bed and places it in the wheelchair.
"I also got you a blanket so you're nice and cozy."
"Thank you." I put it on and my giant baby bump sticks out from underneath.
"I wonder what they're going to look like."
"I can imagine Adam looking like Damon. Kind of like how Alex looked when he was little. Sometimes fraternal twins can look like each other a little bit. But since the genes in the hair are dominantly brown, I think both of them will have crystal blue eyes, but Adam will have Damon's back hair and Audrey will have brown hair like you."
"That's amazing."
"Dominant and recessive genes. It was in my 10th grade science curriculum. The creepiest part was that we studied human blood under a microscope. We had to study genes."
"That is creepy." She laughs then wheels me out into the living room.
"Look who finally gave into the chair!"
"Hey, I'm stubborn."
"Almost 12 years of marriage and 18 years of knowing you screams hell yes."
"Shut up." Meredith puts my breakfast at the table and I start eating.
After breakfast, everyone is up and running, so we head outside and I sit on the dock with Sam and we watch everybody. Aimee spins and I smile then wave her over. She skids to a stop and I keep smiling at her.
"What?"
"Okay. Next week, I'm paying for some skating lessons. You could do this professionally."
"I've wanted them, I've just been too scared to ask."
"Well, yes. You're getting some good lessons that will make you into a star."
"Thank you." She hugs me gently and I watch as she glides back out. Damon and I always expected this, because she loves the ice skating portion of the Olympics. She'd ask if she could go to the movies with her friends, but she would really sneak off to the ice rink and go skating. Once, I followed her and I watched her. She's amazing.
Suddenly I hear Sam cry out and my head snaps over.
"Elena, something's wrong."
"Are you in pain?"
"Y-Yes."
"Tell me where it is."
"My area is cramping up. It really really hurts."
"Oh my god. DAMON!" He looks over and flashes to us.
"What's wrong?"
"Sam's in labor."
"Labor?!?" Sam shrieks.
"Honey, it's going to be okay. Let's get you inside and you're going to have the baby."
"Meredith!" She skates over and I stand up.
"Elena, you're taking a risk."
"Aimee weighed more at 9 months. We should've tested this before. I'm okay, I swear." Alex comes over.
"Mom, what's going on?"
"Sam's having the baby."
"Mom, get back in the chair. I can carry Sam."
"Alex-"
"Mom, I'm not going to risk my brother and sister."
"It's okay Elena. I can walk." I sit back down and Damon runs me inside. We go into Sam's room and I help him prep the bed. I lay out Sam's scrubs, then Damon sets up a few chairs.
"You need to sit."
"Damon, I'm fine. There's no need to go all protective macho daddy on me." He laughs then I sit down anyways. Alex comes in with Sam and pulls her scrubs on over her head. She takes her dress off then her pants, followed by her underwear. She lays down on the bed and I scoot over to her.
"Hey, don't worry Sam. I'll be right here for you. I'm going to have Alex give you some of his blood because we're going to need it in your system just in case." She nods and cries out. Alex passes out.
"What the hell just happened?"
"He passed out. He must be squeamish." I answer.
"How is that even possible? He's a vampire he drinks blood." I roll my eyes.
"Just take him out into the living room." Damon nods and I bite my wrist.
"Change of plans. Alex isn't operable right now."
"Of course." I feed her my blood and she gives me a small but grateful smile.
"Thank you."
"Of course. It might take a while, but it'll be soon. Do you want me to ask Meredith?" She nods.
"Alright." Meredith rushes in.
"She wants to know how long it might be." She examines and her jaw drops.
"Sooner than we think. Damn, the Salvatores are impatient as hell."
"Wait, it only takes a short amount of time for vampires to give birth." She frowns then waves me out in the hall.
"You can walk." She helps me stand up and we go outside the room.
"It's most likely that Sam won't survive child birth." Tears well up in my eyes.
"So that's it then. She doesn't have a choice." She nods and tears spill over my eyes. She pulls me into a hug.
"It's most likely that I'm going to have to perform a c-section because her heart is fading every second. And if she dies before Holly gets here, Holly will die." I shake my head.
"The only thing we can do is ask her what she wants." Damon comes over.
"What's going on?" I bury my head into his shoulder.
"Sam... she's not going to make it." His eyes water and he pulls me into a hug. We head back into the room and Sam looks at us.
"Is she okay?"
"She'll be fine. But we have something very important to ask you." She nods.
"It's a guarantee that you won't make it through child birth. And if we do this naturally, Holly won't survive."
"What does it matter? I have your blood in my system. What's my other choice?"
"Meredith can perform an emergency c-section that will get Holly out faster, but you'll die within a short period of time."
"Get her to do it."
"Sam, when you wake up, you'll have to make the choice either to be a vampire or to die." She takes a shaky breath.
"Save her. Get her out." I nod and tears spill over again.
"Meredith." She comes in.
"Do it." She nods and we go out to be with Alex.
"Mom, Dad, what's happening? Is Holly-"
"No. But Sam has made a choice."
"I need to see her." I grab his arm.
"Alex, you need to listen very carefully. Sam chose to save Holly. Only one of them could survive. A scream echoes through the lakehouse. Damon and Klaus are suddenly holding Alex back. He screams for her and I sit down, my emotions going haywire. Alex finally drops to the floor and Aimee and everyone else comes running in. Alex lays on the floor, fresh tears streaming down his face. I open my arms to him and he curls into me. I listen as Damon tells everyone what's going on.
"I have bad news."
"Dad, please tell me the baby's okay."
"The baby will be fine. Sam made a choice. She could either live and Holly would die, or she could die, and Holly would live. She made the choice and the baby is going to be here soon." Aimee hugs Hayden and Klaus embraces Caroline with Katie in her arms. Stefan hugs Katherine with Nathan, Jeremy hugs Bonnie and I gently pet Alex's head.
"M-Mom, why did this have to happen?"
"Baby, she's going to come back. She has my blood in her system."
"But Mom, she n-never wanted to be a vampire. She didn't want that." He starts crying again and I just hold him.
After about an hour, the door opens. Meredith holds a pink bundle in her arms and I stand up. I take her in my arms and I look down at her. Alex comes over to me and I give him a small smile.
"Say hello to Holly." I gently place her in his arms and he smiles down at her.
"Mom, she's beautiful."
"Yes she is." Alex goes into the room and he almost falls apart.
"I'm going to wait with her until she wakes up."
"Okay baby." I kiss his head then I go out of the room. Adam and Audrey give a couple of thumps, then I curl up with Damon on the couch.
"How did you survive as a human?"
"Bonnie saw it coming. She saw me dying and she put a protection spell over me."
"I don't know what I would've done if you had died. I would probably kill myself if Stefan didn't do it first." I curl into Damon's side, then I fall asleep.
Alex's POV
I gaze down at my daughter. She has my raven black hair and Sam's dark blue eyes. She lets out a gentle coo as she stares up at me.
"Hi Holly. I'm Alex. I'm your Daddy. I love you." She coos again, then wraps her tiny fingers around one of mine. I smile then my gaze turns to Sam.
"Don't you dare leave me. I love you, Sam." I think about something then I go into Holly's nursery. I lay her in her crib then I go into my room. I pull out the ring that I'd been saving for Sam and I go out into the living room.
"Aunt Bonnie?" She looks up and I give her a gentle smile.
"Could you spell this? Just in case Sam makes the transition?"
"Of course." She goes outside and lays the ring in a patch of sunlight. She starts muttering, then she opens her eyes.
"Here. It'll work."
"Thank you." She smiles and pulls me in for a hug.
"I'm so sorry about Sam."
"She'll be okay soon." She smiles and I go back in the room. I put the ring in my pocket then I take her hand. Her finger twitches after about 2 hours, so I gently touch her face. She groans then shoots up in her bed. I steady her and she looks over at me, her eyes wide like a deer in headlights.
"Alex." She looks around.
"What happened?"
"When you were having Holly, you made the choice to die for her. You had my mom's blood in your system."
"Am... am I dead?"
"You're in transition. It's your choice Sam. You can choose to die or you can feed and complete the transition." She lets out a sob and I pull her into me.
"I'm so sorry Sam. I didn't want this for you." She cries softly into my chest and I hold her. She shoots up.
"Where's Holly?" I smile then I take her through the door in our room to the nursery. I pick Holly up gently and she coos gently like she did before.
"Can I hold her?" She asks, tears in her eyes. I lay her in Sam's arms gently and she smiles down at our daughter.
"She's so beautiful Alex." I smile at her and I press a kiss to her lips. Something flashes in her eyes.
"I want to do it. I want to complete the transition. For you, and for our daughter." I smile then I go get her a blood bag. I hand her the blood bag then I take Holly out of her arms. She takes a drink and in 5 seconds flat she has it drained.
"My Aunt Bonnie even did a spell that gave you a block. You can control the hunger."
"Thank you." I smile.
"I'm gonna show you something." I lay Holly down in her crib. I take my fingertips and I softly drag them up her arm.
"What is that?"
"As a vampire, everything is heightened. Every emotion, every feeling... sight, sound, smell, taste, touch. All of it." I link our hands together and she sighs softly.
"So that never goes away?" I nod and she smiles at me. We head out into the living room and everyone looks at us. Sam smiles.
"I completed the transition." Mom breathes and gets up to hug us.
You know, through everything, Sam decided to stay with me. There's one thing I know for sure.
Our adventure is far from over.