Elena ended up finding a swimsuit after all. Stefan wasn't exactly happy about it, but she was already in the hot tub when he walked outside with a mimosa and a plate of fruit. Elena had been in the water for almost five minutes and she could already feel the stress seeping out of her shoulders and her back. Stefan was a genius for suggesting the hot tub.
"Here" he said, handing her the mimosa before joining her. Elena took a drink before setting it down and leaning her head back, closing her eyes and enjoying the warm water around her.
"Best idea ever" Elena said with a smile.
Stefan grinned. He knew it was a brilliant idea. He waded through the water towards her, taking a seat next to her. She opened one eye and looked at him. He was being so patient for being so eager. But Elena knew he was ready to rip that swimsuit off of her. "You look a lot more relaxed" he said, pushing a loose piece of hair out of her face.
Elena sat up and turned to look at him. "I am" she said, slowly moving to straddle his lap. Before Stefan could even celebrate, she had grabbed his face and kissed him passionately. She figured it was going to be payback for that passionate kiss he had given her earlier.
Stefan didn't care what he motive was though by this point. He slid his hands up her back, fingering the strings holding her bikini top together. She smiled when she heard his eager moans fill her ears.
Stefan attempted to undo the strings and when he couldn't, he got frustrated and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her even closer. He needed her so much that it hurt. "Elena" he whispered against her lips, moving his hands to her hips finally and grabbing on to her swimsuit bottoms, ready to tug them down.
They both heard a breathless gasp and turned to see who had interrupted them. "Elena, what are you doing to Uncle Stefan?" Lily asked, dropping her jaw once again.
Elena quickly moved off of Stefan and willed her face to stop turning bright red. "Uh, we were just ... what are you doing here?" Stefan asked, trying to cover.
"Mommy said we could come over and make sure you were feeling better" Lily said, eyeing them suspiciously. "What was Elena doing to you?" she asked cautiously.
Stefan felt himself blush slightly when he felt Elena duck her face against his shoulder to hide her own embarrassment. "Elena was ... checking my temperature. To make sure the water wasn't making me too hot" he explained. "She had to be as close to me as possible to make sure" he added.
"Lily?" Katherine asked, opening the sliding glass door and walking out. She stopped when she saw Stefan and Elena in the water.
"Elena was checking Uncle Stefan's temperature" Lily informed her mother.
"What?" Katherine asked, completely confused.
"Elena was on top of Stefan, checking his temperature" Lily clarified.
Katherine laughed. "She was not. They were making a baby" Katherine informed, continuing to laugh.
Stefan and Elena's faces paled. "Katherine!" Stefan scolded, though Katherine wore an amused smile.
Lily's eyes grew wide with excitement. "A baby?" she asked excitedly. "There's gonna be a baby in her tummy?" she asked, jumping up and down twice before running to her mother and hugging her legs.
"No no no" Stefan said. "We were not making a baby" he said, cringing at Katherine's terminology.
Lily's face fell instantly. Her bottom lip began to tremble, much like it did when she was always upset. "There's not gonna be a baby?" she asked.
"No, Lily" Elena said, finally looking up from Stefan's shoulder. "Not right now."
"But when?" Lily asked.
Katherine rolled her eyes when she saw Stefan still glaring at her. "You're the ones she walked in on. I'm just being honest with her" she told them.
"Not for a while" Stefan told Lily, trying now to ignore Katherine. "Wasn't your mom going to take you shopping today?" he asked Lily.
"Oh yeah" Lily said, remembering as if the five minutes she had been distracted was a long time. "I have to get a new dress for my birthday party. You're coming, right Uncle Stefan?" she asked, a bit of worry on her face that maybe be wasn't.
"Of course I am" Stefan assured her. "So you better hurry and go and pick out the best dress ever" he said, smiling at her.
"Are you going to my birthday too?" she asked Elena.
"I wouldn't miss it for anything" Elena told her, feeling Stefan's hand grab her own hand under the water and hold it.
"Alaric is coming to your party too" Stefan said, wanting to see Lily's reaction which was fantastic.
"Oh gross!" she said, covering her face with her hands. "No Mommy, please don't let him come to my party" Lily begged. "I'll do anything. I'll even eat those yucky peas Daddy cooks!" she said desperately.
"What do I always tell you, Lily?" Katherine asked.
Lily sighed. "That I have to be nice to Alaric because he is Uncle Stefan's friend" she grumbled. "Even if he is stupid" she added for good measure.
"That's right" Katherine told her. "Now come on, we have to get going" she said, waving her along. She saw the relieved look on Stefan's face. "So these two can get back to ... checking each other's temperatures" she smirked.
Elena hid her face against Stefan once again and he glared at Katherine yet again. "But he's not even bringing me a birthday present" Lily whined as she followed after her mother. The last thing Stefan and Elena heard was the door shutting behind them.
"Thank God" Stefan said, letting out an exasperated breath. Another reason why he didn't want kids of his own yet. They seemed to walk in on the most unfortunate times. "Is the mood ruined?" he asked, figuring it was.
Elena smiled against his shoulder. "No" she said, crawling back over his lap. "Definitely not" she told him, giving him a slow and agonizing kiss to remind him that they had to start all over.
Stefan was fine with that. "Hey Elena?" he asked, working his hands back up her back. He grabbed onto one of the strings and slowly pulled. Elena murmured something that he couldn't quite understand. He continued to kiss Elena, pulling her even closer with the arm he had securely wrapped around her. He kissed along her jaw, making his way to her ear. "I love you" he whispered.
Elena paused for a minute, halting her own feelings of pleasure as she really processed what he had just told her. It wasn't forced. He wasn't saying it for show. He said those words at the perfect time, because he meant them. "I love you too" she whispered, earning her a gentle kiss against her neck.
His heart skipped. He swore it did. Maybe he deserved every amazing thing he was feeling right now. Maybe he didn't. But what he could be sure of was that he was extremely lucky.
XXXXXXXXXXX
The time they spent in the hot tub lasted well into the afternoon before they decided to get out. Elena had suggested they move to the couch which had made him grin until she told him it would be to watch a movie.
Elena came down the stairs with a blanket and found Stefan already on the couch. Stefan pressed play as Elena sat down with him and spread the blanket across them. Stefan pulled Elena closer, causing her to smile. "Are you still doing okay?" she asked, tilting her head to look up at him.
Stefan smiled this time. "I'm doing fine" he told her, kissing her head.
The movie started, but both of them realized they weren't really paying attention. "What did you get Lily for her birthday?" she asked him.
"We" Stefan corrected. "Got her a painted wood stable with all the accessories for all those horses she has in her room" he explained.
"She'll love that" Elena said, still thinking that she should get Lily something too though.
"I'm pretty excited about what Alaric bought her though" he smiled.
Elena sat up some. "What did he buy her?" Elena asked. Lily had been pretty sure that Alaric wasn't bringing her a present.
"You'll see" he shrugged. Elena opened her mouth to question him, but then stopped. "We should actually try and watch this movie" he informed her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close.
Elena felt his hands run lazily up and down her arms as he watched the movie. When his left hand moved down to her left hand and traced her fingers, she pulled it away. "It is in my drawer in my apartment in LA" Elena said, a hint of guilt in her voice as she thought about how he was still wearing his ring and she wasn't wearing hers.
Stefan didn't say anything for a minute. Instead, he turned her face in towards him and kissed her softly. "It's okay" he told her quietly, reaching in for another gentle kiss. But there was still that one thing on his mind that he wanted to find out about. He wanted to ask in the least accusatory way possible because right now, he could have cared less if she had married ten guys while she was away. The fact of the matter was, she was here, right now, with him. "Was ... was there someone else in LA?" he asked carefully, locking eyes with her to judge her reaction to his question.
Elena shook her head no slowly. "You're the only one I was thinking about" she reassured him, earning her an incredibly happy smile and one passionate kiss.
"Good" he said with his happy, silly grin that he was pretty sure he only wore for her. He kissed her again, and then again, because no matter how many times he had kissed her, he couldn't stop. And this is how he knew everything he was feeling, was real.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Lily's seventh birthday party was insane. Elena swore she must have counted over 50 kids running around with cotton candy or ice cream or both by the time she had stepped out of Stefan's car. "This is a little ..." Elena said, looking around at all of the balloons and flowers.
Stefan smiled as he grabbed her hand. "It's perfect" he said, holding the hand that now sported her wedding ring. Stefan had to admit, the three days she had been gone in LA the week before had been torture. But knowing that Elena was back in Mystic Falls to stay was well worth it. Elena had not wanted to talk about quitting her job or leaving her brother and Bonnie, but he figured when she wanted to talk, she would. He reminded her every now and then that she could talk to him about anything whenever she needed too.
Elena rolled her eyes as she walked side by side with Stefan. The stable Stefan had bought for Lily was already in the house, having been delivered the day before. They let her open it early. As they rounded the corner to the backyard, Elena stopped. "Is that a freakin' zebra?" she asked, looking up at Stefan in disbelief. There was a line of kids waiting to pet it.
Stefan laughed. "I can't wait until I get to throw you a birthday party" he said, tugging her along. It wasn't long until they found Lily, wearing her tiara and her new pink dress. "Hey Birthday Girl" Stefan said, catching Lily in his arms as she ran by with a string of kids in tow.
"Uncle Stefan!" she said excitedly, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Are you having fun?" he asked. Lily smiled brightly and nodded. "Good. Where's your dad at?"
"I think he's in the kitchen" Lily said. Stefan nodded and set her down. "Come on!" she called out to her friends as they took off running again.
Stefan grabbed Elena's hand again and they made their way inside the house. The house was equally busy with many of the parents inside chatting. "Hey" Stefan said over the noisy chatter when they found Damon. "Where's Katherine?" Stefan asked.
"Charming the guests I'm sure" Damon said, putting one last cupcake on the platter. "Do you guys want to help me wrangle everyone out back to sing happy birthday?" he asked.
It took almost twenty minutes, but finally every child was seated on the grass in front of the table holding Lily's cake and cupcakes. The parents were standing behind the kids as Damon and Katherine lit the candles. Stefan and Elena were standing off to the side, in each other's arms, smiling as they watched Lily soak up all of the attention and finally, blow out all of her candles.
Before anyone knew it, it was time to open presents. Lily blew through all of the presents her friends had given her. Then it was on to the presents from her family. Damon and Katherine had bought her a new TV for her room, because every seven year old needed a 70 inch TV. Caroline had given her a new saddle, tooled with silver. Alaric's gift though, was probably the coolest according to Stefan. A Power Wheels Cadillac Escalade toy car that she could drive around in. Just her size. Lily's eyes grew wide when she saw Alaric push it out. It had a giant pink bow on it. Her squeals and screams of excitement echoed in the air. She even hugged Alaric. "This is so cool!" she screamed, climbing in it. Alaric showed her what to do and before long, Lily was driving around the table at full speed as her friends chased her around.
"That is the cutest thing ever" Elena said.
Alaric turned and smiled at Elena. "I saw it when I walked into the store and I had to buy it" he stated.
"Are you sure you didn't want it?" Stefan teased.
"Hey, if I could fit in it, I would be riding around in it" Alaric informed them.
This even got Caroline to laugh. "She sure does love it though" Caroline said as they watched Lily disappear around the side of the house.
Alaric smiled. "Can I get you something to drink?" he asked her.
Caroline smiled. "Walk with me" she said, beginning to walk toward the backdoor. Alaric ran to catch up with her.
"They are so cute" Elena said, curling in to Stefan's side and wrapping her arms around him.
"My two good friends. Who would have thought" Stefan said, hugging Elena. Lily came driving around towards them once again, this time with less kids following her. "Hey!" he yelled, waving Lily over. Lily stopped the car at Stefan's feet. "Get in" Stefan said, nudging Elena.
Elena laughed. "What?" she asked. "That won't hold my weight" she reminded him.
"It will too" he said, grabbing Elena and pushing her towards the car. "Lily's driving" he smiled, helping Elena get in.
"Yeah, I'm driving!" Lily said excitedly, moving over.
"This is silly" Elena said, still laughing as Stefan held onto her arm as she got in. Lily floored the car and much to Elena's surprise, it moved forward. Elena turned around, holding on for dear life as she smiled at Stefan. He waved to her until she and Lily disappeared.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
When all of the kids had gone home and Lily was taking all of her presents to her room, Elena took this opportunity to give Lily one more present. Lily sighed as she dropped the last of her bags on the floor. "That's a lot of presents" she said, pretending to wipe sweat off of her brow.
Elena smiled as she joined her on the floor. "I got you something too" she said, holding out a small box. "I know it isn't as much fun as all of your other presents, but I hope you like it" she told her.
Lily took the small box and carefully opened it. A small gold horseshoe necklace sat inside. Lily pulled it out and looked at it. "It's so pretty" Lily said, a smile creeping up on her lips. "Will you put in on me?" she asked, holding the necklace out to Elena.
"Of course" Elena smiled, taking the necklace from Lily and fastening it around her neck. "It looks beautiful on you" Elena said, tucking a piece of hair behind Lily's ear.
"Thank you Elena" Lily said, leaning forward and hugging her. Then she hopped up to her feet. "I have to go and show Daddy!" she said, running out of the room before Elena could even reply.
Elena sat where she was on Lily's floor and smiled. She was so relieved that Lily loved the necklace.
Eventually Elena pulled herself up from the floor and went back downstairs. She found Stefan leaning against the back of the couch waiting for her. "She can't stop talking about that necklace" Stefan grinned. "Where did you find it?" he asked curiously.
Elena leaned against him. "It was mine. I got it for my seventh birthday" Elena told him.
Stefan turned to face her. "You didn't have to give that to her" he told her. "If it means something to you ..." he said hesitantly. Knowing Lily, she would lose it by the end of the week.
"It does mean something to me" Elena agreed. "Which is why I want her to have it" she added.
Stefan looked at Elena for a moment before he pulled her into a tight embrace. "How did I get so lucky with you?" he asked.
Elena smiled. "I ask myself the same thing about you" she replied, melting into his embrace a little more. If that were even possible.