Stefan fanned himself turning up the AC in the car as he waited for school to end. It was getting hotter by the day and he hated it. He didn't mind the heat, but it was how the girls dressed and by girls he means Raina.
Bonnie was the same way, when they were married and even before then. Once the hot sun shined over the month of June, she would break out the shorts and tiny dresses and he would have to deal with men looking at his girl in such ways. He almost got into a fist fight with one guy and would've kicked the guys ass if Bonnie didn't push him back moving him away from the other guy. He told her that he hated dealing with that every time they would leave the house but she didn't seem to get his clue when she never changed her summer attire.
Unlike with Bonnie, Stefan could actually tell Raina what she could wear and what she couldn't wear, so when she came downstairs that morning in shorts, he told her to change into capris instead. She stomped all the way up the stairs and mumbled probably nasty things on her way too, but when he saw her again she was in capris and Stefan had a reason to smile that morning.
He thanked God hearing the bell ring signaling the last day of school and watched as kids left the building with smiling faces. Stefan spotted his baby girl then turned his head away when he saw her and Joe kiss. That was the last thing that he wanted to see and even though he approves of their relationship, that was still his baby girl and he didn't want her kissing anyone that isn't blood related.
"How was your last day?" Stefan asks as she gets into the car.
"Boring. We usually have parties in our classes but I guess they forgot to plan it."
"Well that sucks, so you basically did nothing all day?"
She nodded. "Pretty much."
Stefan frowned thinking that he could've let her skip the last day but figured they were doing something important.
"Well anyway, like always, I have a vacation planned for us." Raina smiled over at him. "And since I'm such a cool dad and I love you very much, I've decided that if you want, you can invite Joe along."
"Really?!"
He nodded, "Yep. I've booked our hotel we leave next week and we're staying there for a week, so if you invite him tell him that."
Raina nodded and was eager to get home to tell Joe the good news. Stefan smiled at the look on her face but a deep part of him wished that she would deny the idea and be like It's okay, dad, I just want to spend my time with you, but he knew that that wouldn't be the case. He smiled when she hopped out of the car practically running into the house and she even closed the door in his face. He stood there just thinking and let out a sigh before opening the door and going into his office.
:::
Bonnie frowned. She really should've gotten a cat. Usually it was her week with Raina but since it's June, Stefan cares for her the whole month but a smile was brought to her face when she thought that in just four weeks, she could care for Raina for the whole month. She knew that Stefan would take her on a little vacation so she figured that she wouldn't hear from them in a while but hoped that they would at least call to check in.
Bonnie rolled off the couch hearing the doorbell ring and when she opened the door, surprised was an understatement when she saw her guest.
She was speechless for a second. "Hi! What a surprise!"
"Yeah, I figured I drop by and see how you're doing."
"Thank you. Oh, would you like to come in?"
She nodded and stepped in Bonnie was wide eyed as she walked passed her and Bonnie closed the door slowly after looking out to see if anyone else was going to pay her a surprise.
"So, Bonnie how are you?"
"I'm doing good, can't complain." She nodded. "Would you like something to drink or any-"
"I need you to get back with my son."
And she thought that she was speechless before.
"Mrs. Salvatore-"
"You're the one, Bonnie. He loves you still and I know that you love him too. I've never on my life seen him as happy as he was when he was with you."
Yeah, well what about my happiness, "I'm not going to lie to you when I say that Stefan and I did talk about getting back together," she saw her face fill with glee, "but I'm seeing someone else. The timing is wrong, maybe if I was single then who knows but I'm dating a really great guy and I want to see where this relationship takes me."
"I see."
"I'm sorry but you know if Stefan and I are meant to be then I think we will. Maybe not now, but we will." She shrugged.
Mrs. Salvatore nodded then stood up before sitting back down.
"So, tell me about this guy you're dating."
Oh boy!
:::
Joe smiled as he walked passed various women in bikinis or short shorts thinking that they were all looking at him but then he realized that they were looking at Mr. Salvatore. He looked at him himself, his arms were strong and had a nice set of abs but so did he. Maybe it was his age… Whatever the reason, he had to give him props because he wasn't giving the girls half, make that none at all, of the attention that they were giving him. He was acting like he was in a committed relationship and didn't want to get in trouble by his woman.
"You two go have fun, I'll be sitting over there." Stefan said then walked back to an area shaded with an umbrella.
He hated to feel this way, but he felt like the third wheel. He was glad that Raina was having fun but he wanted her to have fun with him. They went to a boardwalk fair the other day and since all the rides call for two people, he acted as if he didn't care, like he didn't want to ride the rides anyway. Yes, he could've asked one of the many women trying to get his attention to join him for some fun, but thought better of it. He didn't want Raina to think that he was that type of guy, so he paid no mind to their flirting.
He smiled watching Raina laugh as Joe splashes her then his attention turned away from his daughter and her boyfriend and onto a pair of tanned legs. He looked quickly up at her eyes through his pair of shades then turned his attention away. She didn't get the hint, he assumed, when she sat down next to him and let out a breath.
"Is that your kid?"
To answer or not to answer, that is the question.
"Yeah, I brought her here with her boyfriend for a little vacation."
"And you're all alone? That's no fair."
She looked down and saw the absents of a gold band on his finger and allowed herself to relax some more. She's been there before, unintentionally, and she does not want to go there again.
"My name is Kayla by the way."
"Stefan."
"Are you from around here, Stefan?"
"No, just here on vacation."
She nodded knowing she wasn't going to get a further explanation. "Well I'm here with my friends over there." She pointed and Stefan gave her the satisfaction of looking. "Listen there's a party going on tonight in that bar off shore maybe when the kids are asleep you can drop by?" She saw him thinking. "I'll save you a dance, it'll be fun."
"Uhh, sure I'll try to make an appearance."
She hid her excitement, "Great, I'll be the lady in red."
Kayla stood up and Stefan took the time to watch her hips sway as she walked away joining her friends in the ocean. He turned his head hearing a whistle and saw that it was coming from Joe.
"Alright, Mr. Salvatore got game."
"I do not have game."
"Oh please you're being modest. Every girl that we walk by checks you out and you're even more of a stud for paying them no attention. You score a hot-" Raina cleared her throat, "average looking woman and all you had to do was sit here? I bow down to you, Stefan." And he did.
He chuckled and shook his head. "Careful, Joe, it looks like your digging yourself in deep shit." Stefan said looking at his daughters face.
"I love you?"
Raina only scowled at him and stood up excusing herself to the bathroom.
"Should I go-"
"Handle that?" Stefan finished. "Yeah."
He stopped his laugh watching him chase after her and it brought him back to a time when he was in this same situation with Bonnie. They were at a fair and a tempting woman happened to walk by and he accidentally checked her out then all hell broken loose. He ended up making up for it but you can bet that that was the last time he's every looked at another woman.
"Bye, Stefan!" Kayla shouted from across the beach.
Stefan looked over there and raised his chin some then turned away missing how all the girls squealed at his hotness.
:::
Bonnie decided to give Damon a visit. After talking to Mrs. Salvatore for hours she found herself growing confused again. Of course she brought up Stefan and she found herself missing him. Talking about the good old times was great but she needed to focus on her present and right now her present was with Damon.
:::
When night fell, they went out to dinner and enjoyed a nice meal and once the kids were were asleep, in their separate rooms, Stefan headed to the party. On his way there he was talking himself out of it but once he reached the bar he figured that it was no need to turn back now. Stefan took a seat at the bar not even bothering to look for Kayla knowing that she'll be the one to find him and ordered a drink.
"I see you made it."
Stefan spun in his chair and took a swig of beer eyeing her in that dress. Red was a great color on her, he must admit, and he took the time to admire her ass before she sat down beside him.
"Will you join me in doing some shots, Stefan?"
Everything after that was one big blur. He remembers the great amount of shots he consumed with Kayla along with her friends doing body shots with and off of all of them at least twice. Her friend, Morgan, reminded him of Bonnie with her soft brown skin and large chest so he tried to spend more time with her, but Kayla pulled him to the dance floor and started to move against him.
He remembers her pulling him down for a kiss and he lifts her backing her up against the wall. After what seemed like a decade of kissing, they sat back down at the bar and started talking getting to know one another. He doesn't remember what he shared but it couldn't be that bad if she invited him to her hotel room just minutes later.
He knows he fucked her, he could feel it in his satisfied body, but on the way back, he felt nothing but an enormous amount of guilt. It caused his head to throb and pound knocking him over left and right making him stumble and eventually throw up in the nearest potted plant he could find. He's never slept with any other woman that wasn't Bonnie and after sleeping with Kayla it felt as if he had cheated on her. His body was hers and hers only for the longest amount of time and now someone else's scent was on him. Someone that he barely knows.
He doesn't know how he made it back to the hotel, but he did and crawled into bed hoping his head would stop spinning.
"Oh, Bonnie, I'm so sorry."
:::
She wasn't sure if she should be worried or just push this feeling that she has back. She hadn't heard from Stefan or Raina in days and she knows that they're on vacation but they could've at least called to let her know that they're alive. She shared the thought earlier with Damon and he told her to call, but she refused and just said that they were probably having too much fun to not even think about her but now she was going insane! Bonnie didn't care what time it was wherever they were, she just reached over to grab her phone and dialed Stefan's number.
"Hello?"
"I'm glad that you're still alive."
"I'm sorry, Bon." She couldn't shake the feeling like he was apologizing for something else.
"It's fine I just was a little worried since I didn't hear from you two in almost a week."
Stefan sat up. His head was still thriving but the sound of her voice made it better. "I invited Joe to come with us to the beach and I've been trying to get to know him for Raina's sake."
"That was nice of you. How's it going so far?"
He let out a breath. "Pretty good. I think we bonded and I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm cool."
She chuckled. "Why do you think that?"
"Don't worry 'bout it."
She smiled. "Alright, I should go."
"Wait," Stefan repeated quickly three times, "talk me to sleep."
"Talk you to sleep?"
"Yeah. To cure my hangover."
"You went partying?" She gasped. "Did you pick up any chicks?" Her voice was jokingly.
Stefan went noticeably quiet and Bonnie began to wonder if he really did. Did he find someone at the party? Did he talk to her and get to know her? Did he walk her back to her home or hotel and sleep with her? She knows she should feel anything but upset right now but she was.
"Bon, I-"
"So I guess I'll tell you about my day." She cut him off not wanting to know the truth. "Tell me when you're laying down."
"Bonnie-"
"Are you lying down, Stefan?"
"Yeah. I'm lying down." He knew what she was doing and he was glad because he wasn't ready to admit it to her. He's not sure if he'll ever be ready.
"So," Bonnie breathes laying down herself, "uh, oh, you'll never believe who showed up."
"Who?" He asked putting her on speaker phone so he wouldn't have to hold the phone up to his ear.
"Your mom."
"My mom?"
"Yeah."
"Like my mother, the woman who gave birth to me?"
She chuckled. "That's the one."
"What did she want?"
"Just to talk." Bonnie shrugged. "I mean it was nice seeing her but it was also very awkward."
She heard Stefan let out a sigh and she laughed a little at that. Bonnie then told him about everything else that happened like her morning run before meeting with one of her clients then how she went to see a movie—leaving out with whom—and how she ate a shitload of nachos and gave a short review on the movie. She talked about how she showered afterwards and teased him with going into a little detail then how she couldn't sleep because her mind was racing thinking that something had happened to them.
"And yeah, that was my day." Her response was his low snores. "Good night, Stefan." She hung up the phone and decided to sleep as well.
:::
He hadn't heard from Bonnie ever since that night and he felt like the biggest idiot on the planet. Raina noticed a change in him but she just couldn't figure out what exactly it was. Ever since they got back from the beach it's like he's been in a(nother) funk. She tried her best to cheer him up; spending majority of the day by his side cracking a joke every time she saw fit. But little did Raina know, her efforts just hurt him more.
Her face. Her beautiful, Bonnie-looking face just broke his heart. He would nap constantly and Raina thought that she should call a doctor.
"I'm fine, baby." Is what he would tell her every time she asked.
She only frowned at his response for she heard it many times before.
"Did you want to go out for ice cream with Joe and me?"
"No, you two have fun."
"Okay." She sighed and kissed his cheek before grabbing her purse walking out.
Raina smiled at her successful plan and she only hoped that the person that she was going to go visit was home. She knocked on the door three times and smiled when the person she was looking for opened the door.
-------
Stefan was giving her words of encouragement as she pushed and gave her his hand to squeeze. He honestly was surprised that she wasn't screaming by the way she was squeezing his hand he knew that it must've hurt.
"One more big push, Bonnie."
She nodded and took a deep breath pushing as hard as she could and lets go of Stefan's hand when a small cry fills the air. Stefan kisses her when it's announced that she gave birth to a little girl and neither of them had been happier in their lives. Stefan leaves her side walking over watching as the nurses clean his baby girl off and finds himself wiping away his tears.
She's so beautiful, she's the most beautiful girl that he's ever laid eyes on and she was all his. He held out his hands and the nurse placed the little girl in his arms and Stefan smiled through his tears kissing his little one on her smooth head.
Bonnie watched from the other end of the room smiling when he turned keeping his eyes on their baby and their baby only walking up to her.
"She's so beautiful, babe."
Stefan handed the little girl to her mother and got on the bed beside her kissing his love multiple times and confessing his love over and over. Bonnie smiled as their foreheads met and exchanged those three words before kissing him again.
"Did you pick a name?" Bonnie asked.
"Raina. Raina Salvatore."
"I love it."
The three of them spent some time alone before Stefan got up and told everyone waiting that they had a baby girl and how much she weighed and her name. Everyone had smiles on their faces and shortly started making visits.
Stefan meant what he said about being stingy with Raina and Bonnie could see it on his face getting a laugh out of it. She too wanted to be the only one to hold Raina, but Stefan looked as if he would murder someone if they didn't give her back. She nudged him a little trying to soften his face and it worked for about a second until he started staring down his aunt Sarah again.
When Raina started to cry, Stefan sped over there like a vampire and picked her up bringing her over to Bonnie. She bit back her smile but took her baby in her arms to breast feed. Stefan joined on the bed and smoothed out his daughters hair as she fed. Their relatives all looked at each other just seeing the love flow off of them as they kissed. Mr. Bennett especially stared at the two in observation. He could tell that they were in love and he just hoped that this love will last.
A few days later, Bonnie was discharged from the hospital and Stefan was exceptionally glad because he finally felt like he was part of family again. Bonnie smiled and sat beside Stefan as he held Raina and kissed her head and lips repeatedly holding her close.
"Raina, my baby girl." He kissed her head again. "I love you so much."
"Do I get to hold her other than when I feed her?"
"You held her for nine months, it's my turn."
Bonnie laughed and rested her head on his shoulder and Stefan handed their daughter over to her and kissed her lips standing up to move everything out of the car. Bonnie watched as he made two trips then stayed in their room for a few to set up the crib. She walked into their room as Raina fell asleep and was glad that Stefan was done with the crib and she laid her in it.
"It's taking everything I have to not pick her up and let her sleep in my arms."
"We don't want to spoil her, Stefan…although she does look so cute…" Bonnie chewed on her lower lip. "Maybe just this once."
Stefan nodded in a serious manner and lifted his girl in his arms walking over to the bed.
"I hear that babies sleep better with skin contact. It makes them feel closer to their parents."
Stefan handed Raina to her mother so he could discard his shirt and takes her back in his arms placing her little head over his heart. Bonnie smiled and snuggled close to him and shortly all three of them were asleep.