Double Trouble

13

New Orleans

Elle walked into her father's bedroom and took the picture from his nightstand. Carefully, she took it out of the frame. And felt a wave of relief wash over her when she saw that her father had not cut her out of the picture. The part with her was only folded back. She looked at the other half showing a baby almost completely identical to the other one with the name 'Elle' written underneath it.

"Lena? Come on, we're gonna miss the plane!" she heard her father call for her from downstairs. Quickly, she dropped the picture and rushed out of the room.

Today she was flying to Richmond with her Dad and this Hayley Marshall. She had not been pleased when Elijah had told her Hayley was coming with them to the contest. They had had a heated argument. She yelled at him for hardly spending time with her anyway and now letting his new girlfriend come in the way too while he was scolding her for being rude to Hayley. The argument resulted in Elle storming out of the room, not giving her father the chance to tell her he was getting married again.

Elle had packed a dress for the co test that looked exactly like one of her own in Mystic Falls. She and Lena had agreed on how to dress and how to do their hair, so they could switch places before the contest without anyone noticing.

***

Mystic Falls

"Elena, Mr Saltzman wants to talk to you." Luke Parker was one of Elena Gilbert's collegues and friends. He gave her the message on his way back to his office.

Elena was a journalist, working for Mystic Falls' only newspaper. Given her nice collegues and the normally relaxed enough atmosphere in the office, she really liked it there. And she was good at her job. She now send a quick thank you to Luke and headed to Mr Saltzman's office.

Alaric Saltzman was her boss. He always treated his employees with respect and fairness. And he was - you may have guessed it - the father of the infamous Saltzman-twins, Lizzie and Josie.

"Elena, hello!" he greeted her.

"Hi Ric. You wanted to see me?"

"Yes. I have good news for you. The pictures for the new brochures for summer camps are out. There are even some pictures of the camp where Lizzie, Josie and Elle went. I think they would go perfectly with your article about sending children away for the holidays." he said, smiling kindly.

Elena nodded. "Thanks, Mr Saltzman."

She took the envelope with the photos and took them to her office. There, she took them out. Curious and busy, she started bruising through them. Suddenly, she gasped and stood up in shock. The picture in front of her clearly showed two identically looking girls with dark hair and cute smiles.

Without another word, she stormed out of the office and hurried back home.

When she entered her kitchen, she found her daughter at the stove making soup. She silently observed the girl for a moment. A suspicion had grown in her the minute she saw that photo and watching this girl only made it stronger. This girl had not been behaving like the Elle she knew.

"Hey there, sweetheart. It smells good in here." Elena softly said.

"Yeah, it's going to be a good dinner." the girl replied absentmindedly.

"Whose recipe is this?" Elena asked carefully, knowing the answer.

"Elle's." Lena said without thinking. In the next second, she realized what she had said and gasped. With widened eyes and shock in her bones, she turned around and came face to face with her mother.

For a moment, the two just stared at each other. Finally, Elena reached with her arms for her daughter and smiled. "Lena!" she whispered.

Relieved at her mother's reaction, the little girl flew into Elena's arms.

"I missed you so much! My little Lena! God, I can't believe it, it's been so long!" Elena whispered into her daughter's hair, tears streaming down her face.

"Mommy, I- I just wanted to finally meet you! And- I know we lied to you, but- you lied to us too! You never told Elle she had a sister! And you didn't tell her about her Dad! Or her aunts and uncles in New Orleans!" Lena, who was normally so self-confident and bsossy, was feeling now somewhat insecure. She looked at her mother with misty eyes.

Elena stroke her daughter's head and said: "I know, I should have told her! And I'm sorry I didn't! Why don't we sit down on the couch and finally talk?! I'll tell you everything you want to know and you tell me what happened at summer camp. Okay, sweetheart?"