Warrior | Stefan Salvatore

Chapter 21

Jo was okay.

The doctors in the Emergency Room told her that she'd had a panic attack brought on by her stress, the pregnancy, and a lack of food and water. The babies were fine, which was what they all were most worried about.

Elena told Alaric despite Jo's wishes, but Graciela distracted her to keep her from realizing it. Alaric didn't come in to check on her, so that Jo wouldn't know Elena disobeyed her.

"You scared me," sighed Graciela, patting her hand opposite to where the IV was attached. "I thought I did something wrong with the curling iron or just... what I was saying."

"No, no, not at all," said Jo softly. "I should have listened when you told me to eat. If I'd done it right away, before I got up, I would have felt fine."

"After today, everything will be fine," she soothed. "You'll get to go through the rest of your pregnancy with your husband, you'll get to watch your babies be born happy and healthy..."

"Yeah," whispered Jo. "Until they turn twenty-two and have to Merge."

"Maybe by then, the Gemini Coven will have adopted another system," she said helpfully. "Maybe a different set of twins is going to be born before them."

Her comments didn't seem to be as helpful as she thought. Jo clutched her stomach and sighed. "Please, talk to me about anything else."

"Um... well, I'm going to make my hair wavy so I have to get to that quickly when we get back to the house. Er, what else... Elijah has been texting me non stop this past week trying to make sure I'm okay. Sometimes I wonder if he can see what I'm going, because he always happens to ask for updates when I'm kissing Stefan."

Jo let out a genuine laugh. "Parents know. I remember, I'd sneak someone home, not even with any bad intentions in mind, and my dad would call and ask what I was up to. They're psychic. You have a good dad."

"And so will your babies," she said. "You know, if you ever want them to have any musical inclinations, I'd be happy to teach them piano, or violin, or cello."

Jo smiled. "That would be very nice of you, thank you."

She was cleared to go home half an hour later. They rushed back, and Elena got to doing Jo's makeup while Graciela did her hair. She slipped into her dress and heels right after, tucking her phone into a small handbag that had only eyeliner, lipstick, and mascara. It was small enough to fit in Stefan's pants pocket, which was ideal for her.

Once Elena put on her dress and heels, they helped Jo into her dress and shoes, then climbed into the car, driving to the venue. It was a large field with a barn, which had a beautiful interior fitting for a royal wedding. In the front, many tables with flowers and drinks were set up for the guests to mingle before doors opened for seating. The two girls helped Jo slip in through the back, allowing her to sit calmly in a small room near the front of the barn so she could relax and work on any finishing touches she wanted for herself.

Graciela and Elena went outside, finding Caroline wanted them to be monitoring the gift table, and guiding guests in exactly twenty-five minutes before the wedding. Graciela took charge of standing by the door and waiting.

"Hello there," said Stefan, coming to stand with her. "You look beautiful."

She grinned up at him. "Thank you, kind sir. You look very handsome yourself. Very fancy. Where are we sitting?"

"Front row," said Stefan. "Caroline will be at the end of the row, then me, then you closer to the middle. On the other side of you will be Bonnie, then Matt."

"What about Tyler?" she asked.

"I... I heard from Caroline that she caught him and Liv talking when they were supposed to be putting up the chandelier. Of course, Caroline was furious, but I think Tyler and Liv might have reconciled enough for them to sit together."