A Knick In Time

Preparations

That Evening

I'm sitting on one of our comfortable chairs in our living room, Alaric and Jenna are occupying the couch in front of me. Bonnie is standing behind their couch and gives me an encouraging nod while Jeremy chose to stay in the doorway to the living room. Bonnie is here because I asked her to; basically, I thought that in my highly emotional state, it might be a good idea to have someone here who could help in case I need back-up.

"Okay, so... there's something I need to tell you guys." I begin, trying to find the right words.

Jenna raises her eyebrows in irony. "No kidding!"

"Right." I say, "The situation is actually really complicated. I should probably start with the time travel part."

"Time travel?" Ric asks, brows furrowing.

I take a deep breath and lean back in my seat. "Yes. Let me explain."

Over the while of the next hour, I tell my family everything. The way things were before I time travelled, where I went, what happened there and how my pregnancy ended up being sped up the way it was. By the end, I have them all speechlessly staring at me.

"... and that's why it's so important we find Elijah. We may have had more time before, but now, time's running out." I end.

"Wow." Jenna exhales deeply, then looks at my uterus and nods. "Again, no kidding!"

"Honestly, I wouldn't know what else to say either." Alaric says. He has one hand on Jenna's arm and looks at me with a mixture of curiosity and concern. He looks deep in thought.

Jeremy lifts his hand. "Have you had any luck contacting Elijah?"

"No, not yet." Bonnie answers.

I lean back in my chair, feeling down now. Over the past couple of days, I have tried calling the number Klaus gave me several times, only to be met with the answer that the number no longer exists. I kept talking at Klaus about trying different things, probably driving my dear brother-in-law halfway to madness in the process, but to no avail.
"Maybe he really doesn't want me in his life anymore." I silently whisper.

Bonnie's face shows sympathy. "Don't say that, I'm sure he does."

"Are you?" I ask with a notable hint of cynism in my voice, "How do you know I didn't push him away for good? You said it yourself, I was awful to him. And it's been 1000 years since we were last... anything. That's a terribly long time. Surely, there must have been other women during the course of it. He must have learned to be happy without me. So why would he want to come back for me, after what I said to him, after all this time?!"

Silence envelops the room. The looks on everyone's faces tell me that I may be right with my suspicion.
But eventually, Jenna begins to show reassurance. "We don't know if he'll want to be with you and we don't know if he won't. But either way, I'm sure he'll hear you out. And apart from a few angry words, you didn't do anything to him. So, I'd say, you should be hopeful."

"Besides, Elena," Alaric speaks up again. He looks like he processed the news and now thinks more clearly about this whole thing. His next words prove me right.
"I think we should leave the search party for Elijah to Klaus, for now anyway. You have more important things to do. Right now, the baby, your baby, needs to take up spot number one on your list of priorities. Jenna and I can help you with the preparations for the birth as well as help you prepare for the time ahead, when you'll be the mother of a newborn. We know a lot, since we've been preparing for our own little one. And, we even know a doctor who knows about the supernatural. We can talk to her and explain your situation, so she'll be able to help you without letting anyone find out your pregnancy wasn't entirely ordinary."

"Not entirely ordinary?" Jeremy asks ironically, "Are you implying a baby growing from the size of a sesame seed to the size of a pumpkin within two minutes isn't how it usually works?"

Ric chuckles and Jenna grins a little. Even I have to smile a bit now. It's nice to know I have my family by my side. The amazing support of Bonnie and Caroline was already very touching, but this, this unconditional support from my family, it's too much. It makes me lose control of my emotions. I start tearing up and the first sob escapes my lips.
"That would be great, Ric. Thanks!" I hiccup as I say that to him, giving him a grateful look while I'm at it. I can't really see his reaction througg all my tears though.

Bonnie speaks up. "By the way, Elena, I came across Freya Mikaelson this morning. She wants to talk to you."

"Really? About what?" I ask, taken by surprise. I haven't heard or seen anything of Freya since before the first time travel spell. Bon and Care didn't say anything about what my relationship with her in these changed times might be like or if we even have anything to do with each other.

However, Bonnie only shrugs. "I don't know, she didn't say."

"Did something happen with her and me that I should know about?" I inquire.

She shakes her head. "Not that I know of. But she asked you to meet her in front of the hairdresser tomorrow at 11am."

"Okay... I guess I'll find out." I say, deep in thought.

Jenna nods. "Yeah. But before that, you're gonna stay put here, take some vitamins and let Meredith take a look at you. I wanna know how far along exactly you are, so we can guess which one of us is gonna pop first."

"Ah, Jenna!" I giggle again and my tears come back. Boy, I really am being emotional today. "If I could, I would get up now, come over to you and give you a big hug."

"Why can't you?" Jeremy asks confusedly.

I give him a half-hearted grin. "Because my baby bump makes it too difficult to get out of this low, comfortable chair, Jer."

"Yeah." Jenna nods, "Same here. But no problem." She pats her husband on his arm, "Ric, go get Elena and place here next to me on the couch so I can cuddle her."

Alaric gives us a slight, amused huff and then gets up to do as she said. The situation seems so absurd to me that I break into a fit of laughter that lasts all the way to the couch. As soon as I'm in Jenna's arms, however, I remember that I have a husband who could help me too, but I still don't know where he is. He is missing all of this. That's when I begin to cry.

"Shhh..." my aunt gently strokes my hair in comfort, "It's going to be alright. We'll find him. And then, I'm going to slap him." I abruptly lift my head to stare at her. "And then, I'll allow him to help you with your baby." she finishes.

Bonnie chuckles a little. "Sounds about right. Klaus, Freya and I might actually try to go on the search together, if that's what it takes. We'll make sure your baby will be fine. Let's find your man!"