Stelena: Eternal Love (2)

18- Giving Birth

Same day

Stefan's POV

"You're ten centimetres. It's time to start pushing," Annie said.
"It's time?" Elena said, disbelief evident in her voice.
"Yes. We're going to move you to our delivery suite now. As well as Stefan, you can have two people in there with you." I was still gripping Elena's hand, as she was mine, at this point and I comfortingly began to rub my thumb over her hand.
"Mum?" Elena's question brought tears to Miranda's eyes as she nodded excitedly at her daughter.
"Bonnie, you're not going to be okay seeing me in labour are you?" Elena asked Bonnie with such a concerned and delicate tone to her voice.
"As much as I would like to be there, I'm not sure I could watch you go through it. I'm sorry," Bonnie half cried, half said.
"Don't be sorry honey, you'll see me in a bit, okay? Caroline," she started, but didn't need to finish her question.
"I would love to," Caroline replied before taking Elena's other hand in hers.
"Okay, let's go and deliver your baby girl," the midwife said before beginning to wheel Elena out.
Once we made it to the delivery room, a whole team of midwives were there, ready to help.
"You're going to be great. You're going to be fine baby, you'll get through this." I attempted to calm the worried expression Elena was showing as the midwives started to prepare.
"Okay it's time," they said as Elena's mother and Caroline held Elena's legs for support. Elena wanted me to stay down with her, I didn't object at all, I wanted to help her as much as possible.
As each contraction came, I soothingly rubbed her tense back and whispered encouraging phrases in her ear, which seemed to help.
I hated seeing her in such pain, I really wished she didn't have to go through this pain. I knew she would tell me that it was worth it or it was so we could have a family, but that wouldn't make me feel any better about this. I loved my family so much, they were my everything, but I still wished Elena didn't have to go through this.
After about two hours of pushing the midwives informed Elena in on something that really didn't make her very happy.
"Elena, you need to push harder. Nothing is happening, if you want your little girl out, you need to try harder." Their tone was a little harsh, but we all understood why, since she was having to encourage someone to give birth to a human being and avoid complications. Elena let out a heavy but shaky breath as the natural sparkle in her eyes softened to reflect her extreme tiredness. She grew weaker, and if it wasn't for me holding her up, she would've fallen back on the bed.
"I can't do it," she cried with the amount of pain she was still enduring.
"Honey, if I can do it, I'm certain you can. It'll be okay, you're already doing so well," her mother said.
"Believe us, you can do it," Caroline added, squeezing her best friend's hand.
"Sweetie, you've done so well, you just have to keep trying. I know you can do it, I'm so proud of you." I whispered that and other soothing things into her ear, hoping that she wouldn't give up.
"Okay," she breathed out whilst sitting back up to resume pushing.
She leaned forward with the next contraction and screamed out in pain. Beads of sweat sat along her forehead, her hair was tangled and the little bit of makeup she had on was smeared, yet she's never looked more beautiful. As much as she would deny it, she still looked amazing, even during childbirth. She was beautiful no matter where she was or what she was doing but in child birth, that was when her determination, selflessness and strength came in. I was so proud of what she's done, and what she's doing now.
After a further hour of pushing, the end was in sight.
"Elena, your daughter's legs are out, we just need to get the whole body out. That'll just take a few pushes, okay? You've got a few seconds before the next contraction hits." Elena let out a sigh of relief after they told her that she could have a breather. Caroline gently wiped Elena's face with a damp cloth as her mother rubbed her arm that was limp and weak. I kissed her forehead and smiled as I received a small smile from her. She gently tightened her grip around my hand before another contraction hit, hopefully the last one. She reluctantly sat up and took on the contraction. I could tell this contraction was the worst one she's felt as she squeezed my hand much harder than before. She cried out in pain, making my heart break, but right after was when we heard another cry. A cry that didn't come from Elena's mouth.
"And here's your little girl!" The midwife said it with such joy and excitement.
Finally being able to relax, Elena let out a few more heavy breathes as she lied back down on the bed. After a few seconds, the midwife came over holding a bundle of blankets with our baby girl in. She placed the little bundle into Elena's arms and immediately I felt a few tears slide down my face. Seeing Elena hold our little baby girl was just mesmerising. Elena looked at me, tears streaming down her face too, and gave me a delicate smile. I returned it and lightly kissed her cheek.
"You missed," she said, her voice being weak and coarse from the crying. I loved how even after she's been in labour for a good few hours, she would still tease me.
However, this time I didn't miss. We both leaned in and brought our lips together for a passionate but delicate kiss. Our first kiss as parents of two. We both drew out of the kiss to divert our attention to the little baby Elena had in her arms.
"Hello, we didn't forget about you, baby girl." Elena spoke with such delight in her voice and, just by looking at them now, I could tell that they were going to have a special bond. I took my hand and lightly rubbed her little fingers, which resulted in her wrapping her hand around my single finger.
"Aw look Stef," she gasped at the sight. All I could do was smile, I couldn't bring words to describe how I felt or to explain how amazing this moment was.
"Have you decided on a name for her yet?" Miranda asked us with a massive smile on her face. Elena looked at me and gave me a questioning look, basically asking about who wanted to say it. I wanted her to say it since last time, I had the honour of announcing it.
"Okay, this is Bethany Mae Salvatore." Right after Elena spoke there were gasps from both Miranda and Caroline, as well as some of the midwives.
"Oh Elena, Stefan, that's such a beautiful name," Miranda said. She walked over to Elena to gush over Bethany whilst Caroline stood there speechless with a few tears making their way down her cheeks.
"What's wrong, honey?" Elena asked, concern evident in her voice. Caroline continued to cry and had her face in one of her hands.
"Care, you're scaring me. Please tell me what's wrong." Elena continued to plead, but continued to get no response, so Miranda took Caroline in her arms and rocked her gently. A few tears ran down Elena's cheek seeing her best friend in the state that she was in. I didn't completely understand what was going on, but I guessed it was shock. It must be hard seeing your best friend scream at the top of their lungs whilst being in an indescribable amount of pain. 
For anyone, it was quite a lot to take in: seeing someone in that much pain, and since it was one of her best friends, it made it worse.
"I'm sorry, I'm not the one who should be crying. It's just, a lot to take in I guess. I'm not the one who's just given birth though, so I don't know why I'm crying like I am." I completely understood where she was coming from: it was a lot, I was a mess when Elena went into labour last time and I didn't even see it.
"It's okay, I'd probably be like that if I watched someone give birth too." Elena laughed a little after she finished, attempting to lighten the mood. 
"I'm sorry, I've ruined this moment for you," Caroline said,guilt lacing her voice. How could she ever think that she's ruined this moment? This moment could never be ruined, never in a million years.
"Of course you haven't ruined this moment! Stefan, do you want to hold Bethany? I think Caroline needs a hug." A smile appeared on both of our faces as she said our daughter's name. I immediately nodded my head at the thought of being able to hold our precious little girl for the first time. She smiled, gently placed our beautiful baby in my arms, and brought Caroline into a hug. Caroline cried into her shoulder whilst Elena gently hushed her.
To give them a little bit of privacy I diverted my attention to our baby girl, Bethany. I gently rocked her fragile figure in my arms, watching as she moved about whilst she woke up. Once she finally opened her eyes, I saw an exact replica of Elena's eyes. By this time, Miranda had approached me and was intently gazing at Bethany like I was. She gasped as well when she saw Bethany's beautiful hazel eyes.
"What, what's wrong?" Elena tiredly moved her head up from the hug, she sounded concerned after hearing us gasp.
"Look darling," I said moving closer to her, allowing her to see our daughter's eyes.
"Oh, Elena, she has your eyes," Caroline gasped, smiling at Elena.
"Yeah, I guess she does," Elena whispered, tears starting to fall from her eyes.
"Do you want to hold her, Caroline?" I offered Bethany to Caroline as I thought that would help her to cheer up.
"Can I?" She asked surprised whilst looking between both Elena and myself.
"Of course you can," Elena said, smiling tiredly. She smiled as I walked over to her and gently placed my, now sleeping, baby into her arms. Whilst Bethany was in Caroline's arms, I took this opportunity to sit by my exhausted, beautiful and brave fiancée. I sat on the side of the bed, she leaned a little over so that I was able to wrap my arms protectively around her slightly shaking body. I knew why she was shaking so I didn't want to draw attention to it. I lightly kissed the top of her head as I soothingly drew small shapes on her side. Even though I already missed having Bethany near me, it was nice to think that we'll have her all to ourselves when everyone has gone. Hearing Elena's breathing, I could tell that she was slowly drifting off to sleep, however every time she did, she would wake herself up. Obviously, she didn't want to sleep and be away from Bethany.
"We can take you back to the ward, if you'd like," the midwife said. Elena tiredly nodded her head, so I carefully stood up, making sure I didn't hurt Elena at all. Caroline placed Bethany back in Elena's arms and I watched how her face immediately lit up. Seeing a mother-daughter moment was just priceless, but because it was Elena who was in the moment, made it even better.
I smiled at the image in front of me and followed as they wheeled Elena back into the ward. I couldn't wait for Isabella to meet her baby sister.