Stelena: Eternal Love (2)

19- Recovery

Same Day

Elena's POV

After we'd had our moment in the delivery room, I was wheeled back into the room on the maternity ward. There I was greeted with my whole family, who were smiling ear-to-ear at the sight of us. Bonnie cried when she saw me, I guessed she wasn't expecting me to come out of there alive. I was absolutely exhausted and sore from the labour, but I was trying to put on a brave face for my family.
Although, my tiredness and pain were temporarily wiped from my mind as the thought of Isabella came into my head. Last time I saw her, I was crying and yelling in pain. For someone under two years old, that was an awful sight to see, making it worse that I was her mother.
"Where's Isabella?" I asked concerned, and not being able to see her in the room.
"She's fine, honey. Damon took her to get something to drink, to keep her occupied. She was a little shaken up," my dad answered. I felt awful. My little girl had to watch everything that happened, and now was probably worried sick. I should've been braver for her and should've prevented this from happening. Without even realising it, a few tears started to cascade down my cheeks and onto Bethany's blanket.
"It's okay, baby. It's not your fault," Stefan said, trying to comfort me. I loved how Stefan always knew why I was crying, even without me saying it.
"But it is. I should've been stronger. No child should ever have to watch that," I explained, before I started to cry again. Stefan wrapped his arm around my body, his embrace helping me to calm down.
"Elena, sweetie, you did so well today and we don't want you to beat yourself up over that. She'll be absolutely fine once she realises that her mum, who she loves so much, is okay," my mother consoled me. I still hadn't completely stopped crying but I calmed down.
"Mumma!" It wasn't long before I heard her precious little voice, and saw her run up to the side of my bed.
"Hey honey," I said in a hushed tone. I was holding back all the tears that were threatening to spill after seeing her.
"What that?" She peered her head up, intrigued by what I was holding.
"This... is your little sister," Stefan said as he lifted her up so she could see Bethany properly.
"Baby," she giggled and pressed the palms of her hands to her cheeks.
I smiled at my beautiful daughters. "Her name is Bethany," I said with a few happy tears cascading down my cheeks.
"Pretty baby," she said as she leaned over to stroke her forehead. I was very surprised about how gentle she was with her, I loved seeing them together.
"Does Isabella want to hold her?" I asked. The smile on her face was priceless. I shuffle over a little, allowing Stefan to place Isabella on the bed next to me. I gently passed Bethany to Isabella and supported her back as Stefan supported her head. Isabella had one hand underneath Bethany's body and the other was carefully stroking Bethany's cheek. I smiled at my two daughters and looked up to smile at my fiancé, who also had a smile on his face. 
"Love Bethy," Isabella giggled, which made us all laugh a little with her.
"She loves you too," I stated before kissing Isabella's head softly.
"Play Bethy?" I smiled and softly shook my head at her question.
"Not just yet, honey. She's too little at the moment," I replied.
"Bethy need big." My smile grew so big when she said that, Stefan had the same reaction to me by the look of it. At the moment, Isabella doesn't really say many longer sentences and she normally kept to shorter phrases and words. So Stefan and I were always thrilled to hear her say longer sentences, and ones that we haven't taught her. She's managed to put those words together, knowing they make sense.
"Are you going to help mummy and daddy look after Bethany?" My dad asked as he walked round to get a better look at Bethany. Isabella nodded her head excitedly.
"You'll be the best big sister ever, won't you?" I asked even though I already knew the answer. Isabella will be the best big sister anyone could ever have, we were already so proud of her and knew that she would continue to make us proud parents.

Two hours later

Stefan's POV

Bethany started to cry ten minutes after Isabella started to hold her, so Elena fed her and she fell asleep soon after. We've all been talking for the past two hours, surprisingly not a lot of our conversation has been about the wedding. Elena's been trying to stay awake for the last few hours, she still looked a little pale and weak.
"Hey honey, are you alright?" I asked my beautiful fiancée. Bethany's was the cot at the moment and Elena was laying down, her head resting on her pillow.
"Yeah, I'm just going to freshen up in the bathroom," she said as she started to get up. I rushed to her side and helped her to stand up.
"Do you need any help?" I asked as she slowly walked towards the bathroom. I was happy that she felt ready to walk but I didn't want her to put too much of a strain on herself.
"No, it's okay. I'm fine," she smiled weakly as she entered the bathroom. I was still worried. I didn't want her to push herself too far and end up hurting herself.
"Is she okay?" Caroline mouthed to me.
"I think so," I mouthed back.
"Stefan?" It wasn't long before I heard her voice. I was straight out of my chair and into the bathroom. My poor Elena. I walked in to see her gripping the sink and looking like her legs were about to give way any second.
"It's okay baby, I've got you." I wrapped my arms around her and held her before she could fall. I picked her up and carried her back to the bed. All of her family were out of their seats, trying to figure out whether she was okay or not. I comfortingly brushed the hair away from her face as I kissed her forehead. We sat in silence for a few minutes, I just wanted to make sure she was okay.
It took a few minutes for her to stop shaking, and I felt a surge of gratefulness that the episode wasn't as bad as the one a few days ago.
"Are you okay, honey?" Her mum asked and Elena replied with a nod.
"I think what you need now is rest, you've had a pretty tiring day." Her mum said, I was so thankful she was here since she knew a lot about the aftermaths of childbirth. She's been through this twice so had a good idea on what to expect and what was normal. Elena nodded at her advice and continued to hold my hand.
"Get some sleep, baby." I kissed her head lightly. Bethany was sound asleep so hopefully Elena would be able to sleep for at least half an hour.