Old Flames ✖️ Stelena

4

"You'll make sure she goes to bed at exactly 9 p.m.? Read her a bedtime story before, it calms her down enough to let her fall asleep," Elena listed off frantically.

"Lena, Elena! I got this. I've been watching Mara for four years; I think I know what I'm doing." Jeremy held Elena's shoulders to make her shut up.

Elena continued pacing on Jeremy's floor, leaving marks. "Yeah, you're right. I'm just nervous-extremely nervous. What if he asks questions? I can't tell him Mara's his daughter so soon. I'll have a mental breakdown if I do. And that is something I rather Stefan not see."

"You're going to have to tell him sometime. He is the father and has the right to know." Jeremy tried to reason with the very nervous Elena, but that wasn't the right thing to say at the time.

"I know, I know!" Elena looked down at the tiny watch on her hand. "Oh my! I'm going to be late."

Elena bent down and squeezed her daughter that just came into the kitchen closely. She had been in the family room while Elena and Jeremy were in the kitchen talking. Building with large, colorful blocks distracted the little four-year-old's mind, blocking out all the words the adults said.

"I love you Mara. Be a good girl for Uncle Jeremy. No trouble or someone's going to get a visit from the tickle monster when I get back."

"I will Mommy. I wove you, too." Elena laughed at her daughter's mispronounced word.

"Bye, sweetie."

Elena watched goodbye to her little girl and thanked Jeremy once again for the thousandth time. With that she drove to the small coffee shop in Virginia. They decided to meet there since the tiny town of Mystic Falls held too many memories. Some good; some very bad.

Elena saw Stefan sitting in the back corner of the store with his coffee already in front of him. Quickly getting her black coffee, Elena sat across from Stefan in a booth that he had chosen for him. "Hello."

"Elena Gilbert, late? I'm shocked. I thought I would never see the day," Stefan grinned and said calmly, not saying hello.

Holding back a smile that Elena wanted to show, Elena summoned her inner Gilbert. No emotions stayed on her face. They were hidden deeply so they wouldn't pop up at a random time when Elena let her guard down. "I had to drop my daughter off at her babysitter's."

Stefan's smirk fell off his grinning face and he looked down at his coffee as if he remembered something bad. "I never expected you to get pregnant before you got married."

Suddenly a lie came to Elena's mind. It was an angry lie; maybe to get a little bit of security. "Well, that's what heartbreak causes. I got super drunk the day you broke up with me to the point I had idea what I was doing. I ended up sleeping with a random guy at the bar who got me knocked up, happy little fairytale, isn't it?"

That made Stefan's face fall even more. But Elena could see a hint of disbelief in his blue eyes. Elena started to panic when Stefan spoke up with his face still facing the table. "She looks exactly like you."

Elena calmed down, letting out a silent sigh. "Yeah, minus the eyes. It's the only way I know who the father is. Someday I'll find him, but for now Amara will have to deal without a father being around. But, enough about me, what about you? How've you been?"

Stefan relaxed back into the booth's seat. He thinks for a moment before answering Elena's question. "Pretty good. I now have my own carpentry business. And as you saw, I built my own house."

"It's beautiful," Elena commented. "Now, any special ladies in your life?"

Stefan hesitated. He hadn't expected Elena to ask that question. "Well, uh...yes there is." Stefan swore he saw Elena's indifferent facial expression drop the slightest bit. "Yeah, we've been dating for three years. She's actually my...fiancée."