The Beginning Of Our Forever [1]

7. Remembering Happier Days

Elena pulled up a chair next to Jeremy's bed and leaned forwards to hold his hand. She quickly wiped away her tears and saw that Jeremy was also crying. Stefan walked behind Elena and stood behind her chair, his hands on her shoulders.

"Of course it's me Jer, I'm really here," she smiled,

"I can't believe it Elena, it's been such a long time," Jeremy continued, leaning across and placing his other hand on top of Elena's.

"I know Jer, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry about all of this. I can't believe that Bonnie's gone too..." Elena added, lowering her head after mentioning Bonnie's name.

"Bonnie meant everything to me Elena. I gave her the life that you always wanted her to have, don't worry," Jeremy smiled.

Elena was confused. She looked over her shoulder at Stefan who was biting his lip and raised an eyebrow at him. She half expected him to say that it was just Jeremy getting his facts mixed up because of his illness. But he didn't.

"We were going to tell you Elena, we just didn't know when the right time would be..." Stefan began, his eyes wandering across the room.

"Tell me what Stefan?!" Elena's tone of voice became more anxious.

"Well, about 2 or 3 years after you were gone, Bonnie and Enzo started seeing each-other. I know, we couldn't really believe it either. The two of them seemed to get on really well and they were great for each-other, they were both really happy. They had been together for about a year and then things changed. Bonnie wanted to settle down and have her own family and obviously Enzo couldn't give that to her. It really broke his heart y'know... so he let her go and left town to make it easier for her to move on. This was about the same time Jeremy moved back to Mystic Falls and started living with us. Jeremy was Bonnie's comfort after the breakup. There were clearly unresolved feelings between the two of them so obviously things progressed from there." Elena was dumbfounded. She couldn't believe what Stefan was telling her.

Elena looked back over at Jeremy who was just beginning to dose off.

"Jeremy... are you awake still?" she whispered, trying not to startle him.

Jeremy's eyes snapped open and he looked over at Elena with a huge smile and his eyes filled with tears.
"Elena, is that really you?" he exclaimed, fidgeting around in his bed in excitement.

Elena lowered her head as tears began to well up in her eyes. It was becoming clear to her just how severe Jeremy's illness was.

"Yes Jer its me," she raised her head and gave him a small smile, Stefan's hands squeezed her shoulders lightly to reassure her that she had the strength to do this.
"Jer, could you tell me about you and Bonnie please? Do you remember Bonnie?" she queried, not sure if this was pushing him too hard.

"Of course I know Bonnie, Elena. I'm not stupid enough to forget my own wife," he replied, confident in himself.

Elena beamed. "Bonnie was your wife Jeremy?" she queried, just to make sure that she was hearing this right.

"Of course. We would have been married 55 years this year. You should have seen her on our wedding day Elena, she was the most beautiful woman that I had ever seen in my life. I don't think that we ever planned to get married, but it seemed like the right thing to do for our family." Jeremy seemed so happy talking about Bonnie that Elena almost forgot that he was ill at all.

Elena looked back over at Stefan who nodded his head to confirm that everything Jeremy was saying was correct.

"Could you tell me about your family please Jeremy?" Elena asked.

"We have a daughter... Sheila Elena Gilbert." Elena dropped her head into her hands at the sound of her niece's name. She wept for what felt like hours, her happiness overwhelming her.

"Sheila was born 6 years before Bonnie and I were married. It's such an incredible feeling Elena, to watch a new life, your child's life, be brought into this world. She was the most extraordinarily beautiful little girl I had ever seen. We wanted another child more than anything... but it just didn't happen. After we came to terms that Sheila wouldn't have any siblings we thought that getting married would make our family complete." Elena was listening intently to Jeremy's every word, so excited to hear every detail about the life that he and Bonnie had made for each-other.

Elena could see that Jeremy was getting tired. They had been at the hospital for almost an hour and she remembered that Stefan told her not to push it. She stood up from the chair and turned to face Stefan.

"Where is Sheila now?" she asked.

Stefan turned Elena around so that their backs were facing Jeremy.
"Sheila moved away from Mystic Falls quite a few years ago with her husband. She's 62 now Elena, she has a life and family of her own. I phoned her myself when Bonnie died. She came back this morning to see Jeremy and said that she would be back for Bonnie's funeral in a few days."

Elena was thrilled at the prospect of meeting her niece but she hated that it had to be under such horrible circumstances. Elena turned back around to Jeremy, bent over the bed and then placed a kiss on his forehead. He was already fast asleep.

"I'll be back on the morning of Bonnie's funeral Jer. We'll all go together, don't worry," she mumbled, unaware if he could still hear her. Elena stood back up and walked over to the door where Stefan was already waiting for her. She looked back over her shoulder,

"I love you Jer," she smiled, before turning and closing the door behind her.