Eternal

Chapter Five

Eternal

Chapter 5 – Pre-Epilogue

Three Years Later – Mystic Falls

Elena POV

Three years had passed. Three years since the death of Katherine, and three years since the birth of our daughter, Gracie Jenna Salvatore. Her given name was Grace, but when she was younger she preferred Gracie so we just stuck with it. We were still living in Mystic Falls, but we needed to move soon as people were getting suspicious that the little girl was growing up but her parents weren't ageing. I decided I wanted to be turned about six months after Gracie was born. Initially I wanted Stefan to be the one to turn me, but in the end Damon had to snap my neck, as Stefan wouldn't bring himself to do it. After I woke up from the change, everyone was worried about how I'd react to Gracie, as she was half human. Turns out, I didn't appeal to her blood at all, I thought it was my motherly instinct to protect her that made me not want her blood.

After she was born, Bonnie dove into research, now that we were sure that she was half human and half vampire. For months Bonnie searched and for months she came up empty, until a snowy day in December two years ago.

Flashback

"Stefan! Elena! You guys here?" I heard Bonnie shout from the hallway.

I came out of the kitchen, Gracie balanced on my hip, to find her out of breath and clutching an old looking book. I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

"You found something?" I asked, setting Gracie down on her play mat.

"I found something." She said, putting the book down onto the table and opening it half way.

"This is one of Ric's books, I don't know where he got it or when he used it but I found something interesting." She said.

Her eyes scanned over the page, looking for the paragraph that she was searching for. She bought her finger up and started to trace over the words on the page before she started to read.

'They who are born upon their mothers decent will rake leave from them upon three, those who are born upon their fathers decent will take upon the traits of them and live exponentially'

"Why do these clues always need to be riddles?" I questioned, rolling my eyes.

"I don't know whether this is the truth or not, it's just an urban legend that I found. But if this is true, it sounds as though she will keep growing until she's the same age as Stefan was when he was turned, and then she'll live forever." Bonnie summarised.

"But..." I was interrupted when the front door opened and Stefan walked inside, followed by Damon.

"You've found something?" Stefan guessed, kissing me before sitting beside me.

"Yeah, an urban legend in one of Alaric's books. Basically, it says that because she got her vampire traits from her father then she will age to the age you were turned and then live eternally. But if she got her traits from her side, it would be completely different and she wouldn't survive." Bonnie told them.

Stefan looked over at Gracie, who was now sitting up, playing with building blocks with Damon.

"So, this is the truth? She'll live forever?" Stefan asked, awestruck.

"If this is true, then definitely." Bonnie said, smiling at us.

End of flashback

When Gracie was two, Stefan and I got married. Caroline and Bonnie were my bridesmaids and Damon was Stefan's best man, of course. Jeremy was going to hold Gracie's hand as she walked down the aisle before me. We knew, that although she was only two years old, she would remember this day. That was another trait she got from Stefan, she had a great memory to go along with her advanced development. Gracie was speaking in full sentences by the time she was seven months old, and Stefan started to teach her French before she was even one and a half. She was extraordinary.