When You Were Young

Chapter 22

CHAPTER XXII

BACK TO THE PRESENT...

When things got clear again, they were into the Boarding House. This time, no fainting or anything of the sort.

First thing Elena did was to let go of Fluffy and to touch her bump, confirming it was still there.

Stefan checked Sarah to see if everything was fine with his daughter, and was utterly relieved to know she was well.

Caroline took a good look at her baby boy too, finding it odd she couldn't hear his heartbeat. What was going on? She was pretty sure the baby was no more than a human with a werewolf gene.

There was another odd thing also, why wasn't she feeling the thirst? She was hungry, actually, hungry for berries with sugar and...

No. No, no, no. The blonde then saw Stefan staring at her, dumbstruck.

- Stef, what's wrong with me?

Elena got puzzled. Why did her friend think there was something wrong with her? She looked perfectly fine.

The Salvatore boy got up with his girl in arms. He didn't understand it himself, but he had to tell her what was going on.

- Caroline, you're still human. And I hear another heartbeat in you. Oh, and by the way, I hear two heartbeats in Elena.

The girls looked at each other not knowing what to process first. The blonde was still human. And she was knocked up. And Elena had not one, but two buns in the oven.

- Wow, I am having twins. And Care is pregnant... again.

They were at a loss there. Stefan started to think things over and had a theory of what might be going on.

- Maybe Caroline got pregnant before we were sent back, and nature didn't want to kill her child. Our kind can't procreate, yes, and Ayanna said if you got back pregnant you wouldn't be able to hold it, but everything she said was theoretical. Her conclusion was based on the information the spirits gave her, that our kind can't have children. So she imagined that once we were back, we would be back to being vampires, therefore, you wouldn't be able to hold the child. And she was right. If you were back to being a vampire, there was no way this pregnancy would continue. But, apparently, nature decided to keep you human for you to have the baby. The child already exists, perhaps nature didn't want to kill it. I bet you'll be back to being a vampire once the baby's out.

- Why didn't Ayanna say anything when we arrived at her hut to get back here? – she suddenly considered, Ayanna always knew when they were pregnant.

- Well, maybe she didn't want to risk that you had second thoughts about leaving. She said it was imperative we left that specific stormy night. If you knew you were pregnant, well, you might have made a fuss about leaving and getting back as a vampire, "killing" your child. Besides, what good would do to know? It would made you feel guilty and sad. – the boy concluded, and the girl had to nod in agreement, for it actually made a lot of sense.

Elena frowned. Wasn't Caroline being careful?

- Weren't you taking the potion, Care?

There was guilt all over her face. She was taking it... sort of.

- I was so stressed about our departure I forgot to drink it many nights. But since that happened around a month or so before the date set for our return, I thought "Whatever, I'll be back to being a vampire in a month, there will be no pregnancy anyway, so what's the point of worrying that bad about such insignificant issue when there are lots of more important things to worry about?".