Chapter 35

It had now been three days since Caroline and Belle arrived home and Stefan was now taking desperate measures to fix things. He could still see how much Caroline was struggling and wanted to do all he could to make it better. He had enlisted the help of his Mom and the two had a plan in action. "Are you sure this will work?" he asked Lilly

"No, but it's worth a try. She's got it in her, she just needs a push in the right direction, and she won't do it with you doing it all, because she thinks you can do it better." Lilly informed him. "We both know Caroline loves Isabelle, I just don't think she's admitted it herself yet."

"Well we're about to find out." He said. He took Belle from his Mom and held her close "Hi Pumpkin, it's time we let you get to know Mommy." He carried her through to the bedroom where Caroline was still sleeping. She looked so peaceful. He lay the fluffy towel down on the bed next to his girlfriend and placed a naked Belle next to her. "Work your magic…" he whispered kissing her forehead. He placed the changing bag at the end of the bed and left the room, returning to Lilly.

"Come on then…" she said nudging him towards the front door.

"I'm not sure Mom, what if this goes terribly wrong?" he said, running his hands over his face.

"Then we'll come back. We're going to be across the hall at Mrs Parkers, you have the baby monitor, and you can hear everything. Let's go"

Caroline woke up to an unfamiliar sound. A sound she recognised but wasn't so used to hearing this early in a morning. She opened her eyes turning in the bed, (luckily not to roughly) to see Belle crying next to her. She was crying harshly, her cheeks rosy. She moved back slightly away from Belle and took a deep breath "Stefan?" Belle continued to cry so she placed her hand on her tummy, gently rubbing her hand in circles "Shhh…shhh…come on..Stefan? Stefan, where are you?" Caroline called out but of course received no reply.

Across the hall Stefan and Lilly listened through the baby monitor. "Maybe I should just go and…"

"Mom, she'll do it…I know she will" Stefan said, he needed to have faith. "This was your idea, we'll see it though"

"Stefan…Where's your Daddy gone?" she whispered down to Belle "Please…please stop crying" she climbed from the bed noticing only now that Belle hadn't got any clothes on and she was probably past a feed- Stefan usually had it all done by now. "You must be hungry…are you hungry?" lifting Belle into her arms, she stopped crying instantly nuzzling against Caroline's chest. She took a steady, deep breath and unbuttoned the pyjama shirt she had on. It seemed easier this time around, whether it was because she really had very little choice in the matter or it was because it was new anymore. It took a few seconds but Caroline relaxed, Belle content against her chest as she fed. She lifted the towel from the bed and wrapped it around herself and Belle. She smiled softly as she looked down at Belle "I'm your Mommy…I am…" she looked up and saw Stefan in the doorway. "Hi…"

"Hi…" he moved over and sat next to them on the bed a sheepish look on his face.

"Whose idea was this?" she asked quietly

"Combination of Moms and mine, we knew you just needed a push."

"You knew all along I'd do it didn't you?" she asked

"Always." he smiled moving to sit on the bed next to her "I just wanted you to be happy Caroline...seeing you the way you were. God babe it killed me"

Caroline smiled sadly and nodded her head "i know. I cant thank you enough for believing in me... and Stefan? I am happy. With you and our baby girl."

Stefan's plan was risky ! thank god it worked ! and im afraid that's all folks... refresh your memories with 'Addicted' as more chapters of that are coming very soon ! xxx