Babies, Love, Marriage

Chapter 2: The Day It All Began

A/N: Until further notice, italics will be Elena or Elijah telling their love story to their wedding guests. Regular font will be the actual interactions between them and the "present events" during that time. This is a new style of writing for me, so hopefully it works out and that it doesn't confuse you all. Enjoy.

Nothing had been going right for me in the romance department. I had had a handful of relationships, but something was always missing from them. I knew that I wanted kids, but I also knew that I didn't want kids with any of the guys that I had dated. The elusive 'Mr. Right' just wasn't someone that I was going to find in Mystic Falls. I was born and raised there; I knew every guy in town. They were not going to be the right fit. So I moved to New Orleans, on the suggestion of my college roommate, and now sister-in-law, Rebekah, and got a whole bunch of new faces and personalities to explore relationships with. But even then, I didn't see myself having a lasting relationship with any of the guys that she tried setting me up with.

I gave up on trying to find 'Mr. Right'. He wasn't in Mystic Falls, he wasn't in New Orleans, and there weren't many other places that I wanted to travel to in an effort to find him. I had resigned myself to the fact that I would be a single mother, because the fact was that I never gave up on the plan to have kids. So after asking some of my male friends for their... help... I ended up going with artificial insemination. I had the support of my family; of my friends; and I had trust in myself. I knew that I could do this. I knew that I could raise a child on my own. So I set up an appointment, and the day that I had the insemination, that was the day that everything changed. Not just because I had taken the first step towards my family, but because that was also the same day that I first met Elijah.

It wouldn't be until later on that I would find out that he was Rebecca's older brother, and it definitely was not love at first sight, but it was the turning point that led us to today.

Elena chewed on her lower lip as the minutes that she had to have her legs elevated ticked by. Her mind was racing with the possibilities of what could go wrong, and she could barely pull up any possibilities of what could go right. Stefan and Damon had planted so many doubts in her head about how unready for kids she actually was, and try as she might, she couldn't banish those thoughts. Shaking her head, she tried to pull on her self-confidence. It had grown exponentially since she had been with either of the Salvatore Brothers, and she had moved on. It had even been their constant putting her down that had led to her cutting ties with both of them when she had left for college. There was no reason for their words to be bringing her down now. She was going to be a good mother. She knew that she was. Just because hers and Jeremy's parents had passed away didn't negate all the years that Miranda had shown Elena what it took to be a good mother.

When the timer finally went off, Elena let out a little squeak. Those 10-15 minutes had gone by too fast. Elena couldn't help the 'what ifs' from swirling around in her mind. What if it hadn't been long enough? What if she had lowered her legs while she had been lost in her thoughts? What if it didn't take? What if this...? What if that...? What if...? What if...? What if...? Elena took a deep breath to steady her heart rate. She was on the brink of hyperventilating, and that wouldn't be a good thing. She needed to stay calm. So with one more deep breath, Elena lowered her legs completely, got dressed after the doctor came in and told her that she was good to go, and headed out of the room.

As she left the clinic, Elena gave smiles to the other mothers, and mothers-to-be, that were in the waiting room. She felt optimistic, but her longing looks at the babies and young children seemed to unsettle a lot of the mothers. To the point where one of them had to keep telling her to stop staring. And she tried, really she did, but she couldn't help herself. All Elena could do was picture herself as a mother soon, holding her own child, and she went right back to staring. When she stepped outside, and it started raining, not even that could bring Elena's mood down. She was going to be a mother, and nothing and no one would ruin it. Or at least, that's what Elena thought. She had hailed a cab, and had slid into the backseat, only for someone else, a slightly older man, to do the same thing on the other side.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Elena asked with a scowl.

"I'm sitting in the backseat of the cab that I just hailed." The man said.

"I just hailed this cab." Elena said.

"Impossible. I saw him first, and he stopped for me." The man said with a smirk that irritated Elena immensely.

"You can't know if you saw him first." Elena said. "Excuse me sir, which one of us did you pull over for?" She asked, only for the cab driver to give her a look that told her to figure things out, or to get out.

"Look, since we are both already in the cab, why don't we share it, and then we can each pay for half of the ride?"

"I'm not going to ride in a cab with a complete stranger." Elena said as she opened the door. "You can have the cab. I'll get another one."

"No, don't do that. You take the cab." The man commented as he climbed out as well, only for the driver to pull away from both of them once the backdoors had been closed.

"Why in heavens name would you do that? Now neither of us have a cab, and it's pouring out here." Elena snapped.

"You seemed to be a good mood before all of that, the way that you are acting makes me think that I ruined that mood. I was raised to be a gentleman." He said. "I'm Elijah by the way."

"You're right, I was in a good mood." Elena said as she headed back to the sidewalk and started walking. She had decided to wear flats today, so walking back to the French Quarter, while it would take forever, wouldn't kill her feet.

"So you're saying that I did ruin it." Elijah commented as he fell into step next to her. "And I didn't catch your name."

"That's because I didn't give it to you. Telling me your name doesn't make you any less of a stranger." Elena said.

"If you tell me your name, we can get to know each other, and we wouldn't be strangers anymore." Elijah pointed out, and Elena rolled her eyes.

"That's the line you're going with?" She asked. "I'm good. If, on the very small chance, we run into each other again, I might consider giving you my name." She added before turning a corner.

"Are you headed to the French Quarter?" Elijah asked.

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes. I'm meeting up with some friends." Elena replied.

"That I must insist that you allow me to escort you to the Quarter. I'm heading that way as well, and I would feel even worse than I already do if I left you to walk all the way there in this weather." Elijah offered and Elena stopped to give him a hard look.

"I don't need your help. I don't need you 'escorting' me anywhere. I've lived in New Orleans for long enough that I can take care of myself and I know where I'm going. So, thanks, but no thanks."

Whether it was fate, or the universe, or whatever, Elena's phone started ringing in her pocket and she pulled it out, turning away from Elijah to answer it. She hadn't even gotten a chance to say anything upon answering the call before the bubbly voice of her life long best friend, Caroline slipped through the receiver.

"Did you do it already? Are you pregnant?" Caroline asked, and Elena chuckled softly.

"Yes, and you know that I won't know that for a few more weeks. It's not like it's an instantaneous thing, Care." Elena replied.

"Right, sorry. I'm just super excited at the prospect of you being a mom, and me being Auntie Caroline." Caroline said. "Oh, Bon and Bekah want to know if you'll be here soon? Bekah knows of this really cool club, and we'll need someone sober to keep us in line while we party. She knows the owner and was able to hook us up with a private booth." She added.

"I'll be there as soon as I can. The cab that I hailed... well, it's complicated. I'll explain when I get to the apartment. I'm having to walk back to the Quarter." Elena explained.

"That's horrible. But we will wait for you. Just get here as safely and quickly as you can." Caroline instructed before ending the call.

Elena shook her head before slipping her phone back into her pocket. Looking up she realized that she had continued walking while she had been on the phone with her friend, and that, despite her attempts to dismiss him, Elijah was still walking next to her. Glancing over at him, Elena mentally analyzed him. If she hadn't already determined to have a family of her own, on her own, she might have found him attractive enough to entertain thoughts of getting to know him. But guys led to feelings, and feelings led to confusion and then, inevitably, heart break, and that wasn't something that Elena needed right now. She had, for all intense and purposes, sworn off guys.

"You don't know how to take a hint, do you?" Elena asked as she folded her arms across her chest.

"I can take one, but as I said, I would feel even worse than I already do if you walked back to the Quarter by yourself in this weather. So despite your arguments against it, I'm walking you back. It's my fault that the cab drove off. This is the least that I can." Elijah replied, keeping a respectable distance, which Elena appreciated.

"Fine... if you insist, then I will humor you." Elena said with an eye roll before falling silent.

"Humor me how?" Elijah asked a few minutes later.

"By allowing you to walk me back. I am sticking to my earlier statement of me maybe giving you my name, if we happen to run into each other again." Elena said.

"Okay, I'll take what I can get." Elijah said as he held his hands up in surrender. "Can I ask you other questions to get to know you better, if I promise not to ask for your name?" He asked.

"I suppose so. But I reserve the right to withhold an answer to any question that you asked."

"How long have you lived in New Orleans? I know a good majority of the people who live in the city, yet don't recall ever seeing you before." Elijah question and Elena couldn't help but snort, very undignified.

"New Orleans is just about 350 square miles and is home to just under 425,000 people. There is absolutely no way for you to know that many people and keep every face separate from each other. I don't even think it's possible to know that many people, period. So if you were trying to impress me, you failed, miserably." Elena replied.

"Okay, you're right. I don't know everyone in New Orleans, but I have lived here since I was a child, and I come from a very long running, affluential family, so I do know quite a few people. But that doesn't change my question. How long have you lived here?" Elijah questioned.

"For about 5 years." Elena said.

"Did you go to school here and then decided to stay, or were you visiting and then decided to stay?" Elijah asked.

"Does it really matter what originally brought me here? I fell in love with the city, especially the Quarter, when I came here, and after living in a small town all through my childhood, I liked the idea of living somewhere else where everyone didn't know everyone else." She replied, giving him a very pointed look with the last part.

"And where are you from?"

"A little town in Virginia; I doubt you've heard of it. People rarely have."

"Try me. I tend to know a lot of things that most people don't."

"You aren't modest at all, are you?"

"Not at all."

The humor that laced their tones made Elena forget that Elijah had wanted her to tell him what town she was from. And the brief moment that had transpired made Elijah not care that she hadn't answered his question. They had fallen into a much more comfortable silence after that, and by the time either of them broke it, they had finally reached the outskirts of the French Quarter, and they had made it through the storm. When they reached Elena's apartment building, Elijah took her hand lightly in his and brought it to his lips to kiss her knuckles.

"Thank you for making sure that I got home." Elena said, not sure how to react to the gesture.

"Until we meet again." Elijah said.

"What makes you so sure that we will?" Elena asked, her eyes going wide.

"Optimism." Elijah replied before he turned and walked away.

With a shake of her head, Elena headed inside and up to her apartment. Her head was swirling with thoughts, but for the first time since she had started focusing on having a baby on her own, it wasn't about whether or not the insemination was going to work or not. It was about Elijah. She had no idea who he was, because as she had mentioned, they were strangers. She also had no idea if she wanted to see him again or not. If being in his presence for an hour or so was already causing sparks of curiosity about a non-existent relationship with him, then she wasn't sure if she wanted to purposefully spend more time with him and risk igniting those sparks. When she walked into her apartment, Rebekah wore an amused expression that the brunette had seen many times before when the blonde knew something that she didn't, but Elena ignored it in favor of going to her room to dry off and change into something else that wasn't soaked from the rain.

Needless to say at this point, it wasn't love at first sight for me. He had claimed to see the exact same cab that I had before me, and then caused us both to lose it. I was curious about him, sure, but at that point, he was nothing more than a guy that I had been, for lack of another word to use, forced to spend an hour with, walking from downtown New Orleans back to the French Quarter. And in the rain, no less. I had no idea, nor any way of knowing, that his 'optimism' at seeing me again were based on the fact that he was Rebekah's brother, and that he knew that she lived in the same building that I did. Just like he had no idea, or any way of knowing, that I was her college roommate, and that we lived together with 2 other girls.

When you meet someone for the first time, and it's not through a mutual party, your mind doesn't jump to the possibility that you might both know the same person. Rebekah had mentioned that she had an older brother named Elijah, but my brain hadn't made the connection, because as you can, they don't share any facial characteristics. And I had no idea how many guys in New Orleans were named 'Elijah', or if he had really lived there since he was born. You tend to elaborate aspects of your life when you meet someone that you have interest in. You want to make yourself look better and impress them. Any part of his story could have been fabricated, and I wouldn't have been any the wiser. But Elijah's 'optimism' ended up being true, because as he guessed, we did see each other again. A lot sooner than I had thought we would.