Until This Lie Do Us Part

Chapter 11

Stefan sighed heavily. "And then one night, we got in this huge fight about her wanting to go out partying with some friends she had met in town. I told her I didn't think it was a good idea because of the baby." Elena again watched a pained expression appear on Stefan's face and she feared that she knew what he was going to say next. "And that's when she told me to leave her alone because the baby probably wasn't even mine anyways."

Elena felt her hands clench into fists at the mention of him possibly not being the father. Though, Elena already knew this, just not the context behind it. She wanted to say something, but she didn't know what. "I thought at first that she was just angry with me and wanted to hurt me. But she was serious. And she went out that night, doing God knows what. But the next day, she came home and she broke down into tears, telling me she hooked up with some guy a few times and he skipped town before she found out she was pregnant" he said, taking a breath. "I was so angry that I left for two days and wouldn't answer her calls."

"You were hurt" Elena corrected cautiously, waiting for his reaction.

Stefan blinked a few times. "Yeah, I was hurt" he agreed. "When I did end up coming back, she was a mess. She hadn't been sleeping. She had been crying and calling all over trying to find me. She kept telling me how sorry she was and how much she loved me. It had been a mistake and she couldn't lose me" he remembered.

"But you left her?" Elena asked, not being able to help herself. She was genuinely curious now.

Stefan shook his head and laughed at himself almost. "I stayed. I loved her and I was going to love this baby whether he or she was mine or not" Stefan answered. "We weren't planning on telling anyone about the paternity issue because I didn't think it mattered. No one in my family was particularly happy that she was pregnant though. No one wanted her in the family and now, with the baby, she was guaranteed a place in it whether anyone liked it or not."

"As the months went by, I started to get more and more excited about the baby" he said, a small smile appearing. "I read all of those baby books and went to all of the doctor appointments. I even bought us a house so there would be more room for the baby, with a yard and a park just down the street. Katherine seemed really happy for once, too" he mentioned. "We discussed baby names together and we started spending more time together. Like we did when we first met. I really felt like things were going to be okay."

Elena sensed that something had happened to get in the way of that happiness though. "Zach announced that he wanted a paternity test done after the baby was born. I know I said that it didn't matter to me, but I wanted to know. For my own sanity" he said, guilt dripping from his voice like wanting to know was an awful thing. "Katherine begged me not to go through with it, but I did anyways. After Lily was born, we did the test. If she wasn't mine, she was that other guy's who skipped town" Stefan said.

Only, Elena knew that wasn't true. "I remember after the test was done, I went to the nursery to wait for the results while Katherine was resting. I was sitting in the rocking chair in there, holding Lily. We had agreed on that name for a girl" Stefan explained. "Lily was looking up at me, just staring at me. I knew I was going to love her more than anyone. She was so beautiful. Still is" he smiled. "I couldn't wait to take her home. I had everything set up for her. I painted the nursery pink with brown ponies and yellow stars and she had all of these stuffed animals in her room" he said, continuing to smile at the memory. Elena felt herself begin to smile at him. This was quite possibly the most adorable thing she had ever heard a guy say.

But then his smile disappeared and so did hers. "I was talking to Lily when Zach walked in to tell me the results. Damon was with him and he was really quiet. Too quiet for Damon" Stefan remembered. "I asked Zach what was going on and he told me that I wasn't the father. I knew there was a good chance that I wasn't, but it still hit me hard. I remember feeling like I was going to get sick" he told her. "And then Zach told me that Damon was. No warning or leading up to it. Just flat out announced that Damon was the father. To say I was shocked was an understatement. I would have never thought that Damon could do that to me. We had always been really close." Stefan said before taking another breath.