1993 — Mystic Falls, Virginia

   Grayson and Miranda Gilbert's house was brightly lit, with loud laughter coming from the inside. They were celebrating their daughters first birthday, something that they were excited to experience. The couple had invited friends and family, just a simple close together that would be memorised through photographs.

   Florence held the birthday present in her arms, a wide blue box with a red ribbon tying it together. Inside, the teddy bear and a hand written letter from her that immortalised her love for her niece. The youngest Gilbert, although not the youngest because of Elena, was excited to hand the present to the one year-old girl. 

   "Hi!" she called as she walked through the front door. 

   "Florence!" Miranda greeted, immediately going in for a hug. "I'm so happy you came. When did you get back from the cabin?"

   "This morning," she answered with a smile. "Bob dropped me off first. Oh!" She pushed the box towards her sister-in-law and grinned wider. "I brought a birthday present for Elena!"

   "Oh, she will love this so much," Miranda cooed, giving her a smile. "She's just taking a nap upstairs. You can go see her if you want."

   "I will," she nodded. "But, where's Grayson?"

   "Out back," Miranda sighed, walking towards the living room. Florence followed behind her, hands in the back of her pocket. "He bought a new barbecue yesterday, so he's excited to test it out. Your father and basically every other man is out there with him, having a couple of beers and making stupid jokes." Miranda rolled her eyes and turned to face the youngest Gilbert. "Want to say hello to him?"

  "I'll do it later," Florence answered through her teeth, making a face. "First, I'll go see Elena." Before her sister-in-law could say anything, she hurried up the stairs. She had memorised her brother's house to the point where she could walk around in the dark. Why? There was no other reason but that Miranda had told her that whenever her parents fought too much, she was welcomed in their home. 

   Elena's room was the first door to the left. Quietly and slowly, Florence opened the door. The bedroom was painted a soft grey colour with a hand painted bear and stars by the window. Miranda had been the one that decorated it, since Grayson had no sense of decoration or art. The crib was painted white, its bedding a soft yellow that reminded the young Gilbert girl of a bumblebee. On top of that crib, little Elena was standing with her small hands holding on tightly to the railing.

   "Elena!" Florence cooed, slowly walking to her with a wide grin.

   Elena lifted her hands into the air as a smile formed on her toothless mouth. She fell back, then clapped her hands together as her aunt came closer. 

   "You were supposed to be napping," Florence said as she picked up the baby from her crib. "Obviously, you're too exited to nap, right? I mean, you only turn one once in your life." She sat on the rocking chair by the window, the baby on her lap. "I think your mom is throwing this party because she wants to remember what her first birthday was like." She stopped talking and faced the wall, almost as if she were talking to a camera. "I'm talking to a baby who can't answer back. What is wrong with me?"

   Elena cooed on her lap, clapping her hands then grabbing the drawstrings of her hooded sweatshirt. She gurgled, bubbles made of saliva coming from her mouth as she pulled on the strings.

   "But, you're the cutest baby I've ever seen!" Florence cooed once again, gently touching her small nose. She let out a soft laugh, then a sigh, then leaned back on the chair as she rocked back and forth. "Listen, Elena, don't let Grayson control your life, okay? My dad's controlling mine. He's probably already sent in an application to Whitmore for me, filled out a scholarship for their swimming program. You do what you want to do, even if your dad wants you to do something else." She stopped talking and furrowed her brows. "I should be telling you this when you're older, because you can't understand what the hell I'm saying."

   The moment Grayson and Miranda had introduced Elena to the family, she had decided to be the best aunt ever. Of course, she shared the title with Miranda's little sister, Jenna, but she had decided that she would be the one that Elena would go to whenever she was having trouble or needed someone to talk to. The youngest Gilbert, although not the youngest, decided to be that one person that could be trusts the most by Elena, beating her mother, hopefully. 

   "I can't wait until you're all grown," Florence sighed, glancing down at her niece. "I'll take you shopping, and you can stay at my house, and we can talk about boys, and I'll be that cool adult that will let you drink but just under my supervision because if something happens Grayson will kill me." She trailed off and made a face as she realised what she said. "Okay, wow, I can't believe I'm talking about letting you drink when you're just turning one."

   In response, Elena gurgled and pulled on the strings of her sweatshirt, casing the hood to slightly choke her. Florence let out a cough, but then laughed as the baby on her lap let out a small squeal. The young girl wondered if that was what it felt like to be a mother. Of course, from what she had heard from Miranda, being a mother was hard work and tiresome, but she loved it. Florence had never experienced the late-night cries or the tiresome feeding sessions; all she had were simple moments that didn't involve that many tantrums or feeding sessions. 

   "Okay," Florence breathed, standing with Elena in her arms. "We need to get you downstairs so you can cover yourself with cake and we can take lots of pictures." She walked out of the room, down the stairs gently. When she reached the last step, she noticed how the house was decorated. The living room had a big balloon banner that said Happy Birthday in golden letters. There was a table in front of the balloons with Rugrats themed paper plates and cups. 

   "Look who's awake!" Florence announced, quickly glancing down at the baby that continued to pull on the strings of her sweatshirt. "It's Elena!"

   At that moment, everyone began to coo loudly, just as everyone cheered for her. Florence glanced down at the baby and grinned, then looked up as Miranda came over. She grabbed her daughter and immediately kissed her cheek. 

   "Did Florence wake you?" Miranda asked her daughter in a soft and high-pitched voice.

   "Actually, she was already awake," Florence corrected, giving her sister-in-law a wide smile. "She was anxious to get out of that room." She was going to walk away, but then she stopped and turned back to Miranda. "Oh, and, I may have given her some bad advice for when she grows up. I'm telling you now because hopefully you won't blame in like sixteen years."

   Miranda let out a chuckle and shook her head. "Florence, I don't think she'll remember what you said in sixteen years."

   "You don't know," the young Gilbert said with a shrug of her shoulders. "Some babies have like this perfect memory. Maybe Elena has the same thing."

   "And what did you tell her, then?" Miranda walked to the kitchen, glancing back at the young teenager with a teasing smile. "No underage drinking, I hope."

   Florence sucked in a breath between her teeth and made a face. "Okay, um, I'll tell you in sixteen years, okay?" She turned to go to the backyard. 

   "What about Stefan?" Miranda stopped her. 

   Slowly, Florence turned and looked at her sister-in-law. At that moment, her cheeks reddened to the point where she looked like a walking strawberry. She looked away from her sister-in-law and decided to look down at her shoes instead. "What about, uh, him?"

   "What's going on there?" Miranda asked. She was making a bottle for Elena, quickly, with a teasing smile. "Is anything happening between the two of you? I've met him only a handful of times, but I like him better than that Charles Fell."

   "Doesn't everyone prefer someone other than Charles Fell? We don't talk about freshman year, Miranda." Florence mumbled as she leaned against the kitchen counter. She let out a sigh and smiled. "There's nothing going on between Stefan and I. We're just, uh, friends."

   "Friends, huh?" Miranda glanced from the bottle of milk in her hands to the young Gilbert girl. "Grayson and I used to be friends, too."

   "And look how that turned out," Florence said with a sarcastic tone. "You're married to him."

   The Sommers woman let out a laugh and shook her head. "And it's one of the best decisions I made, Florence." She circled the kitchen to sit on the sofa, immediately allowing Elena to be fed with the bottle. "Maybe you and Stefan will have the same ending."

   "Ha!" the girl sarcastically laughed. "Why does everyone keep saying that? First it was Cher and Bob, and now you? Who's next, Mom?"

   "I'd rather you marry a lawyer," her mother answered as she took a seat next to her daughter. "Or a lawyer.'

   "How about I become a nun?" Florence asked with a sarcastic tone, tightly pursing her lips. "That would be better, right?"

   Mrs. Gilbert let out a scoff and rolled her eyes. "No wonder you got the part as Juliet, Florence. You're so darn over dramatic."

   "It must run in the Gilbert family," Miranda chuckled, shaking her head. "Elena's probably going to be just as dramatic."

   "Oh, I hope not!" Mrs. Gilbert said with hurry, shaking her head. "It will be impossible to raise her if she's as dramatic as Florence."

   "I'm not dramatic!" the girl defended herself. "Okay, um, I'm gonna go get a burger." She stood and immediately went outside. The outside smelt like smoke and the sound of laughter was everywhere. Her brother stood by the grill, her father besides him, and one of her uncles standing there with an empty plate and laughter ready to burst. 

   "There she is!" Her father yelled, laughing after. "We've been wondering when you would arrive."

   "I've been here for over an hour," she replied as she slowly walked towards them. "I was just with Elena."

   "Well, here's a burger," Grayson said, handing her a burger. "Made with love."

   "And half burnt," her father laughed.

   "Um, thanks." She grabbed the burger and gave her eldest brother a smile. Before she could even take a first bite, he asked about Stefan, just like his wife. Florence let out a groan and rolled her eyes. "Why is everyone asking me about him? You're friends with Zach, his uncle, so ask him."

   "Well, you're the one spending a lot of time with him," Grayson chuckled, shaking his head. "I think you just spend a few days at Bill's cabin with him."

   "And Cher, Bob, and Charles," she finished for him.

   "And Stefan," he chuckled. "Listen, Florence, you're my little sister—"

   "Only sister," she interrupted with a mumble.

   "You're my only sister," Grayson sighed, shaking his head. "I'm going to take care of you, even if you hate it. I'm going to question every single person that gets close to you; I'm going to watch them like a hawk; I'm going to make sure nothing happens between the two of you. It's just what big brothers do."

   "Yeah," she nodded, glancing at the burger in her hand. "I guess that's what big brothers do."

   "They take care of their little sisters," he smiled. "John would do the same, but he's just busy with college."

   "It's summer" Florence put the burger on a plate and looked up at her brother. "He's supposed to be here, Grayson, not in Florida."

   "He doesn't really like Mystic Falls," the eldest Gilbert defended. "You know, you and John are much more alike than you think. When he was your age, he said he would leave Mystic Falls as soon as he graduated high school."

   "And he did."

   "And you will, too." Grayson grinned down at her. "I know I'm hard on you in wanting you to go to Whitmore, but it's because it's a good school. It had great teachers, great buildings, and it's where Dad and I went. And its swimming program is one of the best in all of the universities in Virginia." 

   "I'll send an application," she forced a smile. "You did say that there were scouts coming, right? Maybe I'll get a scholarship, too."

   After forcing smiles and burgers down her throat, Florence Gilbert sat in the living room as she watched her brother and her sister-in-law help little Elena open the presents she was given. There were toys and clothes, many photos taken by Mrs. Gilbert and one of Miranda's best friends. Each time Elena opened a gift, everyone would coo and awe as if it were the most cutest thing ever seen. Elena's big brown eyes would glance around in confusion, but then she would look back down at the gift. She enjoyed the wrapping paper more than the gifts.

   "And this one's from Aunt Florence," Grayson said as he laid the blue box in front of his daughter. "It's a big one!"

   "Open it, Elena," Miranda gushed to her daughter. 

   Elena reached for the red ribbon and pulled on it, immediately squealing as the softness touched her. She played with the ribbon for several seconds, but stopped when Grayson opened the box and pulled out the toy. The tawny teddy bear sat in front of Elena, big black eyes staring into Elena's big brown ones. For a moment it was quiet. Florence thought she would go back to playing with the ribbon or the many wrapping papers that laid around her. Instead, little Elena Gilbert reached for the teddy bear and let out yet another squeal. With tiny hands, she squeezed the bear's ears, then its arms. 

   "She likes it," Florence mumbled, a smile forming around her lips. 

   "It looks like the stuffed koala we got her will be replaced by this bear," Grayson laughed. 

   "Thanks, Aunt Florence!" Miranda said in a high-pitched voice, quickly glancing at the girl. 

   Florence grinned and nodded, leaning back on her seat. She watched her niece play with the bear and ignore all the other toys. The young Gilbert girl felt immensely proud of herself, happy, and she wondered if that was how it felt to be a mother. No, not a mother, but that cool aunt she always wanted to be. So far, she was doing a great job, and it showed since her niece was in fact just playing with the stuffed bear and nothing more. At that moment, she couldn't wait for Elena to grow up, for them to be closer, to have conversation about everything and nothing, to be that one person in which little Elena Gilbert could trust more than her friends and even her own parents. Florence couldn't wait for the future, but she also wanted it to be stopped as much as possible.