Claire sat on the overstuffed couch carefully holding the framed family portrait on her lap. Reagan leaned in close as Claire's chubby finger pointed out each child sitting on the rock ledge. Elena and Damon's oldest daughter spoke to her cousin with five-year-old self-confidence. "Jackson. Kennedy. Madison. You. Me." She jabbed each face in the portrait in turn during the game of who's who that only the extended Gilbert family could provide.

Jenna turned to the pair and tried not to laugh. At times like this, with her somber forehead knit in concentration, it was an easy reminder of exactly who her father was.

Claire frowned, giving an exaggerated sigh. She'd been doing well identifying all the cousins, siblings, and almost-family members until she hit the back row. Jenna didn't blame her for the pause.

Two photos had her stumped, though. Claire's finger slid to the two nearly-identical toddlers standing behind the row of older cousins. She leaned in close and blinked at the small black haired boy with vivid blue eyes. They were the almost-twins in the family – only separated by a few months in age.

Finally, she broke into a grin. She'd figured it out. "Blue eyes. Braydon." Then she tapped the boy with black hair and brown eyes. Her little brother was the spitting image of his father.

"Brown eyes. Grayson." Jeremy's son could easily have passed for a member of Elena's brood. And since that brood was ever-growing, Damon and Elena likely wouldn't have noticed if another little one ended up at their house.

Her mission completed, Claire handed the picture to her cousin. "That's everyone. Your turn."

Reagan blinked back at Claire. The task of identifying each member of the crew seemed to overwhelm Jenna's middle daughter.

"I don't think she's quite ready for that yet, Claire." Jenna leaned down and took the picture from her three-year-old daughter's hands. "Maybe next year."

"But then there will be even more of us." Claire looked earnestly back at her aunt. Her long brown eyelashes curled against her cheeks.

"I sincerely hope not. Well, not other than the ones we already know about." Jenna circled the couch and studied Claire's appearance - not perfect, but it would have to do. "Ok everybody. Let's go!"

Claire hopped off the couch and froze. "Will Mommy pick me up after school?" The first hint of tears pooled at the corner of the typically cheerful little one's eyes. Up until now, she'd handled the hurried overnight hand-off like a champ, but her brave façade was cracking.

"Probably not your mom." Jenna forced a smile. If Elena showed up at pre-school pick-up today, Jenna would likely kill her almost-daughter. "But your dad should be there."

"But Daddy?" Claire twirled a finger around the hem of her red and white peppermint-striped shirt.

"Your Daddy should…" Jenna's answer was interrupted by the ringing telephone. She glanced at the caller ID. Mystic Fall's General Hospital. Damn, Damon said Elena should be headed home by now.

A string of not-toddler-safe words desperately wanted to escape her lips. She ducked into the kitchen, motioning for the girls to stay in the living room. "Hello." At Damon's grim tone, she worked harder to force a cheerful expression in the midst of words like failing heartbeat, prepping for emergency c-section, and the doctor's hopeful... She gripped the side of the counter for support. Why couldn't he have called after she dropped the girls off?

"Mom?" Jackson obviously had inherited something from Mystic Falls' mystical past. He was almost psychic. "What's wrong?"

Kennedy thudded down the stairs just in time to catch the change in mood. "Mom?"

"Everything's fine." Jenna shot a meaningful glance at the younger girls. She prayed her two older kids wouldn't freak the little ones out. Right now, Jenna was freaked out enough for all of them.

"We're going to be late for school." Kennedy chewed her lower lip.

"Crap." Jenna looked at her watch and flinched. "Backpacks... lunchboxes... Christmas presents?" She surveyed the cluster of children standing in front of her.

"Mom, can I please stay and just ride the bus?" Jackson pulled his backpack onto one shoulder as he picked up the brown paper sack of party supplies. "It comes before Dad leaves." He looked at the younger girls assembled in the foyer. "Please don't make me ride with all of them."

Normally Jenna wouldn't have Claire in tow during the school run, but today was...unexpected.

Elena and Damon seriously owed her. Of course, they hadn't exactly been planning on being out of pocket today.

"It'll help you get to school on time." Jackson raised an eyebrow and grinned.

Damn. That boy did spend too much time with Damon.

"Alright." She nodded in surrender. "Ric?" Jenna called up the stairs. "I'm leaving Jackson here with you. Make sure he gets on the bus!"

"What?" Alaric stepped out of the bedroom.

"I'm leaving Jackson here. If he misses the bus, you're on your own." Jenna handed a bag of Christmas gifts to Madison. "Carry those for me to the car. Ok, let's go!" She counted heads as the girls stepped into the light snowfall on their way to the minivan.


The phone buzzed in Damon's pocket and woke him up. Rubbing his bloodshot eyes, he slowly stood and walked quietly from the darkened room. He'd lost track of night and day. He wasn't even sure how long he'd been here by now.

After Elena saw the trickle of blood streaming down her leg, everything just became a blur. They'd tossed Claire and Braydon in the car, depositing them with Jenna and Ric and Jeremy and Hannah, but telling neither couple how grave the situation was.

The twins were due at Valentine's Day. This was far too early. He'd held onto Elena's sweaty palm the entire drive, making promises he definitely couldn't keep.

The gray light filtering through the window was obscured by the clumps of snow clinging to the window. Was it dawn or sunset? Christ, it had been a long day.

He had just enough time to glance at the text message and make his way to the elevator just before it chimed and opened.

"Daddy!" Claire barreled into his arms. She grinned widely as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Claire-bear." He scooped her up and studied her appearance. His pink and blue wristbands tangled together as they slid down his arm. Thankfully, whoever helped Claire dress put the right pieces of the Christmas outfit together. "Were you good for Aunt Jenna and Uncle Ric?"

Claire's head bobbed earnestly up and down. Her pigtails were a mess, just like they normally were after a hard day of preschool. That little boy must have been tugging them again. If he weren't so tired right now, he'd be on the phone with his neighbors to discuss their son's behavior. "Did you let Madison sleep last night?"

Her eyes widened as she shook her head no.

"You didn't?"

"I was in Reagan's room." She whispered into his ear.

"Oh." He laughed at his very literal daughter. He corrected himself. "Did you let Reagan sleep?"

"She was great, as always." Jenna held tightly to Reagan's hand. Elena's aunt looked as worried as he imagined he must have. "How is?" She nodded down the hospital corridor, obviously not wanting to worry the little girls.

"Everybody's fine. Really." Damon hadn't realized just how relieved he was that the words were true.

"Elena?"

"They've had some trouble getting Elena's pain medicine right. She's still pretty uncomfortable. She hasn't slept yet, but she keeps asking about this one." Damon lowered Claire to the ground and she wrapped her hand around his fingers.

"We had a Christmas party today, Daddy."

"Christmas party..." Damon flinched. "Presents for the teachers."

"Already taken care of. They were in Claire's bag - along with her snacks for the party and the gift for the exchange with her classmates." Jenna laughed. "Your wife plans ahead." She squinted as she stared at the nursery in the distance. "I think she may have known something wasn't right. She wasn't feeling well yesterday."

Her words confirmed Damon's suspicions. Elena had seemed a little…off during dinner. And yet, she'd pretended like everything was just fine. They'd have to talk about that – later.

Damon led the group to the oversized window. "Back there." He pointed to a tiny blue bundle in an incubator. His jaw tightened slightly as he watched the tiny chest rise and fall. "There's your brother Nathan…" He tried to keep his voice light, but Jenna's worried look said he wasn't doing a good enough job of convincing everyone that they were out of the woods.

"But where's Emma? Two, Daddy." She held her fingers in front of her.

"Let's go see your mom." He ignored Claire's question and turned back to Jenna, leaving Reagan with her in the hall. "We won't be long."

They walked down the corridor until they came to the room at the farthest end of the hallway. When they were safely out of Jenna's view, he knelt down next to Claire. "First, I've got to fix this before your mom sees you." He pulled her uneven pigtails out of her hair. "Who did your hair this morning, Uncle Ric?"

Claire shook her head. "Jenna."

"Maybe we should let Uncle Ric try next time." He ran his fingers through her sandy brown hair and coaxed it back up. "No curls, but at least it's even now." He straightened the red and green bows trying not to make the jingle bells ring too loudly. "Your mom was finally asleep when I left, so you know what that means, right?"

"Shhh!" Claire held her index finger to her lips.

"Right, shhhh!" He hesitantly opened the door and stepped into the room. Claire tiptoed to her mother's bedside.

"You were right, Mommy's asleep!" Claire whispered loudly.

Elena's eyes cracked open. "I wasn't asleep, Sweetie."

"Liar." Damon reached down and helped her position the pillows behind her back. He leaned down and kissed her still-damp hair.

She flinched as she used one arm to push herself higher in the bed. "Come on up." She patted the side of the bed.

As Claire took her place on the side of the bed, her attention immediately went to the tiny pink bundle in the incubator at Elena's bedside. Elena reached out but took a sharp breath as she grimaced. "Can you get her?" She looked up at Damon who was already walking around the bed. He placed the bundle into his wife's waiting arms. "Claire, this is Emma."

Claire's brow furrowed as her deep green eyes looked intently at her sister. "She's tiny."

"The twins were in a hurry to get here." Elena gently stroked the baby's dark brown hair. "You look so cute. Do you like your jingle bells?"

Claire grinned and nodded so Elena could hear the bells.

"I thought you'd like those." Elena twirled one of Claire's pigtails around her finger to curl it. "Is Jenna here?"

Damon nodded as he watched Elena fight to keep her eyes open. From the drawn look on her face, he could tell she was ready for her next dose of pain medicine, but she was avoiding taking it because of Claire's visit. They'd worked too hard to get her comfortable after the unexpected surgery to let her go too long without the medicine now. He clicked the button for her - drawing a glare from Elena. "Every 8 minutes." He gave the button a pointed look. "Jenna's outside with Reagan. They're visiting with Nathan."

"How is he?" Elena looked at the clock and realized how long she'd been asleep.

"He's fine." Damon stroked her arm. "They just have him on a little oxygen." Elena didn't look convinced. "Really." He squeezed her hand. "He's as stubborn as his mom."

"Is Braydon coming?"

"Probably not the best idea. Out of sight...out of mind. Hannah said he's doing fine. I already talked to her this morning. In fact, she asked if she could keep him for the rest of the week." He laughed. "Apparently, he's keeping Grayson entertained."

"That's good." Elena's words slurred as the pain medicine kicked back in. She was rapidly loosing the battle with her eyelids.

"Come on, Claire. Don't want to be late for dinner." He hoisted Claire off the side of the bed. "Let's let Aunt Jenna and Reagan see Emma." He carefully cradled the tiniest of his children in his arms. She might have been small, but she was a definite fighter. The doctors hadn't been able to find anything at all they were concerned with except for her size. "I'll be right back." He brushed a kiss on her forehead.

"I'm not going anywhere." She gave a half smile as she waved at Claire. "Tell your teachers Merry Christmas."

"But I won't see them until after Christmas…"

"It's okay." Damon whispered into her ear. "Mommy doesn't know what time it is." Damon held Emma in one arm as he held Claire's hand with the other.

"Oh, she's so tiny." Jenna peeked into the blankets.

"Four pounds, five ounces." Damon agreed.

"I still can't believe you two had twins." Jenna shook her head as she stroked the back of Emma's hand.

Damon's eyes flashed. "What can I say?" He knelt next to Reagan to give her a better look at her newest cousin.

Jenna frowned and shook her head. "For my Christmas present...just promise me you'll keep your hands off my niece for a while."

"You're going to have to talk to Elena about that." Damon grinned wickedly. He glanced at his watch. "You three need to get going."

"Let me keep Claire another night. She's not any trouble. Elena packed enough clothes for her to stay for a week." Jenna reached for Claire's hand. "We're making Christmas cookies tonight."

Claire hopped up and down. "With sprinkles?"

"Is there any other way to make them?" Jenna looked hopefully at Damon. "Really, I don't mind. That way you can stay here with Elena another night. When will she get to go home?"

"Three more days, but the babies...they might stay a few days longer."

"What about Christmas?" Claire looked up in fright.

"We'll be home by Christmas. I promise. Even if Emma and Nathan have to stay, you'll be in your bed on Christmas Eve. Thanks, Jenna." Damon waved as Jenna, Reagan, and Claire stepped into the elevator. He turned and walked back to the hospital room - not surprised to find Elena sound asleep.

"Mr. Salvatore?" A nurse was waiting in the room and walked to Damon's side. "Time for me to take this little girl back to the nursery." She took Emma from Damon's arms. "If I were you, I'd take this chance to sleep too. With two little ones, you're not going to be getting much sleep for a while." She laughed softly. "You're going to be a very busy man."

"I don't mind one bit." Damon yawned as he folded his arms across his chest and closed his eyes.