This is NotEnoughPotter's prompt for this story:

Damon and Elena have been married for a few years now. Elena has a BIG surprise for Damon, and she's wanting to wait until Christmas morning to tell him that their attempts to get pregnant have finally worked out. I anticipate this being more fluffy than hot, but I'm leaving it open ended. As long as there's a positive pregnancy announcement on Christmas morning, I'm cool with whatever happens in your story.

Bonus points for: snow, making cookies, an appearance by Elena's teddy bear.

I'm so sorry, baby," I whisper, pressing a kiss to her forehead while I hold her in my arms. My eyes are focused on yet another negative pregnancy test that's sitting on the bathroom counter.

"Why can't we get pregnant? What's wrong with us?"

"Sweetheart, I'd give my right arm if I could give you this. I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault, Damon."

"It breaks my heart to see you so sad."

"Maybe we're not meant to have children?"

"We'll keep trying. That's all we can do." The sight of her tear-filled eyes twists my gut like nothing else. Every month I have to see it all over again.

I'm snapped out of my reverie when I hear my name.

"Good morning, Dr. Salvatore," Bonnie greets me when I step into my office. It's flu and RSV and asthma season all rolled into one. I've been working long hours for the last couple of weeks. As much as I love my job and taking care of people, I really hate having to neglect my wife. The woman is a saint, she never complains because she knows how much I do revel in what I do. Elena took a different course. She works as a curator at our local zoo. Sometimes her hours are insane as well. Sometimes after the zoo is closed, she and I will walk hand in hand along the pathways, viewing the animals. One night we had an overnight in the aquarium. We brought in sleeping bags and snuggled as we watched the fish swim both overhead and around us. As much as we love each other, we haven't been able to bring our greatest wish to fruition. We've been trying for nearly five years to have a child of our own. The doctor tells us that neither of us is infertile but for whatever reason, we just haven't gotten pregnant. We filed papers to adopt a baby about a year ago. So far that's been a bust too.

Elena and I have known each other since we were toddlers. We literally hated each other when we were little kids. They say hate is the beginning of a love story and it's certainly proven true for the two of us.

My heart breaks for her and for us every month when her monthly visitor arrives on schedule. Finally we decided to look into in vitro. We have an appointment with a fertility specialist but the soonest we could get into see him is next May which is still several months away. When I suggested it, her face lit like a child's on Christmas morning. She means everything to me and I know that no words exist to describe the love I have for my beautiful Elena. I just wish I could give her what she desires most in this world. I can't deny that our inability to conceive a child has caused some tension in our marriage. But we love each other too much to give up. I'd rather have a lifetime of just her and me than a lifetime by myself.

After slipping on my lab coat and draping my stethoscope around my neck, I walk into one of the exam rooms as I have patients to see. I smile when I walk inside to see a little boy sitting on the table with his legs swinging back and forth.

"Good morning, Bobby, Mrs. Wilkes."

"Hello Dr. Salvatore," she greets me, giving Bobby a gentle nudge. He raises his eyes, softly saying hi.

"Why don't you tell me what's the matter?"

"My throat hurts."

"He had a fever last night too," his mother adds.

"By now, you know the drill, open wide." When he does so, I place the tongue depressor in his mouth while using my flashlight on my otoscope to look into his mouth. As soon as I finish, I look into his ears. After palpating the glands in his throat and under his jaw, I sit down and look up at him.

"Do your ears hurt too?"

"Ah ha," he says, bobbing his head up and down.

"He has an ear infection. I'm going to prescribe some Cephalexin. You can give him Tylenol or Ibuprofen for pain and fever. My nurse will be in shortly to show you out. Goodbye Bobby," I tell him, shaking his hand.

"Dr. Salvatore, your wife is on line one," my receptionist Bonnie informs me just as I step out of the exam room.

"Why didn't she just call my cell?"

"You'll have to ask her that yourself," she adds before turning her attention to a patient that just stepped up to her window. With a shrug of my shoulders, I walk into my office, sitting in my chair before I pick up the phone.

"Elena?"

"I was hoping we could meet for lunch?"

"That sounds wonderful. Why don't you stop by and pick me up? Does one o'clock work for you?"

"I'll see you then. I love you, Damon."

"I love you too. I'll see you soon."

The rest of the morning passes quickly. My office is full of sick kids and babies. I can already see Elena's face when she walks in and sees all the babies that I need to examine. I have several newborns here for their first shots. Each and every time we go to a mall or even just out in public, whenever she sees a baby her face takes on such a look of longing. She tries to hide it but my girl isn't very good at it. I look up when I hear a rap on my door, standing up to meet her just as she steps inside my office.

"You ready to go?" With a flash of my eye thing, I push the door closed then pull her into my arms, capturing her lips in a heady kiss. Although we've had our problems, every time I kiss her or touch her, I still feel the tingles and crackles of electricity as it surges through my body.

"Wow," she gasps when she pulls away. My eyes drift down to her heaving bosom sending a spark right there. After readjusting my pants, I offer her my elbow and the two of us leave to go for lunch. Fortunately the waiting room isn't too congested right now.

"So Mrs. Salvatore, I was thinking that maybe we could go away for Christmas this year. You know, just the two of us and a beach?"

"As much as I love the sound of that, I prefer snow for Christmas." Dropping my chin to my chest, I sigh heavily.

"I want to be home for Christmas and I know there's no guarantee of snow but there's a better chance of that here than in the Caribbean or something."

"I know, sweetheart. Whatever you want to do is good with me. But I insist on prime rib instead of turkey for Christmas dinner though."

"I think that's a fair compromise." Leaning up, she presses a kiss to my lips then steps back. Offering her hand to me, I link my fingers with hers and then the two of us walk hand in hand out of my office.

"Damon, look at these ornaments. They'll look so pretty on our tree."

"Cupcakes?"

"But Damon, they're cute."

"Far be it from to argue about having cupcakes on the Christmas tree." I laugh, shaking my head. She gives me a playful shove which makes me laugh even harder. When she turns away from me, I quickly come behind her and wrap her in my arms. After pressing a kiss to the back of her head, I let go and offer her my hand again. Rolling her eyes, she entwines her fingers with mine as we walk through the Nordstrom in our local mall.

"You haven't told me what you want for Christmas yet?"

"Damon... you know what I want."

"I know that baby, it's my biggest wish too but I need to know what else you have your eye on."

Nodding, she gives my hand a squeeze. "I saw this pretty little diamond snowflake pendant that I like. It was in another store. And there's a pair of boots that caught my eye too. There's a 'Make Up For Ever' palette that I want. I think it's only available on their website though."

Trying to lighten the mood a bit, I tease her. "You have enough makeup to start your own retail store."

"I know I do but I've loved it since I was a little girl. You know that."

"I do know that. I was just having fun with you." Using my fingers, I raise her chin before leaning forward to press a wispy kiss to her lips. When I pull back, I mouth, "I love you" to her. She does the same to me, immediately putting a big teethy grin on my face. Sticking out my elbow, she links her arm through and we continue to walk around the mall giving each other Christmas ideas. I don't miss the desperate look in her eyes each time we see a baby. It's especially heart tugging when we walk past the play area, scores of little kids playing. We do purchase a few gifts for our friends and family. By the time we get home, it's early evening. Yawning, I go to our room to take my clothes off so I can take a nice hot bath bubble bath. After stepping in, I sit back and close my eyes.

Not realizing I dozed off so quickly, I sit up when I feel her touch my shoulder. When I look at her, she gives me a lascivious wink then steps into the tub, sitting down between my legs. The one thing I wanted when we bought our house was to have a bathtub big enough that we could have moments like this. As soon as she lays her head on my shoulder, I capture her lips in a heady kiss. While keeping her lips attached to mine, I lower my hand to the apex of her thighs, teasing and patting that spot till she pulls back, buries her face in my neck and asks for more. Who am I to deny what my girl needs? I raise my left hand to cup her breast, rubbing softly against her erect nipple. I drop my own head back as I work her to completion after plunging a finger inside. I'm unable to take my eyes from hers when her release washes through her. Elena is so, so beautiful inside and out but she's never been more exquisite than when her body surrenders itself to the throes of passion.

Once she wafts down to earth, I reposition myself and slide inside. The sensation of being cradled by her warm body is so perfect. If I could stay like this with her forever, I'd raise the white flag. Between the beautiful noises that spew from her lips and my grunts and moans, the bathroom is filled with a cacophony of sounds from our lovemaking. I reach down to stroke her again and in the next second, the two of us tumble off the precipice of Everest, landing spectacularly with our hands and bodies still joined.

"That was..."

"I love you, Damon."

"And I love you," I whisper. With my hands, I tilt her head and capture her lips in the afterglow. Once we get our land legs again, she steps out of the tub, covering her breasts and her curves with a towel. As soon as I step out, she hands me a towel to wrap around my middle. I dry off and slip on a pair of boxers before crawling into bed beside her. Without wasting any time, I pull her into my arms, press a kiss to the crown of her head then close my eyes, letting sleep come quickly.

"Can I help you, Sir?"

"Yes, I want to adopt a cat for my wife for one of her Christmas gifts."

"It's so great that you're choosing a shelter pet."

"Honestly, it's the first place I thought to look. Um, can you show me what you have?"

"Sure, follow me," she says, leading me to where they have the animals in cages. There are so many beautiful cats. I had a pet cat when I was a youngster. And as a matter of fact, it was a gift from Elena. One day when we were quite young yet, we were climbing trees in her backyard. She dared me to go higher and of course I did. Unfortunately the branch cracked and broke and I landed in a heap on the ground with a broken femur. Since I as laid up in bed, Elena gave me one of her cat's kittens. He slept on my bed every night. I still smile when I think about him.

"The markings on that one are gorgeous."

"It's a 'Bengal' cat. Her name is Maleficent." I can't help but laugh.

"She's beautiful. Listen, as I told you, I want it for Christmas. Can she stay here till for a few days yet?"

"Absolutely. We'll just put a sign on her kennel that she's been adopted."

"Thank you," I start to say, my voice trailing when I see a big black tom cat.

"Who's that?"

"That is Monster."

"Can I?" I ask, making a petting gesture with my hand.

"Certainly." Smiling at me, she unlocks his kennel and hands him to me. When he starts nuzzling my nose and purring immediately, I'm a goner.

"I want him too."

"Monster has been with us for quite awhile. I'm glad he's finally found his forever home."

"He's heavy. He must weight twenty pounds."

"Twenty five."

"Really?"

"Yep. Let's go fill out the paperwork." Nodding, I hand him back to her. She places him back inside his kennel then leads me to her office to fill out the paper work to adopt the two cats. I really hope Elena will be happy. I know a cat is a poor substitute for a baby but I also think they'll put a smile on her face. I hope she doesn't think I'm being insensitive about her feelings. I know that all she wants is a baby but until that can become a reality, at least she has something to cuddle with.

After taking the time to fill out all of the paperwork and making arrangements to pick the cats up on Christmas eve, I thank the lady for her help and tell her goodbye before going outside and pulling the door closed behind me.

"Katherine, are you at home?" I ask, when I step into her house.

"I'm in the kitchen." I hear her yell aloud.

"How's my favorite sister today?"

"I'm your only sister. So why don't you tell me what it is that you want?"

"What makes you think I have an ulterior motive?"

"Damon, I didn't fall off of the turnip truck yesterday," she scoffs, her hands busy kneading dough.

"You're making bread? I remember when mom made bread. The house always smelled so good." She raises her eyes to me smiling.

"So what do you need, Damon?"

"I adopted a couple of cats from the shelter. I was wondering if you could keep them overnight on Christmas Eve so I can give them to Elena on Christmas day. I could run over early in the morning so I can have them at the house before she wakes up."

"Do you really think cats can take the place of a child?"

"No, of course not, Katherine. But it's the best I can do till my swimmers hit a homerun."

"Ewww, I didn't need to hear that. Yes, I'll keep your cats overnight but you're going to have to explain to Sofia why she can't keep them."

"Where is my favorite niece?"

"She's at the school. They're rehearsing for their Christmas program."

"What night is it? She'll never forgive us if we don't show up." Although Elena loves Sofia as if she were our own, it's still hard to watch the melancholy wash over her face when we attend such things.

"It's the eighteenth at six thirty in the school gym." When she raises her eyes to mine, she has that piteous look on her face.

"What's wrong?"

"Don't give me that look, Kat. I hate it. And you know what's wrong. Of course, we'll go to the program but it's always hard on her, you know?"

"It'll happen, Damon. I just have a feeling."

"I hope you're right. But listen, I better get home. Elena wants me to help her make Christmas cookies. I'll let myself out. Thanks sis." After giving her a kiss on the cheek, I tighten my jacket and walk outside. Elena and I only live about two blocks away so I walked over. Snow is starting to flitter lightly from the sky. It's really pretty outside right now so I take my time walking the two blocks. I am chilled by the time I get home though. Once inside my house, I slip my shoes off so I don't track snow on the carpet. Finding Elena in the kitchen, I smile just watching her roll out cookie dough.

"Need some help?"

"Damon, you startled me. But yes, you can help." I walk over, choose a tree and a Santa cookie cutter. Using the spatula, I transfer them to the cookie sheet. Then I sprinkle them with red and green and blue sugars before setting them aside to start rolling out another wad of dough. When the oven dings, I grab the mitts and take those from the oven. We continue working together till we have them all baked and transferred to a rack so they can cool. Reaching into the cupboard, I grab the powdered sugar and the other ingredients and mix up some frosting to ice them with.

"This is fun. I love it when we do things like this together."

"I love it too, Elena. What next?"

"Why don't you make the fudge and I'll start making some homemade bread. I know you love it."

"You'll make me bread? I'm so in love," I say melodramatically, pulling her close and dipping her. A giant smile plays on my lips when she starts giggling like a little girl. Before righting her, I steal a needy kiss from her luscious lips. By the time we finish our baking, it's nearly nine in the evening. Since we're both tired, we call it a night. Hand in hand, we walk to our bedroom, change into our pajamas and then crawl in bed. With her back to my front, I bury my face in her hair, breathing in her unique scent. In no time at all my eyelids fall closed as dreams fill my subconscious.

Then one foggy Christmas Eve

Santa came to say

Rudolph with your nose so bright

Won't you guide my sleigh tonight

Then all the reindeer loved him

As they shouted out with glee

Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer

You'll go down in history

We all stand and applaud as Sofia's class leaves the stage after that song. But for whatever reason, Elena seems happy tonight. I'm certainly not going to rain on her parade. Once the Christmas program is over, we walk hand in hand over to where Katherine, Elijah and Sofia are standing. My niece looks to be on cloud nine the way she's bouncing around.

"Thanks for coming, Aunty Elena," she squeals, running into her arms. Elena stoops down and wraps her arms around her.

"You know that we wouldn't miss this. You did a wonderful job. Did you see Uncle Damon recording you while you were singing?" Bobbing her head up and down animatedly, she lets go of Elena and runs to me. I pick her up and give her a kiss on the forehead.

"I'm proud of you, little girl." Her eyes brighten and then she wraps her arms around my neck, giving me a big squeeze. After we say goodnight to our family, Elena and I go home.

"It's too early for bed. Do you want to watch an old movie?"

"That sounds perfect. Um, what should we watch?"

"It's a Wonderful Life?"

"I always get a tear in my eye when George opens 'Tom Sawyer' and we get to see what Clarence wrote inside."

"I think my favorite is when Clarence tells George, 'Strange isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves and awful hole, doesn't he?'

"Shivers! While you get it ready, I'm going to go put some snuggly jammies on." I watch my wife as she walks away, feeling a shiver of my own.

"Merry Christmas, Dr. Salvatore and thank you so much for the Christmas bonus. It's beyond generous of you."

"You earned it, Bonnie. Merry Christmas to you and Enzo too."

"Thanks, I'll see you next week."

"I'll be here. I follow her out of my office before pulling the door closed and locking it behind me. I have to go over to the shelter to pick up the cats and take them over to Katherine's house. As soon as I get there, Sofia practically bowls me over, anxious to hold and play with the cats. I spend a good hour at Katherine's house trying to explain to Sofia why she can't keep them. At wit's end, I finally promise that I'll buy her a cat or dog if her parents agree to it. Exhausted by the time I step outside, I slide into the car. Just as I'm about to turn on the ignition, I hear my cellphone chirp.

"This is Dr. Salvatore." As I listen to the lady on the phone, my smile widens farther with each syllable out of her mouth. I rush back inside to talk to Katherine so she can help me with everything. After calling Elena with an excuse as to why I won't be home for a little while, I rush over to the hospital to take care of what needs to be taken care of. By the time I sneak into the house a few hours later, it's after midnight already. Elena is sound asleep on the couch, obviously she waited up for me. With a plan in my head, I carefully sneak upstairs with my package. I go into our bedroom to grab Elena's teddy bear from its place of honor on our bed. Her teddy bear has been with her since she was a little girl, providing comfort and something to cuddle with when she was sad. It's only right that he gets to help reveal my surprise.

With her teddy in hand, I walk over to my desk and write a note for Elena and attach it to him. I tip toe back downstairs and stick the Teddy front and center on one of the tree branches. Once he's secure, I walk over to my wife, drop to my knees and press a kiss to that spot just behind her ear. Still sleeping, she swats at me causing a chuckle to leave my lips. Unable to help myself, I blow a puff of air on her face. In turn, she swats at me once again. My heart melts because I love Elena so much.

"Wake up," I whisper, pressing a kiss to her lips this time. When she opens her eyes, I smile widely. "I'm sorry I got home so late."

"Where were you?"

"Oh, just talking to Santa," I tease. She rolls her eyes before sitting up.

"Is there any hot chocolate left on the stove?"

"Yeah, I left the tea kettle on the stove on simmer so I'm sure there's still hot water in it." It's then that she notices her teddy bear. I get up to walk out of the room, sneaking up the stairs. When I come back down, she's getting up to walk over to the tree. I watch intently as she takes the little note that I stuck on him.

"Turn around?" she mumbles but does as the note says. And when she sees me her eyes widen to the size of saucers as her mouth drops agape.

"Oh my God, Damon. How?" She wastes no time in running over to me and taking our new baby girl in her arms.

"She's so beautiful. How is this possible after all of this time? Oh my God, Damon, is it real?" Her eyes fill with happy tears and that's all it takes for tears to form in my own eyes.

"I don't know, baby. They called me earlier today. Our Christmas wishes for a miracle have finally come true." Leaning in, I press a kiss to her temple, savoring the feel of her skin against my lips.

"Wha.. what about formula and diapers and bottles and all of the other stuff that we'll need?"

"It's already in the kitchen. The baby can sleep in the Moses basket till we can go get a crib the day after tomorrow. Are you happy?"

"There are no words, Damon," she says, sitting down, our baby cuddled in her arms. Swallowing thickly, I take my phone out and start filming the two of them. Elena is simply beaming, filling my heart with joy like I've never felt before.

Unable to help myself, I cradle her face with my palms and pull her mouth to mine, relishing every pull of her lips as they slide seamlessly against my own. Pulling back for a breath of air, I stand up and offer her my hand. The three of us go upstairs to our room. We tuck our baby securely in her basket then we crawl into bed, falling asleep in each others arms.

I wake up to the sound of pounding on our front door. I look beside to see Elena and our baby girl asleep in her arms, an almost empty bottle sitting on the beside stand. Before I answer the door, I get up and snap more pictures of my family. With the pounding unrelenting, I quickly slip on my robe and run down the stairs to answer the door. When I pull the door open, Katherine and Sofia standing there, each holding a cat kennel.

"Oh my gosh, Katherine, I completely forgot about the cats. Let me help you." I reach out to take them out of their hands. Stepping aside so they can come in the house. Just as I'm about to push the door closed, I see Elijah hurrying down the sidewalk. I set the cats down, shaking his hand when he steps inside. They all kick off their snowy shoes before walking further into my house.

"Where's Elena?"

"She was still asleep when I heard your incessant pounding," I tease, leaning forward to give her a Merry Christmas kiss on the cheek. After giving Sofia a big hug, I excuse myself to get dressed and get Elena. I hear the baby starting to fuss so I walk over to the bed and pull her into my arms. There's a little left in the bottle so I feed it to her while I bounce her gently in my arms. While she's sucking away, I lean over to give Elena a big slobbery kiss.

"Eww," she mumbles, wiping off her mouth before throwing her legs over the side of the bed as she sits up.

"Good morning," I say, taking a seat beside her on the bed.

"Good morning." She leans over to give me a proper kiss. Although I want to get lost inside her beautiful body, I know we have company.

"The family is downstairs waiting to meet our daughter."

"How do they even know?"

"I got the call when I took your other present over to her house to keep overnight for me. Katherine is the one who ran out and got the bottles, diapers, formula and a couple of extra sleepers for us."

"You got lucky in the sister department."

"I did indeed."

What should we name her?" she asks, not lifting her eyes from our daughter.

"I was thinking about that. What do you think of Emerson Rose Salvatore?"

"Damon, I love it," she squeals, pressing a kiss to Emerson's downy head.

"I'll take her downstairs while you get dressed." Even though I'm still in my pajamas, I go downstairs, my baby in my arms to introduce her to my family. After placing her in Katherine's arms I run back upstairs to get dressed myself. Elena is just coming down as I go up. As soon as I get into our bedroom, I drop onto the bed, completely overwhelmed by the events of the last eighteen hours. I've never seen Elena as happy as she is now. Feeling tears once again pricking at my eyes, I get up and step into the shower. Once I'm done, I dress and go back downstairs to join my family. Katherine is happily cuddling Emerson while Elena and Sofia are on the floor playing with the cats, I pause, enjoying the moment.

"Their names are Maleficent and Monster," I say aloud when I step into the living room. When she hears my voice, Elena smiles at me then stands up, taking a seat beside Katherine on the couch. As soon as Emerson is back in her arms, I'm mesmerized by the fact that my wife is literally glowing. My heart warms intensely because the look of sheer unadulterated happiness emanates from every pore on her lovely body. Smiling from ear to ear, she gets up and walks over to me. Using her free arm, she wraps it around the back of my neck, pulling my lips to hers, kissing me soundly.

"This is the best Christmas I've ever had. I love you so much. And you know what? I have a present for you too." She walks over to the tree, stooping over to pick up a small, rectangular-shaped box. After taking it from her hand, I whisper to her that I love her.

"Well open it." After lifting a kiss from her lips and dropping one to Emerson's head, I untie the ribbon and let if fall to the floor. When I see what's inside, my mouth practically drops to the floor. Literally speechless, I turn to face her at the same time a huge, ear to ear smile forms on my face. My hand still clutching the positive pregnancy test in my hand.

"Are you sure? I mean, it's not a false positive is it?"

"No it's not, I went to the doctor a couple of days ago. There's more in the box." Her smile is as bright as I've ever seen it. I give her hand a squeeze and close my eyes for a few seconds. Still stunned, I swallow thickly when I feel tears beginning to prick at my eyes when I see the sonogram photo. Completely overwhelmed with emotion, I wrap both of my girls in my arms.

"Thank you. This is the best Christmas gift ever."

"Congratulations," Katherine squeals, interrupting our moment. She walks over and gives me a hug. Elijah gets up too, wrapping me in a one-armed hug.

"Congratulations, Damon," he says before stepping aside to give Elena a hug too.

"See, I told you it would happen."

"You absolutely did, Katherine." I'm so happy, I give her another big hug. When I feel a tug on my shirt, I lower my eyes and pick up my niece.

"Merry Christmas, Uncle Damon."

"Merry Christmas, little girl. There's some packages under the tree for you."

"Goodie," she squeaks, clapping loudly. I set her down, laughing when she scurries over to the tree.

When Elena turns around to watch Sofia, I wrap my arms around my girls from behind, splaying my fingers across my wife's still flat belly. My heart is so full of love for everyone in this room. Suddenly, inexplicably the bells on the Christmas tree start to chime. Knowing how miraculous this day truly is, I squeeze them even closer, reveling in the feel of having my whole world wrapped in my arms now and for always ever after.

There can be miracles

When you believe

Though hope if frail

It's hard to kill

Who knows what miracles

You can achieve

When you believe somehow you will

You will when you believe

Fin

I hope this meets your expectations D'Ann. I love DE babies as much as you do.

Thank you Eva for all of your help with this and with all my stories. Love You Lots.

I did update 'Rainy Days and Mondays' today. I have updated my two short Christmas stories already this week. 'Tears in Heaven' will update tomorrow. Please have a look at my already posted one shot for 'This is My Escape' called 'The Christmas Shoes'. I really put a lot into that one and this story.

Today is my birthday so I would love for you all to click that little *REVIEW* button.

As always, stay safe and have a lovely rest of your weekend and Christmas week ahead.