This is a companion fic to Safe in my Arms, featuring all the missing years of Aiden and Aurora's life. There will be one chapter per year, unless people want more. It's all the milestones, and little moments that I'd like to see. Damon and babies was just too cute an opportunity to pass up. I hope you all enjoy this, this chapter is a bit rough, I'm still not sure about the format I'm going to use, or how to write this. Let me know what you think, and any ideas you have to include in each year of the kids lives. I only read through this once, so I hope there arent too many mistakes.
PS I only own my writing and Aiden and Aurora.
The shrill crying woke the parents up at the crack of dawn, thank God sleep wasn't nearly as important for vampire parents as it was for humans. But they still needed it to get by.
"I'll get them." Damon muttered pulling himself out of the bed he shared with his wife to stumble into the nursery still half asleep. Aiden and Aurora were both sitting up in their cribs screaming their heads of.
"Why don't you sleep?" he asked as he plucked the little boy out of his crib and checking his diaper. When the horrible odour made itself known he carried the boy to the changing table and cleaned him up at vampire speed. He hated changing diapers, usually Elena took care of this, but she needed her sleep too.
"You are a disgusting creature, but I love you anyways." he said kissing the chubby cheek of the 11 month year old. When he was finished he placed the baby on the floor who immediately crawled over to the toy truck littering the floor of the room, no matter how hard they tried to never stayed clean for long. When he was sure Aiden wasn't going to start screaming he plucked the other 11 month year old out of her crib and winced at the terrible smell coming from her.
"You are just as rank as your brother." he said as he proceeded to change her diaper at vampire speed too. The little girl grinned up at her dad and he felt his heart melt a tiny bit more. As much as he loved his sleep, and he loved his freedom, this was even better. Seeing the blue eyes of Aurora and her brother made the past century mean something. When she was done he placed her on the floor too and watched her use her crib to stand up on wobbly legs. She held her free hand out for her dads and he immediately took it and helped her walk across the room to the toy box. Like any sister she immediately decided that the one toy she wanted was the one that her brother had. Aiden started screaming when Aurora took the toy away, so Damon sighed and picked Aurora up and placed her in front of the toy box.
"Leave him alone." he said. She looked up at him from under her crazy long eyelashes and he shook his head.
"Having fun?" Elena asked from the doorway.
"They are lucky they're cute, if they weren't I'd give them to a three ring circus." he said walking over to where she was standing and wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissing her temple.
"Eventually they'll decide they like sleep too, and they'll sleep past 6 am." she said hopefully.
"Doubtful, they seem perfectly content to ruin my life." he said with a smile on his face that made his criticism completely weightless.
"We should take them downstairs for breakfast." she said picking the little boy up from his truck and causing him to wail. Damon picked Aurora up and carried her downstairs with Elena. Placing them in the highchairs of the house they had just moved into, they fed them the baby cereal. Aiden devoured his, but Aurora was already a picky eater. She was going to be fun.
"Mama water." Aiden babbled. Every time she heard him speak, she grinned widely. Aiden was able to say mama, daddy and water, and those three words were constantly coming out of his mouth.
"Mama water." Aiden demanded.
"Alright alright. I'll get you some water." she said getting up and filling a sippy cup with water from the jug in the fridge. She was rewarded with a wide smile from her son when she handed him the cup. When she handed Aurora's to her, Aurora screamed loudly.
"What?" she asked.
"No. Mama no." Aurora wailed.
"No what?" she asked.
"No water." she wailed. In the past few weeks "no" became her favourite word. Everything was no. No this. No that. No to everything.
"Are you hungry sweetie?" Damon asked as he tried to urge some breakfast through her lips.
"No." she said pouting.
"Yes you are. Eat your breakfast." he insisted trying to push the food though her lips.
"No." she said.
"Aurora Charlotte eat." he said making her take a bite of the cereal.
"No." she screamed when she swallowed the offending substance and pushing the bowl off the tray of the highchair.
"She's gotta eat sometime." he said grabbing a cloth and cleaning up the mess on the floor.
"She just doesn't like the cereal." Elena said getting up and grabbing some dry cheerios. "We have to go get groceries today." Elena sighed.
"With them?" he asked pointing at the twins. The last time they had taken them grocery shopping... it had been a disaster to say the least. They screamed the entire way through the store earning glares and smirks from all the other parents in the store with well behaved kids.
"Yes, with them. I'll go get them dressed if you want to clean this up and make some coffee." she said.
"Sounds good. Do you need blood?" he asked.
"Might as well." she agreed. He rushed downstairs and grabbed a couple bags of blood and then started up on the coffee and dishes. Elena carried Aiden and Aurora back upstairs and took them into the nursery. Digging through the closet she picked out clothes for each of them. Jeans and a t shirt for Aiden, a sundress with leggings for Aurora. When she had Aiden dressed he pointed into the closet at his little leather jacket that was a perfect match to his dads.
"You want to wear that?" she asked smiling. He nodded and smiled. "Okay." she said putting it on him. She placed him on the floor and he stumbled over to his truck that he was playing with earlier in the morning. Elena did Aurora's short hair in two little pigtails that looked like devil horns and dressed her in the pink sundress and pink leggings. When she was done, she put the little girls leather jacket on her knowing she would demand it. She was such a daddy's girl and it was amazing to watch. When they were both ready she picked them up and carried them back downstairs.
"Can you watch them while I go get ready?" she asked.
"Yeah." he said. Elena rushed upstairs and dressed and was back downstairs in under ten minutes.
"How I love vamp speed." she said taking Damon's spot. He did the same thing and was back downstairs in five minutes.
"Ready to go?" he asked.
"Lets get this over with." she said picking up Aiden who was mommy's boy and carrying him out to the SUV.
"You know we really need to start planning their first birthday." he noted as he drove to the grocery store.
"I know, that's coming up really soon. Wow, I cant believe we've had them for almost a year now. It hasn't felt that long." she said glancing back into the backseat to see the kids sitting quietly. It was a rare occasion when they weren't fighting over something or screaming for attention.
"I know, I cant even remember what life was about before them." he said with a small smile on his face.
"Me neither." she admitted when they pulled into the parking lot.
"Okay, do you want the food cart, or the baby cart?" she asked referring to their set up of having two carts.
"I'll take the food. I had them last time, and it wasn't fun." he said.
"Wimp." she muttered as he went to get two carts.
"Why don't we ever give them to your parents so we can shop alone? It would be more convenient and your mom and dad would love to have them." he asked.
"Because we are completely capable to multitask. We can shop and be parents at the same time. Besides my mom and dad are taking them for a while tomorrow so we can buy birthday presents." she said.
"Right, here they go again spending all of my money." he said lightly ruffling the little boys hair.
"They're babies, they cost a lot of money." she said.
"It's good that I have a lot of money then." he said as he pushed the cart towards the store with Elena, Aiden and Aurora just behind him.
"Go to the baby section first." she instructed.
"Yes ma'am." he replied pushing the cart towards the baby aisle. When they were there they picked up some diapers and baby wipes.
"Ugh diapers. I cant wait until they are potty trained." he said.
"That wont be until they're about two. We still have another year or so yet." she said.
"I know." he whined. "Where to next?" he asked.
"Just go up and down the aisles." she said. She followed behind him and endured all the cheek pinching old ladies who were touching her babies. Each time an old lady touched Aurora, she let out a blood curdling scream, while Aiden flirted his way to a smile. Aiden was already too much like his daddy, and he already had a way with women. She was afraid of what he would turn into.
"He is too much like you." she muttered as she walked behind him.
"What is he doing?" he asked.
"He is flirting with the old ladies." she muttered.
"I have never flirted with an old lady." he retorted.
"You flirt with everything with breasts." she muttered.
"Not anymore. I only flirt with one woman now." he stated as he grabbed a couple boxes or Cheerios from the shelf. After about an hour the shopping was all done and they were driving home. The silence in the car was interrupted by a blood curdling scream and Elena snapped back. Aiden had one of Aurora's pig tails clenched in his hand and he was pulling hard.
"You're son is such a bully." she muttered forcing Aiden to release his sisters hair. The little girl had giant tears rolling down her face as she looked towards her daddy who was busy driving the car carefully home.
"Daddy." she whined. He seen the teary eyes in the rear view mirror and sighed. She was too cute for her own good and she loved him. Why did these beautiful girls choose to love him. First Elena, and now his daughter. It was amazing. Aiden started crying after being reprimanded by his mom and the rest of the car ride was filled with screaming babies. When they pulled into the garage and shut the car off he looked in the rear view mirror again and still seen big fat tears flowing down Aurora's chubby cheeks.
"daddy" she wailed. He got out of the drivers side and went to free his daughter from the car seat. She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him, burrowing her head in his shoulder. Elena smiled at that and grabbed Aiden bringing him into the house too. She set him on the floor and he immediately went to the corner to play with some toys. Their entire house had been taken over by baby toys and other baby necessities.
"I'll grab the groceries. You're a little preoccupied." she said of Damon and Aurora. Aurora was still clutched to her dad and her eyes were drifting shut.
"Are you sure? I can go lay her down." he said.
"It's alright. She's almost asleep and I don't want to ruin that." she said kissing the little girls head.
"Alright." he said sitting back into the couch and letting her curl up against him. It only took Elena a few minutes to get the groceries put away, as she flitted around at vampire speed. When she was done she picked Aiden up and took him upstairs. With him all you had to do was put him in his crib with his soother and he fell right to sleep. He never made a sound, as long as Aurora wasn't in there until he was asleep. Aurora on the other hand needed cuddling and attention to fall asleep. Aiden's wide blue eyes started drifting shut the minute she put him in his crib. She shut off the light and closed the door partially before slipping out of the room and walking downstairs. Her vampire hearing picked up on Damon humming softly to Aurora, making her smile to herself. He had never thought he would be a good father, but seeing or hearing him with them proved that thought wrong. He was an incredible father. There was no one like him, and she was sure there wasn't a father on the planet that was more passionate and loved his kids so much. She walked into the living room and sat down beside him and rubbed her daughters back.
"Is she asleep?" she whispered too low for Aurora to pick up on.
"Almost." he replied. He continued rocking her until she fell asleep. Elena focused her hearing to listen for Aiden. When she was sure he was asleep, she motioned for Damon to take her upstairs. He returned a couple minutes later and sat down beside Elena on the couch wrapping his arm around her shoulder. It was silent in the house until the front door opened and Jeremy came barrelling in.
"Where are my niece and nephew? I'm here for lunch by the way. What do you have?" the high school senior asked his sister and her husband.
"Aiden and Aurora are sleeping, so keep your voice down. There is food in the kitchen. And if you want to eat it, you're going to have to do me a favour." Elena stated.
"What might that be? You have better food that mom and dad do. Which is odd considering you don't really need to eat." he mused.
"I like food, it still tastes the same. And I want you to babysit tonight." she said.
"Babysit? Alone?" he asked.
"You can bring Bonnie if you want." she allowed.
"Cool. I'm in." he said walking into the kitchen.
"Why do we need a babysitter?" Damon asked.
"You and I are going out with Caroline and Tyler tonight." she decided.
"When was this decided, I don't want to leave Aiden and Aurora home alone with just Jeremy and Bonnie." he said.
"While you were taking Aurora upstairs. Caroline texted me asking us to go for dinner with her and Tyler." she stated.
"Ah. Fine I'm in." he said. Jeremy returned with a sandwich.
"So when do I need to be here?" he asked.
"Come over right after school." she decided.
"Sounds good to me." Jeremy agreed scarfing down the sandwich. When he was done, Jeremy left the house and returned to school.
"I cant believe we're letting your brother babysit with a girl here. His girlfriend no less. You do know what happens, when a couple babysits together right?" he asked.
"What happens?" she asked.
"They don't pay any attention to the kids. It's all about them." he said.
"Damon, Jeremy is my brother and Bonnie one of my best friends. And they've babysat together lots and the kids are still mostly unharmed. We're going out tonight." she said.
"Can we at least bring Aurora. She loves me unconditionally." he said.
"No. No kids." she said laying down the law.
When Aiden and Aurora's first birthday rolled around, they were dressed up in brand new outfits bought by Caroline and there were balloons strewn throughout the house. Everyone was there. Caroline and Tyler, Bonnie and Jeremy, Grayson and Miranda, Alaric and Jenna, Matt, and Stefan and Lexi. Both kids revelled under all the attention and when it came time for cake, Damon fished out his camera for the customary first attempt at eating cake. Aiden grinned widely and smashed his entire face into the cake, while Aurora looked at it uncertainly before sticking her finger in it and sucking the icing off. Her blue eyes glittered when she tasted the icing and dug her fingers into the cake and stuffed the entire handful into her mouth. She hummed while she ate and took another handful offering it to her dad. He looked at the mushed cake in her hand and shook his head.
"You eat it. Daddy has his own." he said showing her the piece of cake beside him. She smiled and pushed the cake into her mouth. Neither of them were too sure about the ice cream, it was too cold. Once the cake was finished and the kids were cleaned up, they were brought into the living room for presents. Elena sat down on the floor with the kids with a smile on her face as she watched them attempt to rip into the paper. Damon stood back so he could photograph every gift being opened. There were a small mountain for each kids, and knew they were spoiled rotten. Refusing to have anyone help them, it took the better part of a half hour to get the presents done. And even with all the presents surrounding them, they were more fascinated with the wrapping paper on the floor.
"Say thank you." Elena said.
"Tank you." they said simultaneous. Everyone chuckled at their garbled attempt at thanking them. Elena got up and went to stand with her husband.
"I have no idea where we are going to put all these toys." she said staring at the toys covering almost every square inch of floor of the living room.
"I say we store some in the basement for when they break these ones." he suggested.
"Good idea. Because they will break them." she agreed. He leaned in and kissed her temple as they watched their kids play with the wrapping paper.
"They are such angels. You two have done good with them so far." Miranda said when she came to stand beside her daughter.
"They are brats." Damon said.
"They may be, but you love them anyway." Miranda said smiling at her son in law.
"That's very true. I couldn't picture my life without my little family." he said holding Elena even closer to his side.
"It's only going to get better. Soon they're going to start talking back, and fighting with you and each other." Grayson said coming to stand beside his wife.
"They already fight with each other. Aiden likes pulling on Aurora's pigtails." she said.
"Well it's going to get worse. You're going to get it worse than you gave it to us." he reminded her.
"Oh good God, if my daughter comes home with a vampire boyfriend, or has a somewhat physical relationship with a vampire at seventeen, or gets married at eighteen, pregnant before she graduates, I will be very upset." he said his eyes widening at the thought.
"Good luck with that." Grayson said.
"Oh no, I will keep her locked up before any of that will ever happen." he said shaking his head.
"What ever happened to being the cool dad?" she asked laughing.
"That was before I realized she could possibly have as terrible taste as you did. Hooking up with a vampire, how insane do you get?" he asked.
"I am completely insane. But our daughter wont do that. You wont need to take such desperate measures." she assured him.
"What about Aiden? What if he becomes a womanizing, drinker, who has a problem with authority?" he asked referring to his old days.
"That will be your fault." she decided.
"It wont happen." Miranda stated.
"Exactly, because our son does have some of you in him too, so he wont be as bad as I was." he promised.
" I hope you're right, but I hope he gets lots of your traits. I hope he's strong like, you, caring, loving, passionate" she said kissing his cheek.
"God I hope he doesn't have my passion. That would cause us a lot of problems in the future. But I want Aurora to be just like you, with the exception of the vampire boyfriend, pregnant highschooler part." he said. She laughed and kissed him softly.
"We'll just have to wait and see." she said as they watched their kids play together on the floor.