A/N: It's been a while! Since the last time you all (figuratively) saw me, I've been to seven different countries across two continents, and also enrolled in university for 2014, which is a whole lot less exciting. I've done a bit of writing in my absence and very soon you'll be seeing the start of a short, slightly different AU story I started while in a dingy hotel room in Paris. Hit author alert if you want to be kept in the loop.
I decided to write this story for the annual A2A exchange on livejournal, and it morphed from a fluffy oneshot to a fluffy 6k-words-and-still-growing monster. I was eager to post today, as it is now after 4am on Christmas morning in Aussie time, so I'm posting the first of three parts now, and the rest should be up within the next couple of days. You should check out notenoughpotter's A2A entry, while you're at it - it's written for my prompt!
Anyway, here is the original prompt, by chellethebelle (let's face it, if you're not reading her stuff, you should get your butt down to her page, pronto):
AU/AH: Elena and her baby are home alone on Christmas Eve and she's feeling down about not being able to afford much this year (decorations, presents, etc.) She wakes up on Christmas morning to find her house exploded in Christmas cheer thanks to her best friend/secret love of her life, Damon. Damon has been there for Elena through everything, her divorce, her pregnancy, her recent money issues and he's stood by her, silent about his love for her. But no more, Damon's ready to put himself on the line and it starts with giving Elena and her baby the best Christmas ever.
Baby is optional, but I do love Damon and babies... even if they aren't his. :D
Bonus points for a sweet gift from Elena to Damon, Damon and baby fluff and of course, SEXY TIMES.
Apparently the fandom could use some fluff at the moment, so here you go (and apologies to your dentists from all the cavities this stuff will give you). Wishing every single one of you and your families a safe and happy hoilday season.
Disclaimer: I don't own TVD or its characters; all rights to their respective owners.
Exhausted, cold, and starving, Elena Gilbert carefully let herself into her small townhouse, her eyes lighting up when she registered the scent of heavy-duty baking in her kitchen.
"Anybody home?"
"Mommy!" The elated scream preceded a tiny blonde whirlwind, wearing a pink and white sweater, jeans, and apparently, half a pound of flour. Without missing a beat, Elena swept her daughter up into her arms, kissing her head as they spun around.
"Hey, baby girl. How was your day?" Elena adjusted the girl's weight on her hip, playfully tapping the end of her nose.
"We baked cookies and ginger-man houses!" her daughter exclaimed.
"Gingerbread houses," Elena corrected gently, but she was distracted by the second most important person in her life breezing out of the kitchen, covered in an equal amount of flour.
"No, Sienna's right," he smirked, pressing a quick kiss of greeting to Elena's cheek. "The gingerbread houses didn't quite turn out like we planned."
"Big bad Damon blew the house down," Sienna sang, in reference to her favorite fable.
"I had nothing to do with it," Damon protested. "Anyway, we ended up cutting gingerbread men from the broken parts, and we've, sort of, stood them up and iced the heads together, to make houses, you know?" He gestured wildly with his hands as both Elena and Sienna dissolved into giggles.
"You're silly," Elena told him, sticking her tongue out when he scowled at her.
It was always like this with them: easy, fun, comfortable. Damon had been her best friend since childhood, and there wasn't a single moment of her life that he hadn't been by her side. He'd stood by her side after the death of her parents, given her away at her wedding to her high school sweetheart, brought her pistachio ice cream in the middle of the night during her pregnancy, and held her while she cried when her husband left her to raise a baby on her own. He was Sienna's godfather, but Elena often found herself entertaining delusions of them becoming a real family while she slept.
Sienna was starting to understand the concept of families, from all the books that were read to her. She'd asked Elena just last week what a father was, and Elena had fought to find the right words to explain it.
"A daddy and a mommy work together to look after their children. They protect you and love you and care for you."
Sienna paused briefly, her face scrunched up with thought. "So, Damon's my daddy?"
"No, sweetheart," Elena sighed, blinking away tears. "Some people don't have daddies, just like some people might not have mommies, or they might have more than one daddy or mommy."
"Oh. Why don't I have a daddy?"
Elena had never been more thankful for a phone call from her employer that day, as it had interrupted the impossible conversation. How was she supposed to tell her three-year-old that her father had moved to Seattle for a promotion while Elena was pregnant, and divorced her a year later when the long-distance relationship didn't work out? Matt had seen Sienna for a total of eight weeks in the six months since she'd been born, and didn't seem fazed when Elena told him flat-out that he would not be permitted to see her if he turned his back on their family. To all intents and purposes, Damon was Sienna's father, even if his name wasn't on the birth certificate.
"Do you want to take a shower or something? You look beat," Damon remarked sympathetically, holding his arms out. Elena nodded gratefully and handed Sienna over, smiling to herself as Damon started explaining the finer points of cookie decorating while Sienna listened with a serious expression on her face.
Feeling slightly refreshed after her shower, Elena walked back into the kitchen to see Damon and Sienna whispering together, the undecorated cookies lying forgotten on the counter.
"What are you two plotting?" Elena asked suspiciously.
"Nothing," they said together, both sporting identical poker faces. Elena shook her head ruefully, knowing that if they were up to something, neither of them would spill.
"Thick as thieves, you two are." She picked up a piping bag and began icing a couple of cookies, watching out of the corner of her eye as Damon winked at Sienna and passed her something under the table. "I saw that!"
They both turned to face her, chewing guiltily.
"It was broken, mommy," Sienna claimed, her pale blue eyes wide.
Elena's accusatory glare fell on Damon. "Are you bribing my daughter again?"
"She's blackmailing me!" he complained, ruffling the blonde girl's hair playfully.
"Oh, yeah? With what?"
"Can't tell you that," Damon smirked, and Elena rolled her eyes. She whipped the second cookie Sienna was holding out of her hand and popped it into her mouth.
Secretly, she was happy that Damon was so good with her daughter. He'd been a lifesaver to her on countless occasions, always ready to drop whatever he was doing in a heartbeat whenever they needed him. After her divorce, Elena had had to find a job, and Damon had started working from home without hesitation so he could provide free daycare. Any time she was short on cash to buy new clothes for her rapidly-growing baby, he'd whisk them out for a surprise shopping spree and insist on paying. When Sienna was sick, Damon would take her to the doctor, buy the necessary medication, and spend the rest of the day playing with her to distract her from her pain or nausea. Elena knew she never had to worry when Damon was around; she trusted him implicitly.
As Sienna got older, Elena began to see more and more of her best friend in her daughter – his mannerisms, his mischievousness, even his trademark smirk, unspeakably adorable on her tiny, cute face. It was about a year ago, when Elena came home late one night and found Damon and Sienna asleep on the couch together, that she realized she was in love with him, and probably had been for a very long time.
"Earth to Elena," Damon called, waving his hand in her face as she jolted back to reality. "Where'd you go just now?"
To the first moment I knew I loved you. "Sorry, I had a long day. Christmas rush and all."
Damon nodded sympathetically. "I wish I could stay and give you a break, but I've got to get home and help Stefan and Katherine with the preparations for tomorrow. You're still coming, right?"
Elena gave him a withering look. "Of course we're coming. I've been to Christmas lunch at the Salvatore house every year since I was eight years old."
"Is Aunty Kat having the baby tomorrow? That would ruin Christmas," Sienna pouted, and Elena and Damon traded amused glances.
"No, sweetheart, Aunty Kat isn't supposed to have her baby until February," Damon explained gently, "but it wouldn't ruin Christmas; we celebrate Christmas because of a baby, a special one, so it's like a birthday party for him, except you get presents."
Sienna's eyes lit up. "From Santa?"
"Yes, baby, from Santa," Elena smiled. "Now, go get a piece of paper and your crayons. Mommy is going to help you make a special drawing."
Damon helped Sienna down from the chair and she scuttled off to the bedroom to retrieve her art supplies. Sienna loved to draw and paint more than anything else, undoubtedly a trait she'd picked up from Damon.
"If you need anything, just call me," Damon assured her as they walked together to the front door. He pulled on his coat and pecked her on the cheek once more; Elena felt her skin burn where his lips touched her.
"You make it sound like you're going away for a month," Elena laughed. "You're literally going next door."
"I know, I know," Damon replied. "But I still miss my girls when I go."
Elena's heart fluttered slightly at his words, but she didn't have a chance to respond as he clattered down the front steps, walking briskly to combat the frigid December air. She touched her fingers lightly to her cheek where he'd kissed it, immersed deep in thought.
"Mommy?"
Elena whirled around, her hand falling from her face. "Sorry, baby girl. Now, let's decorate our tree!"
As her minimal wages didn't allow her to purchase a Christmas tree, Elena had opted instead to draw one with her daughter, to stick on the wall above Sienna's Christmas stocking. Elena roughly sketched the outline of the tree and then allowed Sienna to color and 'decorate' it as she liked. The little girl proudly taped it up on the brick wall, pleased with the end result, but Elena couldn't help but wish that her daughter could know what a real Christmas tree looked like, smelled like, and how it felt to decorate it oneself.
When they were done, and the hand-sewn Christmas stocking that Sheila Bennett had made for Elena when she was much younger was hung on the wall, Elena yawned and stretched her arms above her head.
"Time for bed, Sienna?"
Sienna whirls around, looking scandalized. "No! Mommy, we have to look at the Christmas lights!"
"We have to?" Elena repeated skeptically, raising an eyebrow.
"You promised!"
Elena sighed. She had promised, four days ago, but that night it had snowed too heavily and then she'd been working late every night since.
"Okay, baby. Get ready for bed first."
Sienna squealed with happiness, throwing her arms around her mother. "You're the best mommy ever!" she called as she scampered to the bathroom.
Elena rubbed her forehead, her eyes scrunched shut in an attempt to relieve her persistent pounding headache. "I'm sorry, Sienna," she said, under her breath. "I wish I could be better."
After giving her daughter a bath and getting her all rugged up for bed, Elena pulled their coats and scarves from the closet.
"Wait by the door, darling. Mommy has to check something," Elena instructed, ducking briefly into the living room to tuck Sienna's presents in her stocking so they could go straight to bed as soon as they arrived home. It wasn't much: some clothes and picture books from the second-hand store, a small doll in a princess costume, and some candy, but Sienna would appreciate it all the same.
They stumbled out into the street, hand in hand. Sienna pointed and gasped with all the genuine excitement that came so easily to children her age, and Elena couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. It reminded her of when she was a kid, walking around with her parents and Jeremy, and the familiarity in her heart was equal parts aching and warm. Though Sienna had Matt's fair hair and pale eyes, everything in her smile was pure Elena, and it made her proud.
They stopped for a while at a particularly extravagant house, where slow-moving reindeer figures bowed their heads to the ground and up again, and a Santa scaled the ladder of fairy lights and disappeared by the chimney. Another group of people stopped by, a family; the three young boys posed with their mother as their father snapped a photo, and Elena's heart ached with unwelcome jealousy.
Sienna stretched her fingers through a gap in the fence towards the nearest reindeer, like she wanted to pet it.
"Smile!" Elena called to her daughter, taking a quick picture on her cheap phone. It would have to do.
"Mommy, can we keep going? Please?" Sienna begged, with wide eyes and pouted lips in an expression she'd undoubtedly learned from Damon. Elena couldn't resist it, glancing at her watch to see it was already well after eight.
"Fine, just a little more. Then we have to go home before Santa comes, don't we?"
Sienna grinned and nodded, grabbing Elena's hand and dragging her down the street impatiently.
They walked for half an hour longer, before Elena's eyelids began to droop and Sienna finally relented and allowed her mother to lead the way home. Though Elena was exhausted, she still knew her daughter better than anybody else, and suspected something was on the little girl's mind. Too tired to worry about it now, Elena opted to fall straight into bed when they arrived home, deciding to ask Sienna in the morning.
The last thing Elena registered before she succumbed to sleep was the sound of her daughter's quiet giggle.