A/N; This is my contribution to the amazing authors on here writing Christmas stories for Delena and I had never been apart of the prompts on LJ since I have only been apart of fan fiction for a little over a year. But I felt a pull to do a story myself and special thanks to Florencia7, Kate cause I got some of these ideas as I read her amazing little Christmas story.
scarlett2112 to has written some touching Christmas stories and you have to check those out too. I promise I will update COHB next but this little story fits just perfect with our human Damon and Elena right after Just Let Me Hold You. So enjoy! And please send me your thoughts. This will be a 3 or 4 chapter little story that I will post this weekend! Can't wait to hear what you think!
Hoping you and your family had a very Merry Christmas and be blessed in the New Year with love laughter and treasured memories! Thank you for all your support! XOXO
"Oh Damon. It is beautiful!" She saw his wide grin back at her as he pulled up the car and brought it to a stop. She turned to him, her eyes shining with wonder in the dim light. The bright red and green lights sparkled in her eyes, reflecting from the lights on the cabin.
She felt him lean in closer to her and rub his hands over hers, warming them through her gloves. Resting his head on hers, she giggled as her precious man nuzzled his head against her and growled all sexy like.
"You like it?" he mumbled into her hair, his voice holding a slight air of trepidation. He loved surprising her. Seeing her face light up in any way, anytime, was intoxicating to him. She had been working a lot and if he hadn't talked to her boss and requested this time off, he didn't know if he might not have seen his wife at all over Christmas. Christmas was always busy for interns and he wanted her to take it easy as much as she could. So he had surprised her with this trip and then even packed her bags to drive back to Mystic Falls together for the holidays.
Pulling into the driveway at Dunham lake he had seen on the whole drive how tired she was. Her hair fell down past her shoulders as her eyes were closed tight. Her head had been facing him as she leaned back in the seat. He had been very careful driving and only snuck peeks at her when it was safe. She looked so peaceful as the street lights streaked down her body over and over as they drove. It was so cloudy it looked almost like night at mid day. He held her one hand in his, lacing their fingers together, enjoying the warmth of her touch as he drove.
"When did you have time to do this?" She was in awe of her husband and his thoughtfulness. This was their first Christmas together as husband and wife and he continued to make every day a surprise for her, with how amazing he was.
Being human was growing on him. It was quite an adjustment, but they had weathered the ups and downs together. She had been there for him in any way he needed. Getting a job had been the biggest adjustment and he had hit that one out of the park. He agreed to move anywhere she needed for work and she had been so excited when she got a job in Chicago at Cook County Hospital for her 2nd year of internship. They both felt they needed to get away from Mystic Falls and Whitmore area for awhile and enjoy this new human adventure together.
Starting fresh had felt so good. Damon had used some of his money to buy a bar and a loft above it for them to live in and he had slowly within the year turned it into a restaurant as well and he would often cook even better than the cook he had hired. 'Salvatore Brother's Restaurant and Bar' was his baby and she loved watching him in his element.
Many nights she would slip downstairs in her lace tanks and short shorts he loved so much while he was closing up and surprise him for a quick kiss and promise of more when he made his way upstairs. She had often laughed at how fast he got things done then, even as a human. Who needed vampire speed?
His lips turned up in a proud smile. "Well maybe that is for me to know and you to dot dot dot." He did his adorable eye thing at her and she giggled again. He had driven up when she had worked a full weekend the previous week and got everything ready for them to have their romantic Christmas holiday at the cabin. "Come on baby, lets get you inside. Its supposed to snow a little more overnight and get colder."
She nodded to him and grabbed her purse and watched him walking around the car to open her door. He helped her up from her seat and she leaned against him as his arms encircled her. Her warm coat was tight around her to keep the chill of the wind from her skin. She pulled the hood up and he led them carefully across the snow packed path to the door.
The lights were shining so brightly in the darkness and Elena could see the shimmer of the icicles on the roof and the sparkle of the snow as it fell ever so gently around them, sticking to the windows and the wood of the cabin. He caught her as she felt her feet slipping just slightly out from under her.
"Whoa Elena. We don't need any injuries that involve us going back to the hospital just yet. You are on holidays and if its up to me there will be no hospitals for you for at least a few weeks here." He felt her grip on his arm tighten more as they made their way across the snow. Once Damon led her under the roof of the porch he relaxed and breathed out more slowly. He wanted everything to be perfect for her. This was their time, as little time as there was and he didn't want anything to ruin it. A tumble on the ice was not one of his surprises.
He saw her tuck her long coat even more around her legs as he used the key he had gotten from Jeremy to let them in. His brother in law had been more than happy to have them enjoy their holidays here. Damon had promised him that they would stop in and see him and everyone after the weekend. Hell Damon missed Ric like crazy too. And he couldn't wait to see his best friend again. And his sister in law and Lizzie and Josie. He even thought he had heard that Bonnie was coming home for New Years so he knew it would be a reunion they all needed.
The wood on the deck was sturdy and no snow or ice had found its way up there. So he scooped her up in his arms as she squealed in surprise.
"Damon! What are you doing?! You could fall. You can't carry me! Didn't we already do this on our wedding night?!" He was crazy and asking for them to fall. She felt him waver in his balance as he grunted.
"I'm fine Elena. Just because I'm human doesn't mean I can't carry my wife over the threshold. Even if we have done it before..." He waggled his eyebrows at her. "We haven't done it here."
He kicked the door open and stepped into the cabin. Her arms were tight around his neck, almost squeezing a little too tightly. He felt himself stumble again and she screamed too close to his ear as her head was buried by his neck. Kicking the door back closed he rushed her to the couch and they fell unceremoniously onto it together. She lifted her head and he was grinning at her.
"Told you I could do it! Just because I'm human does not mean I can't carry you like that." Elena was undoing the buttons on her coat, had dropped her purse and discarded her gloves already and he helped her pull the thick material from her shoulders to fall to the floor behind them. She shifted awkwardly till she was straddling him on the couch, his hands up cradling her hips to make sure she stayed on his lap. He slid his fingers up slowly to rub the hardened bulge of her huge belly.
"See...you are just fine. Daddy did not drop Mommy or you. Everyone is just fine."
He looked up in her eyes, his own blue orbs shining with love for her. He put on his best Damon Salvatore pout, sticking his bottom lip out a bit too. "You trust me right Lena?" She was already nodding before he said more, her hands up winding around his neck and she was playing with his hair at his nape like he loved so much. "I had the super grippiest boots on, the best in the store and I have been working out to be able to carry you...just this once." He tilted his head down, rubbing his hands more over her belly and smiled as he felt a kick against his hand. "Or maybe to bed yet too..."
She laughed at how cute he was being. Human had certainly softened him. He was still snarky and cocky and had such a sharp wit, but the sense of time not being endless she had seen had changed him. He took pictures of them and time they were together with friends or family. He was often thinking ahead and planning and always surprising her with his thoughtfulness. It was like knowing there was no eternity anymore made him treasure every moment, every day and night. That he never forget to kiss her goodnight or was up in the morning to make her breakfast before she would leave for her long shifts at the hospital.
He would even stop in mid day and bring her lunch from the restaurant and drag her into the on call room to kiss her senseless and rock her world. She knew her co workers could tell when Damon had been there even if no one else had seen him. She would always try her best to be focused, but she knew by the looks they had on their faces that they knew what her husband had just done to her. She could hardly string words together after where his tongue and hands had been on her body. She would feel dizzy and her body thrumming from the taste of him in her mouth, the feel of his hands down her sides, slamming her against the wall to plunge himself into her. He even had to have his hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming and alert the other staff.
Elena buried her hands deeper in his hair as he cradled her in his arms on his lap. "Is that the master plan for this weekend Salvatore? You ravishing me in every way since this might be the last time we have before the baby comes?"
Damon pulled her in closer and her big belly pressed tight to his body. He ran his hands up and down her back on her long sleeved red shirt over a white lace camisole. She had the cutest little belly jeans on that he had told her he thought were so hot on her, big belly and all. But he loved that she was wearing red for him, knowing how much he liked it. He always wanted her to wear red and he wondered if he might in some subconscious way miss the blood of being a vampire.
"Baby, this weekend is all about you. We can do whatever you want, or nothing at all." He looked seriously at her, hoping she understood how much he wanted this to be perfect for her. "I just want you to enjoy this time. The quiet before we will likely be awake all night and changing diapers and getting spit up on and have our little angel's voice echoing from every corner of the loft. Lets just enjoy the quiet." He saw her nodding to him and felt her snuggle in closer or rather try to snuggle in closer to him. His baby was already very much between them in more ways than one.
Damon shifted around to get off his leather jacket and Elena helped him tug it off his shoulders and toss it on the chair. He looked around at all the lights he had put up in the cabin. They didn't even need any lights on or even the fire glowing yet since the bright white Christmas lights he strung on the top of the cabinets and the mantle and the windows were shining so beautifully, along with the tree tucked in the corner all bright with white lights.
His wife was glowing with happiness in his arms and he knew she needed this break. She had determined to work as close to her due date as she could and the baby was due in a little over 2 weeks in early January.
His jacket off, he toed off his boots. He ran his fingers up her sides under her clothes and she jumped. He knew his hands were still cold but he couldn't resist what he knew her expression would be, of his doing that.
"Eeek Damon! Way too cold!" Then he lifted his hands to place them on her cheeks and she shivered again. He laughed and let out a hiss as her own fingers dove under the hem of his shirt and the cold of her hands found his warm skin. He grinned at her and shivered himself before pulling her in, capturing her lips with his.
Her lips despite the cold outside were warm and he ran his tongue along the seam of them. She moaned and opened to him, her hands sliding up his sides under his black button down shirt. His hands cradled her head, tilting it and dipping his tongue in to taste her more. "God baby I missed time with you." He groaned and sucked in her bottom lip as he felt her shift from one side to the other with still straddling his lap.
"I've missed you too Damon, so much" she mumbled between kisses. "I'm so sorry I have been working so much and so late. Its never to be away from you on purpose." She saw him nod at that. She knew he was confident in their love.
She knew she was usually asleep before her head it the pillow at night and all she would remember before her eyes drifted shut was his warm body nuzzling in, his nose against the back of her neck as he brushed kisses along her skin. She felt his fingers sneak along her sides and he would every night splay them over her belly and wait till he felt a kick before he would be able to curl in and go to sleep. She was usually asleep before the baby decided to cooperate with him. That little one sure was stubborn some nights.
But her husband never gave up and waited patiently for that kick, that proof that all was right in his world, was what she thought he was seeking every time. That everything was okay and he needed his family to be safe and know they were, before he could sleep. Elena thought that was the sweetest thing and she would try so hard to stay awake each night since she realized he had done that. But most nights she was asleep within minutes and missed Damon's little bonding time with their baby.
Some nights she would wake up a few hours later to pee, which she needed to do all the time and she would feel him buried deeper in the blankets by her waist and talking to the baby. She had hardly dared to breath, feeling his lips on her belly and his hand stroking her skin as he would talk about life and how much he couldn't wait to meet him or her. One night she heard him telling stories about when Stefan and him were growing up and learning to play football. He promised their baby that he couldn't wait to teach them too.
Damon's hands dug deeper in her hair by her neck, curling his fingers between the silky strands. "Mmm, damn Elena you feel so good," he groaned against her mouth. He delved in deeper, kissing her slowly and lazily, soaking in every sensation of his wife in his arms. He felt her own fingers finding the buttons of his shirt and tugging them open one by one. Her hands on him felt like heaven. He missed just simple time with her. This holiday was to find that again and revel in everything about his wife.
Elena felt his ragged breaths against her face as her husband moaned throatily as he slid his hands down her back. He tugged gently on her jeans, sliding his palms down more and pulling her in closer to him. She tried to sit up more, the baby digging its cute little bottom into her ribs was making it harder to breath even normally and even more as she kissed him.
She knew Damon needed this. Hell they both did, so much. He had been so patient with her insane schedule lately and had food ready for her even if she showed up at near midnight. He did everything to make her comfortable and relaxed and she realized how little attention she had paid him back lately. She had just been so tired and never meant to be taking her amazing husband for granted at all.
They had tried to make love in one position or another over the last few months and it had gotten farther and fewer in between and more awkward and far from romantic and hot and sexy. She felt the furthest thing from sexy, taking forever to turn around in bed or always needing to pee and even feeling the muscles down there so weak that she had felt like she could pee during sex. She had pulled away then and he had been nothing but kind and understanding. But she said she felt so unattractive lately and didn't believe how he could possibly see her as anything but what she saw.
That sentence had started this whole 'him surprising her with thoughtful ideas for Christmas' and the whole holiday season before the baby came. He had even taken her shopping thinking it might help her feel more beautiful and she had picked out lingerie and cute tops and jeans and comfy clothes too. She was so grateful for how much into this baby thing he really was and how he could see how much she was struggling with it.
It had been a few weeks after the morning in the shower and them falling off the bed to make love the first night she had been with him since she had woken up from the sleeping beauty curse. That was when she had first thought she was late and had gotten a test to confirm. She had slipped out of bed early that morning excited and scared to take the test. And when she saw that it was positive she could hardly hold it in and decided to surprise him that very morning. She had snuck back into bed and kissed him awake, in awe of the man beside her being the father of her baby. He had woken slowly, groaning and pulling her onto him, kissing her ravenously. They spent a relaxing time in bed first before showering together.
She walked up to him as he was getting ready for the day and put her arms around him, nuzzling her head down in the hollow of his back between his shoulders. He had cinched a towel around his waist after their shower and looked so damn delicious with the little trails of water dripping down from his still wet hair and onto the lean muscles of his back.
She had discreetly placed the pregnancy test on the counter and waited to see how long it would take him to see it. She had just finished showering and now watched him as he was shaving and washing his face. As he reached for the toothpaste she heard his sharp intake of breath. She was wearing only a towel too, wrapped loosely around her as she watched him pick it up.
"Elena," he gasped out and his wide ocean eyes were studying the small windows on the test. He spun to face her. "Are you? Are we?" His voice was already choked with emotion and she could see the joy on his face at the thought that this could be true. He lifted his head to focus intently on her eyes. "Baby, does this mean what I think it does?" She could not hold back her grin and she saw him swallow hard, his whole face in a frozen state of anticipation like he was trying to prepare himself for whatever answer she gave him.
"I am Damon. We are. We are going to have a baby!" She had barely gotten the sentence out before she felt his arms encircle her. He picked her up and spun her around, the widest smile on his face before nuzzling into her hair. He had been over the moon happy and had fallen to his knees and moved the towel and kissed all over her bare belly before carrying her back to their bed again covering her body with kisses as the towels fell away from both of them...and everything disappeared except for them in that moment celebrating their miracle.
Damon started pulling the red long sleeved top up over her head and she shook her hair out of it as he tossed it to the floor. He dove back down to her lips as his hands ran over her belly, tugging the white camisole up and he pulled her in to his bare chest. She felt amazing.
He loved her belly. It made her look hotter than he thought he had ever seen her. Knowing that his baby was in her, that everything was to bring their miracle baby into the world made her radiant in his eyes.
He didn't see it like she did, with her having swollen ankles or that she would wear two different shoes, or needed to pee every 5 minutes or ate everything under the sun at all hours of the night.
He saw her glowing, her smile, her sigh as she would collapse on the couch after a long day and lay her head back, her hands on her belly. He would sneak in the room when she looked asleep already and lift her scrub top to kiss his baby hello before kissing up her body to find her lips. Then most nights he would carry her up to a bath he already had ready for her and she would soak in there to relax all her tired muscles. There wasn't enough room in their tub at the loft for them both to enjoy it, especially now with her needing to stretch out so much and hardly move without his help. That was part of why going to the cabin was perfect and he knew the tub here was huge and he was hoping they could enjoy it together.
Just then as his mouth moved over hers tangling her tongue with his he nearly jumped back. "Ouch!" he whispered and looked down. The baby had kicked hard and he felt it against his own bare stomach pressed tight to hers. Elena jumped back just as startled and looked up at him. He smiled at her, his eyes twinkling. "I think someone is wanting attention too." He saw her smiling back at him and she laughed.
And they both laughed more as another strong kick made Elena wince and grab for her stomach. She sat up higher on his lap and dug her fingers in under her ribs. "Ouch is right. I need to breath little one." She cringed again and once she gently pushed down on the part of the baby under her ribs there was another sharp kick to the front of her belly.
Damon's hands were around her bare hips to steady her, her camisole up near the top of her belly, as she looked back down as the literal shape of a tiny foot materialized so clearly under her skin!
His mouth opened in amazement. "Wow Elena. That was a foot!"
She laughed, making a face at him. "Yes I think our baby has two of them."
He made a face right back at her and stuck out his tongue. "Very cute," he teased her.
She shifted again and moved to sit beside him on the couch to stretch out her sore legs. "Although most days it feels like I'm giving birth to an octopus! Those hands and feet are everywhere at once!"
He snuck his own hands around her sides and started unbuttoning her jeans. "My hands can be everywhere at once too."And he stroked down her hair while getting her button undone and then pulled her in back closer to him.
She laughed again and wound her arms around his neck. "Yes you most definitely can. Sometimes I wonder if you managed to keep your vampire speed somehow when Stefan gave you the cure."
Now it was his turn to laugh. "That's a nice thought sweetie. But I know if I had a choice to keep anything then I would sure have kept compulsion. That would be so handy some days, at work and with you and customers paying their damn tabs, getting loans at the bank…"
"With me?" She sat up more and swung her leg back over him. "What could you possibly have to compel me to do?" She drew in a deep breath. They were enjoying the fun banter together so she hoped this didn't turn out to be a serious conversation. They had had a couple fights about her working so much and being on her feet too much and Damon had been a very protective dad already and read all the baby books she did and knew when she was overdoing it.
He pulled her closer and nuzzled his head against her neck, a relaxed smile graced his lips, his blue eyes sparkling with playfulness. "Oh I don't know. Probably compel you to work less, or stay in bed longer in the mornings...or hey I could just compel your bosses to give you days off and think you are still there! Then I could have you all to myself."
Elena's hands went up and into his hair as he lay with his cheek on her shoulder. He purred at the feeling of her fingers tangling in the strands. "Mm mm so good baby."
"Honey you do have me all to yourself now...let's just focus on that okay." She curled her fingers more in his hair and he groaned against her throat.
"Oh I am focusing on that," he mumbled against her skin. "You have no idea how much I have missed you Lena, so so much." He lifted his head to gaze into her eyes. "But I need to feed you two. I'm sure all the snacks you had on the drive over are fading fast."
She nodded rapidly. He knew it. He had barely gotten anything to eat lately unless she didn't want it and that still changed daily so the next day it could still be gone. "Why don't you go soak in that nice big tub upstairs while I get dinner ready?"
"That sounds heavenly Damon. I could really use a long soak. My ankles are killing me."
He looked down seeing she still hadn't even taken off her boots from outside. He had carried her in here and just put her down and started kissing her. He pulled on the zippers and slid the mid calf boots down off her legs one at a time. He pulled her socks off too and laid her legs on his lap. He started massaging her feet and her head fell back against the arm of the couch almost instantly.
She looked so fricking sexy like that, her eyes closed, the slightest moan from her parted lips as her throat tightened. If he didn't know better that look reminded him of doing a very different thing to her body and now he was getting that hot reaction to something as innocent as rubbing her sore feet.
Damon could feel that her ankles were swelling. Not much but a little. She had not retained much water at all, most of it was just in her legs and ankles and not filling in her neck or cheeks. She already cried out at how she looked when she looked in the mirror and didn't need more ways to not feel beautiful. She had many a meltdown in the bathroom mirror and he had pulled her in his arms and done anything he could think of to show her how beautiful she was; kissed her all over, taken her to their bed, ravished her for hours till she was crying out his name.
But all that happened with lights off and under the covers and even then as he kissed and worshiped her body he could feel her tense up in places that she didn't feel she was beautiful like when she didn't have his baby in her. It didn't seem to matter how much he told her how sexy she was either, she would sometimes scoff in his face that he was just saying that. She felt as big as a house and thought all he saw was how big she was.
He rubbed for a few more minutes till he felt her breathing grow more shallow. She looked angelic in the twinkling white lights. Her shirt was still pulled up exposing her whole belly to him and he marveled at the rolling movements under her skin.
His child, fighting to come into the world. Tired of the so little space there. He barely had room to move and Damon could tell the kicks were getting less frequent or as strong as the lack of space prevented the baby from moving as rapidly.
He rubbed up her legs, rolling her super stretchy maternity pants up higher and higher to massage her calves and soothe the aches she felt being on her feet so much. Within another few minutes his wife was asleep. He slipped carefully out from under her and stood up. Pulling a blanket over her he figured he would let her rest as long as she needed. They had nowhere to be and by the looks of the blowing outside the weather was just getting worse. He hadn't seen any indication on the weather websites that their was blizzard weather coming. But that was what it looked like when he couldn't even see his car from the window, the wind was blowing the snow around so much.
Damon set to work preparing supper as quietly as he could. Peeling potatoes and searing the roast before seasoning it and rubbing butter and salt and pepper all over it. He tucked it and the potatoes and a few diced up carrots in the roaster pan and waited for the oven to heat up. Then he turned back to his sleeping love, all curling up on the couch. He hated to wake her but he knew she would appreciate relaxing in the tub and then they could sleep all night in each others arms. Any day she napped too long at a time she was up half the night tossing and turning so he didn't want to ruin her night either.
He slipped to the bathroom and started running the water in the huge claw foot tub, gathering up towels and wash clothes and soap and shampoo. He moved quickly back to her still sleeping so soundly. He knelt by her head and tenderly traced his finger along her cheek. "Lena baby, time to wake up." She moaned and moved around more on the couch, the blanket slipping down lower off her shoulders.
Damon kissed a path up her jaw to her lips and she whimpered his name as he felt her hands sneak into his hair. He pulled her gently up to sitting and he gathered her in his arms as her own twined around his neck. He carried her carefully to the bathroom to lean on the counter as he added more bubble bath letting the bubbles fill the tub more and more.
Elena was grateful for the nap and now could not wait to soak her sore muscles. She loved Damon's soft touches and was determined she wasn't going to be the only one doting on the other. She wanted to show him how much everything he did for her meant to her.
She lifted her arms for him to pull the thin camisole off her and he pulled her in for another quick kiss. She leaned against him, feeling the warmth of his body from his shirt still being open and her hands slid up his naked chest. He undid her zipper and tugged her jeans down her legs till she was standing in nothing but her underwear in front of him.
Damon was still always entranced at how gorgeous his wife was and he was ready to give her more kisses when she called out to him that the water was too high. He pulled back quickly and turned it off before coming back to her. Her arms had come around her chest over her bra. Her breasts had grown at least a cup or more during her pregnancy and he knew she didn't like how big she was their either. He actually hadn't seen her naked in a few weeks. Elena kept the light off when she slipped into bed or the door closed when she bathed at home. She had become so self conscious and he wished he knew how to reassure her more.
He grabbed her hands from covering her bra and kissed each knuckle. "You are SO beautiful baby. I wish you could see you as I see you," he mumbled into the air between them.
"I'm huge Damon," she whined, her lip out in the cutest pout, he had to fight to take her seriously when all he wanted to do was crushed her pouty lips to his. "I wish I could see that too. All I see is everything is so big and my stomach having the stretch marks and I just look so ickkk."
"No you don't baby. Please trust me. Believe me. You look so hot carrying my baby. I never dreamed I would get a chance for a family after becoming a vampire. You are truly giving me a miracle and that is what I see."
But despite his reassurance she turned around before unsnapping her bra to let it fall and slipped out of her lace panties and with her hand on his arm to support her, she stepped into the warm bubbly water. She was covered in bubbles right up to her neck and then leaned her head back on the edge of the tub.
Damon saw her eyes close and he was ready to leave and give her peace. She obviously was still so insecure and didn't want him to see her. That hurt him but he knew her hormones were everywhere and she could go from crying to angry in 2.5 seconds some days. But just as he turned to leave he felt her fingers tangle with his, pulling him back.
"Stay...please Damon," she said firmly, her brown eyes locked on his blue ones. She nodded pulling him back toward her and he nodded back. He missed her so much.
A/N; I will go back another time to do their wedding and engagement and all those precious moments. But this story just seemed to fit so well in here at this time of year. 3 or 4 more chapters here and I am so excited to share them with you.
A little lemony tub fun for them coming up. I hope you enjoy...
Please take a minute to review!