It wasn't easy at first, at least not for Damon. He'd been forced to transition by his brother and had found the only way to survive was to learn to embrace what he'd become. Which he'd actively done for the following century and a half. He liked being a vampire. He loved being a vampire. Maybe it started out that way because he forced himself to do it, but the fact was, he'd grown into it. So when he woke up one morning, warming up two mugs of blood and two mugs of coffee as he normally did for himself and Elena, only to find the human blood tasted awful, it didn't quite sink in immediately. And when he realized it, he was furious. And frightened. But mostly just furious.

Elena, on the other hand, was the opposite of furious. She was thrilled. She'd jumped up and down, and thrown her arms around Damon's neck kissing him in what could only be described as joie de vivre. And though he had wanted nothing more than to sulk, her enthusiasm in that moment was such that he couldn't help but feel pacified. But only just for that instant, he was after all actually fairly sensitive, and it wasn't like he could just switch off his empathy or his feelings anymore. In his defence, no one could have predicted that giving the cure to Katherine, would also cure her entire vampiric bloodline. Needless to say, for a time being, chaos and mayhem ensued where applicable.

And yes, it took time for Damon to come to terms with his humanity, and to reacquaint with his true self. To adapt, to grow comfortable. It took practice, but they eventually found their rhythm, in great part thanks to Elena. Elena who had given up all the things she so deeply loved and wanted about humanity, out of love for him, to be with ihim/i forever. In the end her generosity to him, had paid off, and it was through that very same love that Damon came to understand and covet the precious singularity of human life and all that it could offer. Being human, and in love had its perks, one of which he was currently holding in his arms.

"Tut tut tut don't be so fussy," he cooed lovingly.

The baby in his arms stirred and looked up at him.

"Funny you should like at me that way, that's exactly how your namesake would silently judge me, little Ric"

"Daddy, can I hold him?"

Damon looked from the infant boy in his arms, to the little girl standing in front of him and he smiled. She'd just turned four and already she was the center of his whole world. Jenna's hair was a light brown, nearly blonde- expected at that age- and would no doubt darken as she grew older. Her eyes were the same piercing blue as her father's but the shape, the expression of them was all Elena. She was only a toddler, but already one could note the outline of her cheekbones, a testament to her slavic ancestors, while the soft roundness of her jaw was the generosity of Italy.

"Yes you can, but I'd like for you to come sit beside me."

Thrilled at the prospect of holding her little brother, Jenna scrambled onto the couch, scooting over next to her daddy, clinging at his arms as she leaned over to look at the baby. Alaric stirred in Damon's arms but didn't begin crying as before. He was a little less cranky it seemed, now that he was the focus of attention. The proud father gently handed his son over to his daughter, showing her the proper way to cradle an infant in her arms.

"You see, you have to make sure his head is supported. Babies' necks aren't strong enough to support them right away when they're born. The muscles build up over time, but we have to help them out until then, or they won't be very comfortable."

Jenna nodded solemnly, taking him dutifully and positioning her arms as her father had just demonstrated. She looked up at Damon with a very serious look on her face and he got worried for a moment that something was wrong. But as she spoke up, he couldn't help and chuckle.

"He's heavier than he looks. We're not feeding him too much are we?"

"No, Jenna. He's just putting on weight like babies normally do."

"Even me?"

"Even you. You're gonna grow up big and strong and beautiful."

"Like mommy?"

He lowered his voice in a conspiratory way, whispering "you'll be even prettier" before saying more loudly so that Elena could hear him.

"Yes you'll be just as gorgeous as mommy!"

Elena came out of the kitchen the following instant, smiling radiantly and looking as if her entire being was glowing. She settled three mugs on the coffee table, one for Damon, one for herself, and one for Jenna, whom couldn't wait to drink her chocolate milk and hurriedly handed Alaric back to her parents, a little carelessly, without paying attention to which one she was handing him to. Both of her parents laughed, and Elena recuperated her youngest child, whom immediately rolled over into her arms to seek the comfort and warmth of her chest, closing his eyes for the first time in what seemed like hours. He was content at long last, and Elena smiled down at him. This one, she thought, would be hard to wean. But well, she could only consider herself so lucky to have these two boys in her life, filling it with joy and love each day. She'd gone to hell and back, lost so much and she'd never thunk it possible to be so happy again, but somehow the resilience of the human spirit had prevailed. Damon leaned over at that moment, kissing her cheek. She closed her eyes, still smiling and turned to press her forehead against his.

Later that night, they'd put Jenna to bed, after letting her help them put Alaric in his crib for the night, teaching her about what to do and what not to do. She had her own room and her own bed even if she sometimes crawled in with her parents, she was surprising by her independent streak, and had never been difficult about sleeping alone. The first night she'd stayed in her own bed, she hadn't cried or fought it and Damon had sighed dramatically declaring she was well on her way to becoming a heartbreaker because she was already breaking her daddy's heart. Elena had rolled her eyes and kissed him, whispering "I'll mend it for you. That's what I'm here for." He hadn't been able to argue with that.

Sometimes he thought about his reaction the day they'd been cured and he shakes his head in bewilderment at the fact he never could have thought then that maybe being a vampire wasn't the greatest thing in the world. And always, when Elena wrapped her slender arms around his neck, rolling on top of him to kiss him lovingly, the feeling of her warm skin against his, the beating of her heart against his, his hands caressing down her back, to her butt, and her hips and her thighs, as he asked about whether this was going to be the night they conceived her next child, and she would let out this little laugh before tugging at his lower lip, like when they were adolescent vamps, Damon definitely knew that he had been wrong back then. This, what they had now, was the greatest thing in the world.

"Elena?"

"Mhm... I kiss you and you interrupt me?"

"I love you."

Fin.