Author's Note: This is a one-shot written for the damon & elena holiday (author2author) exchange 2016 (on LiveJournal) based on scarlett2112's prompt. I meant for it to be light, flirty fun, but… oh, well… Hope you'll enjoy nonetheless :-)

Disclaimer: This short story is based on characters created by L.J. Smith as portrayed in the TV show created by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec. All rights belong to their respective owners.

SELFLESS

December 23rd

"Hey, Ric. Buddy."

Alaric Saltzman didn't look up from the manuscript he was going over. "No."

"You don't even know what I was going to ask you," Damon Salvatore objected, taking a seat on the bar stool beside his old college buddy. Really old college buddy.

"Sorry, let me rephrase," Ric said, crossing out a word on the page in front of him. "Hell no."

"I just need a couple of hundred to make up the difference."

"Just go all in and be done with it."

"I will on the next round. Come on, Ric. You know I'm good for it."

Ric finally looked up from his papers and rested one elbow on the counter, turning to face Damon. "It sounds to me like you'd do just about anything to get the cash from me."

"Name it."

"I promised my girlfriend I'd go to her niece's department store tonight, but I'm on a deadline with this manuscript. If I give you the cash, you finish up the game and head on over there. Deal?"

Damon groaned. He'd planned to make a stop at the Kitty Kat Club after his game and spend some of his newly earned cash. Of course, if he didn't get the cash from Ric, there would be no game to win.

"Fine."

Ric reached into his back pocket and produced his wallet. As he counted out the bills, Damon thought he saw a smug look on his old friend's face. As if he'd been played.

Elena Gilbert checked the security monitors showing every department in her store. Everything looked to be in order for now; shoppers were moving around at a steady pace, the gift wrappers were keeping up with the lines of customers wanting to get their purchases wrapped, and the self-serve restaurant staff was keeping the buffet table fresh and well-stocked.

The only thing missing was her evening Santa. Her uncle John had covered the mid-day shift, but he had to pick his kids up at his ex-wife's house so he couldn't stay for the whole day. Her aunt Jenna's boyfriend was supposed to be here by now to suit up. Instead, Santa's throne sat empty in the middle of the display. This was a disaster.

"Elena. Someone's here to see you? Says Alaric sent him?" Elena's assistant manager, Bonnie Bennett, said as she opened the door to the control room.

"Thank you. Just have him wait in my office, will you? I have the suit there."

"Sure thing," Bonnie said and closed the door.

Elena picked up her two-way radio and called on Caroline Forbes, who oversaw the Santa meet-and-greet on the floor.

"Care, our Santa's here. Give us a few minutes and then you can start to form a line by the display."

"You got it, Boss," Caroline replied and Elena clipped the radio to her belt as she headed for her office.

Damon looked around Elena Gilbert's office while he waited. She had a lot of plaques on her walls for someone so young. Not that he knew exactly how old she was, but if Ric was dating her aunt, she couldn't be more than twenty or so. He spotted a photo on top of a cabinet and picked it up. Graduation Day, Class of… Huh. So she was a bit older than twenty, after all.

"Mr. Salvatore."

He almost dropped the photo at the sound of her sharp voice, but she took it from him before he could. "That'd be me. Uh… Ric sent me to pick something up?"

"Yes, that's right," Elena said, putting the photo back on top of the cabinet. "I hope it'll fit."

"Fit?" he asked as he watched her walk over to a closet. He couldn't help but notice she had an ass you could bounce a quarter off. Or many, many singles…

"Yes. Ric's a bit… fuller, shall we say? We might need to get some more padding for you."

Damon looked down at himself and saw nothing lacking in the size department. "Excuse me?"

"I might have some cotton lying around… if not, we'll just stop by the costume department," she said, placing a bundle of red in his arms.

"Uh… what is this?" he asked, scrunching his nose up in distaste.

"Your costume," she replied in a 'duh!'-tone. "Now put that on and we'll head down to the meet-and-greet."

"The what-now?" Damon unfolded the parcel and shook out… a Santa suit. "Uh… I think there's been a mistake…"

"Well, yeah. Ric was supposed to be here an hour ago. The kids are expecting Santa as we speak. I'm glad you're here, Mr. Salvatore, but I really don't have time to-"

"Hold it right there," Damon cut her off, handing the suit back. "I'm not playing dress-up."

"You said Ric sent you."

"Yeah, to pick up a package. Not to play Santa. I don't need to put on a costume to have girls sit on my lap."

"These are children, Mr. Salvatore," Elena said sharply, her eyes almost black as they bore into his. "They've come to my store to whisper their wishes in Santa's ear and have their picture taken with their idol. I will not see them disappointed."

"Then you should wear the costume," Damon said, giving her a once-over. "Or maybe one of those tight little elf numbers. You'll probably sell a whole lot more to the dads that come in."

She looked like she wanted to slap him. Instead, she schooled her face into a sickly sweet one.

"Mr. Salvatore. I know you're a good man, or else Ric wouldn't have sent you here. I understand the circumstances has taken you by surprise, but please understand my predicament. I have a department store full of customers expecting to see Santa tonight. Obviously, I don't expect you to work for free."

Damon pondered that. Not only would going through with this crazy charade leave him debt-free in Ric's eyes, but he'd get some hard cash, too. Cash he could spend on Kitty Kat later tonight. Kids had bedtimes, didn't they?

"All right. You've got yourself a deal, Miss Gilbert."

Elena struggled to feel triumphant as she watched Damon Salvatore sit in Santa's chair and pose for one picture after another. She'd already paid Ric for the job, and now she had to double it. The extra cost wasn't in the budget, so it would have to come out of her private account. Which kinda sucked.

It wasn't that they were struggling financially – the store had done well this month – but there were suppliers to pay, and employees, and banks. The renovation after last year's storm had been expensive, even with insurance. Then there were the medical bills…

Elena shook herself out of her thoughts just in time for Caroline to walk up to her.

"Hey, Boss, whatcha doin'?"

"Huh?"

"I don't think I've seen you standing still for the past month."

"Just checking in on the Santa display."

"Yeah, I noticed…" Caroline said, sounding mischievous. "Quite the eye candy, huh? With his big, hard-"

"Care!"

"Candy cane. Sheesh, Elena, get your mind out of the gutter!" Caroline laughed.

"Have you had your break yet?"

"Nah, I'm fine," Caroline waved her off. "Is Jenna coming by later?"

Elena checked the time. "In half an hour or so."

"Then you should probably take a little break yourself, Boss."

"Mm-hm. I'll get right on that," Elena mumbled, her eyes glued to Damon yet again. Was that kid crying?

Damon wished for ear plugs. If he had to hear one more kid shout in his ear, he'd go deaf. What was so difficult about the concept of whispering?

It didn't help that he'd gotten the evil eye from the boss lady herself when one of the little brats had started crying out of the blue. Like it was his fault unicorns didn't exist and there was absolutely no reasonable way for the kid's parents to buy one at the pet store? He didn't like lying. Come to think of it, that was what was bothering him the most about this gig. He was perpetuating a lie passed down through generations that some all-seeing big brother – or grandfather – type would grant every kid's wish just because they asked for it. These days, they didn't even have to behave themselves to get the latest gizmos. What a load of-

"Excuse me, Santa?"

Frowning, he looked down at a doe-eyed little girl standing at the foot of the display. He cleared his throat and put on that fake voice kids seemed to enjoy even though it was creepy as hell. "Yes, child?" Okay, now he sounded like Father Giuseppe. "I mean, what can I do for you, little girl?" Still creepy.

"May I sit on your lap?"

"Of course, climb right on you," Damon said and patted his well-padded knee. With all this stuffing, he might as well be roasting in an over. "Tell me, what do you want for Christmas?"

He expected the kid to do like half the other kids and half-shout into his ear about a Barbie Dreamhouse, but instead, she looked him straight in the eye.

"Here's the deal. I know you're not really Santa, but my auntie wants a picture of me on your lap. Is that okay?"

Damon was so stunned, he lost his fake voice. "Um. Sure."

The girl twisted a little and smiled at a woman at the foot of the display holding a cell phone in front of her face. A flash went off and the little girl started to scoot off his knee.

"Wait," Damon said, surprising them both. "Uh, what's your name?"

"Ella."

"Ella. That's a pretty name."

"Thank you."

"So, Ella, are you sure you don't want to ask for something? I mean, I may not be Santa, but I do have a boatload of presents to dole out."

The girl bit her lip and stood quiet for a while, then climbed back up. "I guess… if you have something my mom might like."

"What would your mom like?" Damon asked, checking a couple of the gifts. The content was noted on the bottom so he'd know what type of gift he was handing out.

"She likes chocolate. And soap."

"Hm… haven't seen any of those in here…" Damon missed. "How 'bout a necklace?" It was probably more of a kid thing, but maybe that way the kid could get a present without asking for herself.

She nodded. "Sounds good."

Damon chuckled as he handed over the gift. "Say, Ella, how old are you?"

"Almost six."

"Six, huh? No wonder you're on to the whole Santa scam."

"I just do it for my mom. And auntie."

"That's really sweet of you. You're a pretty smart kid, you know that?"

"Mom says so, too."

Damon laughed. "I'd bet. But, Ella, if for five seconds you could dream up anything in the world that you wanted, what would it be?"

"Well… sometimes, I think my mom gets lonely. I know I can't ask for my daddy to come back, but maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I had another one."

Damon swallowed a lump in his throat. "How old were you when your daddy went away?"

"Auntie said it happened while Mom was in the hospital with me. He went to Heaven so I could come down here and keep Mom company."

"That was… very selfless of him."

"Ella? Sweetie, come down from there."

The little girl jumped off his knee and bounded down the little steps. "Here, Mommy, Santa got you a present!"

Damon just stared as Elena Gilbert picked up her daughter and walked away with her aunt. Ric's girlfriend. Why hadn't he recognized her before? Granted, he'd only seen a couple of photos of her in the past year that Ric had been dating her, but still. And why the hell didn't Ric tell him Elena Gilbert had a kid?"

What does it matter?" Ric said as Damon asked him just that over the phone as soon as he got off his shift.

"It… well, I guess it doesn't, really. I just… maybe I wouldn't have been such a jerk about doing the gig if I'd known."

"Why were you a jerk?" Ric asked, sounding pissed.

"Because you set me up, dude! You didn't tell me I was supposed to dress up like Santa. You know I hate the holidays."

"I thought it would be a chance for you to do something nice for a change. Maybe even get over that chip on your shoulder."

"What chip?"

"The one where you act like the world's biggest Grinch around this time of year just because you can't deal with your guilt."

Damon threw the last of his costume on the locker room floor. "Screw you. Like you know anything about my life."

"I know you wanted to trade places with your brother. But that was never up to you, Damon."

"It wasn't fair that he didn't get to live when I-"

"Life's not fair, Damon. But what you're doing with your life isn't fair to his memory, either."

"Who are you? The Ghost of Christmas Past?"

"No, I'm very real. So is Elena. And Ella."

"Ric, don't tell me that-" Damon rubbed his face.

"Sounds to me like you've already figured it out."

"Did you know that she would be there tonight? The kid?"

"Jenna always brings her."

"Does Jenna know?"

"No. I'm the only one. It can stay that way if you want it to, but it's time you face up to your choices, Damon. You can keep going with the whole survivor's guilt thing and squander your money on booze and strippers, or you can accept that life is a gift and use your second chance at it to do something good."

"Like what? I don't even know what good is anymore."

"Elena's mother is in hospital. Medical bills are eating up what little is left after the other bills are paid. She needs treatment. The expensive kind. The kind your mother's foundation offers."

"That's why you set me up to meet Elena and her daughter? So I'd be guilt-tripped into helping them?"

"I sent you to her so that you'd see where your heart came from. And for you to start appreciating that gift. It's about damn time, don't you think?

Christmas Eve

"Mommy?"

"Yes, sweetie?" Elena said, looking up from her sewing machine. She had one too many clothes in need of mending, and there was no time like the present. The store was closed tomorrow, but the day after that it was business as usual.

"I think Santa's on the roof. You should probably put out the fire in the fireplace so he doesn't catch on fire."

Elena smiled and held her arms out to her daughter. Ella wasted no time in rushing over and climbing into her mother's lap.

"Say, I heard from auntie Jenna that you don't believe in Santa anymore," Elena said and dotted Ella's nose with her index finger.

"Oh. Busted."

Elena laughed and cuddled her daughter. "Is someone stalling to stay up all night? It's way past your bedtime already, you know."

"But I'm not sleepy," Ella argued, finishing up the sentence with a yawn.

"Mm-hm, very convincing… Go on, run back upstairs and I'll be up to tuck you in again once I've finished this skirt."

"Okay…" Ella said with a deep sigh and trudged up the stairs. "I did hear something, though. Honest."

"I'll be sure to check the fireplace. Now go."

Elena sighed, rubbed her eyes, and decided the sewing could wait until tomorrow. She was likely to give herself some stitches if she didn't quit while she was awake. She was just turning off the lights when she heard a thud coming from outside. Frowning, she crept up to the window and peered out. There was a man fiddling with her wooden mailbox. A big, round, red man.

She opened the door and called out to him. "Hey, you! What are you doing?"

The man turned in her direction and he saw a white beard and shockingly blue eyes.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," he said and patted her mailbox. "I was just trying to leave you something."

"Like my Santa costume?" she said, raising her eyebrows.

Damon Salvatore obviously took the fact that she hadn't slammed the door as an invitation, because he walked up to the doorway.

"I heard you like chocolate," he said and held out a box to her.

"What are you doing here, Mr. Salvatore?" she asked, hugging her long cardigan tight against the cool breeze outside.

"I wanted to apologize. For being a jerk yesterday."

"Thank you."

"And…" he handed over an envelope, "to drop this off."

"What is it?" Elena asked, ripping the envelope open. Inside was a rather thick folder and a business car. "The Salvatore Medical Foundation?"

"It's my mother's. She's expecting your call."

"But, why-?"

"I heard about your mother. I want to help."

"I can't…. she would never accept cutting in line. There are hundreds of people out there waiting for a chance to-"

"You're not cutting in line. The foundation's not financing her treatments at anyone else's expense."

"Then who is?"

"Santa."

"Mr. Salvatore-"

"Damon."

"Damon… Why would you do this for us? We're perfect strangers."

"Someone reminded me recently that there are selfless people out there who give life-changing gifts to perfect strangers without ever expecting a thank you. It's time I gave something back."

Elena couldn't make sense of what Damon was saying, but it was the best gift she could have hoped for."

"Say, are you doing anything tomorrow?" she asked, hugging the folder to her chest.

"Nothing important."

"Would you like to have dinner with us? Ric is coming over with my aunt and my mother. I think she would like to thank you for your gift in person."

"I'd be delighted."

"Okay, I'll see you at five, then."

"Goodnight, Elena."

"Goodnight, Damon."

Elena closed the door and leaned against it, trying to collect her thoughts and the emotions swirling around like snowflakes in a winter storm. Deciding to let sleep work through those thoughts, she headed upstairs.

Ella was asleep in her bed and clutching her little Santa bear. Elena pulled up the covers so her little girl wouldn't be cold during the night, and gently touched the little bear's hat. Mason had bought it for her a week before she was born, but he'd never gotten to give it to her himself. In the span of one week, her life had changed irreversibly. Her firefighter husband was declared brain dead after an accident on the job; and the most precious gift she'd ever receive was delivered in perfect health.

She hadn't told Ella much about Mason, only that he was selfless and brave and that even though she was the spitting image of her mother, she had her father's heart. Once, she'd heard Jenna tell Ella that her daddy had gone to Heaven so that she could come to earth. At first, Elena had been angry with her aunt for saying something like that. She didn't want Ella to ever think that it was her fault her daddy wasn't there. But Ella hadn't seemed to take it that way. She'd chosen to see it as a gift.

Elena sighed and stroked her little girl's hair. She was growing up so fast. Maybe it was time to tell her about her father's choice to donate his organs; that because of him, someone out there had a new chance at life.

The alarm clock on Ella's nightstand clicked over to 10:45 and Elena bent over and kissed her forehead, whispering softly.

"Happy birthday, sweetheart."