A/N: A reviewer, K, commented on a Supernatural connection. Very astute. As always, leave a comment if the mood strikes. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own nor seek to profit from these characters.

It was well past midnight when Jeremy returned to Jenna's. The porch light was on. He stood outside the screen for a second, then reached into the planter next to the mat and retrieved the spare key. He would have to tell Jenna to find a better hiding place.

Inside was warm and smelled of cookies. The living room lights were on and sounds came from the kitchen. He headed to the stairs.

"Jeremy Gilbert, get your ass in here."

Jeremy expelled a reluctant breath and followed orders.

Jenna and Alaric stood in the kitchen, packaging cookies and other pastries in metal Christmas tins. The sight of them instantly threw him back to Christmas when he was ten. His father had a conference and missed the tradition, so his mother let him stay up with her. It was just the two of them, his mother doing most of the work and Jeremy admonishing her for sneaking the chocolate chip cookies. He remembered how she smiled when he caught her, how she nudged him in the ribs when he put too many cookies in a tin, how she rested a hand on his head as he handwrote tags for the neighbors and a few parents of his and Elena's friends. When they were done she made him warm cinnamon milk and waved away his sleepy demand that he was too old to be tucked in. She swept a warm hand over his forehead, kissed his cheek, pulled the covers tight around him, and left.

It was a simple memory but it affected him mightily. Jenna looked up, saw his face, and came over to him.

"I'm sorry."

Jeremy broke out of his daze, knowing how drawn he must look. He forced a grin.

"My ass is here, as ordered."

Jenna frowned, about to say something when Alaric spoke.

"We were wondering if could put the finished tins in a box and deliver them tomorrow. I would do it, but Jenna has enlisted me in last minute Christmas shopping."

Jeremy gave them both a suffering look. "Seriously."

Jenna squeezed his arm. "You don't have to."

Jeremy looked to Alaric who held up his hands. He was had. There was no way he could say no when Jenna used the magic words, "You don't have to."

"I'll do it but on two conditions: one, on my own time and two, I am not, I repeat, not taking the kids."

He pointed to the two of them. "I know you guys. I'm onto you."

Jeremy left the kitchen and headed upstairs. Jenna turned to Alaric with a smile.

"So how slick do you think I am?"

Alaric raised an eyebrow. "You got me doing this, don't you?"

Every nerve fired. His brain burned with data. He smelled his blood, smelled sweat from those around him, dirt. Light and dark had depth and yet he couldn't focus, his eyes kept traveling around the walls of the cave. He felt hands on his chest and shoulders, felt and knew the variation of strength in the hands. He tasted the electricity of a spell.

Her words echoed off the walls, drowning out the sounds of fighting above them. Klaus was dead yet they still fought, still hoped to persevere. Laughter welled into his belly. So much of it was pointless. And now he was dying with a witch and a vampire at his deathbed.

"What a fucking idiot!"

"I don't know why it isn't working."

"I cannot believe this shit! Elena is going to lose her mind."

"He had on the ring. How is this possible?"

"The kid is bleeding all over the damn place so figure it out and quick."

"I can't…Oh God, I can't…"

A buzzing filled his ears. His eyes finally came to rest on her face. Silver light hit it and accented the tears streaking her cheeks. She looked wild, her mouth straining as she screamed at someone across from her. He had never seen her so out of control. She was beautiful.

A numbing stillness crept over his legs, winding its way up. He had words he wanted to say and knew they would never be enough. He opened his mouth the same moment she looked down. He knew he spoke but he was mesmerized. All existence narrowed to two shimmering hazel eyes. His breath caught. He was numbed. He was…

Sunlight broke upon his consciousness. He blinked once, twice, and found himself tense again. So much for a copious amount of alcohol aiding his sleeping trouble. The scene last night flooded his thoughts. Christ. He went and made a damn promise when he was partially sober.

Jeremy turned his face from the window and into the direct gaze of two sets of grey eyes.

"Good morning!"

He sat up slowly and rubbed his face. Fear compounded his headache.

"Where are your parents?"

"They went to run," the youngest one, the girl, answered.

"An errand, they went on an errand," the oldest, a boy, corrected.

Jeremy stared at them. They were dressed and had on jackets. The girl had on a pink beanie with butterflies.

He pointed to children. "You are…Adrien and your sister is Keira."

"And you are Jeremy," Adrien said.

The way the boy said his name made him some kind of pilgrim hero. He understood now why Jenna entrusted her children to him—they were awestruck. A couple of hours with him and they would regard him as nothing more than a silent and grumpy relative.

"Okay. Well, give me a couple of minutes to get ready."

Adrien took Keira by the hand and they left, casting a look at him before they disappeared around the corner. Jeremy rolled onto his feet and exhaled. He needed calm. He needed patience. He needed not to wring his sister and his Aunt's necks.

In fifteen minutes Jeremy and the kids were out the door. Twenty minutes and a stream of swear words later, they were in the car. Adrien sat up front all wide-eyed with wonder and Keira sat in the back with the box. Jeremy adjusted the rearview mirror, took a deep breath and turned the key. The car rumbled. Jeremy kept from smiling when he revved the engine and the kids gasped.

"Alright, everyone ready?"

"Yes!"

"Great," Jeremy muttered.

In the years since he got his license, Jeremy rarely followed the speed limit. That morning he stayed five to ten miles below it. Adrien and Keira didn't seem to notice the general agony of slowness. They were in an alien car with a cool relative that cursed and threw the booster seat in the trunk and let them ride around like big kids. It was a dream.

The first couple of deliveries were a little awkward. People were surprised and they wanted to chat, catch up, marvel at the beautiful kids, send all sorts of wishes, and give him hugs and handshakes. And each time this happened he would have to go through the process of triple checking seatbelts. So, by the time the Buick pulled up outside the fifth house, Jeremy enacted his plan.

Adrien and Keira would be the givers and Jeremy would lean against the car, waiting, offering a little wave and ushering the kids back to the car when he was spotted.

It worked. Forty-five minutes later and they had one last tin to deliver. Jeremy glanced over to Adrien.

"Who's next?"

Adrien read the tag on the tin with a grimace. "Lux."

"I'm guessing it's some kid you dislike, huh?"

"She's this girl in my class that really bugs me."

"You don't like her because she's a better kicker than you," Keira added.

"Shut up."

"It's true! And she can play Super Mario better than you too!"

"Sounds like a real terror," Jeremy said. Adrien nodded.

"Well, the sooner we face her, the sooner we stop and get something to eat."

Keira clapped her hands and yelled, "Ice cream!"

Adrien stared at his sister then at Jeremy. He remembered getting the same exact exasperated look from Elena when they were younger.

"The address is 8892 Briar Red Rd."

Jeremy braked hard. Adrien clutched at the tin.

"Lux…Lux Martin?"

"Yeah," Adrien replied.

The drive to 8892 Briar Red Rd. was quiet. Adrien fiddled with the radio controls and found a station not playing Christmas music. Keira started playing I-Spy with him. Jeremy heard them from far away, his thoughts zipping around the name: Lux Martin. It could mean a number of things, not just Bonnie Martin's offspring. It could be a cousin or a niece on Luka's side. It could be they adopted one of the many free-floating Bennett relatives.

It could mean she had a daughter.

The yawning chasm between the secret wish he carried around and reality grew deeper and wider by infinite bounds. Who was he kidding? This Lux Martin wasn't a cousin or niece or some obscure adopted relative. She had a daughter. Lux Martin.

Memory led him to the house without deliberation. He had parked and turned off the ignition before becoming fully aware of where he was and why. Adrien's voice placed him back into the present.

"Are you going to stay here?"

Jeremy shook his head. "No, we all go."

He got out and unbuckled Keira. Adrien was there to help her out and take her hand. Jeremy noted how protective Adrien was of his sister. His hand around hers was firm despite how she practically wiggled about, eager to skip across the road and visit her friend. He wondered briefly if Adrien knew of his heritage.

Adrien released a rush of air. "Alright, let's get this over with."

He advanced with his skipping sister in tow, Jeremy bringing up the rear. In another situation, this would be amusing—a twenty-six year old man and an eight year-old boy walking with all the gravitas of a death march to deliver a tin of Christmas cookies while a five year-old skips with gleeful abandon beside them.

Jeremy could see the humor but too many warring emotions kept it from actualizing. A kind of finalization hit him as soon as he stepped foot on the snow covered lawn. This was real, this was happening. Maybe he should have read the letter. Maybe he should have kept in contact. Maybe…Keira looked back at him.

"You're slow!"

She waved at him to hurry up and he quickened his pace. What could have or should have been no longer mattered. He was here now.

"Alright, Little Miss, I'm coming."

As soon as the reached the porch, Keira shook Adrien loose and rushed the doorbell. Five seconds went by before she did it again.

"Lux!" she called.

The sound of the locks clicking open quickened his heart. He didn't think about the possibility of Bonnie opening the door, of Bonnie's face being the face he saw. He thought of it as the door swung open and his heart literally spasmed.

A girl stood in the doorway, her face lit by a bright smile. It was Bonnie, but in miniature and with a few differences. The eyes were a light green, her skin a shade darker, and her hair in a wild disarray of black curls. But it was Bonnie's smile.

"Hey Keira," the girl said.

"We brought you cookies. This is Jeremy, Mommy's nephew. Our cousin. His car is really cool and really loud."

Before the girl could say anything, Adrien extended the tin towards her. "Merry Christmas."

The smile fell a little from the girl's face. The two watched each other like enemies forced into a truce. She took the tin with muffled thanks, and then turned her gaze upon Jeremy.

"I'm Lux."

"Hello Lux."

Lux tucked the tin under her arm. Her eye caught his ring. "Hey, Mr. Saltzmann and Uncle Stefan and Damon have a ring like that too!"

Three excited faces examined his ring finger. Jeremy slipped the hand in a pocket.

"Are you guys part of a secret society or something?" Adrien asked.

"It wouldn't be a secret if they told you, moron," Lux replied.

"You're the moron."

"What's a secret society?" Keira asked Jeremy. He shrugged.

"I'm the moron who noticed. And who can beat you one-on-one on the field," Lux continued.

"I let you beat me because you're a girl."

"Okay, okay kids, take it easy," Jeremy said before Lux could counter.

"It was nice meeting you Lux. Merry Christmas," he said, turning Adrien and Keira away.

"Wait, Mom is home. She was talking about you. I can get her."

Lux was poised to call out when Jeremy shook his head. "No, that's okay. I'll, uh, I'll catch up with her another time."

She shrugged and turned to call, "Mom! Jeremy Gilbert is here!"

Jeremy caught the playful grin as Lux darted inside the house, calling for her mother. He took the opportunity to make a swift departure. The kids were secured and the engine rumbling when he turned to see a figure in the doorway, watching. Even from yards away and with shield of glass between them, he could feel the heat of her stare.

He peeled off, wowing Adrien and Keira with the screech of the tires and the motion of the kick as he roughly shifted gears.

They were halfway to the diner he promised for lunch when Adrien turned to him.

"She totally sold you out."

The tension left him as he observed the weary headshake that accompanied the statement. It was so similar to Jenna.

"Yeah, she did. I can see why she bugs you."

Adrien nodded. "Finally, someone who knows."