Wow! Thank you so much for your kind reviews. I'm so happy that you like the story; I really enjoy writing it but your reviews make it even more fun. Please keep reviewing and letting me know what you think, you're awesome! Also, if you wish for something in particular to happen or for the story to go in a certain kind of way: don't hesitate to tell me and I might get inspired ;)

I should maybe tell you that I don't really follow what happens in the series. However, it's set after the end of season 2 but with a Stefan that's still a saint. That might change in the future however… Or what say you? Enjoy!

XXX

"Hannah, Hannah, Hannah…" Damon muttered. "What an idiot you were."

He sincerely hoped that Katie would turn out smarter than her mother and if not smarter, at least more street smart. In his opinion, anyone should be able to recognize Katherine as a double crossing bitch and not just swallow her every word like Hannah had. Like he had… Whatever. Damon trudged upstairs towards his bedroom. He figured it was time he knew some things.

He walked into his bedroom to find that Katie was no longer on the floor in front of the television, sitting on some cushions and watching the morning news (she had frowned at cartoons, wanting to watch "real" people). Damon could hear the water running from the bathroom however and went into the luxurious ensuite bathroom he took such pride in. Katie was standing by the bathtub, her hair was wet and she had changed into the red t-shirt and embroidered jean skirt that she had been wearing yesterday. The bathtub was filled with water and on the edge Katie had put all of the various expensive bars of soap from the bowl by his wash basin. She was holding one of them and rubbing it against some wet, black fabric… Damon cursed silently. The t-shirt he had lent her.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" he hissed at the girl.

Katie jumped at the sound of his voice and dropped the shirt into the tub. Damon stepped over and picked it up, holding it up before his daughter as it dripped water on the floor. It was ruined; Katie had apparently been at it with the soap bar for a while.

"Do you know how much this cost?" Damon asked her through clenched teeth. He sighed and threw the shirt in a pile in the corner of the room. "What were you even doing?"

"I was washing it." Katie said, offended. "It's polite to wash clothes after you borrow them."

Damon was at a loss for words, which was something that happened about once a decade, if that often.

"What are you?" he frowned at Katie. He hadn't meant it as a real question but she replied, again with the matter-of-fact tone she seemed so fond of:

"Flesh, blood and mostly water. And I'm also a Sagittarius."

"If you tell me you believe in astrology I'll lock you up in the basement." Damon threatened but Katie looked up at him with a defiant look in her sapphire eyes.

"You're the rudest person I've ever met." Katie declared and crossed her arms over her chest. "You should be locked up."

"My house, my rules, sweetheart. And it's about time we established some ground rules." Damon said as he lifted her up by her arms and roughly placed her on the counter beside the wash basin. He put one hand by each side of her so she wouldn't get the idea to run off on him. Katie wriggled where she sat, losing the defiant spark in her eyes and glaring down at her knees.

"First rule." Damon placed thumb under her chin, tilting her head up to make her look at him. "You do as I say. Always. If I tell you no, it means no and I will not compromise or bargain with you. Leading me to the second rule: you don't touch my things unless I've specifically given you permission. Got it?"

Katie nodded, pouting slightly. Damon stood back and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Third rule: you're not allowed to take baths without me knowing about it. In fact, let's make it no baths full stop."

"Why?" Katie demanded, making Damon wonder whether he should make up a forth rule about not asking questions.

"Because" He said as if it was a stupid thing to ask. "You're tiny and you could fall in and drown."

Katie started to giggle, but stopped when Damon glared menacingly at her.

"I wanted to shower but I couldn't get it to work." She admitted. "Do you know how important it is to keep clean?" she added, mimicking his tone from before.

"You are such a little neat freak." Damon shook his head in disbelief and then lifted her off the counter, pushing her towards the shower. "I'll show you how it works, it's not exactly science."

"Look" he said when they were in the shower. "There's a safety tap you have to pull right here. Then you just turn the water on… Here!" He turned the shower on, full flow of cold water and used his vampire speed to get out before Katie even realized what happened. He smirked at her as she stood, instantly soaked by the cold water.

"That's for ruining my shirt." He said, raising his eyebrows at her.

"You're mean!" Katie screamed at him, looking as if she was crying but it was hard to tell because of the water running down her face. She ran out of the shower, making her way out of the bathroom. Damon heard the bedroom door opened and he heard her run down the stairs. Knowing she wouldn't be able to get out of the house because the door was locked and there was no way she would reach the top lock, Damon didn't bother to follow her. He turned the shower off with a sigh and walked out of the bathroom, an uncharacteristic feeling of guilt telling him that he might have gone just a little bit far. It seemed unlikely now that he had actually come up to get to know more about Katie. He had learned some things about her though, he knew now that she had an obsession with hygiene for one. And that she thought it was important to be polite, which almost made him question his paternity again. He had however seen some traits in her that he recognized in himself, from which he understood that the row they just had was probably just the first of many to come.

As Damon was emptying the tub and putting all his soaps back into the bowl he was starting to feel annoyed with himself for losing his temper with Katie before he even got to ask her the things he'd been planning to. About her mother, about what had happened with Katherine. Now he realized that it would probably not be easy to get his daughter to give him any answers to anything he might ask her or say to her. How he would tell her that her mother was most likely dead and that she wasn't coming back for her Damon didn't even begin to think about.

Alright, there you have it. Not a very nice one I'm afraid but things will get better soon. Please let me know what you think! I'm dying to know what you think about the character Katie, since I think it's pretty hard to write characters that are children. Thank you so much for reading.

xo