2 months before…..

Damon rested his head against Elena's as action played out on the screen before them. Elena pulled the covers up to her chin and nestled more tightly into the crook of his arms. The couch was narrow, but she enjoyed trying to fit both their bodies onto it. Ah, heaven.

Then the main character ripped off someone's arms.

Elena grimaced, but she heard Damon's heart race with excitement.

"Oh god, you love this don't you?" Elena lifted her head to look at him. Damon smirked down at her.

"We don't have to watch it… we could watch-" He picked up her choice of rented movie and read the cover, "Hitch?" Damon's grimace matched hers.

"No, our deal is you torture me and I'll torture you. I'll sit through this horror action whatever you call it. Then we watch Hitch." Elena rested her head against his chest.

"Well that's very sweet of you. What does the baby think of it?"

"She's not pleased." Elena said with a giggle, imagining that the baby would likely take her side on this one as she watched the main character pin someone to the wall with knives.

"Oh, did she tell you that? Do you two have a psychic connection now?" Damon asked as he stroked her hair from her face, amused.

Elena sat up suddenly.

"Damon."

"What?"

"Damon!" Elena was panicked.

"What?!" Damon sat up too, checking her over for something that could cause that tone.

"Something doesn't feel right. Oh… no, it doesn't feel right." Elena's eyes clouded with tears. Pain pierced her lower abdomen.

"What do you mean?"

Elena doubled over with a cry.

"Please don't scare me like that." Damon's head hung as they sat in the hospital, his hand tightly attached to hers as it had been all night.

"Sorry." Elena whispered.

Damon smiled weakly and stood up.

"Soda? Snack? We should call Caroline and make sure she figured out how to get Alaric to stop crying. It would be a record for him, but for all her resemblance to a

fifty's house wife, Caroline is just terrible with kids." He searched in his pant pocket for his wallet.

Elena knew she shouldn't say it, but she couldn't keep it to herself anymore. She had to tell him.

"I don't think she's going to make it." Elena could barely get the words out.

Damon froze, his eyes trained on hers.

"What are you talking about? She's going to be fine. That's what the doctor said."

"I don't think so…" Tears budded in Elena's eyes as she tried to communicate, without words, the horrible foreboding in her stomach. "I can feel it, Damon. Something's going to go wrong. Something bad is going to happen to her."

"Hey." Damon sat back down next to her. He kissed her hand and face. "Listen to me: she's going to be fine. Why would you say that?"

"I don't know… I just feel it. I can't explain it." She shrugged. Damon swallowed hard, his piercing eyes searching hers. He cracked a small smile.

"Look at you, such a fatalist! That's my job, remember? I predict doom and gloom and you tell me it'll be rainbows and unicorns. Which is what I'm telling you now. Now stop this crazy role switching." Damon clasped her hand in both of his, smiling at her very convincingly. "She's going to be fine."

Elena nodded and matched his small smile with hers, but she did not believe him. Not this time.

"You should just tell her." Stefan insisted as they sat on the porch smoking. Elena had not yet gotten home from her late-night graduate seminar. Neither of them was allowed to smoke around her, pregnant or not, so they were indulging.

Damon eyed him, drawing on his cigarette and exhaling slowly. He did not respond.

"I'm serious. This isn't like you to hide this from her. Actually, it sounds like something I would do. And I'm even telling you that you should tell her."

"Yeah, well just wait until you have a pregnant wife. You're going to be ten times worse. She's going to be calling me every five seconds to get the truth out of you." Damon rolled his eyes.

"You really think Klaus is going to hide quietly in the shadows? That isn't his style, Damon. He wants to be feared. It gives him power. He likes for his victims to know he's coming. Whether you want her to or not, she's going to find out."

Damon sighed.

"She might. But the less stress I can put on her in the meantime, the better. For now at least I'm not going to tell her." Damon took a long drag. Stefan looked at him closely.

"Why? You've never been one to prance around anyone's feelings. You always tell it straight, especially to her. Jesus, I remember when she became a vampire you just said, 'you feed or you die'. No mercy, zero consideration." Stefan turned to face him, examining him even closer.

Damon frowned at him.

"Why?"

Damon stubbed his cigarette against the railing.

"There have been a lot more problems this time. She nearly miscarried two months ago." Damon admitted quietly.

Stefan was silent.

"She thinks she's going to lose the baby. She doesn't sleep well anymore," Damon rubbed a hand over his face, finally letting the worry out, "and she hasn't been eating like she should. I think she's worried about it all the time."

"Well that's exactly the opposite of what she should be doing if that's the case."

Damon shrugged.

"If I tell her about this, I don't know what kind of effect it will have on her. She's convinced something bad is going to happen, and Klaus is the perfect vehicle for that. After what Klaus pulled yesterday, she might even be right."

Stefan was quiet for a long time. Then he put a hand on Damon's shoulder.

"Maybe it's best to stay quiet about this."

"Well, gosh, if you think so, it must be the right decision." Damon smirked, but it was a little comforting. Stefan grinned at him and took another drag on his cigarette before he stubbed it out on the railing as well.

"So what are we going to do with these so she doesn't find them?" Stefan asked, looking at the still-smoking cigarette.

"I keep them in a box under the seat in my car." Damon laughed.

"Ah, domesticity." Stefan teased.

"Jealous?" Damon stood up and stretched. He was poking the bear a little.

Stefan eyed him, his smile fading a bit.

"Please. I get to ruin my lungs without anyone caring about it." Stefan dropped his cigarette in Damon's outstretched hand and walked inside to check that Alaric was still asleep in his crib.

Damon pulled out the bourbon and they had a few drinks before Elena arrived home. She didn't say hello, just trudged inside, dropped her bags and crashed on the couch.

Damon exchanged a worried look with Stefan.

"How was school?" Damon asked.

"Fine. I'm so tired… I think I'm going to take a nap." She mumbled. He could barely hear her.

"Why don't you eat something first?" Stefan prodded.

Elena lifted her head with effort and propped herself up so she could look at them over the couch.

"Are you my new OBGYN, Stefan? I think you have to graduate before you get to do that." She teased, her head resting on her folded arms.

"Come on, it's a good idea." Damon set his bourbon glass down, his insides squirming. Dark circles had formed under her eyes. Her skin was even paler than it had been yesterday.

"Naw, not hungry." Elena collapsed behind the couch again so they could no longer see her.

"You're always hungry." Damon said, trying to keep his voice light through the fear and anger that was coursing through him. It didn't help his nerves that Stefan looked so alarmed at her appearance.

Elena didn't respond.

Damon's entire body was beyond tense. He walked over and grabbed a blanket from the couch to cover her with. She smiled at him before she closed her eyes. Damon stood there studying her for a moment, then he met Stefan's gaze.

Klaus would pay for this.