Thank you for your encouraging reviews! It's amazing to know that people actually like the story. Really, thank you! Keep reviewing and telling me where you want the story to go. Priya: interesting idea but I think it will be a while before Katie grows up. And then I'll see! She will meet Klaus in later chapters however. LiveBreatheVampires: you simply deserve a shout-out. Thank you for all your reviews!

Onto the story. Sorry about this update taking a while but here's a long chapter. Katie gets sick, as some of you, like Totter4, guessed she would be…

XXX

Katie woke up from a nausea that was excruciating. Her stomach felt as if it had been turned inside out and her head was pounding. She needed to throw up. Right away. She tumbled out of bed, falling on her knees because she got whirled up in the sheets. She began stumbling towards the bathroom and barely made it to the toilet before she started to vomit. There was barely anything to throw up given all she had eaten the previous day were the mushrooms she had found in the forest. She kept gagging even after there wasn't even gall anymore and it started to hurt her throat. She was shaking from exhaustion and only vaguely realized that someone had come up behind her and was now holding her hair back, with another strong hand on her shoulder, as she dry heaved. Katie started to sob; she wanted it to stop. Eventually she no longer felt the need to throw up and she fell back into her dad's arms where he was sitting on his knees behind her. Katie burrowed her face into his black shirt and cried silently. She was hurting everywhere and she was drenched by cold sweat.

"I thought I told you call me if you were feeling worse." Damon said as he rose with Katie in his arms, flushing the toilet before making his way back into the bedroom. He sat Katie down on the bed, feeling her forehead.

"I'm cold." Katie wailed. "But I'm sweaty. Why am I cold if I'm sweaty?"

"Because you have a fever." Damon explained with a frown. "Pretty high too, and you wouldn't throw up or have this kind of temperature if it was just a cold. Did you eat something yesterday? Did anyone give you anything?"

"I found some mushrooms in the forest." Katie sniveled.

"Well, that explains it." Damon muttered. "Stefan!" He called out and seconds later, Stefan appeared at the door.

"How is she?" He asked, stepping inside.

"You have eyes, see for yourself." Damon snapped. "I need you to look something up. Katie" he said, turning to his daughter. "What did the mushrooms look like?"

"Light brown…" Katie frowned, trying to remember. "Big. I don't remember anything else."

"I'll check it out." Stefan said and disappeared.

"Figure out whether I need to get her to a hospital!" Damon called after him.

"Hospital?" Katie burst out, starting to cry again. "I don't want to go to a hospital, I hate hospitals."

"Let's hope we don't have to." Damon said through clenched teeth and crouched down before Katie, putting his hands on her shoulders. "What were you thinking, eating mushrooms that you didn't know what they were?"

"I was hungry." Katie wriggled in his grip.

"Never eat stuff that you don't recognize, especially not things that grow outside. Ok?"

"Ok." Katie sobbed. "Damon?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really, really cold."

She was shaking, Damon noticed, and her pajamas were all wet from her cold sweating.

"I'll be right back" He said, putting the cover around her where she sat and walked quickly out of the room. When he was out, he vampire sped downstairs and grabbed Katie's second pair of pajamas, conveniently a flannel one that was warmer than the one she was wearing. He took a pair of woolen socks and the hoodie as well and he sped back upstairs. He went into the room and almost stopped when he saw how pale and vulnerable Katie looked. She had lain down and curled up into a ball but she was still shaking from the cold.

"Here we go." Damon mumbled as he pulled the cover off of her.

"No…" She whimpered.

"You have to change Katie; you're all wet."

Katie was too exhausted to change herself so Damon wriggled her out of the cotton t-shirt and pants and helped her on with the new ones. He finally zipped up her hoodie and had her lie down again, tucking her in before he went to get an extra blanket from the cupboard. He draped it over her and sat down beside her.

"Better?" He asked her and she nodded tiredly. "Good" He said, stroking her hair.

"I think I found the mushroom Katie ate." Stefan had come back and he was holding a dictionary over everything that grew in these parts. "It's poisonous and it makes humans sick and feverish but it's not fatal or particularly dangerous. She'll be better in a few days."

"You hear that?" Damon asked Katie. "You'll be ok. But you were lucky this time; if it had been a different kind of mushroom it could have been much worse." He felt her shiver and added in a softer tone: "And now you've learned your lesson so we won't talk about it anymore, just get you better as soon as possible."

Stefan walked around the bed and sat down on the other side.

"Do you want anything, Katie?" He asked her. "Water maybe?"

"Yes please." Katie mumbled.

"Grab the aspirin too, will you?" Damon added as Stefan was leaving.

"Damon?" Katie asked quietly.

"What?"

"Are you mad at me?" Katie looked up at him with a worried look in her eyes. "Because I ate the mushrooms?"

"No, like I said: you've learned your lesson and I doubt you'll ever do anything like it again." Damon smirked at her. "Being mad at you for it would just be a waste of breath for me so don't you worry your little head about it anymore."

"Here Katie." Stefan was back, handing Katie a glass of water and placing the aspirin on the nightstand. "I'll go to bed, call me if you need me." He told Damon who nodded.

"Careful." Damon said as Katie drank thirstily. "If you drink too fast you'll just throw up again." He took the glass from her and put it on the nightstand, and then he took an aspirin from the packet, splitting it in too.

"I'll give you a half of this now and if your heads still hurting in an hour I'll give you the other half." He helped her swallow the pill with some more water and placed the glass back on the table.

"Ok, now you try to sleep." Damon told Katie and made sure she was lying comfortably. "Do you want me to leave you alone or do you want me to stay?"

"Stay." Katie said without hesitation. "Please." She added.

"So I'll stay." Damon said and went to switch the lights off. He went back to the bed and walked around it to lie down on the other side, propping himself up with some pillows. He had expected Katie to want to hold his hand but he was surprised when she moved under her blankets, coming towards him and snuggling into his side. Damon put an arm around her and held her close. The relief of her not being fatally ill came over him. For the second time in less than twenty-four hours he had been worried sick when he thought she might be in danger. How the hell had this happened?

XXX

Damon stayed with Katie all night, not sleeping much because she seemed to be fighting a war in her sleep. A few times during the night she woke up gasping for air but fell right back to sleep when he patted her back and stroked her hair. Now it was ten thirty in the morning and Katie had been sleeping without interruption since around six. From the look of it she could use the heavy sleep and Damon was very relieved. He very carefully lifted Katie's head from where it was now resting, on his stomach. She had twisted a lot in her sleep and after a while he had stopped bothering to turn her around. Who said your head had to be in one particular end of the bed anyway. Damon placed a pillow underneath Katie's head as a substitute for his own body and moved towards the window. He peeked through the curtains to see it was another grey day; the rain seemed to be hanging in the air. He walked out of the room and sped downstairs into the kitchen, where he found Elena by the coffee-maker.

"Fancy meeting you here" He said with a smirk and went over to grab himself a mug. "What happened to your baby brother bonding trip thing?"

"Nothing." Elena said. "It was just for one night and we left early this morning."

"M-hm." Damon took a sip from his coffee and sat down. "So you haven't heard that I seem to have female doppelgänger?"

"Stefan did call me." Elena admitted and sat down at the table. "And he told me she was sick, how is she now?"

"Sleeping." Damon shrugged. "She'll be ok, physically. Getting over the fact that her mom ditched her on a stranger's doorstep before she ran off and killed herself might be harder."

"God, poor thing." Elena shook her head. "Let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

"If you can help me decorate a room for her that would be appreciated" Damon sat down opposite her. "Because there's no way in hell I'm ever trusting Caroline to do my shopping again."

Elena laughed at that and checked her watch.

"Stefan should be back soon." She declared. "He was just going out to get some firewood, I'll go wait in his room."

"Fine." Damon rose from the chair and walked over to the fridge. He drained a blood bag from the fridge door and threw it in the trash before picking out some vegetables and chicken stock. Not to brag, but in a different life he would have made an excellent housewife.

As the chicken soup was on the stove he went upstairs a couple of times to check on Katie. She was sleeping soundly. Around noon Damon decided he would bring some soup to her whether she was awake or not. He needed to properly check her temperature and he rummaged through the medicine cabinet for quite a while before he found a thermometer. He hadn't needed one in a very long while. He poured some steaming soup into a bowl and put it on a tray together with the thermometer and a glass of water. He brought it all upstairs and put the tray on the floor beside the bed before sitting down next to Katie's head. He felt her forehead. Her temperature seemed to have gone down slightly. Damon stroked her cheek softly with a few of his fingers. Katie stirred in her sleep, and then opened her eyes.

"Hi there." Damon said, looking down at her. "How are you feeling?"

"A little better." She sat up, turned around and swung her legs over the bedside so she was sitting next to Damon.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, missy." Damon said sternly, lifting her up and making her sit at the head of the bed. "You're not getting out of bed anytime today." He put the cover around her and placed a couple of pillows behind her back to support her.

"I brought you some soup." He said, picking up the bowl.

"I'm not hungry." Katie told him.

"Too bad, because you're gonna eat it even if I have to force it down your throat." Damon said firmly and Katie's eyes widened.

"I'm not trying to be mean, Katie." Damon said in a softer tone. "But you haven't eaten in days and if you don't have something you won't be able to build your strength up and get better."

"Ok." Katie sighed. "I understand."

"I promise it's good." Damon said, blowing on the soup before bringing the bowl to her mouth.

She hesitated but then sipped on it. She cracked a little smile.

"It's good." She said.

"Told you so." Damon winked at her. He sat by her and helped her drink until the bowl was empty and then placed it back on the tray, exchanging her glass of water from last night for the new one.

"That wasn't so bad now, was it?" He asked her.

"No." She admitted and leaned back with a weak smile.

"I have to check your temperature." Damon explained, picking up the thermometer. "Open your mouth."

"Why?" Katie frowned.

"So I can check your temperature." Damon repeated slowly, rolling his eyes at her.

"Out thermometer at home goes in the ear and then you click it."

"This is an old one." Damon explained. "This one goes under your tongue so please open up so I can take your temperature."

Katie did what he said, still looking a little skeptical. With the thermometer sticking out of her mouth, she looked like a poster child for a pharmacy from the fifties. Damon let out a laugh and she glared at him, unable to talk because of the thermometer. They sat in silence until Damon figured it would be done and took it out of Katie's mouth.

"Hm." He muttered. "A hundred-and-two degrees. Your head still hurting?"

"Yeah." Katie replied.

Damon fetched the aspirin, getting one out from the chart.

"I'll give you a whole one this time." He told her and helped her swallow the pill with water. Katie coughed a little and Damon patted her back as he placed the glass back on the nightstand.

"You'll feel better soon." He told her and swung his legs up, stretching out next to his daughter. "You just need to rest."

"I hate being sick." Katie mumbled. "It's so boring."

Damon snorted. "Tell me about it." He turned his head to look at Katie. "Have you been sick a lot before?"

"I had pneu…pneumonia." She had a little trouble pronouncing the word. "When I was five. I had to go to the hospital and there were needles and stuff." She didn't appear to want to think or talk about it.

Damon understood now why she had been so horrified at the thought of going to the hospital.

"Are you sick a lot?" Katie asked Damon.

"Not exactly." He chuckled. "I never get sick."

"Lucky you." Katie sighed and was so quiet for a while that Damon thought she had fallen back to sleep. Then she spoke: "Damon?"

"What?"

"My mom…" She started. "When I'm sick or anything… She always reads to me and I really, really like that because I love books."

"You love books?" Damon let out in a surprised tone. He realized that he hadn't even thought to ask her what her interests were and what she liked to do but he felt happy that she liked to read since it was his own favorite pastime.

"Yeah." Katie said, looking up at him. "Do you?"

"Sure do." Damon smiled at her, raising his eyebrows. "Are you asking me to read to you?"

"Noo…" Katie answers were floating in a way he hadn't heard before. "Only if you want to." She mumbled.

Damon realized that she might be a little scared to ask him things. Which he didn't really mind, she would be easier to handle that way. And she would be much happier whenever he said yes.

"I guess I could read to you." He said and felt warmth spreading in his body when a happy smile lit up Katie's whole face.

"Really? Thank you, Damon!" She exclaimed.

"You're welcome." Damon smiled back. "What kind of books do you like?"

"Real books." Katie said determinedly. "Not books for children. They have them at school and they're all stupid. I don't believe just anything just because I'm little."

Damon was amused by her strong opinions and also because he wondered what the "just anything" that she didn't believe might be.

"There are good books for children too." He said. "Just like there are bad books for adults. I only have books for adults here though…" He reached over and looked through the pile of books by the side of the bed. He ran his finger over the hardbacks until one caught his eye. "Have you read the Hunchback of Notre Dame?" Damon asked Katie and she shook her head.

"No." She replied in a slightly grumpy. "Mom says it's too sad and terrible and that I have to wait until I'm older."

Damon noted that this was the second time during this conversation that Katie had talked about her mother in the present tense. He chose to ignore it, thinking that she just forgot herself.

"Well, new rules." He declared. "It's a classic and it's nothing against what they write today. So, I'll start from the beginning." Damon flung open the book.

"Wait!" Katie exclaimed as he was about to start reading. She came closer to him, putting her head on his shoulder so she could see the pages.

"There are not too many pictures in this one." Damon informed her.

"I know." She little girl looked up at him with those big blue eyes, still glossy from the fever. "I want to look at the words."

"Why do you even want me to read to you if you're going to read at the same time?" Damon burst out, a little annoyed.

"Just because." Katie said innocently and Damon realized that he would give in to her no matter what reason she gave.

"Fine then." He muttered. "All right, here we go:"

He started reading. Every now and then he glanced down at Katie, whose eyes ran over the sentences as he read them. She was starting to look a lot perkier so he kept on reading. After a while he noticed that Katie's breathing had deepened and he stopped reading, looking down again to see that she had fallen asleep, her head had fallen slightly so that it was now resting on his chest. Damon put the book down and put the arm closest to Katie around her, placing his hand on her little head and burying his fingers in her soft mass of dark hair. It was something between wavy and curly, just as his had been once. He moved his hand to stroke it back from her face to look at her the way he had found himself doing more than once these past couple of days. He still found it hard to believe that he had this little girl that was his daughter. Of course, he had known about her since he found out all those years ago that Hannah was expecting her but until he had realized that Katherine was involved he hadn't thought it was his; he hadn't thought it possible. And then the bitch had twisted Hannah's mind against him and she had disappeared. Convinced he wouldn't be fit to be a father, Damon hadn't bothered looking for her. She was better off without him, even if she was with Katherine. And he had told himself that he didn't care anyway, that he didn't want to be a parent. Yet now, here he was, watching in awe as his daughter slept. He still wasn't certain he could do this, and that he would be able to care for her but he had realized that he wouldn't be able to trick himself into thinking that he didn't want to try.

XXX

"Oh my god, she's so cute." Elena whispered, trying her best to be quiet. She and Stefan were in Damon's room, looking on as he and Katie slept. They had gone in to see if Damon needed any help and for Elena to meet Katie and they had found the father and daughter sleeping soundly. Damon was lying on the bed, with a book upside down on his stomach and his arm around Katie, whose head was sticking up from the covers and resting on Damon's chest. Stefan took his phone out with a grin and snapped a picture. Damon woke up from the flash that Stefan forgot to turn off and immediately burrowed his eyes into his brother's.

"Idiot." He hissed. He looked down at Katie and carefully lifted her off him, putting her head on the pillow. He tucked her in and cocked his head at Stefan and Elena to follow him out the door. Elena remained where she stood for a few seconds, looking at Katie. She couldn't believe how much the little girl looked like Damon; he hadn't been kidding when he said she was his female doppelgänger. She snuck out of the room and joined Stefan and Damon in the hall. Damon closed the door carefully and went downstairs, not looking back to see if Stefan and Elena were following him. They did follow him, into the parlor where he poured himself a drink and sat down on the couch.

"Sorry, Damon." Stefan sat down in an armchair and Elena placed herself at the other end of the couch with Damon. Stefan continued: "I just couldn't resist."

"You could have woken Katie up with the damn flash." Damon muttered. "She needs to sleep."

"Oh my god." Elena shook her head in disbelief. "You'd almost think that you care, Damon."

"Why wouldn't I care?" Damon said nonchalantly, as if he wasn't a manic serial killer who repeatedly hurt everyone he knew. "She's my daughter, Elena."

"I know, but…" Elena shrugged and flashed him a smile. "You're cute with her."

"Don't go too far now, or I might not be so cute with you." Damon warned her.

Stefan listened to their conversation with an amused look on his face. Then he turned serious and asked his brother:

"Is Katie feeling better?"

"Seems like it." Damon shrugged. "She ate a little before and she wanted me to read to her so now she probably just needs to rest."

"We should let her get up to watch a movie or something later." Stefan suggested. "Elena and I could go get something and Katie can meet her."

"Whatever." Was all Damon said but coming from him it was agreement. "I'm warning you though; don't get anything that's too much of a kids movie. She won't want to watch it. Definitely nothing animated, she likes real people."

"There are…" Stefan started but Damon interrupted him:

"Yes, there are animated films that are very much for adults, I know." He rolled his eyes. "But this time, we'll just do it the way she wants."

Elena and Stefan exchanged looks and grins and Damon sighed.

"It's just because she's sick. And I don't want her to throw a tantrum." He added.

Nobody seemed to believe him.

XXX

"Damon!" A weak voice cried from upstairs.

Elena and Stefan had just left for the video store and Damon was alone in the quiet house. Well, not quite. He sped upstairs and into his room. Katie was sitting up in bed, rubbing her eyes. They were slightly red from crying.

"What is it Katie?" Damon sat down next to her on the bed and without even realizing he was doing it, he took her hand.

"I had a bad dream." Katie explained.

"Huh." Damon said. "You're having a lot of those. Wanna tell me about this one?"

"No" Katie shook her head determinedly. "It was silly. I want to get out of bed."

"Oh, really?" Damon raised an eyebrow. "Well, you have to pass a few tests first before I can let you."

"What tests?" Katie frowned suspiciously.

Damon placed his hand on her forehead.

"This is the first one." He told her. "And you just passed, your fever is down."

"The second test is that you have to promise me you'll eat something."

"Ok." Katie nodded in agreement.

"And then you have to show me you can stay calm." Damon concluded. "You may watch a movie with me, Stefan and his girlfriend but no jumping around or running away. You sit quietly and when the movie's over you go straight back to bed. And then we'll see how you're feeling tomorrow. Ok?"

"Ok." Katie sighed.

"Good girl." Damon smirked at her. "Let's go downstairs straight away and get started on test number two."

XXX

He sat Katie down at the kitchen table as he cooked, wrapping a blanket around her and providing her with paper and some drawing coal that he'd found in a drawer. She appeared to be fully content with that, starting to draw instantly with a concentrated look on her face. Damon focused on getting the pasta boiling and throwing together a tomato sauce that wouldn't be good for Katie's still sensitive stomach but that Elena might like. He was a much better cook than Stefan and he definitely wanted Elena to know that. Once everything was on the stove, living its own life for ten minutes or so, Damon looked at what Katie was drawing and almost let out a gasp. She had very efficiently used the coal to create different shades of grey and black, and Damon could tell she was actually quite a little artist. However, the motive she had chosen for her artwork he found questionable. She had drawn a vampire, or more precisely, her mother. She, of course, didn't know that it was a vampire she had drawn. Damon was actually impressed by how well Katie's drawing, childish as it was, depicted Hannah's crooked nose and pointy chin and many other features of hers for that matter. But she had fangs and veins under her eyes, traits that had been exaggerated to the extent that Damon almost thought he was looking at a caricature. Albeit a pretty good one.

"You shouldn't draw things like that." He growled at Katie, ripping the drawing from the table and putting it on the kitchen counter.

"Why not?" Katie whimpered.

"Because I said so!" Damon looked sternly at her and she looked down on her knees. "What I mean is", Damon said in a softer tone, "Why don't you draw something happier? Like flowers or hearts or something?"

"Flowers or hearts?" Katie looked skeptical.

"Or something." Damon repeated, pouring the water from the pasta. "Rabbits, little birdies, whatever. Happy things."

"I'll draw a hotel." Katie decided and got started.

"Weirdo." Damon muttered to himself so she wouldn't hear.

"Have you ever stayed in a hotel, Damon?" Katie asked him.

"It has been known." Damon put some of the pasta in a bowl separately for Katie and mixed the rest with the sauce before he portioned it into three bowls. He could hear Elena and Stefan coming back and heard as they walked into the living room to set up for the movie.

"I've never stayed in a hotel." Katie shared. "I've never been anywhere."

"You're here now aren't you?" Damon said absentmindedly as he put the bowls and some silverware onto a tray, which he lifted. "Come on, let's go watch a movie." He said to Katie and cocked his head for her to walk out with him.

"Where do I put these?" She asked, referring to the paper and the coal.

"Just leave them." Damon sighed. "Come on."

Katie finally went with him and they walked to the living room, where Elena and Stefan had already positioned themselves onto the couch. Damon set the tray down on the sofa table and looked back at Katie, who remained shyly in the doorway. Elena stood up and walked over to her.

"Hi Katie!" She said with a smile on her face. "I've heard so much about you. I'm Elena."

"Hi, nice to meet you." Katie smiled back timidly. "Are you Stefan's girlfriend?"

Elena kept smiling.

"I am indeed, you know your stuff." She put a hand on Katie's shoulder to lead her towards the couch. "And I happen to know you're sick so you shouldn't be standing up." She made a face at Damon, who snorted.

"Yeah, Katie." He said, walking over and picking her up. "It's time to take the second test." He sat her down in a huge armchair, placing a cushion behind her back and wrapping a blanket around her, before setting the pasta bowl in her lap and handing her a fork. He sat down on the couch closest to Katie and grabbed a bowl for himself, putting his feet up on the table.

"What are we watching?" He asked Stefan and Elena with a smirk.

"Paper Moon." Stefan replied, leaning back and taking Elena's hand as he pressed play on the remote.

Damon let out a chuckle, guessing they had motives for choosing a film about a handsome and womanizing con man who ends up having to take a little girl, most likely his daughter, along for the ride after her mother dies.

"Have you seen it, Katie?" Elena asked Katie, who shook her head no.

They started watching and eating the pasta. Apart from Katie, who just picked in hers, hardly eating anything.

"Katie." Damon said warningly as he noticed. "Mind telling me how it is that we have all finished our food and you've barely even started yours?"

Katie sighed, putting a forkful of pasta in her mouth and chewing slowly. Damon looked back onto the screen, realizing he hadn't seen the film since it came out in 1973. When Katie had eaten almost half of the pasta she looked over at Damon.

"I can't eat any more, my stomach hurts." She mumbled.

Damon burrowed his eyes into hers and then shrugged, taking the bowl from her.

"It's ok, Katie." He said reassuringly. "You did well."

Katie let out a relieved sigh that he wasn't sending her straight back to bed and she kept watching the movie. After a while she started squirming and looking uncomfortable. Damon noticed but waited until she said something herself. Eventually she got out of the armchair and crept over to the couch, climbed up next to Damon and cupped her hands to whisper in his ear:

"I want to go to bed."

Damon would have said ok to that instantly if it wasn't for the tears that glittered in her eyes and made him want to know the reason.

"We're not even halfway through." He said lightly. "Why would you want to go to bed now?"

Katie looked away, shifting back and forth where she sat on her knees. Damon put an arm around her waist and pulled her onto his lap, noticing how Stefan and Elena looked on with interest.

"Tell me, Katie." Damon demanded silently. "Don't you like the movie?"

"No." Katie admitted in a whisper.

"Why not?"

"Because…" Katie seemed to struggle to find the words as more tears formed in her eyes. "The little girl is all alone and nobody wants her. The man just wants to get rid of her and her mom's dead and she has to move away…" Her lip trembled and Damon understood. The movie felt a little too close to home for her.

"Idiot." He mimicked to Stefan, knowing he must have heard everything Katie had just said even if she had been very silent.

"Hey." He whispered to Katie. "If you keep watching, it's gonna get a lot better. It's got a happy ending and if you don't see the rest, you're gonna miss out on all the fun parts."

Katie still seemed skeptical. She refused to look at the screen and instead she started unbuttoning and buttoning the buttons of Damon's sleeve, the one covering the arm that was still around her waist.

"Hey" Damon said again, leaning his head closer to Katie's and resisting the instinct to smack her fingers. "I'll tell you a secret. The man does want her; he just doesn't realize it yet and he's not used to children and doesn't know how to talk to her. But he'll get better and then they'll start to like each other very, very much."

Stefan and Elena were no longer paying attention to the movie, just watching as Damon talked to his daughter.

"Really?" Katie looked at him.

"Really" Damon said with a smirk. "It's a very sentimental Hollywood flick so it's pretty much unavoidable. Now will you stop playing with my shirt before you make me crazy?"

"Sorry." Kate mumbled and let go of his sleeve, and then she actually looked back at the screen. Damon smirked, content with how well he had handled the situation. And also kind of content with the fact that Katie showed no sign of wanting to get back into the armchair, but remained on his lap and leaning her head back against his chest. Damon reached with his free hand for the blanket still on the armchair and draped it over Katie. He wondered what he had been so worried about. He was a god damn natural.

XXX

Katie fell asleep before the movie was over. Damon noticed but kept her where she was, just tilting her slightly so she was lying down more than she was sitting up.

"You surprise me, Damon." Elena said once the credits had started rolling. Damon raised his eyebrows, gazing over at her. "You're actually not that bad with her."

"You should have seen him yesterday." Stefan scoffed.

Damon shot him an annoyed glance.

"I'm not saying he doesn't have a lot to learn." Elena clarified to Stefan. "But Katie seems to like him, which is a decent enough start."

Upon hearing Elena's words, Damon couldn't help but smiling down at the sleeping little girl. Elena noticed.

"You seem to really like her too." She said to Damon.

"She's not bad." Damon shrugged. "For an annoying child, she's not that annoying."

Stefan turned off the television.

"It's still early." He declared. "Elena, did you say Bonnie and Caroline wanted to hang out with us at the grill?"

"Yeah." Elena rose from the couch. "We should get going. Do need any help with putting Katie to bed Damon?" she asked.

"No, I'm good." Damon rose as well, carefully holding Katie in his arms. "I'll do it. She'll need her own room soon though and like I said before: feel free to help with that."

"Sure, I'd love to." Elena smiled. "I'll be over tomorrow and we can have a look."

"Great." Damon smirked. "Now go, before my brother gets jealous."

Stefan rolled his eyes and Damon chuckled as he and Elena left. He carried Katie upstairs and put her down in his bed. He stood at the side of the bed for a while, watching the little girl as she settled in her sleep, rolling over on her side and curling into a ball. Damon stepped out of the room, switching the lights off as he left, and went down to the basement to get a blood bag. He would have to get used to hiding them and drink blood only when Katie didn't see. Stefan would have to do the same; Damon didn't want Katie to find out this particular thing by accident. That would probably destroy her. No, they would have to wait until it was safe, until Katie was more settled in, before dropping the vampire bomb. In the meantime they would just have to make sure to keep her out of danger.

After Damon had had enough blood he went back upstairs, aimlessly wandering around the house until he found himself back in his bedroom. He looked at his watch and snorted; it was only nine thirty. It made him feel ridiculous but he was thinking that since he couldn't get out anyway, he might as well go to bed early and read a good book. If he was here he could keep an eye on Katie in case she got worse again. And she wouldn't have to wake up alone in case she had more nightmares. He moaned to himself, again wondering when he had become like this. He got out of his shoes, dark jeans and black button down shirt and put on a simple black t-shirt before brushing his teeth and going to bed. He picked up an old copy of Gone with the Wind, because he felt like reading something he already knew he liked. Every now and then he glanced over at Katie, each time finding that she was sleeping calmly. Well, not calmly; she moved around a lot and stirred in her sleep but she didn't seem to be having nightmares. Eventually Damon started to drift off to sleep himself, or at least until…

"Ow!" He burst out when Katie's foot suddenly kicked him in the face. He sighed and shoved her little leg away, reaching over to turn her. She woke up briefly and mumbled something inaudible before clasping his hand in hers and going back to sleep. Damon let out a quiet chuckle at the thought of what had just happened and switched of the lights.

XXX

Sorry for the somewhat abrupt ending but I promise there'll be more soon. Hope you liked it and please review to let me know what you think!

xo