I'm a few weeks late, but was able to pop out a small chapter. I was surprised by the number of reviews calling Damon a jerk. That wasn't my intention when I wrote it. He was supposed to get on the plane with Elena but at the last moment, I decided that maybe she should fly over by herself and meet his family. Oh well. Here's a small chapter and I now have regular access to the internet so I should be updating more regularly. There is a little bit of Italian that I used Google Translator for, so hopefully it's right, but the English version is in parentheses right beside it.

I closed my eyes and breathed as the plane took off. I couldn't believe I was headed to another country with just myself and my two year old daughter. Thank God my next layover would be in London where everyone spoke English. It was thirty minutes before the announcement came across that we could use the WI-FI and air phones. I pulled out my iPhone and connected to the WI-FI so that I could message Damon. As soon as I was connected messages started appearing from Damon.

12:41: I'm trying to rendezvous with you in London. There's a flight leaving here in thirty minutes for London. It arrives shortly before the connecting flight for Rome.

12:52: Flight to London full. Trying other angles.

1:03: I'm boarding a flight bound for New York right now. From there I will catch a flight to Rome and we can fly into Florence together. I'll message you as soon as I'm allowed.

I looked at the time, it was only one fifteen. He probably had his phone either off or on airplane mode, but I decided to go ahead and message him anyhow.

Okay, I'll see you in Rome. I'll have my phone on WI-FI so you can text me when you can.

I was finally getting off of the plane in Florence. I had had an hour long layover in London and then an hour and a half in Rome before I had caught the final flight into Florence. I had spoken to Damon while I was in London, just to find out that he was grounded in New York. A freak snowstorm had hit and his flight from Atlanta had been the last one in or out, so I was in Florence alone. I had gotten my stroller from the flight attendant and was heading into the airport to find our luggage. How I was going to manage pulling a cart with Damon's, Olivia's, and my luggage while also pulling a stroller was beyond me. I followed the signs with the pictures of the suitcases assuming that they would lead me to the baggage claim and was eventually right. I was standing there patiently waiting for the luggage to start rolling through when I heard my name called out. I stopped and turned instinctively, not too sure why considering I didn't know anybody here, but did find a man about my age walking up to me.

"Elena Gilbert, right?" The man asked as he came to a stop. He had green eyes and very well styled brown hair with just a hint of red in it.

I pulled Olivia further away from him and more so behind me. "Yes, can I help you?"

He gave a short laugh. "I'm Stefan Salvatore, Damon's brother. He asked me to come help you get back to the house." He pulled his phone out and scrolled through it for a moment before showing me a text message from Damon that not only asked him to help me, but also included a picture of me. "He didn't tell you I was coming, did he?"

"No, but then I haven't talked to him in a while. Olivia was getting fussy." I looked down at her in her stroller calmly playing with a stuffed bear I had bought at the last airport before turning back towards Stefan. "Hi, I'm Elena, this is Olivia or Livi for short."

"Nice to meet you. I am sorry, by the way, for that phone call a couple weeks ago. I didn't know that Damon had a live-in girlfriend." He was quiet for a moment until the conveyer belt started rotating. "If you just want to show me what's yours, I'll grab it for you."

Twenty minutes later, we were headed to the car rental counter. Apparently Damon did have a car here but it was a Ferrari and only sat two people and did not allow for a car seat. I walked up to the counter where a woman maybe about thirty years old was working and luckily spoke English.

"My boyfriend was supposed to call and make arrangements for me to pick up his reservation." I told her as I pulled out the credit card Damon had given me a few days earlier when he was in town. He had told me that he wanted to make sure that I had money in case of an emergency while he was gone. "It's under Damon Salvatore."

"Mr. Salvatore." She mumbled as she started searching through the reservations. "And your name, please?"

"Elena Gilbert."

"I have it here. Mr. Salvatore already took care of the payment over the phone; we just need a credit card on file for the damage deposit and a copy of your drivers' license." She pulled some paperwork and took my license and credit card. After just a few minutes, she was handing my cards back to me along with some papers to sign along with the keys to an Audi A5.

Stefan helped me get the luggage to the rental and load it in the trunk while I strapped Olivia in the backseat. I closed the back door and offered the keys to Stefan who shook his head. "Can't. No license. I'll show you where to go."

We climbed into our own seats. "No license?" I asked as I started the car and put in reverse.

"Lost it in the states and I don't have legal residency to obtain one here." He told me truthfully.

I nodded. "Then how did you get to the airport?" He was directing me out of the airport.

"Bus. Ummm, get in the left lane." He furrowed his eyebrows as he read the sign.

"You know Italian as well?" I signaled and merged into the left lane.

"Not as well as Damon. He's used it more throughout the years. I've had to freshen up since I moved here, but I speak it a lot better than I read it." I merged onto the highway.

It was a thirty minute drive from the Florence airport to the Salvatore family home that overlooked their vineyard. The house was beautiful in a faded yellow brick with lots of windows and vines growing up the walls. I came to a stop in front of the garage where Stefan said that I was welcome to leave the car. I sat and stared at the beauty of the house for a moment before turning the car off and climbing out. I grabbed my purse and walked around the car to pull Olivia out of the backseat.

"Are we there?" She asked as I set her down on her two feet.

I laughed. "Yes, baby, we're here." I looked over at Stefan. "Right?"

Stefan laughed, "Yes, this is the family home. Come on in." I followed him down a small path that led to a side door. He opened the door and I found myself in possibly the largest kitchen I had ever seen.

"Wow!" I turned as I took it all in. The walls and ceiling matched in basic white, but the ceiling had several dark brown beams built in. On the left side of the room, there were the cabinets, the sink, and a stove while on the right side of the room was a small bedroom sized fireplace with a fire going. Above the fireplace, I noticed that there was a rounded cut out in the wall and inside I noticed a metal cage. In the middle of the room, there was a long table with benches on either side and chairs at each end. Stefan must have noticed my confusion.

"During the winter, we use the fireplace for cooking. There's no sense running electricity to cook when we usually have the fire going. The alcove is for baking and the Nonna uses the rack for some stuff." I nodded. "Why don't we find Nonna? She's probably in her little study."

I followed Stefan through the house. I noticed that there were several small areas where there might be just a sofa or two chairs next to small fireplace. By the time we reached the small room and found the older woman, I had counted five fireplaces. We entered her study, to find her sitting in an older plush chair watching out the window as she knitted. "Nonna? Sono tornato con Elena!"

The older woman turned her head to look at her new houseguests. "Elena?" She repeated slowly as if testing it out. Stefan nodded. She stood up and laid her knitting down on the table by her chair and made her way across the room to meet her visitors. Her hair was a dark auburn with the sporadic gray strand mixed in. At five foot seven, I stood about three maybe four inches taller than her, but it was her eyes that I truly noticed. She was most definitely who Damon had inherited his ice, blue eyes from. She looked up at Stefan. "Dov'è Damon?" (Where's Damon?)

Stefan smiled down at his grandmother. "Volo di Damon è stato ritardato a causa della neve. Egli è ancora negli Stati Uniti." (Damon's flight was delayed because of the snow. He's still in the states.)

She nodded. "Ohh. Questo è il suo giovane ragazza?" (This is his young girlfriend?)

It was Stefan's turn to nod. "Sì, nonna, e sua figlia." (Yes, Grandmother, and her daughter.)

His grandmother turned to me then and spoke slowly. "You don't speak Italian?" She must have noted the confusion on my face as I had followed their conversation much like a ping pong ball.

"No, Mrs. Salvatore, I do not."

"Please call me Nonna." I was surprised when she reached up and wrapped her arms around my neck. She let go of me and looked down to Olivia, who was clutching my left leg. "And this piccolo?"

I glanced up to Stefan quickly. "Little one." He supplied easily. I mouthed a quick thank you before answering her.

"This is my daughter Olivia." I placed my hand on the back of Olivia's head and pushed her forward slightly. "Say hi, Olivia."

"Hi Olivia, you can call me Nonna as well." She had knelt down to meet Livi.

"Hi." Olivia buried her face into my leg.

"Why don't I show you to Damon's bedroom? He said that you would be sharing?" She waited for my approval.

"Yes, ma'am."

Twenty minutes later, Olivia and I were alone in Damon's teenage bedroom upstairs. Like most of what I had already seen of the house, it wasn't a very large room, but it was a decent size, and surprise, it had a fireplace. Like the rest of the house, it had white walls with timber beams built in that served as accents, there was a tall king sized bed in the middle of the room with a set of matching nightstands and a dresser. There were two glass doors that opened out to a small balcony with iron fencing. On the opposite side of the bedroom there was a small closet and adjoining bathroom.

Stefan had been kind enough to bring up all of our luggage while Nonna-I really needed to find out what her name was-had shown me around the bedroom. I was currently unpacking when I heard my cell phone ring. In the quietness of the house, it sounded as if my phone was blaring, so I found myself diving across the room to silence it. I looked at the screen to see that it was Damon calling me.

"Hello?" I answered the phone and picked up a stack of Olivia's clothes and headed over to the dresser.

"I am so sorry Elena. Did Stefan find you at the airport?"

"He did. I'm in your bedroom now unpacking." I closed the drawer and picked up Olivia's suitcase to put it in the closet with Damon's and my own.

"Good. Did you have any problems picking up the rental car?"

"None whatsoever. How's New York?"

"Miserable. I'm at the Crowne Plaza a few blocks away. I'm currently booked for an eight a.m. flight. We'll see if we get out or not."

"Just be safe. Olivia and I are fine. Your grandmother is insisting I call her Nonna. What is her name, by the way?"

Damon laughed and I couldn't help but smile at the sound. "That sounds like Nonna. Her name is Adriana and Nonno is Giovani, but he'll probably insist you call him Nonno."

"Well, I guess I'll have to wait and see. May I ask another question?"

"Of course."

"I noticed that there are several small sitting areas throughout the house. Why is that?"

I could hear the smile in his voice when he answered. "The house is very old, Nonno's father gave it to Nonno and Nonna when they were married. The house has eleven bedrooms. When my great-father built it, it was for him, his wife, and their seven children, plus their workers. It gave everybody their own space. Sometimes you would have a small family move in, the husband worked the fields and the wife helped in the kitchen. A lot of farmhouses are like that in the area."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense. I can't believe the size of the kitchen."

"The kitchen used to be the busiest room in the house. There always had to be food ready for the workers."

There was a light knocking on the open bedroom door and Stefan popped his head in. "Sorry, I didn't realize you were on the phone. Nonna sent me up to see if you were hungry."

"Actually, I am. We'll be down in a few minutes." Stefan nodded and ducked back out of the room.

"Careful, Nonna loves to make sure everyone is fed. Try to have fun until I get there and I'll let you know what happens in the morning. I'll send you a text in the morning if we get to take off."

"Okay, fly safe."

Let me know what you think, please. I wrote in a bit of a rush and honestly didn't proofread, so hopefully there weren't any major mistakes. Next chapter we meet Nonno and Elena might be learning a little about how to cook.