A/n- This was kind of a hard chapter for me to write (for reasons you will see) and I want to take time to thank Lovely Vero for all her help and support of me while I wrote it.

Lucy froze. "Really? Are you serious?"

"Yeah!" Damon nodded. "Of course I'm serious. I mean, you're here for the weekend, right? So tomorrow, we can go right down to a judge and..."

"Wait," Lucy said. "Stop."

"What?" Damon asked. "What's the matter?"

"Why are you asking me this now?" Lucy asked after he got off her.

"Because I love you and you love me and we should get married." Damon said. "What's the problem?"

"I agree that we should get married," Lucy said. "But why now? Why this second?"

Damon sighed. "Well, this isn't turning out the way I hoped."

"Well, I'm sorry," Lucy said gently. "But you know I can't get married now. I still have six months left with Lucia. And then I'll come back. And I'll still love you. This isn't like when you and Mom got engaged and the country was at war, and you weren't sure you were ever gonna see each other again."

Damon looked her in the eye. "Do you realize how hard it was for me to put you on that plane and send you away?"

"Yeah," Lucy said. "I do." She stood up and put a blanket from the sofa around herself. "And it was hard for me to leave too. But the point is, we were both able to get through that without there being any problem. Why can't you just do that again?"

"Because now I know how lonely I am without you," Damon said. "And it's so hard, just being here by myself."

Lucy smiled at him and put a hand on his. "I get it," she said. "I know you have trouble with being alone. But remember, I will come back, you know. I'm not leaving forever. I'll say that as many times as you need to hear it. But let's not think about that now. We still have two more days. Let's make the most of them."

"I guess you're right," Damon said and kissed her. "Now, where were we?"

The next day, Lucy said, "Do you know if Helene and Adrian will want you to watch Lenora today or not?"

Damon shrugged. "I don't know. Part of me kind of hopes so. She's like our little cheerleader, although I'm a little concerned about how interested she is in us having babies."

"She's still thinking about that?" Lucy asked. "Wow. And how long ago was it that Rusty and Lady had their puppies? More than a month, right?"

"Yeah," Damon nodded. "You would think that Lenora's five-year-old's attention span would have moved on to something else by now, but apparently not."

Just then, Lucy started violently as they heard a popping noise and Lenora suddenly appeared. "Good morning!" She said brightly. "Hi, Aunt Lucy! Did I scare you? I'm sorry."

"Well, I have to admit I wasn't expecting you to show up," Lucy said. "Why did you come? Are you okay? Is something wrong?"

"Do your mommy and daddy need me to watch you?" Damon added.

"No," Lenora sat down and picked up a piece of toast from the plate on the table and handed it to Lucy. "Can you put jelly on this, please?"

Lucy sighed and went to get a knife.

"Why couldn't you just magically put jelly on the toast?" Damon asked her.

"Mommy doesn't like me doing magic for every little thing," Lenora explained. "She says I have to learn how to do things by myself too, in case I ever do something that would make me lose my magic, and so I'll fit in better with the human kids."

"Oh," Damon nodded. "How come you had Aunt Lucy put your jelly on, then? Why couldn't you do it?"

"Cause apparently, I'm too young to touch knives," Lenora said, rolling her eyes. "Daddy and his silly rules."

"Here's your toast, Lenora," Lucy said, dropping the plate down in front of her. "Now, does your mommy know you're here?"

Lenora took a bite of toast and shook her head. "Nope. I just came."

"Well, it's not nice to invite yourself over to other people's houses without permission," Lucy said. "And I'm sure that since your mommy and daddy are home today, they'll want to see you since they don't get to during the week. So why don't you go and see them? You wouldn't want to worry your mother because she'll think you're missing, do you?"

"No," Lenora said. "I don't want to worry Mommy. That's a bad thing to do."

Lucy nodded. "Yes, it is. Maybe you can ask her and then come over later today."

"Really?" Lenora asked.

"Yeah," Lucy nodded.

Lenora finished her toast and stood up. "All right," she said. "I'll go and ask Mommy if I can come later. Bye-bye!"

"Bye!" Lucy said and then Lenora disappeared.

"You handled that well," Damon said. "I probably would have let her stay."

"But you heard her," Lucy said. "She didn't even tell Helene that she was here! If we'd just let her stay, it would have resulted in a very panicked phone call or something and we wouldn't want to do that to Helene. She doesn't deserve that."

Damon nodded. "Lenora is sweet, but it's not the easiest thing in the world to keep an eye on her. I should know that pretty well."

Lucy kissed him. "It was so sweet of you to agree to watch her."

"I wasn't really given much of a choice, actually," Damon said. "I've been living with Stefan and Anna since you left because I didn't want to be alone in my house, and one day, Anna decided that I was becoming a problem and that I need to 'do something' with myself, so without consulting me, she went to talk to Helene, who was looking for someone to watch Lenora while she and Adrian were at work and doing whatever it is they do, and Anna volunteered me. Lenora's grown on me, though. That surprised me." He paused. "But you probably would have liked to hear that I happily went into watching Lenora, right? That I selflessly devote myself to Lenora's care and spend my days enriching her life."

"No," Lucy shook her head. "Not only does that sound incredibly stupid, I know it's not the truth. I like it that you're honest with me, even when you're telling me stuff you don't think I'll want to hear. And besides, it's not like you need to say stuff just to impress me anymore. I already like you, and will happily let you see me naked any time."

Damon grinned. "Well, how about right now? Will that work for you?"

"Hmmm..." Lucy replied, a twinkle in her eye. "I don't know. I might have to think about this...Oh!" Damon picked her up and carried her toward the bedroom. "Time's up," he said. "No more thinking." He set her down on the bed, undressed her and kissed her soundly. Lucy grinned. "Well, it's nice to know you like me for my brains."

"Is it okay if I go see Aunt Lucy and Damon tonight?" Lenora asked her parents. "Aunt Lucy said it was okay if you said 'yes'."

"I don't know if it's a good idea for you to go and see Damon and Aunt Lucy," Helene said. "Maybe you should let them have some time alone while Aunt Lucy is here."

"But I wanna see Aunt Lucy too!" Lenora said.

"You saw her this morning when you left the house without telling your daddy or me," Helene said. "You shouldn't have done that, Lenora."

"I know," Lenora said. "You told me that after I got out of timeout."

"And we're going to tell you again and again," Adrian replied. "Just because you have the ability to magically go wherever you want doesn't mean it's a good idea. What if something bad had happened to you and your mommy and I didn't know about it?"

"Nothing bad happened," Lenora said. "I'm okay. See?" She held up her elbows and then stood up and showed her knees. "No owies or anything. Plus, if anyone tries to hurt me, I can just-" She hissed and showed her fangs. "That's what those are for, right?"

"Well, yes, but-" Adrian began.

"But what?" Lenora asked.

"Help me!" Adrian mouthed to Helene.

"Well," Helene clapped her hands once. "We're getting really off-subject here, aren't we? We were talking about whether or not you were gonna go visit Damon and Aunt Lucy tonight, weren't we?"

"Yeah!" Lenora said. "So can I go?"

"Let me go call Aunt Lucy and see if it's okay, and if she says 'yes,' then you can go," Helene said.

"But she already said 'yes'!" Lenora yelled at her mother's retreating back. "I told you that!" She looked at her father. "Why won't Mommy believe me?" She paused. "Can I do that eye thingie to make her do whatever I say?" She asked.

"No!" Adrian shook his head, feeling horrified. "You don't do that to your mother! Well, actually you couldn't do it to her even if you wanted to. Well, not unless you're Grandpa, or Uncle Elijah, or Aunt Anna, or any of them."

"Why can't you?" Lenora asked.

"Because she's a witch and witches have immunity to it, or something," Adrian said. "I don't really get it. But even if you could do it, you wouldn't want to because she's your mommy and she loves you."

"Oh," Lenora nodded. "Okay."

Helene came back a few minutes later. "Aunt Lucy said you can come over tonight," she said.

"She did?!" Lenora asked, looking excited. "What time?"

"Seven o'clock," Helene replied.

Lenora looked at the clock, which said twelve-thirty in the afternoon. "That's lots of hours away, isn't it?" She asked Adrian.

"Well, yeah," Adrian nodded. "But until then, you get to spend time with us! Won't that be fun?"

Lenora's mouth twisted. "I guess," she said. "If I can turn you into stuff."

Adrian grinned and stood up. "Well, all right," he said. "I'll be a sport. Better me than something valuable, huh?"

"Lenora!" Helene said as she came into the living room just in time to see her daughter try to turn Adrian into a mouse. "What are you doing to your father?!"

"He told me I could turn him into stuff," Lenora replied.

"Well, stop!" Helene said, causing Lenora to pause mid-spell, leaving Adrian sitting on the sofa with mouse ears and whiskers. "Your daddy is not a test subject!" She frowned at her husband and let Lenora change him back the rest of the way. "Adrian, what were you thinking, letting her do that to you?"

"Well, we have to think of something to entertain her!" Adrian said. "I don't think she likes us anymore."

"What makes you say that?" Helene asked.

"Because she asked me how long it would be until she was allowed to go see Lucy and Damon and I told her how many hours it was and she looked upset," Adrian replied.

"I still like you!" Lenora said, running over to him and hugging him. "I'm sorry. Can we play Candyland? I'll even let you be red this time...oh! Or maybe I can bring the pieces to life! That would make things much more interesting, wouldn't it, Daddy?" She grabbed his hand and began pulling him toward her bedroom where the games were. Helene watched him be dragged away and then once he was gone, she burst into giggles. Poor Adrian, she thought to herself. But she had to admit that he was a good dad. A very good dad.

"Here we are!" Helene said when she brought Lenora up to Damon's front door.

"Finally!" Lenora exclaimed. "I've been waiting for this all day!"

"I know," Helene said, ruffling Lenora's blonde hair. "You mentioned that a few times."

Lenora reached out to knock on the door, but to her surprise it opened on its own and Damon appeared on the other side. "Hi!" He said, picking her up and spinning her around. "You wanna come in?"

"Yes I do!" Lenora replied.

Damon looked at Helene over Lenora's shoulder. "Thanks for bringing her over," he said.

Helene nodded. "You're welcome. You three have fun and call when she's worn you out and I'll come and pick her up."

"Bye, Mommy," Lenora called as Damon took her inside and shut the door behind them. He put her down and she ran toward Lucy, who was sitting on the sofa. "Mommy knows I'm here this time. She brought me here in the car."

Lucy nodded. "I know that. I talked to her before." She patted the empty seat beside her on the sofa. "You can come sit next to me and watch TV if you want."

Lenora shook her head and gestured at Damon. "Come here," she said. He came to the sofa and she pointed at the spot next to Lucy. "Sit there," she ordered. He sat and then Lucy sat on his other side. "That's better," she said. They watched TV for awhile and then Lenora looked at Damon. "Have you ever pillowfighted?" She asked him.

"Maybe a little," Damon replied. "Why?"

Lenora grabbed a pillow and hit him in the face with it. He stared at her for a few seconds and then got his barings and when she got off the sofa and grinned at him, he grabbed a pillow of his own and swatted her on the bottom with it.

"So are we pillow fighting now?" Lucy asked as Lenora's pillow swung in the air and nearly hit a lamp. "I guess so," she said. "Time out!"

"Why?" Lenora asked, pausing.

"I have to move all the lamps and stuff somewhere else so nothing gets broken," Lucy explained. Once she'd done that, she came back, grabbed a pillow of her own and jumped into the fray.

Things finally ended when Damon came at Lucy and Lucy let go of her pillow and grabbed Lenora, holding her in front of her. "You wouldn't hit a girl holding a child, would you?" She asked. Then, Lenora pointed her finger, making Damon's pillow disappear. "Now he's not even armed," she said. "Let's get him!"

Lucy put Lenora down and they both rushed Damon, pinning him to the floor. "We win!" Lucy cheered. "Yeah," Lenora agreed. We win. What do you have to say about that?"

"Well," he grinned up at Lucy and kissed her. "I say, lucky me."

Selina heard the little bell over the bakery door ring and looked up for a moment before gasping and trying to hide behind the counter.

"What's the matter with you?" Abby asked. "Are you okay? Do I need Grandma to come and have a look at you?"

"No," Selina shook her head. "Your grandmother's friend Elizabeth just walked in. Do you see her?"

"Well, yeah," Abby nodded. "So what?"

"Never mind," Selina said and stood up. "What can I do for you?" She asked as the old woman approached the counter.

"I just came by to look things over, see Edith, and maybe have one of those lovely double chocolate cupcakes that are advertised outside. You do still have some of those, right?"

"Yeah," Selina nodded and pulled one out, still keeping her eyes on the woman. "That'll be a dollar-fifty, please."

Elizabeth paid her and then as Selina backed away from the counter, she said, "My, my, look at you. How far along?"

"Five months," Selina said uneasily. "Why?"

"I'm just curious," Elizabeth told her. "You know, Elijah and I talked about having children of our own. And then it happened, just right before he left me. I had to raise our child alone. You should consider yourself lucky."

"You and Elijah had a child?" Selina asked. "You can't be serious! How in the world did you manage to, you know, raise it and all that, seeing as it was probably a-"

"That's how I know, you see," Elizabeth told her. "That's how I found out the truth about him."

"And the child?" Selina asked. "What happened to it?"

Elizabeth cleared her throat. "A tabloid found out about Kevin and he was taken from me and put on display like an animal. I've tried for years and years to get him back, but I haven't had any success."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Selina said. "Have another cupcake."

Elizabeth shook her head. "No, thank you." she said, and left. Selina stood in silence for a moment, then grabbed the remaining dozen chocolate cupcakes, ate them all without taking hardly a breath and then said to a shocked Abby, "Tell you're grandmother that we're closing early tonight, all right?"

"Why?" Abby asked as Selina shut the display case, turned off the lights and ran for the door. "What's going on? Are you gonna be okay?" But she got no response other than the roar of Selina's engine as her car pulled out of the bakery parking lot and drove away.

Selina came back from the bakery, and walked past Gregory, who reached out for her, and then pouted when she wouldn't pick him up. Then, she ran to the bathroom and promptly threw up.

"What in the world?" Elijah said. "What's the matter with you? I thought you said your morning sickness would be over by now. Is there anything I can do for you?"

Selina emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, pale and tired with dark smudges under her eyes. "This isn't morning sickness," she said. "I ate twelve cupcakes at the bakery and now my stomach is punishing me. And I've got a sugar crash, so I'm tired." She lay down in bed. "I just want to sleep."

"What in the world would make you eat twelve cupcakes in one sitting?" Elijah asked. "Selina, that is not good for you!"

Selina sat up and glared at him. "Don't you think I know that? That ex-fiancee of yours was sniffing around the bakery today, asking me all sorts of questions about the baby and my pregnancy and all that. It made me nervous, so I ate all the special cupcakes, closed the place up early and got the hell out of there. She scares me, Elijah. I don't care if she just looks like a little old lady. She freaks me out." She paused. "And when were you gonna tell me that you and she planned to have a kid?"

"Well, maybe she only came to the bakery to eat cupcakes," Elijah said, rubbing Selina's stomach. "And at her age, it's natural to want to ask questions about a baby. Perhaps she was just making polite conversation and-" Elijah paused, mid-sentence because he'd finally heard her question. "What are you talking about?"

"She told me everything!" Selina said. "She told me that you and she planned to have a kid and she got pregnant just before you left her so she had to raise him by herself, and then she sent him off to be a member of a traveling freakshow or something."

Elijah sank down on the bed. "That can't be right," he said. "She has to be making it up."

"No, she's not!" Selina said insistently. "Last time she was at the bakery before this, she made it clear that she somehow knows you and I are vampires and wants to get our kids away from us so we don't torture them and make them evil! I'm paraphrasing, of course, but that's what she said." Selina paused, sat up, and leaned against Elijah. "Your son was how she found out about what we are." She paused. "Would you call your dad and see if he'll come over tonight? I would feel a lot better if he was here."

Elijah kissed her. "We don't need to call my father to fix this. Just let me handle it and everything will be okay."

"I don't know," Selina said doubtfully. "Maybe we should-"

But he cut her off, kissing her, and helping her out of her clothes. "What you should do," he said, "Is stop talking. Do you think you can do that?"

He removed his pants and Selina, eyes locked on him, said, "Okay..." After they got positioned comfortably, he buried himself inside her and she squealed. "Oh, yes!" she cried. "I should probably enjoy this while I can. Eventually, I'm gonna be too big."

"Not for some months, yet," Elijah said, putting a finger over her lips. "Not for some months yet."

"Do we really have to go to this dinner thingie?" Roxie asked Vince. "Is it so important?"

"Yes," Vince nodded. "We have to. It was my boss's idea at work and I'm in line for a promotion, so I have to do everything I can to be on his good side."

"Including bringing your incredibly fat wife with you?" Roxie asked, eying her naked body in the mirror. "I mean, what will that prove, really?"

"We've gone over this," Vince said patiently. "My boss really wants the company to start attracting more families and if he sees you, if he knows that we're gonna have kids and stuff, then he'll be more likely to give me the promotion. Okay? Can you do that for me? Can you be sane and civil for a couple of hours? Please?"

"What's in it for me?" Roxie asked.

"The knowledge that you did something nice for your husband," Vince said. "You shouldn't have to get a reward every time you do something that any decent person would have done for free." He threw a dress at her. "Now wear that," he said. "It's not so bad."

"You know I would do whatever I could in my power to make you look good under normal circumstances, Vince, but this is not a dress. It is a circus tent!" Roxie groaned. "And it's tacky!" She eyed the large, sparkly silver dress with dismay. "I put this one and I will look like a disco ball! And it's got a bow on the back that says 'here's my giant butt, please take a look'."

"You'll look fine," Vince said through his teeth. "Just put it on!"

Rolling her eyes and groaning, Roxie put on the dress. Vince helped her zip it, then she looked in the mirror one last time and burst into tears as Vince hurried her out to the car.

When they reached the restaurant where the dinner was being held, they parked in the parking lot and Vince gave Roxie a tissue. "I'm sorry if I seem a bit insensitive," he said. "But I really can't afford to mess this up."

"I know," Roxie said, dabbing at her eyes. "And because of that, I'll do my best to be good. But the second anyone mentions something about me being fat, I'm out of there!"

"They won't say that," Vince assured her. "These are professional people. They know how to exercise tact."

Roxie took a deep breath and followed Vince into the restaurant where his boss, a distinguished-looking, silver-haired man in a suit met them at the door. "So you brought your lovely wife, how delightful!" He said. He grinned. "You don't know how eager I've been to meet you. I'm your husband's boss, Mr. Albright." He looked down at Roxie's stomach. "So, when are you due?"

"In four months," Roxie said. "Although frankly, I wouldn't mind if they came out right now. My back is killing me!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said. "Let me show you to your seats." As he led them to their table, they were all stopped by a brown-haired main, a woman wearing pearls, a red dress and an expensive hairdo, and a small boy. "Albright!" The man said, shaking Mr. Albright's hand. "Who do we have here?" The man looked at Vince.

"This is Vince Talbot," Mr. Albright said. "He's in line to be the next idea man. We brought him here tonight to see if he would fit with all the family accounts."

The little boy chuckled. "You're fat!" he said to Roxie.

"Ryan!" His mother said. "You don't say things like that to people." She looked at Roxie apologetically. "Sorry about that," she said.

"It's okay," Roxie said through her teeth. "The little darling probably doesn't know what he's saying." Once they'd left, though, she whispered to Vince, "Can I kill that little brat?"

"No," Vince whispered back. "He's the son of one of the company's biggest clients. Just shrug it off and move on."

Roxie scowled but sat down and was very well-behaved, except for when she passed by Ryan and accidently-on-purpose knocked his milk into his lap, staining his suit. "Hey!" Ryan cried. "She did that on purpose!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Roxie said. "I'm so clumsy sometimes."

"Don't worry about it," his mother said. "It's not a problem at all."

When Ryan looked at her again, she stuck her tongue out at him and then went back to her table. "And just what was that about?" Vince asked her.

"Nothing," Roxie said. "Ryan spilled his milk in his lap and thought it would be cute to blame me just because I was walking by."

Just then, she heard a bunch of giggling coming from the other side of the room. Kids were rising from their tables and coming toward her. "Ryan was right," one of them said. "She is fat!" One of the kids grabbed the butter off the table and threw it at her. Then, a bowl of spaghetti and a piece of pie before their parents finally got them under control. "We were just trying to see if any of it would bounce off her stomach!" Once of the boys said when questioned about his actions by his livid mother. By then, Roxie was covered in goo and her lip was trembling. "I think we should go," she said. "Vince, please take me home."

"All right," Vince nodded and took her hand. As he led her out of the restaurant, Mr. Albright ran after them, muttering apologies and he told Vince the promotion was his.

"Never mind, Mr. Albright," Vince said. "I won't be needing it. In fact, consider this my two weeks' notice." Then he and Roxie strode from the restaurant and drove home.

But in the months that followed, the kids' comments stayed with Roxie. She became more determined than ever to have the babies. She began looking up ways to induce labor. She ordered pills that promised miracle results off the internet and began eating them like candy.

Finally, early one morning two months after the incident at the restaurant, Roxie woke up with a sharp pain in her stomach, and looked down with a shriek. Her side of the bed was covered with blood.

"Oh, my god!" Vince said when he saw. "We need to get you to Enids...now." They cleaned her up as best they could and drove to Enid's with Roxie screaming all the way.

"It's time, isn't it?" Enid asked when she met them at the door.

Vince nodded. "A little early, but it's time."

Enid hustled Roxie behind the bar where pillows, blankets and a mattress had already been laid out. Roxie lay down on them and Enid gave her something to dull the pain while she cut Roxie open and took the babies out. The first one came out yelling. "Which one is that?" Roxie asked. "Addie or Joey?"

"Addison," Enid said, and then handed her to Roxie for a moment. Roxie looked down at the little girl, who opened her eyes and stared at her for a little bit before Enid took her and cleaned her off, handing her to Vince. Several minutes later, and Roxie heard no sound, although Enid had already taken out the second baby. She looked down sorrowfully at the baby's still, blue little body, holding on as long as she could before she burst into tears.

"What?" Roxie asked. "You took Joey out, didn't you?"

"Yes," Enid nodded. "But Roxie...Roxie, Vince, he's dead. I'm sorry."