I sure hope everyone didn't completely abandon this story. I do love writing it. Only 6 chapters left and I will have it finished before summer. That is a promise. If there is still anyone out there reading this, please let me know what you think. I have no excuses for why there was such a long wait only the lack of a muse for this story.
"Are too." Aurora shouted in the car to her brother.
"Am not!" He responded just as loud.
"Are too."
"Am not!"
"Are too"
"Am not!"
"Shut it or else I'm turning this car around and we're going home."Damon shouted over the kids voice. They'd been driving for the past half hour and the kids hadn't stopped arguing since then. First it was about the music choice, in which Damon had overrode them both and plugged in Elena's Ipod. Then they were arguing about which one was smarter, which then turned into which was stupider.
"Okay." Aiden and Aurora muttered at the same time. The family was on their way to Richmond for back to school shopping. Elena wanted to get out of town and they had to do school shopping so it was the perfect solution.
"You can't turn the car around dad. Mom said we have to go to Richmond for shopping." Aiden stated confidently.
"Wanna bet? I can drive you home and you can stay with Uncle Stefan. Me and your mom will go to Richmond and go shopping for ourselves instead." Damon told him, knowing he had him now.
"Mom! You wouldn't let dad do that would you?" He asked hopefully. He flashed his baby blues at his mom hoping she'd
give in. He noticed that always worked when his dad did it.
"Nope I'm sorry. United front. I have to be on team dad and the two of you were starting to get on my nerves too." She told him shaking her head.
"Are you serious?" He asked baffled. The eye thing didn't work.
"I'm serious." Elena affirmed nodding her head.
"Damn." The 10 year old muttered forgetting all about his parent's super hearing for the moment.
"What did you say?!" Elena shouted shocked. Damon didn't react, he thought there were far worse things he could have said instead. Damn in comparison was much tamer than others he could have said.
"I'm sorry." Aiden stated reflexively.
"You'd better be sorry. If I ever hear another bad word come out of your mouth again young man I will wash your mouth out with soap." She warned him firmly.
"Okay okay I'll be good." He said frantically. The soap threat as good as gold when it came to him. It had actually
happened to him one time when he was younger and the horror of that moment had stayed with him since.
"Haha Aiden got in trouble." Aurora cheered in the backseat.
"Aurora mind your own business or else you'll be in trouble too Missy." Elena told her daughter. She quickly shut her mouth and Aiden elbowed her in the ribs.
"Stop it!" She screamed and elbowed him back.
"Alright that's it." Damon stated pulling over on the side of the road.
"Dad don't turn around. You can't turn around. I need a pair of DC shoes dad. Every boy in my class has DC shoes." Aiden almost begged.
"I warned you three times already. Three times! You'd think you would have listened by now. But no. You two just can't leave each other alone. What am I going to do with you?" He asked rhetorically.
"Listen your dad is right. Am I going to have to separate you two?" Elena asked looking back at the kids.
"Make Aiden ride on the roof." Aurora suggested. Damon felt his lips twitch at the words out of his daughters mouth but fought the smile back.
"No, we are not letting Aiden ride on the roof. I am getting out of this car and putting the third row of seats back where they're supposed to be. That means we can't buy as much stuff in Richmond but at least now you will be separated." Damon explained as he got out of the car and opened the hatch to the SUV and pulled the seats out of the floor.
"Make Aiden go back there." Aurora insisted.
"Nope since you're so invested in this, you're going back there. Get moving." He said when the seats were locked into place.
"But daddy." She whined.
"Don't " but daddy" me. Get back there so we can get this hellish trip over with. God I hate road trips." Damon muttered as he climbed back behind the wheel.
"You never used to hate road trips." Elena noted with a smile on her face.
"That was before this." Damon told her as he put the car in gear and got back onto the highway.
When they finally got to Richmond, they immediately went to get checked into the hotel.
"You have to sleep on the floor Aiden. I get the bed all to myself." Aurora alerted him as Damon was signing the credit card receipt.
"No! You're sleeping on the floor." Aiden retorted.
"Neither of you are sleeping on the floor. Either you share the bed or you both sleep on the floor and I'll sleep in it. It'll be nice not having to share a bed for a change." Damon told them.
"No you don't like sleeping alone. You like sleeping with mom. I remember one time when I was little that I walked into your room and you were sleeping on top of mom and making sounds." He reminded him. Elena blushed a deep red colour which technically should have been impossible considering the lack of blood rushing through her veins.
"You're right I don't like sleeping alone. But I will if it means keeping you two out of trouble." Damon told them after gathering his wits after finding out his son had walked in on him having sex with his wife.
"Do I have to share a bed with Aurora?" Aiden asked finally.
"Unless you want to sleep on the floor." Damon told him as he grabbed the key card from the man at the desk and ushered his family to the elevator.
"I want to press the button Aiden!" Aurora squealed.
"You two are acting like you're 2 instead of 10." Damon told them, running a hand through his hair.
"I like pressing the button." Aurora whined.
"How about you act your age and then maybe you'll be able to press the button. Your mom is pressing the button this time." Damon told them firmly as Elena pressed the number three on the panel. Elena leaned into her husbands side and he put his arm around her waist and kissed her temple.
"Why did I ever let you convince me that they were mine? I could be lying on a beach somewhere without children and without any stress." He murmured.
"You love me, therefore you wanted them to be yours. I'm thinking maybe we should leave them here. Someone will take them in because they're so cute." Elena suggested.
"Don't suggest that because I just might take you up on that offer." He warned her.
"Nah, I think I'd miss them if they were gone." Elena decided as she watched Aiden give Aurora a gentle shove to which immediately she punched his arm.
"What did we tell you about violence in public?" Elena demanded.
"You said we could hit each other when we're at home but not in public." The kids reiterated to their mom.
"Exactly, does this look like home?" She asked.
"No." They both answered.
"Exactly. Then stop." She told them looking at them both.
"This is the longest elevator ride in the history of elevator rides." Damon sighed when the elevator finally came to a stop.
"Lets get to our room." Elena said when the doors opened. Everyone grabbed their bags and walked down the hall. The kids racing on ahead.
"I want to open the door." Aiden shouted.
"Shush and I will open the door." Damon responded as he caught up with the kids and pushed the key card into the slot causing the door to open. The kids raced into the room and Damon followed behind them with Elena bringing up the rear. Damon immediately collapsed on the bed closest to the door.
"Ah not as comfortable as our bed not not too shabby." He sighed happily, resting back on the pillow.
"We want to go swimming." Aiden and Aurora shouted just when Damon got comfortable.
"Not right now." Damon demurred.
"You promised." The kids whined.
"You kinda did promise them." Elena reminded him.
"Yeah but that was before they were devil spawn all day today." He retorted.
"Come on. You and I can sit in the hot tub. They can both swim and they both know the rules. It'll be fine." She promised
him.
"Famous last words. But fine you're the boss." Damon whined as he got up and trudged into the bathroom to put his swim suit on. He came out seconds later and Elena quickly changed into her bikini.
"When can I wear a bikini like mom?" Aurora asked.
"Never. Men don't need to look at you like that." He told his daughter who pouted adorably and stalked to the bathroom to change. When she was done Aiden went in and soon they were all ready to head down to the pool. Elena put her bathing suit coverup on to cover her bikini and followed her kids down to the pool.
"Now this is relaxing." Damon sighed happily as he relaxed in the hot tub with Elena behind him massaging the muscles in his shoulders. He sat between her legs and he massaged her feet while she massaged his shoulders. The kids were splashing companionably in the pool. It didn't get much better than that for them. It was calm and serene.
"How long do you think it's going to last?" Elena asked softly, pressing a kiss to the spot where his neck met his shoulders.
"I have no idea. Let's just enjoy it while it does." Damon replied leaning into her touch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day the kids were up at the crack of dawn.
"Can we go swimming again? Can we? Can we?" They asked.
"The pool isn't open yet. Go back to sleep for a couple more hours." Damon insisted mashing his face into the pillow.
"Hours?" They demanded.
"Yes hours. It's only 5:30." He groaned checking the clock on his bedside table.
"Why?" They whined.
"Do you want us to take you shopping today? If so you have to let us sleep until at least 8." Damon told them while Elena stuffed her head under her pillow to drown out the noise.
"But we're bored." They whined.
"Occupy yourselves. You're 10 years old. Find something to do." Damon ordered as he lay back down and shut his eyes. He heard the TV go on and smiled when the kids actually agreed on watching "loony toons."
The kids woke them up at exactly 8 to Damon's chagrin.
"Can we go swimming again?" They asked.
"We're going home today. We'll take you swimming when we get back to Mystic Falls. Maybe if you're really good all day today we'll come back next weekend too." Damon told them.
"What do you mean by good?" They asked suspiciously.
"No fighting, no arguing or talking back to me and mom." He explained.
"You're no fun. But fine. We want to come back next weekend." Aiden decided.
"Good now go get dressed. Whoever's fastest gets to press the elevator buttons." Damon decided. One kid ran to the bathroom the other to the closet and they quickly changed. Aiden came out a couple minutes later missing his shirt.
"Whoa kid where is your shirt? You can't go out like that." Elena told him.
"I'm not. I forgot my shirt in my bag." He assured his mom.
"Good you better hurry your sister is going to beat you." Elena told him.
"I'm letting her win. The button is more important to her anyway." Aiden shrugged.
"Very mature." Damon said approvingly.
"Thanks dad." Aiden said smugly.
When everyone was dressed, they grabbed their bags and took the elevator downstairs. Aurora relished in pressing the button.
"Can I get DC shoes?" Aiden asked as they checked out then puled back into the SUV.
"We'll see. It's quite a drive to the mall which gives you lots of time to make me mad." Damon told him.
"I'll be good I promise." He vowed.
"I want a pink sparkly pair of Toms." Aurora interjected.
"Are you going to behave?" He asked.
"Daddy, I'm always good." She told him looking up at him innocently.
"Haha, nice try." He told her shaking his head and climbed behind the wheel. The drive to the mall was completely silent and both Damon and Elena relished in it.
"You hear that?" Damon asked softly.
"What?" Elena replied.
"Nothing. The silence. Isn't it beautiful?" He asked.
"I love it." Elena agreed.
It took most of the day to make their way through the mall buying the kids school supplies and clothing. They both got the shoes they wanted for school an a whole bunch of clothes.
"I think I'm tired of shopping." Aurora sighed as she lugged her bags behind her.
"I'm sure you are. It's exhausting being spoiled isn't it?" Damon asked sarcastically.
"I'm ready to go home." She sighed as Aiden clearly echoed her sentiment.
"Thank God, I was waiting for you to say that." Damon cheered as he ushered them towards the car.