TEN

A few days later, I was sitting in the back of the car, leaving the private hanger in Phoenix. I was more than anxious to see Jenna and Alaric. I knew the nerves were mostly from the fact that she had children. I had seen a few pictures, but had never actually met them. I hadn't ever really been around kids as a human; I wasn't sure how I would fare around them as a vampire.

"Everything alright, Miss Gilbert?" Lucian asked.

My head snapped to the side to look at him, catching his eyes in the rearview mirror. "Um, yeah," I said quickly and cleared my throat. "Thanks."

He nodded, but said nothing else. I went back to looking out the window. Instead of letting my mind wander again, I rummaged around for my phone and called Damon. No answer. I sighed and played with my phone. This was the second day in a row that he hadn't answered. When I asked Bonnie to do a locating spell on him, she assured me he was fine and changed the subject. Since then, I had left at least a dozen messages for his voicemail and sent too many texts to keep track of. Even Jeremy and Anna weren't taking my calls. I figured they were up to something, but I couldn't shake the slight bad feeling in the back of my mind.

Fortunately, Lucian drew me from my thoughts again. "Should I leave your things with you or do you want me to take them to the hotel?"

I thought about it and shrugged. "I'm not really sure. I think the hotel's fine. If they want me to stay at the house, I'll go get it."

He inclined his head and began to slow down. "Here we are."

I swallowed thickly, feeling the butterflies in my stomach. "Thanks."

"Have a good time Miss Gilbert," he said as he stopped in front of a two-story stucco.

"Thank you," I said again and got out of the car.

I watched as the car drove out of sight before I started pacing the sidewalk in front of the house. The neighborhood was gorgeous. It was well manicured and looked like a magazine cover; the perfect suburb. I had no idea why I was nervous it wasn't like I was meeting them for the first time. Laughing at myself, I took a deep breath and walked up the short staircase to the porch and knocked on the front door.

After a minute of waiting, the door opened to reveal a girl around the age of five. She had golden blonde hair down to her elbows and soft blue eyes. I had to take a step backwards to regain my balance. She looked exactly like my mother; the one who raised me, not the one that tried to kill me and my loved ones. It was a bit shocking at first. "Hi," she said, her voice still sounding childish.

"Hi," I returned, trying everything I could think of to not cry. "Is your mom home?" I asked.

Her head tilted to the side as she squinted her eyes. She was looking at me as if she recognized me. "You're the girl in the photos Mommy has," she stated and then stepped back from the door. "Why don't you-"

I raised my hand with inhuman speed, hoping it would stop her from inviting me in. "Did Mommy ever tell you not to invite strangers in?"

Her cheeks flushed slightly and she bit her lip as she looked down. "Yes," she mumbled.

I smiled and felt a little worried. "Miranda? Who's at the door sweetie?" came Jenna's voice.

"The girl from your pictures!" the girl shouted back.

My eyes were glued to her now and I could feel the tears sliding down my cheeks. Miranda. Jenna had named her daughter after her sister. "What girl from the..." Jenna's voice trailed off as she appeared behind the child. "Elena?"

In the next instant, she was on the porch with her arms wrapped around me. I returned her hug, careful not to squeeze too hard, and felt her tears wet my shirt. "Hey Jenna."

"Oh my God, what are you doing here?" she asked, holding me a little tighter. "Is everything alright?" She let go and looked around. "Where's Damon? Did something happen? Do you need me to call Alaric?"

I shook my head and wiped my eyes. "No, no. Nothing like that," I assured her and smiled. "I'm here for good reasons."

She smiled wider and went back inside. "Get in here," she demanded. "We have so much to catch up on." Once I was inside and the door was closed, she turned to her daughter. "Miranda, this is your cousin, Elena." She turned back to me. "Elena, this is Miranda."

"Hi Miranda," I said, trying not to cry again.

"Hi Elena," she returned and then grabbed onto Jenna's leg.

"Miranda, will you go check on Cameron?" Jenna asked. Miranda nodded her head and hurried away.

"She looks just like Mom," I whispered, my eyes lingering after her.

"I know," Jenna said wistfully. "We were trying to think of a perfect girl's name and I couldn't think of anything better. It's my way of honoring her."

I looked at Jenna and saw the tears shining in her eyes. "It's perfect. She would have loved it."

Jenna tipped her head to the side. "Are you hungry? I'm in the middle of making lunch." I started laughing and she shoved me. "My kids love my cooking."

"They're your children; they have to love it or they won't eat," I teased.

She stuck her tongue out at me and I followed her to the kitchen. "Normally, Alaric does the cooking," she informed me.

"Where is he?"

"He's teaching at ASU now," she said, practically beaming with pride.

"Really? That's amazing."

She nodded. "He'll be home in a few hours." She stopped rummaging around for utensils and looked at me. "So, where exactly is Damon?"

"London with Jeremy and Anna," I said, picking up an apple that was in a dish on the island.

"Why?"

"He was looking for something for the wedding," I answered.

"What wedding?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at me.

I grinned from ear to ear. "Ours. We finally set a date."

"Oh my God!" she squealed and hurried around the counter to hug me again. "When? Where? Details, Elena!"

"Well-"

Before I could go any further, her house phone rang. "Excuse me," she said and answered it.

Deciding to give her privacy, I left the room, following the sounds of two children playing. I found them in the living room. I leaned against the wall and watched as they played together. The boy looked a lot like Alaric, but I could definitely see some Jenna in him as well. Mostly the hair. Both children had been blessed with her hair.

The more I watched them play, the more they reminded me of Jeremy and I as kids. We had always been pretty close. The fighting came after the car accident. As I watched Miranda, I couldn't help but think of my mother. The longer I thought about their resemblance, the more I started wondering if I ever had a daughter, would she look like me? Luckily, Jenna shook me out of my thoughts by laying her hand on my shoulder. She gave me a knowing look.

"You okay?"

I cleared my throat and followed her back to the kitchen. "Yeah, I'm fine. Who was on the phone?"

"You weren't listening?"

"No," I said and sat on the barstool.

"It was our babysitter. She has a test in a few days and she needs all the time to study that she can get."

"What were you and Alaric going to do?"

She shrugged. "Nothing much. It's just our date night."

I sat there silently and played with the apple I had only taken a bite of. "You know, I could watch them for you."

She stopped moving and slowly turned to face me. "Uh..."

"Oh come on, I'm a vampire, not incompetent."

"Are you sure?" she asked tentatively. "Have you ever been around kids before?"

"No, but it can't be hard. Look, if they get too out of hand, I can just compel them to sleep." Her eyes widened and I shook my head. "I'm kidding. Jenna, I would never do that."

She stared at me for a moment and then nodded. "Alright, I guess it wouldn't hurt to let you babysit. That way they can get to know you."

"Are you going to tell them about vampires and everything else? I'm sure Miranda will notice that I'm not any older than I am in the photos."

Jenna shrugged. "Alaric and I have talked about it, but we haven't really been too serious about it. They have vervain in their morning milk and when they start junior high, we're giving them jewelry with it. They already know not to invite strangers in." I gave her a sideways glance. "Well, they were pretty good about it," she mumbled.

I couldn't help but smile at her. My nose wrinkled shortly after as she began putting the finishing touches on lunch. "What are you cooking?"

"Mac and cheese," she answered firmly. "It's straight out of the box so I can't mess it up."

I smirked. "We'll see."

She turned to glare at me before plating the meal. I helped her carry the bowls to the table and got the drinks as she rounded up the kids. She placed Cameron in his high chair while Miranda sat next to him. "How old are you?" Miranda asked me after a minute of staring at me.

"I'm twenty-four," I informed her. "How old are you?"

"Almost five."

"How old is your brother?"

"Almost three."

"Wow. You guys are getting so big."

"How come you never visited before?"

I paused, the spoon halfway between my mouth and the bowl. I looked at Jenna and she stared back at me. "Well," I started, trying to think of something to say. "I don't live in the United States."

"Where do you live?"

"In Italy."

Jenna nearly choked on her drink, her eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets. Miranda's eyes lit up. "Really?"

I nodded. "My fiance and I live in a villa near the beach."

"Where's your fiance?"

"He's in England with my brother and his girlfriend."

She nodded and went on eating. Apparently, she was done with the questions. "What's his name?" she asked when Jenna was clearing off the table.

"What's who's name?" I asked her.

"Your fiance."

I smiled at the way she had trouble saying fiance. "Damon Salvatore."

"Are we going to meet him?"

I shrugged, trying my best to keep that smile on my face. "I don't know."

"Alright, I think Elena answered enough questions. It's nap time," Jenna said as she picked up Cameron. "I'll be right back," she informed me.

"Will you be here after nap time?" Miranda asked before following Jenna.

I grinned. "Actually, I'm going to be babysitting you tonight."

She grinned back at me before running after Jenna without saying a word. When Jenna came back into the kitchen, she grabbed a bottle of wine and poured two glasses. "So, back to the wedding details."

I swirled the contents of my glass and smiled like an idiot. "We're planning on this New Year's Eve."

"Awe," she said, sitting down on a barstool. She rested her head in her palm and sighed heavily. "How romantic."

"Oh, that's not the romantic part."

"Then hurry up."

"The villa I told Miranda about, that's where we're having the ceremony. We have our own private beach and I want my friends and family there with me. The villa is large enough to house everyone and we're paying for tickets."

Jenna's face went from overly happy to disappointed. "What about the kids?"

"What about them?"

"Well-"

"You're more than welcome to bring them, Jenna. I wouldn't demand that you leave them home. It'll be over holiday break so that no one has an excuse not to come. Besides, your kids aren't even in school yet."

This time, she let the happiness take over. "I'm going to Italy! For my niece's wedding!" She got up and hugged me again, making me very glad that I had eaten on the plane. "I can't believe this is happening. It was so long ago that you got engaged."

"I know. I really didn't think it would ever happen."

She pulled away and cupped my face. "Just think, in a couple of months, you'll forever be Mrs. Salvatore."

My entire body went still. My gaze became unfocused as the title repeated in my mind over and over again. Mrs. Salvatore. Of course I had thought about it, but to hear someone else say it made it seem more like a reality. "Oh," I said, slowly sitting down. "That's the first time anyone but me has said that out loud."

Jenna grinned and tousled the hair at the top of my head. "I remember the first time someone said Mrs. Saltzman. I imagine I had the exact same look on my face." As Jenna went on and on about how it felt to be a newly wed, I unintentionally zoned her out. My thoughts were of Damon and being Mrs. Elena Salvatore for all eternity.

By the time Alaric came home, the kids were watching TV in the living room and Jenna was upstairs taking a bath. In the meantime, I was cleaning up so that Jenna could have more time to get ready for her date. Alaric came into the kitchen from the garage and stopped immediately at the sight of me. "Elena?"

"No, it's Katherine," I teased and watched as he tensed up. "Of course it's me."

"W-what are you- Where's Jenna?"

I grinned, very pleased that he didn't immediately ask me where Damon was. I had even tried calling him again with no success. "I'm here to invite you guys to my wedding and Jenna is upstairs getting ready for your date," I said, moving around the counter to hug him.

"So you finally set a date, huh?" he asked once I pulled away and went to continue cleaning.

"New Years," I said and filled him in on all the details.

"Wow, I imagine Damon has quite the man cave."

I laughed and leaned against the counter. "Of course he does. I think John said almost the same thing."

"So where is he?"

"With Anna and Jeremy last time I talked to him."

His brow quirked at that.

"He's fine. Or at least he is until I get a hold of him."

"I'm sure there's a reason why he's not answering," he said quietly while averting his eyes.

"You're aware I can read minds again, right?"

He paused and looked up at me, grinning sheepishly. "I was not."

I crossed my arms over my chest and smirked at him. For the first time in a few days, I was feeling a bit relieved over the fact that Damon hadn't picked up the phone. "So I take it he's alright?"

"He's fine," he assured me. "And yes, I did talk to him earlier today, and no, I'm not going to tell you what it was about."

I held up the peace sign, "I promise to stay out of your head."

"Thank you."

From then on, it was awkwardly silent. Luckily, Miranda came in to greet Alaric. "Elena's going to babysit us, Daddy."

He looked at me and tilted his head to the side. "You are?"

I nodded. "Don't worry, Jenna already gave me the run down and I will make sure that I eat before you leave."

He gave a nervous laugh. "Well that will be fun," he said, turning to look at his daughter. "And you're going to behave for her?"

She nodded eagerly and then ran back to the living room. "Both of your kids are so great. Cameron looks just like you. You guys are amazing parents."

"Thank you, Elena."

I nodded and then cleared my throat. "Alright, I'm going to head to the hotel and catch a bite to eat. I'll be back about a half hour before you have to leave."

"You know, we have an extra bedroom."

"I know, Jenna already invited me to stay. I think I'll keep the hotel, just in case. I, uh, saw Tyler a few weeks ago and..."

"Yeah, I can see that."

"Yeah, so I'll see you later."

"Do you need a ride to the hotel?"

"No, that's okay. I can get there in no time."

He shook his head and laughed slightly. "Well alright, we'll see you later." I waved and headed for the front door.