Be prepared, dear readers; it's finally here! The major twist in the story that will change the lives of Damon and Elena forever! Are you ready for it? Are you really ready for it? If so, read on!

"I don't think you know just how beautiful you are,"

It was late, and the only light in Damon's bedroom was the soft orange light being produced by his bedside lamp. Elena lay in his bed beside him wrapped only in the shirt he had been wearing earlier that day, and her underwear. She smiled at him from the pillow her head was lying on. "I don't think you know just how sweet you are," she said softly, and he chuckled, trailing his fingers down her spine. "I can be very sweet when I want to be," he purred, placing a soft kiss to her forehead. She smiled and moved closer to him, nuzzling her head into his muscled bare chest as he rubbed relaxing circles into her back through his shirt.

She blinked a few times as she thought. "I don't know why I waited so long," she said quietly, looking up into his blue eyes, "for this; for you."

He smiled, kissing her nose. "No harm done, angel," he said and she smiled, kissing him. When he pulled away she smiled at him, suddenly feeling a strange nostalgic sensation. "Sing to me," she whispered and Damon frowned, his eyes widening a bit. "What…?"

She shook her head, seeming a bit lost in thought. "I… I'm not sure why I said that. It just... this seems... familiar. Like I've been here before, with you... and wanted you to… sing to me."

He blinked a few times, confused; she had told him that she didn't remember anything from when she was three. So… why was she asking him to sing to her, like she had the night she suffered from that horrible nightmare? "When you were under the spell, you had a nightmare. Well, it was a memory, really; you dreamed about when your parents died. You were upset, so… I sang to you."

A small smile tugged at her lips. "Really?"

He nodded. "It was just an old lullaby that my mother used to sing to me and Stefan when we were kids…" Damon chuckled. "It was in French; it fascinated you."

Elena giggled. "You sang me a French lullaby?"

He nodded, tucking a lock of hair behind her ears. "I also told you a story; it wasn't very creative… I just kind of took everything that's ever happened to us, changed the names and turned it into a fairy tale. You loved it."

Elena smiled at him, astonished yet again by how good he had been with her when she was a baby. Damon had never seemed like the kind of guy who would like kids… but, then again, he was Damon Salvatore; he never ceased to surprise her.

"I didn't know you sang," she said thoughtfully and he grinned. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me, Elena."

"Well, I guess I'll just have to stick around and find out, won't I?" she said with a grin and he smiled. "You most certainly will."

He had been leaning in to give her another kiss when a loud knocking on the door downstairs caused them both to pause. Elena frowned. "Where you expecting someone?"

He shook his head, frowning. "No… no, the only thing I was expecting was to wallow in self-pity all day," he grinned at her again, "Although I'm very glad it didn't turn out that way…"

Elena giggled; surely whoever it was would just come back later…

Damon had just taken her lips in his once again when there was suddenly a clap of thunder that nearly caused the entire house to shake. Rain began to pour down in buckets on the roof, and with a loud sound of electricity being cut off, all of the lights in the house flashed off, plunging them into complete blackness.

"Shit…" Damon hissed, sitting up. Elena sat up with him, biting her lip as she listened to the wind howling outside. "Was there supposed to be a storm tonight?" she said, unsure. Damon shook his head. "Nope," he said, and plopped back down into the pillows, holding his arms out for her. Elena smiled at him and moved to lie back down on his chest. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, kissing her hair. Elena suddenly bit her lip. "Jeremy," she muttered. "He doesn't know where I am… and I don't think Ric is home, either… I should go call him."

"It's just a storm, Elena; he's a big boy. He can take care of himself."

Elena shook her head. "It will only take a few minutes…"

He sighed and released her. "Do you need my cell?"

She shook her head. "I've got my phone in my purse downstairs."

Damon sat up as she got out of the bed and started for the door. "Wait a second," he said, opening the drawer to his bedside table and pulling out a small flashlight, tossing it to her. She caught it and he grinned. "Just to make sure you don't fall down the stairs in the dark," he said and she giggled, walking back over and giving him a quick kiss. "Thanks," she said, turning and exiting the room, turning on the flashlight. It was clearly an expensive, newer one because it was LED, and the blue light coming from it nearly lit the entire floor as she made her way over to the stairs. She quickly ran down and into the parlor, grabbing her purse up from the floor where it had fallen when she and Damon had…

Elena giggled and picked it up, fishing out her phone and quickly dialing Jeremy's number. He picked it up on the second ring. "What the hell, Elena?" he cried, clearly freaking out. "Where have you been? I've been trying to call you for nearly four days, but no one has answered me! Where the hell are you…?"

"Relax, Jer; I'm fine. I was at Bonnie's, practicing spells, and she… sort of messed up. But everything is fine now."

"Well are you still there?"

"I'm with Damon. Look, just calm down, okay? I'm perfectly fine, and I'll be home tomorrow; I promise. I just called to make sure that you were okay. This freak storm just struck, and all of the power went out," Elena said and heard Jeremy sighed. "Same here; it's so weird. We weren't even supposed to get any rain; this is bordering a hurricane!"

"Is Ric with you?" Elena asked.

"Mm-hm; everything is fine here."

"Good, I just…"

Elena suddenly trailed off, frowning; what was that? She had been listening to Jeremy's reply when she suddenly heard something outside. It wasn't rain, or wind, or thunder; it had sounded like… crying? "Jer, I have to go. I'll be home tomorrow once the weather clears up, okay?"

"Sure. Be careful, alright?"

Elena nodded to herself. "Yeah… yeah, I will. Goodnight, Jer,"

"Night."

She hung up her phone and sat it down, listening intently. For a moment she began to think she was hearing things until the sound came again. Yes, it was definitely crying; loud, terrified crying coming from outside the front door. It didn't sound like an animal, either. It sounded like…

It sounded like a baby.

Eyes wide, Elena ran to the front door and pulled it open, gasping when she looked down, "Oh, my God; Damon!"

Damon heard her call and was down the stairs in a flash, finding her crouched before the open door, grabbing something. "What are you doing?" he called over the roar of the storm outside. Elena straightened out and allowed him to shut the door again. "Elena, are you crazy? It's a hurricane out there! Something could have blown inside and hit you…!"

He trailed off when the unmistakable sound of crying filled the house and his eyes widened. "What…?" he hissed, and his blue eyes widened in stunned shock when Elena turned to face him, holding a tiny bundle of faded pink blankets. "Is that what I think it is?" he hissed to her and she slowly nodded. "It's… a baby," she whispered, staring down at the crying infant in her arms in disbelief. Damon was even more stunned then she was. Someone had left a baby on his doorstep during a hurricane?

Elena walked over to the leather sofa and sat down, hushing the terrified little baby in her arms. "She's so little…" she whispered, unable to believe that someone would leave such a young, helpless little baby on someone's doorstep in the middle of the night. Not to mention, it was during a horrible storm. Elena gulped, horrified of what may have happened if she hadn't come down to call Jeremy, and heard it crying…

"There's something tucked in the blankets," Damon said quietly, and Elena noticed it, too. Pulling out the small, wet piece of paper she read aloud, "Her name is Ellie. She's six weeks old and we are unable to care for her any longer. We've been watching you with your own daughter, and believe you would be a suitable substitute…" Elena trailed off with her eyes wide as she turned to look up at Damon, whose lips were pressed together in a thin, disbelieving white line. She turned back to the note and read the last few lines. "Please take care of her; she needs a loving family; one that we cannot provide for her."

The small baby, who had stopped crying and was now huddling closer to Elena's warmth, had been left for Damon. Someone had been watching him with Elena, and now they expected him to just take in their abandoned child…?

"How is this even happening?" he hissed and Elena shook her head. "I have no idea. But we need dry blankets. These are soaked and freezing…"

Damon was gone and back in a flash, holding a thick white blanket in his hands. Elena got rid of the spindly pink blanket, tossing it aside to discover that the small baby girl was wearing nothing beneath it. "Oh, my God…" she whispered, feeling the little girl's icy skin. "Damon…"

Elena turned her eyes up to meet his and he promptly took the shivering infant from her, wrapping it in the blankets and holding her close, supporting her head. "There's a bag of clothes that Caroline brought for you; they'll be too big, but it's all we have to work with for now…"

Elena jumped up and grabbed the flashlight, dashing back up the stairs and into the spare room. Meanwhile, Damon sat down on the couch and held the tiny baby close, wrapping the blankets more securely around her in attempt to warm her icy skin. He noticed that her eyes were a watery shade of violet-blue, and that she had barely visible blonde hair beginning to grow. She was small and frail and clearly not fed often enough. She was just so tiny…

"Here," Elena said, sitting beside him with the bag in her hands. She pulled out a pair of pink footy pajamas and Damon shook his head. "Wait a few minutes until she's warm…" he said quietly, rocking the baby in his arms. Despite her best efforts, a small smile pulled at the corner of Elena's lips as she watched him rock the little girl to sleep. So this was what Damon was really like with children. She so desperately wished she could remember what had happened between them…

Elena reached over and stroked the little girl's cheek with the back of her index finger, smiling softly. "She's beautiful," she whispered. Damon nodded a bit his lip, turning to look at Elena. "What are we going to do with her?"

Elena looked wonderingly at the little girl in Damon's arms. She could tell, just from the way he had spoken of his time with her three year old self, and from the way that he was holding the baby that he wanted nothing more than to have that small piece of humanity that he had missed out on. To really be a father… "Why don't we take care of her?"

Damon looked up at Elena's whispered words. "What…?"

"Like the note said. Damon, they watched us together. Whoever her parents are, they saw how good you were with me… and they wanted that for her. Obviously, they couldn't do it… so why shouldn't you?"

Damon bit his lip and shook his head as he looked at the baby in his arms. "Elena, I can't…"

She frowned. "Look at me," she said, and he looked up again. "Look at me and tell me that you honestly don't want this. That you don't want to be a father, and to have a family… Damon, I know that you do. You're being given a chance that you will likely never get ever again! So take it."

He was still shaking his head. "I can't do it on my own, Elena… I barely managed two days with you on my own…"

"You won't be doing it on your own," she said quietly and he looked up at her disbelievingly. "Damon, I said that we should take care of her. We meaning you and me."

Damon couldn't believe it. "Are you… are you serious…?"

She nodded, a smile pulling at her lips. "Damon… I want to be with you. But we both know that if I am… I can never have kids of my own. This gives us the perfect opportunity… to have both."

A smile was growing on Damon's lips. "You mean… you really want this…?"

She nodded, smiling as well. "I do. She needs us, Damon, and you would be the perfect father… she needs you."

He beamed. "What's a father without a mother?"

Elena was beaming as well. "So it's settled, then? From now on, it's you, me…"

"And little Ellie," Damon finished, smiling at the sleeping baby he was holding. Elena curled up beside him and took the little baby's now warm hand in her own, smiling.

"Ellie Salvatore…" he whispered, beaming. It was perfect. His life was completely perfect. He had Elena, whom he had thought he could never possibly win. But she loved him. She had loved him all this time… and now they had a baby. A little angel of their own…

Everything was perfect. The rain continued to pour and the wind continued to howl outside, but Damon didn't even care if the world was crumbling around him; he had the two most precious things in the world right there with him. He had the woman he loved… and he had his little girl.

Ellie Salvatore! :D So, what do you all think? I know, I know; it's likely not what you expected the twist to be... but I hope you liked it! Now that the twist is out in the open... what did you all think it was going to be before you read it? I really want to know what you were all thinking; your ideas always facinate me, and tend to inspire a lot of the things that happen in the chapters (which I thank you immensely for!). Don't worry, either; it's not over yet! I still have a few ideas to throw together a few more chapters. Also, if you ever have a suggestion, feel free to send it to me! I always love to hear your ideas. :) Thank you all so much for reading, and remember to review!- Charlie'sLostVampire