Ok, I can't keep from updating any longer! I don't want to leave Katie in pain, haha.

Marina164509: After the rain comes sunshine ;)

LiveBreatheVampires: Actually, he didn't really underestimate his strength in my opinion; I think he just lost his temper which is probably even worse. And I'll make him feel all the more guilty about that. And about the fine line between abuse and discipline: I've grown up in a country where any kind of corporal punishment is legally and socially considered to be abuse since the seventies. So for me it's very hard to determine what might be offensive, which was why I was worried. But I'm happy you approve! Thank you for everything.

Jacks-peapod: I also think Damon learned an important lesson! And he is definitely realizing more and more that he has a soft spot for Katie and hates to see her in pain. Thanks for your review!

HiMokusei: Actually, Katie saw Damon's vampire face in the first draft of the last chapter so it's funny that you should mention it! I edited it out because I think she would have probably died in fear. She'll most likely be seeing it soon enough though

Thanks also to 1991baby and Priya, you guys rock! Enjoy the next chapter!

XXX

Katie was still sleeping when Damon woke up the next morning. She was still on her stomach and still holding his hand. She had probably never slept through the night in one position before. Damon loosened his hand from her grip and slipped out of the bed, pulling on a pair of jeans and some socks and shoes before leaving the room. He decided he would make Katie some breakfast and bring it to her in bed to tell her everything.

"Hey." Stefan walked into the kitchen as Damon was stirring something into a glass of orange juice. "What's that?"

"Vervain." Damon replied. "Precaution. Hybrids and vampires will still be able to kill her but they damn well won't benefit from drinking her blood. Not that it'll be too much of a problem since she's never getting out of the house again."

"Good thinking." Stefan said and sat down at the table. "About the vervain I mean. What was going on last night?"

"I'm assuming since you ask, you probably heard." Damon said through clenched teeth and took the eggs off the stove.

"I didn't hear what you were saying, only that Katie was crying." Stefan protested. "Was she in pain? Did you hurt her?"

"Yes and yes." Damon replied. "Happy? I lost control and I hit her too hard and now her backside's suffering the consequences." Frustrated, he slammed the frying pan into the sink after having put to eggs on a plate with toast and some sliced fruit.

"Of course I'm not happy to hear that, Damon." Stefan said calmly. "Are you gonna feed her your blood?"

"Already tried." Damon said, putting the plate and the cup of milk on the tray as well. "Didn't work, she threw it back up. I'm not too surprised, none of the other vampire tricks have worked on her."

"Try human blood." Stefan suggested and Damon's eyes widened in surprise. Partly because it seemed weird that Stefan would make such a suggestion and partly because he hadn't thought of it himself.

"That could work." He said, frowning. Before he knew it, Stefan disappeared in a blur and within seconds he was back, handing Damon a blood bag.

Damon poured some of it into a glass, not wanting to freak Katie out at the sight of a blood bag, and finished the rest of it himself. He lifted the tray and went back upstairs and into his bedroom. Katie opened her eyes as he came in.

"Hey." Damon said, placing the tray on the bed next to her, but put the glass of blood on nightstand. "Do you want to sit up?" At her hesitant look he added: "This bed is really soft. Promise." At that Katie nodded. Damon helped her sit up slowly and she let out a little sigh of relief.

"It doesn't hurt that much." She said.

"Good." Damon said, handing her the glass of juice to see how she handled vervain. He watched her carefully as she sipped on it, seemingly without problems. His plan would work. Damon sat with her as she finished her breakfast, apparently hungry since she hadn't had much to eat the day before. When she was done Damon put the silver tray away on the floor and sat up next to Katie.

"There are some things we need to talk about." He said in a serious tone. "Do you think you're up for it?"

"Yeah." Katie said without hesitation but with a cautious glint in her eyes.

"Ok…" Damon sighed, suddenly unsure where to start. "Why don't you tell me everything that happened yesterday after you climbed out the window?"

Katie looked up at him.

"I won't get mad." Damon assured her quickly. "Just tell me. You saw a dog, right? What did it do?"

"It wagged its tail and wanted me to come with… Like he wanted to show me something." Katie started and frowned as she tried to remember. "But I didn't want to at first because I knew I should go back. So I said no and then he did a backflip and kept wanting me to come…" She looked at Damon with a pleading look in her eyes. "I really didn't mean to go far, he was just so funny and I wanted to see what he would do."

"It's ok." Damon soothingly stroked her hair. "What then?"

"I went with him into the forest… Further and further and then we came to this place and the dog went into the ground, on the staircase…"

It was lucky Damon knew the place of the tomb, or what she was saying wouldn't have made any sense. He looked encouragingly at her to keep going.

"And I didn't want to go down there but I heard the dog wail and I thought…" Katie hesitated. "Maybe he was hurt or something and I had to help. So I went down and then it was dark and I didn't see the dog and then the man came and he stung me with in my neck and then I fell asleep."

Damon cursed silently. The bastard had drugged her. However, if she had been out for a few hours then she wouldn't have been scared during that time. Maybe it had been a good thing. Katie kept going, squirming uncomfortably where she sat.

"And then I woke up and the man was there…" She mumbled. "He said so many weird things, he talked about someone called Klaus and that I would die and then" she let out a little sob. "He started talking about my blood and he came closer and closer and his eyes were red and he looked like a monster and it was just like in my nightmares." Tears were flowing from her eyes now. Damon put his arms around her and held her close, stroking her hair as she cried. Eventually the little girl calmed down, leaned back from Damon and wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

"But then you came." She sniveled with a little sigh.

"Yeah, I did." Damon said. And then I beat you black and blue, he added in his thoughts with a little pang of guilt. He hadn't changed his mind about Katie's need for punishment after running off without permission but given what she'd been through he could definitely have shown a little more tact.

"Thank you for saving me, Damon." Katie's words came out as a sigh, since she was so exhausted from crying.

"Anytime, sweetheart." Damon patted her head. "Though preferably not anytime soon."

Now it was his turn to sigh.

"Katie, there are some things I have to tell you." He started. "They're not pleasant things but I want you to try your hardest not to be afraid. You're safe now, and you're safe here. Ok?"

"Ok." Katie nodded, looking slightly confused.

"The man who took you was not a regular man." Damon explained. "He was a hybrid, a crossbreed, between a vampire and a werewolf. Do you know what vampires and werewolves are?"

"I've read about them." Katie said with a frown. "Vampires drink peoples' blood and werewolves are people that turn into wolves when it's full moon."

"You know your stuff." Damon said, impressed. "A hybrid drinks blood and can turn into a wolf whenever he or she pleases. I think the dog you saw was a wolf and not a dog; it was the hybrid who took you."

"Oh." Katie looked down on her lap, reflecting. "He was pretty big for a dog."

"He tricked you into going with him."

"Why did he want my blood?" Katie looked back up at Damon. "And what did the Klaus man want with me?"

Damon braced himself for what he was about to say.

"Because you're a hybrid too." He told her. "A different kind of hybrid, a cross between a vampire and a human."

"What?" Katie let out and then looked as if she realized something. "Mom was a vampire?"

"Not at first." Damon explained. "Not until a few weeks before she brought you here. Remember you said she'd been weird and not herself?"

"Yeah." Katie said. "But then how am I a… a hybrid?" She tasted the new word.

"Because I'm a vampire."

Katie's eyes widened as she looked up at him.

"I understand that this is hard to believe." Damon said but Katie shook her head.

"Not really." She shrugged. "It makes sense."

Damon let out a chuckle and smirked at her with a raised eyebrow:

"You think?" He said. "How so?"

"Because now I understand why you're so scary sometimes."

Damon's smirk faded and he leaned down to kiss Katie's head.

"I know I can be scary, in fact I even take pride in it." He started. "But I want you to know that I would never, ever be a danger to you Katie. And neither will Stefan."

"Is he a vampire too?" Katie asked.

"Yup."

"What about Elena?"

"No" Damon shook his head. "She's human. Caroline is a vampire though." He raised an eyebrow at her. "I must say I'm surprised that you believed all this so fast. I took you for a non-believer; I expected you would want proof of this and that and ask ten million annoying questions."

"I know vampires are real." Katie sneered defensively. "I just haven't met any before so I couldn't know what they were like." She added matter-of-factly.

"You keep surprising me, you little weirdo." Damon said, ruffling her hair.

"But Damon…" Katie bit her lip.

"M-hm?"

"I still don't get why the Klaus man would want me to die?"

"Yeah, I was getting to that." Damon sighed. "He wanted your blood because you're special. Being half human and half vampire, you can do some vampire things and some human things. You're dangerous to hybrids because you can kill them with more ease than regular vamps or humans. And Klaus is a really dangerous hybrid; almost no one can kill him. But you can."

"How?" Katie said. "I'm really little."

"I'm guessing when you grow up you'll be a lot stronger." Damon shrugged. "I'm not sure how this whole thing works; your kind is very rare. Normally, vampires aren't able to have children. Your mother got pregnant with you because a witch did some spell."

"Do you know witches too?" Katie was beginning to look almost excited.

"I know one far too well." Damon snorted. "Remember Bonnie?"

"Oh." Kate let out in a disappointed tone. She hadn't particularly taken to Bonnie when she had come with Elena one day. Damon had been very proud of his little girl.

"There's more." Damon turned serious. "I know you think I have been unfair when I say you can't leave the house or even just go out in the garden. But like I told you before I have my reasons."

Katie said nothing, just looked at him and waited for him to continue.

"Well, because you're half human and half vampire, drinking your blood would make vampires able to do things they can't normally do." Damon explained. "Regular vampires can't walk in the sun and they have to be invited into a house before they can enter. And they are sensitive to some things, like wood and this herb called vervain. Drinking your blood would mean that all that would go away."

"How can you walk in the sun?" Katie frowned at Damon. He showed her his ring.

"This was made special by a witch." He told her. "As long as I wear it the sun can't harm me."

"Then don't take it off." Katie said, making him chuckle.

"I don't." He smirked before once again turning serious. "But did you understand what I said, Katie? About why the vampires want your blood?"

"Yeah." Katie nodded. "But I'll be ok as long as I'm in the house and that's why I can't go outside." She said the last bit with a sigh.

"Good girl." Damon smiled at her. "Got it in one."

"Will I have to stay here forever?" Katie asked in a worried voice.

"Just until things calm down and the town isn't crawling with hybrids anymore."

He didn't mention that it might be a while before they went anywhere. He was beginning to think that perhaps the safest option would be for him to take Katie somewhere else, just move far away and leave it all behind. However, he might as well wait until whatever Stefan was up to worked or didn't work. Katie seemed temporarily satisfied by his answer and she looked down on her teddy, clutching him to her chest.

"Are you ok?" Damon asked with a frown on his forehead, unsure of whether he should be comforting her somehow. "I get that it's a lot to take in."

"I'm ok." Katie decided after a moment. "But Damon?"

"What?" He looked down at her.

"How did my mom become a vampire?"

"She found another vampire who could turn her into one." Damon answered floatingly.

Katie played with Archibald's ear.

"How do you do that?" She asked, barely audible but Damon heard and hesitated a little before answering.

"You have to drink vampire blood and die with it in your system." He quickly explained. "And then to complete the change you have to drink human blood."

"You have to die?" Katie's eyes widened. The dying part seemed to upset her more than the blood parts. "Does that mean mom was already dead before she died?"

"Yeah, technically." Damon said and braced himself when Katie gasped in realization.

"Are you dead too?" She asked him with new tears forming in her eyes.

"I am." Damon didn't know what he could say other than the truth. To his surprise, Katie's eyes filled with sympathy rather than fear.

"I'm sorry." She said and gave him one of her rare hugs.

"Don't be." Damon chuckled, patting her back. "I'm not dead as in gone, as you can see, and there are a lot of good things about being a vampire too."

"Like what?" Katie looked up at him.

"We are super strong, super-fast and we have super hearing." He told her. "And we heal quickly and our blood can heal humans if they drink it."

"Oh." Katie looked at him from under her eyelids, before shyly asking. "Can it heal me?"

"Doesn't look like it I'm afraid." Damon stroked her hair in sympathy. "Your body seems to repel it; I put some of my blood in the smoothie you couldn't keep down last night."

"Oh." Katie said again, sadly.

"Are you still sore?" Damon asked her and she nodded, tearing up yet again. She furiously wiped her face with the back of her hand.

"There's something we could try." He said, grasping the glass of human blood. "This is human blood, drink some of that and see how that works for you."

"Whose blood is it?" Katie gasped.

"Nobody's" Damon said. "I mean, nobody died for us to get it. It's from the hospital's blood bank."

Katie wrinkled her nose, but she was willing to try anything that would take away the pain in her bottom so she took a little sip from the glass that Damon was holding out to her. She swallowed with her eyes closed.

"Yuck." She said with a little frown.

"But you're keeping it down." Damon muttered. "How do you feel?"

"Better" She burst out in surprise. "It doesn't hurt as much."

"How about that." Damon smirked. "Have some more, until it's not hurting at all anymore."

"Noo…" Katie said floatingly. "I'm ok."

"What now?"

"It's really disgusting." Katie mumbled.

"Ah." Damon thought through it quickly. He contemplated letting her off the hook, allowing her to stay sore for a few more days. In a way, it was cheating to heal her completely: a punishment was a punishment and a spanking was supposed to hurt for some time as a reminder. Then again, he wasn't exactly up for feeling guilty every time he'd see Katie wince or grimace at sitting down and he most definitely didn't want to wake up from her crying again, knowing he had been the one to cause her pain. Knowing that he had been unfairly harsh and that she hadn't even deserved half of that harshness. That was more of the problem actually; that he had been wrong and acting much too impulsively. If Katie had done something worse, purposely causing trouble, he might have felt differently but this time, the punishment didn't fit the crime. Nowhere near. So he told her:

"Think of the blood as medicine. Have you ever needed to take medicine that you didn't like?"

"Yeah." Katie shuddered at the memory. "Cough drops."

"But they got you better, didn't it?"

"Yes." Katie admitted.

"So just drink this and you'll stop hurting." Damon said, pushing the glass closer to her. "It'll be over in like a minute."

"Ok." Katie sighed and allowed Damon to help her drink the blood. She grimaced when she had emptied the glass but then looked up at him smiling: "It doesn't hurt at all anymore!"

"Glad to hear it." Damon put the glass on the tray and ruffled Katie's hair but she looked at him hesitantly. "What?"

"Are you ever going to spank me again?" She asked, turning her head to look down at her lap.

"If you behave I won't have to." Damon replied but then he sighed. Admitting he was wrong didn't come easily to him. Neither did apologizing. "Look, Katie… I can't promise that I won't punish you when you disobey, because trust me I will… but I can promise you that it will never be like last night. I won't let myself lose control that way again and I'll never again cause you the kind of pain that makes you wake up in the night or need to drink human blood. That sound reasonable enough to you?" He couldn't believe he was asking the child's approval but she nodded.

"Yeah." She told him and he patted her head lightly.

They remained still for a while before Katie spoke up again:

"Damon?"

"What?"

"What happened to the man, I mean the hybrid; that took me yesterday?" Katie asked with a deep frown on her face.

"He's gone away now." Damon said fleetingly.

"Do you know him?" Katie asked, to Damon's relief not appearing to realize that he had meant gone as in dead.

"Vaguely." Damon shrugged, not wanting to explain to Katie that she had been kidnapped by her auntie Caroline's boyfriend. Nor that he had killed him. Katie seemed to be satisfied with his answer and Damon smoothed out her hair before rising from the bed.

"I'll let you get dressed." He said, picking up the breakfast tray.

He left her room and as he went downstairs he shook his head, wondering what the hell was going on with him. Not counting the outburst resulting in close-to-abusive corporal punishment, he was turning softer each day.

XXX

The moment Damon stepped into the parlor after having cleared Katie's breakfast tray, he was met by Elena who promptly walked up and slapped him across the face. Damon's eyes widened in slight surprise and he rolled his jaw even if it hadn't hurt in the slightest.

"Well, good morning to you too." He said, smirking.

Elena crossed her arms over her chest and took a few steps back, as Damon walked past her to have a drink.

"I can't believe you." Elena scolded. "How could you hurt a child like that?"

"I didn't hurt her anywhere near as much as Dickhead Lockwood or Klaus would have!" Damon hissed back with a dangerous frown. He took a sip from his bourbon and said in a more normal tone: "She broke the house rules and almost got herself killed. She needed to be disciplined."

"And you couldn't have done it any other way?" Elena yelled.

"I wanted to make a lasting impression." Damon said tiredly and sat down. Hadn't he already had this discussion with Stefan? He didn't think he should have to defend himself to either of them, it was between him and Katie and it was enough for him that they were on good terms now.

"What, lasting scars?" Elena snorted and sat down next to him.

"She won't get scars from a spanking!" Damon spat out. "Don't be ridiculous. Sure, I might have overdone it but I gave her some human blood and now it's all healed. All she went through was one night with sore buttocks, which I assure you will be far less than if she ever does anything like it again."

"Maybe not physical scars, but she might not even dare to move in fear that you'll… Wait!" Elena interrupted herself. "Did you say you gave her human blood?"

"She was bound to have some vampire sides." Damon shrugged. "Don't worry, she didn't like it. I practically had to force it down her throat."

"God, I really hope you didn't" Elena said, remembering when he had forced his own blood down her throat not so long ago.

"Would you rather have unable to sit for a month?" Damon snarled.

Elena stiffened and looked at him, almost in fear.

"How hard did you hit her?" She asked.

"Like I said." Damon looked away. "I might have overdone it."

"You feel guilty about it." Elena stated. "There's at least some decency in you."

"I don't feel guilt over punishing her, what she did was stupid." Damon looked back at her with a look in his eyes that Elena hadn't really seen before. "But the hm…severity of it I do regret." He frowned at his own words, as if he was having a hard time believing he had actually said them out loud.

Elena couldn't believe how she always forgave Damon, how she'd gotten used thinking that violence was just his way and that he sometimes couldn't help himself. She was angry about how she always melted when he was sincerely sorry about having crossed the line. Still, in the past weeks she had seen him with Katie and she knew that he was changing. Having Katie to take care of was changing him for the better. The sides of Damon that she liked and trusted were showing more and more and the sides of him that she had simply learned to live with only made guest appearances nowadays. Without realizing what she was doing, she leaned forward and kissed Damon's cheek. He raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"I think you're going to be a good father to her, Damon." Elena whispered. "You just…" She struggled to find the right words. "You just have to be less… Damon and more you."

He smirked. "How poetic." He teased her.

"You know what I mean" Elena slapped his arm.

"I do." Damon turned serious. "And thank you. For believing I can do this."

"I know you can." Elena said and rose from the couch. "And remember, you don't have to do it all by yourself."

XXX

Since Stefan had gone out to do something for his mysterious get-rid-of-the-hybrids plan, there was just Damon, Elena and Katie in the house. Elena had made it her mission to see to it that Katie had fun today, so she had brought over all of the board games that she owned. She forcefully made sure that even Damon played along and they were at it for hours. Around lunchtime, Damon was amused by the fact that Elena was the only one actually having fun since well more than an hour. Katie had seemed to like playing during the first two games but now she had grown tired of it and probably remained in her chair to keep Elena happy.

"Yes!" Elena did a high-five with herself when Damon ended up on one of her hotel-crammed streets in monopoly, being forced to pay her lots of fake money.

"Katie." Damon turned to his daughter, who tiredly looked up at him. "In the drawer in the hallway there is a pizza menu, do you want to go get it and see what you want and we'll order some lunch?"

"Ok!" Katie practically flew out of the dining room where they had covered the mahogany table with different games.

"But I'm winning!" Elena complained.

"You're boring." Damon snorted. "Time for a break, not even Katie's having fun. I thought this day was supposed to be about her having a good time?"

"Oh." Elena said sheepishly. "I thought she was."

"At first, but watching you win game after game for hours gets old pretty fast." Damon smirked.

"Do you think I should have let her win?" Elena blushed, embarrassed of herself.

"No!" Damon exclaimed like it was the stupidest thing he'd ever heard. "How would you have liked it if you found out that you hadn't won for real?"

"Fine." Elena smiled to herself at Damon wanting to protect Katie from hurt feelings. "I am pretty hungry actually, let's go order some food."

They both rose from the table and went out to find Katie in the parlor, sitting on the couch and reading the pizza menu. Damon and Elena sat down on each side of her, Damon lightly poking a finger in between two of Katie's ribs, making her squeal and let out a little giggle before she turned back to her concentrated reading.

"Find anything?" Damon asked her and ruffled her hair.

"Yeah." Katie pointed on pizza marinara. "Can I have this one, please?"

"Sure." Damon approved her choice. "What do you want Elena?"

"I'll have the same as Katie." Elena said, smiling at the little girl. "If you order a big one the two of us can share."

"And if I order a huge one we can all share." Damon stated, picking up his phone to call in the order.

"Damon, do you have any broccoli?" Katie asked timidly.

"What?" Damon let out and frowned at her. "Why would you ask me if we have broccoli?"

"It doesn't matter." Katie shrugged. "I just really like broccoli with pizza."

"I swear Katie." Damon sighed. "You are the weirdest child I have ever met."

"Do you have any broccoli?" Elena shot in, thinking that Damon was an idiot if he didn't seize the opportunity to give his child vegetables. Not that Katie seemed too difficult in that department but still.

"No!" Damon spat out. "Why would I? Broccoli is disgusting."

They sat in silence for a few moments, Elena and Damon throwing each other annoyed glances. Katie looked from Damon to Elena, and back. After some hesitation, Katie climbed up on Damon's lap and hugged him briefly around his neck.

"I'm sorry if I made you upset." She told him. "I don't need broccoli, really I don't!"

"Of course you can have broccoli." Damon sighed taken aback by her gesture. "You don't have to apologize, nobody's upset." He lifted her off him and placed her back down next to Elena as he rose.

"Stay with her while I go to the grocery store." He said. "Here's money for the pizza; I don't need to tell you not to invite them in."

He picked out a few bills from his wallet and gave them to Elena before he left. Impressive, he thought. From hunting hybrids to hunting broccoli in less than twenty-four hours.

XXX

"Look who I ran into on the porch." Damon smirked as he came back twenty minutes later. "Emo teen."

"Jeremy!" Katie happily burst out at the sight of the sixteen-year-old boy following her father through the front door.

Jeremy smiled big as Katie ran up to hug him. When he had been there to visit before Katie had immediately taken a liking to him and she had asked Damon as well as Elena several times since if he would come back. She had loved to draw with him and now she was telling him about what she had been drawing since he was last there.

"After we eat you can show Jeremy all the drawings you've made." Elena said to Katie as they walked into the kitchen to eat the pizza they had already put there, since the dining room table was full of games. "You have enough drawings to cover all the walls in the house I think."

"Yeah, Katie." Damon smirked as he put some broccoli, which he had bought pre-cooked, on a plate for Katie. "You're a real environmental crook. Anyone else want some?"

"No thanks" Elena said. "I don't really like broccoli."

"I do." Jeremy held out his plate. "I'd love some."

Damon rolled his eyes but Katie looked at Jeremy as if she had just seen Jesus.

"My favorite vegetables are broccoli, Brussels sprouts and carrots. Thank you." She said when Elena put a pizza slice on her plate, but didn't take her eyes of her idol. "What are yours?"

"Can't say I'm that into any kind of sprouts." Jeremy confessed. "But I really like carrots too."

"Eat your precious broccoli then, Katie." Damon took a bite from his pizza slice, exchanging amused looks with Elena.

"Ok, thank you for getting it Damon." Katie smiled sweetly at him before lifting her fork.

"Anytime." Damon muttered.

Katie ate quickly because she wanted to draw with Jeremy and as soon as she was done, she looked hopefully to see if Jeremy had finished too. He had, not being very hungry and Katie quickly asked to be excused, putting her plate in the dishwasher before taking Jeremy's hand and bringing him upstairs to her room. Once they had gone, Elena leaned back in her chair and laughed.

"She really seems to like Jeremy." She stated.

"M-hm." Damon helped himself to another slice of pizza.

"It's a good thing." Elena said carefully. "She needs friends."

"He's not her friend." Damon snorted. "He's a babysitter."

"To her he's a friend" Elena pushed away her plate. "Speaking of friends, when is she gonna start school?"

"She's not."

"Seriously?" Elena stared at Damon in disbelief. "You're just going to keep her here?"

"I don't see why not." Damon said casually, putting both of their plates in the dishwasher and throwing away the pizza carton as Elena kept glaring at him.

"You're going to suffocate her." She shook her head and rose, following Damon into the parlor. "And how are you planning on educating her?"

"She's already smarter than most of today's fifteen-year-olds." Damon shrugged before pouring himself a drink. "Want one?" He said, shaking the bottle at Elena.

"No, driving." Elena waved her hand as if to make the bottle fly away. "But Damon, seriously, you need to make sure Katie gets an education."

"She'll live forever, she'll have time." Damon smirked. "But since you're so persistent in your attempts to give my not so normal child a normal childhood: I had already planned on throwing Alaric a chance to moonlight as her private tutor."

"Good luck." Elena snorted.

"Inspired by another great man of Italian heritage" Damon grinned at Elena "I'll make him an offer he can't refuse."

He sat down on the couch and put his feet up. Elena had her hands on her hips. His smug wittiness annoyed her but she couldn't really be mad at Damon anymore. She sighed and said:

"I'll go see what Katie and Jeremy are up to."

"Tell Katie that I'll hear if they start making out and I won't be happy if I do." Damon called after her.

"Jackass." Elena muttered to herself as she was walking up the stairs.

"Heard that too!"

XXX

As much as Katie liked Jeremy, she was certainly not thinking along the making out line.

"I would like Jeremy to be my best friend." She very seriously confided to Damon once Elena and Jeremy had left to go home. The time was already about seven and Damon had just texted Stefan to bring some dinner.

"Oh yeah?" Damon snorted. "I hate to break it to you sweet heart, but Jeremy probably thinks you're a little young for a best friend."

"I know, I'm just saying." Katie sighed angrily, frowning at Damon as he picked her up and started carrying her upstairs. "Why are you always carrying me?"

"Because it's faster." Damon vampire sped up the stairs and into Katie's room, making her let out a shocked giggle. Damon smirked at her and put her down.

"That's really, really fast." Katie said, still smiling. "It's super cool. Will I be able to do that when I grow up?"

"I don't know" Damon answered truthfully, walking over to her closet. He picked out a pair of clean pajamas, white cotton shorts and t-shirt with Mickey Mouse on them. It had been among the things Elena had brought and Katie had approved of the Mickey Mouse print once she'd learned the pajamas were Jeremy's old ones from when he was little. Damon put the pajamas on the bed. "Take a shower and change." He told Katie. "Stefan should be back with dinner. And because I'm feeling nice today, you'll get to stay up late and watch any movie you want."

He didn't mention it was also because he was still feeling guilty, even though Katie seemed to be pretty ok with the ordeals from yesterday. He watched her as she smiled sweetly at him before running into her bathroom to shower. Damon smirked to himself and went downstairs since he had just heard Stefan coming back home.

"I hope you got something other than pizza." Damon said as he met Stefan in the hallway. "Cause we're out of broccoli."

"Huh?" Stefan looked confused. "I got Chinese."

"Then we don't have a problem." Damon walked into the television room. He looked and opened the big cupboard that held their impressive movie collection. He'd always buy anything he wanted since money wasn't an issue. Stefan came into the room, having fetched some plates from the kitchen.

"You got plates for Chinese?" Damon snorted. "Half the charm is eating out of the box. Speaking of which, I need a blood bag. Want one?"

"Yeah." Stefan said, taking the paper boxes out of the plastic bag and putting them on the coffee table. "And for your information, I got plates because I got a lot of different things. This way everyone can try everything."

"How very thoughtful of you." Damon chuckled as he left the room, catching the chopstick Stefan threw at him in mid-air.

XXX

They all ate in silence as they watched the Titanic. Damon wondered if Katie knew how long the movie was and if she had chosen it deliberately to get to stay up longer. He threw amused looks at how focused the little girl was where she sat on the floor, eyes hooked to the screen.

"Do you really think she should be watching this?" Stefan whispered to Damon with a frown.

"I don't see why not." Damon shrugged. "She already knows that sad things happen sometimes."

Stefan appeared to be ok with the answer and looked back at the screen. Damon wanted desperately to know what he had been up to, what his big plan was, but he was far too proud to ask. So he kept watching the film in silence. He would never have admitted it to anyone but the Titanic was one of his favorite movies. And he didn't mind the fact that it was so long one bit. When the film was nearer to the end and things started to go to hell, Damon crept down onto the floor to sit next to Katie. Just in case she was upset by everything that he knew was to come. She automatically leaned on his shoulder and a bit surprised he put his arm around her, stretching out his legs before him and leaning back on his other hand.

"Are you sure you don't want to sit on the couch?" He asked her.

"No thank you" Katie shook her head without looking away from Leonardo diCaprio being handcuffed. "I really like this rug."

Well thank god the human blood worked, Damon thought to himself with an evil little smirk. On impulse he kissed Katie's head and hugged her a little tighter to him. He heard Stefan's phone click behind him and turned around with an angry frown.

"What's your problem?" He mimicked at his obnoxious little brother.

"Just sending this to Elena, she wants to know if you're behaving yourself." Stefan grinned.

Damon just huffed and turned back. They watched the rest of the film and to Damon's surprise, Katie wasn't all that heartbroken by the end of it. She seemed a little taken however when she looked up at him.

"Were you alive when the Titanic sank?" She asked him and he noticed that her eyes actually were a little glossy. There it was, Damon thought. He had known all along that no daughter of his could watch Jack sink to the bottom of the ocean without being at least a little sad.

"Sure was." He smirked at her, remembering how much fun he'd had with a certain vampire named Sage that particular year.

"You are very old." Katie stated.

"Why thank you." Damon replied sarcastically.

"Will I be as old as you one day?" Katie asked with a little frown on her face.

"Yes."

"Good." A relieved smile flashed over Katie's face and Damon rose, picking her up in his arms.

"That is" He continued. "If you take care of yourself. Eat right, moisturize and of course: get enough sleep." He went to carry Katie upstairs. "Stefan, clean up while I put the little lady to bed will you?" He looked back at his brother with a smirk.

The younger Salvatore huffed but started gathering the plates and empty food boxes anyway. Damon went with Katie upstairs and waited in her room as she went to brush her teeth. When she was done she stood uncertainly in the doorway to her bathroom.

"Damon?" She asked hesitantly.

"What?" Damon sat down on her bed and folded away the corner of the cover for her to get in. She remained where she was.

"Do you drink blood?" She blushed a little when she asked her question, looking down at her feet.

"I do." Damon said simply. "Does that bother you?"

"I don't know…" Katie sighed. "Do you have to drink it?"

"Yeah, if I don't I'll die."

Katie looked up at him.

"Do all vampires have to drink blood?"

"Yes, Katie." Damon replied patiently.

"I'm really sorry for all of you." The little girl let out another deep sigh.

"Why is that?" Damon asked curiously.

"Because blood is so disgusting!" Katie said forcefully, making Damon laugh.

"Come here, you little saint." He said, patting the place from where he'd cleared away the cover. Katie climbed into bed and he put the duvet around her. "I swear, you're worse than Stefan." He leaned over her and looked her in the eye while saying in a serious tone: "Katie, you don't have to feel sorry for vampires. We actually really like blood. I guess you can say we get used to it."

"Oh, ok." Katie looked relieved for a few seconds before she asking: "Will I be a vampire when I grow up?"

"I don't know." Damon answered truthfully. "Maybe."

"Will I have to drink the blood?" Katie seemed disgusted by the thought.

"So far you've survived just fine on regular food." Damon shrugged. "I don't get why that would change and if it does, I promise we'll deal with it. Ok?"

"Ok." Katie said again, nodding and yawning a little.

"I think Archie's still in my room" Damon remembered. "I'll go get him for you."

"Thank you" Katie said solemnly. "But he only goes by his full name."

"Is that right?" Damon let out a chuckle, hardly surprised. He smirked at Katie before vampire speeding of to his room. He was back by her bed within seconds and she looked at him in amazement as he put the teddy in bed with her. "Why don't you want to call him Archie? We all call you Katie."

"Because Katherine is an awful name for awful people." Katie said in her best matter-of-fact tone. "I don't want to be an awful person. And also, Archie is just a normal name. Archibald is much, much cooler."

"Well, that could probably be argued." Damon played with some strands of Katie's hair. "But just to let you know: you are not an awful person."

"You're not awful either." Katie said gravely.

"Thanks." Damon smiled crookedly and kept running his fingers through her dark locks. "Katie… For a completely different matter, when was the last time you combed your hair?"

Katie immediately jerked her head away from his fingers, with an awkward look on her face.

"Ehm…" She blushed slightly. "I haven't combed it since I got here."

"Figures." Damon muttered. "Did your mom use to brush it for you?"

"Yeah." Katie sighed. "It's so boring and it's hard, it always gets knots in it when I wash it and I have too much! But mom wouldn't let me cut it."

"Neither will I" Damon snorted. "If you cut your hair short we might as well call you Damon 2 and that would be ridiculous. Sit up."

Katie let out another sigh but did as she was told. Damon went into her bathroom to fetch the hairbrush that Elena had gotten for Katie. There was no hair in it, a sign that it had not been used, and Damon sighed as he went back to his daughter. He sat down behind Katie, pushing her head downwards a little bit so he would get straight to the knots. He started working with the brush.

"Ow!" Katie burst out after only a few seconds.

"I've barely even started!" Damon sneered.

"It still hurts." Katie complained.

"Fine, I'll try to be more careful." Damon muttered and went from ripping the brush through her hair to sorting out the knots in smaller brush takes. Katie calmed down. "You know" Damon said after a while, when he had finally gotten to the last knot "This wouldn't happen if you just brushed it yourself every once in a while."

"I know." Katie said. "I just…" Her voice died away.

"Just what?" Damon demanded.

"Doesn't matter." Katie mumbled and suddenly Damon got it. She had been used to her mother doing it for her; the reminder she must have gotten from needing to do it herself was probably not a very welcome one. Damon dropped it and put his focus back on her hair. It was actually not the first time he'd brushed a girl's hair; he'd had a few girlfriends who when absolutely loved it when he brushed their hair. He imagined it was a more pleasant experience when it wasn't full of knots and tangles however because Katie did not seem to be loving it at all. Damon really did try to be gentle but it still took a fair amount of violence to sort the mess that was Katie's hair. Eventually, after the final knot was dissolved, he kept brushing through her dark waves. He noticed how her shoulders became less tense and her breathing more even after a little while, when it was no longer hurting. He kept going a little longer, until her hair was shining.

"There." He eventually said, putting the brush on her nightstand and getting her to lie back down. "All right, I'll make you a deal. I'll brush your hair for you when it's harder to do it, like after you wash it, if you do it yourself a little every day. And I'll get you some ribbons or whatever so you can put it up and it won't get tangled as easily. Ok?"

"Ok" Katie nodded.

"Good." For the second time that night, Damon put the cover over her and then he planted a soft kiss on her forehead. "Now it's really about time you went to sleep; it's past midnight. Sleep well, little weirdo."

"Good night." Katie didn't even react to the unconventional nickname, just yawned and rolled over on her side, clutching Archibald with one arm. Her newly brushed hair practically sparkled in the light from her bedside lamp and Damon turned it off before slowly backing out of the room, almost unable to take his eyes of the already sleeping little girl.

XXX

All right then, to use Damon's words: It's back to sunshine and rainbows (was that what he said in chapter 3?) At least for now… I hope you liked the chapter, in spite of it being such a long one. Please review and let me know what you think! Thank you for reading.

xo