Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has reviewed, fav'd, and/or followed! All the support keeps me inspired and it's what keeps this story going. As always, I am anxiously awaiting your feedback!

p.s. - I only have about half of chapter 13 done so it might take me a tiny bit longer to post the next one. Please be patient! I promise to update as soon as humanly possible.

Xoxo

Chapter 12 – Reality Check

Elena's fingers reached up and curled around the necklace at her throat. That wouldn't be good enough. She got up and went the long way around to the kitchen to retrieve the small, but wickedly sharp, paring knife. Taking a deep breath she made her way back to the living room where she found Stefan still arguing with Damon.

"I know you don't want to think it's possible but it is…" Stefan trailed off when he saw her.

"I thought I told you to get out" Damon said icily and turned around slowly to face her.

Damon's eyes widened when they landed on the knife. Stefan gave her an 'are you crazy?' look but she ignored him. Instead of answering she lifted her hands to unclasp her necklace and set it on the table next to her.

"Compel me" she said confidently.

Putting the blade to her fingertip she pressed down until a few drops of blood appeared. She scooped the blood onto the edge of the knife and held it out to him.

"You can test my blood. There's no vervain so you can compel me and make me tell you the truth" she could hear the desperation creeping into her voice.

Instantly he was in front of her, gazing down at her with his wild blue eyes. She stood her ground and stared back up at him with her pleading brown ones. He stayed like that for what felt like hours, trapping her with his gaze like he expected the truth to be written on her face. Finally, he reached over and took the knife out of her hand.

"I'm not going to compel you" he said softy, putting the knife down and picking up her necklace.

"Why not?" she asked hopelessly.

"Because I believe you" he told her as he reached around her neck to clasp the locket back around her throat.

"You believe me?"

Gently, he pulled her wounded finger up to his lips and kissed it.

"Yes"

"What changed your mind?" she asked.

She needed to know, needed to know that he really did believe her.

"A few things. You standing there with a knife in your hand for one. You scared the shit out of me."

"What else?" she persisted.

"You wouldn't be stupid enough take the necklace off if you weren't telling the truth. But I should have known you wouldn't lie to me to begin with" he said with an ache in his voice.

Relief flooded her and then she felt her whole body start to shake. More tears formed behind her eyes and she tried furiously to blink them back. Oh god I'm pregnantshe thought miserably. She couldn't be pregnant. This was her senior year and she was going to college next year. A baby was not part of the plan. What would her friends think? Jenna was going to murder her…

"Elena?" Damon's voice cut through her manic thoughts.

All she could do was stare at him. There was no way to verbalize what was happening inside her head at that moment. His hands grasped hers lightly.

"Are you ok?"

She shook her head 'no' and he pulled her into his arms. For what seemed like the hundredth time since she'd met him, she broke down and cried against his chest. Except this time once she started she couldn't stop. Relief, terror, panic, sadness; they were hitting her all at once and it was getting hard to breath. Vaguely she felt Damon pull her away.

"'Lena? Can you hear me?" his hands brushed her hair back and cupped her face.

Elena tried to answer because he looked so scared but she was hyperventilating and she could barely breathe, let alone speak.

"I think she's having a panic attack" she heard Stefan say.

The next thing she knew she was on the couch and Damon had a paper bag to her face.

"You have to breathe, honey" he said gently.

She sucked in breath and exhaled into the bag. It took several deep breaths but eventually she got herself together and she pushed the bag away. Damon was kneeling next to her and Stefan was sitting on the arm of the couch. They both looked concerned.

"I'm ok" she rasped.

"Are you sure?" Stefan asked.

"No" she said pitifully.

Damon lifted her legs up to sit down on the couch and put her ankles in his lap. He didn't take his eyes off her and even though he'd said nothing, she knew what he was thinking.

"You want proof, don't you?" she asked him, knowing the answer.

He gave her a hard look and nodded.

"I understand" she told him.

It would have been naïve to think he would just accept it. Children had been an absolute impossibility to him for nearly all of his exceptionally long life. She was pretty sure that he really did believe her but she couldn't blame him for wanting to be absolutely certain.

"I don't know what to do" she said helplessly.

"Me neither" he spoke finally.

"That makes three of us" Stefan said.

"You have…options, Elena" Damon said carefully.

"No, I don't want that. I mean, unless that's what you want" she said, suddenly unsure that he would even want her to keep the baby.

"God no" he said sounding comforted.

"I think we should take you to a doctor" Stefan said.

"Ok" she said

That seemed like a good plan.

"When?" she asked

"Now?"

"Sounds good to me" Damon said.

"Oh" she said a little stunned.

"Is that ok with you?" Damon asked.

"Yeah, sure" she said uncertainly and swung her legs around to get up.

"We don't have to go right now" Damon said and took her hand.

"No, it's a good idea. This is just happening so fast. My head is spinning"

"I'm freaking out, too. We'll talk on the way ok?" he said and brushed his thumb over her knuckles.

Elena nodded and let him help her up.

"What am I going to tell Jenna?" she asked glumly when they were on the road.

"That we used protection but it broke? It's sort of the truth" he offered.

Actually that wasn't a bad idea. Her aunt was still going to be livid but it might soften the blow to know that they had at least tried to be safe.

"Ok, she might buy that" she said and nodded thoughtfully.

"My turn. Raise your hand if you don't think I'm going to be the worst father on the planet" Damon said.

Elena put her arm up. Damon turned around and gave her a sympathetic look.

"That's sweet" he told her.

"I have to quit school when I start to show" she said.

"And I have to keep you, my vampire magnet girlfriend, safe somehow"

"I'll try to keep my vampire acquaintances to just you two" she said dryly.

"That would be helpful"

"Oh god I have to tell Bonnie and Caroline" she said more to herself than either of them.

"I guess I should find something productive to do or people are going to start to talk" he said contemplatively.

"Do you think I can still go to college?" she asked and instantly felt selfish for saying it out loud.

"Yes, absolutely" Stefan said.

"I'm going to outlive both of you" Damon said as though it had just occurred to him.

His voice was empty and sad. Elena couldn't think of anything to say to that so she fell silent.

They drove three towns over and Damon compelled a doctor to see her right away. They sat in an office that was painted a pleasant blue and there were magazines everywhere with happy pregnant women on the covers. She gazed at them and tried to imagine her perfect flat stomach with a watermelon sized bulge at the center. Yikesshe thought and put the image out of her head. The nurse called her back five minutes later and Damon walked back with her. Elena hopped up on the exam table and Damon stood protectively next to her. Even without the leather jacket, he was intimidating.

"You can sit down" she told him with a ghost of a smile.

"I'm good" he said and looked at her with soft eyes.

God help her if the baby was a girl. A small woman with mouse brown hair, kind eyes, and a stethoscope around her neck entered the room a few minutes later. She started at the sight of Damon but collected herself quickly.

"Elena?" she said and smiled.

"Yep" she said with a heavy breath.

"I'm Dr. Daniels. How are you doing today?"

"I'm ok" Elena told her.

"The chart says we're pregnant. Have you seen a doctor yet?"

"No, we just found out today"

"Are your mom and dad here?" the doctor asked, noting her age.

"They passed away" she said honestly in hopes of killing the subject.

It worked and the doctor nodded.

"Do you know how far along you are?"

"Six weeks, two days" Damon answered for her.

"You're sure of that?" the doctor looked surprised.

"Very" he assured her with a thin smile.

Dr. Daniels nodded again and looked at Damon uncertainly.

"Are you dad?"

The stunned look on his face at the word 'dad' almost made Elena laugh but she bit it back. There was no doubt in her mind that he would answer the question with a 'yes' but she also knew that he still needed his confirmation.

"Compel her to tell us how long we have to wait for paternity" she told him so he couldn't go back on it.

Another shocked looked passed over his face before he forced he doctor to meet his eyes.

"You're going to forget she said that and you're going to forget I asked this. How long do we need to wait for paternity?"

"Eight weeks is the earliest" she said in a zombie tone and then shook her head.

"I'm sorry, where were we?"

"I was telling you that I'm the father" he said calmly.

"Right. I'd like to do a quick exam" she said and Elena nodde.

In a routine that Elena knew well, the doctor put her stethoscope to Elena's back and asked her to take a deep breath. After a few more deep breaths followed by some poking and prodding, the doctor finished the exam and smiled at them.

"Well Elena, you seem very healthy. Would you like to have an ultrasound? It will look like a peanut right now but you'll be able to see it"

"I guess so" Elena said.

"It's completely painless" the doctor promised and paged a nurse for the machine.

"While we're waiting, I see some of your information is missing. Do you have a phone number we can reach you at?"

Elena went to answer but Damon put himself between them.

"You don't need any personal information from her. When we leave, you're going to destroy every copy of her file that exists physically and digitally, then you're going to forget we were ever here" he compelled her.

The nurse arrived with the machine and Elena leaned back at the doctor's instruction. Her nerves felt raw and exposed as she pulled her shirt over her belly. Damon gave her a reassuring look and squeezed her hand. Then the cool gel was on her stomach and she felt the pressure of the scanner. Dr. Daniels moved the scanner around for a few seconds before stopping.

"There it is" she said and pointed to the screen.

It really does look like a peanutshe thought and smiled. The whole thing was becoming very real very fast and she still wasn't sure what she was feeling but seeing the little blip on the screen had her awestruck. She looked up at the man next to her and her breath caught in her chest. Against unbelievable odds, they had made a baby together and something that felt oddly like happiness rolled through her. Please God, let it have his eyesshe thought when he turned the smiling blue pools down to look at her.

"We'll be able to hear the heartbeat in a few more weeks but if you give me a few minutes I'll get you a picture of your little peanut" the doctor said.

Damon turned to Dr. Daniels with a glazed expression and a small chuckle escaped his lips. She patted his arm and gave him a knowing smile.

"Congratulations" she said and left the room.

The moment the doctor was gone, Damon grabbed both her hands.

"I don't need a DNA test" he told her.

"Yes you do. Maybe not today but you will and I don't want there to be a single doubt in your mind"

"Is this really happening?" he asked her

"I think so"

"You think so?"

"I'm as dumbfounded as you are. I don't even remember what day it is" she said.

He kissed her twice and nuzzled her nose with his.

"I'm sorry I was such an asshole earlier" he murmured with his forehead pressed to hers.

"It's ok" she murmured back.

"No it's not, but thank you for saying it"

She fought the urge to tell him she loved him and kissed him instead. The doctor came back with the print out a few minutes later and Elena put it in her purse. They collected Stefan and walked out.

"Well?" Stefan asked anxiously once they were on the way home.

"It's a peanut" she said and handed him the ultrasound picture.

He stared at it in wonder.

"What did they say about paternity?" he asked after a minute.

"We have to wait two more weeks" she told him.

"That gives me two weeks to come up with a good reason to ask Zach for his blood"

"Why Zach?" Elena asked.

"We technically don't have DNA since we have a mix of different blood types in our system. Stefan is half chipmunk." Damon told her with a grin.

Stefan punched his brother's arm but smiled.

"So what now?" Elena asked.

"Jenna" Damon said.

"No, not yet" she whined.

"Yes. You have to do it eventually and you might as well get it over with now"

She groaned unhappily but huffed in defeat. They dropped Stefan off at the boarding house and headed to her house. Once they were outside, her legs stopped working.

"I can't do this" she said sat back on the seat.

"Yes you can. I'm going to be right there with you"

"She's going to come completely unglued"

"I could compel her to stay calm" he offered and she smiled at him.

"Thanks but that wouldn't be fair to her"

"So…are we doing this?"

"Yeah, I guess we are" she said but still didn't touch the door handle.

Damon grabbed her face with gentle force and stared into her eyes.

"Whatever happens in there, I'm here. No matter what happens in your life, I'm here for you. Always"

She kissed him heatedly in response. He pulled away and his eyes flicked passionately over her face.

"I love you, Elena" he said in a hushed tone.

Pure joy filled every crevice of her person and she felt the incredible weight on her shoulders lift just a fraction. It wasn't the time and place that she would have picked but really when is the right time and place?

"I love you too, Damon" she said and smiled so widely her face hurt.

"Tell me I'm not dreaming" he whispered.

She reached over and pinched his arm. He scowled at her for a moment and then laughed.

"Thanks" he said sarcastically.

"Anytime" she replied with a mischievous smile.

"Are you ready?" he said and nodded toward the house.

"As I'll ever be" she said begrudgingly.

"Let's go scaredy cat"

"You're not scared at all?" she asked him skeptically

"Nope. I can compel people not to be angry with me."

"That's not funny" she said and frowned at him

"It wasn't supposed to be" he said with a smirk and got out of the car.

Truthfully, he was terrified. Not of Jenna but of the whole thing. He supposed every expecting parent was scared but he felt like this situation made the idea of parenthood especially terrifying. This baby, his baby, was human and so was its mother. A lifetime for them was going to feel like ten minutes to him. Not to mention the fact that he had the worst parenting role model of all time. His own father had killed him. How was he going to do this without completely fucking it up? He'd barely had time to even consider the nearly three lifetimes worth of enemies he'd acquired over the years. And the tickle of doubt in the back of his mind wasn't helping either. Watching her take off her necklace with a knife in her hand had settled most of the uncertainty in his mind but he'd accepted a long time ago that children were never going to happen for him. It just felt so utterly out of the realm of possibility, he needed that piece of paper to tell him that it was true. But even with all the madness that kept invading their lives, hearing her say she loved him had been the highlight of the last century for him. He literally couldn't remember the last time he'd heard a human being say "I love you". Maybe his mother before she died but that was a very distant memory.

"I changed my mind. Let's go back to the boarding house" Elena said as she stopped three feet shy of the porch steps.

"You stabbed a vampire in the chest with pencils. You can do this"

"I think I'd rather face another vampire than Jenna right now" she said and took a step back.

"Elena if you don't get your ass up those stairs, I'm going to pick you up and carry you inside" he told her darkly.

She gave him a long look like she was trying to decide if he was serious. With a sigh of defeat, she slogged up the stairs with him close behind. They found Jenna in the living room watching bad reality TV.

"Hey, Jenna" she said.

"Hey, you two! Have you seen this? It's horrible but I can't stop watching it" she said and turned around to look at them.

"Is this the one where they're addicted to eating weird stuff?" Elena asked and wrinkled her nose.

"Yeah it's really disgusting" Jenna said.

"Could I…we talk to you for a minute?"

Alarm washed over Jenna's face and she turned off the TV.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

He and Elena sat down on the couch together and he saw Elena swallow thickly. Just say it and get it over with,he willed her mentally.

"I'm pregnant" she said quickly and bowed her head.

Jenna's mouth dropped open and she looked back and forth between them.

"Please say this is a cruel joke" she said

Damon shook his head 'no'.

"How could you let this happen?" she directed the question at both of them.

"We used…protection but it must've broken" Elena said awkwardly.

"You used protection?" Jenna asked dubiously.

"I swear we did. Honestly, we thought there was no way this would happen" Elena promised.

"I knew I should have locked you in your room until you were thirty" she muttered.

Jenna turned her narrowed eyes to him.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" she asked angrily.

"Just that I'm going to be here for Elena and the baby, whatever they need"

Her gaze never softened and he found it surprising that she was being so hard on Elena. He thought she might be more understanding.

"So you've decided to keep the baby?" she asked tersely.

"Yes" Elena replied with quiet confidence.

"There's always adoption" Jenna offered.

"No" they both said in unison.

"Ok then. I need a glass of wine." Jenna got up and went to the kitchen.

Elena motioned for him to stay there and she followed after her aunt.

"Jenna I'm so sorry"

"I'm just glad your parents aren't here. They would so disappointed in you, Elena"

Damon watched her face fall and sadness creep into her eyes. Mentioning her parents was a low blow and he had to force himself to keep quiet.

"I know" she said and her lip trembled.

"How could you let this happen?" Jenna asked again.

Elena just shook her head and shrugged.

"This is just so…so…irresponsible. I thought I could trust you"

"It was an accident" Elena reasoned lamely.

"Yeah well this 'accident' might cost you your future. God, your mom would be so ashamed of you!"

That was about all the bullshit he could take from Jenna and he shoved himself to his feet to go stand next to Elena.

"If she would be ashamed of a daughter who was brave enough to come in here and tell you about this hours after she found out, then I'm glad I never met her" Damon snapped at her.

Jenna looked at him with annoyance.

"Damon…" Elena started.

"No, I'm not going to sit here and listen to her tell you that your parents would be embarrassed by you" he told her and then turned to Jenna

"Your niece is compassionate and smart and gutsy and any parent in their right mind would be proud to have her for a daughter"

Jenna set her wine glass down and gave him a hostile look.

"I think you should leave, Damon" she told him coldly.

"Not unless Elena wants me to go" he said and stared at her menacingly, daring her to try and make him.

"Then maybe you should just take her with you. I don't really feel like looking at her right now anyway" Jenna said and turned away from them.

Silent tears started streaming down Elena's face. Damon put his hand on the small of her back and directed her towards the door. Before they walked outside he turned back to Jenna who was pouring another glass of wine.

"You know what I think? I think your sister would be ashamed of you for treating her child this way"

He slipped his hand into Elena's and walked out the door with her.