Damon stood on the door mat, suddenly not sure if this was such a good idea. But then again he had flown all the way here.
They had told everyone now. Bonnie had suggested about eight different spells which Elena had turned down, telling Bonnie that sometimes magic came at too high a price and she wouldn't risk it with a child. After that Bonnie had taken Elena and Damon out drinking. When they informed Stefan that he may never be an uncle, his brother had told Damon a story about the first girl he loved, back when he was human. How he had hoped to build a future with her, have children with her. Stephan had tried to empathize and when that failed he had taken Damon out drinking as well. Caroline still didn't like Damon much but she had been a little less cold to him since he'd became human. Though, Damon thought, that might just be because she could now kill him without blinking. Damon smiled at the thought. Caroline loved Elena and Stefan far too much to even harm him. Despite her feelings towards her best friend's husband Caroline was nothing if not supportive of Elena. Damon found blondie quite growing on him as he watched the way she made the two people he loved most in the world happy. She had healed Stefan's broken heart and she continued to be a source of strength for Elena.
Pulling his mind back to the present and taking a deep breath, Damon knocked on the door. An adorable little girl with pigtails in her hair quickly answered.
"Hi," she said with enthusiasm.
"Which one are you?" Damon asked grinning. Even in photos he couldn't tell the girls apart. The little girl crossed her arms and puffed herself up in indignation.
"Livvy!" she scoffed.
"Is your dad home?" Damon asked. Livvy turned to call 'daddy' down the hallway but when Livvy turned back to face Damon, her mother stood on her other side.
"Mommy," Livvy said. "Where'd you come from? I called for daddy."
"What have I told you about answering the door!" Jo scolded. "Back inside." Jo had a hand on her daughter's back as she guided Livvy into the house. Damon knew that Livvy had been named after Jo's sister but he couldn't remember if that was because something bad had happened to Jo's sister or they had just felt uncreative when it came to naming their daughter. Not that Damon could talk since he had never, and would likely never, know the difficulty of naming a child.
"What do you want Damon?" Jo asked crossing her arms over her chest in much the same way as her daughter.
"Can't a guy just pay a visit to his old friend without a secret agenda?"
"Not when that friend had to buy a plane ticket to get here but didn't bother to call ahead."
"Touché," Damon said as he went inside without an invite. That he had to admit was one of the most satisfying perks of being human.
"Ric?" Damon called as he saw his friend coming down the hallway.
"Damon!" Ric exclaimed. "Where did you come from?"
"Well, at least that's a better welcome than the one I got from your wife," Damon chuckled.
"Sorry," Alaric laughed. "I am surprised to see you."
"And so you should be," Jo replied. "Since Damon didn't call ahead."
"Relax Jo," Alaric tried to sooth his wife. Jo huffed but turned and left the room, following her daughter.
"What's wrong Damon?" Ric asked.
"How do you know something's wrong?" Damon replied, trying to smile. "Can't a friend just come to visit without something being wrong."
"I may live far away," Alaric said. "But I still keep in touch with Elena."
"Oh," Damon said the fake enthusiasm sliding off his face. Ric motioned for Damon to follow. They went together through the house and out through the back door. Alaric's porch was rather cozy, Damon thought, even though there were little girls' toys scattered everywhere, dolls and pink toy bicycles. The railing was white and the decking was a light wood. Two wooden rocking chairs were located to the right of the door, a grill and seating area on the left. There was a cooler there was well and Ric pulled two beers out of it, handing one to Damon.
"Light beer?" Damon asked skeptically.
Alaric shrugged. "I have kids," he said by way of explanation.
"Show off," Damon muttered.
"So I hear," Ric replied. He sat down in one of the rocking chairs and Damon followed suit. It was a rather comfortable chair he decided as he sipped his light beer. What was the point of light beer anyway, Damon wondered. It was rather too much like water for his taste. Ric didn't ask Damon again what was wrong but rather waited for Damon to speak. This alone made Damon glad he had come, plane flight and all.
"We have been trying fertility treatments," Damon said after a long silence in which he drank half his beer. "But they're so hard on Elena. The hormones make her so crazy. She had to cut her hours at work which only makes her feel worse." He paused and took a sip of his mediocre beer. Alaric didn't speak and Damon was glad; if Alaric had said anything at this moment Damon was sure he'd lose his nerve. "Bonnie wants to try magic but we both agreed that's a bad plan." He paused again, not wanting to voice what he had flown all the way here to confess.
"Elena wanted to try adoption," Damon finally said. "But I don't know if I can do that."
"Why not?" Ric asked. His voice was free of judgement or contempt. When Elena had told Caroline why they were trying fertility treatments instead of adopting, blondie had glared at him with judgement in her eyes. Elena, of course, had been nothing but understanding. She had admitted she wanted a child of her own as well and they had started the treatments.
"I don't believe I can bond with a child that isn't mine," Damon spoke the words that had been haunting him.
Alaric studied Damon's face intently for a moment, thinking. "When I think about my girls," Alaric said finally. "I don't think about the fact that they share my blood. I remember the nights I sat here in his chair, a baby in both arms, rocking them back and forth until they fell asleep. When I call myself their father I do it because I read them bedtime stories and fix them lunch. When they are hurt they call for me. Those things are what make you a parent, Damon, not your shared genetics. The willingness to put your child's well being above your own is more important than anything else."
"But they wouldn't be my child," Damon argued. "They would be someone else's."
"Not for long," Ric said smiling at Damon. "Once you are needed by a child, that child becomes a part of you. That child becomes your responsibility and therefore becomes your child."
"I was so determined to be a better father than my dad," Damon said softly. "And I thought with a child of ours, a child who looked like Elena, that would be easy but a stranger's child…"
Before Alaric could speak one of his daughters came running out onto the porch.
"Mommy says we shouldn't come find you right now," the little girl called, pigtails bouncing as she ran. "But look Daddy!" She held up a drawing of what Damon had to guess was her home and family. There were four stick figures standing before a box with a pointed roof.
"That's beautiful!" Ric complimented her with nothing but genuine pleasure. She grinned and jumped into his lap. Ric wrapped his arms around her. The moment had been so automatic as to make Damon want to cry. Damon was a selfish man, and always had been, so when he knew rationally that all his horrible deeds meant he didn't deserve happiness and never would, his selfishness disagreed. Despite the fact he had Elena which was already more happiness than he probably deserved, Damon wanted this scene before him too.
"Dianne!" Jo called as she appeared, hands on her hips. If Damon was remembering correctly, they had named Dianne after Alaric mother. "Daddy is busy, you little rascal." There was laughter in Jo's voice as she scooped her daughter out of her husband's lap and tickled her.
"No stop mommy!" the little girl giggled. But she was smiling so widely Damon couldn't believe she really wanted her mother to stop. Nevertheless, Ric stood up and rescued his daughter from his wife's grip.
"Don't worry, sweetie," Ric said smiling. "You are always welcome to bother daddy when he is busy."
"Mommy just doesn't like him," Dianne said pointing at Damon. Despite the fact he was being pointed out as someone disliked, Damon couldn't help but smile. The way Jo and Ric interacted with their daughter had made Damon suddenly understand what Alaric had been trying to tell him. This is what made them a family, the everyday happy moments like this, not the blood they shared.
"Thanks," Damon said, as a smile broke out over his face.
"Did I miss something?" Jo asked skeptically. "Or was that meant to be sarcastic."
Damon stood up and smiled at Jo. "Thank you," he said, sincerely, looking directly into her eyes.
"For?" she asked, a little stunned.
"For showing me what I am missing," Damon explained. She still didn't look like she knew what was going on but Alaric was grinning, knowingly.
"Dianne," Alaric said firmly. "Uncle Damon needs a hug." Dianne giggled as her father put her down then she ran to Damon and latched onto his leg. Damon leaned down to extract the barnacle off his leg and lift her up into the air.
"Wee!" Dianne giggled as Damon threw her in the air and caught her. She settled against him comfortably, trustingly, with her arms wrapped around his neck, as if any friend of her daddy's was a friend of hers. Damon had no words to describe the feelings rising in him.
The next moment she was wriggling to be put down. When Damon set her down she ran off back into the house, calling for her sister.
Damon spent the rest of the afternoon with Alaric before he got back on a plane to return home to Elena. Now finally able to tell her he was ready to adopt.
Okay so up until now I had been avoiding mentioning the names of Alaric and Jo's kids since with Jo being alive and Caroline never having been the surrogate for the twins they wouldn't very well have been named Josie and Lizzie would they? I hope this is okay. I almost kept Josie named Josie but then I though Jo wouldn't have named her own kid after herself. Alaric did that only cause she died so... and with Livvy... well I know she probably didn't die since the wedding was never crashed by kai but but I was running out of name ideas so... yeah... See why I avoided naming them this whole time?
Anyway also sorry for the slow updates on this story! I prioritize my other two stories over this one usually. Sorry! I do seem to at least update this every two weeks but considering how short these chapters are that is really slow... again sorry but two other stories and annoying real life gets in the way.