It's been awhile, hasn't it? In any case, thanks for the ongoing support!

"What the hell is that noise?"

I toss a pillow over my head and snuggle further into Elena's back. She pulls on my hand hard. When I don't respond, she begins to flick my shoulder. "Go see who it is."

"Who what is?"

The knocking grows louder and stronger by the minute. "What time is it?"

I feel her turn her body around to glance at the clock on my nightstand. "About seven."

I grumble and roll over. "The hell? It's probably Matt." Donovan would definitely pull something like this.

"Go check."

I groan. "Why me?"

"Cause I'm sleepy," she whispers, head curled into the duvet like a tiny kitten. I peep one eye open at her and stroke her hair for a second to wake myself up.

I force myself into a sitting position and begin move on auto pilot, yanking on some pants and traveling out into the living room. I peep in Mini's room, unsure of how she slept through the pounding at the door. Her face was curled up in irritation, but she was still fast asleep, as if nothing was going on. She gets that from her daddy.

A fist banged at the door again and I cursed to myself.

"Could you give me a minute!?"

I grumble all the way to the door, not bothering to use the peephole.

I yank it open with a scowl only to see the face of my overly excited mother and my highly irritated looking father.

"Oh, God."

"Took you long enough, son." My dad claps a hand on my shoulder and I'm suddenly wide awake.

"Uh."

"Charles look at him! He's positively stunned." She smiles happily, practically shaking.

"Well, aren't you going to invite us in? I've missed my baby!"

Speaking of babies, mom, I have one! That'd be a fantastic segue, wouldn't it? I suppose it doesn't get any worse than your adoptive mother, who you're actually pretty angry with and haven't spoken to in years, bursting in your life randomly while your girlfriend is half naked in your bed. Not to mention having a baby no one knows about, and currently still in the process of deep conditioning your hair. This will make an amazing story for my grandkids.

"What are you guys doing here?" I ask, trying to keep my tone even. My mother opens her arms wide, trying to pull me in. I take a step backward to keep my space.

"We came to see you! Your phone must be broken because I've been trying to call you for the past two hours!"

l lick my lips and drop my head in my hands. "Really?"

Suddenly there's a shriek and the sound of my coffee pot falling onto the floor. I look behind to see Elena, clad in one of my shirts, scrambling from the floor. She pathetically waves a hand toward the general direction of my parents before bolting up the stairs.

"Uh."

"Who's that?" My mother asks in a hushed tone, as if it were some strange woman that broke in my house dressed in my clothing.

"My girlfriend Elena."

"Oh!" She squeals, reaching for my arms. I pull back slightly and she starts to vibrate. "Stefan how could you not tell us you're dating someone?"

"Could we please move inside? Don't be rude, boy." My dad remarks from outside the apartment.

"Are you sure you don't want some money for a hotel room?" I offer, slightly mortified.

"Nonsense! I can get a few hours in on the couch!" My mother pushes past me and immediately takes in the baby toys sprawled across the floor. She looks at them and then at me, multiple times. My father does the same, heavily eying Mini's toy chest. Right as I'm about to open my mouth, Mini opens hers and let's out the most incredible wail I've heard from her in weeks. I drop my head and sigh.

When I look up to meet my parents gaze, I say the first thing that I can think of. It's the only thing that won't make me appear to be the biggest dick in the universe of dicks.

"I got Elena pregnant."

"You what? Are you insane?"

"No, look, I'm in a relationship with you. It's plausible. I had to save myself. You don't understand my mother," I plead with her, pulling on a t shirt.

"I understand enough. I'm out. I'm going home."

"You can't! It will ruin everything." She clenches her jaw and pinches the bridge of her nose.

"You do realize that in the process of saving yourself you've dug yourself even deeper? The truth will eventually come out."

"And when it does, we'll suffer through. Together. Like we always do." I reach for her hand but she pulls away and gives me a dubious look.

"Really? So when your mom asks for cute ultra sound pictures and pregnant photos you're gonna help me out?"

"Fuck no. You're on your own."

She hits my shoulder and scowls. I cup her face and lean in to kiss her softly. "Relax. It will work out. All of it will work out. You have to trust me."

She nods and kisses me on my cheek.

"I am curious why they're here though. I figured they'd want to see Damon first."

"Well, you said they favored Damon because he was more respectable. Being thrown in jail for sexual assault isn't exactly high class."

I snort and pull her close. "How long do you think Mini can distract them?"

"Long enough. I won't let her be traumatized. Let's go."

I pout as she pulls me through the door. We fumble down the steps, hand in hand, to our impending doom. Well, my impending doom. My mother is on the floor, poking and prodding at Mini as she plays around with some building blocks. I can't really tell how she feels toward her and I'm not sure I want to know. Elena squeezes my hand and I smile, gratefully.

When my mother spots us, she stands and clasps her hands together. "You must be Elena."

Elena gives her a warm smile and reaches out her hand. My mother gives her a once over and shakes it gently. "I'm Chelsea Salvatore. My husband, Charles, is fixing us sandwiches." She interlocked her fingers and waves them side to side. "I tell you, Nellie is a stunner. She looks just like her mommy."

I stop myself from snorting and instead focus on nodding my head like an idiot. Elena laughs nervously and grumbles out something that sounds like 'thanks'.

"She's very mobile for her age."

"Mini is really smart," I remark, paternal pride swelling in my chest.

My mother double glances at me and grins. "Mini? That's so adorable. You know, after we took you home from the center I used to call you chipmunk because of your cheeks. Do you remember that?"

Suddenly uncomfortable, I ease away from her. "Not really."

She frowns for a moment but tries to salvage a smile. "Well you used to love it." She turns to Elena and eyes her body. "You must've been working out while you were pregnant. I was the same way with my first son. Unfortunately I couldn't bear any more children after that."

"I'm sorry," Elena says, opting to overlook the comment on her weight. My mother shakes her head.

"Nonsense. If I would've had another, I probably would never have found Stefan."

I feel Elena's arm wrap around my waist and I easily relax into her.

A tug on my jeans causes me to look down at Mini, smiling a gummy smile at me. I lean down to pick her up and kiss her forehead good morning.

It was an ancient thought I never returned to, but I always wondered how my parents gave me up. Especially at times like these, where my love for Mini was so incredibly strong. Being a parent is unlike anything I'd ever imagine, and giving up Mini would be an impossible feat, especially willingly.

I pulled her close and gently rocked her. My mother practically beamed at me. "Where's my camera? Charles!"

She scurried off toward the kitchen and I chanced an irritated look at Elena. "How do we get rid of them?"

She shrugs and pulls at one of Mini's fingers. "What did I say about the whole we concept?"

I ignore her and settle an arm around her waist.

"Are you actually willing to hang out with my mother for an entire day?"

A mischievous glint appears in her eyes and she reaches her arms out to take Mini from me. "Actually, yes. She's not all that bad."

I squint my eyes at her. "Elena..." I warn carefully as she starts walking backwards toward the kitchen.

"Since you decided to make this a problem for me, I'll have some fun with it. Want to have some fun, Mini?"

My traitor daughter nods quickly and bounces in Elena's arms. I toss my head back and groan. It was going to be a long ass day.

My mother hunches over, grabbing the table for support. Loud, obnoxious, laughter rakes through her small frame while Elena continues her fabricated tale.

"I expected Stefan to be surprised when I told him I was pregnant but I didn't expect him to act like that. Chelsea you should've seen him."

I reach for Elena's hand and squeeze it tightly. "Honey," I say between clenched teeth, "you're exaggerating a bit much, wouldn't you say?"

She purses her lips and then shakes her head. "No, not one bit. When Nellie started holding herself up on her own, Stefan cried like a little baby, too."

I slam my fist down on the table. "I did not cry and you promised me we would not talk about that. It was a cold day and I cry when it's cold. It was not about emotion at all."

Elena gives me a stern look but I see the playfulness in her eyes.

"I think that is downright adorable!" My mother shouts from one end of the table.

"Nellie was conceived the night we met, actually." Elena chokes on her food and glares at me. "I don't know what it was, but she was all over me. Right, babe?"

Both my parents stop laughing and awkwardly look down at their plates. Mini, oblivious to what was going on, continues to laugh in her high chair.

"Stefan, can we talk for a minute in the living room, babe?"

I follow behind her, bringing my fork for defense. As soon as the door is shut behind us, she starts to whisper angrily at me.

"What the hell was that?"

"You started this," I whisper back, waving the eating utensil in her face. She grabs the fork from my hand and throws it into the couch.

"Me joking about your supposed 'masculinity' is not nearly as bad as you destroying my dignity," she whisper-yells.

"You can still be dignified. Sleeping with me on the first date wouldn't be all that surprising." The smack on my shoulder for that comment isn't all that surprising either.

"Don't be a jackass. I-"

The door swings open and my mother appears with a very stern expression on her face. "Elena, I can take it from here."

Elena looks between the two of us and bites down on her lip. "I'll go feed Nellie." She squeezes my hand and heads back into the kitchen.

"Can we talk?"

"I don't know if I want to talk to you," I tell her honestly.

"Good thing you don't have a choice, right?"

She moves over to the couch and plops down, waiting for me to join her. Hesitantly, I do.

She stares at the blank television for a long time before she faces me completely. "When I found out that I couldn't have anymore children after Damon, I was very conflicted."

She brushes a stray piece of hair behind her head and nods, as if agreeing with herself. "I suppose that's a delicate way of putting it. I loved my son-I still do, despite the things he puts himself through-but I always wanted a large family. Adoption was the only way I could make up for the children I could never bear. And when I saw you, I knew, instinctively, that you were my son. I know you may not believe that, but I always felt that you and this family were destined."

"Destined how?" My voice cracks at the end and I swallow hard.

"The way you molded into our family was beautiful. You gave me hope, Stefan. You gave me hope that I could be the mother that I always wanted to be. When school came around and phone calls came in about behavior and grades I was shocked. At family gatherings, you'd hide away in your room and only let Damon in. Suddenly my motherhood wasn't enough anymore."

"You mean I wasn't enough anymore."

Tears prickled her eyes and she shake a her head. "No. You were always enough. And I'm so sorry on how I treated you. I never wanted to be an adoptive mother and the position didn't come with an instruction manual. I did the worst thing possible. I tried to train you to be a Salvatore. I tried to create my own child out of you and I never should have done that. I know now, in doing that, I was making our differences more distinct."

I nod, fighting back a few tears of my own. "And I know growing up wasn't easy for you. I'm so sorry your life was spent trying to be something you aren't."

"I don't know if that changes anything though, you know?" I wipe a tear from the corner of my eye and sober up. "Because that didn't stop at my childhood. I spent my whole life trying to figure out who I was and the only people who ever made me feel like I'm somebody worthy are Elena and that little girl in there. I don't understand how you could reject me, mom. I really don't. I tried. I really did. I tried so hard to be Damon and make the two of you proud of me."

I wiped away a few more stray tears and pulled at my hair. "I thought if I made you both proud then I would earn your love. The fact that I never did haunts me every day. I could never do that to Nellie. So how could you do that to me? How could you go so many years and not say something?"

"I love you, Stefan. Unconditional love has been exploited on television screens and literature but you don't truly understand it until you're put in a position you can't get out of. If Nellie were suffering and you didn't know how to help her-"

"I would hold her close and love her. That's what parents do. That's unconditional love. You're just supposed to be there. You were there for Damon and you weren't for me. You can blame it all on infertility or my emotions but the truth is you didn't know how to love a child who wasn't your own."

Her puffy eyes trail down to her hands folded in her lap.

"And I want you to tell me that. If anything, I need you to admit it to me. I deserve that."

She meets my eyes and nod solemnly. "You're right. I didn't know how to love you."

A gust of air escapes me and my head drops into my hands. I knew this already. But she made it real and it hurt more than I thought it would.

"I'm an imperfect person and this is an imperfect world. It's not over yet, Stefan. Tell me. Show me how to be a mother to be there for you and let me make up for things because life is too short for me to not have my son."

"I didn't say anything." I take my shirt off and fall backwards onto the bed. "What do you say to that?"

"She seems sincere," Elena notes, plopping beside me.

"Yeah..." I trail off.

"The ball is in your court now. So that means you have some decisions to make."

I turn over so I'm on my side to face her. "I don't know. I never thought of it happening like this. I want to have parents. What person doesn't want parents? But at the same time my vision of them has already been sullied."

She sighs and reaches a hand up to grasp my face. "We'll figure it out, okay? I promise."

I smile and glare at her. "So now we're a 'we'?"

"Officially."

I hum. "Good to know. Hey, guess a who's not wearing a shower cap?" She giggles and links her arms around my shoulders.

I bring my lips to hers and begin to play with the edge of my shirt she was wearing. She makes a choking sound that makes me laugh.

"What's wrong?"

"Your parents are in the next room over."

I groan. "Every day you do this to me."

"Do what? I'm not the one who invite them to stay over."

"Me either. Fine. If we're not having sex you need to put some pants on."

She rolls her eyes and runs to my dresser. She pulls out a pair of my boxers and slides them on. "Fuck no. No way."

"I don't have any shorts," she says, sitting back on the bed.

"Fine, but I'm not sleeping with you." I take a pillow and drop it on the floor next to the bed.

"More room for me," she laughs, spreading out on my bed. I grab a blanket and cut off the light, glaring at her. The floor is extremely uncomfortable and after about fifteen minutes, I can hear Elena snoring.

When thirty minutes pass, I swallow my pride and throw my pillow and blanket back on the bed. I lift one of Elena's arms and sneak in under it. Sleep comes pretty easy after that.

Have a happy, fulfilled Thanksgiving!