I stand in the middle of Caleb's nursery, with it's light blue walls and dark brown hardwood floors, all alone. Caleb's cries still wail throughout the house, driving me crazy. Then Sophia comes in the room, her little feet going patpatpat against the hardwood floor. She rubs her doe brown chocolate eyes and looks up at me. "Mommy, Caleb woke up me!" She pouts.

I sigh heavily and put Caleb down in his crib then kneel down next to her. "I know, princess. I know." I pull her little body into a tight hug, kissing her forehead. "I'm having a tough time with Caleb now. How about you go downstairs and sleep on the couch tonight?" She nods sleepily and I smile softly at her. Thankful that I have an understanding daughter. I wonder what she'll be like when she's a teenager. Let's not think about that right now, I think to myself, You have more important problems to deal with.

After Sophia trudges down the steps and curls up on the brown leather couch, I leave Caleb crying and go into my bedroom and grab my cellphone off the nightstand next to me. I quickly dial Damon's number, praying that he'll pick up. But instead, all I get is his voice mail: Hey, this is Damon Salvatore. You know what do to, and then the obnoxious female voice that says, At the tone, please leave a message, then BEEEEEEP!. I sigh heavily and try calling him again. Oh, that's right, Damon Salvatore is going to get a piece of my mind. But instead, it goes straight to voicemail. That bastard turned off his phone. Between Caleb's crying, my absent boyfriend, and poor Sophia who can barely get a wink of sleep, I start crying too. Yes, I'm just as frustrated and tired as Damon was, but that still doesn't enable me to run off like that.

No, I can't feel sorry for myself. So, instead, I force myself up and go back into Caleb's room. I pick him up from his crib and then sit down on the rocker, cradling him in my arms. "Want me to sing you a song?" I say, even though he doesn't understand. I take his constant cries as a yes. "My Mom, your Grammy, used to sing this to me all the time when I was a little. And at the end, she would always tell me that she loves me. And I would respond, 'I love you more.'" Then, I start singing softly,

"You are my sunshine,

My only sunshine.

You make me happy,

When the skies are grey.

You'll never know dear,

How much I love you.

So please don't take,

My sunshine,

Away."

It's like magic. Caleb suddenly stops crying and he's looking up at me with his crystal clear blue eyes just like his father's. I smile softly and continue rocking Caleb until he, slowly, drifts back off to sleep. I sigh with relief as I put him back down in his crib, careful not to wake him. Then, I quietly tiptoe back into my bedroom, lay down on the comfy bed and pull the thick duvet over me. I take my phone from the nightstand again and call Damon. He has to pick up sooner or later. His phone is turned on this time. But instead of ringing, all it goes is beep beep beep. He's talking with someone else on the phone...

The next day, Caroline decides it's time for a visit. If there was any day that I wouldn't want Caroline to visit, it would be today since Damon is gone. But I smile and pretend like I'm perfectly fine. Sophia is excited to see her. And Caleb has an instant connection with Caroline. And Caroline is in complete awe of them. Sophia, from her lack of sleep the previous night and playing all morning with Caroline, dozes off right before I'm about to make lunch. Caroline, Caleb, and I are in the kitchen. Caleb is in his little, automatic swing that sings a soft lullaby and rocks him. I'm making lunch when Caroline finally speaks up. "Where's Damon?" She asks.

I sigh heavily. I could lie to her, tell her that Damon is off shopping or some pathetic excuse like that. But if there's anything I learned in the past few months, it's to stop lying. So, I decided to tell her the truth. "Last night...we got into some argument and he left." I say simply. In a utopian world, Caroline wouldn't ask any question. But since we're living in the pre-Brave New World world, where everything is a complete disaster, of course she has to ask.

"He left?" Caroline raises one of her perfectly plucked fair haired eyebrow. "What were you two arguing about?" She snatches a grape from the bowl on the counter and pops it in her mouth. It's so juicy that I was hear it explode inside her mouth. The juicy grape, just like my life. Except my life is juicy with secrets and lies and betrayal.

I chew my lip, considering another lie. But then I remember the hurt expression on Stefan's face when I admitted to him that I slept with his brother, whom he hates. Even though this would be little lie compared that that big lie, I decide not to. After all, I'm working on the new Elena: she's lie-free. "Caleb was crying and being all fussy. We spent a while trying to calm him down. Damon was frustrated and exhausted...so he just ended up leaving."

Caroline frowns. I expect her to say, "I told you so!" But she doesn't. And I can tell that it's hard for her not to. The only thing Caroline loves more than bragging and gossip, is proving to people that she's right. "Oh, Elena." And suddenly we're hugging. "Did you try calling him or texting him or something?"

I pull away from the awkward friend hug and nod my head. "Of course I did, Care. And he wouldn't answer." I shrug, pretending like it's nothing. But, really, all I want is for Damon to walk through that door with a bouquet of roses and a long speech stuffed with about how sorry he is. Then again, maybe it really is nothing. He left because he was gently angry. So what? Damon isn't that type of person to stay around a situation when he's about ready to blow. He'll be back soon.

Suddenly, the door bell rings. For an instant I think it's Damon, coming to beg for my forgiveness, like a prince in Medieval Times would do. But then I realize that when Damon comes, it's not going to ring the doorbell. He's just going to come right in because this is his house too. I leave Caroline and Caleb in the kitchen and go to the foyer and pull open the door. Stefan is standing there. "Hey. Where's Soph?" He asks.

I grunt. "Oh my God. I completely forget you were coming early today." I mentally slap myself on the forehead. "She's sleeping. And I don't want to wake her up, she didn't sleep too well last night." Then I step aside, letting him come in.

"Why did she get enough sleep last night? Is she sick or something?" He asks as we walk into the kitchen together. He sounds like the concerned father figure that he is, using a tone that I could never imagine Damon using.

"No. She's fine." Then I take a deep breath. "Caleb was fussy last night, kept all three of us up last night." I say as soon as we enter the kitchen. Caroline is leaning against the counter and she perks up suddenly when she sees Stefan and I next to each other. Then a wide grin spreads across her face. Of course, she's still Team Stefan. Even if she doesn't say it anymore, she still absolutely hates Damon and must only hate him more after him ditching me and Caleb and Sophia last night.

Stefan frowns. "Speaking of my brother, where is he?" Stefan asks, looking around for any sign of his brother.

I open my mouth to speak, but Caroline interrupts me. "Your asshole of a brother left your ex-wife during the night while their baby son was crying without helping her, calming that he was too frustrated and tired." Caroline sums it all up in one sentence. I glare at her, then look back at Stefan. His eyebrows raise and he shakes his head. I know he's thinking the same thing. I told you so.

"Well, then..." Stefan says, his voice trailing off.

An hour later, after the three of us sitting around our counter, snacking on grapes and chatting around cups of tea. Sophia wakes up. I get her dressed and help her pack her things for the few days at Stefan's. Stefan carries Sophia out to the car and I carry her little bag with him. He puts Sophia in the car seat, her Dora the Explorer bag in the seat next to her, shuts the door, and looks at me. "Elena...Damon is Damon. He can never stay in one place too long..."

I shake my head. "He'll come back, I know it. He can just ditch me and Caleb." I say with full confidence. I think I can hear Stefan wince a little bit. Suddenly, my hand is in his and he's staring at me with his dashing green eyes.

"If you need anything, Elena, I'm only a phone call away." He says softly, sincerely.

I nod slowly. "I know."

Then we're hugging. His arms wrapped around my body, my arms wrapped around his neck. Just like old times. I squeeze my eyes shut, for a moment imagining that we were a family again. That him and Sophia were just going shopping for a bit while I stay home with our son. And when they arrive home, I'll have a nice, hearty meal on the table and then, at night, Stefan and I will make sweet, passionate love. But then I shake that thought away. That isn't my life anymore.

"Goodbye, Elena." He pecks my cheek then gets in his car and drives away.

I touch my cheek, memorizing the smooth touch of his lips upon my skin. I'm with Damon. I remind myself. I'm in love with Damon. And I am, I really am. I go back inside the house where Caroline has her arms crossed, smiling like an idiot. "So..." She starts. "A kiss on the cheek, huh?"

I roll my eyes. "What? You're spying on me now?"

Caroline chuckles and steps closer to me. "Elena, come on, you literally broke Stefan's heart then smashed it. But he's still coming back to you. Damon leaves at the drop of a hat whenever he gets too stressed. Who's the better brother here, Elena?"

"I'm with Damon!" I snap at her.

Caroline sighs, defeated. "I know." Then she pauses. "At least...just see where I'm coming from? I hate seeing you hurt, and you're hurt right now. I can see through that fake smile. If Damon leaves over a little argument, what's going to happen when you two get into a serious fight?"

I don't respond. I'm too consumed with my thoughts.

By the time Caroline leaves and I put Caleb to bed, it's nearly 11 o'clock at night. No sign of Damon yet, but I'm sure he'll come tomorrow. He just needed a day off Daddyhood. That's completely okay, right? I mean, changing from the Bachelor-Christian-Grey-Who-Parties-Every-Night guy he used to be to turn into full Daddy mood and on top of that, being an amazing boyfriend to his brother's ex-wife who already has a daughter has to be hard right?

I'm cleaning up the kitchen, washing and putting away the dishes when I hear the doorbell ring. I grumble. Who the hell would be ringing the doorbell at 11 PM? I go into the foyer and open the door.

Damon is standing there.

And he rang the doorbell.

I LOVE ALL THE COMMENTS! What I find so funny is how a few chapters back, everyone was like "Elena is such a slut. I hate Elena." and now, it's all, "Aw! I feel so bad for Elena! Why Damon?!"

Sad news: this story is coming to an end. Only a few more chapters then I'm calling it quits for this story. It's pretty sad considering I love this story so much. Who knows, though. Maybe in the future I'll do a sequel. Ooh! That'd be fun!

Anyway, thank you all so, so much for reading and reviewing.

Check out bukibuki's stories! (She's on my favorite's author's list)