I do not own Vampire Diaries. No Copyright infringement intended.

Hi everyone,

Before you get too excited it's still Erin, but I am helping Liv write this next chapter for you. Her condition hasn't improved enough to remove the chest tube, so they have decided to keep her for a few more days, but she has been asking for her computer daily. She is nothing if not persistent.

She wanted me to thank everyone for all of the well wishes. We have been reading all of your messages to her and she's extremely grateful for all of your support!

Since she isn't able to have her computer, we've devised a compromise that will hopefully keep her from going crazy as she is eager to get out of the hospital and get back to you guys and her job. I suspect, she will get back to you guys well before she gets back to work though. The compromise is that she has her ipod, so the music is back, but I have the computer, which is the best that we could offer :)

One reviewer asked how Klaus was returned to his own body early on in the story, while it was never brought up, the assumption is that Bonnie helped him as she did on the show. Though it was never clarified here.

It's everything you wanted, it's everything you don't

It's one door swinging open and one door swinging closed

Some prayers find an answer

Some prayers never know

We're holding on and letting go

Sometimes we're holding angels

And we never even know

Holding On and Letting Go by Ross Copperman

Stefan sat on the floor stunned by the visions they had shared. His heart broke as he was forced to witness her resolve in what she had been willing to give up to be with his brother. His heart ached as he knew what had followed that conversation. They had been kind enough to spare him the entirety of that memory, but he saw enough to know what had occurred after she had told Damon what he meant to her. What really got under his skin was the vision of the little girl that he had seen, the one that had been a clone of his older brother as she smiled at him. A child he knew without a doubt would belong to Elena, too. In that moment of recognition, he also remembered something else.

He stared at the couple as they made their way to the door before he said, "did you see her, too?"

"See who?" Damon asked.

"Your little girl." Stefan said.

Damon turned towards Elena and smiled as he whispered, "We saw her, but what makes you think she's ours?"

"I can hear her." Stefan said as he stared at Elena's tiny waist.

Damon and Elena stood stock still as they stared at him, but Klaus was instantly intrigued.

"What do you mean you can hear her?" He wondered aloud.

"I heard a heartbeat. I couldn't place it the first few times I heard it, and then I decided that it was part of Elena being a hybrid. She has a heartbeat now, too. When I saw the little girl just now, I realized that there were two of them. Two heartbeats. You didn't show me your daughter. She did. Didn't she?" Stefan asked.

Damon knelt down in front of Elena and laid his ear to her stomach as she gazed down at him with wonder in her eyes. He listened intently, for several minutes until all of a sudden he heard it, too. It was faint, but it was there as he smiled up at Elena. A moment later, they both saw the flash of a young girl of about six with long brown hair and her daddy's eyes staring at them as though she stood directly in front of them.

Elena's hand flew to her stomach as she gasped and Damon pressed his lips to her belly as a single tear tracked down his cheek.

"It's true." He said with a smile as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

Klaus smiled as Caroline squealed out her excitement. He knew the road ahead wasn't going to be easy for the pair. For starters, the only other pregnancy between a mated pair had ended in death. In addition, an vampire child would undoubtedly bring a considerable amount of attention whether for interest or for gain, and Elena being a hybrid would only make her more appealing. He himself was exceedingly intrigued by what her existence could mean. Though at the moment, he was feeling oddly protective not for his own gain, but to make a certain blonde vampire happy.

Caroline eagerly extracted Elena from Damon's grasp as she hugged her friend and listened carefully to the dual heartbeats that were now clear as day.

"Everyone okay?" Bonnie asked as she came around the corner to see Elijah had been daggered, Stefan was still struggling to regain his composure, Damon was smiling from his spot on the floor and Caroline was clinging to Elena.

The witch glanced around at all of them as she tried to read the situation until Klaus stepped over to her to explain, "Elena's pregnant."

"What? Elena? Damon? How?"

"Evidently, being a hybrid that is mated offers more than just extraordinary strength and tactile vision sharing." Klaus offered.

"Pregnant, really?" Bonnie said with a smile.

"Don't get too excited Sabrina, something tells me this is going to create more work for you and Professor Shady Pants." Damon said from his spot on the floor.

"Really, shady pants?" Bonnie giggled.

"What? Even you have to admit he's shadier than average for a professor hanging with a high schooler."

"And that made Alaric?" Bonnie asked.

"Shady." Damon said with a smirk, "but, he was a good drinking buddy."

"So maybe you two should have a drink?" Bonnie offered.

"Not likely. He'll probably roofie me with vervain."

Bonnie just shook her head and walked over to Elena and Caroline as she joined in on the hug.

Damon walked over to Stefan and held a hand out as he helped him up from the floor.

"I love you little brother, but you'll have to excuse me for not wanting you around my girl at the moment. I can't have you putting her at risk and I doubt you'll be the only one I need to worry about." Damon said.

Stefan shook his head in understanding as he walked out of the ballroom and headed back to the boarding house to pack up his things.

TVDTVDTVDTVDTVDTVD

When he arrived back at the house, he found himself inexplicably drawn to the cellar. As he made it to the bottom of the stairs, he noticed the silence that surrounded him and then he noticed the door to the cell that had previously held Katherine was ajar.

He sprinted to the door and found the cell empty and his head started to spin as he tried to figure out how she'd escaped and where she might have gone. When he didn't find anything, he quickly dialed Damon.

"What is it Stef?"

"You were right. I'm not the one you need to worry about. Katherine's escaped."

"What?!" Damon bellowed.

"She's gone."

"How the hell did she escape?" He asked.

"Someone let her out. There's no damage and she was in no shape to just walk out, not without some help."

After a beat of silence, they both said, "Rebekah."

I know this is the moment that so many reviewers have been waiting for and Liv has been holding out on you!

Sorry it's a short chapter, but Liv is still pretty heavily medicated and exhaustion seems to catch up to her rather quickly. I promised her that we could work on it a little bit each day, so perhaps we'll get another chapter out in the next day or so if she's feeling up to it. Anyway, I hope that I was able to do her thoughts justice and that you are pleased with the chapter.

~E