A/N: We are nearing the end. Your reviews have been such a great motivator. Thank you to all those that have left a review and favorited this story. Happy reading!

Chapter 29

"You look like shit," Stefan said as he handed Damon a large cup of coffee. The substance had become more important than whiskey or bourbon ever had been to Damon.

"You've always done wonders for my self esteem little brother," Damon retorted as he stabbed the button for the elevator. While he waited he gulped down the burning liquid, letting the caffeine alleviate the heaviness from this body, but nothing could lighten his soul. The guilt and sadness was permanently etched on it from all the pain and suffering that occurred because of him.

"This pace is killing you. Weeks without leaving this hospital is going to kill you Damon. What good are you to anyone if you drop and end up in this hospital as well? Don't make me take drastic actions." Damon ignored his brother's lecture and threats escaping into the elevator as the doors slid open. Stefan, seeming to be undeterred, followed him inside.

Stefan kept up a constant barrage of words of how he needed to sleep in a real bed, needed a real meal that consisted of something other than hospital food. They were things he had heard already. Caroline, Jenna and Alaric had all given him the same lecture. He knew they meant well but he didn't need or want their concern. What they didn't understand was that the reason they were all sitting vigil was because of him. His past, his actions, his weak will led them to this point. Katherine and the wake of destruction she caused was all set in motion because of him and he would forever have to live with that fact.

"I'm fine. If you really want to help me, go back to my place and let in the painters and except delivery of the additional baby stuff."

"What?" Stefan asked confused.

The nursery is pink. All the clothes and baby stuff are pink. With me as their dad, these kids are already going to need therapy. Do I need to add to their therapist's burden by forcing Grayson to be ensconced in pink?" Damon said sarcastically.

"Damon, we could have taken care of this stuff for you." Stefan let out a frustrated sigh.

"I'm their dad Stefan. It's my job to take care of them. Now I need to go see my kids." Damon pushed off the wall of the elevator into the stark hallway leaving his brother behind. He felt bad about being a jerk to Stefan but Elena was counting on him to be a good parent and he couldn't let her down.

Striding into the NICU, Damon was met by smiles and greetings from the nursing staff. The twins had been born two weeks prior and would most likely be in the hospital for weeks to come due to their small size. It had been a long couple of weeks of tests, anxiety and discussions with doctors.

"Good morning Damon." Charlotte, the morning nurse assigned to the twins, greeted Damon.

"Good morning" Damon responded as he reached into the incubators to stroke the hands of each of the twins.

"You know the drill" she said with a sly grin.

Damon just rolled his eyes as he noticed most of the nurses stopping what they were doing and not so subtly checking him out as he unbuttoned his shirt. The nurses suggested kangaroo care, skin-on-skin contact helped with bonding with the babies. Damon thought this was especially important since they weren't able to bond with their mother. Haven't bonded yet, Damon reminded himself.

"So happy to ne able to provide the days entertainment" Damon quipped with a smirk. Sitting down in the rocking chair next to the twin's incubators he put a pink and blue checked blanket on his lap that Jenna bought for the twins.

Charlotte handed over Isla first and Damon settled her agaist him before opening his arm to accept Grayson.

"Hey there monkeys. What kind of havoc we are causing today?" Damon manuvered the blanket over both babies as they nuzzled against his chest remaining in the blissful state of sleep only infants seem to be able to enjoy.

Looking down with pride he relished being able to hold them both. Isla had been fairing well and was considered a feeder and grower. She was pulled off the ventilator and feeding tube after a couple of days. At this point, she just needed to stay healthy and gain weight. Damon was there for every feeding to give her the bottles she was now taking. Grayson had been struggling more than his sister. The doctors had warned him that male premies tended to not fair as well as girls and Grayson was proving that true. He spent five days on the ventilator and came off it only to develop an infection that required him to go right back on the ventilator. This was the second attempt to be ventilator free and Damon hoped this time it stuck. Unfortunately, the feeding tube was still necessary.

"Okay, buddy. Time to ditch this feeding tube. Your mom's going to think I'm doing a bad job if your still the bionic baby attached all the tubes and wires. How about it Gray, lets move to bottles and I'll buy you a car when you're 16." Damon kissed each baby on the head as the nurses chuckled at his gentle teasing of the babies.

"You may regret that offer someday," Charlotte joked.

"I never said it would be a nice car," Damon jested in return.

"How's Elena?" Charlotte asked as she made notes in the medical chart in her hand.

"The same." Elena had yet to regain consciousness. She slipped into a coma after the emergency surgery and had yet to wake up. The extreme blood loss had been hard on her body and he hoped the coma was just to help her body heal. The doctors had warned them that the fact her heart stopped making her technically dead, it could have repercussions. The doctors talked if she woke up, but Damon refused to use that word and spoke when she woke up. He knew there was a risk of brain damage. He would cross that bridge when they came to it, he just needed her to open those beautiful doe eyes.

After rocking the babies for a while he noticed a group of men and women in lab coats gathering at the entrance to the NICU. The gathering mob meant rounds. Charlotte helped him get the babies settled back into their incubators. He then exited the NICU to sit out in the waiting area where the doctor usually updated Damon on the twins condition when rounds were over.

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out the ring box that never left his possession since Elena had disappeared. He opened the box and stared at the ring sending out prayers hoping the universe would listen and let the future unfold the way he hoped and dreamed.

"You plan to marry her?" Damon turned at the voice and his fists clenched at the sight of his father striding down the hall toward him.

"This is not the time to test me Dad. If you value your life, then I suggest you turn your over priced loafers around and go back the way you came." Damon stopped looking at his father and looked back to the ring in his hand.

"I didn't come to fight Damon. I know you don't need or want me here. I'm not here for you, but for Elena and from what I hear are my two grandchildren." Giuseppe's shoulders sagged and he seemed to look everywhere but at his son.

"Now that you are a grandfather, you suddenly care? Think you can mold this generation into Giuseppe Salvatore clones since you failed with me? If I recall correctly, during our last encounter, you questioned the parentage of my child!" Damon rose to his feet his body tense ready to throw his father out by force if necessary.

"I won't say I agree with the decisions you've made in your life Damon, but" he sighed and rubbed a hand over his face sitting down in a chair across the waiting room. "I know what it's like to lose the woman you love. And I know for a fact that Elena loves you and you love her."

Giuseppe tossed a large manila envelope at Damon which he caught against his chest. Looking suspiciously at his father he opened the envelope and pulled out a stack of papers. Flipping from page to page he saw a stack of hand written letters immediately recognizing the neat handwriting as belonging to the woman currently in a coma two floors below him. Damon returned to his seat confused as to why his father had letters from Elena.

"She wrote me. Every week. She never once asked for me to be a part of your lives or begged me to reconcile with you. She just described how excited the two of you were to be parents. She talked about missing her parents and what they would be doing if they were alive. Elena talked a lot about what a great father she thought you would be. How much she appreciated your patience with her, how you even were buying things behind her back so she didn't panic when the realization hit her that the baby would arrive soon." Damon just stared shocked that his father read the letters and even more shocked that his father would tell him about them.

"I can't believe she did this." Damon felt his heart swell at reading Elena's thoughts on him, them, and impending parenthood.

"What are their names?" Guiseppe asked after nervously clearing his throat.

"Grayson John after Elena's dad and, um, uncle. Isla Marie," Damon said softly wishing yet again his mother had lived to see her grandchildren.

Giuseppe chuckled softly. "Your mother always liked her middle name better." Giuseppe paused fiddling with the wedding band he still wore.

"We have rarely gotten along Damon, but I wouldn't wish losing the woman you love on anyone. But I sense Elena is strong, obviously strong willed to have tamed you. You are exactly like your mother. Tough as nails on the outside, but you feel more deeply than anyone. Seeing you...well you remind me so much of her."

Damon studied his father for the first time in years. He was by no means ready to forgive him his past wrongful actions and hurtful words. But the situation he was currently in gave him a glimpse of the pain his father must have gone through when his mother was dying. Knowing he was like the woman he missed dearly filled his already over brimming heart with love. Nothing could justify his father's harsh treatment but knowing he was drowning in grief and forced to raise two young children must have been overwhelming. Damon knew he currently felt overwhelmed with the twins. Someday, maybe, he could forgive his father, but today wasn't that day and luckily that wasn't what his father was expecting.

Footsteps echoed down the hall drawing their attention to Stefan's approaching figure. "By the way, Damon, you look like shit."

Damon audibly sighed knowing this visit had been his brother's doing. "How is it that this family has attended some of the most prestigious schools in the country and all the two of you can come up with is that I look like shit. Aren't you supposed to be some fast talking lawyer?" Damon gave his brother and father a sardonic smile.

"What can I say, I call it like I see it." Guiseppe stood up and stepped toward Stefan.

"Stefan." Giuseppe nodded at his younger son before turning his attention back to Damon. "I'll check back in a few days and maybe I can meet the twins. In the meantime, get some sleep."

Damon rolled his eyes at his father as he turned and strode down the hall. Damon moved to stand next to Stefan watching their father's retreating form.

"Jenna is on her way. She's doing Isla's next feeding. You need sleep and we are not letting you near those kids until you get some." Stefan started pushing Damon towards the elevator.

Damon wanted to fight his brother but his body was exhausted. When he wasn't with the twins he was sitting with Elena talking to her or just holding her hand. Stefan shoved him in the elevator and stood with his arms crossed until the doors closed leaving Damon traveling down alone. Even in his exhausted state he couldn't leave. He hit the floor for Elena's room and decided to take a nap on the cot the nurses were nice enough to have brought into her room.

Damon paused outside Elena's room drawing in a large breath. He always had to prepare himself before he entered. What Elena needed from hm was to be strong not lose it seeing her small and helpless with more tubes and wires than the twins. Putting on a brave face he pushed through the door. As was his routine he moved to the bed, kissed Elena on the forehead and told her he loved her before sitting next to her bed.

"You do realize that you can't sleep through all of the middle of the night feedings, right?" Damon joked.

Taking another deep breath to fight off the sadness and guilt he reached out squeezing Elena's hand. "Elena, I need you to wake up. I'm making a mess of this parenting thing. I can change a diaper, but there are so many decisions and I never know if I am making the right ones. The twins don't need me, they need their mom. They need a parent that actually knows what they are doing." Damon sat back sighing at Elena's unmoving form. Fighting his weary body he pulled out the letters his father brought. He decided to forgo sleep, propped his feet up on the bed and started to read her letters.

A steady staccato sound entered Damon's consciousness, the pace of the sound seemed to be rapidly increasing. Damon ignored the sound and let the heaviness of sleep pull at him again. Pain erupted on his hand jolting Damon awake causing the letters he had been reading to float to the floor and almost knocking him out of his chair. Disorientation had him wildly looking around the room and he froze at the sight he had been praying to see for two weeks. Elena's eyes were open and locked with his.

Elena's eyes were wide with fear and she started thrashing on the bed, her heart rate skyrocketing causing the monitors to start blaring. Damon squeezed the hand he was still holding and before he could say anything the room was flooded with medical personal. They all seemed t be shouting out orders about her heart rate which only seemed to exacerbate the situation.

Elena just kept staring at Damon with wide fearful eyes clutching at her stomach as the doctors and nurses seemed to be talking over her and threatening to sedate her. An idea struck Damon and he pulled out his phone. He muscled his way back to Elena.

"Elena, look at me. They're fine. The twins are okay. Look!" Damon directed her attention to the video he had started on his phone. It was a video he had Alaric take the first time he gave Isla a bottle then he switched to a video of Jeremy holding Grayson and telling embarrassing Elena stories. Damon glanced at the heart monitor and breathed a sigh of relief when the rhythm slowed.

Damon was then shoved out of the room for the doctors to do an assessment. From the hallway, Damon started making phone calls and it was not long before everyone was gathered waiting to hear if Elena was really okay.

What seemed like an eternity later, a doctor finally emerged. "That is one very lucky lady. We need to run some more tests, but she doesn't seem to have any cognitive impairment."

The sense of relief was so thick it could almost be seen amongst all those that had waited weeks for Elena to wake up. "Can we see her?" Jeremy asked.

"One at a time and just a few minutes each. She needs her rest." The doctor shook hands and left them.

Damon waited until everyone else had visited Elena because he knew once he was back in that room he wasn't leaving. As he stepped in his heart thundered in his chest as he approached the bed. He saw tears form in Elena's eyes as he sat down and gripped her hand.

Bringing her hand to his heart he no longer could fight the tears he had managed to keep at bay the two weeks he prayed for her to wake up.

"I love you," Damon took a ragged breath his head dropping to the bed in shame as the guilt of everything that had transpired washed over him anew.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," Damon whispered stroking Elena's hand he still clutched against his chest.

"You never slept with her." Damon's head snapped up, his jaw practically on the floor. His weakness the night Katherine drugged him haunted him and ate away at his soul as being the impetus for all the pain and destruction caused them.

"Everything was a lie. All Of it. Even drugged you were too honorable of a man to be with her." Damon could only stare at Elena in disbelief at the true depths of Katherine's lies.

He wanted to ask a million questions but he could see the pain and guilt he had been carrying for weeks now etched on Elena's face. Words everyone said about not taking on the blame finally rung true.

"Don't Elena. Don't take the burden of what Kathetime did on yourself. She caused you enough pain, don't let her cause you anymore." Damon pleaded.

Elena could only nod as sobs escaped, racking her frail frame. Not able to stand seeing Elena hurting, Damon slowly crawled into the bed and managed to get his arms around her without jostling her too much. The two clung to each other crying and releasing their pain and suffering that Katherine had caused. The sound of tears and sobs eventually died away and silence filled the room.

"The twins?" Elena asked softly.

"They're beautiful and perfect just like their mother." Damon pulled out his phone again and paged through the plethora of pictures he had already taken of the two tiny beings that had stolen his heart.

"I want to see them," Elena said groggily. Damon felt her breathing even out as she fell asleep against his chest. He leaned down to kiss her on the head allowing himself to welcome sleep for the first time in weeks.


Elena sat impatiently in her hospital bed. Today she would finally get to hold the twins. She spent two days undergoing test after test, conducted multiple interviews with the police and DAs office. She had been allowed to see the twins briefly but the doctors wanted her to restnand regain her strength before she held them or spent any significant time in the NICU. She was ornery and just wanted to see her babies refusing to wait another day.

As she waited for someone tomget her, her thoughts drifted to Damon. He had been amazing and as she suspected took to fatherhood like a duck to water. When he wasn't with her he was in the NICU feeding, changing or cuddling with the twins. Jenna told her that Damon only left the hospital for a quick shower and change of clothes otherwise he had been there nonstop. The dark circles and loser fitting pants were evidence that the hospital had been his home since he found her.

Damon strode into the room pushing a wheelchair his patented smirk present on his face. He knew she hated to be coddled and it was amusing him greatly to watch her suffer through everyone treating her like she was made of glass. She knew the kid glove treatment was because everyone was worried and if it meant she could see the twins faster than she would put up with it.

"Your chariot awaits." Damon locked the wheels on the wheelchair before circling around scooping Elena off the bed.

"Damon" Elema whined. "I can get into the chair myself."

"Nope" Damon saidbpopping the p sound. "Doctor's orders."

Deciding to pick her battles she didn't argue but focused on the fact that she was on the way to see her babies. Once in the NICU Damon helped her move to the rocking chair. Elena tried to hide the wince from the pain in her abdomen that occurred whenever she moved. She noticed a scowl on Damon's face and she knew she had been caught, but Damin thankfully kept his thoughts to himself. The doctors had warned her she would be sore for a few weeks from the surgery.

Elena watched with bated breath as Damon expertly pulled each twin out and gently cradled them in her waiting arms. The tears came unbidden as she first looked at Isla, the girl she thought she would lose to Katherine forever; then to Grayson her unexpected miracle.

Flashing Damon a watery smile she looked back at her beautiful babies. "Hello my little miracles. I have some catching up to do to be as good at this as your dad. I know I'll make mistakes but I promise to always do my best and to always love you."

Damon knelt before them kissing each of the twins before looking into her eyes. She could see unshed tears that made his eyes even bluer and even easier to drown in.

"Elena, you taught me how to love again. You gave me the family I secretly yearned for. You make me want to be a better man, to be good, to do good. You and these little monkeys are my life, my soul. I never want us to be apart. I know this is not the most romantic setting but," Elena watched as Damon reached into his back pocket and pulled out a velvet box.

"Elena, marry me." It wasn't a question and it wasn't a command but a statement of how they were meant to be. Hearts and souls entwined together like the beautiful ring Damon slid on her finger, never knowing where one ends and the other begins.

"Yes, yes I'll marry you." Damon gently kissed her before wrapping his arms around the family Elena knew he loved more than the world and would do anything to protect.

Tears, this time of joy, streamed down her face. Both of them let the love they had for each other consume them, destroying the demons off their pasts that once threatened their chance at happiness.

A/N: Just the epilogue left!