TWO YEARS LATER

"Hey, Elena! Could I get a picture?"

Elena turned in the direction of the request, shielding her eyes with one hand against the Hawaiian sun. It was not a reporter or a photographer. Just a woman approaching her. Kindle in one hand, phone in the other. Her kids build sand castles behind her, visors on their heads.

"Could I get a picture with you?" she repeated, smiling at Elena widely, genuinely. "I live on your site. Love all the Retreat stuff."

Elena hesitated. She was pretty wary of pictures these days. She had had enough of the limelight. Not that she was completely out, but she hadn't walked a runway in the last two years. People didn't stop her on the street as much. She still had a few endorsements, but she had deliberately shrunk the circle of light she stood in.

"This bathing suit is actually Retreat," the woman continued, setting her Kindle on the sand.

Elena looked a little more closely and recognized the suit from last season's Retreat's swimwear line.

"It looks great on you." Elena smiled back, still not sure about the picture.

"Well, I do Jalene's videos on the site every morning," she said. "Even had the hubs install a barre in the basement."

"That is awesome. Well, I can tell it is paying off."

Her eyes caught something over Elena's shoulder, admiration widening her smile even more.

"Isn't that your husband?"

Elena twisted to look over her shoulder, her heart still leavening in her chest at the sight of Damon after two years. Those damn butterflies were here to stay, apparently, because they still flapped madly when he smiled at her like that, like she was the appetizer, main course, and dessert all wrapped in one bite.

"Yep, that's him," Elena said absently, distracted by the cling of his wet suit molding the bulge of his arms, the muscles in his legs, the width of his chest.

Damon loped towards them, water running from his hair and down his face. He reached for the towel on the lounge chair where Elena had stowed their things.

"Hi, there," he said to the lady ogling him. Elena was not sure if it was all the dripping wet, ginger-topped eye candy making her cheeks flame, or that sexy smirk of his. Both got Elena every time, so she couldn't blame her.

"Hi," she said a little breathily.

"Hey, baby," Damon said to Elena, tossing the towel down, palming her cheek and pressing his cold lips to hers. "I didn't know you were coming out."

"We wanted to see if you hit your target time."

His blue-grey eyes lit up and he relieved her of the weight on her hip.

"Joseph!" Damon lifted their son, Joseph, up in the air and gave him a gentle shake. "Did you see Daddy in the water?"

Predictably, Joseph giggled, compelling him to do it again, his blue eyes bright in his chubby face under the dark brown hair.

"Did you see Daddy in the water?" Damon asked again, pressing Joseph a few inches higher in the air before bringing him down to kiss his little slobbery lips.

Elena glanced from her husband back to the lady wearing the Retreat swimsuit. "You wanted a picture, you said?" Elena reminded her wryly.

"Oh, yes." She blinked and smiled, shifting her eyes away from Damon cooing to Joseph.

"Go on, Elena," Damon said, a touch of warning in his eyes when they met Elena's. "I have got the baby."

His not-so-subtle way of making sure Elena was not considering splattering their son all over Instagram. They had turned down offers from People and several other magazines when Joseph was born. They even offered to make a donation to one of Damon and Elena's favorite charities in exchange for the pictures. Damon wasn't having it. He was fiercely protective of Joseph. He was pretty protective of their privacy in general, but especially when it came to their son.

Elena wrapped an arm around the woman's shoulder while she snapped a selfie and promised to tag her.

Gee, thanks, Elena thought. No thanks.

Once she was walking off back towards her kids, still playing in the sand, Elena turned to face Damon, who had mercy—peeled the top of his wet suit down so it flopped over, baring the sculpted muscles of his chest and abs. With a house full of family, her libido was in overdrive because they weren't screwing nearly enough to satisfy her. She stepped close, sandwiching Joseph between their hearts, reaching up to tangle her fingers in his wet hair.

"How was your swim?" Elena hoped she was working him up as much as he was to her so they could have clandestine sex in a pantry or something later. "How are you doing on time?"

"Not bad for an old man." Damon chuckled, the subtle laugh lines at his eyes deepening. It was laughable to think of Damon as an "old man," because at thirty-seven, her husband remained quite the specimen. Thus Elena was feeling hot and horny in the Hawaiian sun.

"You back on target?" Elena asked, knowing he had been trying to shave a minute off his swim time.

"I will be by the next race. I got a few months." Damon shook his head, sighing. "Things have been so busy it has thrown my training off."

"Busy, but going so well," Elena reminded him, proud of all the global progress the Collective had made since Damon sold the Mystic to Augustine and took the reins two years ago.

"Sorry I was on that call so late last night. I had no idea the issues were that complex."

"It is okay, but I did miss you. I like to fall asleep in your arms, if you hadn't noticed," Elena said huskily, leaning in to pull his bottom lip between hers.

The arm that was not holding Joseph slipped around her waist, dragging her closer.

"I love my family," he said against her lips. "But maybe we should have realized how little privacy we would have bringing Joseph to Hawaii with us."

"It is okay." Her tongue darted between his lips for a quick taste of him. "Joseph climbing in bed with us the last couple of nights is what has been the real cock blocker."

"I hated thunderstorms growing up, too." Damon squintted up at the sky. "I think we should be fine tonight if the weather holds. Where's Stefan and everyone else?"

"Back at the house with your mum." Elena laughed. "It seems like all the girls are cooking something, and all the guys are watching ESPN."

"Sounds about right." His chuckle faded away, concern in the eyes assessing her.

"Are you still feeling up to the trip?" Damon took her hand and started walking them back towards the rented beachside villa housing the whole Salvatore clan while they were on vacation.

"Are you kidding me?" Elena laughed and touched Joseph's head gently. "That trip to London is my best shot at getting laid."

"Truth. At this rate we might have to mile high it." Damon didn't crack a smile, and Elena hoped he was serious. Some of her favorite orgasms had been at thirty thousand feet. "And what about you? How is the morning sickness?"

"Not too bad."

Elena had to laugh when she thought of that afternoon she spent with Kerris two years ago, marveling at her having three kids in as many years. Here she was pregnant with her second in two years, and she couldn't even blame it on twins. Aaron and Kerris stopped at three, so far. The demands of running Augustine Enterprises had been greater than even Aaron could have anticipated, especially with her father's departure.

After more than thirty years as partners in corporate raiding, Grayson and Nathan Whitmore parted ways. Grayson decided to leave rather than serve under Aaron. Last Elena heard he was consulting for some of the most powerful CEOs in the international business community. We Gilbert always land on our feet, she thought.

Only she was not a Gilbert anymore. She was a Salvatore. Damon's family truly embraced her unreservedly, making her feel finally like she had a family, not just a lineage. His Sunday school–teaching mother never once made Elena feel like a sinner. Lillian made her feel like the girl her son loved the way her husband loved her. Damon's capacity to love in spite of flaws, to love without condemnation—Elena knew where he got that now. It wasn't just the hair or the face his mother passed on. Lillian showed Elena a mother's love, something Elena realized she had been missing her whole life, and it filled a lot of the holes her own mother left.

The public wasn't as easy to convince. Bets were laid about how long Damon and her would last before she cheated on him, dumped him, humiliated him. Occasionally some reporter would still refer to her "wild days" or call her a "reformed bad girl." Damon was right about those labels people slapped on her back. Ultimately, they didn't matter. Thank God Damon peeled back the persona to find the person underneath. Damon had never cared what they said, and now neither did she.

Elena slowed her steps to match his as they got closer to the house, both of them enjoying even this sliver of time alone without kids everywhere they turned. Much as they loved his family,their time alone fuelled both of them. Elena could tell Damon missed the little quiet piece of the world they carved out for their young family as much as she did. After living out loud for so long, it felt good to live just above a whisper.

"Joseph is loving the chance to hang with all his cousins." Elena stopped a few yards shy of the villa entrance, taking in Damon holding their eighteen-months-old in his powerful arms.

"You still feel good about leaving him with my parents for a few days while we are in London?" Damon searched her face, pushing back the hair she kept just above her shoulders.

"If there is anyone we can trust him with it is your mother." Elena shrugged. "Besides it is just for a few days. We will pop over for Halima's event and come right back. Joseph won't even have time to miss us. He stopped feeding just in time."

She leaned into her son, pressing her forehead to his.

"Didn't you boy? Just in time for Mummy to go away. You are gonna be a good boy for Grammy, aren't you?"

Joseph answered with a bubble and a tiny-toothed grin.

"Can you believe we are having another baby?" Damon's mouth crooked with a satisfied smile.

Elena just rolled her eyes and shook her head. She had wanted another child with Damon but not so soon. She was in the middle of launching the Retreat Home line and planning a Paris fashion show to benefit all the charities Retreat's proceeds support. She had planned to wait until the dust settled some, but her body had other plans.

She glanced down at her brief shorts and tight tank top.

"I just got my body back, besides a few stretch marks, and now it is time to give it up again."

"You only get better and better." Damon tipped her chin up, eyes growing warmer. "Inside and out."

Elena leaned into him, pausing when the front door opened, his mother standing there holding Carter's hand, Stefan's son.

"Can I play with Joseph?" The three-year-old boy asked. "Please? Uncle Damon?"

"Play with Carter," Joseph said.

Lillian smiled. "Carter has been asking where Joseph is for the last half an hour."

Damon held Joseph in one arm, Carter in the other. "Okay, we will go and find Grandpa."

Sometimes looking at how well Damon's family got along made Elena's heart ached a little, though less and less as the years went on.

She tried not to let it bother her that her parents still wanted so little to do with her. Even if they wanted more of a relationship with her, Damon didn't want them anywhere near their son. Anywhere near their lives. She ran into her parents at a recent fund-raiser for one of Retreat's charitable organizations. The air iced over between them, neither acknowledging her. For just a moment, Elena wanted to drop the social mores, ignorede all the watching eyes and asdk them if they ever loved her, if they ever believed in here. Or had even one proud moment? But she didn't because she was afraid she already knew the answer, and she couldn't let it matter to her anymore.

Damon somehow managed to gather her into their little circle, pulling her close even with two children wriggling in his arms.

"Thank you for this little blessing." His eyes were suddenly serious, and Elena got it. She thought about their life sometimes and was absolutely humbled by how good it was. Not the money or the things or the fame she still had despite her efforts to shake it, but each other. Their son. The chance to do good for the things they were passionate about. Mostly thankful for each other.

"I think we kinda made this little blessings together," Elena said lightly, trying to lighten the moment. "This whole life we made together."

"And none of it works without you, Elena." His eyes burnt on her, heating her cheeks in that way only he ever managed. "Nothing works without you. You are my fire. You are my life. You know that, right?"

Elena couldn't speak for the tears clogging her throat as Damon's words sank in. She absorbed them, letting them watered all the spots left dry by doubt and condemnation. All the places barren from years of shame and inadequacy. For a moment, she was so grateful she finally proved that she was good enough. Damon stared at her for so long, so hard, his love was unavoidable, a tangible thing that wrapped around her as surely as his strong arms. She thought, in some ways, he had seen her, he had loved her, almost from the beginning, and she never had anything to prove to him at all.

Maybe everything she had to prove was to herself.

THE END

When I finished writing this epilogue, one of the TVD songs came to my mind. I'm sure you guys/gals remembered the song "Don't deserve you" by Plumb which was played in season 5. I think this song fits perfectly for this story...

I don't deserve a chance like this...I don't deserve a love that gives me everything...You're everything I want

I have thoroughly enjoyed writing this story and I'm glad my readers have enjoyed reading it as much as I do. Thank you so much!