I feel horrible. I am so, so, so sorry that it took me so long to update. There was a lot going on and I couldn't find time to sit down to write. Even when I had the time, I couldn't find the right words for this chapter. I'm sorry!

I would also like to say that this story is coming to a close. After this chapter, there will only be two chapters left. I am beyond sad, because I love this story, but I'm happy to announce that I will be working on another story right after this one. I hope you all like that one too.

Thank you to everyone who has favorited and followed this story, as well as left reviews! I'm very happy to see that so many of you enjoy this story. Please leave me a review after this chapter and tell me what you think. :)

Damon's P.O.V

"When are you going to start talking, kid?" I looked down at Marie as she rested in her swing. She looked up at me with her wide eyes that I loved and I chuckled. "No answer? I see how it is."

It was November. Marie was two months old, growing more and more as the days went on. I had unofficially moved into the Gilbert residence. Jenna wasn't thrilled but I didn't like being away from my daughter.

I turned away from Marie to continue cleaning up. Empty and half filled bottles filled the coffee table, while the floor was covered in baby toys. Marie began to shout and I chuckled, turning back to face her. "What?" I said. She shouted at me again and I stomped my foot playfully, moving back over to her. "I have a mess to clean, little girl."

In response, Marie blew raspberries at me and I chuckled as I scooped her up into my arms. "I can see that you won't let me get any cleaning done," I shook my head at her. As she sat in my arms, she turned her head around to examine her surroundings. She had gotten better at holding her head up and was always looking around. For a two month old baby, she was pretty curious.

I dropped down on the couch and kicked my feet up on the coffee table as Marie sat in my lap, leaning against my chest. She banged her hands on my knees and I turned, looking for something she could play with. I picked up a remote and turned the TV on, switching to the Disney channel. A show she had started to like recently was on and I sighed with relief. As the show instantly grabbed her attention, I tossed my head back and took a deep breath.

For once in my life, I was tired. There was once a time where I could take on twenty vampires and still be up for going out to a bar after. Now I was in a time where I had an alarm set so I could wake up before Marie and get bottles ready for her so Elena didn't have to get up. I was in a time where I napped when Marie napped. I was in a time where I got up at six in the morning to feed Marie while watching Blue's Clues. I was in a time where at seven o' clock at night, I was ready to crawl into bed and pass out. Weird, huh?

It sure as hell was a different lifestyle, but it was nothing I didn't expect. I knew from the minute that Elena told me she was pregnant that my life was going to change. I wanted that. I wanted everything to change and it did, all because of the little girl bouncing happily in my lap. I picked my head up to look at her, smiling like I always did when I looked at her. She was the reason why I was happy with this new lifestyle.

"We're home!"

I turned my head to look at the door, watching as the other reason to my happiness stepped in.

Elena.

I picked Marie off of my lap and laid her down in front of the TV, giving her a toy to play with. I stepped over to the door as Elena and Jenna shuffled in, carrying tons of grocery bags.

"How's Marie?" Elena asked me.

"She's in the living room being hypnotized by the television," I said as I took some of the bags from her.

"Jake and the Neverland Pirates, again?" Elena laughed.

"My favorite," I grinned sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes and leaned up to kiss me on the cheek once her coat was off. After, she walked past me and into the living room shouting, "Mommy's home!"

I stayed standing there for a minute, watching her bend down to pick Marie up. I had a smile on my face that I couldn't get rid of as I thought of how different things between us were. I shuffled into the kitchen with my thoughts and started to put the groceries away.

Things with Elena and I were slowly moving along. We spent more time together, with and without Marie, simply talking about whatever popped into our heads. We still had our arguments over small things, like when I would insist that Elena needed a night to herself to catch up on some sleep. Then there was the time when she had cooked dinner and with one taste of the mashed potatoes, I knew the rest of the meal would be inedible. I received a good smack against the head that night.

She was still stubborn. I was still sarcastic. Certain things about us didn't change. We knew they would always be like that and that it was something we would deal with. Then there were the things that changed completely. At some point, she learned how to outwit me. There were many occasions where I was left standing in one spot, shocked at something she had said as she gave me a smirk worthy to compete against my own. I started to hear her out when she came up with some crazy idea, even though I didn't agree in the end anyway.

My favorite new development of hers was that she was more comfortable around me. I would receive random kisses on the cheek throughout the day, like the one I received moments ago and every once in a while she would lay next to me on the couch as I tried to get Marie to fall asleep.

I fell in love with her more and more as each day passed. Marie brought us closer, closer than I ever thought we could be. I looked up from the fridge to see her spinning around with Marie. I smiled at the sight. Elena and I may have not been dating. We were a family and that was better than anything else.

"So what did you do with Daddy today, Marie?" Elena asked. She wandered into the kitchen and sat down at the table, setting Marie in her lap.

"He sure as hell didn't clean," Jenna hit me in the arm.

"I tried but Marie prevented me from doing so," I turned to look at Jenna.

"How could a two month old baby stop you from cleaning?"

"She kept yelling at me everytime I turned my back," I said. I looked over at Marie who was staring up at me. "Tell them it's true, Marie."

She started to shriek, just like she did as I tried to clean before and I grinned at Jenna in a, "I told you so" manner.

Jenna rolled her eyes and looked at Elena. "I'm heading to Ric's. Call me if you need anything."

"Have fun," Elena smiled up at her Aunt.

"Tell Ric I miss him!" I shouted at Jenna's back as she walked out.

When the door closed I looked back at Elena and asked, "Will she ever like me?"

"She likes annoying you. Does that count?"

I rolled my eyes, causing her to giggle, and went back to putting the groceries away. "What are we doing for food?"

"I bought chicken. I figured we could do something with that," Elena said. "Did Marie eat?"

"Yes she did. I fed her then went to put her down for a nap but she wouldn't sleep. I walked back and forth with her, put her in the swing, but nothing worked," I explained. I moved around the kitchen as I started to prepare dinner. "Is grilled chicken pasta salad good?"

"Anything you make is good, Damon. Must you ask me every night?"

"I like hearing you compliment my food," I smirked.

She rolled her eyes and went back in the living room to play with Marie. I continued to move around, gathering everything up before I could start cooking.

"Hey Damon?" Elena asked me a few minutes later.

"What's up, Gilbert?"

"Do you want to watch a movie when Marie goes to sleep? It's Friday and she usually sleeps in on Saturdays, so we don't have to kill ourselves to get up early."

"Don't you mean I don't have to kill myself to get up early?" I grinned at her from my spot in the kitchen. She began to frown instantly and I laughed. It was easy to make her feel bad.

"Why do you have to go there? You know I feel bad about you getting up so early every day," Elena sighed.

"Elena I'm messing with you," I chuckled as I tossed a dishtowel at her. "Lighten up!"

"Just answer the question, Damon."

"What question?"

"Do you want to watch a movie or not?"

"I would love to watch a movie with you, Miss Gilbert," I winked at her. "But if you pick anything girly, I'm out."

"Oh come on!" she shouted. "'Beethoven' was not girly!"

"It was a dog movie, Elena. All dog movies are girly," I rolled my eyes. "Oh I know what we can watch. Let's watch 'A Nightmare on Elm Street', the original. It's a classic."

"I am not watching that, Damon," she gave me a bored look.

"Well it looks like we won't be watching anything!" I grinned at her playfully.

Marie shrieked in Elena's lap and I laughed. "Yell at Mommy, Marie!"

Elena turned Marie so they were facing and rubbed their noses together. "Don't listen to Daddy. I'm your favorite."

"Actually I'm her favorite," I snorted. I walked away from the kitchen and bent down to pick Marie up, kissing her cheek. She threw her head down onto my shoulder and started to suck on her fist like she always did when I held her.

"She is such a Daddy's girl," Elena shook her head with a small smile.

"I have no problem with her being a Daddy's girl," I said with a smile of my own. I kissed her head again before moving back into the kitchen, easily working to finish dinner with Marie in my arms as Elena relaxed on the couch.

Once dinner was ready, I grabbed a bottle for Marie and laid her down in the playpen that was set up in the living room. Elena and I ate in the living room so we could keep an eye on her, making small talk as we ate.

This was our nightly routine that we had grown into. I would cook dinner every night and as we ate, Marie would drink a bottle. Elena would take care of the dishes once we were done eating as I changed Marie into a fresh diaper and a new pair of pajamas. Then I would head upstairs to Elena's room to put Marie to sleep. It was pretty easy to get her to sleep if she was having a good day. I would walk back and forth for a little bit in the dark, rubbing her back slowly. After putting her down in the cradle, I would take the baby monitor downstairs along with a pair of pajamas for Elena to change into. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to pick anything provocative.

I handed Elena her pajamas and set the monitor down on the table so we could hear if Marie woke up. I kicked my shoes off and relaxed against the couch as I went through the channels to see if anything good was on TV.

"Still against watching any girly movies?" Elena asked as she stepped downstairs.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Does it look like I changed my mind?"

"A girl can hope," she giggled. She grabbed a pillow and sat next to me, holding it against her chest.

I handed her the remote saying, "Here. I trust you to choose wisely."

She took the remote and went through the channels, finally choosing 'The Breakfast Club'. "Did I do good?" she asked me.

"Not bad. You could have chosen 'The Silence of the Lambs' but I'll settle for this," I shrugged.

She laughed and leaned back against the couch. We sat in silence for a little bit as we watched the five teenagers converse in the library.

"Was Marie good while I was gone?" Elena asked in a soft voice after a while.

"She's always good with me," I scoffed.

"What are you going to do when she's bad one day?"

"I won't have to worry about that. Marie is a good baby," I smirked.

"Yes she is but all good babies have their bad days," Elena tilted her head at me with a small smile.

"Not my baby," I continued to smirk.

She laughed and shook her head at me.

"What are you shaking your head for?"

"It's nothing bad. Relax," she said.

"Then what is it?"

A moment of silence passed. Neither of us said anything. We sat on the couch staring at each other and I could hear Elena's heart start beating a little faster. I held back a smirk as her eyes dropped down to my lips as they always did.

"I was just thinking about how you're such a great Father," she said.

I froze, my eyes unable to look anywhere but into her eyes. Elena had told me many times that I would be a great Father when I was doubtful, but I hadn't heard it once since she had the baby. I swallowed and licked my lips, not knowing what to say. I felt my heart swell and if I were human, I probably would have blushed. "Thank you," I whispered to her with a small smile.

"You don't have to thank me, Damon," Elena shook her head a little as she pushed a piece of hair behind her ear. "I knew you would be. A part of me has always known. I love seeing you with Marie. You always have her smiling and she always has you smiling. It's amazing."

I laughed a little at her words but said nothing in return. I couldn't find any words to express how I felt. Instead I kept smiling at her.

"What are you smiling at?" Elena asked with a laugh of her own.

"I'm smiling at you," I said. Her lips turned upwards into a smile of her own and I took a deep breath, whispering her name, "Elena…"

Before she could respond, I closed the space between us and covered her lips with my own. My hands went to rest on the sides of her neck as my thumb traced her jaw line slowly. She kissed me back instantly, filling me with happiness and hope. I ran my tongue along her lower lip and she opened her mouth in response, allowing me to deepen the kiss. I felt her throw the pillow off the couch and grip at my shirt. I fell onto her as we kissed and she laughed a little, causing me to smile. I moved my hands to hold myself up as I continued to kiss her, the kiss slowly escalating from a soft one to a heated one. I pressed myself against her and heard her moan, the sound going straight to my pants. I pressed myself against her again to hear her moan once more, pulling away to look at her with dark eyes as she did.

Elena's eyes fluttered open as she gasped for breath, looking up at me. I grinned as I took in her flushed cheeks and swollen lips.

"What?" she asked me.

I shook my head and stroke her cheek with my knuckles, saying after a moment, "You are so beautiful."

She smiled and leaned up to initiate another kiss, one that I happily returned. As we kissed, I couldn't think of any better way to spend a Friday night. I didn't know what this kiss meant. I didn't know when it would end, if it ever did end, and I didn't know what it would bring to us in the future. The only thing I knew was that I sure as hell wouldn't be the one to stop it.