Hello, my lovely readers. This is the final chapter of this story and I hope you like it although you will probably still have questions I will try to address in the next story. On with the show…
Epilogue: Have a Nice Human Life
One Year Later:
Damon woke up before Elena and rubbed his eyes. This was a big day for Elena. Her graduation day. Yawning, Damon forced himself to his feet. Someone was crying in the other room and he rolled his shoulders. "Yeah. Yeah. I'm coming," Damon grumbled, yawning again before he walked into the room next his and Elena's. "Hello there," widening his eyes and grinning down at the two little brunettes with ice blue eyes. "Good morning."
The little girl reached up for her father while the boy sat on his butt and played with his blanket. They, of course, had decided to quiet down the minute he walked in the room. "Are they up?" Stefan asked as he walked into the room while trying to get his tie on properly.
"Y-up," Damon replied as he picked up his daughter. "Can you get Remy?"
"Sure," Stefan said, leaning over the crib to collect his nephew. "Hi, Remy."
Remy grinned at his uncle and grabbed his nose. "Uck," Remy replied and then began to look around the room. "Mmmm…"
"No, not Mmmm…" Damon told his son, shaking his head, slowly back and forth. "Mmmm… Is still in bed getting her beauty sleep for her big day."
"What about Uck's sleep?" Stefan asked as they walked down the stairs. "You don't seem to care if I ever get any sleep at all."
"You don't count," Damon shot back over his shoulder as he patted Eliza's back.
"Do you hear how your daddy talks to me, baby girl?" Stefan questioned Eliza who giggled at the faces that Stefan was making. The doorbell rang and Damon peered over his shoulder at Stefan who rolled his eyes. "Of course. Stefan, take the baby. Stefan, answer the door. Stefan, make breakfast."
"I didn't ask you to make breakfast," Damon called back but Stefan was answering the door. Then there was the sound of many people invading the house and Damon shook his head as he placed his son in his highchair. Caroline came running into the kitchen.
"Good morning, Remy," Caroline called cheerily, kissing the baby on his forehead and then his chubby fists.
"You spoil him," Damon told her as he poured breast milk out of one bottle and into another bottle before popping it into a microwave. He glanced toward the doorway of the kitchen as Klaus walked in, looking around the kitchen. "You hungry? Stef, made breakfast."
Klaus smiled, "All the time. Thank you, Damon," Damon smiled as he turned to look at the microwave. After the initial shock of becoming a human had worn off, Klaus had become slightly more agreeable. Or at least when he was offered food.
"This is not bad," Klaus was saying as he ate.
"Don't get any of that on your clothes," Caroline ordered as she typed quickly on her phone. "We can't afford another dry cleaning bill in one day."
Before Klaus could reply Rebekah came into the room with Remy balanced on her hip. "Do you have any idea how cute you are?" she was cooing to the gurgling baby.
"Oh, yes, he will be adorable when he spits up on you," Kol called as he walked in holding Bonnie's hand.
"Is Elena up yet?" Caroline asked Damon, taking the time to look at him before going back to her phone. "She has to get up. We have so much to do. There are yearbook signings and pictures to be taken and we need to pick up our caps and gowns. Oh, my God. I bet she's still in bed."
Stalking out of the room, Caroline went to find Elena with Bonnie and Rebekah following her after the former Original sister dumped Remy onto Klaus' knee. "Speaking of pictures," Stefan began as he pulled out a camera and snapped one of Klaus staring down at Remy with an utter lack of desire to be in contact with the infant.
"Be nice, Klaus, or Stefan won't make you more pancakes," Damon warned as he came to sit at the table.
Klaus rolled his eyes. "What makes you think that the threat of not having more pancakes will make me be nice to your spawn?"
"Because you're poor, Klaus," Stefan pointed out, staring at Klaus' less than designer apparel. "And free food is a man's real best friend."
"I am not poor," Klaus replied as he began to jiggle Remy on his knee. "It's simply a matter of Elijah straightening out our financial situation. Until then we must tighten our belts, somewhat."
"Uh huh," Kol added around a mouthful of his own pancakes. "More please?" Holding out his empty plate, he smiled at Stefan.
"See, that is the way that you get what you want," Damon said, pointing a finger at Kol and then turning to pull out a bottle of orange juice. As he turned around, he found Caroline pulling Elena into the room. His wife was yawning and rubbing her eyes.
"Caroline, seriously, you could have let me stay in bed for five more minutes," Elena moaned as she sniffed the air and looked at the pancakes that Kol was stuffing into his mouth. "Are there more of those?"
"Of course," Damon replied with a wide grin as Eliza began to gurgle. "Ma," or at least that is what it sounded like to Damon. Klaus glowered up at the baby who was not looking at her mother but down at him.
"I am not your bloody mother," Klaus informed the baby with another scowl.
Caroline furrowed her brow, glaring at her boyfriend before turning to Elena. "Eat quickly. You need to be in the shower and ready like yesterday." Looking around, she noticed that Stefan had disappeared and whirled on Damon. Pointing her cell at Damon, Caroline gave him an accusatory look. "Where is your brother?" Her narrowed eyes said that wherever Stefan was had to be Damon's fault.
Looking around, Damon felt confused. "He was right there a second ago. Hold on, I'll go find him." Striding up the stairs of the Boarding House, Damon heard heavy footsteps dragging themselves behind him. "Can I help you with something, Klaus?" Damon asked the former terror of all of their existences.
Klaus stopped as Damon turned to look down at him, "How did you know it was me, Salvatore?"
"Because since you turned human you are so freakin' loud, I'm surprised that the whole house doesn't hear you walking around," Damon replied with an eye roll. Who was Klaus kidding anyway? Did he not hear how loud he was?
Huffing in annoyance, Klaus moved to stand beside Damon, "It is not me. It is the staircase. These older houses creak."
"Uh huh," Damon chuckled. "So why are you following me around the house like some kind of lost puppy?"
Grinning back at Damon while baring his teeth, Klaus leaned forward. "Oh, Damon, can you do no better than low blows about my status as a wolf. And do not ever refer to me as puppy again or you may want to beware my bite."
Damon smiled back at Klaus. "The only time I'm afraid of your bite, Klaus, is three times a month. And if I were you I would beware of Caroline's bite. Now, that goes on not just three days a month or a week but twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. And I do not think that she would appreciate you threatening the husband of one of her best friends."
"Frankly, Damon, I think that I will take my chances," Klaus snarled. He was about to throw a punch which would cause Caroline to deny him sex or her presence for at least a week. Perhaps two. Then he heard a noise from up above them. Damon seemed to hear it, too, as he cocked his head to the side. "What was that?" Klaus muttered as Damon shook his head.
"They're at it again," Damon answered Klaus' question as he looked toward the top of the stairs.
"Is that Stefan and Bekah?" Klaus inquired.
Shaking his head in disgust, Damon started to walk back down the stairs as Caroline and Elena began to walk up the stairs. "Where are you going?" Damon demanded while Klaus continued to frown, looking toward the source of the noise.
"Elena needs to get ready. And I'm going to make sure that happens," Caroline told Damon, trying to walk past him when he stepped to the side. "Damon, what are you doing?" Caroline practically shouted. "WE need to get going. Now!"
"Sorry, Barbie. But I think that my wife needs to go back downstairs and have a proper breakfast. A good day starts with a full belly," Damon informed Caroline. Widening his eyes, he folded his arms, standing directly in front of the blonde with an expression that begged her to question his authority.
Caroline opened her mouth to tell Damon what she thought when Klaus took a step down to talk to her. "Caroline, love, I do believe that you have not eaten either," he murmured quietly.
"So? I never eat a full meal before I have a picture taken. I mean do I look like I want to be memorialized with my belly sticking out." Rolling her eyes, Caroline sighed heavily at Klaus' lack of understanding her dilemma.
"Oooooooo," Rebekah moaned loudly and everyone looked up.
"What was that?" Caroline inquired before she started to walk past Damon.
"It sounded like it came from downstairs. It might be Remy. He had a tummy ache this morning," Damon lied effortlessly as Caroline shook her head.
"That sound came from upstairs. Not down," Caroline cried out while Elena turned and headed down the stairs, taking the steps two at a time. "Lena, that was not Remy. Not unless he's female and making sex noises," Caroline shouted as she ran after her friend.
"It did not sound like a sex noise to me, love," Klaus called after Caroline who flicked a dirty look at him before following Elena around the corner.
"Okay, I'm going to figure out which room those two are in so that someone doesn't walk in on them like I did with you and Care last week," Damon called to Klaus over his shoulder.
"It is not my fault. Caroline is naturally prone to finding the best room with the best bed in a house and using it. Along with the shower," Klaus added as an afterthought.
"You used my shower," Damon hissed as he looked at the open doors. Heading further down the hall, he found that Stefan and Rebekah were not in Stefan's room. Walking forward, he found that his door was closed. "Of course. It seems like all the women that hang around you are attracted to my bedroom." Knocking on the door, Damon shouted to the occupants. "Hey, kids. Can you get the hell out my room so that my wife can clean up and get ready to graduate?"
Rebekah began to giggle after the sound of a thud of something heavy hit the floor and then the sound of Stefan cursing could be heard. After a moment, Stefan appeared in the doorway, his suit wrinkled and his hair an even bigger mess than usual. Damon could not see Rebekah but he guessed that she was still getting dressed. "Sorry," Stefan said as he shuffled past Klaus, trying to avoid eye contact.
"Nik, how long have you been out there?" Rebekah demanded while turning around for her brother to zip up her dress. "I understand Damon's being a creep, but you're my brother."
"I have no idea what you are implying, Bekah," Klaus replied. "Now, off you go. We have a wretched little human milestone to undergo."
Damon smirked as Caroline reappeared with Elena at her side. "Okay. Now, you're going to get ready. No more arguments." Caroline was saying as she headed for Damon's room.
"Thanks, Caroline, but I think that we can handle it from here," Damon informed Caroline while taking ahold of Elena and moving her through the door. Stepping inside he smiled at Caroline who was gaping up at him when he closed the door in her face.
"You had better get her ready, Damon," Caroline shouted. Damon was ignoring Caroline as she knocked on the door. Picking up his wife, he carried her to their shower and set her down before turning on the water.
"Damon, I'm still wearing my clothes," Elena protested.
Smiling down at Elena, Damon brushed her hair out of her face. "I know and I am about to do something about that." Pulling her clothes off her top, he tossed them over the shower curtain.
"What about Eliza and Remy?" Elena looked toward the door like their children were right outside.
"They will be fine. They have so many babysitters right now, they probably feel like royalty," Damon whispered into the crock of Elena's neck. "Now, just relax. You have a long and stressful day ahead of you. Knowing Caroline she will be finding in a screwdriver and taking the hinges off the door if we don't get out of here in the next half hour."
Elena did not reply but sighed in contentment as Damon covered her body in kisses. "I love you, Damon," she whispered. "I think that I fall a little bit more in love with you every day."
"And I you," Damon told her with a grin.
Later that day, Damon was sitting with the audience members watching Elena, Caroline, Bonnie, Stefan, Matt and Tyler taking photos of themselves as they waited for their names to be called. Damon, Klaus, Kol, Elijah and Elena's "older sister," Katherine were sitting in a row with Bill and Liz Forbes, Jenna Sommers and Alaric Saltzman who were engaged. Jeremy Gilbert was also there with his girlfriend, Anna. Esther was also there, sitting toward the back.
"Hey, look at that chick. Isn't she the one who got pregnant?" One of the other audience members asked another loudly and Damon' eyes moved in the direction of the voice.
"Yeah. I bet those are the kids," another person said, sneering and pointing toward Jenna who was bouncing Remy on her lap.
Damon had decided to allow Jenna and Ric to take the kids during the ceremony so that people would leave Elena in peace for once. It had not occurred to him that people would start shit about her status as a teen mom but they could go nowhere without comment. How was he supposed to change his lifestyle so quickly, keeping in mind that he was a human and needed to use a condom? After all, it was Caroline who wanted the kids, not he and Lena.
"Hey, asshole," Kol called to the two people who were making comments. "See that chap over there. He's the daddy. That guy next to him is my brother and so is the other chap next to him. Now, if you would like to take this out to the parking lot so that we can thrash you within an inch of your lives, then off we go?" The insane gleam in Kol's eye told the two men that he was serious and they quieted down.
Damon and Klaus turned their attention to Caroline. She had taken the stage and was waving at everyone. Soon after, but not soon enough for the two former vampires, Elena took the stage. She waved and blew kisses to Damon, her children, her brother and her aunt. Rebekah threw her cap and Stefan caught it. After some time he got up and accepted his diploma with a bow to the audience. Damon and Klaus got to their feet and shouted, "Go, Stefan." It wasn't every day that two vampires who had been alive for a combination of twelve hundred years plus graduated from high school.
When the group was united once more there were more photos taken because Caroline demanded it. Elena and Damon began to slow dance, staring into each other's eyes as Caroline snapped more pictures. It did not matter where they were or what they were as long as they were together. They knew that they would survive anything.
"Kiss," Caroline shouted to Damon and Elena as Klaus wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled her neck. Damon and Elena did not need to be told twice. Their lips met in a long, gentle, passionate kiss as a bright light went off and their picture told one of the many stories of their life together. This was just the beginning of many, many more.
I will post a reminder next week when I post the first chapter of the sequel.
Guest: I know but all good things must come to an end. And there is the sequel to look forward to.
MysticGirl200: Yes, I thought it might be. If you want to send me a pm and tell me what parts were the most confusing I can try to explain them in the following story.
xElinneax: Thank you. I shall take a bow now.
Thank you for reading faving, following and for reviewing: Jeremy Shane, Ghostwriter, Guest, MysticGirl200, redbudrose, YAZMIN V and xELinneax.
Peace,
LL