Karaoke
DG32173
Sarah: yet another country song, though not as old as some I've used in here. And a whole different 'pairing' than any I've ever done before.
Song: I Loved Her First
Artist: Heartland
Album: I Loved Her First
Genre: Family Love
Pairing: Grayson/Elena in a father/daughter kind of love; also Damon/Elena in a romantic kind of love
Note: This is an alternate universe in which Elena never attended that party in the woods that ended with her parents dying. Damon still meets her first but over the summer. He quickly gives up on Katherine as he gets to know Elena and falls for her. Takes place when Elena is twenty-one at Damon and Elena's wedding. Told from Grayson's viewpoint on their first dance as husband and wife. I'll try to do him justice since I know very little about him other than his inherited hatred of vampires and that Elena and Jeremy adored him and Miranda.
I watch that vampire dancing with my daughter, lost in the moment and each other's face. It had taken several years for me to overcome my inherited hatred of vampires to clearly see this one's utter devotion to the girl I loved as if she were my biological daughter instead of my adopted one. They're so much in love with each other, it's as if the whole world drops away when they're together even in a crowded room like this.
I was enough for her not that long ago. I was her number one, she told me so many times growing up. She still means the world to me, just so you know. He better be careful with my little girl's heart or I'll kill him.
Time changes everything, life must go on. I've finally decided I'm not going to stand in their way.
I loved her first. I held her first. A place in my heart will always be hers. From her very first breath after her biological mother finished the difficult labor, her first smile at me. I knew the love of a father runs deep. I prayed she'd find a love like this one day, but never with a creature of the night. But it's still hard to give her away, even though I finally approve of her choice. I loved her first.
How could that beautiful young woman with him be the same freckle-faced kid I knew. The one that I read all those fairy tales to and tucked into bed all those nights. I knew the first time I saw them together that it was only a matter of time before I was no longer her number one.
I loved her first. I held her first. A place in my heart will always be hers. From her very first breath after her biological mother finished the difficult labor, her first smile at me. I knew the love of a father runs deep. I prayed she'd find a love like this one day, but never with a creature of the night. But it's still hard to give her away, even though I finally approve of her choice. I loved her first.
Sadly, because of what he is, he'll never know precisely what I'm going through. Her choice is made and she'll never have children of her own because of it. I don't mind.
Finally, their first dance as husband and wife ends and I stand up to take her hand for the customary father/daughter dance. She had kept her selection of the song for it a secret from everyone. I feel tears form in my eyes as the song "I Loved Her First" by Heartland starts playing as I take her in my arms. I'll never tell her, but I had just lived through that song. "You approve?" she asks nervously as we dance. "It's supposed to be our gift to you, Dad, as a way to say thanks for supporting us."
"Yes, honey, I definitely approve," I tell her, twirling her around the dance floor of The Grill.
She relaxes and grins. "I'm glad," she says. "Damon told me to use this when I was torn between this and 'Stealing Cinderella'."
I sigh. "I am never going to stop owing that vampire, am I?" I ask her, a hint of teasing in my voice.
"He knows you approve of us, but he wants to make sure you know he understands at least a little of what you're going through today. Maybe not everything, but enough to want to ease what's to come for you," she says.
I know my daughter won't be human much longer. Maybe a couple more years, to get closer to his physical age, but soon she'll give in to his desire to have her by his side for eternity and there's only one way to do that for sure. They had even altered their wedding vows from 'til death do us part' to 'until we both cease to be'.
More tears well up as we finish what is likely to be our last dance together. I know now that even though she will have to die to attain the status of vampire, she will still be the girl I helped my wife raise pretty much from her birth. But I am sure the rest of her dances in her existence will be with her husband.
I meet his wary ice-blue eyes and nod my thanks for their gift to me. He relaxes enough to give me a very brief smile and a nod of his own before returning his gaze to her. He rarely lets his attention stray from her for more than a few moments, so deep is his love and devotion to her. The brightly burning love in his eyes when he watches her is all I need to know that he'll cherish my daughter for all eternity and even beyond that. With that knowledge, I step away from her and allow him to approach her as more couples take to the dance floor.
I always knew giving her away to whoever she chose as her husband would hurt, but I'm surprisingly pleased with her choice, considering how things were when they first met. He'll never change his mind about her as a man might. I can see that he'd rather die an agonizing death than ever do anything to cause her any sort of pain. That's all I ever wanted for her.