A/N: Had quite a few new commenters in the past few chapters, so I wanted to welcome all the new readers. Also, apologies once again for the lack of update last week. I was on vacation and apparently so was the WiFi signal.
Here's also the regular reminder that I will usually let you know about those things on my twitter account (which is exclusively dedicated to my Delena fanfic - nothing else): adaudby. This is where I also *occasionally* answer fic-related questions, especially if you're a commenter without an account and I can't answer to you here, on this website.
Mystic Falls / Seattle | July 2028
Elena glanced up from the medical journal she was reading when she heard Damon's car pull up outside. She smiled despite herself. Quite possibly, this was her favorite time of day. The work was done, the kids were in bed, and her husband was about to step through that door. As if on cue, his keys rattled in the lock a second later.
Elena stretched over the back of the couch, watching Damon as he placed his keys in bowl by the door and hung up his raincoat. His hair was tousled – he must have driven home with the top down. He looked good enough to eat, even though all he was wearing were a pair of dark jeans and a grey buttoned shirt. Elena might have ogled him a bit while he toed off his boots and padded across the entrance hall in nothing but his socks, but he didn't have to know that.
He smiled when he finally noticed her watching him. Elena loved that smile. It was his unguarded one, the one reserved for her and their children.
"Sorry I'm late," he greeted her and bent down for a kiss.
Elena stretched her neck to meet his lips and they kissed softly, upside down. When he was about to pull away, Elena grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him back towards her.
He laughed against her lips, but followed and let himself be pulled over the back of the couch. He dropped gracelessly in her lap, the rest of his body splayed haphazardly half on, half off the sofa. Elena's hand moved into his hair, scratching at his scalp and Damon adjusted his position to rest comfortably with his head in her lap.
"Meeting ran late?" she asked.
He nodded, eyes closing in bliss at her ministrations. "Fucking Harold," he muttered; a variation on an ongoing theme after every city council meeting. "Oh," he exclaimed, suddenly remembering. He sat up to face Elena. "Guess who's running for mayor?"
"What?" Elena exclaimed, sitting up straighter as well. "Damon, no! You said you wouldn't. Don't you have enough on your plate already with all your projects?"
"What? No! Not me!" Damon replied. "Nuh-uh. God, I would never. Can you imagine?" His eyes drifted for a second, as if trying to picture it, and he shuddered visibly and he pulled a thoroughly disgusted face. "Eugh. No, thanks."
"Then who're you talking about?"
"Claire."
Elena frowned. "Jeremy's Claire?"
Damon nodded with a satisfied grin on his face.
"Really? Jonah isn't even three yet and she never mentioned anything about wanting to run."
"She probably would have, had the thought occurred to her before tonight." At Elena's confused look, he explained, "There was a little, let's call it disagreement, during tonight's meeting. I'm not sure how it started; I was napping through most of it. You know, because it's usually boring stuff that would put even a squirrel on crack to sleep. Imagine my surprise when I'm rudely woken from my very peaceful slumber by my quiet, shy, and mild-mannered sister-in-law Claire yelling in Harold's face. As far as I could piece together, it started with her request that some of the city development funds be allocated to making the playground by the city park safer for children because it was so dilapidated, it was quickly becoming a real health hazard. And Harold telling her to sit down because she was a woman and didn't understand how finance and politics worked."
Elena mouthed dropped into an 'oh' shape and her eyes widened.
"Yep," Damon commented. "So then we were all treated to a nice lecture about sexism and reverse ageism and oh my God, you should have seen Harold's face. That was some prime entertainment, I'm telling you. In the end, the only sputtered comeback he had was that, basically, he was the mayor and there was shit all Claire could do about that."
"No," Elena breathed, completely enthralled in the story.
Damon nodded. "So Claire goes, 'Maybe it's time for a regime change.'"
"She really called it a regime?"
"Yep," Damon said, popping the P. "It got a bit loud and messy for a bit again. But basically that concludes the epic and tragic tale of how Harold, for the first time ever, is no longer running unopposed."
Elena nodded, processing. Then she squinted at Damon. "Why are you so happy about it though?"
Damon shrugged. "No reason."
Elena squinted harder. "Spill."
"Well," Damon began, "you know how Harold refused my first premises permit when I was trying to turn the Lakeview Terrace into an event venue? And when I needed to expand the parking space for the Boathouse and he made me fill out those forms in triple? All the while the Mystic Grill's food and rodent infestation is a health code violation if I've ever seen one but that guy gets away with it because he's Harold's son-in-law? It's nepotism, is what is. I'm just looking forward to fair treatment to all."
"Basically, you're just hoping to finally get your hands on the Grill," Elena translated.
"More or less, yes." Damon grinned, showing all his teeth. "We just need to get Claire elected, then slam him with fine after fine."
"You're very confident that Claire will actually make it."
"Pfft." Damon waved away her concerns. "I'm not worried. Everybody hates Harold and everybody knows Claire because she teaches their children and they love her because she's nice to everyone. We got this."
"Isn't the fact that Claire is your sister-in-law considered nepotism also?"
"Yeah," Damon admitted off-handedly. "But I don't plan to abuse my power. Much." He said the last part with an evil smile.
Elena rolled her eyes in amusement. Claire was no pushover. Only people who didn't know her well, were deceived by her quiet demeanor. Damon knew better.
With that topic closed, Damon scooted closer to Elena again and mirrored her position on the couch, both their heads rested heavily on the back of the sofa, their forehead so close, they were almost touching. They were quiet for a while, Elena's fingers absentmindedly playing with Damon's between them. Elena loved those moments where it was just her and Damon, and the world shrank down to the size of their bubble, and time seemed infinite.
When she lifted her eyes to his, she found him watching her, an unreadable expression on his face. "You're beautiful," he said.
Elena involuntarily released an unattractive snort. "I'm wearing leggings, one of your old hoodies, and my hair is in a messy bun."
"And you're beautiful," he added.
For a short second, Elena thought about protesting, but reconsidered. Hadn't she herself, just a few minutes ago, looked at her generically dressed husband and almost salivated over his form? She couldn't fault him those same conclusions, so she simply smiled and moved to straddle him, careful not to knock over the glassware on the table behind her. She threw a look over her shoulder to make sure there was enough room to maneuver.
"Oh," Damon said, only now noticing the freshly opened bottle of wine on the table. The bottle was still almost full, as was Elena's glass. "I guess that means there's no bun in the oven yet?" he asked, motioning towards Elena's drink.
"Not yet," Elena replied with a sigh. She was late this month and thought-hoped-assumed that this was the reason why. She had taken a test during her lunch break. She had taken two, actually, just to be on the safe side. But both were negative and that's why Elena decided to indulge in a glass of bubbly tonight.
Damon watched her carefully and Elena knew what he was thinking.
"I'm okay," she assured him. "This isn't like Seattle." Yes, she would love to have a third child but unlike back then, before Stefanie came along, her happiness didn't depend on it. To feel sad or depressed when she already had two of the most amazing children sleeping upstairs would have been blasphemy. She'd think another baby a precious gift, but if it wasn't to be – then Elena still considered herself the luckiest woman on Earth.
"Speaking of kids," Damon said, glancing at his watch, "did I miss bedtime?"
"Noah was already asleep last time I checked. I told Stefanie she could read in bed for another 15 minutes. That was," Elena checked Damon's watch, "half an hour ago."
"That means she's probably still awake and reading."
Elena laughed. "Yes."
Their daughter was notoriously bad at putting a book down ever since she had pestered her teacher, Miss Pauline, into teaching her how to read. Stevie had recently started teaching Noah how to read also; though whether it was because she wanted him to share her hobby or because she enjoyed the act of teaching wasn't clear yet.
Thinking about Noah reminded Elena of something. "While Stevie was at her piano lesson today, I took Noah to the hospital and removed his cast. He asked about a brother or a sister again while I was taking it off."
"Yeah?"
Elena related the conversation she'd had with her son earlier that day. "He was very convincing and had this whole argument prepared about how in the past month he'd taken great care of the baby bird. And surely, that was proof that he was ready to be a big brother and would be a really big help in taking care of a little brother or sister."
Damon smiled as he listened to Elena. "What did you tell him?"
"That we haven't forgotten. That we're working on it."
Damon leaned into Elena and nuzzled her neck. "Yes, we are. Very hard. Every night." He reached up for a kiss, but Elena stopped him with a hand on his chest.
"Elena," he rebuked her, trying very hard to sound serious, but Elena saw the grin tugging at the corners of his mouth, "the children are waiting." He made to nuzzle her neck again.
Elena laughed despite herself and held his head in both hands. "God, I love your stupid face."
Damon turned his head, kissed the center of her palm and went for her lips. Before their mouths met, he replied, "See, I'm so dedicated to the task, I don't even mind that you called me stupid."
Damon pulled away too soon for Elena's taste. "I want to say goodnight to Stevie," he explained and Elena climbed off of him so he could stand up.
Instead of leaving though, Damon held out his open palm to her. "Come with me?"
She smiled and took it, letting him pull her off the couch.
"Grab the bottle, too," Damon said with a smirk and Elena thought she liked where this was going.
Before Damon walked into Stevie's bedroom, he heard her shuffle around. When he stepped inside, Stevie was on her side, pretending to sleep. But her mouth was curled up in a smile. Elena leaned against the doorpost while Damon perched on the side of her bed. She opened one eye and grinned up at him.
"You're supposed to be asleep," Damon chided her gently. "Your mom said fifteen minutes." She was actually allowed thirty, but Stevie didn't need to know that.
"Mommy said I could only read for fifteen more minutes. And I stopped reading after fifteen. I swear."
Damon bit down on a grin, made even harder because he could Elena snigger quietly behind his back. "Is that what Mommy meant?" he asked his daughter, trying very hard to be the tough parent even though all he wanted to do was congratulate his daughter on brilliantly spotting and utilizing a loophole.
Stevie's smile dimmed. "No. I'm sorry. I was only waiting for you," she said, perking up again.
"Well, here I am. Now say goodnight," Damon told her gently.
Stevie sat up to hug her dad and he whispered goodnight in her ear and kissed the side of her face. "Now off to sleep with you."
"I'm too excited to sleep," Stevie replied, but settled down on her pillow and let Damon pull her blanket up to her chin.
"What are you so excited about?" Damon asked.
Stevie rolled her eyes and Elena always said it made her look so much like Damon and Damon had to agree that it looked all too familiar. "You know, Daddy," she said, with emphasis on the 'know'.
Damon pretended to ponder it, furrowing his brow. "Nope, I've no idea," he said, shaking his head.
This made Stevie laugh. "Daddy! We're going to see Aunt Bonnie, and Aunt Dottie, and Uncle Enzo—"
"Oh, is that tomorrow?" Damon pretended to remember that they were flying to Seattle the next day. "Well, then you definitely need to go to sleep now. Or you'll bee too tired to drive us to the airport."
"I can't drive yet, Daddy."
"Really? Damn. I could've sworn it was your turn to drive."
"You're being silly," Stevie replied around a grin and a yawn.
"Yes, I am," Damon confirmed. "Probably because it's so late. Goodnight, baby girl."
"Goodnight," Stevie replied. "Night, Mommy."
"Goodnight, angel," Elena replied.
Outside Stevie's bedroom door, Elena attacked Damon, pushing him against the wall and pressing her entire front against his body. She pressed their mouths together, hungrily pushing her tongue inside his warm cavern. Damon, a little overwhelmed at the sudden onslaught, could only react. His hands slid down her back and over her ass, down to her thighs. He deftly spread and lifted them, Elena winding her legs instinctively around his hips as he turned them around and reversed their positions.
The slam against the wall was louder than intended.
"Mommy?" Stevie called out.
Damon closed his eyes and released a quietly murmured swear word. He let Elena slide down and she adjusted her sweatshirt before pushing her head through the partially left open door of Stefanie's bedroom.
"I heard a bang," Stevie explained.
"Sorry, sweetie," Elena replied, "I… dropped… something." Elena cringed at her own poor excuse, but fortunately it was too dark for Stevie to notice. At least she hoped. "Go back to sleep, okay, angel? Love you."
"Love you, too."
When Elena turned around, Damon was gone from the hallway. But the bottle of bubbly that Elena had previously deposited on one of the decorative hallway tables was placed in the middle of the first step of the stairs that led to uppermost floor that was her and Damon's bedroom. So Elena took it as a directional sign and followed her husband upstairs, grabbing the bottle on her way up.
They had forgotten to bring glasses but that didn't stop them from killing the bottle anyway. They shared the champagne, drinking from the bottle as they passed it back and forth until most of it was gone and Elena declared she'd had enough.
"I don't want to nurse a hangover on the plane," she said, reclining on the bed, still shivery from her latest orgasm.
Damon was propped up between her legs, using Elena's stomach as a pillow whenever his head got too heavy to hold up. He took the bottle from Elena's fingers when she passed it to him and eyed the contents. There was still some of it left, but it wouldn't keep anyway. Struck with a sudden idea, he shimmied down the bed a bit until he was level with Elena's womanhood.
He pushed her legs farther apart and it was either testament to her inebriation or his sexual prowess that she didn't resist. It had only been a short while since he'd paid this particular part of Elena's anatomy special attention and she was still red and swollen from his previous ministrations. When he touched his lips to her clit, he could feel the heat radiate off of it.
Elena's thighs jerked just slightly when his tongue poked out to tease her and her throat made a sound somewhere between a moan and a protest. However, her hand slipped into his hair and did not pull him away. That was all the encouragement that he needed.
Without warning, he lifted the bottle and let some of the cool and bubbly liquid drip exactly onto Elena's most sensitive spot. Her head jerked up from the pillow. The coolness felt nice on her exposed parts but the bubbles added such delicious tingles to her already overly sensitized skin. She wasn't sure if this was torture or if she wanted more of it.
Damon's tongue followed the path of the dripping champagne, lapping it up and she decided that, yeah, one more time couldn't hurt.
Even though this time she was prepared for the sensation, her back still arched when Damon let more of the champagne flow over her clitoris. She tightened her fingers in his hair, pulling probably harder than she intended. Damon growled and the sound reverberated through her entire body. When he was about to tilt the bottle over her again, she stopped him, pulling him up to eye level.
"Leave some for me," she said. "I want to return the favor."
But that was for later. Right now, she wanted to feel Damon move inside her. Her inner muscles clenched in anticipation of his length.
"Now, who let those children into my bar? Clearly, they are still minors and need to be kicked to the curb," Dot exclaimed, coming through the back door of Bar None.
Stevie, who sat on the bar counter with her feet dangling in the air, squealed and turned around. "Aunt Dottie!" She held out her arms to be picked up, momentarily forgetting that she was, per her own demand, too old to be picked up anymore.
The rest of the family was gathered around a table nearby. Bonnie and Noah were sharing a huge plate of fries while they waited for Enzo to come home and Elena and Damon were slouched in the chairs opposite them, leaning against each other and looking a little bit worse for the wear.
"Turbulent flight?" Bonnie asked in sympathy.
"Something like that," Damon replied, but didn't think anyone would appreciate him going into detail why he and Elena were a bit worn out after last night's activities. Thankfully, both, Dot and Bonnie, knew better than to pry.
With the time difference factored in, Damon didn't think he'd survive the day without a nap. His waning tolerance for alcohol or rather the ability to bounce back after a night of debauchery, more than anything else reminded him that he was getting older. But they had come to Seattle for a reason; the reason being that they needed to talk to Bonnie and Enzo. It wasn't exactly the kind of conversation one could have on the phone.
Before long, Enzo joined their party and once Deja arrived as well, their extended Seattle family was complete. They pushed three smaller tables together and sat around in a merrily noisy circle, talking, eating, and making plans for the next couple of days.
"We need to talk bachelorette party ideas," Dot nodded towards Damon.
"Hey, that's my job. As your maid… I mean man of honor," Damon began.
"Disreputable honor," Dot mumbled through her teeth while smiling sweetly.
"Well, you were the one who picked me, so now it's my job and no," Damon raised his voice there, "I don't need any of your input. Thank you very much."
"But—"
"No. I got it handled."
Dot looked at Elena for help but Elena only shrugged. Damon hadn't actually included her in the planning or even discussed ideas with her, so she was as much in the dark about it as Dot. Dot simmered for a moment and finally replied, "Okay. But I swear if I see even a single flower crown, or a naked butt, or matching cutesy outfits, I'll… I'll—"
"Yes?" Damon drawled, waiting patiently and blinking innocently.
"I'll wait till you fall asleep and tattoo a penis on your forehead."
Damon thought about it briefly. "No. You wouldn't do that to Elena."
"Well…" Dot sputtered, "I'll… think of something."
"You seriously need to work on your threats. They have lost gravity since I left you up here in the North all to yourself."
"I feel like there's a joke in there somewhere about how this reflects more upon you than me, I just can't put my finger on it."
"See?" Damon said. "You've completely lost your sharp edges. I worry about you."
"Well, it's a good thing Deja and I will be living a bit closer soon, then."
"Huh?"
"We're moving to Atlanta."
Damon and Elena both froze at the announcement. Elena glanced at Bonnie but her friend only shrugged. She, of course, knew about Dot and Deja's plans already.
"Yeah," Deja explained. "I got a really great job offer from the university's teaching hospital and it makes sense for Dot as well. Atlanta is closer to most of your businesses; it'll reduce travel time by a lot."
"Where is Atlanta?" Noah asked his father.
"It's only about a six-hour-drive from home," Damon replied.
Noah didn't necessarily understand the distance, but he did get the general gist. "Does that mean you'll come and visit us more often?" he asked the most important question.
"Yes," Dot replied. "That's exactly what it means."
"Yay!" Noah cheered.
"What about you, Aunt Bonnie? Are you moving to Atlanta, too?" Stefanie asked with a load of hope in her voice.
Bonnie shook her head and held Enzo's hand when she answered, "No, baby. We're not moving."
"But you could," Stevie insisted, smiling prettily.
Bonnie sighed. "Be careful with that smile, sweetness," she told Stefanie, leaning over the table to kiss her. "You can make a lot of people do a lot of stupid things for that smile."
At that, Stevie glanced up at her dad and shared a knowing look with him and Bonnie wondered if that whole exchange had been orchestrated beforehand. She wouldn't put it past Damon if it was. With growing suspicion, Bonnie narrowed her eyes at him.
"And the bar? You got someone in mind for the manager position?" Damon asked Dot, in an effort to divert the attention away from himself, but mostly to escape Bonnie's measuring stare.
"About that…" Dot drawled. "I didn't actually mean to bring it up on your first night back, but Doug made an offer to buy it."
She excused herself and disappeared quickly to the back office, returning a short time later with an unsealed envelope. "I'm supposed to give you that," Dot said, passing Doug's official and written purchase offer to Damon.
Damon held the paper up to his face, then frowned, grumbled under his breath until eventually he reached for his reading glasses, putting them on and feeling more self-conscious about it than he liked. Everyone at the table not yet familiar with the sight, wisely shut up and did not say a thing. Except Dot.
"Damn, that's hot," she dryly commented. "And I'm saying this as a happily almost-married lesbian."
Damon didn't want to admit that he possibly, maybe liked the compliment. But he obviously preened as he suddenly became way more comfortable with wearing the glasses, which made Elena shake her head and roll her eyes. She was not going to mention that it had taken her very particular powers of persuasion to even make him go see an eye doctor.
The kids, obviously used to seeing their dad with glasses on and not understanding what the fuss was about, interrupted the silence.
"You spelled Santa wrong," Stefanie announced, pointing to the chalk board behind the bar advertising this week's cocktail specials. Apparently, there was a two-for-one special on Satan's Whiskers. "Aunt Dottie, where does Santa have whiskers?" Stevie continued, oblivious to the fact that there was no spelling error while the adults chuckled.
"Such an innocent question has no business being this funny," Bonnie almost wheezed into Elena's ear.
Once Dot had managed to come up with some sort of explanation, Bonnie, still sniggering and holding her stomach which was hurting from laughing too much, said, "Oh my God, your kids are amazing."
"Yes, they are," Damon agreed with her. "Changed your mind about having some of your own?"
"No," Bonnie replied and, with a glance at Enzo whose attention was occupied by Noah, added, "not that there's even a point to having this discussion."
Elena and Damon shared a look.
"What if there was?" Damon asked.
"Huh?" Bonnie replied, not understanding. She saw Damon reach over and take Elena's hand under the table which, for some reason, made her suddenly nervous.
"There's something we need to talk to you and Enzo about," Elena said.
"In private," Damon added.