Here I am with another update. Far faster than the last one, that's for sure. I'm aiming for one update a week. Let me know what you think. Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween.
Damon led us deeper into the house until we came to a dining room with plates all set out. Damon's father was already seated at the table and I could hear sounds coming from the kitchen.
"You must be Elena. My name is Giuseppe Salvatore, it's good to meet you." He said standing up and offering me his hand. I smiled and clasped his hand and shook it. "And this must be your little girl."
"My name is Scarlett Rae Gilbert, it's a pleasure to meet you, sir." She said offering him her hand and he laughed loudly as he bent down and kissed the back of it which really excited her. Normally people just shook her hand, but now she felt like a princess.
"It's a pleasure to meet such a lovely young lady. Why don't the two of you take a seat and I'll check on my wife and dinner in the kitchen." He suggested. We sat down with Damon across the table from me.
"You don't have to worry about anything." He promised.
"So, when are we going to be talking to your father?" I asked.
"After dinner. My mother has a strict no business talk in the dining room rule." He told me, and I smiled. I felt like I would like his family.
"That sounds nice." I sighed. A few minutes later Damon's mom and dad came out of the kitchen holding our dinner.
"My name is Lily Salvatore it's so nice to meet the girl Damon can't stop enthusing about." She said shaking my hand. Before she could introduce herself to Scarlett, she beat her to it doing her usual routine. Stefan walked in a couple minutes later and came into the dining room.
"Sorry I'm late mom. I was at school late studying." He said before he turned his head and saw Scarlett and I sitting there. "Elena, I never expected to see you having dinner here." He said, and I smiled.
"Damon offered to help me with something, so here I am. This is my daughter Scarlett." I said, and he smiled.
"You have a daughter. So that's the secret I was missing out on all this time. It's nice to meet you Scarlett." He said as he took a seat beside Damon. Giuseppe and Lily took the opposite ends of the head of the table and everyone dished up their meals. When she finished Scarlett pushed her plate back and smiled at Lily.
"This dinner was delicious. Thank you." She said, and I smiled at Damon across the table. She was the politest child on the planet and I loved her to death.
"That child is amazing." Lily said with a smile and I had to agree with her. Once everyone was done, Lily stood up and collected everyone's plates.
"Shall we take this into my office?" Giuseppe asked, and I nodded and stood up.
"Would you like to come with me Scarlett? I haven't had a little girl around in a really long time." Lily asked, and Scarlett nodded and rushed away with Lily. I stood up and took a deep breath. "Will you come with Damon?"
"Absolutely." He answered, and we followed his father to his office. Giuseppe closed the door behind us and we sat down on the chairs on the other side of his desk.
"Why don't you start at the beginning and tell me everything." He asked, and I nodded and took another deep breath. "Don't leave out any details, anything could be important."
"Okay, well I met Liam during my rebellious stage. He was a few years older than me and I was trying to force my parents into giving me freedom. He was in college and I was still in high school. We saw each other for a while and my parents eventually forbade it. But that just made me want to see him more and eventually I slept with him. When I found out I was pregnant, I was scared. I didn't know who to tell or who I could trust. My dad is a renowned doctor in Mystic Falls and my mom is one of those moms who stays home but is a part of every council and every club a small town has to offer. I decided that the only person besides my best friend that I could count on would be Liam. He was the father of the child and I cared about him, so I went to his house. He thought I was there to have sex with him again when I showed up but when I said I was pregnant he flipped out. He told me to leave and to pretend we'd never met because he was not taking on a kid. He said he was in college and there was no time for a baby. He pretended I never told him so that I thought I couldn't do anything about it. My parents kicked me out when they found out as well." I told him. He was writing things down, when I stopped speaking he looked up at me. I didn't know when, but Damon took my hand during my trip down memory lane.
"What happened when you got kicked out of your parents' house?" Giuseppe asked, and I sighed.
"I moved in with my best friend and her mom. Caroline and Sheriff Forbes were the only reason I made it through high school and being a mom at such a young age. Caroline is still with me now and we raise my daughter together. She is Scarlett's Aunty Care." I told him.
"I'm glad you had someone like that to get through this together. Now have you had any contact with Liam? Did he call you to tell you he was taking you to court or did he have lawyers? Damon has told me a little bit about what's going on, but I need to hear a first-hand account." He said to me and I nodded.
"Liam called me a while ago asking to see Scarlett. He asked for shared custody, like half the holidays and a few weekends a year. I couldn't stand the idea of him taking any time with her after he just completely left me when I told him I was pregnant, so I said no to him. When I said that he got mad and said he would get to see her one way or another, whether he took me to court and destroyed me. Then a few days ago he showed up here at my babysitter's house demanding to see her. Mrs. Neal refused and called me, I had Damon drive me over to her house and we took Scarlett. I told Liam that he was never going to see her as long as I could help it." I told him, and Giuseppe nodded.
"What can you tell me about Liam? If there is anything we could use, then tell me." He said and I nodded.
"His name is Liam Davis and all I really know is that he backed out before Scarlett was even born. We never talked about him when we were dating so I know nothing about him. It was all about me and he got physical favours from me to listen to what I said. I know it's unhealthy, but it worked for me at the time." I told him.
"Davis? Of the Davis car dealerships, all around the country?" He asked, and I nodded.
"Yes." I answered, and Giuseppe just laughed.
"George Davis was my college roommate and we've been in competition since then. He opened dozens of car dealerships, I became governor. Not that that's important, but I am more in than I was before. I can't wait to defeat his son on behalf of you." He said with a smirk.
"Thank you. So, what do we do now?" I asked.
"Whatever you were doing before you found out you were going to court, do that again. Live your life exactly the way you have been up until Liam came back into your life. We need to show him that you have nothing to hide and you have nothing to change. You're the best mom in the world, you need to show him and his lawyers that. Your entire life is your daughter and school. Be that person." He told me, and I nodded.
"Thank you very much Governor Salvatore." I said.
"Call me Giuseppe and don't mention it. I've been waiting for a chance to get back into the courtroom for eons. Now I found the perfect excuse." He said, and I smiled at him.
"Thank you though. But I better get going. School tomorrow and I still have homework to do." I said.
"Of course. I'll be in touch. If Liam calls again, tell him not to call you anymore because you can't talk to him. His team can only talk to me. Damon will walk you out." He said. When we left the office, I heard Scarlett talking to Lily in the kitchen. They were sitting at the breakfast bar colouring when I came in.
"Scarlett it's time to go." I said to her.
"Okay mommy. Thank you for colouring with me." She said to Lily who smiled and kissed her cheek.
"It was my pleasure." She said as she started cleaning up the stuff. Scarlett took my hand as we walked back through the house with Damon. He walked us right out to the car and stayed while Scarlett put her seatbelt on.
"So, Damon…" I started, and he stopped me.
"No no no. Whatever you're going to say, just stop." He said.
"Your father said I should go back to living my life exactly the way I did before Liam contacted me. You weren't in my life then." I reminded him.
"I'm sure he didn't mean us." He said.
"Maybe he didn't, but I can't have Liam using you to beat me." I told him.
"So, you're breaking up with me even though we were never really dating?" He asked.
"I was hoping we could be friends." I told him, and he sighed.
"Alright, friends." He said with a shake of his head.
"What?" I asked forcing a smile onto my face.
"You're the only girl in history that could ever make me want to be just friends. I'll clearly take what I can get with you." He said leaning in and kissing my cheek.
"Thank you for everything Damon. In a different world, we would be together." I said, and he shook his head.
"I'll see you at school tomorrow." He said backing back up the front walk. I walked around the car and got inside.
"Mommy, can I ask you a question?" Scarlett asked.
"Always sweetheart." I answered.
"Is Damon going to be my new dad?" She asked, and I had to stop myself from stopping the car in my shock.
"Why?" I asked.
"I don't know. I really like him, it would be okay if you really liked him too." She answered with a shrug and I couldn't help the smile that started on my face.