Now who could be at the door? Bet no one saw this one coming! ^_^

(Oh and this indicates someone thoughts)

~ This is a person speaking by telepathy ~

Disclaimer: Characters, places, and the like from the Vampire Diaries are the property of LJ Smith. I'm just borrowing them to create this tale. All other characters that have no ties to any other fics belong to me!

Chapter Six

"Hello Stefan. I'm glad that you decided to stop by. Is Elena with you?" Rachel asked sweetly.

That had Stefan for a loop. He expected to talk Bonnie into taking a walk and they would meet Elena down the block. Quickly he sent a mental message for her to join him. "How do you know about Elena, Mrs. McCullough?"

"Your brother, Damon. It's a long story. Oh, hello Elena. I am glad that the two of you are here. Will you stay for dinner?" Rachel smiled as if Elena hadn't ever died once.

"Um, well …" Elena started. And then Stefan's earlier question was answered.

Damon came to the door smiling his normal predatory grin. "Of course they'll stay. After all it has been sometime since Elena has talked to any of Bonnie's family."

"Why did you tell them Damon?" Elena barked in frustration.

"It was the only way to convince Bonnie to let me change her. But, that is the latter part of the story. It is a shame that the two of you didn't keep better tabs on her, or you might have gotten here before me." Damon winked as he went back to what he had been doing in the living room before, not caring if his brother and now sister-in-law followed or not.

What met their eyes about sent Elena into a faint! Damon was helping Bonnie's father decorate the room for the holidays?!?! What was going on here?

"Come into the kitchen and I will explain everything." Rachel waved the couple before her.

In the kitchen was Mary! Oh, how much fun her shrieks were going to be. At least, that was what Elena first thought.

"Elena and Stefan. Hope we can con the two of you to help with the decorations." Mary chuckled as she took some mugs of hot cider into the living room. "I'll be back later, and then we can catch up. I want full details of what you two have been up to."

"Okay." Elena muttered. Once Mary left, Elena looked over at Bonnie's mother. "Now what is going on?"

Rachel explained about Bonnie's diagnosis and rapid deterioration. Of the single letter the girl wrote and the list of letters she had wanted to write before she got worse. How Bonnie collapsed right after sealing, addressing, and stamping Damon's. How Damon showed up that day, turned Bonnie, and told the family the entire story of what the group went through so Bonnie would agree to him turning her.

"Now, I'm going to get to work on dinner. Would you like to help me, Elena? And Stefan, despite your brother's assertion that he can do it all himself, would you help the men in the living room? I don't want Bonnie waking up and seeing that there is no Christmas in the house except for her room. It would break her heart." Rachel smiled sweetly.

Both agreed. All three men were soon finished with the downstairs rooms and went out to work on the outside decorations. At one point, Stefan and Damon had a break while Nathan went back inside to warm up. Stefan wasn't going to let this opportunity pass by. "So, why did you really come back here?"

"Mother wouldn't leave me alone since the day I got that letter. Maybe helping Bonnie will set mother at ease, and then she will let me rest."

Stefan looked at the ground. "I wish I could dream of mother."

"Be very careful what you wish for little brother. I might ask her to bother you for a time and let me sleep." Damon warned. But he knew it was a warning Stefan would heed. Their mother had died when Stefan was very young. He had no memories of that beautiful woman. Next time she came to his dreams, Damon decided to grant his little brother that wish.

"Do that. And just maybe mother can set you right. You really are more like me than you want to admit. I saw in the clearing that you wanted to stay – if only for a moment. It was just after Bonnie called out to you. You know she does love you Damon."

Damon growled as he stood and walked a few steps away. "I am nothing like you, little brother. And you only saw what you wanted to see in that clearing."

"Whatever you say big brother. Here's Mary."

The superior smile on her face told them that she had what Bonnie would need shortly. "I couldn't get it as fresh as I wanted without unwanted questions. So, I swiped the last batch they tested. Eight pints enough?"

"All Bonnie will need is one pint, Mary." Damon raised an eyebrow, not catching his own slip of calling the young woman by her given name.

However, Stefan and Mary didn't miss it. She smiled at him. "Well, one for later. And there are three other vampires here. Don't want anyone getting sick."

Bonnie groaned as she opened her eyes. She remembered someone feeding her blood from a cup. Damon … it had been Damon. The look in his eyes … she remembered that expression from when they faced down Klaus. No, this one was more a look of hope.

She stretched … feeling better than she had in a while. Looking over at her door, Bonnie smiled. He hadn't left. "Hey you."

Damon raised an eyebrow at that. Had she really expected him to leave without teaching her how to be a vampire and to control her new and old powers? "And hello to you as well. Obviously you are feeling better."

Bonnie giggled as she stretched again sarcastically. "Obviously. Damon, you didn't tell me how different I'd feel."

"I have been a vampire so long, I forgot." Damon snickered.

When Bonnie shifted over in her bed and patted the open area – inviting him to sit – Damon was surprised, but wouldn't show it. Once he settled in next to her, she looked up at him with eyes that seemed to know more than she would be willing to tell. How much she was becoming like him, or had she become that in the time they had been apart?

"Did you?"

"Yes." Damon answered as shortly as she had asked her question.

Bonnie smiled. "Thank you."

She leaned against him and sighed. "How did they take it?"

"Better than I first expected, though your father did risk his life by considering to attack me. What do you sense around you now, Bonnie?"

She closed her eyes and opened herself tentatively. He felt her fear and grinned. ~ Cara, I am here. Did you think I would not help you? ~

~ Elena is like us again. And Stefan is very pissed with you, maybe even a little jealous. ~

Damon gave her a predatory grin that still made her feel like he was hunting her. There was something else he wanted her to feel – but on her own. ~ Open up more Bonnie. ~

~ You are curious. Is it about me? ~ This time Bonnie gave the predatory look.

The instant she said that, Damon threw up a shield to protect himself from her. He cursed to himself for not setting it in place before she woke. She had no business delving into his thoughts and feelings.

All that did was make Bonnie all the more determined. ~ You are! If you're curious, then why don't you just ask me? I can't answer until I know what has you wondering about me. ~

~ What else do you sense? ~ Damon pushed to get her past him.

Bonnie shook her head and let the subject drop … just for now at least. She opened her mind and felt … was that joy? Her mom was downstairs baking pumpkin and apple pies … thinking of how wonderful it was she wouldn't lose her baby ever! Her dad was checking the decorations in the living room for the umpteenth time … he was worried that Bonnie wouldn't like any of it and never come back. Mary was reading and secretly chuckling at their father's nervousness … she knew that Bonnie would love it, and that nothing would tear the youngest kid from the fold. Mary was happy for her, because she saw the love in Damon's eyes for Bonnie alone. Could Mary be right … was Damon in love with her?

~ My family doesn't want me to leave forever. They'd understand my going away, as long as I would come back to visit now and again. Damon … I was afraid that they would never accept what I am now. ~ Bonnie buried her face against his chest.

Damon remained carefully neutral as he pulled her close to his chest, but didn't catch his shield slipped slightly and showed Bonnie how hurt that idea made him. ~ You are accepted, Bonnie. And they love you. (Just as I think I do … I have never felt this stirring in my soul before.) And that proves that I did honor my part of our bargain. ~

Bonnie couldn't help but laugh at that. For a split second, Damon nearly lost his calm exterior. But Bonnie felt the joy her laughter brought him. "Thank you Damon. For this new lease on my life, for coming back when I needed you most, and for honoring me by explaining it all to my family."

Once again Damon let his control slip. Bonnie looked into his eyes and saw his unreadable black eyes turned into to two mirrors of the night sky. It was only now that she realized that each of those lights in his eyes were thoughts.

(Is this what love feels like? It isn't like when I loved mother.)

(Is this why mother wouldn't let me rest until I came to save Bonnie? Does mother know something that I don't?)

(How does Bonnie feel towards me? I thought that she was in love with Matt. After all they huddled so close together through the fight against Klaus, and she said that she could use a few decades without me.)

(Is that why I always sent her a postcard from where I was staying? Because I was teasing her into loving me … or maybe I was trying to make Matt jealous enough to leave her … maybe hoping that she would come to me?)

Before she could read any further, Bonnie found herself looking into his once again shielded eyes. He felt something for her … but did he love her? "At least we can't question that we are close friends. Right Damon? My dearest friend."

"For now. I think there are some people wanting to see you right now." Damon finally answered after what felt like an eternity – for them both.

They were both watching as Elena and Stefan joined Bonnie's family in the living room. And then Elena had to put in her two cents. "Hey Bonnie, quit dragging your feet already!"

"You are annoying, Elena!" Bonnie growled.

"And you're slow."

Damon simply smirked as he gazed down on the fuming female beside him. Without asking he swept Bonnie up into his arms and grinned. Bonnie gasped and giggled at the action. One thing she would never deny was how safe and happy she felt in his arms.

The sound of Bonnie's giggles brought out smiles on all the faces in the room below. The smiles turned into knowing smirks as Damon carried a grinning Bonnie into the room. "See Elena, I wasn't dragging my feet. In fact my feet weren't touching the floor."

"You two are smart-asses!" Elena sighed as she shook her head.

Damon and Bonnie both looked hurt by that. Bonnie winked at Damon when she pouted. "Damon, are we smart-asses?"

"Well we have asses, and we are smarter than most so I would suppose my dear sister-in-law is correct in her little petty way." Damon smirked when Bonnie giggled and Elena glared.

"I can't believe the two of you!"

Bonnie's face went back to the innocent teen Damon once terrorized for fun. "What have we done that would make her not believe us, Damon?"

"Depends on what she knows about all that we have done compared to rumor and fact. Have to have a few secrets, do we not?" Damon smirked.

Mary was holding back her snicker as poorly as Stefan, who was more worried about holding back his wife. Elena was on the verge of ripping the 'innocent' looks right off her brother-in-law and best friend's faces. Rachel and Nathan just shook their heads at the scene.

Then Bonnie smiled at the room around her. She and Damon didn't make much of her remaining in his arms, though everyone looking at them made quite a bit out of it.

"Did you guys do all of this while I was out of it? I can't believe it! This out does any year ever! Did three vamps happen to help by chance?" That last question was aimed directly at Damon, who simply raised an eyebrow.

"Had to keep ourselves busy while you slept."

"Mm hmm. And am I supposed to swallow that?" Bonnie smirked.

Damon deadpanned his face as he sat her on her feet, but his voice gave his mirth away to all gathered without him wanting it to. "You can do whatever you like with it, Cappuccetto Rosso mio.My Little Red"

"Ooo, I have a few ideas of what should be done with its originator." Bonnie smirked as she picked up her father's lighter and lit it. "Need a light, lupo grande cattivo mio?My Big Bad Wolf"

At that Mary hit the floor laughing hard. Only then did the fledgling couple realize that everyone was in various stages of laughter from their bravado. Elena finally gasped a couple of times while she wiped her joy filled tears away. "Bonnie, have you not heard the old saying of flirting with danger?"

Bonnie sighed exasperatedly as she blew out the flame and tossed the lighter back on the table. "And here I thought we gave such a stunning performance of that very saying!"

Her face lit up when Damon lost his battle to hide his own laughter. "I got you of all vamps to laugh? Well, I guess miracles really do happen!"

"Now you are pushing your luck, Bonnie." Damon's eyes were not shielded and she easily caught four of his thoughts before he could block her.

(She really is beautiful … more so than I once saw Elena as.)

(The world would have been a cold place without her.)

(Still, I doubt that this is really love. Even if I feel around Bonnie what I see reflected in my little brother whenever his wife is in his arms.)

(If this is love, how can I hope that she would love me that way … the way Elena loves Stefan? Bonnie said that she could bear a few decades without me. I won't force her as mother had been by father.)

Those few thoughts made Bonnie feel so sad, ashamed, and hopeful. He obviously loved her, but would it be too soon to push her love on him? She also learned more about him. Obviously his mother had been forced into an arranged marriage – or could it have been that simple? Something told Bonnie that it wasn't.

Bonnie was stunned that she could still eat, but it just wasn't as satisfying as it had been – thankfully Mary had picked up the extra pints, the liquid was a wonderful accompaniment to the meal that even Stefan ate. After dinner the group nagged Bonnie and Damon out of the kitchen.

The couple soon settled on the couch watching the lights on the tree blinking merrily. Damon leaned back into the corner while Bonnie relaxed back against his chest. Before long they both dozed off, and didn't notice when her mom covered them with a blanket, and then joined the others in retiring for the night.

As they all slid into their rooms, they were not the only ones smiling at the pair on the couch. In the shadows, she sighed – happy that he was closer, but worried that something could spoil it all … or more specifically someone. The one who made Bonnie's illness spread far faster than it should have. That was why she had to remain relentless, and why she would not stop watching over them all. But, would they accept all that she had done and not done over the long years?

Damon sighed as he woke up, enjoying the sense of Bonnie's body heavily resting on him. The idea of her having feelings for him didn't seem so foreign or ridiculous anymore. The awful artificial curls had softened to beautiful waves as her hair grew to where now it just covered the top of her rear, which had tightened into a nice heart. Bonnie had grown physically to where she was only an inch shorter than Elena now. The cute baby fat of the teenager had disappeared – leaving a woman that rivaled Elena's beauty … no she rivaled Helen of Troy to be honest.

He decided then and there to find a way to make her see that he truly did love her – once they were away from his little brother and Elena.

Bonnie's stirring brought him back out of his thoughts. "Sleep well?"

"Mmm, yeah. But why should I sleep when I'm laying on a dream come true?" Bonnie's smile melted a little of the hurt that Damon had carried within him for centuries.

He smiled sneakily on her, causing Bonnie to shift so that she was looking into his eyes. What he said next took her breath away with shock. "Do you mind giving this love thing a try?"

Damon smirked as he dropped his shields enough for her to see that he wasn't kidding. Bonnie's eyes softened and glossed over with tears, but then she toughened herself (making Damon worry that he had been wrong, and she didn't have any feelings outside of respect for him). "That is if it is only with one certain male in particular."

"And who might that be?"

Bonnie sat up on his hips and wore his playful smirk admirably. "Well you might know him. See he is from your hometown after all. About your age and height too."

She threaded her fingers through his straight black hair. "His hair is dark and straight and I can easily see rainbows reflecting in the strands. He has dark eyes that look just like the night sky when I can pick up on his thoughts."

Damon this time was the one who looked stunned at that. Bonnie nodded as she silenced his voice by resting her fingers on his mouth. "His lips are thin and taste so wonderful. His face looks like it came right off an old Roman coin. And he has held my heart for so long now. Do you know him?"

When she removed her fingers, Damon licked his lips – driving her near nuts with longing. "Can't say that I do. Will I be introduced to him?"

Bonnie growled and slapped his chest as Damon chuckled. "Seriously, that is the very male I was hoping that you would want to pair off with. It hasn't quite been a decade yet …"

"I was scared of you and being in love with you. And now …" Bonnie was afraid. Was he only teasing her? After all, she didn't look all that great.

Damon scrapped his nails gently up and down her back. "Now what Bonnie?"

"Now I'm afraid of ever losing you. I love you Damon Salvatore, and I always will." Bonnie closed her eyes and averted her face in fear.

"Good thing we have forever together, Bonnie. Because it will take longer than that for me to ever grow weary of you being at my side. Yes, I do love you my sweet witch."

Somehow Damon got up from the couch and drew his love into his embrace as they silently danced about the room to the music within their hearts. Both dearly hoped that they weren't only dreaming. In the shadows she smiled and wiped away her tears of joy. There was still hope left.

Damon inhaled his witch's scent and growled low with longing. "How long do we wait, Bonnie?"

She too was breathing him in. The rich earthy spice that was Damon had her intoxicated with longing, happiness, hope, and fulfillment. At first she hadn't noticed he had spoken – then his question grabbed her attention. "Wait for what, Damon?"

He smirked with dark eyes sparkling with mischief. "To get married. Unless you had other plans for us."

That stopped Bonnie in place. Had he really just proposed? "Married? Us? Oh Damon! You still surprise me! Sooner the better!"

"Now to find out how your family is going to take this." Damon grinned. She was his. What his mother might think of this.

And then they realized they weren't alone in the room. Her father cleared his throat. "Her family thinks that its newest member had better take very good care of Bonnie."

"Thanks daddy!" Bonnie giggled as she rushed into her father's embrace.

Stefan just shook his head in disbelief. "Just when I think I have you figured out big brother."

"You, little brother, will never have me completely figured out. Thank you Na…" Damon started.

Nathan interrupted. "It's going to be dad soon enough, son. Get used to it, you too Stefan. Seeing as you two are brothers. I finally get a couple of sons."

Bonnie and Mary both glared at him. "DAD!"

Rachel chuckled with her husband. "Girls, let your dad have his moment. Welcome to the family you two. And you as well Elena. So when will the day be you two?"

Bonnie giggled. "When's too soon?"

"Given that your cousin got married last year, I think I can answer that one. The county clerk's office doesn't open until nine in the morning, so I guess ten is the earliest – unless tomorrow night isn't too long a wait for you two, then we can pull a nice wedding together." Rachel smirked.

Bonnie looked up at Damon with hope shinning in her heart and eyes. "Damon?"

"It's a long wait, but I'm sure we can survive it." He showed no emotion until Bonnie squealed with glee and leapt into his arms.

Outside in the cold shadows, he watched and growled with hate lighting his eyes. So, the little crow was getting married? Well wouldn't want to miss that. After all he would be expected to show up.

She had interfered with his plans to make the boy pay. He'd take care of her later – after Damon got what was coming to him.

A few hours to wait – and then he would be free of that black spot forever.

Good thing he was there to save the girl from the worse mistake she would make in her young eternity. She should be very grateful to him later on.

Well – I know it was long in coming! School and writer's block don't mix well. But I finally like what I have put together.

I am now taking votes on the persons in the shadows (and how the one got inside the house – see if anyone can come up with a better idea than mine).

Next chapter does have the wedding (sort of). Not every wedding happens without one problem or another – right?