Note: Sorry for the incredibly long delay. So much has been going on in my life that I find it hard to find time to update this story. For that I apologize and to make up for it, this chapter is twice the length of my usual chapters. Enjoy and thanks for the reviews.

--Meph

The day passed slowly and peacefully. Stefan sat in the living room reading Shakespeare for most of the day. Elena had made her way upstairs to finish unpacking and, Stefan guessed, to prod through Bonnie's family albums. Stefan was so engrossed in his readings that he was unaware of the time until he heard the garage door open. He pulled his book down to his lap and watched the door open. Bonnie bounded in with brief cases and computer bags galore. She threw her bags in the corner of the room and made her way to the adjacent couch.

"How was your day?" she asked softly looking him up and down. "Doesn't look like you did too much today."

"Yeah my day was spent in this chair, nothing too exciting. You look frazzled, long day for you?" he asked her noticing her frizzy hair and worn expression.

"Yes, I've been working on the case of the young boy found in the river a few weeks ago. For some reason, I cannot get a reading on this murder. Every time I try it feels as though I'm hitting a brick wall." Bonnie sighed.

"Ah, that's the murder you told Elena and I about earlier, correct?"

"Yes, that's right. Hopefully with our minds and powers combined we can get somewhere on these gruesome murders. I just hope it turns out to be something small compared to what we've faced in the past," Bonnie stated, her mouth dropping to a frown.

"Well, we have faced quite a bit and succeeded, I don't doubt that we will succeed once again," he said with a smile trying to cheer up Bonnie.

"I'm sorry I must look pretty pathetic. It's just been a long day and I could fall asleep right here. It's hard to be in good spirits after the kind of day I've had. Where's Elena?"
Bonnie said in what seemed like one long sentence.

As if on cue, Elena descended the staircase. In her arms she carried a stack of books. Stefan watched as she gracefully bent and placed the books on the glass coffee table. Bonnie giggled.

"Where the heck did you find those!" she exclaimed.

"I hope you don't mind, I found them in your closet," Elena explained apologetically.

"No, no, its perfectly alright, I haven't looked through these in years." Bonnie picked up the top book; it was about 30 pages thick and stapled together. "Look how cute we were back then."

Stefan realized that this "book" was a memory book that Elena, Bonnie, Caroline, and Meredith had made. The book was so old the paper was a nice vanilla color. Pictures of the girls fell from the book as the glue had worn after so many years. There were short poems and many drawings. Stefan watched as the girls continuously flipped through the pages making comments and reveling in their memories.

"Elena remember how you wanted to be a famous actress?"

"Yeah and you wanted to be a nurse because that was what your sister wanted to be," Elena replied.

Bonnie sighed as she turned the last page. But this page was different, it was white and stood out amongst the cream. "What?" Bonnie whispered as she pulled the last sheet from the book. It was a child's hand drawn picture, in it stood two couples. The women each had a child in their arms. Upon closer inspection Stefan realized these were not ordinary children but looked more like the spawn of Satan. He glanced at the parents and saw a beautiful blonde woman and a dark haired man. It was he and Elena. Stefan felt his stomach drop. Who drew this picture? He looked up at Elena and she had realized it too.

Bonnie laughed forcibly and hid the page behind her back. "One of my kids must have put this in here," she said shakily.

There was a moment of silence and then the doorbell rang. Everyone seemed to jump at the sudden noise. Bonnie headed towards the door. "Bonnie, I forgot to tell you…" Stefan started but knew his statement was a bit late.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my red-headed minx," Stefan heard Damon in the next room. "Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to invite me in?"

"Ah um, ah, yeah sure come in," Bonnie stammered.

Damon walked up the small set of stairs and joined Stefan and Elena in the living room. "Ah brother, it has been a while. Elena," Stefan walked to Elena, grabbed her hand and kissed it. Stefan felt a flush of jealousy rise to his cheeks, but he said nothing. Bonnie had just now made her way into the room she stared at Damon as if he were a ghost.

"Sorry I'm late, I was just catching a bite to eat," he said and gave the room a toothy smile.

Stefan stood quickly, "Bonnie, you remember my brother Damon?"

"Yes," Bonnie whispered her reply. She was still staring at Damon.

"I think she remembers me quite well," Damon pitched in.

He walked stealthily over towards Bonnie and took her hand as he had taken Elena's. Bonnie's cheeks blushed with the kiss.
"Would you like anything to drink…?" Bonnie asked quietly.

"No thank you, well maybe a Jack and Coke if you have it," Damon paused, watched Bonnie walk to the kitchen, and looked around the room. "Make that a double." He finished upon noticing the grave faces starting at the drawing in the middle of the coffee table. "What's this?" Damon asked as he gracefully bowed to pick up the sheet of paper.

"We just found that before you arrived Damon," Stefan answered. He studied his brother's face as he looked at the drawing. Damon's expression remained unchanged and Stefan couldn't read his thoughts. Did Damon see what he saw? "So, what do you think of it?" he asked slowly.

"I think this couple is you and Elena and in your arms is one ugly baby," Damon responded sarcastically.

"Yes, but who do you think that other couple might be?" Elena chimed in.

Stefan rose and moved beside Damon. He studied the drawing over Damon's shoulder. Damon turned his head acknowledging Stefan's close presence and moved one step over. "Easy there little brother, a man needs his space."

Stefan sighed his brother was never easy to deal with. He returned his attention to the sheet of paper and this time took notice of the other couple. The second couple was much like the first, though the woman had dark hair rather than blonde. "Damon, maybe, that man is you." Stefan said aloud as the thought occurred to him.

Before Damon could respond, Bonnie had returned and handed him his drink. "I don't know, I thought vampires couldn't have children."

"Crap! She's right," Stefan thought to himself. Well then, who could these two couples be?

"I wouldn't worry about it too much," Damon sounded loudly jarring Stefan from his thoughts. "I mean its just some chicken scratch some kid drew. I wouldn't read too much into it." Damon let the paper drop back down to the coffee table. He took another swig of his drink and set it on top of the sheet.

Stefan sighed and grabbed the glass. "Let's keep an open mind about this," he stated as he moved the glass aside and returned the fallen page to the book.

The room fell silent again as everyone considered the drawing. Their eyes turned together when the front door opened and Bonnie's daughter walked in.

"Hello," Melissa said shyly as she walked into the living room.

"Well hello," Damon said gracefully as he moved to greet her. Stefan watched with disgust; he was all too familiar with his brother's flirtations.

"Call me Missy," she said as she stuck her hand out to Damon.

"I'm Dam…" he started but was interrupted by Bonnie.

"He's none of your business is who he is," she stated harshly as she shooed her daughter up the stairs. Damon laughed lightly as the girl turned and gave him a slight wave goodbye.

"Damon!" Stefan scolded. "She is off-limits, go find yourself a girl who is not related to one of our living friends."

Damon shrugged his shoulders. "No matter," he said, "I'll just find myself another one for the night."

Bonnie returned angry and huffing. "Now, now," Damon said as he turned up the charm, "don't worry, I won't touch her. I just wanted to say 'hello'."

Bonnie's face calmed as she replied, "Thank you Damon, I trust that you won't."

Stefan was dumbfounded, how did Damon manipulate people to give in so easily. Bonnie did have Damon's word, which was usually good. He jumped slightly when he felt Elena's hand on his thigh; he hadn't realized she had joined him on the couch.

The tension between the gang began to lessen and everyone had taken a seat. "So, what should we do tonight?" Elena asked looking around the circle.

"Well, I can't say there is much to talk about regarding the case of the boy found in the river. As I was telling Stefan earlier, every time I try to connect with the scene, I feel as though I'm running into a brick wall." Bonnie explained. "Maybe, tomorrow, we can go down to the morgue (I have a security card to get in), and see if we can't get a reading on the body. That's all I have to offer at the moment," Bonnie finished.

"Sounds good to me Bonnie," Elena chimed in, "Stefan and I would be happy to go with you tomorrow. I also wanted to tell you that when Stefan and I went to the woods earlier today, I got an odd sense that something was there with us. Maybe we will want to check that out tomorrow too," Elena turned her attention to Damon, "Damon, would you come with us you have stronger mental powers than Stefan and I combined, I'm sure you might be able to track down whatever it was that was there."

Damon shifted his weight in the chair and watched as he swirled his glass of Jack and Coke. "Well," he said after a moment, "I was in the woods earlier today as well and I couldn't sense anything. Maybe you were just picking up on my leftover power," he spoke and looked up at Elena.

Elena accepted his answer, and began making arrangements with Bonnie regarding tomorrow's escapade down to the morgue. Stefan found himself going over Damon's response in his head. Damon was always straightforward, why had his brother looked so inferior when he answered Elena's question? Even now Stefan noticed that his brother's attention was focused on the swirling Jack and Coke still present in the glass. Did his brother know something? If so, why would he hide what he knew? This was not like the Damon he knew.

"Tomorrow at ten good for you babe?" Elena was asking him a question.

Stefan snapped out of his thoughts. "Uh, yes, ten is fine by me," he replied giving his wife a small smile. She smiled back and returned to her conversation with Bonnie. Stefan returned his attention to Damon and noticed his brother was at his feet.

"I should be going," Damon spoke, interrupting the girls' conversation.

"Good night Damon," Elena said smiling. "Give us a call tomorrow and we can go over whatever information we find at the morgue."

Bonnie rose to see Damon out. "Sure, and I will be sure to let you know if I sense anything around the town." Damon smiled. "Bonnie, it's been lovely seeing you again and thank you for the drink. Little brother I will see you tomorrow."

Damon walked out to the foyer, followed by Bonnie. Stefan heard the door close and Bonnie returned to the living room. "Well, I think I should be off to bed too, I get up so early." Stefan and Elena nodded their heads and said their 'goodnights' to Bonnie. It was only then that Stefan realized the time was only 9:30pm. Why was his brother so eager to leave at such an early time? Damon would often only be returning home when he and Elena were waking up.

"Did you notice anything unusual about Damon tonight?" Stefan asked Elena.

Her brow wrinkled, "No, was he acting weird? He seemed like good ole' Damon to me."

"I think there might be something he's hiding from us. I don't know that we can fully trust him on this. Maybe I should follow him." Stefan played the idea off Elena.

"That's up to you. I didn't notice anything unusual and if you want to follow him go right ahead. Just don't let him catch you spying on him Stefan, you know how he is and that temper he has." Elena had brought up interesting points. Still, Stefan thought it best just to be sure.

"I think I will, just for tonight, to be sure," he thought aloud. He looked at his wife's face. Sometimes when he looked at her, her beauty still made him weak in the knees as if he were seeing her all over for the very first time. He reached over and pulled her to him and kissed her passionately. "I won't be gone long," he said and headed for the door.