BKBKBKBKBK
They got into Mystic late, under the cover of the new moon, the pitch of the night and all of its slumbering residents. Stairs creaked underfoot, and Damon led the way, holding Bonnie's hand, turning on lights and knocking out cobwebs as they climbed the staircase to the second landing. The flight was long, the drive from the city to the town even longer, and he and Bonnie were quiet as he spoke softly that he would just text Stefan and let him know they made it safely and they could come visit in the morning. All at Bonnie requests. He never texted Stefan that he had made it safely anywhere, they were men, vampires, they were always safe.
"Caroline will worry", she expressed as she pulled the dusty drop cloths from his bedroom furniture, as if she was intrigued to see what each cloth would uncover.
He quirked an eyebrow at her and she smiled rubbing her round belly, "I've never been in your bedroom before, even though both of my best friends told me allllllll about it."
"A million years ago baby, I don't even remember them being in here that often," He lied, partly from shame, and partly because he wished it were true, he wished Bonnie was the only woman of the trio who had ever stepped foot into his bedroom, who he had ever shared a bed.
They together turned the cold lonely room into home, he brought in wood from downstairs to start a flame in the fireplace, Bonnie waddled to the hall closet for clean sheets and together they made up his bed. She claimed a nightstand and was throwing things into the top drawer when her cell phone rang.
They both gave each other the 'wtf' face and she snipped, "I thought you texted them?"
Damon shrugged because Vampire Barbie is nuts and even though its one in the morning, he could totally see her determined to see her friend who she hasn't seen in over six years and lay her eyes on her, see the miracle of her protruding belly.
It was Klaus.
She sighed and took a seat. She had stopped hiding when she took his calls. No more whispering behind locked doors or sneaking out to the garden, away from his ears. They fought over it, made up over it, and she finally let Damon into it all.
"Gabriel ok?"
Damon could hear Klaus clearly. He had no intention on following through on bringing Gabriel to Mystic because now was the time to strike. The elder of the Garden Coven had died tonight.
"Are you sure? But Klaus, I still need time. The baby isn't due for another three weeks and right now she's taking all of my magic."
Klaus would go alone. He had his sisters, he had Elijah and he had his own trove of witches to call upon if needed.
Bonnie rubbed worried circles across her stomach, "You can't go back to New Orleans with Gabriel, Klaus. Bring him here first. I agree with you that now is the time to strike before she transitions to her power on the other side, but it's too dangerous for Gabriel to be there, the other witches in that coven still want to kill him.
"If you can't protect him then what good is it for him to be there?" Klaus asked.
And Bonnie looked up at Damon who sat quietly on the edge of the bed, "Damon will protect him."
Klaus laughed.
Later, in bed, he felt her toss and turn and get up the many times to pee and return restless. "You would protect him," She said to the dark between them. Damon didn't say of course, he didn't say anything at all, he just rubbed the small of her back and fell asleep.
He awoke before dawn to her screams for him in the restroom, and before he reached the bathroom door he smelled the metallic of blood.
She was sprawled on the floor, naked, writhing in pain, her labored breathing following the pattern from the youtubed Lamaze classes.
"We have to get you to a hospital," He heard himself say, ready to lift her, when she grabbed him crying that there was no time.
"She's coming," Bonnie screamed out. And before he could determine what to do, all those Hollywood things flashing before him, towels and boiling water, he watched Bonnie, stretch her hands down and touch the crown of his daughter's head between her spread legs, and he sprung to action. His eyes were pools of black and his fangs ached, and he reached into his wife and pulled at his daughter.
She slid out, bloody and beautiful, and his wife cried out, and blood tears leapt from his eyes, as he cradled his daughter and wife in the mess of birth and emotions.
And Ava screamed her welcome into the world.
BKBKBKBKBKBK
Stefan has pulled out the chair next to him, his brother's face angling for him to take a seat, as if Damon is confused at what the chair is for, and maybe Damon is, because he dawdles behind the Christmas decorated dining chair, snorting at the scene of the holiday feast, full wine glasses and the hushed chatter about his well-being.
"Why don't we all go around the table saying what we are grateful for?" Caroline chirps nervously, "I'll go first and say, I am grateful for my husband, for my god-daughter, Ava, and for my friends here today, and for having you here, Gabriel." She finishes smiling brightly at the boy seated at the end of the table, nestled between his protective aunts.
Damon sits. His brother grips his shoulder, and Elena who is perched next to him, places a warm hand on his knee, that at one time in his life he would have considered romantic, but recognizes it for the sympathy that it is, her approval of him finally taking a seat and joining the group.
Stefan clears his throat to speak, but if anyone believed there was going to be a nice, civil, Christmas eve dinner with Damon present, then they were smoking some good shit.
Damon clinks his knife against the crystal, "Lemme go, brother," His mouth stretches into that famous cruel smile, "I have a lot to say to the big man in the sky about how grateful I am right now," He snorts, "Like, thanks for the abusive father and the mother dying when my brother and I needed her the most, and oh yeah, thanks for that sadistic bitch that turned me into a monster, and the many years falling out with my brother, and for the cherry on top of a dead wife, but, I digress," He stops, flipping the knife in Gabriel's direction, "What I'm really, really thankful for is that kid down there can bring anything back to life. Pass the potatoes, Donovan."
He says the thing, and everyone's eyes dart to one another, silverware clattering and mouths dropping open.
"Damon is correct. Gabriel has the gift of resurrection," Freya says, "It is a very rare gift for a witch to have."
"Wait, what?" Caroline starts, "Does that mean what I think it means?" Her voice cracks from heartbreak and hope, "Bonnie?"
Damon laughs abruptly, "Naw, they wouldn't be here down a hybrid if he could, isn't that right?" He shoots his dark eyes at Freya and Rebekah.
Rebekah flips her blonde hair over her shoulder, "Always one to be an asshole," She starts ready to level the Salvatore but Freya interrupts. "That is partly true, Gabriel is still very young and resurrection magic is a strenuous undertaking even for the most seasoned witch. We have supervised him reanimate plants and small mammals but we are concerned that the task of reanimating a human at his age would be detrimental to his being."
"So, he can't bring back his Mama?" Damon stabs the knife into the dining room table. "Why do I feel like there is a but coming and it involves my daughter."
"Siblings can pull magic from one another, they share their mother's DNA," Freya continues, "If Ava has Bonnie's magic, then he can pull from Ava in completing the spell without either of them being harmed."
"But she's just a baby," Caroline barks, "Stefan." She spits as if he has the power to remove an Original and an ancient witch.
Everyone is speaking, fast questions and fast responses.
Damon is up, knocking the chair into the wall, "Get the fuck out," He says his eyes taking their maniacal glare, flipping the stunningly decorated table, covered in traditional dishes and new delicacies onto the ground. There is a crash of fine china and crystal and screams from Elena and Caroline.
Rebekah flashes to Damon, her manicured nails embedded into his throat, "Must you only understand violence?"
There is a chaos of voices, vampires and witches and werewolves and other grown-ups and Damon is yelling that Gabriel will never meet his daughter.
Stop it! Stop it!
And then the yells of Freya break through, "Where is Gabriel?"
Author's Note
Merry Christmas.
