Elena steered Alaric and Caroline straight to the kitchen and started the coffee. "Lizzie and Jenna are still asleep in the living room," she said.

"Elena …" Ric began.

"Wait," Elena said firmly. "I know she's your daughter, Ric, but she's also a new vampire. Trust me when I say she needs some space."

Caroline reached across the table to pat his arm. "She's right."

"I'll go and wake the others," Elena said, handing Caroline a mug of blood, "and then I'll check on them again."

Her girls were already awake when she poked her head in.

"We figured it out," her daughter said brightly.

"Oh?" Elena asked. "What's that then?"

"Well, your Aunt Jenna's back," Ariana said, "so there's going to be two of them and it's going to be confusing."

"So I thought about using one of my middle names," her Jenna continued, "but I figure Dad might have a heart attack if I start going by Lexi …"

"Plus, it's going to be hard for everyone else to switch," Ariana put in.

Jenna nodded. "So I figured - what if everyone calls me Jenna-May?"

Elena hesitated. "Are you sure, sweetheart?"

Jenna-May nodded. "Of course. Is Aunt Jenna okay? And are Hope and the twins okay?"

Elena sighed and came to sit beside them, unsurprised that they had heard at least some of what happened last night. "Aunt Jenna is a new vampire, but she's coping - remarkably well actually. Lizzie's a vampire and Hope's triggered her werewolf curse, but they'll both be okay. Now, Aunt Caroline and Uncle Ric are downstairs, so …"

She didn't have a chance to finish before the girls let out a little squeak of excitement and raced for the bathroom to get dressed

Shaking her head in amusement, Elena moved on to knock on the next few doors. Not knowing MG, Landon and Rafael as well, she waited outside until she heard movement before letting them know their headmaster had arrived and that she'd be making breakfast shortly.

Luke was still fairly groggy when she checked on him, but he at least managed a smile.

"Thank you, Elena."

"Not at all," Elena said with a smile. "Are you up for breakfast?"

Luke hesitated. "Eating, yes. Moving, no."

Elena laughed. "That's what I figured. I'll get someone to bring you a plate."

"Bless you," Luke murmured, his eyes closing again.

Elena squeezed his hand and went to the last room - there was no point in waking Stefan, Damon, or Katherine - none of them were heavy sleepers, and they would almost certainly be up on their own within the hour, if that.

Penelope was awake, but Josie was still asleep.

"Any nightmares?" Elena asked quietly.

Penelope smiled sadly. "Her or me?"

Elena nodded. "It's okay not to be okay, you know that, right?"

"I know," Penelope said. "But she needs me to be okay."

"She's going to need some help," Elena conceded. "But there are other options. Never set yourself on fire to keep other people warm."

"I love her," Penelope said.

"I know," Elena said with a smile. "And she loves you. You wouldn't let her get away with it, would you?"

Penelope pulled a face. "No."

"Thought not," Elena said. "Her dad's downstairs and I'm going to make breakfast. Lizzie transitioned last night; she's fine. Hope should wake up today."

"Good," Penelope said with a little sigh of relief. "I'll see if I can wake her."

Elena left her to it, knowing from experience that it was not an easy task. She got downstairs, just in time to hear movement from the living room and looked inside, just in time to see Jenna start to stir.

"Morning."

Jenna blinked a few times, confusion clouding her eyes, before they cleared. "Right. Resurrection. Vampire. Doctor."

Elena smiled. "I love the fact that that's the three words you've gone with. Ric's in the kitchen."

"Have you told him about …?" Jenna began.

"Of course," Elena said. "Caroline's here too - Klaus isn't."

"I'm surprised," Jenna said. "Given what you told me about Hope."

Elena shrugged. "He was here. He's made a strategic retreat."

Emotions warred on Jenna's face for a second. "I don't want her to have to miss him."

"She won't," Elena said. "She's still unconscious."

Jenna sighed. "What I was actually going to say was, have you told him about their mother?"

Elena paused, running through everything she had said since Alaric arrived. "No. Not yet. I think I'd better wait until the girls are both awake and he's got that reassurance before I drop that bombshell."

Jenna nodded. "Okay. Go play hostess; I'll wake her up." She waited for Elena to leave before gently nudging Lizzie's shoulder. "Your dad's here, honey."

"I heard," Lizzie mumbled into her shoulder. "Can't I stay here?"

Jenna chuckled. "He'll get impatient at some point."

Lizzie sat up, running a hand through her hair. "Sorry about crying on you."

"Don't mention it," Jenna said immediately. "Seriously. After everything that happened yesterday, I think you deserved a cry."

Lizzie smiled shakily. "I'm scared."

Jenna squeezed her hand. "Me too," she admitted.

"What if I hurt him?" Lizzie whispered. "Hell, what if he's mad at me?"

"He won't be mad at you," Jenna said immediately. "I haven't known your dad as long as Elena has, but I know him well enough to know that he'd rather have one vampire daughter and one witch daughter, than one live daughter and one dead one."

"When you put it like that," Lizzie muttered. "Although technically, I am dead."

"Technically, so am I," Jenna said.

Lizzie rolled her eyes. "I'm still scared I'll hurt him."

Jenna hesitated. That one was more difficult. "I know. Why don't you stay here and I'll get you a blood bag first? Maybe once you've eaten, you'll feel better."

"Maybe," Lizzie said.

"Also, you can't be the first new vampire your dad's dealt with," Jenna said. "Elena said he runs a school."

"He does," Lizzie said, settling a little. "And I'm not. So he should know …"

"He should," Jenna agreed, getting to her feet. "I'll get you a blood bag, shall I?"

Lizzie nodded. "Thanks."

Jenna made her way towards the voices floating out of the kitchen, hesitating just outside the door.

She wasn't entirely sure what to expect when she entered - certainly Caroline would look no different, but Ric …

Whatever she was expecting, it wasn't what she saw when she opened the door.

Their eyes met across the room and she faltered, her voice failing her.

Caroline jumped to her feet, rounding the table to hug her. "Jenna, I'm so, so sorry."

"Don't," Jenna said automatically, squeezing Caroline tightly. "Your daughter brought me back."

"Yeah, and my husband killed you in the first place," Caroline muttered.

"Elena explained everything last night," Jenna said. "I'm not okay. I will be. And I'm told he adores you and you're happy."

Caroline nodded, pulling back to wipe at her eyes. "I am. And he does."

Jenna smiled. "That's all I ever wanted for any of you."

"Are you sure you're alright?"

Jenna glanced at Ric, who had taken a tentative step towards her. "I'm confused. Elena told me that you died, but … she said you came back human."

Alaric frowned. "I did."

"He's not a vampire any more," Elena added.

"No, I know," Jenna said, "but … You don't look a day older than when I last saw you."

There was an awkward pause, while Caroline and Elena both turned to look at him.

"She's right," Caroline said after a few moments. "How did I not notice?"

"Because you're surrounded by people who aren't ageing," Jenna said. "You probably don't question it. Also, you tend to notice a change, or lack thereof, more if you don't watch it happen. Or not happen, in this case. Anyway …" She took a deep breath and smiled. "That's not what I was going to say when I walked in."

"What were you going to say?" Ric asked.

"Oh, I hadn't got that far," Jenna said. "But it wasn't that. What I will say is that you have two beautiful daughters."

Alaric smiled. "Thank you. I'm very proud of them."

"So you should be," Jenna said, taking the mug Elena passed her. "Can you make one up for Lizzie as well?"

"On it," Elena said. "How's she doing?"

"She's nervous," Jenna and Caroline said in unison.

"How did you know?" Jenna asked.

Caroline shrugged. "I didn't know about vampires when I turned. If I had known, I'd have had a panic attack when Mom walked into that hospital room."

Jenna drained the mug and set it down. "Okay, how do I make the fangs go away?"

"Deep breaths," Elena answered. "Look at me."

Jenna locked eyes with her niece, matching her breathing, until the burning in her face went away. "Thanks."

Elena smiled, removing the second mug from the microwave. "Here you go."

"First things first," Jenna said, turning to Ric. "I know it's been twenty years and there's a load of other stuff going on, but we can do the hug thing, right?"

Ric cracked a smile, wrapping his arms around her. "I'm glad you're back, Jen."

Jenna closed her eyes, allowing herself to sink into his embrace for a second, before pulling away a little reluctantly. "Okay, let's get reunion number two on the road."

Lizzie was pacing when Jenna returned. "Is he okay?"

"He's worried about you," Jenna answered, handing her the mug. "As expected."

Lizzie drained the mug in seconds. "Thanks. Were you okay?"

"I was, actually," Jenna said. She watched as Lizzie's eyes calmed and her body stilled. "Feel better?"

Lizzie nodded. "It felt like there was electricity underneath my skin. Like I was so … fidgety that I was going to explode if something didn't happen. Will you come with me?"

"Of course," Jenna said, following her back towards the kitchen.

As soon as Lizzie entered, Alaric rounded the kitchen island, stopping just short of grabbing her in a hug. "Lizzie, thank God! Are you okay?"

Lizzie nodded, stepping forwards to wrap her arms around her father's waist, burying her face in his chest.

Ric hugged her immediately, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

Jenna could probably have heard whatever he was whispering to her, but she went to help Elena with breakfast instead.

"Oh for heaven's sake," Katherine said, appearing at their sides. "Elena, we've been through this -step away from the stove."

Elena held up her hands in mock-surrender, moving back to allow Katherine to take over breakfast.

"I do not need to be dealing with a fire alarm this morning," Katherine grumbled.

"I'm not that bad," Elena protested.

"I am," Jenna said honestly. "And you weren't any better before I died."

"She's not now," Katherine said. "How are you feeling, Lizzie?"

"I'm fine," Lizzie said, now being almost suffocated by Caroline.

The girls' bedroom door slammed upstairs, and Elena and Katherine winced as the kitchen shook. A couple of eggs rolled from the counter with the movement, stopping just before they reached the ground.

"Good catch," Elena said.

Katherine frowned, staring down at the eggs. "That wasn't me."

"I did it," Lizzie said, returning the eggs to the counter with a flick of her hand. "I kind of reacted. Why have I still got my magic?"

Katherine's eyes cleared. "Of course. You're a siphoner."

"Does that change things?" Alaric asked.

"If memory serves me," Katherine said, "and Kol will know better, siphoners don't lose the ability to siphon when they become a vampire; they gain the ability to siphon themselves."

"So I don't need to siphon anything first?" Lizzie asked with a grin.

"Not necessarily," Katherine said. "But you're not an infinite resource, Lizzie, so just be aware of your limits."

"Okay, this day just got so much better," Lizzie said.

"Aunt Caroline!"

Caroline released Lizzie just in time to catch Jenna-May and Ariana as they threw themselves at her. "Would you two stop growing please?"

"Did Henrik come with you?" Ariana asked

Jenna-May turned red. "We're just friends!"

"No!" Elena said tiredly. "We are not starting that again."

"We never got a chance to finish it," Ariana said innocently.

Elena sighed, shaking her head. "Jenna, I know I introduced you last night but …"

"Everything was a bit frantic, wasn't it?" Jenna asked, her eyes fixed on the two. "Just to be clear, we're sticking with Aunt Jenna, not Great-Aunt Jenna - I'm too young for that."

"Me too?" Ariana asked, a little shyly.

Jenna smiled. "Well, Elena says you're more like sisters than cousins. So, yes, of course you too."

"Thank you," Katherine murmured behind her.

Jenna spared her a smile, crouching down to hug the two girls, relieved when the steady heartbeats settled her nerves, rather than winding her up.

The three boys arrived at that moment and Jenna couldn't help watching as Ric greeted them, with less affection than his daughter, certainly, but no less relief.

Lizzie stiffened all of a sudden, but before anyone could move, Josie came flying into the kitchen and into her sister's open arms.

Ric moved towards them, but was stopped by Caroline's hand on his arm. She went instead, resting a hand on Josie's shoulder, half in comfort, half to pull the girl away should Lizzie lose control.

But it was Josie whose face was buried in her sister's neck, half-understandable words breaking through sobs, while Lizzie stroked her sister's hair and tried to comfort her.

"You managed to wake her then," Elena said to Penelope, who had followed her girlfriend at a more sedate pace.

"I don't know how she does it," Penelope said. "She went from fast asleep to this in about twenty seconds."

Elena chuckled. "She's been like that since she was a baby. I don't get it either."

"Damon can do that," Katherine grumbled. "Drives me up the wall."

Josie finally calmed down enough for Alaric to hug her as well.

"Dad, I'm so sorry," Josie said through tears. "I should have told you that I met Grandma."

"You should," Ric said, "but I should have told you why she was a problem. I'm so sorry you both had to go through that." He looked up at Penelope. "You too."

Penelope gave him a weak smile. "Not your fault, Dr S. I'd rather have been with Josie than stuck at the school, worrying."

"You wouldn't have been at the school," MG said. "You'd have been with us."

"Hell, you'd have been driving," Rafael added.

Penelope smirked. "Well, probably."

"Alright, breakfast's ready," Katherine announced. "Come and get it, while it's hot."

"I'll take a plate up to Luke," Elena said. "He's awake, but not exactly alert at the moment."

"Thanks, Elena," Ric said.

As Jenna-May and Ariana joined the line for breakfast, Josie caught Jenna's eye across the room.

"Thank you for last night," she said, a little shyly.

Jenna smiled sadly. "You're welcome. Elena would have done the same if I wasn't here."

"But you were," Josie said, "and you did. And … I'm really sorry, but I don't even remember your name."

Ric cleared his throat. "Josie, this is Jenna Sommers. Lizzie's namesake."

It was probably a smart move to say that rather than refer to her as his ex-girlfriend (if that was the right way to describe a relationship that ended due to death, rather than a break-up).

However it was obvious from the way Josie froze, something akin to panic in her expression, that she knew exactly who Jenna was.

Something ached inside her, something that had been mollified by Lizzie's easy acceptance, reminded of a time after her mother had passed, when her father had begun a new relationship - and how her relationship with the woman in question (no matter how nice she was) had never progressed past the mental block that screamed that this wasn't her mother, and how dare she try to replace her (even though she never really had).

In a widely transparent attempt at sparing Josie any kind of awkward small talk, she turned to Katherine. "You and Damon took Elena out to the woods to teach her control, right?"

"We did," Katherine said. "Sorry about the phone call."

Jenna blinked in surprise, trying to reconcile her question with the response. "Um, thanks. But you don't need to apologise. If I had to chose between saving my own life and the life of a stranger, I'd probably save my own as well."

Katherine shrugged. "Still."

"Anyway," Jenna said, "any chance I can get the woods treatment as well?"

"You're doing really well as it is," Katherine said. "But we'd be happy to. Fair warning - don't take advice from Stefan."

"He means well," Caroline added. "He just doesn't know what he's doing. You know we do have a school in New Orleans specifically for situations like this."

The last part was a little rushed, as though she'd said it before Alaric could, picking up, as Jenna had, Josie's obvious discomfort.

Jenna smiled at Caroline. "Thank you. I think I need to be near Jeremy and Elena right now."

"Of course," Caroline said. "Just thought I'd offer."

Another door slammed - the front door this time - and Jeremy came barrelling into the kitchen.

Of everything, this was what made Jenna burst into tears.

Everyone else - even Ric - seemed frozen in time. Even knowing they had children didn't quite cut through, because these children were virtual strangers.

But Jeremy …

Jeremy was not the lanky teenager he'd been when she died. He was at least a head taller, bulked out with muscle, his hair shorter than she'd last seen it …

He'd grown up.

His panic at her tears, however, had not changed in the slightest. Nor had the way he lifted her off the ground a little when he hugged her (which he had started doing as soon as he was an inch taller than her).

She wrapped her arms around him, trying to quell her tears. "You look so much like your dad."

"We've missed you so much," Jeremy muttered into her hair.

"Elena said you could speak to dead supernaturals before you turned," Jenna said.

"Not you," Jeremy said with sad smile. "You died so soon after turning that you were in the human afterlife. You could travel between the two, but not enough that I could talk to you."

"How do you know I could travel then?" Jenna asked curiously.

"Ric was there for a while," Jeremy answered simply. "You used him to pass on messages from Mom and Dad."

"Look who's awake," Elena announced.

Jeremy took a quick step to one side, pulling Jenna with him to avoid Caroline as she rushed to her daughter.

"Hope!"

"Mom …" Hope fought against her mother's arms, clearly distressed. "Lizzie and Josie - did it work?"

"It worked," Lizzie said softly. "We're both right here."

Locking eyes with her across the room, Hope's struggles stopped and she slumped into Caroline's embrace. "Oh, thank God …"

"It's alright, baby girl," Caroline murmured, rocking her daughter a little. It no longer worked quite as well as it had when she was younger, but Hope had at least inherited her height from her father.

It made Caroline feel better knowing that she was at least taller than her daughter, even if she would soon look younger than her.

"What happened?" Hope asked, her voice muffled by her mother's shirt. "Why am I so tired?"

"You triggered your curse, honey," Caroline said gently. "You weren't expecting it, were you?"

Hope stiffened in her arms, then shook her head. "No. I should have been, in hindsight; I just … I wasn't thinking straight."

"It's alright," Caroline said, rubbing her back. "It's going to be alright."

There will be a break in uploading next week as I am going away for a few weeks.