AN: So the next part of this story is either going to be one people love or hate - all I can say is this is in this story because of one scene in the sequel that popped into my head and needed a more than a five second explanation to work.

The Saltzmans insisted on hosting the girls' birthday that year, the Salvatores hosted Christmas in Mystic Falls, and the Mikaelsons hosted New Year.

In hindsight, they probably could have planned that better so they didn't end up bouncing back and forth between Louisiana and Virginia.

As January eased into February, Freya found herself driving back into Mystic Falls, Bonnie's voice still echoing in her ears.

"I know this is really weird, but I need your help. I am completely stumped by this one."

To keep from worrying anyone unnecessarily, Freya had not divulged the reason for her trip to the rest of her family, especially as Bonnie had asked her to meet her, not at her house or the Mystic Grill, but at the Salvatore Boarding House.

Freya pulled up outside, stifling a yawn. Sleeping for more than a century meant that she was not particularly fond of flying, so she had driven through the night to get to Virginia, concerned by the worry in Bonnie's voice, arriving in Mystic Falls early in the afternoon.

Bonnie met her at the door with a mug of coffee. "Thank goodness you're here."

"Please tell me that's for me," Freya said.

"Here," Bonnie said, passing her the mug. "It could have waited."

"Well, you're worried," Freya said. "What's up?"

"I have no idea," Bonnie said, leading her inside. "Hence needing your help."

Elena, Stefan and Damon were in the library, but it was immediately obvious that something was horribly wrong.

Elena was curled up at one end of the couch, her face deathly pale.

"Wow, you look terrible," Freya said, frowning. "Are you okay?"

"I'm sick," Elena muttered. "So's Katherine."

"Vampires don't get sick," Damon said tersely.

"Damon, if you say that one more time," Katherine said, practically stumbling in from the kitchen, "I'm going to hurt you. I know vampires can't get sick; that information is completely useless to us at this moment in time."

"I wish you'd been clearer," Freya said. "I would have brought Keelin with me."

"Damon does have a point," Bonnie said. "This isn't medical, Freya - it can't be."

"And you can't figure it out?" Freya asked, although she didn't wait for an answer, pressing a hand against Elena's forehead. "I'm guessing it's something to do with the doppelganger curse. Aside from the obvious nausea, what other symptoms are there?"

"Fatigue," Elena answered. "Headaches. Stomach cramps. Um …"

"Pregnancy symptoms," Katherine said bluntly. "Let's cut to the chase. Bonnie's already gone through all that - it is physically impossible for us to be pregnant, given we don't have a super-powerful Mikaelson witch that could have caused a miracle."

"Okay," Freya said. "I take your point. Bonnie?"

"I did the spell three times," Bonnie said. "They all came up clear and conclusive."

"Okay, well, let's double-check that first," Freya said, moving her hand to Elena's stomach. She murmured the spell under her breath, pausing before doing the same with Katherine.

"Okay, so I'm getting the same results," Freya said slowly.

"That's not possible," Katherine repeated.

Damon sat down on the arm of the couch beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "I'm sure Freya has a theory. You have a theory, right?"

Freya grimaced. "Well, there's only one. Katherine, you tracked down the bloodline at some point, right?"

"Yeah, I did," Katherine said. "That's why I ended up keeping an eye on Elena. That was the last line left."

Freya nodded, straightening up. "It's the doppelgänger curse."

"But that's broken, isn't it?" Elena asked. "It was created with the hybrid curse and now that's broken."

Freya grimaced. "Yes and no. Doppelgängers are created to allow a magical loophole - in this case, to allow Mother's curse on Nik to be broken. However that, in itself, is a curse of sorts and that hasn't broken. In fact, I'm not even sure how you'd go about that."

"So the curse is still in place, even though the …" Bonnie trailed off. "But the bloodline's ended. So …"

Freya nodded. "When Elena died and the bloodline ended, that caused a problem. My guess is that the curse has been searching for an outlet since she died, to try and find some kind of distant relative. Since there aren't any, it's made Elena conceive. Whether it's a clone-like situation or an actual magical conception, I don't know. And we probably won't know until the baby's born."

"Okay, but if that's true, why am I pregnant?" Katherine asked jerkily.

"My guess is that magic just can't tell the difference," Freya answered. "Kind of in the same way a genetics test can't tell the difference between identical twins. We'll have to keep an eye on you, though. Your body's been dead for a lot longer."

Elena jolted to her feet and Stefan moved to approach her, but she shook her head. "It's not … I'm not … I just … I need a bit of breathing space."

She hurried from the house, coming to a stop in the woods behind it, leaning against one of the trees to catch her breath.

She was not Caroline.

She had not spent her childhood dreaming of being a mother. She had known Stefan was a vampire long before any thoughts of the future had started forming in earnest.

Who would give children any serious thought if they were a physical impossibility?

She fumbled for her cell-phone. It rang for an unnervingly long time, but finally she got an answer.

"Elena?"

"Ric, where's Jo?" Elena asked. "I know I called her number."

"She's giving the girls a bath," Ric answered. "Left her phone downstairs. What's wrong?"

"Just …" Elena's voice caught. "Get her please?"

"Alright, hang on."

There was a scuffling noise, followed by sounds of splashing and giggling, then Jo's voice came on the line. "Elena? What's wrong?"

"I'm pregnant," Elena blurted out. "Freya thinks it's something to do with the doppelganger spell and … I'm pregnant, and I have no idea how to deal with it, because this shouldn't even be possible and …"

"Elena," Jo said, her voice reassuringly calm. "Take a breath for me, sweetheart."

Elena did as she was told. "How did you deal with it?" She asked in a small voice. "Yours should have been impossible as well."

"Well, my first inclination was a strong drink," Jo said frankly, "but apparently that would have been a bad idea."

Elena choked out a laugh.

"So I ate a whole bar of chocolate," Jo continued, "and I didn't even feel guilty, and then I talked to Ric. Have you talked to Stefan?"

"He knows," Elena said, sniffling. "Katherine's pregnant too. Freya's worried about her. I have no idea how to deal with this."

"What do you want?" Jo asked gently.

"I don't know," Elena admitted, feeling a tear begin to work its way down her face. "I want my mom."

There was a brief moment of silence on the other end of the line. "We're on our way," Jo said firmly. "Just hang tight. We'll be there as soon as we can."

Flying with two three-year-olds was not fun, which was why Jo and Alaric usually drove to Mystic Falls, but when Jo had told Ric what was going on, they agreed that speed was of the essence - and flying was going to be far quicker than driving.

By the time they piled into the rental car, Jo was exhausted. Both of the girls were in the middle of a meltdown, so she squeezed into the back seat with them, in the hopes of settling them.

But, no, they had interrupted bedtime, and neither child was happy about it.

They arrived at the boarding house just over three hours after Elena's call - and they found the house in absolute chaos.

Damon was pacing up and down, while Stefan spoke to him in an undertone. Jo could feel magic brimming on the floors above them.

"What happened?" She demanded, hoisting Josie better on to her hip.

"Something's wrong with Katherine," Stefan answered. "We're not sure what - they kind of kicked us out because Damon wasn't helping."

"Take her," Jo said, thrusting Josie into Stefan's arms. "I'll go." She hurried upstairs, following the magic, and then the voices, to one of the bedrooms.

Katherine was curled up on the floor beside the bed, doubled over in obvious pain.

"Talk to me," Jo said abruptly, slipping into doctor mode as easily as she slipped off her jacket.

"She's losing the baby," Freya said quietly. "I'm doing my best, but she's over 500 years old and her body can't deal with it."

"Please do something," Katherine whispered, shaking. "I can't lose another baby … Please …"

"Okay, up you get," Jo said, firmly but gently. "Come on." She pulled Katherine to her feet and settled her on the bed, urging her to lay back. "I know you're in pain and getting cramps - is there any blood?"

"A little," Elena answered, taking Katherine's hand. "Not a lot."

"Good, that's a good start," Jo said. "Elena, I need you for a moment."

Elena followed her into the bathroom without question, and Jo turned on the water to wash her hands. "How can I help?"

"I have a spell," Jo said softly, letting the water mask her voice from the other room. "It's an old spell, but I need your help. I can save the baby - but I won't be able to save the pregnancy."

"What …?" Elena broke off. "What does that even mean? How can you do one but not the other?"

Jo gave her a sad smile. "Well, that's where you come in."

Downstairs, Stefan and Alaric had swapped roles. Ric had talked Damon into sitting down and was trying to convince him to stay there, rather than run up to find out what was going on.

Stefan, meanwhile, had managed to calm the twins down. He had found a ball in Jo's hastily packed bag and was rolling it to each twin in turn for them to roll back.

Footsteps caught all of their attention and Damon rose slowly to greet Elena in the doorway.

"How is she?" Damon asked.

Elena smiled sadly. "Katherine's okay. The baby's okay. They're just … not in the same place."

Ric frowned. "In English?"

"She'll be fine," Jo said, as she, Freya and Bonnie joined them. "We've left her to rest."

Damon looked as though he wanted to race to her side, but held his ground for the moment. "Can someone explain what happened?"

"I'd like that answer as well," Freya said. "I've never heard of that spell."

"It belongs to the Gemini coven," Jo explained. "Unlike most witch covens, ours is made up almost completely of one family. The spell was developed so that even if something happens to the mother, the child would still survive."

"What exactly did you do?" Damon prompted.

"She moved the baby," Elena said simply. "Rather than growing in Katherine's womb, it's growing in mine. I've got both of them, basically."

"Elena, are you sure?" Stefan asked. "You were kind of panicking about it."

"I was," Elena admitted. "And then Katherine started losing the baby and … Maybe I was picking up on her emotions, but … But I don't want to lose this baby. And I don't want to her to lose her baby either."

Damon pulled her into a hug. "Thank you," he murmured in her ear.

Elena squeezed him tightly. "You're welcome. At the moment. I'm sure if the morning sickness comes back I'll feel differently."

"That we can help you with," Freya said with a smile. "I'm back on familiar ground with that one."

"Can I …?" Damon began.

"I would," Elena said. "She's not handling it very well."

Damon had vanished in an instance, reappearing at Katherine's side. She wasn't in their bedrooms, but the one closest to the stairs, but she was curled up on the bed, her make-up streaked with tears.

She smiled weakly when she saw him. "Sorry."

"Lord knows what you're apologising for," Damon said, settling down beside her. "Honestly, I wait 160 years for an apology and then you start throwing them around for things that aren't even your fault."

That, at the very least, earned him a marginally wider smile.

"Did I do the right thing," she murmured, "letting Elena take them?"

"I don't think you could have stopped her," Damon said.

"But now she's got two," Katherine said. "And that's twice as risky."

Damon tugged her into his arms, kissing the top of her head. "It's not the 15th century anymore, Kitten. Pregnancy and childbirth is a lot safer than it used to be."

"She's a vampire," Katherine said flatly.

"So's Caroline," Damon said. "She was fine; Elena doesn't have Psycho-Grandma on her back."

Katherine managed a small chuckle. "I guess." She heaved a sigh, melting against him. "We didn't even get a chance to talk about it. Are you okay?"

Damon was silent for a few moments, stroking her hair. "I'm a little nervous," he admitted. "Not about you - you'll be an amazing mom. I just … I'm not sure if I'm cut out to be a father."

"I've seen you with Jeremy," Katherine said softly. "And we had Hope for three weeks. You'll be fine. I'm more worried about when they're old enough to start asking questions."

"We tell them the truth," Damon said. "And then point to Hope and tell them it could be worse."

Down in the kitchen, Elena was staring at a mug of blood, trying to calm herself.

Freya had mixed up a potion of sorts to help with the nausea and then disappeared with Bonnie to talk covens and magic. Jo and Alaric had taken the girls upstairs to put them to bed, finally.

And Elena was processing.

The hairs on the back of her neck began to prickle slightly, and she smiled. "Stefan."

Her husband slipped his arms around her waist, pressing a kiss to her shoulder. "Okay?"

"Better." Elena heaved a sigh, draining the mug before the smell started to get to him. "It just feels … weird. Knowing that there are two people living in me right now."

"Are you okay?" Stefan asked. "You didn't really get much of a turnaround before having to make that decision."

"There wasn't a decision to make," Elena said tiredly. "If Katherine had lost the baby, we would have lost her and Damon as well. You know that."

"Elena …" Stefan began.

"I didn't feel coerced," she added hastily, turning in his arms to face him. "I made a choice. But half of the reason I made that choice was because the alternative was unthinkable. I hadn't thought about children. But then I hadn't thought about becoming a vampire either. And that's all worked out for the better."

Stefan nodded, looking a little pained. "I'm worried. What happens the first time one of them falls and skins their knee?"

Elena smiled. "Then you leave it to me. I'll patch them up, kiss it better and we'll move on. Quite frankly, Stefan, if our child is ever bleeding badly enough to trigger you, your bloodlust will be the least of my concerns."

Stefan grimaced. "I guess you're right."

"Look at it this way," Elena said, "you're fine with the girls. And Hope. You'll be a good dad."

Stefan cupped her face, hearing, as always, what she didn't say, as well as what she did. "You'll be fine, Elena. You'll be a good mom. Can I do anything to make it easier right now?"
Elena wrinkled her nose. "Not really. I need a drink. And that's not happening."

"Yeah, that'll be difficult," Stefan said. "We can avoid it as well, if that makes it easier."

Elena laughed. "God, no! Trust me, Stefan, you never saw me when I was PMS-ing - if this is half as bad, you lot do not need to be sober while dealing with it."