A/N: Ahhh! We're done! Finally! Well, maybe? I had a reviewer say they were hoping for a Delana baby. I'm not going to lie that at one point in this story, it had crossed my mind. I dismissed it because I thought it was too farfetched, but who am I kidding? This is fanfiction! Who cares if it's crazy!? So I had an idea to do a second epilogue offering an alternate ending if anyone is interested. Review and let me know your thoughts. I'm happy to end it here as well, but I do have some ideas. As always, thanks for reading and thank you for those that take the time to review. It means a lot!

Epilogue

"Stefan! Stefan, we're going to leave without you!" Elena yelled up the staircase of the boarding house.

"You know how it is with baby bro," Damon said, coming around the corner. "Always has to have his hero hair just so," Damon pulled Elena to him, her back to his chest and nuzzled into her hair, play biting with his blunted teeth as they waited for Stefan in the foyer of the boarding house.

Elena squeaked and scolded, "Damon! We don't have time. Caroline is going to kill us if we're late." But she was laughing as she said it.

"I'm just keeping you occupied while we wait on Stefan. There's nothing wrong with that," he said seductively as he spun her around and backed her into the nearest wall.

Elena's breath caught and she struggled to remember the important thing they were supposed to be doing.

"Are you guys about done? We're going to miss the christening at this rate. You wouldn't want Tyler and Hayley to be named godparents in your absence," Stefan chided, loping down the stairs two at a time.

"That's not funny, Stefan," Elena said, even as she stifled a laugh imagining Tyler and Hayley trying to parent rambunctious twin girls together.

Stefan had been home for almost a year now. Caroline had remained in contact with him throughout his absence, making sure he was ok and keeping him posted on the gang. When she informed him of Jo's death and her subsequent pregnancy, Stefan had decided it was time to come home. The twins were a few months old now, and Caroline had jumped in to parent them as if she were really their mother. Elena knew Alaric was grateful. He hadn't even put up a fight when Caroline insisted on having the girls Christened. He had, however, insisted that Damon be named godfather, much to everyone's surprise.

Damon had blanched at Ric's request. Stefan had laughed, but Elena knew that he was secretly pleased. Caroline had just asked, "Are you sure you know what you're doing, Ric? With our luck, the odds of Damon having to raise the girls are pretty high."

Ric had just shrugged and said, "It'll be good for him."

The first few months Stefan was back had been the hardest. He was visibly uncomfortable in the presence of Elena and Damon, so much so that he would often stay at Caroline's under the guise of helping her out. "Someone has to run for ice cream at 2 in the morning when the cravings hit," he'd said. Over the days and months, however, the pair continued to grow closer until one day they surprised everyone by announcing that they were a couple. Caroline was as happy as Elena had ever seen her.

"No, what's not going to be funny is Caroline when we're late. She'll be out for blood. Damon, you drive." Stefan said, tossing Damon's keys at him as he walked out the door.

Elena moved to follow, but then she stumbled to a halt. Damon was in her head again. Even though he wasn't physically touching her anymore, she could feel one of his hands running down her arm and the other cupping her ass. Goosebumps appeared on her flesh as she tried but failed to stifle a gasp.

This had been a side effect of the spell Klaus had forced Bonnie to put them under. Or maybe side effect wasn't the right word. More a bonus prize? The intense visions had ceased after Damon and Elena had exchanged blood that night all those years ago. No more spontaneous, orgasm inducing visions in the middle of a jaunt around town in the Camaro, and, much to Elena's relief, they were able to keep their thoughts about each other to themselves…if they wanted to; however, now they had the option. As a vampire, Damon had always had the ability to get inside Elena's head – or anyone's for that matter – but before it had required intense concentration, and he had to be at his level best. It wasn't a party trick for a weak -minded vampire, to be sure. But now, he could get into Elena's head with just the slightest nudge, as long as she was amicable. And perhaps the more miraculous outcome was that Elena, even as a human, could do the same to Damon.

The gang hated it. The two lovers were constantly going silent, often in the middle of a sentence or conversation, because one had decided to go playing in the other's head space. They were constantly being reprimanded or accused of being inappropriate. Damon loved it. He would always fire back things like, "For all you know, I'm reminding her to pick up milk at the store." Or, "Maybe I'm just being polite and complaining about how boring you all are without saying it out loud." He never apologized, and even if Elena did, she was never really sorry.

As she felt Damon's fingers brush her sex over her panties, she tensed and waited expectantly. She heard him whisper in her head, "Later, my Love." Suddenly, Elena wasn't sure if she could even walk, even as Damon passed her and gave her a strange look for Stefan's benefit.

Stefan, becoming used to these antics, sighed audibly from beside Damon's Camaro. "Keep playing that game, Damon, but it's your funeral."

Damon chuckled, turned back around and threw Elena over his shoulder. He didn't put her down until they were at the car.

At the church, Damon watched Elena watch the babies. She was transfixed by every little coo and cry, and even though he knew she was happy with him and their life together, it was at moments like this that he couldn't help but have doubts. He couldn't help but wonder if Klaus had been right trying to push a baby and a human life upon her. Because, with him, she would never have any of it. And he knew that she had dearly wanted it not so very long ago.

As if reading his thoughts, she looked up at him and smiled. She didn't enter his head space, even though there was never a time Damon wouldn't welcome her to do so. No, Elena liked to be fully present for things like this. She even created rules for him to follow when it came to their new found super power, and out of respect for her, he followed them most of the time.

His favorite invasions were when they were alone at night in their bedroom at the boarding house. Usually, it was after making love, but not always. Sometimes, they just got in bed and reached for each other, and he would hold her and stroke her hair while dreaming something up for them both. Only at these times would he conjure up the family he had created for them once before, one girl and one boy. He always imagined them in the 1860s, and this was intentional. For one, it was when Damon was human and could have potentially been a father, if things had been different. But more than that, Damon was selfish. He feared if he pictured Elena now, with a baby or a family, that she would see what she had given up for him. She hadn't turned yet, and it wasn't too late for her to change her mind. She could still walk away, and seeing her now, like this, holding one of the twins snuggled in her arms, the fear nearly choked the breath out of him.

He somehow managed to make it through the ridiculous ceremony, where the babies were dressed in outfits they would never wear again and crying bloody murder when some scary man seemed to want to drown them. But Caroline was happy, and strangely his best friend and his brother seemed happy for once, too, so he didn't complain.

Back home and finally alone after the party that inevitably followed – thanks to Caroline, of course – Elena took down streamers and packaged leftovers and cleared away wrapping paper – Did you know you had to buy babies gifts for every little achievement? And with twins, you had to buy two of everything? – Damon gathered his courage and nudged Elena's mind.

He knew the way it felt because she sometimes did it to him, although more often than not it was the other way around. There was a sensation of heaviness, like the beginning of a head cold – This description was according to Elena, because Damon didn't exactly remember head colds – Then there's a moment after the feeling settles over you that you could block it, kind of like when you push a daydream away or attempt to clear your mind of thoughts. All of this would happen in mere seconds.

She accepted his intrusion with a quirk of her lips. She didn't look his way though. This was a game they often play, pretending like nothing was amiss. She'd surely be expecting something naughty, something worthy of being whisked away up the stairs to be taken advantage of. After all, hadn't he promised her as much earlier? But that wasn't his intention. At least, not now.

Instead, he imagined them sitting on the carpet in front of a roaring fire, the sofas pushed back, the coffee table replaced by a baby swing, baby paraphernalia every which way you looked. Elena was sitting toward the edge of the carpet, holding her hands wide, saying, "You can do it. Walk to Mommy," and Damon sat behind a little munchkin with black hair and brown eyes. He stood on wobbly legs and squeezed his daddy's fingers tight with his little fists, refusing to let go.

Elena gasped audibly at the scene forming in her mind. In her head, she asked, "What are you doing, Damon?"

And just like that they're pulled out of the scene, and he's staring at her intently. "Don't you ever wonder about it, Elena? Don't you ever feel like there's something missing?"

His heart contracted as he watched her look away immediately. Her averted eyes had him fearing the worst or sensing a lie. But then he became surprised when she smiled.

Elena walked across the room with a purpose, grasped his shoulders and squeezed, "Damon, listen to me. I love you. No one can have everything they ever wanted out of life, but if I can't have those things with you then I don't want them anyway. I'm happy. Stop trying to poke holes in this, in us. We're happy."

He's unconvinced but unwillingly to admit it. Besides he didn't plan to press the issue. The last thing he would want would be for her to discover that something was lacking. Why he asked in the first place was a complete mystery.

But, clearly, she could tell he continued to be doubtful. She released him and marched toward the stairs. He felt her nudge his head and he let her in without hesitation. In his head, she was still standing before him. She grabbed his hand and positioned it on her thigh, moving it closer and closer to her panty line. "I want you to feel me, Damon," she whispered in his ear.

Damon knew that she was trying to distract him, yet he complied by slipping two fingers under her panties and into her warm flesh. She whimpered as he continued his ministrations, alternating dipping and rubbing languid circles, and Damon felt himself harden despite himself

"We may not be able to procreate, Damon Salvatore, but that doesn't mean we can't have fun pretending to try. Now, why are you still standing downstairs all alone when I'm naked in your bed?"

Damon moved faster than he ever had before. He was undressed and on top of her before she was done laughing, and when he moved to kiss her neck, the laughing stopped abruptly. This had become there favorite thing, the biting. It was one of the reasons Elena hadn't turned yet. Sure, there were other reasons – big, important life reasons – but Elena feared the blood sharing wouldn't be as potent when she was a vampire.

Damon tried to reassure her. He knew from experience that vampire's giving and taking blood from one another could be amazingly sensual. He didn't press the issue though because he knew he would miss her taste. Besides, he hesitated for a different reason altogether. He worried about the state of their shared connection. Would Elena becoming a vampire sever this wonderful gift they'd been given? He didn't want to lose this connection he could initiate regardless of even proximity. And knowing the witches and their balancing acts, he was sure to lose.

Still, he knew they wouldn't wait much longer – some silly stipulation of Elena not wanting to be older than him when she turned. But for now, they had time. For now, he'd relish the human girl before him. He would languish in her sweat and in her sweet blood. He would get high on her rapid breathing and her increased heart-rate. He would soar because of her all-too human smell. He'd love her now just as he'd love her then, just as he would continue to love her, forever and always, no matter what happened, because it really was right.

Fin