Jessa waited as Damon pulled one of the leather chairs from beside the fireplace toward her to begin opening the box she kept the book in, and he rolled his eyes toward Alaric. "Wait," his voice hissed in her ear, "I want to check something out."

She glanced back at him and shook her head as he smiled at the man he called "Ric". "Jessa, let Ric open the box for you while the kids settle in for storytime." She had to swallow hard to keep from chuckling at his mischievousness, but to be honest, she was curious. She wanted to see the box in action.

Alaric offered to pour her a drink first, like a proper gentleman, then came over to "assist her" with the box. As soon as the tip of his finger touched the box, his eyes seemed to dim and glaze a bit, then he turned back to the bar and poured himself another drink. The box, of course, remained unopened. Alaric, a double bourbon in his hand now, looked down and realized that he wasn't anywhere near me, the box, and that he wasn't entirely sure how that happened.

Everyone watched it happen, and stared at her as though she had somehow made it happen. She sat back in amazement. "Huh, is that what happened when I was unconscious?" She asked Damon, ignoring the children, Alaric included.

He was grinning, and gave a slight nod, "Yeah. Everytime I so much as grazed that box, boom, bloodbag."

"Weird." She muttered, then realized we were being observed by some very unnerved children. "Oh, sorry about that. Obviously the box is enchanted, my mother's doing, not mine."

"Clearly," Damon said, rolling his eyes. "I wonder," he looked curiously around the room, "does it make everyone pick their own favorite refreshment? If Ric goes for bourbon, I go for blood bags, does that mean that Donovan would go for a soda at the Grille and Lightwood would head to the pet store for kibble?"

Jessa shook her head and refused to enjoy baiting the group, although she was curious, too. She sent him a look that she hoped conveyed an understanding that they'd discuss those possibilities later, but let her get through this now. He gasped, and shot her a look. Great, she thought, I found a new power.

"Back to the task at hand." She opened the box, making sure to move it out of the way so it wouldn't "accidentally" be touched. "If you're willing to listen, I'll give you the history of my family. I won't be offended if any of you want to leave, though." Looking at Tyler and Matt, she gave them both a reassuring smile.

"I'd like to hear it," for once the voice wasn't Elena's, Bonnie Bennett said. "I've touched your hand and the power I felt it so different from anything I've ever felt, but it's not malevolent." She said the last word with authority and the others listened and believed her.

"Thank you, Bonnie. I have to be honest, my mother is not easy to understand. She's cryptic. She's a bit of a braggart. And while I do believe that we can find answers in her to help with the Originals and Stefan, I haven't totally figured any of it out." Jessa let out a sigh she didn't realize she was holding and felt Damon's hand on her cheek. Looking up, she noticed he'd positioned himself behind her, protecting her.

And so, story-time began…

HOURS LATER:

Bonnie and Alaric were still sitting with her, puzzling over what she'd read to everyone. Damon, of course never left her side.

At some point, Tyler had grown a bit aggrieved with her mother for his current predicament. Which was beyond understanding, but was also worrying. He, according to Matt, was unpredictable before his transformation and now there was the added aggression.

Then, of course, came Caroline's defection. She knew it would happen, when Tyler left there would have to be the baby vampire reaction as well. Dealing with the hand you're dealt is bad enough, but sitting across from the daughter of the thing that created that hand in the first place, well, that's far harder to swallow.

Elena, Jeremy, and Matt left to help their friends. To talk them through their feelings, which she truly hoped would help. She had a feeling that was growing as the four of us who remained circled the debate of what her mother's actions caused and what her powers and Jessa's could do to fix things, that ALL of them were going to be needed before the end of the madness coming their way.

"So she gave witches magic, werewolves their abilities, and vampires theirs." Bonnie summarized for what felt like the millionth time. "And you're the product of her and a vampire."

Jessa could feel a faint blush on her face at that last bit. "Yes," she said, agreeing to the surface facts. She'd glossed over something in the book. Something that felt far too personal to talk about, buffers or not.

Alaric caught it, and glanced at Damon, then back at Jessa. "It would be much easier if WE could read it, too." He said glancing down at the book, with a little bit of envy. She'd learned that he was a teacher and she could appreciate his urge for learning.

"Wait!" Damon said, jumping up from the seat he'd taken next to me. "Why can't you do what you did with me?" He said, taking her hands, and looking deep into her eyes. "You showed me what Katherine did when she tried to kill you. You took me inside the memory. Why can't you show them the book?"

Bonnie suddenly looked more animated than before and so did Alaric. Jessa thought about it, she had shown him the memory. It had been so personal, too. This was a book though, words that she'd read and that were siphoned through her comprehension. How could she explain properly that this wouldn't work the same way?

"Damon," She started, but Alaric stopped her, his teacher instincts catching the differences between the two quickly.

"If she's literally letting us see it through her eyes now, that's one thing, but a memory wouldn't work with the book." He said, and Bonnie looked like she wanted to argue. "Let me explain, unless you-" He stopped, looking at Jessa. She smiled giving him the go ahead. "A book, even one that is full of information that you have to learn would be colored by what you're thinking of it or how you feel about what you're reading. We wouldn't get the real gist of it, because it would already be colored by her impressions of it. Now, if there were some way she could break through the enchantment/curse of the book that doesn't let us see the words ourselves, that would work."

"Bravo, Professor Salzman." She said, grinning. "I truly couldn't have explained it better. My thoughts on this book are colored by so many things. By my feelings for my mother, by what she's done, by the powers I'm still learning, and by the fact that there are things in here that I cannot fathom and some that she hasn't relinquished to my reading, yet."

Alaric smiled at her and took a drink from his glass. "Do you think that you could let us through the curse?" He squinted at her, thoughtful. "You're powerful, Bonnie admitted this, and you've said your powers keep coming out. Maybe this one is there, you just haven't thought to use it yet. Or maybe I should leave this one to Bonnie."

She looked to Bonnie and realized she was as thoughtful as Alaric had been. "Bonnie? Can you think of a way?"

"How did you show Damon the memory he was talking about?" She asked, still thinking. Jessa explained to her that she had simply took his hands and gave him the access to a memory she wanted him to, and in that we found our answer, so simple Jessa had overlooked it.

"Dammit. Damon, these meddling kids are wonderful. I should have met them sooner." She said, winking when Bonnie smirked. Jessa took her hands, feeling that she would be best to try first. She took a deep breath and gave Bonnnie permission to see the writing in the book in front of them. She looked down and Jessa heard her gasp, knowing it worked. It was simple and she felt utterly annoyed inside that it had taken so long to consider it. "Alaric, come over and have a read. I think," She said, taking one hand from Bonnie, and touching his, " that that's all you need."

Removing her hands, she sat back, testing her theory. Sure enough, they could now read the book, and she was free to sit and think. To think about the part of the book they were sure to come to and that Jessa was certain that Alaric was going to ask her about, if not bring up with Damon.

"What's going on in that gorgeous head of yours?" He asked, lifting her gently, so he could sit down with her on his lap. Her head found his shoulder and she thought while we watched the other two reading and quietly discussing what they were finding. Taking his hand in hers, the one wearing his daylight ring and held it carefully in hers though it dwarfed her own.

She contemplated telling him what she'd read. Confusing though it was, hoping he'd help her figure it out, just like he had with this. Fear clutched her heart, not of losing him, but of not understanding of what was to be, or rather what had to be. She realized that keeping it inside was getting her nowhere.

"When I was reading about my parents," She said, making up her mind. "I found out something, or rather another nugget that makes little sense."

He'd stilled again, letting his hand go completely still. She could barely feel him breathing. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I don't want to keep anything from you, Damon. I just honestly don't know what this means, and I don't want us to get sidetracked." She said, sighing again. "What do you want, Damon? We always seem to be going by my needs. That's not a partnership, not companionship. You're my best friend. Lead me, this time."

"Tell me," he said, his voice had an odd pleading quality.

"My mother wrote about my father and her relationship. How they met, how they fell in love, and how they came to be together. There's a line, however, that caught me off guard and I think explains why my father was different from other vampires you've met." Jessa swallowed, hard. "She said, wrote actually, that pregnancy wasn't an option for them until my father became 'truly' immortal."

"'Truly' immortal?" Damon whispered, almost to himself. "What in the world could that mean?"

"I honestly don't know," She whispered back, "the spot under it, which is clearly another part of her manifesto, is enchanted so I can't read it."

"Why would she do this?" He hissed, and then, just as she was somewhat worried he would, he rewound everything else she'd said. "Did you say that pregnancy isn't an option until I become 'truly' immortal?"

This time there was a thickness to his tone, a heaviness that made her remember the morning in her bedroom, and later in the bathroom. She hoped that Alaric and Bonnie were fully engrossed because she was certain that both her and Damon were burning with the memory. She nodded, and entwined their fingers. He shifted slightly and she had to hold back a gasp, clearly he was remembering very clearly the morning.

"Dear God, I should have probably not known that until everyone left this damn house." He whispered in her ear, on the verge of a groan. She gave a dark chuckle, agreeing. She felt hot and thirsty, so very very thirsty.

"I think we found something," Alaric broke in, crashing at least some cold water on their thoughts. "Or at least we're starting to think of a plan."

She leaned forward, carefully staying on Damon's lap to give him some sense of propriety. Bonnie smiled, and she knew then that this visit had been the most productive since coming back to Mystic Falls.