They never made it all the way downstairs. Jessa's mother, either through intuition or through mind wandering, intercepted them. She scolded them as if they were toddlers, and sent them back upstairs to change back into their original wedding finery. She didn't send help either. They were being punished on their wedding day, by her mother.

Jessa and Damon entered their bedroom and again looked longingly at their bed. Sighing, they started to remove the costumes that made them laugh so hard mere moments before. Pouting, Jessa picked up her dress, wondering if Damon could actually help her back into it alone. It had taken three women earlier to get it over her head without marring the fabric with makeup.

"Here, let me help." He said, his voice a caress against her bare skin. His hands, skimmed down her bare back, not necessarily needing to, but wanting to nonetheless. "Have I told you yet how breathtaking you were in your dress?" He put a light kiss behind her ear as he moved her hair.

"Not yet." She breathed. She felt him pull her dress from her hands. He carefully handled it until he had it by the hem. Slowly he lowered it down over her head, smoothing it until it ran down her body, letting her slide her arms into the openings, and making sure it was laying perfectly. He ran his hands along her body, smoothing the velvet, careful of the creases.

"I love this part," he said, moving her hair so he fell fully over her shoulder, baring her back. His lips ran down her spine. "It's so completely open. I can lick the whole way down." And then he did just that. She shivered.

"Damon." Her voice was thick with need. "Is now really the best time?"

"Probably not, but God, this dress should have it's own movie." He said, standing straight up. He was looking over her shoulder, having positioned her in front of the mirror. He was in his boxers behind her. "You're finally completely mine and I'm finding it incredibly difficult not taking you right here, right now. Actually I want to kick everyone out of our house."

She smiled at that. "Need me to help you get dressed?" She gestured to his suit. He shook his head.

"No, I think I might need you to step outside." Her face fell. "Just for a second, baby. I'm finding it HARD to concentrate on the task at hand." She understood. They had guests. They couldn't just yet give in. Their bubble had to wait. She smiled and nodded.

She stepped into the hallway and waited until he redressed in his suit. It took seconds and they were again walking hand in hand down the stairs to the first floor. She didn't have to guess what everyone thought they'd been doing for that long. Too bad they were wrong. She nearly rolled her eyes. No they weren't actually giving in to their newlywed status, they were being punished for dressing up as Sesame Street characters. That sounded normal.

The reception was more fun than her mother expected. Blending the traditional wedding mainstays with Halloween party silliness was a work of genius. Their front porch was going to be crowded with Jack-o-lanterns, but it was well worth it. The costumes, they never did change again, were hilarious and fun. And the cake cutting was beautiful, even if they didn't smear it all over each one another. In the end, everyone agreed that their wedding was one for the books. And one that the town would remember for a very long time.

If anyone thought Stefan's absence was notable, no one chose to mention it. She was thankful for that. They all had fun, even when people realized that they actually had a house that had a ballroom. To be fair, they weren't planning on keeping it that way, but they kept it empty for the evening. The toasts were kept mostly PG and they didn't have to compel anyone. So all in all their wedding was a success.

The last guests left at midnight, and her parents left right after, letting them know that they'd have a late lunch with them before leaving the next day. Then the honeymoon would start. Two weeks of just Damon and Jessa. No renovations. No writing. No plans. Just the two of them.

Good to their word, Madeline and Johan arrived the next afternoon. The vendors were already in full swing, removing all signs of the wedding. Jessa met them at the back door and showed them to a table set up in the library.

"Sorry, this is the only quiet place today." She said, curling up with Damon on a soft chair on one side of the table. "They're taking all the rentals away today and it's a bit of a mess."

Her papa smiled as he watched the casual way his daughter and son-in-law held each other.

"No worries," he said, taking a small plate and loading up with the offerings at hand. "Do you think it will take longer than today to put things to rights?"

Damon shook his head. "No," he said, kissing Jessa's hair as he did regularly. "They're almost finished. It's just that they're loud."

Madeline nodded in agreement, having started her own lunch. "Still set on staying here for your honeymoon?" She asked again. "It's not too late for me to make arrangements for something more exotic."

Jessa shrugged. "I prefer home. Damon and I are fine here."

He agreed. "We did part of her book tour this year, plus we had to travel to find some of the renovation necessities. Staying home sounds like heaven."

Johan nodded as he chewed, it sounded reasonable to him. They looked content to him. He also knew his wife had her own ideas. She was more high maintenance.

"Well, if you change your mind, call me." She said, giving up for now.

They had a pleasant lunch, and as the day grew long, realized that the time had come to once again say goodbye. Jessa and Damon walked them to the door.

"We'll be in touch, Jessa." Johan said, hugging his daughter to him. "We'll have to see how often you want to see us now that you're starting out."

She considered what her papa was saying and realized he meant starting a family. Her eyes widened. They weren't there yet. Were they? She darted a glance at Damon and realized another chat was in their immediate future.

Her mother was chatting with Damon and took her in her arms next. "I'll call soon. Keep in mind what we've talked about, Jessica." She said, pulling back and looking into her eyes. "Keep your promise." Jessa nodded.

They left and Jessa turned to Damon. "Mr. Salvatore."

"Mrs. Salvatore." He said, pulling her to him and kissing her soundly. "What should we do today?"

She considered, first listening for the vendors. It seemed like they were finishing up. Another hour, perhaps two and they'd finally be alone. They could gather up the lunch dishes and have those ready for the kitchen, then go upstairs and wait them out.

"Well, funny you should ask," she said, a wicked grin playing at her lips.

FIVE HOURS LATER~~~~

Jessa's stomach gave a loud roar and Damon chuckled.

"Well, that's a first." He said, raising an eyebrow. "Didn't I feed you today?"

She glared at him briefly. "Yes, but we did just clear a major portion of our list. I mean we did pages of the list." She reminded him, attempting his eye waggle.

He laughed loudly in agreement. "Very true." Dropping a kiss on her nose. "What would you like to eat, my beautiful wife?" He asked, standing up from the bed in one of the guest rooms. He was wonderfully naked and for a moment she felt a hunger of a different sort. Then her stomach roared again.

"Pizza." She blurted out. "Lots of pepperoni. Less sauce, half of the cheese, minimal garlic." Then she thought some more. "And I'm thirsty. So iced tea, lightly sweetened, please?"

His eyes nearly bulged out of his head. She ate light. She always had. Not because it was girly. Just because that was Jessa. He could count on half a hand the times she's requested pizza. If pizza was what she wanted though, he'd order pizza.

Grabbing his cell phone, he ordered her pizza precisely like she requested. Plus the iced tea. Then he came back to bed. She was waiting for him, still completely, perfectly naked.

"I ordered your pizza, my love. And your tea." He said, crawling back into bed. He pulled her to him. "Do you want to get dressed and wait downstairs for it?"

She snuggled into him, kissing his neck. "Do we have to?" She asked, nibbling lightly at a spot she knew would drive him to distraction. "I'd much rather wait right here." She flicked her tongue and his breath caught. "Unless YOU'D rather wait downstairs."

He swallowed hard. Dear lord, what was she doing to him? "No, we can wait here." He was surprised to hear how steady his voice sounded. "Do you have any ideas how to kill time?"

Before the words were out of his mouth, she'd pounced and he was amazed that he even heard the doorbell when the pizza was delivered.