Damon settled into the idea of becoming a father more quickly than Jessa did at becoming a mother. Aside from her ravenous appetite and being even more amorous than usual, she couldn't say she felt all that different. Mostly she felt irritated that her parents hadn't clued her in that merely saying "I do" was the agreement that Damon and she had to give to make creating a family possible.

She hadn't taken the step of calling her mother to ask any questions about her condition. She really didn't see a need to. After all, there wasn't all that much of a change to her daily activities. And so, while Damon went to a local bookstore and picked up a variety of parenting books, she happily got back into the swing of her normal routine.

It was the week of Thanksgiving when she noticed the first change. Her jeans were starting to get a little tight around the waist and her breasts were feeling heavier. Well, she thought, that was to be expected. She was eating more, and given that there was a little person inside of her, she was bound to need new clothes eventually. She groaned as she realized that she was going to have to go shopping during the holidays.

Damon, always carefully in tune to her moods, heard the groan and was at her side in a flash.

"What's wrong?" He asked, his arms snaking around her waist. His chin propping on top of her head and looking at her in the mirror.

She smiled up at him. "I'm finally starting to show." She pulled up her t-shirt and showed him how the jeans wouldn't snap. "I'm just thinking about how much of a nightmare the stores are going to be this time of year." Her nose crinkled at the thought of the crowds.

Damon was listening as he cupped her barely noticeable bump. "Jessa, our baby is in here." He whispered, awestruck. Before she knew what he was doing, he was on his knees in front of her, his lips inches from her belly button. "Hey, little one. It's me, your daddy." She gave a quiet chuckle as he whispered to her bump. "Mommy is worried about crowds and clothes, but I'm in awe. We made you." He stopped and dropped a kiss right below her belly button. Jessa smiled, her eyes glassy.

"I have no idea how you ever convinced this town that you were terrifying, Damon Salvatore." She said, as he got back on his feet. She pulled him to her and gave him a kiss. "You are literally the biggest softie I have ever met in my life." She smiled up at him, laughing as his gave her a mock glare.

"Don't go ruining my reputation, woman." He said, tapping her lightly on her nose. "I just happen to adore you, and our little bun. Now, as for clothes, do you have any stretchy pants?"

She sighed, and nodded. "Of course I do, it's the worst kept secret of womankind. I'll grab them, and I guess off shopping I go." She could tell she sounded like a petulant child, because she felt like one.

"Off WE go," he corrected. "I'll go with you. We'll make a day of it."

She smiled, realizing that he'd do anything to make her life easier, including braving holiday shopping crowds. "I swear, everytime I think I couldn't love you more, you go and give me a reason to love you more."

Damon gave her one of the brightest smiles she'd ever seen. "You've given me everything I could ever dream of, Jessa, and then multiplied it. I love you."

HOURS LATER~~~~~

"Did we really need to get all those Christmas decorations?" Jessa asked, after they'd put away the shopping. They were cuddling on the sofa in the library, still their favorite place in the house.

"Yes," Damon confirmed, hugging her tighter against him as he dropped a kiss into her hair. "It's our first Christmas as newlyweds, and next year will be the baby's first Christmas, so we won't feel like doing all the shopping we just did."

"Hmm," she said, not completely convinced. "We didn't get a tree." She pointed out. They hadn't bought one of the huge fake trees and there had been plenty in every store they'd gone through. She had, however, stocked up on plenty of nice maternity clothes. Enough to get her through the rest of her pregnancy, hopefully.

"Of course not," he said, as if it were perfectly clear why they had negated getting a tree.

"Why not?" She asked, clearing missing something.

He sighed. "Because, my lovely wife, we're going to have a real tree." He kissed her head again. "A real tree is the only way to celebrate Christmas. Don't you remember when we were kids?"

She did, vaguely. Those weren't her favorite parts of their youth, so they weren't as vivid. If he insisted she'd go along with it. She was starting to feel more excited about the baby. Apparently buying maternity clothes was her trigger.

"Damon?" She asked, running a hand across her small bump, and watching as his hand fell over hers. "What sex do you hope our baby is?"

He thought about it for a moment. If he were being completely honest with himself, he hoped the baby was a miniature of Jessa. Every time he thought of Jessa giving birth, and oddly he had thought about it, he saw a little girl. He knew the baby would be perfect and healthy, unlike other parents who had to give that prayer, they were guaranteed it, so he needn't waste a wish.

"A little you," he said, smiling. "It's what I see anytime I think of the end of your pregnancy."

She smiled and gave a little chuckle. "How odd. I hadn't really given it much thought honestly." He'd known it hadn't felt real to her until recently. "I guess I'd like another you. When you were young, you never really got to be a child. I'd like to see a little you, but let that little boy have a childhood." She smiled sadly thinking about it.

He smiled into her hair. "You're a miracle, Jessa. Even when you're thinking about our child or children you're trying to help the past." He sighed. "Do you think we should call your parents?"

It was her turn to sigh. "Eventually I'll have to. My mother will have to be here, Damon, whether I want her or not. She's experience it first hand. While Bonnie might be able to help, my mother is the only other person almost like me. As angry as I am that they didn't come clean about this, it's done. And our family was inevitable. It's sooner, perhaps than we wanted, but our little one will be loved no matter the timing."

He turned her to face him. "I love you." He said, three little words that meant everything. "And our little one will bring more love than we can ever imagine."

While they were out, they'd gone grocery shopping for Thanksgiving dinner. They had bought enough, just in case their usual suspects dropped by, and to cover Jessa's appetite. Damon was looking forward to returning to family traditions with the one person from his past that he fondly remembered spending the holidays with as a youngster. Jessa, though vague about the holidays of their youth, he felt would remember given the right incentive. She would remember when he started bringing out recipes from stacks he had found before he moved in, and when they decorated for Christmas. He wanted their new life together, to have at least part of their past because he wanted their children to know how important that time was to their future.

He smiled as he watched her turn the pages of the recipes that he'd come across, seeing Hattie's handwriting, along with the other cooks that had worked in the Salvatore kitchen. The look on Jessa's face as she smiled sadly, remembering them.

"Damon," she whispered, awe heavy in her tone. "Where did you find these cards?"

He sauntered up behind her, wrapping his arms behind her and resting his hands on the small swell of her bump. "I found them in a nook inside a cabinet in the summer kitchen. I had sneaked back, before Stefan went on his rampage. A cook invited me in before they realized I'd been 'killed'. I grabbed them without thinking what I was doing. I kept them and hid them. They were in my room at the boarding house right up until I moved in here." He kissed the side of her head, beside her ear. "I really had no idea why I was keeping them. Sentimentality, I suppose. Then you came back, and here we are."

Jessa was smiling brightly as she came across the recipe for Hattie's fully dressed turkey. "I can actually make the turkey exactly as Hattie did." She said, turning in his arms, and looking up at him. "I think that you're going to be very happy with that outcome, aren't you?" He gave her a boyish smile and kissed her soundly.

"Most definitely." He pulled back and kissed her nose. "Now do you remember the holidays from our childhood?"

She nodded with a smile. "They're coming back. This is going to be an awful lot of food, Damon." She said, thinking of the massive amount of groceries they'd picked up just for Thanksgiving dinner alone. "Especially since there's only the two of us."

Booping her on her nose, he pulled fully away. "I think we both know, we're not going to be spending Thanksgiving alone. Ric will no doubt show up, Bonnie will make at least a pass by, Caroline and Liz should be calling to see if we want to pop in on them, and Tyler and his mom are alone for the holidays, if you want to invite them." He shrugged, thinking that they'd no doubt be taking them all in like strays. "If you haven't noticed, all those 'meddling kids' you were so hesitant about, are attracted to you like a magnet. And you've adopted them all."

Jessa giggled, "I couldn't really help it. They seem so lost." She looked down at the pile of cards that she was studying. "What other dishes were usually on our table during the holidays, Damon?"

They sat for the next half an hour and made up the menu for Thanksgiving, while also trying to decide who was going to be on the guest list. Hashing everything out and snacking while doing it, Jessa was surprised to find herself becoming more and more excited. Usually not very social, suddenly she wanted to be in the thick of things. Besides, they were talking about letting everyone know that they were expecting during the dinner.