Elena had never spent much time in airports. Restaurants, yes, schools, yes, hell, even cemeteries, but never airports.
Her mother had been deathly afraid of flying, so whenever they went on vacation they'd always drive.
But over these past few months, it seemed she was spending all of her time in them. Traveling from city to city, country to country, continent to continent—her passport was overflowing with stamps from all of the places she'd been to.
They had started with the United States. Damon took her to see everything he deemed important, like the capital of the country and Las Vegas. Then they went south to Mexico where they spent a week or so hanging around beaches and touring the city. They traveled to Central America then, stopping in Costa Rica, Panama, and Jamaica. South America was the next stop, where they visited São Paolo and Rio in Brazil along with Argentina and Chile. Their next flight landed in South Africa where they toured the city and the surrounding terrain, though they didn't venture far into the desert. After another week or so spent there, they went towards Europe. Italy, Spain, Germany, Switzerland—you name it.
Turns out, Damon actually did have a gigantic fancy house in Italy. It was one of the most beautiful houses she'd ever seen, and they spent over two weeks in Italy because of it.
When they got their fill of Europe, the next place was Asia. They visited Moscow for a few days, then hopped on a flight to India where they got to experience the culture first hand by shopping at a bazaar and talking to the locals that knew English. China, Japan, and Thailand were next, before they flew down under to the last place on their list.
Australia had been Elena's favorite, hands down. That's why they spent three weeks there. They rented a little house down on the beach where they got to know some of the locals. Elena learned to surf while Damon barhopped with them, sampling Australia's finest liquor.
Neither of them had wanted to leave, but with their three year anniversary today, Damon insisted on being back home in Mystic Falls for it.
With he and Elena having not been in the country for the better part of five months, it gave him a lot of time to make arrangements for Elena's anniversary gift.
The airport in Richmond was as busy as ever today, but it wasn't hard to spot the head of bouncing blonde curls in the crowd.
"Caroline!" Elena squealed excitedly and the two girls took off full speed towards each other. The blonde jumped into Elena's arms in a bone crushing hug, and she dropped her bags to the floor while they laughed and hugged. If Elena had been human, she would have been tackled to the floor by the tenacious vampire.
When Caroline finally jumped down from Elena, she grabbed her shoulders and said, "Oh my god, that is the last time you are ever going to leave for that long, you hear me?"
Elena giggled, "Promise!"
The entire vacation had really been kind of a whim. After Liz's funeral, Stefan decided to take Elena up on her suggestion of getting Caroline the hell out of town. They started small with New York, but they ended up spending a month seeing the country. They weren't quite as adventurous as Elena and Damon, who had decided that if now wasn't the perfect time to travel, then when was?
Damon had promised her all those years ago to take her to see the world. And he made good on his word.
Elena truly felt like a different person. After experiencing so many different cultures and seeing the millions of people the world had to offer, she felt so much less important. And it was a good feeling. No longer the center of anyone's attention was a good thing.
Well, she was still Damon's entire world, but her friends were no longer breaking their necks over saving her life.
She felt better than she had in years, and having Damon right by her side, looking at her like he'd never seen something so precious, helped. She got to see a side to him that he kept hidden. While they were walking through the streets of Rome, she got to see him take in the sights with a real smile on his face, unafraid of letting everyone around them know that he was happy. Across the world, no one knew who he was, or what he had done. There was no one to judge him, and apparently, that made all the difference in his personality.
He had felt free too, like he could start over with Elena in any single city and they'd have the life she always wanted down to the white picket fence. Of course he knew it wasn't quite that simple, but it was a dream that he could entertain for a decade, at least.
Mystic Falls was their home and always would be, but it was nice to forget about all of the pain it held every once in a while.
Damon walked up behind the two girls and held out his arms, "What, no welcome home hug for me?"
Caroline shot him a little glare before a giant grin broke out across her face and she jumped onto him too. Damon groaned and made a comment about her weight, which then prompted them into an argument, but all Elena did was roll her eyes at Stefan who was moseying on over to them. She gave him a hug and said, "It's good to see you, Stef."
"You too." He smiled. "So what are they arguing about now?"
Elena tuned in to their argument, which was happening while still in an embrace, to hear Caroline yell, "Oh, I'm overreacting?"
Damon nodded, "Yes!"
"You called me a dumb, fat, whore!"
"Technically I called you a loose college dropout that definitely didn't lose her freshman fifteen yet."
"Damon Salvatore!" Elena chided.
He gave her a sheepish look, "She had it coming!"
"This is why I didn't give you the welcome home you wanted!" Caroline screeched before slapping his chest and stomping out of his hold towards Stefan. "How could you be related to such a dick!?"
Damon snapped, "Hey, I'm the only one that gets to call me a dick!"
"Okay!" Elena yelled, pinning Damon with a look before turning to her friend and brother in law, "Drinks at the Grill when we get home?" Now it was their turn to look sheepish. Caroline worried her lower lip between her teeth while Stefan ran a hand through his hair, looking up at the ceiling. "What is it?" She asked tiredly.
Caroline shrugged a little, leaving the floor to Stefan. He hesitated before starting, "Well, um, it's just that we thought you'd rather spend your anniversary together instead of—"
"Come on, the real answer." She cut him off.
He sighed, and if Elena didn't know any better she'd say he was blushing. He then squeaked out, "Caroline and I are going on our first date tonight."
Elena's eyes went wide and her hand shot out to grip Damon's arm while she suppressed every girlish squeal in her. Damon didn't look too surprised, instead, he just laughed and shook his head while prying Elena's death grip from his flesh.
She then yelled at them, "Well what the hell are you two doing here! You have a date to get ready for!"
Stefan chuckled, "Well we couldn't let you get back after five months with no welcome party."
Elena waved him off, "It's our anniversary, Stefan! We'll just spend it alone." Glancing at her phone, she added, "And it's almost six! You two need to go now if you want to make it before the sun sets!"
"Alright, alright!" Caroline teased. "Pushy."
Damon gave Stefan a quick hug before the new couple scurried off to leave.
After getting their things from baggage pick up, Damon and Elena hailed a taxi home. The driver was more than thrilled to drive them an hour's way out of the city, especially after Damon tossed him a fifty just for getting their bags.
The closer they got to the boarding house, the more curious Elena became about Damon's gift to her. He hadn't said much, just hinted that there was a gift he had. She had tried to get him a gift too, but when she asked if there was anything in specific he wanted, he insisted she didn't get him a thing. His gift was more for them both than just her.
Obviously she didn't listen to him.
She managed to track down a few first edition copies of his favorite books that he didn't have yet. But that wasn't the gift she was most excited about, even though it was still pretty good. The real showpiece was the black Harley she had delivered to the house to surprise him when they got home.
Over the years, every time he saw a motorcycle he'd make a comment about never having owned one. So finally she decided to take the plunge and bought him a gorgeous bike that was all shiny steel and raw power.
He loved his Camaro almost as much as he loved her, but she had a feeling he was going to love the motorcycle like a child.
When they finally pulled up outside the house, the cab driver helped them with their bags, setting them on the porch before Damon paid him and he drove off. Before he had the chance to unlock the door, Elena stopped him, "Hang on. Before we go inside, I want to give you your anniversary present."
He narrowed his eyes, "I told you not to get me anything."
She rolled her eyes, "Come on, you're gonna love it!"
Damon followed her with a sigh, even if he hadn't expected her to really listen to him. They stopped outside of the garage, and Damon's guard was instantly alert, "Elena, I swear to god if you touched my Camaro—"
"Why would I have touched the Camaro, Damon?" She said exasperatedly. "Just open the garage."
He bent down to grab the handle and with an easy tug, he slid the door up. His Camaro was sitting untouched in it's normal spot, and Stefan's car was next to it, but his focus was on the one vehicle that hadn't been there before in the four car garage.
"You did not." He said excitedly, walking over to the motorcycle. His hands were all over it in an instant, feeling the smooth leather of the seat and the cool metal of the handles.
Elena grinned, "I did." She grabbed the keys from the workbench and tossed them to him, "Happy anniversary, baby."
She was in his arms before she could move a muscle, her feet no longer on the ground as he spun her around.
"Fuck, Elena, do you have any idea the kind of fantasy I have right now of you on this bike in nothing but a bikini? Or better yet, nothing at all?"
She smirked, "And I'm sure we'll live them all out at some point. I've kind of got this hot fantasy myself about you racing it illegally on the back streets of Mystic Falls. Then you win, and we have sex right on top of it in front of everyone."
"Kinky." Damon grinned. "I like it."
"There's more to your gift though. Look in the side bag."
He opened up the leather pouch and pulled out a gift bag with brightly colored designs covering it. He pulled out the tissue paper to find the three books. He was confused at first, until he realized they were all first edition. He looked up at her in disbelief, "Do you have any idea how much I love you?"
"I think I can hazard a guess." She smiled adoringly before leaning up to give him a kiss. "The copy of Frankenstein was part of Mary Shelley's personal library. When she died and they seized the house, it went into a museum, that recently filed for bankruptcy. I called them up and snagged the book for you."
He floundered for words as he looked at the books. Frankenstein, The Count of Monte Cristo, and Dracula, all first editions, continued to stare him in the face. If his library wasn't evidence enough he collected books, and to add not one first edition to it, but three…he wondered what he ever did to deserve Elena.
This time, instead of another excited hug like she was expecting, he buried his face in her neck and held her tenderly. "This is the best gift you could have given me, baby, thank you." He said softly, leaving several kisses along her neck and jaw.
"You're welcome." She smiled softly, stealing a gentle kiss. "Now, care to tell me what this ominous gift you've been alluding to is?"
He gave her one of those dangerous little smirks of his that still got her going after all these years, "Let's go into the house."
He closed the garage behind him and they went back to the front door where he unlocked it and stepped inside. Elena didn't notice any grand gestures or giant signs screaming 'happy anniversary' at first glance. She actually didn't notice anything until they walked further inside and the details of the house failed to match up to those in her memory.
"Um, Damon? Were we robbed or something?" She was really only half joking, but that was one explanation for the lack of knick knacks.
He chuckled, "Yeah, somebody robbed a house filled with vampires."
"We were gone for five months!"
"Stefan was here, Elena!" He argued. "Come on, do you notice anything specific about what's missing?"
She huffed a little then took a moment to actually look around the room. The expensive vases, antique lamps and furniture, and all of the various décor from the 1800's was missing. The pricey Persian rugs now had cream patterned ones in their places, and the couches and chairs had been replaced with plush furniture that looked much more cozy and comfortable than the dusty old furniture. Even the walls had been painted and updated to look more inviting.
Elena narrowed her eyes at him, "You redecorated this place to something a little more this century?"
Damon shrugged a little, "Kind of. But what I was hoping you'd notice is that I had all of the expensive and priceless things in here moved to storage."
"So you just messed up this room?" She laughed a little.
He rolled his eyes, "No, I didn't mess up any room. I made this place actually a little more livable, where you can sit down on the furniture and not feel like you're going to break it."
She nodded thoughtfully, thinking that Damon didn't have the worst taste in the world. The new furniture matched the house and looked great, and she wondered just how many rooms he redid.
"So, um…not that I don't appreciate it, but why did you do all of this?"
"Well I removed all of the things that are worth money so they wouldn't get broken, and I got rid of all the swords and sharp things so nobody would get hurt."
"Oh, right, yeah wouldn't want a bunch of vampires getting hurt." She teased.
He grinned, "Come upstairs with me."
Hoping he'd give her an explanation that actually made sense, she followed him upstairs and to their room, but instead of going inside like she'd expected, he kept walking.
He stopped at the next door down and nodded his head towards the room, "Go inside."
Her heart started racing the closer she got to the door, because she really had no idea what to expect. Anything could be behind that door. Hell, the room might even be empty, but Damon would come up with some amazing gift from it that blows her away without even trying. He's always been like that.
She took a deep breath before twisting the doorknob and pushing it open.
Well, she definitely never would guessed what she found.
If she remembered correctly, that room used to be a spare bedroom. But now? Now it was…
"Is this a nursery?" She asked him in a small voice.
The old carpeting had been replaced with a soft cream color, and a big area rug with adorable little woodland animals all over it was in the middle. There was a crib against one wall, a rocking chair in the corner, a toy box, a dresser, a changing table, and even a twin sized bed. All of the furniture matched with its dark wood and plainly colored details, leaving room for customization.
Elena felt Damon's hand on her lower back before he said, "Yeah. I started the adoption process, baby. I didn't want to get anything too specific since we have no idea who we're getting, but the social worker promised that if everything checked out, we'd get a child, Elena."
"She did?" Elena asked breathlessly, still trying to take everything in. She wandered over to the crib that had a mobile hanging above it and grabbed one of the cute little purple elephants dangling from it.
Damon hugged her from behind and pressed a kiss to her temple, "Yeah, she did. We have an appointment with her next week to go over all of the details, but if all goes well, we could have a child in a few months."
"You got me a baby for our anniversary?" Elena repeated, turning to him with shiny eyes.
"If that's what you want, we can adopt a baby. But…" He trailed off, losing some of his confidence.
"But what?" She prompted, cupping his face with her hands.
He gave her a little shrug, "I was kind of thinking that maybe we could adopt a kid that's two or three already, or maybe even older like five or six. As kids get older and older, their chances of getting adopted gets lower and lower, and I just thought…"
She cut off any chance of him finishing that sentence with a firm kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and forced her tongue between his lips, giving her all at attempting to inhale him. His arms tightened around her waist to the point of being unable to breathe, so it was a good thing she didn't need to.
When they separated, Elena began, "Damon…this is the most amazing gift you could have ever given me. All I've ever wanted was to be a mother, and even if my children aren't biologically mine, that's okay. My parents weren't biologically my parents, and I never saw them any differently. I love you. Nothing would make me happier than adopting kids with you."
As Damon pulled her into another crushing kiss, images of him being a father flitted through her mind, melting her heart and sparking her love for him. He would love their children so fiercely that he'd kill anything that even whispered a threat of their safety. She could imagine him holding a bundle of blankets in his arms while feeding the baby nestled within. She saw him teaching a child how to read some ridiculous book about puppies that chew on furniture.
She saw him doing all of it, and she couldn't wait for it to be a reality.
Elena nervously bounced her leg from where she sat next to Damon in the waiting room. The walls were white, so white, it was almost ridiculous. Did they even want people feeling comfortable in there or did they want them feeling like some kind of science experiment, because Elena was seriously doubting their decorator.
Bland paintings hung on the walls that looked like they were picked up at some cheap garage sale, and the carpeting was so dull and worn down that it was a miracle you couldn't see the concrete floor beneath it. The chairs were all mismatched and uncomfortable, and once again Elena found herself shifting in her seat to make a feeble attempt at getting comfortable.
"Don't be nervous." Damon whispered, so not to draw the attention of the receptionist or other people waiting. "Everything is going to be fine."
"But what if it's not?" She argued worriedly. "What if they're not satisfied with our credentials? What if they tell us no?"
"Then we compel them into saying yes?" Damon said like it was the most obvious thing.
"But what if we really aren't prepared enough?"
"We are." He promised her, giving her hand a squeeze. "You have wanted to be a mother since the day I met you. You are twenty four. You're ready for this."
"And what about you?" She challenged.
He gave her a lopsided smirk, "I'm ten times as old as you, and I've been thinking about having kids since I was raised in Virginia during the mid-1800's. Granted, there was a good century where I didn't think about it even once, but that's beside the point. I want children with you Elena, any way we have to do it. I'm ready, and I know you're ready. We will be the best parents ever, together."
Elena exhaled a shaky breath as she nodded, but before she could say anything the cheap wooden door swung open and a middle aged woman with glasses called out, "Mr. and Mrs. Salvatore?"
They followed her back through a series of hallways, all of them looking as dull as the waiting room. Occasionally the doors were open and the blinds covering the windows were pulled open so you could see inside, but they just looked like your typical offices. The woman walked into her office and motioned for them to sit down across from her desk.
She picked up a few manila folders and shifted them on her desk, saying, "Mr. and Mrs. Salvatore, my name is Brenda Groves, and I've been assigned to your case. I see here that you're requesting adoption?"
Damon was the first to answer, "Yes, we've been working with a few different workers here to get the process started."
She smiled, "Alright, well for starters, let's go over all of the basic stuff. Everything in your file meets our requirements. It appears you have a permanent home that is paid off, both of your credit scores are excellent, all of your taxes have been filed, no criminal charges against either of you, not even a speeding ticket. Your background checks came up clean, and all in all, you're a pretty flawless couple. There's just a few little concerns that I have and want to make sure I address. I see that you, Mr. Salvatore, are only twenty five, and your wife is twenty four. Isn't that a little young to be thinking about adoption already?"
Elena looked nervously at Damon before saying, "We are young, yes, but we were married when I was only twenty one. We shared an apartment near Whitmore while I was in college, and when I graduated we moved back home to where we live now. I know we're both young, but with my degree already finished, we want to start building our family as soon as possible."
Brenda scribbled some things down into the file as she asked, "So then you believe that your home life is stable? There would be no extreme changes in short periods of time?"
Elena confidently answered, "No, of course not. Damon and I love each other more than words can describe. We have no plans of uprooting our lives in slightest, and there's absolutely no chance that we would ever break up."
"And what about careers?" She asked. "I notice that you, Mrs. Salvatore, have a degree in English though no job has been listed, and Mr. Salvatore has labeled himself unemployed. Where will your source of income come from?"
Damon spoke up, "Actually, if you check my bank statements, you'll see that I have a sizeable fortune. I come from old money, and have more than enough to provide for my wife and I and any children we have the privilege of adopting. And Elena wants to be a writer, so we'll both be home around the clock to care for any kids instead of hiring a babysitter or nanny."
Brenda flipped through a few different pages, most likely looking for the bank statements, and neither of them missed the way her eyes widened when she saw just how much he had. She cleared her throat and said, "Yes, I see that now. I should think you'd be able to provide a pretty great life to a child, at least financially. But what about emotionally? You two seem like a lovely couple: young, attractive, ready to take on the world. I don't mean to pry, but the question of why you're choosing adoption is an important one."
"Of course." Elena agreed. Before coming here, they already got their background stories straight to cover up anything supernatural. "When I was sixteen, I was in a car accident with my parents. I was the only survivor, but there was a lot of internal bleeding. The only way for me to survive was if I had a hysterectomy, meaning I could never have children of my own."
"I'm so sorry to hear that." She said gently. "Thank you for sharing that though, it really does help your case, believe it or not." Elena smiled and she continued, "Now, what about immediate family? I would assume that at some point over the course of your lives, you'd need to have someone watch your child, so would family fill that role?"
Elena nodded, "I have a younger brother, Jeremy, who's in his junior year of college. Damon has a younger brother too, Stefan, but he's only a year younger. And my two best friends, Bonnie and Caroline, are our same age. Bonnie has been dating my brother since high school and Caroline is actually just beginning her relationship with Damon's brother."
"Okay, and have either of you experienced any type of abuse or had any mental illnesses?"
They both shook their heads and Elena said, "When my parents passed away I received some counseling for my survivor's guilt, but after a few months things improved so I stopped going."
Brenda smiled sympathetically, "And that's very understandable, so that shouldn't affect your chances of getting approved. In fact, I'd say you two have an excellent chance of having the opportunity to adopt."
"Thank you, so much." Elena beamed, her excitement causing the words just to start spilling out of her mouth, "Last week was our three year anniversary and Damon converted the room next to ours into a nursery and he baby-proofed the entire house. Ever since finding out that the process has been started, I've been buying all sorts of baby books and books about caring for children, and I even found some about raising adopted children and how to explain to them that you're not their biological parents. I was actually adopted myself, but I didn't know until I was seventeen, so I know I'd never be able to keep a secret like that from my children."
"We do tend to urge parents to tell their kids that they were adopted since day one because finding out later on can be rather traumatic. I'm sorry you had to go through that." Brenda said.
Elena smiled, "It's okay, really. And we're fully prepared to handle whatever adoption can throw at us. Like if when the child is older and they want to look for their biological parents, we would support them fully. I ended up finding out that my biological parents were my adoptive father's brother, so my uncle, and a woman he used to see as a teenager. They've both since passed, but I was glad that I got to know the truth and meet them both, you know? It gave me a lot of closure."
Brenda nodded, "I have to admit, learning that you were adopted yourself is actually a really good thing. The number one reason that couples are denied adoption is because we don't feel they're prepared to take on the responsibility of raising a child that could potentially have needs that a biological child wouldn't have. But hearing that you know about all of this because you've been through it…well, I can never guarantee that you will get approved, but I'd say it's pretty much in the bag. I just have one more question for you." Elena and Damon shared a look as they squeezed each other's hand, and Brenda asked, "We have a lot of children that come into the system from all around the world. Some stay for longer than others, and I was wondering if you'd be willing to adopt someone that's older than a year old, or if you had any requests on where you'd like to adopt from?"
Damon answered, "Any child that's in need of a home we'd be willing to adopt, but if at all possible we'd like to adopt a child age six or under."
The reason for that was solely because they were both vampires, and they had no intentions of keeping that a secret from their kids. They figured the younger they were, the easier it would be to explain to them that they weren't human, so they would never age, but they didn't have to be afraid of them.
"Okay, that shouldn't be a problem to arrange." Brenda said, making a few more notes in their file. "That's it for all of my questions, so do you have any of your own?"
"I think we're pretty well informed." Damon said, looking to Elena as she nodded in agreement. "We've been researching adoption for a while now, but if we come up with any questions we'll be sure to call."
They all stood up and Brenda shook both of their hands, "It was so nice to meet you both, and I'll be in touch soon."
Brenda walked to the door to let the couple out, and she closed the door behind them. She peeked out through the closed blinds of her window at them, and saw them talking, though she couldn't hear what about. And then they were embracing tightly while Elena's smaller body shook with sobs as she cried happy tears.
She'd seen a lot of couples come and go in the adoption process. Some never met the criteria, and others just barely scraped by. But those two? She'd never been happier to place a child with a couple as loving and excited as them.
I really love the idea of Delena adopting, if you couldn't tell :) I've never read a fic where they remain vampires who adopt, so I wanted to write it for them in this one.