Sorry about the delay, I kind lost motivation to read for a little while :/ I only have one more chapter written after this one, so the story will be wrapping up soon. Thank you to everyone who read and/or reviewed!
I had a couple reviewers say that they weren't crazy about the idea of adoption, but personally, I want to be a foster parent some day. This subject is close to me and I think it's really important to show the validity of adoption for all of the people out there that can't have their own kids or simply don't want to, like me.
Anyways, here's a nice long chapter :)
This year, Virginia got hit with a huge snowstorm, hard. The entire state got slammed with a foot of snow, and it was only the weekend after Thanksgiving.
Normally, Elena and Damon wouldn't care in the slightest. Except this year, all flights were delayed because of the snow.
Elena crossed her arms as she watched the snow continue to fall through the window on the runway while plows hastily attempted to clear it off while pouring down salt. All flights, incoming and outgoing had been delayed for a few hours until conditions were better. The blizzard stopped around two hours ago, and now snowflakes were just flitting down every now and then.
Damon came up behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist, "It'll be here soon."
They got a call a couple hours ago that the flight from Phoenix took off, and now they were patiently waiting in Richmond for its arrival. They'd been at the airport the entire day waiting.
She nodded, "Weirdly enough, I'm not at all nervous."
"No?"
"Nope." She looked up at him, "I'm really, really excited."
"You're not worried?" He asked curiously.
Elena shrugged, "Maybe a little, like if she'll like us and our home, but from what Brenda told us, her life in Phoenix wasn't anything she'll miss."
"Maybe not, but that doesn't mean she's going to be happy about leaving everything she's ever known to come to a brand new placed filled with people she doesn't know." Damon pointed out.
"Then I guess we'll just have to make sure her first few days here are fun."
Smirking, Damon asked, "Are you trying to win her over with material objects?"
Elena rolled her eyes, "No, but if anything's going to make her excited to be here it's material objects. And she's excited about the snow. I can't control that."
"You got her a snowsuit, right?"
"It's bright pink." Elena beamed. "You have no idea how fun it was to buy clothes for her."
Damon grinned, "I may not, but my credit card does…"
She pouted at him and he playfully nipped her neck, earning a giggle. Elena's phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out, her heart speeding up as she read the message. "They just landed."
"Then let's go meet our daughter."
They hurried back over to the waiting area for baggage claim, which was away from the windows. If Damon's hand had been human, Elena was sure she would have broken every single bone in it with how tightly she was gripping it. Now that the moment was actually here, she was getting a little more nervous. Her heart was pounding, her stomach was twisting, and her hands were sweating. If she listened closely, she could even hear Damon's heart beating a little bit faster.
The seconds ticked by like minutes, and the minutes like hours as they examined every single face that walked passed, looking for the small one that they'd memorized from the photos.
And then they saw her.
She was walking with her hand in Brenda's and a stuffed bunny in her other arm. She had on a purple dress with striped leggings underneath, and her dirty blonde hair was messily hanging around her small face, hiding her big brown eyes. The fair skin of her face was sprinkled with a few light freckles, and she was wearing a tiny backpack with some cartoon character on it.
Brenda said that she explained what being adopted meant to her, so she had an idea of what was going on and who the people were that she was going to be living with. But she was only three; nobody knew how much she really understood it.
When they got close enough, Brenda smiled at them brightly and shook their hands with her free one, "I hope we didn't keep you waiting here for too long, but with the snowstorm we were delayed for three hours in Phoenix." It was in one ear and out the other to them though, because all they could focus on was their little girl. Elena crouched down to greet her as Brenda said, "Elena, Damon, this is Morgan." Brenda lowered herself as well and said to Morgan, "Morgan, you remember what I told you on the plane?" She nodded and clung a little closer to Brenda. "This is Elena and Damon. You'll be living with them now, forever."
She turned her head to Brenda and asked in a small voice, "Forever?"
The woman nodded and gave her an encouraging smile, "Yes, sweetie. They adopted you. Can you say hi?"
She seemed to curl further back into Brenda as she looked at Damon and Elena, but they both knew that it was going to take a while for her to warm up to them. This was the first time they were meeting, after all.
Elena gave her a smile, "Hi Morgan, it's nice to meet you. I'm Elena."
Damon knelt down next to Elena and shot the little girl a lopsided smile, "She's not as scary as she looks, I promise." Elena shot him a hard glare, but the corner of Morgan's mouth turned up in a smile anyway. Damon smirked, "I'm Damon."
She looked up at him through her lashes and said, "I'm Mo-gan." Her letters weren't quite to the point where everything could be pronounced, but it just made her all the cuter.
Damon grinned, "So what do you think of all this, Morgan?"
Her little shoulders lifted in a shrug and something tugged at both of their hearts. She would get the best damned life they could give her, even if it killed them.
Elena tried, "Have you ever seen the snow?"
Her eyes got just a little bit brighter as she shook her head, "No."
"Do you want come with me to the windows to look at it?"
"Can I play in it?" She asked hopefully, moving further away from Brenda.
Elena grinned, "Of course, sweetie, once we get home. Our house has a huge yard, and there's a ton of snow for you to play in."
"Can we build a snowman? And make snow angels? And a igloo!" She babbled as she reached a hand up to hold Elena's when she stood.
Elena beamed, "Yeah, of course, Morgan."
Damon watched them walk towards the window with a smile on his face before turning to Brenda, "So is this all there is to it? We just get to take her home and that's that?"
"Unfortunately, no. You do get to take her home and show her around today, but there will be a few checkups down the road. I'll stop by probably tomorrow to see how she's adjusting, and then in a week, and then a month, and if everything is still going well after that, you'll be all set. She's officially yours." Brenda explained.
"Has everything legally been transferred yet though? We're planning on enrolling her in preschool and we have to legally be her parents to do so."
"There shouldn't be a problem as far as that goes, just a quick call to the adoption agency is all it should take if anyone needs proof."
"And what about her name? Obviously we're keeping her first and middle, but about her last…"
Brenda smiled, "It's already changed, Damon. Morgan Jane Salvatore has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"
Damon grinned in response, and they went to retrieve their luggage. Damon swung Morgan's duffel bag over his shoulder and grabbed her princess suitcase, then he and Brenda walked over to where Elena was pointing at something to show Morgan on the airplane runway.
"Hey girls, ready to get out of here?" He asked as he looped his arm around Elena's waist.
"Yeah, there's a box of hot chocolate at home calling our names." Elena smirked at him before turning to Brenda. "Are we all set to head out?"
Brenda nodded, "Of course." She then bent down to Morgan's level and asked, "Are you okay to go to your new home without me?"
Morgan pushed her messy hair out of her eyes and nodded, "I get to have my own room there, and my own toys!"
Nobody really knew any of the details of Morgan's foster parents or the conditions she lived in, but from what her psych evaluation gathered it wasn't good. Her behavior was sometimes unpredictable and erratic, and her emotions changed in the blink of an eye. She had never stayed in one home for more than three months, and she'd never had her own personal space. The psychologist theorized that she had attention issues which could lead to acting out in the future, but it was a unanimous agreement that being adopted and placed in a loving home would be the best thing for her.
Brenda smiled at the little girl then stood back up, "Well you have my number if you need me, so I think I'm going to head home. It seems like you two have this under control."
She shook their hands, and Elena said, "Thank you so much, for everything. It means the world to us to finally have her." Elena glanced down at Morgan and pushed some of her hair out of her eyes, thinking that she would get her hair cut sometime soon. It was long and tangled looking now, falling several inches past her shoulders, and it made her wonder just what kind of care she had been getting at her last foster home. Had she been eating enough? Was she being bathed often enough? Was anyone reading to her, and helping her learn? Were they letting her play and have fun?
There were a lot of unanswered questions, but the only thing she could do now was make sure Morgan got all of the attention she deserved.
Brenda replied, "You're very welcome, Elena. I'm happy to see Morgan going to such a good home. If I don't hear from you, I'll call tomorrow and maybe stop by quickly for that first evaluation."
"Sounds good." Damon confirmed.
With one last wave as she walked away, they were left alone with Morgan—their daughter.
Once Elena got her alone earlier, she started asking questions about her new house. Elena described it as best she could, but really, the boarding house was like a castle to a little kid, and no amount of words could ever do it justice. But as soon as she told her that there were no other kids, it was like Christmas morning to her.
It made something tug at Elena's heartstrings, knowing that she was actually excited about getting all of the attention.
Elena waited with Morgan in the front of the airport while Damon brought around the car. They took her Jeep Liberty instead of Damon's Camaro since they now had a car seat in the back, and the four wheel drive would help with the snowy roads. Now it actually mattered if they got into an accident, because they were driving with someone that could get hurt.
Taking the sparkly blue winter coat, Elena helped Morgan into it as she complained, "I not have to wear this in Phoenix."
Elena smiled a little, "Yeah, it's kind of annoying, but it's really cold out there. You wouldn't want to freeze, would you?"
"How cold?" She asked curiously. "Like ice cream?"
Elena laughed, "Yeah, as cold as ice cream. Or a popsicle. Have you ever watched the Christmas movie where the boy gets his tongue stuck to a metal pole?"
She shook her head and giggled, "His tongue got stuck?"
"It sure did." She confirmed. "So don't go licking poles, okay? It'll hurt, and we'll have to call the police to get you off."
"Mm-mm!" She shook her head, and Elena pulled the gloves out of her pockets.
"Good girl. Now put these on so your little fingers stay warm." Elena wiggled her fingers and tickled Morgan's sides, making her laugh loudly.
When she quieted down, Elena got all of her fingers in the right places then pulled on her knit hat. Then they sat down right next to the window so they could watch for Damon. Elena attempted to untangle her hair while she played with her stuffed rabbit, but what it really needed was a good brushing.
And then it hit her.
As she was running her fingers through Morgan's hair, it really hit her that this was her daughter. This was her family. Her child to love and to raise, to keep safe and care for forever.
She sniffled a little and wiped away the lone tear that escaped, and Morgan turned around with a shy frown. "Are you sad?"
Elena smiled widely, shaking her head, "No, baby, I've never been happier. You know why?" Morgan shook her head. "Because of you. We get to take you home and love you forever, and make sure you're always happy."
"How long is forever?"
It seemed like she was a never ending stream of questions, but Elena was all too happy to entertain her curiosity.
"Forever is a very long time. Millions and millions of years, as many years as you could imagine and more."
She nodded thoughtfully, playing with the plastic nose of her bunny, before asking, "Are you my mommy? Brenda said that I was getting a new mommy and daddy."
Elena gave her a smile, "I'm not your biological mommy, which means you were never in my tummy, and we're not related to each other. But Damon and I adopted you, which means that we're like your second mommy and daddy. When you're older, if you want to know about your first mommy and daddy, then we can tell you."
Morgan's real parents were nothing out of the ordinary, as far as putting a child up for adoption goes. Her mom was sixteen when she had her, and her dad was not much older. It was just like Elena's situation, except Morgan didn't get so lucky as to be placed with a couple that wanted her as soon as she was born.
"Should I call you mommy?"
"If you want to, Morgan." Elena answered gently. "You don't have to if you don't want to, but because we adopted you, we're legally your parents. If you don't want to call me mommy and Damon daddy, then that's okay though, because we will love you no matter what."
"Okay."
Elena noticed Damon pulling to a stop just outside the doors, and she asked, "Ready to go home, Morgan?"
"Forever?"
Elena's heart just about melted as she confirmed, "Forever. I promise."
Damon met them around at the back door, and they both made sure that Morgan was securely strapped into her car seat. They shared one short kiss, communicating all of the happiness they didn't know how to express through words, before Damon returned to the driver's seat and Elena climbed in the back with Morgan.
She handed her some coloring books and a box of crayons to play with since the drive was about an hour long. She wasn't very interested in them though, instead she had a slew of questions that she wanted answered, and her new parents were all too eager to teach her about anything and everything.
"Where does the snow come from?" She asked as she watched the flurries flit across the window and melt when they touched it.
Elena explained, "Well it comes from the clouds, just like rain. When it gets cold enough, all of the raindrops freeze before they fall to the ground, making snow."
"How do you make a snowman?"
"You have to start by making a snowball, and then you roll it around in the snow until it gets really big. You do that a few times, and stack all of the snowballs on top of each other, then you can put a face on the snowman." Elena told her.
"When we have hot chocolate, can I have ice cream in mine? And whipped cream?"
Well that sure sounded like a sugar rush if she ever did hear one, and Damon answered, "Maybe once you eat some actual food first, then you can have dessert."
"What's for dinner? I like mac n' cheese, and hotdogs, and chicken nuggets shaped like dinosaurs, and cookies, with milk!"
"No vegetables?" Elena laughed.
"What's a veg-able?"
"Like a carrot, or corn, or anything green and leafy." Elena told her.
She scrunched up her little nose, "I hate green food!"
Elena rolled her eyes while Damon chuckled from the front seat. Yeah, it was going to be fun getting her on a healthy diet. Human food was something neither of them had to worry about unless they wanted to eat it just for pleasure, but luckily Damon was an amazing cook, and Elena grew up on kid's food that was easy to make.
The ride went by quickly with Morgan there to occupy everyone's attention, and Damon was turning into the driveway before any of them knew it.
Morgan's eyes went wide with excitement as she looked at the house, "This is where you live!?"
Damon turned in the front seat to smirk at her, "We get the whole place all to ourselves, and now it's yours too. Wanna check it out?"
"Yeah!" She squealed, beginning to squirm in her car seat in attempt to wrestle out of the straps. Elena unbuckled them for her and hopped out just as Damon opened Morgan's door for her. She barreled outside like a bat out of hell and ran full speed toward the snow in the yard. The driveway had been plowed, leaving it quite obvious that at least a foot had fallen.
Morgan launched herself into the huge snow bank, giggling gleefully as she picked up the snow to inspect it for the first time.
"It's so cold!" She screeched, beaming as little flecks of snow melted on her face.
With her hand in Damon's, Elena grinned, "Morgan, let's go inside first so we can show you around and then you can put on some snow pants and we'll play in the snow, alright?"
"Okay!" She said, climbing out of the snow and brushing it off of her leggings that were now damp.
She didn't seem to mind in the slightest, instead she just ran towards the front door as Elena yelled, "Be careful, the snow is slippery!"
She didn't even slow down despite the warning, and Damon laughed, "She may not be ours genetically, but I've got a feeling we'll share more than just a stubborn attitude."
Elena shook her head and Damon kissed her temple before they grabbed Morgan's bags from the car and headed towards the door where she was drawing pictures in the snow with her fingers. Elena unlocked the door while Damon called for Morgan to come inside, and they even managed to get her snow covered shoes off before she bolted into the house in awe, fawning over the place.
"Whoa! This is like a princess's castle!" She jumped onto the couch, and suddenly Elena was glad that they got rid of everything expensive. With the way she was jumping all over everything, it would be broken by now.
She then got down and ran into the library next door, gasping, "That's a lot of books!"
Damon replied, "Do you like to read? Because we made you your own shelf of books over here."
She followed him over to the shelf he'd cleared of antique books and showed her all of the brightly colored bindings and covers. He wasn't quite as in touch with modern children's literature as Elena, so she picked out all of the books. There was one about a hungry caterpillar, another named If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, and even some story about a fish with colorful scales and a few glittery ones.
Morgan ran her fingers along the spines of the books before grabbing one that was a dark purple color. It was titled Harold and the Purple Crayon. Damon had no fucking clue what that even meant, so when she asked what it was about, it was all up to Elena.
She answered, "It's about a little boy that has a special crayon that lets him go on adventures by drawing things. I can read it to you sometime if you want."
Morgan nodded and made to put the book back on the shelf, and Damon helped her get it back between the other books. She was then running to explore the next part of the house, which was just the hallway that connected a second foyer to the first where the staircase was.
"Can I go upstairs?" She asked.
Elena nodded, "Of course. Your room is up there next to ours."
She carefully climbed every stair so she didn't fall, and when she got the to the top she didn't even know which direction to go in. Damon pointed to the right, "This way, Morgan. Down to the left is nothing but extra bedrooms and my brother's room, but he doesn't live here anymore."
Once Damon and Elena announced that they were officially going to adopt, it hadn't even been up for debate to Stefan that he needed to move out. They were their own family now, and needed their space. Besides, Caroline sold her childhood home after being unable to bear the memories of her mom, and they ended up finding a great house to buy in Elena's old neighborhood. They were a couple streets down from Jeremy and Bonnie now.
"You have a brother?" She asked. "I had three brothers in Phoenix, but they didn't like playing with me…" She dropped her head to the look at the ground. She didn't have any biological brothers, so she must have been living with other foster children.
Damon kneeled down next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder to get her attention. When her big brown eyes looked up at him he said, "I promise my younger brother will love playing with you. I bet he'll even let you dress him up like a princess and have tea parties with you. How does that sound?"
Elena stifled a laugh as Morgan beamed, "Yeah! What's his name?"
"Stefan." Damon told her, standing back up.
"Will he pretend to be the dragon that I fight to get the treasure?"
Damon smirked to himself, "Well, his bark isn't quite as good as his bite, but—"
Elena elbowed his side, cutting him off, "Of course, sweetie, I'm sure he'd love to be a dragon."
There had been a lot of deliberation as to how they'd explain to her that they weren't human. In fact, they were actually blood thirsty monsters. But they couldn't just say that to a four year old, could they? Of course, showing them their vampires faces was kind of off the table. With her age, she'd freak out and run screaming. They still weren't entirely sure how to go about telling her that basically her entire family was vampires, but they'd figure out a way to slowly ease her into it sooner or later.
They started walking down the hall, and they first showed her their room since it was the first door on the way. And unsurprisingly, the first thing she did was jump on the giant bed. She burrowed herself under the covers and they joined her on the bed. Damon began poking and tickling the squirming lump of blankets, earning several ear piercing screams of delight that would make even a human wince, let alone two vampires with extra sensitive hearing.
When she finally did emerge, she was smiling up at them both, showing off all of her baby teeth. Her hair was sticking straight up from static and Elena laughed as she tried to smooth it down but it went straight back up.
Morgan didn't seem to care in the slightest though as she crawled off the bed and landed on the floor with a soft thud before running into the bathroom. She was climbing into the tub before either of them could stop her, and she shouted, "This is huge!"
"Let's go check out your room now." Elena said, grabbing her hands and lifting her out of the tub.
She skipped behind them as they showed her to her room right next door. Of course, they had been expecting a baby when it was originally decorated, so they had to make some alterations, but it was still almost the same. The walls were a soft gray and had cute decals of trees and animals on them. Morgan's full sized bed was against the wall to the right, complete with a pink and gray polka dotted comforter and pillows that matched. They got rid of the crib and put it in storage since she was already sleeping in a regular bed in Phoenix, and the changing table was in storage too. They kept the rocking chair though, and added another armchair that matched the décor. And once they knew who they were getting, they started shopping for toys and clothes. Morgan's closet was packed full, though they kept a lot of the toys boxed up to give her for Christmas next month.
"This is all mine!?" She asked in shock.
Elena smiled up at Damon and he said, "All yours. Knock yourself out, kid."
As she began blowing around the room like a tornado, Elena leaned up on her tiptoes to kiss Damon's jaw, whispering, "I can't wait to have you alone tonight…"
He smirked, "One thing at a time, kitten, or else I might just decide that Morgan can entertain herself for twenty minutes or so…"
Elena giggled softly and grabbed the front of his button up, pulling his lips down to hers for a soft kiss.
When Morgan absorbed everything in her room, they brought her back downstairs for dinner. Elena was just making a box of mac n' cheese, upon Morgan's request, while Damon started a fire and turned on the television for Morgan while she waited.
Damon flopped down onto the couch across from the TV which was placed against the wall opposite the kitchen. Morgan climbed up on the couch next to him, pushing her hair out of her eyes, as Damon asked, "Do you want your hair cut soon?"
"I don't know." She said easily, making him roll his eyes. He told her to wait there for a moment while he went to the closest bathroom and rooted around in the drawers until he found one of Elena's brushes and a hair tie.
He returned to the living room where she was sitting patiently, and he said, "Let's run a brush through that rat's nest you call hair."
She laughed, "Rats not live in my hair!"
He flared his eyes at her as he reached out to squeeze her sides a couple times, "They might as well, have you seen your hair? Now come here so I can brush it."
She climbed between his legs facing the TV and watching some show with dogs dressed like firefighters. He slowly started working the brush through her hair, and she didn't complain once. Her hair didn't really have a style to it, no bangs or anything like that, it was just long. When it was all smoothed out, Damon gathered it on top of her head and wrapped the hair tie around it.
"Better?" He asked knowingly.
She nodded, "Yeah."
Elena was calling her to dinner a few minutes later, and she thought it was absolutely hilarious that you could cut up a hotdog to make it look like an octopus and place it on top of a sea of mac n' cheese.
She ate it all up like she'd never seen food before, and though the idea was ridiculous, it kind of made them wonder if she had been getting enough food to fill her belly.
After dinner, they got her dressed and ready to play in the snow with what was left of the day, which was only an hour or two. With it being winter, the sun set way too early for anyone's taste.
Morgan had a blast learning how to make snowmen and snow angels, and when they were finished with those they taught her how to have a snowball fight. Her snowballs weren't really balls, or even any shape, since she couldn't really pack the snow together hard enough. She was pretty much just throwing around handfuls of snow, but Elena and Damon pretended like they were getting hit with actual snowballs, which made her laugh hysterically every time they faked getting hit.
While Morgan focused on building her snow fort, Damon laid down on the snow to make another snow angel. There were three sizes all over the place; Damon's big ones, Elena's slightly smaller ones, and Morgan's really small ones.
Elena laid down next to him in the snow, or rather, on top of him, and nestled her head in the crook of his neck. They hadn't done something so mundanely human like this in the entire time they'd known each other.
They both kept one eye on Morgan while Elena pressed a few kisses against his cheek and jaw.
"How are you doing with all of this?" Elena asked him, propping her head up on her hand with her elbow bent and resting on his shoulder.
"Pretty good, honestly." He said. "Why, were you thinking I was freaking out?"
She shrugged, "Nah, you looked fine, but I just wanted to make sure. Having a kid isn't damaging your ego, is it?"
He laughed, "Baby, I got over that the second I laid eyes on her. I mean, she's adorable. Who wouldn't love that?"
Elena looked over at Morgan. She was licking a handful of snow thoughtfully.
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
Elena shivered when she felt Damon's cold nose press against her neck as he kissed her pulse point, reminding her that if two dead vampires were getting cold, Morgan had to be like an ice cube.
She managed to convince her to come inside without so much as a single pout with the promise of that hot chocolate she wanted earlier, except they made a little compromise on the ice cream part since it was almost bedtime. She didn't get ice cream, but she got whipped cream and cinnamon sprinkled on top.
She had a feeling it was going to be hard to deny the little girl anything she wanted.
While she sat at the table drinking her hot chocolate, Elena stood leaning against Damon in the kitchen, her arms around his waist. "How are we going to tell her?" She asked quietly. He frowned a little at her, silently asking what she was talking about. Elena let the veins around her eyes crawl to the surface for a moment and Damon shrugged in response.
"We should probably say something sooner rather than later."
The sound of Morgan's metal spoon clanking around the mug stole their attention. Damon grabbed her mug and set it in the sink before they brought her upstairs for a bath and to change into pajamas. She was excited to have a practically endless amount of options in her closet.
When she asked for a bedtime story, Elena saw it as their opportunity to introduce the idea of vampires. She shared a look with Damon and flashed him some fang over her head to let him in on the plan, and he nodded before settling in on the other side of Morgan so she was sandwiched between them, all tucked in.
"This story is a true story." Elena told her to start with.
"It is?"
Damon confirmed, "Yep. It all started back in the 1800's, and it's still being written today."
"That's a long story." She commented.
Elena smiled at Damon, "The main characters have a lot time on this planet."
"Are they magic?"
"Actually, yes." Elena answered before beginning, "Once upon a time, there was a very handsome man that lived in a big house here in Virginia. He and his brother were the best of friends, until a horrible woman came in between them. You see, she had magic in her. She wasn't human, and she had special powers that made her extra strong, super fast, and able to make people do whatever she wanted. There were other people like her, but not all of them used their powers for evil like her. Her name was Katherine."
Morgan was looking at Elena thoughtfully, and when Damon took over the next part her gaze shifted to him.
"Katherine made both of the brothers fall in love with her. She was selfish, and mean, and didn't care if either of them got hurt. Now, the thing about Katherine was that with her special powers, she was able to live forever. She never got old, and she never got sick—she would look exactly the same for millions and millions of years. That's why people like her weren't always accepted by humans. They were afraid of her, and what she could do to them."
"What was she?" Morgan asked. "A witch?"
"Not quite." Damon said. "But a witch made her a long, long time ago. She was a vampire."
"Did she drink the brothers' blood?" She asked, seemingly unfazed by the idea.
Damon smiled a little, "As a matter of fact, she did. She was an evil vampire, and soon the town grew suspicious of her. Some humans knew what she was, and they wanted to kill her to protect everyone from her evil ways. So one day, the town began attacking all of the vampires they knew about, but the brothers got caught in the battle because they both loved her. They both died protecting her."
"But wasn't she evil?"
"She was." Damon said confidently. "But neither of the brothers cared because love is the most powerful weapon."
"So she got away with it?"
Elena spoke up, "Not quite. Katherine escaped all of the humans that were attacking her and let the brothers think she was going to be trapped in a dungeon that only a witch could open, and when the two brothers died, she turned them into vampires, just like her."
"They became evil then?"
"No, not at all." Elena said. "They were hurt that Katherine left them when they both thought she loved them, but eventually, they both moved on. The younger brother forgot all about her in a few short years, and grew to hate her for turning him into a vampire. The other brother still loved her, but he knew that they would have a chance of being together in the future because she was just trapped. So he waited."
"Way too long, if you ask me." Damon grumbled, earning a smile from Morgan. "He waited nearly one hundred and fifty years."
"Whoa, that's so long!" She observed. "Why did he wait so long for a girl that didn't love him?"
Damon shrugged a little, "Because he didn't know any better. So, now we're back in this century. This next part all happened in 2009, which is just a few years before you were born."
Elena nodded, "This is the part where it gets good. So the brother that was waiting for Katherine came back to the same town he was born in to save her. Enough time had passed, and she was able to be freed. He thought they would be together forever, because they were both vampires."
"And vampires live forever."
"That's exactly right." Elena smiled. "While the brother was back in town, waiting for the right moment to free Katherine, his younger brother that hated her showed up too. Katherine turned out to be a special kind of person. All vampires were once human, and when Katherine was human she was a doppelganger. That's a fancy word for a twin, but years and years and years apart in age. Katherine was born in the 1500's, but her doppelganger was born in 1992."
"Many people said they looked identical, but I think the doppelganger was prettier." Damon said, sending Elena a wink.
Elena rolled her eyes and continued, "Well, as it turned out, the two brothers met Katherine's double, and they were confused as to why she looked just like their former love. The younger brother that hated Katherine ended up falling in love with her double, and she fell in love with him. They were a happy couple, too."
Damon added, "Until the older brother discovered that Katherine was never in the dungeon." Elena gasped dramatically and Morgan giggled. Damon grinned, "That's right! She had lied to both brothers, and let them think she was trapped while she was living her life, eating the most delicious chocolate you could imagine and being evil."
"I want to hear more about the younger brother and his girlfriend!" Morgan demanded.
Elena laughed a little, "Okay. So the couple was happier than ever, right? Well, the older brother was hurting over Katherine. She broke his heart, and the only friend he had happened to be Katherine's double. He wasn't big on sharing, but when he did, it made her like him just a little bit more. So a little bit of time passed, and then Katherine decided that she wanted the brothers back. She was very cruel, and tried everything she could to get her double and the younger brother to break up."
"Did it work?"
"Nope." Elena said proudly. "But in the end, they did break up. You see, Katherine's double realized that she had feelings for the older brother. They had built a strong friendship while battling all sorts of monsters and vampires. Even though she was human and he was a vampire, she still trusted him. He saved her life a few times, too, and he was always there for her when she needed him."
"What about the younger brother?"
Damon replied, "After Katherine's double broke up with him, he was hurting for a while. But now that she was single, that gave way for the real romance. You see, everyone has to go through a little bit of heartbreak before they're able to appreciate what true happiness is. So the older vampire brother and the young human were just about to have their chance, when suddenly, the human was accidentally turned into a vampire."
"Being a vampire is a bad thing?" Morgan asked curiously.
"Not always." Damon told her truthfully. "Sometimes, humans don't want to be vampires. They want to be able to grow old and have a normal life. They might even want to have kids, which is something vampires can't do. But there are also some good things about being a vampire, like getting to be with the person you love forever. This doppelganger, though, didn't want to be a vampire. But that didn't stop her from giving up a human life to save the older brother because she loved him so much. She died so he could live, and she turned into a vampire as a result."
"And it wasn't easy for them after that." Elena pointed out. "They had to go through a lot of hard times together before they finally got their shot at happiness. They fell so madly in love with each other that the fact that they were both vampires didn't seem to matter anymore. There were a lot of times that they didn't think they'd ever get to be happy, especially when the evil vampire Katherine returned, but together, they drove a stake through her heart to make sure she would never hurt anyone ever again."
"So did everyone live happily ever after?" Morgan asked. "Even the younger brother?"
Damon nodded, "They did. The older brother and the new vampire doppelganger got married, and fell more in love with each other every day. The younger brother ended up falling in love with a vampire girl that he was friends with for a really long time, and they're living together today as we speak."
"You said the story's not done yet?"
"Not quite yet." Elena said. "Actually, it will go on forever so long as they're both still alive. They're vampires, remember, so forever is forever."
"And they're happy now?"
Elena smiled, "As happy as they could possibly be."
"What were their names?"
Damon and Elena shared a look before she said, "Damon and Elena."
Her eyes seemed to light up a bit and she turned to Damon, "You were the older brother?"
He nodded, "And Elena was the doppelganger."
"But you're not actually vampires." She said confidently.
Damon smirked at Elena before saying, "We've all got a little bit of magic in us, Morgan. Some more than others, but it doesn't make us any better or any worse than others. As long as you're a good person and respect others you'll do okay in this world."
And didn't he know it. Maybe if he had taken his own advice over all the years, he wouldn't have had so many enemies.
"Alright, time for bed." Elena said, standing up along with Damon and re-tucking her back into bed. She kissed the top of her head then said, "Goodnight Morgan, sleep tight. We're right next door if you need anything, so don't be afraid to wake us up, okay?"
She nodded and then Damon leaned down to give her forehead a kiss, "Goodnight, baby, we'll see you in the morning."