Damon could not remember the last time he attended Midnight Mass. His family had never been particularly religious. Once upon a time, they would attend church on the major holidays like Easter and Christmas Eve. However, Giuseppe stopped requiring even that token act of faux piety after Damon's first kill. He figured his son was old enough to make his own decisions about faith. It had been a simple choice for Giuseppe's heir. Damon could not pinpoint the moment he stopped believing in God but he assumed it was somewhere between the first and fifth time his old man broke one of his bones. He did not understand what sort of omnipotent being would let a grown man pummel an innocent child. Damon had decided if there was a god then he certainly was not a benevolent one. Moreover, he knew there was already a seat in hell waiting for him if there was a god.

Marrying a devout Catholic like Bonnie did not sway his religious beliefs. She had a vastly different upbringing than Damon did. Bonnie attended church every Sunday with her grandmother. She continued that practice long after Sheila died. Moreover, Bonnie was an active member of the local parish. She was not only generous with her money but also with her time. Christmas was always a large production at the Salvatore Manor, but every year Bonnie snuck away for a few hours to volunteer at the church. Sometimes she helped serve meals to the less fortunate. Other years she just helped package the meals that Father Finn and his other parishioners delivered to the homeless that could not find transportation to the church.

While Damon was a non-believer, he did not stand in the way when Bonnie started taking Sarah to church. He knew how important religion was to his wife. He understood why she would want to share that with their daughter. Sarah had started her catechism classes earlier in the year. In retrospect, Damon realized that he should have occasionally gone to church with his family. He did not need to be a believer in order to sit through a 45-minute service. He also could have gone to lunch with them after church. He could have done anything to show an interest in something that was such a large part of their lives. Damon would like to say that he was at St. Ignatius to be a good husband and a father. However, he didn't make a habit of lying to himself. He was attending Midnight Mass for the sole purpose of spying on his wife.

It had been three days since the ill-fated counseling session with Dr. Correa. His sweet wife had made good on her word. Damon had been served with divorce papers this morning. Bonnie had called him twice, but she put Sarah on the phone without ever speaking to Damon. Bonnie sent his calls to voicemail whenever he tried to reach her. He knew that showing up to Abby's house was a bad idea. He didn't want to start a fight with Bonnie while their daughter was in the house. Damon resorted to having his men follow Bonnie. He wanted to know what she was doing, but she had drivers capable of shaking a tail. Fortunately, Damon knew that he could count on his wife attending Midnight Mass.

He did not count on Tyler Lockwood being at her side. In fact, the entire Lockwood family was present. The Lockwood, Donovan, Castillo, and Bennett families were taking up several pews towards the front of the massive church. There were several other influential members from the smuggling operation present. Zacharias physically forced Damon into a pew when they arrived at the church nearly fifteen minutes into the service. He had been petulant when his uncle insisted on joining him for Midnight Mass. Damon did not think that he needed a chaperone. However, he was grateful for his uncle's foresight. As much as he would love to beat Tyler bloody, he was mindful of his wife's threat against Katherine. He wasn't selfish enough to leave his first born motherless because he was in a jealous rage. Damon wholeheartedly believed Bonnie would kill Katherine if he harmed Tyler.

Damon barely heard a word of Father Finn's homily. He spent the entire time staring at the back of his wife's head. It was taking some time for him to become accustomed to his wife's new hairstyle. Damon could not remember a time when Bonnie had ever worn braids in the past. They had only been separated for a week, but already she was changing the way she looked. Her hair was different. Her clothes were different. It made Damon wonder if her appearance had been part of the role she was playing as his wife. Had Bonnie been trying to fit into some mold that she believed he found desirable?

He didn't realize that Mass had ended until people began filing out of the pews. Damon slowly got to his feet.

Zach glanced at his nephew and said, "Don't behave like an ass, Damon. I will drag you out of here if I have to. Let's just wait outside. You can 'bump' into Bonnie out there."

He grunted and reluctantly followed his uncle out of the church. "Can you believe that Benny is here?"

The older man said, "I am sure he is trying to get in good with the new boss. He probably wants Bonnie to know that his loyalty was always with her family…even when you were running the show."

Damon thought about what his father said. Giuseppe theorized that Sheila had people embedded in their organization. He asked, "What do you think about the Lockwoods and Dononvans being here?"

He deadpanned, "This is their church, too. Besides, they are connected to the Benedetto family through marriage. Cesare is married to Richard's daughter, Lexi. Senior's grandson, Lucky, is married to one of Bonnie's cousins. I think her name is Lia."

Damon looked at his uncle and asked, "No one ever thought that was suspicious?"

"Not really," he replied. "All of our families hail from a town that is barely nine square miles. There is a lot of intermarriage between the families. Hell if we traced our family trees back far enough I am sure we all have relatives in common."

Damon knew that his uncle was right. However, he couldn't shake his father's words. He was learning the hard way that he couldn't take anything for granted any longer. "Maybe you are right."

Zach said, "I am."

Damon hummed but did not immediately respond. He didn't share his uncle's certainty. Sheila had been a formidable woman that had collected years of damning information on a man that she purportedly loved. Damon assumed that she loved Giuseppe. He could not fathom another reason that Sheila would have carried on a forty-year affair with a physically and emotionally abusive misogynist. Giuseppe seemed sure that Sheila had moles in their organization but he never investigated. His father was a ruthless man, but there appeared to be nothing that he would have begrudged the love of his life. Strangely, Damon could relate to that sentiment wholeheartedly. He loved Bonnie and short of granting her divorce, he couldn't think of a single thing he would ever deny her.

The Donovan family exited the church first with Mason and walked toward the massive parking lot. They didn't seem to notice Damon standing near the fountain with Zacharias. He knew that there was some truth to his uncle's assertion about intermarriage. The Salvatore and Donovan families were blood relatives. Some decades ago, one of Damon's great-great aunts had married a Loiacono. The criminal underworld in Milazzo was small and interconnected, but still something tugged at his consciousness. Damon's eyes were open for the first time and he suspected everyone.

A few minutes later, most of the Lockwood family exited the church. Only Brady and Tyler were seemingly missing. His eyes followed the family as they headed to the parking lot, too. Cesare was carrying his youngest son that he shared with Lexi. Richard had always been a stand up person. Damon respected him more than he respected probably anyone else that worked for his family. Yet somehow, Richard's daughter had married a Benedetto. Moreover, she married Big John's eldest grandson. In twenty or so years, Cesare would surely be the head of the family. Everyone thought it was just a matter of time before Big John would hand the family's reins over to Cesare's father, Gianni. Perhaps it was all innocent. After all, Lexi had known Cesare for years because her family spent many summers in Milazzo.

Nearly twenty minutes passed as the church emptied. Yet Bonnie and her family were still inside. He assumed that they stayed behind to talk to Father Finn.

His blue eyes widened when he saw his wife exiting the church. She was walking beside Tyler. Seeing them together was enough to make his blood boil, but Tyler was carrying his sleeping daughter. Damon wanted to rip apart the little bastard limb from limb but he managed to keep his cool. They looked like a happy little family. Damon strolled over to the couple. "Hi, bunny."

Brady tensed and edged closer to his nephew. He hoped that Damon wouldn't do anything stupid in such a public place. However, he was prepared to protect Tyler.

Remy Benedetto moved closer to Bonnie. While Brady was hoping for peace, Remy was ready for a fight. He still owed Damon an ass kicking for how he behaved Saturday night.

Lucy shook her said, "Don't start no shit on Jesus' birthday, Damon Salvatore."

Bonnie smiled and said, "Don't get yourself all worked up, Luce. Damon is very clear about what I expect of him. Aren't you, honey?"

Damon's jaw twitched at the condescending pet name. He smiled, "I am not here to cause trouble. I am just celebrating Midnight Mass like everyone else here."

Abby cradled Savannah against her shoulder. She questioned, "When have you ever been religious?"

"Heathen," Lucy muttered.

If looks could kill then Damon would be on his way to hell. He certainly did not have any friends in this small crowd. The only person that might have been happy to see him was fast asleep in Tyler's arms. "My life has been in upheaval lately. Trying times are when most people seek guidance from a higher power. I couldn't think of a better time than tonight."

Bonnie laughed heartily. Damon only attended church services when it was required for business. Giuseppe's heir could hardly skip weddings, funerals, and christenings because of his disdain for religion. "You're a better liar than this, Damon."

Abby could see this was about to go poorly. She gently placed Savannah into Jamie's arms and handed him the car keys. "Go take your brother and sister to the car, sweetie."

While Cooper was oblivious to the mood around him, Jamie was not. He looked between Bonnie and Damon with some trepidation. "Sissy is coming home with us, right?"

Bonnie's mood sobered when she heard the wariness in her little brother's voice. She put on a bright smile and ruffled his curly jet-black hair. Despite being only twelve years old, Jamie was practically the same height as Bonnie was. All of the poison drained from her sharp green eyes. "Yes, I am still coming home. I wouldn't miss opening Christmas gifts with my favorite people in the morning."

Damon watched as Bonnie became a completely different person in light of her brother's concern. He felt some mild guilt for being the cause of that. Kids were innocent and shouldn't be spectators to adult drama. As a child, he developed a sixth sense for conflict. He could always tell when his father was about to kick off.

"Are you two going to fight like Mama and Ric did?" he asked tentatively.

Zach winced when Jamie didn't even bother adding 'uncle' in front of Ric's name. He still couldn't believe that his older brother had behaved so unhinged. Alaric claimed that his anger was related to the smuggling operation. However, it was obvious that he was truly angry because Abby was spending time with her ex-husband. Zacharias was exhausted by his brother and nephew's appalling relationship woes.

Abby tensed at the mention of the argument she had with Ric. They had been outside at the time but it was now apparent that their voices had carried into the house. Jamie had not mentioned overhearing their argument until now.

Bonnie quickly shook her head. "No, it is nothing like that. I promise."

Cristian placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Come with me, cugino."

Jamie said, "Okay…"

Bonnie asked, "Could you take Sarah to the car, too?"

Cristian nodded and took Sarah from Tyler's arms.

"Her booster seat is in Mama's car," Bonnie explained.

Cristian kissed her cheek and said, "Non ti preoccupare, cugina."

"Grazie," Bonnie replied.

Damon waited until he was certain that Cooper and Jamie were out of earshot. "I didn't come here to cause trouble."

"No you came here to ambush me because I refuse to speak to you. I do not have anything more to say to you, Damon. I want a divorce. I paid my legal team handsomely to get those papers drawn up before Christmas. Nothing you say to me is going to change what is happening."

He smirked. "I was just wondering how you reconcile your adultery with the church's teaching. Isn't there something about lusting in your heart being just as adulterous as the act?"

Bonnie huffed out a laugh. "Out of the two of us, you are certainly the expert on adultery, Damon. Perhaps I have not done this in the right order but it has been in good faith. I didn't cross any lines with Tyler until I was sure our marriage was over. You may not be done with me but I have been done with you since I learned about the stopover in Tenerife. I gave you every opportunity to be remotely worthy of my love. You chose another. That is fine because I have chosen another, too."

Tyler tried not to appear too smug but he couldn't help it. Bonnie had chosen him in dramatic fashion.

Damon's eyes flicked to the younger man. He had the urge to slap the smirk off his face but he knew that would spark an actual fistfight. Instead he said, "I told you this a couple days ago and it remains the truth, you are settling for Tyler."

Tyler tensed when Damon said that Bonnie was settling for him. She hadn't mentioned that part of their conversation.

Bonnie stepped closer to Damon and lowered her voice, "You are only saying that out of some misguided hope that I will come back to you if this relationship falls apart. However, I would warn you that reconciliation is the last thing you should want from me. I am in the Christmas spirit so I will give you a piece of advice. If I ever come back to you, sleep with one eye open, Damon. The only reason I would ever find myself in your bed again would be to slit your throat."

Lucy huffed out a laugh. "You should have poisoned his ass with rat poison when you had a chance."

Abby glared at her cousin and said, "Hush, Lucy Marie."

The blue-eyed mobster's jaw literally dropped for a second. The vitriol in Bonnie's words rattled him.

Zach was equally shocked. He cleared his throat. "Bonnie…"

Damon interrupted whatever his uncle might have been about to say. "Do you really want me dead, Bunny?"

"Dead? No, I don't want you dead but I want to hurt you. You can't begin to fathom the number of fantasies I have that leave you battered and bloodied. My children are the only reasons that I haven't let my cousins kick your ass for what you said to me Saturday."

"I said that I was sorry for that," he argued lamely. He couldn't shake the cold feeling that was sinking into his bones.

"I don't want your apology. I want you to leave me alone, Damon. We are co-parents and business partners but nothing more. My relationship with Tyler is none of your business. The stain on my soul certainly is none of your business. You men are so predictable. When I wanted you, you couldn't be bothered. Now that I don't want you, it seems that I have suddenly become your priority. I am not interested in what you have to offer. Go find Katherine, Andi, or some other woman that is desperate enough to put up with your fuckery," she said and stepped back.

Damon grabbed Bonnie's arm and pulled her close to him. He said, "I am not going to sign the divorce papers. You are my wife. I am never going to let you go. You have to know that."

Tyler stiffened and growled, "Are you crazy? Get your hands off her!"

Brady put an arm out to hold back his nephew. However, he was prepared to do what was necessary to protect Bonnie. There was no maintaining his cover if Damon stepped out of line.

Zach looked around. Most of the other parishioners had already left since Bonnie had taken so long to leave the church. He said, "Time and place, Damon. Let her go. You are making an ass of yourself as usual."

Lucy discreetly opened her coat to reveal the gun holstered at her side. "This can end one of two ways…"

Bonnie held up her free hand. "It's okay, Luce."

His grip loosened.

Bonnie snatched her arm out of Damon's grasp. "Don't you ever put your hands on me again or I will let her shoot you next time."

Tyler immediately asked, "Are you okay, Bon?"

She rubbed at her arm and smiled. "I'm fine. We should go. I have to help Mama play Santa Claus tonight or there will be some disappointed children in the morning."

Abby said, "Merry Christmas, Zacharias."

"Merry Christmas to you, too." He said, "I am sorry about this, Abby."

She smiled a little. "I know. Good night."

Damon watched as his wife walked away with her family and her new boyfriend. He wondered if this was how Bonnie felt every time he snuck away to be with Katherine or his flavor of the month.

Zach waited until Bonnie was out of sight then he said, "Let's go, Damon."

The two men had parked a block over because the parking lot was full since they arrived so late.

Zach unlocked his car and climbed into the driver's seat. He waited until Damon was in the car before slapping the younger man across the back of his head. "What the fuck were you thinking putting your hands on her like that?"

"I wasn't trying to hurt her!" he shouted. "I just didn't want her to walk away from me," he continued in a much softer voice.

Zach sighed because he hated to see his nephew this way. Damon didn't make good decisions when his heart was involved. He said, "You are pushing too hard while she is still too angry at you. You might be right about her settling for Tyler. Taunting her with that narrative will only make her try harder to prove you wrong. You are pushing her further into his arms. Take a step back before you alienate her altogether."

"I don't know if I can do that. You saw him carrying my daughter around," he replied bitterly.

"She fell asleep during mass. Did you want your pregnant wife to carry her? Besides, you are only up in arms about Tyler carrying Sarah because he is dating Bonnie. I get it. I would be out of my mind with jealousy if Meredith left me. However, I have worked my ass off to be the kind of husband that she would never want to leave. Try being a good guy for once or you can kiss this marriage goodbye. I know one thing for sure. I won't stand around and watch you start beating on that girl."

Damon stared at his uncle. "I wouldn't…grabbing her arm isn't the same thing as abusing her, Zio."

Zach said, "We are men that settle our issues with violence. It is first nature and Bonnie is working all of your buttons right now. I am not saying that you would plan to hit her but mistakes happen in the heat of a moment. I am letting you know that is a mistake that I won't allow to happen on my watch—boss or not. I will not stand by and watch my nephew turn into a woman batterer. You can argue with Bonnie all you want but you keep your fucking hands off her. Maybe if I had kicked your ass when you were fucking around you wouldn't be in this situation."

"This isn't your fault," Damon argued.

"Isn't it?" Zach asked. He raked a hand over his face. "I should have done more to make sure you didn't turn out like…"

Damon felt as if he had been stabbed in the heart. "Fuck you…"

Zacharias said, "I am not trying to hurt your feelings here. I am worried about you. I don't like what I am seeing. Learn to control yourself or stay the fuck away from that girl, Damon. Every time the two of you are together there is arguing. The two of you are so fucking unhealthy together I don't know why you would want to stay married to her. She wants to cause you bodily harm, Damon. How many blow ups will it take for Big John to decide that you are a fucking problem? How many times would you allow some man to grab Sarah and call her out of her name? Do you want to be like Ric? Did you hear what Jamie said?"

He put his head in his hands. He muttered, "I can't even blame cocaine this time. I haven't had any since Saturday night."

"Dr. Correa is still willing to keep you on as a patient. You need to work on yourself before we have a tragedy on our hands. Someone is going to get hurt in a way from which neither of our families will be able to recover. If Bonnie and Big John strike against you…we will have to strike back out of honor and reputation. Do you want to start a mob war with men that have the same blood as your own children?"

Damon said, "I would never let it go that far!"

Zach shook his head and gave his nephew a piteous look. "When are you going to realize that you aren't the only one wielding power in this situation? Bonnie got four of her cousins to move stateside for an indefinite time so that she can take the smuggling business from you. Big John knows what Giuseppe did to her and he has plans to visit shortly after Christmas. You are no longer dealing with your isolated wife. You are dealing with the head of another organization and you had better start acting like it."

"Make up your mind," he snapped. "Is she my wife or is she the head of an organization?"

"She is both and apparently she doesn't plan to put up with your shit the way that Sheila tolerated Giuseppe. You need to decide if you still want to be married to Bonnie. If you do, then fix yourself, Damon. That is the only option here because things are not going to go back to the way they once were," he opined.

He said, "For me, there has never been any doubt that I wanted to be married to Bonnie. I love her. I have always loved her, Zio. I wouldn't begin to know how to stop. When Sheila first came to me about marrying Bonnie, I thought she was insane. I could not understand how anyone would trust someone as fucked up as me with someone as sweet and innocent as Bonnie. I just had this horrible fear that I was going to ruin her and blacken her soul because we all know I am in no way fit to be anyone's husband or father. I only agreed to the arrangement because the idea of Bonnie being married off to some cousin of hers in Milazzo made my stomach turn. I was enraged by the idea that she would belong to someone else. But that wasn't my first clue that my feelings for her weren't only familial."

The older man was shocked to hear Damon be so honest about his feelings for Bonnie. Usually, he just stopped after saying that he loved her. "What do you mean?"

"The summer that Bonnie turned sixteen, I probably slept with a couple dozen women while she and Sheila stayed at the Manor," he replied.

He snorted. "How was that any different than any other summer? I love you dearly but you have always been a whore. It is sort of a defining trait for Salvatore men."

Damon laughed wryly. "I was in rare form that summer-trust me. It was all because I was trying to ignore the weird shit that bubbled up for me whenever Bonnie was around. It was the first time I looked at Bonnie and realized that she wasn't a little kid anymore. She was sporting womanly curves. She was dressing more mature and she started wearing makeup. I didn't realize it at the time but it was for my benefit. That's what Stefan told me a few weeks ago anyway. Of course I would have never gone there with her because I have my faults but I've never gone in for statutory rape. I spent the whole summer running from the feelings that were building inside me...running from her if I am being honest. One night, I nearly lost my mind because Stefan had taken her to Klaus' birthday party. You should have seen how Bonnie was dressed. I played it off like I was being the protective big brother by keeping her by my side but really it was because I had walked up and saw some asshole dancing with her. My first instinct was to break his arm for touching her-I almost did. It took several lines of coke and a threesome with Sybil and one of her friends to get Bonnie off my mind that night."

Zach asked, "Why didn't you come to me or Ric? You were obviously conflicted. I know that you couldn't talk to Giuseppe about shit but you could have talked to one of us."

"I was ashamed. I felt like a pervert. Then the next year, Sheila got sick and everything I had been trying to suppress came rushing back to the surface. Only it was different now because Bonnie and I had to spend time alone in the months leading up to the wedding. I started falling in love with her, Zio. She has the corniest sense of humor and I loved hearing her laugh. Not the laugh she does now but her real one. It was uninhibited, joyful, and loud as all hell. She snorts when something is really funny and she was always so embarrassed by it. I realized for the first time that she was smart and that's not to say that I ever thought she was dumb. It's just she was taking college level calculus at 17 and she was a whiz at it. I think what I enjoyed most was just listening to Bonnie sing. She has a voice like an angel. And I kept thinking why would anyone let me marry her. I am going to fuck this up. I am going to fuck her up. So when we got married, I ran from her. I ran as far as I could. I put as much emotional space between us as I could because I didn't want to break her. I didn't want to her to end up like me. Only this whole time she was already broken, she was already like me. She is this whole other person and damn if it isn't attractive. I mean she just took the smuggling operation. There was no negotiation or conversation. Bonnie just took what belonged to her. Despite the fact that it makes me look like Johnny Jerkoff, it is fucking sexy. Do you understand how powerful Bonnie and I could be together? I love her more now than I already did and I didn't think that was possible."

Zach said, "I imagine that is what Sheila had planned when she arranged your marriage. She just didn't realize how quickly Bonnie would grow to hate you. I mean she put up with Giuseppe for over forty years. Sheila probably assumed that Bonnie would be able to cope until you stopped behaving like an idiot."

Damon took out his phone.

Zach frowned. "What are you doing? Don't bother Bonnie again tonight, Damon. California has stringent stalking statutes."

He said, "I am not going to harass Bonnie."

Damon tapped out a message.

Damon: I won't apologize for tonight because I am sure you are tired of hearing my apologies. I will say that I am going to back off. You are right. I had a chance with you and I blew it. I can't expect you to take me back now. I wouldn't take me back after all of the shit I have pulled with you. I only ask that you hold off on the divorce until after the twins are born. I don't want our babies to be born bastards. I do love you. Merry Christmas, Bunny.

Damon put the phone in his pocket and dropped his head against the seat. "I am right about Tyler, Zio. He's never going to make her happy…not really. You saw that passion tonight. She hates me but that hate is more emotion than she has ever expended on anyone else. Whether she admits it or not Bonnie's heart will always belong to me."

Zach started the car and shook his head. "I guess time will tell. Just make sure that you are out of this funk by the morning. Victor's first Christmas with our family shouldn't be marred by your relationship issues."

"I won't ruin the kid's Christmas. I feel bad enough that I am killing our old man soon. This time next week Victor will be going to his first funeral," he said.

He glanced at his nephew. "It is for the best…you know that."

"I know that but it doesn't mean that I one day I won't have to explain my actions to him. Victor will never know what kind of sick fuck contributed to our DNA. It'll be like you and Ric believing that Nonno walked of fucking water when apparently he was a Grade A asshole. You can add that to him being a raging racist."

Zach had confronted his uncles about Giuseppe's accusations. They admitted that Domenico had been a cruel husband. While he never resorted to physical abuse with his wife, he had been verbally abusive. However, in the old days no one knew anything about verbal and emotional abuse. They barely recognized physical abuse. Giacomo and Bruno also confirmed that Rosemary did commit suicide. They explained how Domenico became cold and distant toward teenaged Giuseppe as a result.

"We can always lie to Victor when he gets older," he suggested.

Damon said, "Maybe."

Zach asked, "Are you ready to spend the day with both of your daughters?"

He brightened a little. "I am nervous. Nadia took the news well but Sarah is still a little confused. Bonnie said that the girls got along well. I am hoping it will still be true now that they know about being related."

"Well, I will be around if you need any help."

"Thanks….for everything," Damon said.

Zach glanced at his nephew and said, "I love you even though you are a constant pain in my ass."

Damon chuckled and looked out the window.