Huge thank you to LaylaReyne for being an amazing beta. I've received multiple messages asking me if I gave up on this story, no I didn't. I'm just really busy with college and life. But here it finally is, we're getting near the end, only a few chapters left. Enjoy!

Someone like you

Chapter 19

'You're my wonderwall'

Fate is the most unexpected visitor in life. It guides the course of one's existence, brings a person from point a to point b, leaves bumps in the road for an individual to overcome. It's something we cannot see, yet we know it's there and hovering above us. It controls us while we cannot control it, it's our enemy but we learn to embrace it. Fate is a luxury in life, because the human mind gets clouded and makes the wrong decisions. Fate is what puts us on this earth and ultimately removes us from it. Fate, we accept it in times of happiness and fight it in times of need.

Is love fate?

It's the question that occupied her mind as she ran her fingers through the black locks over and over again. Is a person born for another one? Is it fate's decision if you get to meet that person? Did fate bring her to the man she was meant for?

"Good morning."

Her hand moved to cup his cheek, her thumb running over the stubble on his chin. A smile appeared on his face as his blue eyes slowly opened to meet hers. And her heart stopped for a second to appreciate his presence, because it had lived without him, lived before him, and lived with him; it knew him better than it knew the love for anybody else. It wasn't pure love like the kind for her son; it was a dark, consuming, life-changing love that had left her aching and needy, desperate for one man.

"Good morning beautiful."

She smiled and brought her head down to meet his lips, finding that perfect pace so their lips could gently form to one another, molding into one. And everything was perfect in the world once his taste invaded her mouth, his scent lingering in her nostrils. She wasn't living those dreams anymore – the ones in which she ached to really feel his touch, to inhale his scent for one last time, knowing perfectly how his presence calmed her down, but it couldn't be reached in her dreams. For five years, the images had been in her head at night, but without everything that made them worth living - no smell to revel in, no feeling of warm arms, no taste of his skin. Most people would have called them dreams, but being reminded of what she once had every night, without having everything of him, was a nightmare to her, a torture she had to go through for way too many years.

"Where is our son?" He pulled his lips away from her, looking at the empty space behind him. "He fell asleep here."

"My dad kidnapped him. He took him to the bakery to get us breakfast." She smiled softly as she snuggled closer to him. "I think being with Liam helps him cope with losing Mom."

"Liam has the tendency to get your mind off of things," He chuckled quietly, shaking his head. "With all his babbling."

"He got that from you."

"He definitely did not get that from me." He pinched her nose, laughing as Elena wiggled her way free. "It's all your genes."

"Oh, shut up."

"Make me."

A dangerous glint flickered in his eyes as he gave her that smirk, waggling his eyebrows. She shot up and plastered her mouth to his, pushing him on his back against the covers and crawling on top of him so his hips were locked between her thighs. A low growl escaped him as she pulled on his bottom lip with her teeth, his hands finding their way under the material of her silk night gown, traveling over her back until they paused and his thumbs found their way to the sides of her breasts. She pulled her lips away to catch her breath as his thumbs started rubbing circles on her skin, his blue eyes watching her; finding her with tousled hair, wild brown eyes, and parted lips - a woman that had been waiting for five long years to be loved again by the only man that could love her the way she wanted to be, needed to be.

They weren't on a cold bathroom floor this time, jumping each other like beasts. They were human now, with all the time in the world to make love to one another. And everything they wanted to do but didn't do in that bathroom, they took the time to do now, to taste and inhale one another; her tongue traveling from his neck to his collar bone, her hands traveling over his chest, feeling the muscles beneath her palms. She pulled away as he tried to pull the night gown over her head, his eyes narrowing as he found the teasing smile on her face.

"Don't you know that men are really visual?"

"I do know." She slid down his chest, her panties rubbing over his hardness. "But I also know that you have an excellent imagination."

"You're going to torture me?"

"Last week you took me like a beast on the bathroom floor." She dipped her tongue into his belly button, feeling him squirm. "This is going to be slow, excruciatingly slow."

"I'm sorry about that."

"Doesn't matter." Her fingers closed around the waistband of his boxers. "I remember I was as eager as you."

She returned his smile and lowered her head back down, kissing his stomach, her fingers slowly peeling the fabric of his boxers away from his skin. She leaned on her feet so she could slide the underwear off his legs, throwing them on the ground next to the bed. And as she pulled her hair back behind her head and started placing gentle pecks on his length, she realized she wasn't that naive girl from five years ago anymore. She was confident now, back in his arms, not afraid anymore to take what she wanted, to do as she pleased. She licked her way up the base of his length and closed her mouth around the tip, watching his head fall back in the pillow, as his lips parted, his eyes fluttered shut and his fingers clawed at the sheets beneath him.

"Don't stop."

"Don't stop."

She threw her head back into the pillows, her hand gripping the black locks as he sucked on her wet flesh. Her teeth dug into her bottom lip, one of her hands clawing at the sheet that covered his head, keeping him in place. Her legs were resting on his shoulders, starting to feel numb as he drove her to yet another orgasm. With a last pull of his lips on her clit, her body started shaking, sweat drops running between her breasts, her eyes fighting to stay open, little waves running up in her belly and over her spine. He dipped his tongue inside of her core as she kept shaking, her legs wrapping around his neck so his head was captured between her thighs, his thumb keeping pressure on her clit, letting her enjoy the moment longer.

While she came down from her high, he took the liberty to kiss the insides of her thighs, rubbing circles on the outsides, his hands holding her hips in place. He slowly pecked his way back up, kissing her pubic bone, hip bone, navel, the undersides of her breasts, the spot between her breasts, her collar bone, until he finally settled his head in the crook of her neck. She sighed in contentment as he laid down on her, his chest pressing her bosom flat, skin against skin, nose to nose.

"You get fifteen minutes to recover." She kissed his sweat-clad forehead, chuckling softly. "Then we're doing that again."

"Woman, you're trying to kill me."

"You're just so good at it."

"Hmm." He gazed up at her, pecking her lips. "How can you still even feel your legs?"

"I can't." She gave him a beaming smile, laughing freely. "But you and I are not leaving this bed today so I don't need to feel them."

"I don't want to be a Buzzkill Bob." He stroked the lose strands of hair back behind her ear. "But I'm on call tonight."

"Which means I won't have you in bed next to me?" She pouted, wrapping her arms tighter around him. "I already hate the thought."

"Me too."

He mimicked her pout before pressing his lips against hers, hugging her body tighter against his, rolling on his side so she could drape her leg over his hip and squeeze herself against his warm body. He let his hand slide over her leg to her back and up her spine, coming to rest on the side of her face, their lips never breaking, molding against one another like they'd been doing all night. And for the first time in her life, everything seemed perfect; she should have more things on her mind right now than at any other point in her life, yet she seemed more free than at any other time in her past twenty years. They'd arrived here last night, dropping their bags to the floor, finding each other in the bedroom, and sealing the words they'd spoken hours before.

"Damon?"

"Mom?"

"Elena?"

"Lauren?"

She pulled the sheets up to cover her chest, knowing it didn't matter but feeling like that was what you were supposed to do when your boyfriend's mother caught the two of you in bed together. But as the surprise faded away from Lauren's face, she realized it wasn't the naked bodies or the woman in her son's bed that had taken her by surprise - it was her. The older woman seemed as surprised to find her back with her son again as she was to be there. And that theory was only confirmed when Lauren's blue eyes locked on her wedding finger, finding it bare. It made her self-aware and look down at her naked finger, knowing where her ring was at that exact moment, knowing her husband had probably found it when he got home last night, discovering that his wife had left him without any answers.

"I'm going to ask for my spare key back."

Damon's grunt made her snap out of her thoughts, finding the doorway empty. He plopped back down with his head in the pillow, looking up at her with those blue eyes. A frown formed on his face as he took in her expression, his hand coming up to cup her cheek, his thumb stroking her skin in a comforting way, and it made her want to cry. Here he was, the dream she'd wanted to live since the moment he stepped into her life. Here she was, loved by him, ready to start their lives together, her marriage in the past, and her heart filled with his being.

"What's wrong?" He pushed himself up on his elbow, searching her face. "Don't worry about my mom. She'll only use this against us for the next decade."

"It's not that." She shook her head, smiling weakly. "I just realized that I have a lot of phone calls to make and things to take care of."

"Take your time." He squeezed her hand and left a kiss on her cheek. "Breakfast will be waiting for you when you're ready."

It seemed like he knew as well as her which call needed to be made. She didn't need to speak the words for him to know that there was someone waiting for her at home, hoping for her to return, and whose prayers would be left unanswered. Because she was where she wanted to be, with the man she wanted to be with, and that same man was handing her the phone while he crawled out of bed and found his jeans on the ground, pulling them on quickly before giving her one last look and walking through the door to find his mother.

"Elena?"

The phone didn't even ring a second time before the sigh of relief came through it, like she had been missing all night and was finally found. But she hadn't been missing; being missing would have meant she was lost, but instead she had found her way. Nevertheless, hearing her husband's voice and the terror behind it, imagining the pain and worry he must have suffered through the past night, caused her voice to disappear.

"Ste...ee..fan?"

"Where are you sweetie?" He whispered into the phone, his voice breaking. "I've been so worried, I couldn't reach you and no one knew where you were..."

"I'm not coming back, Stefan."

A pregnant silence fell between the two of them, Stefan's breath hitching and hers heavy, because neither of them had ever expected to be in this situation. But now they were here and she wanted to slap herself in the face for being so stupid. She'd thought she'd fallen in love, only to realize years later how loving someone really felt, how it was able to consume you and take over your every emotion. She'd thought he was the one, that he was the dream, and she'd married him to live that dream, but at the end of the day that marriage turned out to be a nightmare.

"What?" Stefan finally found his voice, a raspy tone. "I don't know what you mean."

"I'm leaving you, Stefan." Tears welled up in her eyes, her voice pitching. "And I'm sorry that I have to tell you this way, but I had to make a choice and I chose this."

"You chose what?"

"I chose Damon."

Tears streamed down her cheeks as Stefan broke apart. He didn't make a sound, he didn't say a thing, and he didn't have to. Because who wouldn't break apart when you heard the brother you had recently found was the reason your marriage fell apart?

"We've been going behind your back for months, and I'm so sorry, Stefan." She choked on her own words. "And I know you trusted me and him, and I'm sorry we betrayed that trust."

"You're leaving me?"

"Yes."

It seemed like the words finally got through to him - his wife fell in love with another man, that man being the brother he'd just found. And she couldn't imagine the emotions he was going through, anger, hurt, disappointment, betrayal, all because fate had chosen to bring two people together and let them fall in love. It seemed unfair to him, yet to her it was the best thing that had ever happened.

"Fuck you, Elena."

Her body relaxed at the same time the line was disconnected, a weight falling off her shoulders although the tears wouldn't stop streaming from her eyes. In her mind, her dreams were crushed, erased by that one phone call; the children and the white picket fence wouldn't be part of her life. But a new future formed in her head; love, so much love that she'd drown in it, talks, sharing her every thought with the person she'd spend her life with, passion, her body on fire every night, desperate to have his against it. It was as if she was a new person, someone who had decided that just an understanding relationship wasn't enough anymore now that she had tasted what it could be like. So she chased the new things her body and soul seemed to crave, all the way to Chicago.

"You really gave up everything for him."

Her head snapped around, her brown eyes locking on Lauren's blue ones. She smiled tightly and wiped the tears off her cheeks, looking down at the ground, finding the wooden patterns more interesting than anything else in that moment. The bed shifted beside her as Lauren sat down, her presence seeming to bring some kind of comfort yet a tension at the same time. This woman had been nothing but nice to her the week she'd stayed here, but it wasn't the kind of friendly where she locked a new daughter in her heart; it was the kind of friendly where you talk to your son's new girlfriend and try to make her feel comfortable, thinking you probably won't see her again after that one week.

"I love him." She turned her eyes back to Lauren's, shrugging. "I want to be with him and escaping from that small town was part of it."

"When I got Damon," Lauren took a deep breath, fidgeting. "I lost everything too."

"What do you mean?"

"My family, they were wealthy but they were also religious." Lauren swallowed back the lump in her throat. "When I got pregnant with Damon, they forbid me to go out in public and they prepared everything to give the baby up for adoption."

"But you didn't agree."

"They wanted to act like their daughter never got pregnant, and after he was born, they wanted to forget he ever existed." Lauren shook her head, pressing her lips together. "And I went along with it because I didn't want to let them down."

"What changed?"

"He was born." Lauren whispered, a small smile playing on her lips. "They put him on my chest and he was screaming his lungs out, and in that moment it seemed like my life finally had meaning - I had a boy to raise and take care of. They couldn't take that from me."

"You couldn't let him go because he was a part of Giuseppe?"

"I couldn't let him go because he was a part of me." Lauren's clear blue eyes locked onto her brown ones. "I carried him, he grew in my stomach, I felt him come to life in there and I put him on this earth. That he wasn't conceived with love didn't mean that he wasn't loved. When I look at him, I don't see Giuseppe. I see me. A woman who can't look at her child because she sees his or her father in them, can't look into a mirror either."

"I've never looked at it that way." Elena frowned, a thousand thoughts in her head. "Damon never said anything about it."

"That's because Damon doesn't know about it." Lauren took her hand and squeezed it. "It's the one secret I've kept from him and it's going to stay that way. He thinks his grandparents passed away before he was born. If he knew the truth, he'd blame himself for my situation, but he doesn't need to feel guilty because he was the best thing that ever happened to me."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you're going to stay." Lauren pressed a hand against her cheek. "I've never seen him this happy or so in love, and I just know you'll be in our lives for a long time."

"Everything alright here?"

Even if she had been able to find the words to articulate what was going on inside her head, Damon's reappearance interrupted her from voicing them aloud. As he stood in the doorway, looking at them with those blue eyes of his, she could only offer him a smile as Lauren gave her cheek one last stroke with her thumb and then got up from the bed, passing her son in the doorway and leaving a kiss on his cheek.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine." She watched him walk around the bed. "Your mom and I just had a talk."

"About?"

"Something I already knew." She took his head in her hands, locking their eyes. "I love you."

"I love you."

Bodies melting together, breaths mingling in the same space, skins rubbing, fingers intertwined, hips locked. It was a mantra running through her head as he moved inside of her - 'I love you, I love you, I love you' - yet physically, she could only pronounce it once, breathing it into the side of his neck as he thrust into her, their sweat-clad bodies driving to that ultimate pleasure together.

"I love you too."

And it seemed to be the very thing she needed to fall over the edge, her body shaking and quivering underneath his as he drove into her a final time and found his own release, before his arm muscles lost their strength and he collapsed on top of her. Her arms wrapped around him and her fingers tangled into his black locks, caressing his skull while he tried to catch his breath. She hugged him tighter to her body, her legs still wrapped around his waist to keep him there even as he softened inside her, his head resting in the crook of her neck.

"God, I missed this." She kissed his forehead, running her fingers through his hair. "You, inside of me."

"Hmm, don't say things like that." He growled against her neck, pouting. "I'm going to need fifteen minutes to recover."

"My poor old man." She chuckled, rubbing his back. "Don't worry, I'll totally understand it when you need Viagra."

"Despite what you might think, you're not funny."

"I'm sorry for bruising your ego."

"I almost missed those digs." He looked up at her, smiling. "Almost."

"Do you know what I missed the most?" She placed her hand on his cheek, biting her bottom lip. "Just having you next to me at night and waking up next to you in the morning. Even when Stefan was lying next to me, the bed still felt empty because it wasn't the same as it was with you."

"I missed that too." He kissed the inside of her palm. "I hated coming home to a dark apartment and an empty bed. It felt like there was no one that cared that I came home."

"I missed you so much."

"I missed you too."

She pressed her lips tightly against his before pulling herself away and trailing kisses down his neck to where she buried her head into his shoulder, hugging him tightly to her, making up for the past five years she'd missed doing so. He mimicked her actions and wrapped his arms around her, burying his head next to hers, breathing in her scent, and holding onto her in a way no one had done in years.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here." He breathed into her ear, hugging her. "I should have been here with you and Liam."

"It's okay, you didn't know." She pulled her head back to lock their eyes. "You're here now and you're here to be his dad, it's okay."

How did you tell someone that you knew all along that you had a child together? That you figured it out before she did that she was carrying your child in her womb? How do you tell the woman you love that you let her walk out the door because you wanted to do the right thing for your child? He'd chosen to not be in his son's life for years, knowing he had to fix himself before he could teach someone else about the beauty of life. It's why he had stayed away for all those years, only appearing in times of crises. Holding his son that first night after he'd been born, feeding him and bathing him because he knew he'd have to say goodbye to him again in the morning when he went back to his mother. Sitting next to his three-year-old son's bed after they'd removed his appendix, wondering how they could be three years further than when he'd last sat in the hospital and held him while he'd slept. It had been the same as the night he was born. He'd gotten the phone call, forced himself not to care, and then found himself, hours later, with his son in his arms.

"Elena, I have to tell you something..."

"Daddy!"

"I think our son has other plans." She pecked his lips, holding his face. "We'll talk tonight okay?"

"Okay."

"DADDY!" Liam sprinted into the room, eyes wide as he launched himself onto the bed. "There's a crazy lady in the kitchen who threw cookies at me. You have to do something, she's scary!"

"I know she's scary," He pushed himself up on his elbow. "The first few months I lived with her I cried every night."

"Lauren's here?"

Elena shot up from the bed, not even waiting for an answer as she gathered her clothes from the chair and started pulling them over her head and up her legs. It made Damon smile as he watched the scene unfold in front of his eyes, knowing that even though she'd lost her mother, she still had another one to find comfort in. Never had it occurred to him before that it might have been the reason why his mother kept fighting for his and Elena's relationship, even after they separated; because Lauren hadn't just said goodbye to her son's girlfriend, she'd had to say goodbye to the only daughter she'd ever known.

"Who is she?"

"She's my mom and for some reason your mom likes her." Damon looked up at his son. "Trust me you don't want to be near them when they reunite."

"Why not?"

"Because they act like two overgrown cheerleaders. They clap, they dance, they jump, they sing and you're just sitting there wondering who won the game."

"I don't think I want to hear Mommy sing." Liam shook his head, covering his ears. "It's already bad enough in the shower."

"You just have to keep her busy."

"How do you keep her busy in the shower?"

"Just..." Damon rolled his eyes and snuggled deeper in the pillow. "We'll have this conversation in ten years."

"We're going to have a lot of conversations in ten years."

"Stop being a smartass and go back to sleep."

Liam pouted slightly and pulled his socks off, crawling under the covers next to his father. Damon smiled softly as he heard Liam lie down with a small sigh, the boy's eyes directed at the ceiling and worry written on his face. Damon wondered how a five-year-old could have any worries when he was surrounded by so much love and warmth.

"What's wrong?"

"When are we going back home?" Liam whispered, blue locking on blue. "I like staying with Grandpa but now I want to go back home to my own room and toys."

"Grayson is sad because he lost your granny, and we're here so he wouldn't be so lonely." Damon tucked his arm under his head. "And your mom and Stefan are not going to live together anymore, so that means they're going to decide who gets what and maybe your mom won't get the house."

"So I can never go home?"

"We'll get a new home." He wiped away the tear that rolled over Liam's cheek. "And you'll get a new room with your favorite colors."

"But I miss my old room." His bottom lip stuck out from underneath the other one. "And I miss Granny."

It seemed unfair that the world was throwing all these things at him at once. Elena had made it her life's mission to shield from pain, so now when he was finally confronted with it, the hurt was ten times worse. It would leave a scar on his young soul that he'd have to carry with him for the rest of his life, but he was growing up and he could no longer be shielded from all the pain that the world was going to throw at him. Not even the best parents managed to protect their child like that, not even the best father could save his son from all of life's pain.

"I know you miss her." He placed his arm over Liam's waist, turning on his side. "We all miss her."

"You don't miss her." It almost sounded like an accusation. "Do you think Granny is with God?"

"If you believe in that sort of thing."

"Don't you believe in God?" His wide eyes bored into Damon's. "Granny said that if she wasn't coming back, I didn't have to worry because God would take care of her."

"That's what your grandmother believed." He rolled his eyes, finding the confused look on his son's face. "That doesn't mean I have to believe the same thing."

"But bad things happen when you don't believe in God."

"Nah, I rather side with Mother Nature." He smirked slightly. "She's way more powerful than God will ever be."

"But you have to believe! That's what Granny said."

"Your grandmother was one of those people that needed hope and bought the church's product." He shrugged as if it didn't matter. "God is air, he doesn't exist. He's just an invention that the church uses to tell people what they can and cannot do."

"But God created the Earth."

"No, Mother Nature created the earth." He smiled softly as Liam rolled his eyes in return. "The church tells you that God created the earth so you feel like you owe them something."

"Can we have this conversation in ten years too?"

"Sure." He laughed, seeing Liam's face light up too. "We'll put it on the list with all those other conversations we're going to have then."

Liam nodded and gave him a beaming smile, crawling closer to him under the covers. Damon draped his arm around his son as Liam snuggled into the crook of his neck. It was something Damon never did with his own father; it was something he never realized he had missed, spending mornings with your father, just talking, being lazy, feeling safe in the arms of that person you knew would always protect you.

"Daddy?" Liam looked up at him, blue on blue. "Why are you naked?"

"I like to sleep naked."

"Are you sticking to that story?"

"Don't be a smartass."

"You okay?"

"Go away." She leaned over the toilet, hugging it. "You don't need to see this."

He pushed himself off the doorpost and rolled his eyes. Sighing, he sat down behind her and gathered her hair from around her face to hold it up. She shook her head as she tried to pull away from him. That didn't last long as another wave of nausea made her hover above the toilet again. When it finally subsided, she fell back on her heels, pulling her head away from his hands.

"You're forgetting that I'm a doctor."

"You once told me you became a surgeon because you don't want to deal with puke and diarrhea on a daily basis."

"It's different when it's my girlfriend's puke." He pulled his nose up. "Not getting into the diarrhea part though."

"I can't believe I'm sick." She rested her head against the toilet seat, watching him through tired eyes. "It's been years since I had the flu."

"Lesson number one about living with a surgeon," He took her shoulders in his hands, massaging them gently. "We spend a lot of time in hospitals with a lot of sick people. Get a flu shot next year."

She pouted and fell back against his chest as he smiled and cradled her against his body, his fingers running through her messy hair. And as they sat there quietly, she realized she had never had that kind of comfort, a man's warm arms around her as her head felt like it was about the explode. It was new and foreign, a man that invested so much time in their relationship, as if he was more devoted to her than to anything else in his life, choosing her over some novel he had to finish. It made her want to cry, because for the first time in her life she like she was really loved, different from her parents who were practically forced to love her since they gave birth to her. She was loved by a man, one who would put everything on the line for her. He had a job where he had people's lives in his hands every day; he took their hearts in his hands and healed them. And he'd healed her heart too, without even leaving a scar.

"I'm icky." She mumbled against his chest, sniffing. "And I stink."

"Come on then, icky person."

He wrapped one arm around her back and the other under her knees, standing up and walking to the bedroom door. That warmth spread through her again; she felt safe, cared for, special. Every day she compared him to his brother, and she knew it was wrong; you don't compare your lovers, and yet she felt as if she had to do it every day to recognize what she had gained. It didn't feel like she had lost something when she left her marriage behind. Now she realized there was so much more to life than babies and a husband; there was love to be chased, so much love. She didn't think any man was capable of loving anyone as much as Damon loved her, maybe he was one in a kind, or maybe she just thought she had found the right one in the wrong person before. Whatever the reason, she felt like she had to put them side by side and acknowledge the differences so she could see that Damon gave her so much more than she had ever received in her marriage. He gave her all of himself, holding nothing back - his body was hers, his soul was hers, his heart was her property.

"Can I get you anything?" He placed her down on the bed, pulling the covers over her. "Soup, tylenol...?"

"Morphine."

"I'm afraid I can't give you that." He crouched down next to the bed, chuckling. "I'll get you an aspirin."

"What the hell is the use of dating a surgeon if he can't even drug me?"

"Well, surgeons are specialist in human anatomy, which means we know every spot that can hurt you or bring you pleasure." He pressed a kiss against her forehead, tapping her nose. "And I'll demonstrate to you why the hell you are dating a surgeon the second you get better."

"No dirty talk." She shook her head and buried it in the pillow. "I'm not feeling sexy at the moment."

He shook his head at her while he rolled his eyes in amusement, his fingers removing the loose strands of hair away from her face. She opened her eyes and looked straight into his, drowning in that ocean of blue, looking right into his soul, one of the purest she'd ever seen, or maybe just the only one she'd ever seen up close. She had been living with him for a week, and every day there was a new thing he did that made her love him more, even though she'd thought that loving him more was impossible, not when she was already consumed by him, not when he was in her every vein, the blood that kept her body alive.

"Oh Damon with your eyes so blueeee..." She sang softly, reaching for his hand. "Oh baby, I love youuu."

"You already took something, didn't you?" He placed his thumb beneath her eye and pulled it open. "By the looks of your pupils, I'd say you had more than one something."

"But I'm feeling pretty good now."

"I'm sure you do." He smirked before his expression became serious again. "I love you too, Elena."

"Don't you dare ever leave me." She whispered, bringing his hand to her lips. "I'll chase you to the other side of the world if I have to, you're stuck with me."

"Good."

His confidence made a smile appear on her tired face. She shuffled herself to the middle of the bed as he made a move to lie down next to her. Once he settled, she pushed herself against him, burying her face into the crook of his neck, her arm draping around his waist. She pushed one of her legs between his and sighed as she completely relaxed against him, content with where she was, perfectly happy. Happier than she'd ever been, probably the happiest she could be, except for that one thing that would make her happiness complete.

"Don't have a vasectomy." She whispered against the skin in his neck. "I promise I won't get pregnant, just don't have a vasectomy."

"Where did that come from?"

"You said that if you ever got into a serious relationship, you'd get a vasectomy." She looked up into his eyes, finding him staring back at her. "You can trust me, I won't get pregnant."

"I know I can trust you." He closed his eyes before he slowly opened them again and nodded. "Okay, I won't have a vasectomy."

"Thank you."

She felt a weight fall off her shoulders, her nightmares wiped from her mind. As long as he didn't have that operation, she had hope that maybe someday he'd say "Okay, let's go for it." Maybe then she could carry his baby, feel it grow in her belly, and raise it with him. She couldn't have that hope taken from her; even if they never had children, she'd always have that tiny bit of hope that maybe one day he really would give her everything of him, that together they'd create a bond stronger than her marriage had ever been.

"Don't you have to go to work?"

"Not today."

"Good." She left a kiss on his jaw, snuggling deeper into him. "I missed you next to me."

"I missed you too."

"I missed you too."

Elena buried her face in Lauren's shoulder, hugging her tighter, and it felt as if she was finally really back in Damon's life. After all those years of longing and waiting for him to show up on her doorstep, they had finally arrived and the package was whole again, because Damon and Lauren formed a unit that even she knew she would never be able to separate. She'd always known, that's why instead of rebelling against her mother-in-law like most women, they became best friends, sharing one love that bonded them in the tightest way possible, Damon.

"What are you doing here?" Elena held Lauren at arm's length, a wide smile spread across her face. "I'm glad you're here but you're not supposed to travel."

"If my son doesn't bring my grandson to me, then I'm coming to him." Lauren put her hands on her hips, giving a firm nod. "Now it turns out my grandson is just like my son and can't get out of the room quickly enough when I'm in it."

"He said you threw a cookie at him." Elena shook her head, laughing. "And you've got the part about Damon and Liam being the same right."

"And why do I suspect you don't mind?"

"Because I don't." She pulled her hands off Lauren's shoulders. "It's what I always wanted, Lauren. They're inseparable and I just can't get enough of watching them together."

It was a vivid image in her mind. Liam curled up against his father's chest when she woke up in the middle of the night, finding her son in their bed, and it made her smile like a lunatic as her two men frowned in their sleep at the same time, apparently not only the same in character. Liam and Damon bickering as they're having breakfast at the hospital, then at some point they both look at her and wait for her to decide who's right, and she just shakes her head at them and laughs. The older her son becomes, the more he starts to resemble his father, and like his father, her boy has a mind of his own, which makes him and Damon the best of friends or the worst of enemies.

"Did you two have a chance to talk?" Lauren came to stand beside her, kneading the cookie dough. "Everything's out in the open, no more secrets?"

"No, not really." She shrugged, shaking her head. "We've had so much drama around us ever since he arrived that we haven't had the time to sit down and talk about everything that has happened. I mean, I know I'm going to spend the rest of my life with him, but I have things to tell him and I'm sure he has things to tell me."

"When he tells you," Lauren took a deep breath, swallowing the lump in her throat. "You need to remember that he was a different man five years ago."

"Is it that bad?" She whispered, her eyes scanning Lauren's face. "Was there someone else after me?"

"No, honey. If that's what you're thinking, then you have absolutely nothing to worry about." Lauren placed her hand against Elena's cheek. "What I'm saying is that just like you couldn't let go of him, he couldn't let go of you either."

"Did you ever tell him..?" Her eyes teared up as she looked into Lauren's clear blue ones. "About..?"

"No." Lauren shook her head, smiling reassuringly. "That's for you to tell him."

"I thought you and Damon didn't do secrets?"

"I know what a woman does to protect her son. I'm not saying that what she does is always the right thing but sometimes it's necessary." Lauren smiled sadly, pressing her lips together. "You had to protect your son, like I had to protect mine."

"Mommy?"

Her eyes snapped away from Lauren's to her son who sauntered into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes tiredly. She chuckled and watched him crawl onto the chair and then from there up onto the kitchen table, his little legs dangling off the edge. Lauren turned around too, watching her grandson, for the first time in her life having him really within reach, and Elena could see what it did to the older woman. This was her family, she didn't have anyone besides Damon, but this little boy was her family too. He had been since the day he was born and she'd been waiting to meet him since that day, and Elena didn't doubt for a second that she was as ready to wrap Liam up in her love as she had with her and Damon.

"What's wrong my beautiful boy?" Elena pressed a kiss to his temple. "Are you still tired?"

"I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry." She grabbed his fists and pulled it away from his eyes so he'd stop rubbing in them. "We'll wait for Damon to have breakfast. Where is he?"

"He had to pee."

"Don't say it like that." She smiled and rubbed his arm. "Damon is using the bathroom."

"Damon is using the bathroom." He nodded tiredly, pressing his lips together. "To pee."

"No." Elena rolled her eyes. "He's just using the bathroom."

"But he told me he had to pee."

"But you don't have to say that." Elena shook her head again, smiling. "Never mind, we'll have this talk again when you're fully awake."

She turned away from her son back to the kitchen, her eyes falling on Lauren who was studying Liam intensely, like he was the most precious thing she'd ever seen, and in some way he probably was to her. Here was a woman that had always believed she'd never have grandchildren, because her son had been too badly scarred by his own father, or the lack of having one, to even consider it. Now the miniature version of her son was sitting right in front of her, being his cute little self, not even aware of how much he was adored by her, how she'd been longing to meet him for all those years.

"Do you want to help me bake cookies?" Lauren gave him a smile that was filled with adoration. "We can make all kind of different shapes."

"No."

"Liam you love to bake cookies." Elena leaned over the counter to look at him. "You used to do it all the time with Grandma."

"But she's not my Granny!"

And just like that, Liam lowered himself to the ground and ran towards the stairs, stomping back up them. Elena shook her head in a dazed state, her eyes moving to Lauren and seeing the hurt on her face as her eyes focused on kneading the dough, suddenly like the dough was the most important thing in the world. Elena snapped out of her thoughts and searched for words to justify her son's behavior.

"I'm so sorry about that." She bit her lip, already moving past Lauren. "I'll go talk to him."

"It's okay." Lauren grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "He's been through a difficult period, he's hurt."

"That doesn't justify his behavior."

Elena threw the towel she'd had on her shoulder back on the counter top and went after her son. Once she reached the bottom of the stairs, she found him sitting at the top, his elbows on his knees, his chin on his fists, a pout on his face, and tears streaming down his cheeks. Carefully, she went up the stairs and sat down next to her son, wrapping an arm around his shoulders to pull him into her side. At first he was reluctant to be comforted by her but after a few moments, he melted against her.

"Do you want to tell me what's wrong?"

"I only want to bake cookies with Granny." He sniffed against her chest. "She's not Granny and she'll never ever be Granny."

"No one said she's Granny." Elena caressed his skull with light strokes. "Why would you think that she's here to replace your Granny?"

"Damon is now my daddy." He uttered, having difficulty breathing through his sobs. "And she's Daddy's mommy, so she's now my Granny too but I don't want another Granny."

"She's not here to replace your Granny." Elena hugged him tightly to her chest. "I would never let that happen."

"What's wrong?"

She looked up when suddenly Damon hovered above them, the gray shirt he was wearing emphasizing the blue in his eyes. His eyes switched between her face and Liam in her arms, and he frowned, carrying a worried expression on his face. She shook her head quietly and watched him sit down on Liam's other side, his eyes watching his son as he sobbed against her chest. It was the first time she really saw a father in him; it hit her in that moment, as he was sitting there, worrying about their son. Even though he could see there was no physical harm, he still worried about his son being in pain because like a real dad, he wanted to protect his son from all that the world threw at him.

"He thinks Lauren is here to replace his Granny." Elena explained quietly, finding Damon's eyes. "And he doesn't want another Granny."

"She's not here to take her place." Damon's eyes went to their son, his finger moving over Liam's cheek. "She's just an extra Granny, like you have an extra Daddy."

And for some reason Liam stopped sobbing. He sat up slowly and his eyes got their shimmer back as Damon's words seemed to sink in. Elena watched as her son squirmed his way out of her arms and snuggled up to his father, apparently more content there. Damon placed a kiss against his crown and wrapped his arm around the little boy, rocking him from side to side as he grieved the loss of his grandmother and began to accept the new one that had stepped into his life.

"She isn't so bad." Damon whispered against his ear, rubbing his arm as if to warm him up. "She bakes really good cookies with chocolate."

"Maybe I'll like her." He pouted his lips together so a small frown formed between his brows. "If she doesn't throw cookies at me anymore."

"She thought you'd catch it." Elena squeezed his knee. "It was nice of her."

"I'm not a dog." Liam snarled, pouting harder this time. "I only eat things from the floor when I'm really hungry."

"Don't ever eat things from the floor, it's not healthy." Damon arched his eyebrow at the boy and stood up. "I'm going to check on my mom, want to come?"

"I'm not ready for it yet."

Damon rolled his eyes, ruffled his son's hair and leaned over to drop a kiss on Elena's lip. As soon as his lips touched hers, Elena wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, hearing Liam making a disgusted noise beside her. Damon's hands went to her hips to steady himself as he stumbled in front of her, and she giggled against his lips, pressing her lips back against his mouth once he smiled back. She reveled in his touch, her body still humming from the orgasms this morning, their connection sealed again, like it once had been. And this time she wouldn't run from a love that frightened her because it ran so deep; instead she'd welcome it, because she lived too long without it. It had taken her two seconds to realize after she came back that she wanted that kind of love, knowing one would die to protect the other, and it was what she'd longed for all those years.

"Go do fiki fiki somewhere else."

"If you think this is fiki fiki," Damon pulled his lips away from Elena's, laughing. "Then there are so many surprises coming your way."

"What do you mean?" Liam yelled as his father reached the bottom of the stairs, eyes wide open. "Mommy, what does he mean?"

"Nothing for you to worry about." Elena shook her head, patting his hair. "You want to go play outside?"

"I've got a question first." He watched the smile appear on her face. "If Daddy is my Daddy and Daddy's Mommy is my Granny, then why didn't I meet them sooner?"

How did you tell a five-year-old you'd taken him away from his real father? The whole 'Daddy-situation' didn't seem complicated to him, but that was because they hadn't started talking about biology. Do you tell your son you took him away from his father to protect him? Because you knew he wouldn't have been born if you had stayed? Did you tell him his father didn't want him in the first place? That you had to steal him? That he came by accident, yet he was the best thing that ever happened to you?

"I need to tell you a story." Elena lowered herself to another step and looked up at him. "A long time ago, before you were born, there was a girl, and she thought she'd fallen in love with a boy. They got together and they stayed together for a very long time, and all that time the girl thought she was in love with that boy. Then the boy asked her if she wanted to marry him and the girl said yes, because she thought she couldn't love anyone else more than him. But that same day, the girl met another boy, and that boy was dangerous and at first she really didn't like him, but after a while they became friends and the girl started to trust that boy more than anyone else in the world. But the girl didn't realize that they were more than just friends. The girl had fallen in love with her best friend but she didn't figure it out until she married the first boy. On her wedding day, she kissed the other boy but he pushed her away and told her they were wrong to do that, and the girl knew they shouldn't be doing that so they tried to stay away from each other for a very long time, even though they wanted to be together. Then it was the boy's birthday and the girl baked him a cake because she wanted to see him again and talk to him. That night they realized they had fallen in love and they kissed. After that night, they couldn't stay away from each other anymore, but they hid themselves from everyone because if someone saw them, they'd tell the girl's husband. They lived like that for a long time, until one day the boy had to go back to where he came from and the girl had to choose. She chose her husband but when she thought about leaving the other boy behind, she couldn't imagine living without him. So she ran far away with him and they were happy together and so in love; no one could believe that they loved each other so much. Then something happened and the girl had to leave, so she came back to her husband, but after she came back, she figured out that because she had loved the other boy so much, they had made a baby that was growing in her belly. She told her husband and he said she could keep the baby if she never talked to the other boy again, and for a very long time she didn't talk to him. But that didn't mean that she stopped loving him or that she didn't think about him anymore, because she thought about him every second of every day. She watched his son grow up, and she loved that little boy so much because he was the last thing she had of the other boy. But the other boy didn't know that she had that baby, and he thought the girl didn't love him anymore and that's why she didn't come back to him, but then after a few years, he came back himself and he found the girl, and then he found his son."

"Did he like his son?"

"He loves his son so much." Elena stroked his cheek, watching a smile appear on his face. "They're best friends."

"Like me and Daddy?" His eyes lit up, his lips parting. "Or like you and Auntie Bonnie?"

"I need to tell you something, buddy." She took his small hand between hers. "Damon's the boy and I'm the girl that fell in love with him, and we ran away and we loved each other so much that we made you. Damon's your real daddy, Liam. He's your only daddy."

"I know." Liam shrugged, eyes honest and open. "He's awesome, I'm awesome."

"You know?"

"And we both have blue eyes." Liam ignored her question as if he hadn't heard it. "And when you were in the hospital he took care of me, because that's what real daddies do."

"You could have met him so much sooner." Elena bit her lip, shaking her head with shame. "I kept him from you and I'm so sorry. If I had told him about you, then you could have met him sooner."

"But mommy," Liam's eyebrows knitted together. "Daddy said I slept on his chest the first night I was born."

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