It was around 8:30am when Elena finished showering. She fixed her hair, applied her make-up and was getting dressed for class like she did just about every weekday. Damon was just stirring awake, not because he hadn't heard her getting ready, but because he'd been up so late preparing for his meeting this morning with a few of the council members. Today was going to be a challenging day, and he needed to be as sharp as possible. In addition to his meeting with the council, he had planned on accompanying Elena to her ultrasound appointment later in the day with Meredith. His anticipation had prevented him from falling asleep. This would be the first time he actually saw his son, even if only on a screen. His misgivings about Elena's health and their son's survival and future weighed heavily on his heart. This was the most significant thing he'd done in his very long life.

Damon sat up, swinging his legs off the side of the bed. He paused a moment to shake the sleep off before heading for the shower. Elena was standing in the enormous walk in closet with the door open, trying to decide what shirt to wear. He paused at the sight. In the bottom corner of the closet sat a 3 foot tall teddy bear courtesy of one Klaus Mikaelson. Every morning for the past 3 weeks, he'd woken up to the sight of that thing staring him in the face. The enormous bear had been left on the doorstep of the boarding house, most likely by one of his hybrids, one day while they were away, with a note attached. The note read, 'Congratulations on such an auspicious occasion! Love, Klaus.' Obviously word had reached him that Elena was expecting. The stuffed bear was his way of saying he couldn't be happier. Always suspicious of Klaus' motives, Damon made sure to examine the stuffed animal carefully for any signs of incendiary or recording devices. He wanted to make sure his 'gift' wasn't more than just a reminder of the significance the baby was to his future supply of hybrids. His choice of wording 'auspicious' was fitting. Too bad for Klaus it wasn't in his favor. Just to be safe, they'd tossed the bear in the closet, hindering any attempts to spy on them. Damon found the sight of it staring him in the face kind of creepy. As he stood up, he said to Elena, "That's it I'm moving that bear."

She laughed, "Fine with me. You're the one who put it there." She walked over to give him a kiss placing her hands on his chest as he pulled her closer to him by her waist. "Hey you'll be back in time from the meeting to go with me won't you?"

Pretending to be totally oblivious to what she was talking about, he put on his most sincerely innocent look and said, "Go with you where?"

She smiled at his feigned attempt at ignorance. "Ha ha very funny." He continued his charade by keeping his face as unemotional as possible. A look of recognition and concern came across Elena's face. "Wait you're serious? You have no idea what I'm talking about?"

He shook his head still playing along. "Nope, no idea."

"The appointment with Meredith at 2:00pm. She's doing an ultrasound remember?"

Damon exaggerated his response like the ultrasound was no big deal to him. "Pfst oh yeah that. I can't make it. I promised Jeremy I'd show him how to make vervain grenades." Elena's eyes widened. She took in a gasp of air to protest, but before she could get a single word out, Damon pulled her to him pressing his lips against hers in a firm kiss. Against her lips he said, "I'm kidding." He could feel her body relax. Between kisses, he said, "I *kiss* wouldn't *kiss* miss *kiss* it *kiss*."

She smiled pulling her lips away, "That wasn't funny." She playfully smacked his arm and pulled away, turning to leave his embrace. She barely made it a step before he pulled her back tight against him smiling.

"Come on it was kind of funny."

Her eyes looked down at his lips. "No, that was mean."

He pouted his lower lip out silently, begging for her forgiveness, swaying her slightly in his embrace. "Mmmm," he kissed her again softly. He said in his sexy voice, "I'm sure I can find a way to make it up to you." He started placing small warm kisses along her jaw, down her neck, as she bent her head back with the pleasure.

She tried to gather her resolve but was having difficulty doing so. "I can't. I'll be late for class."

He continued kissing her, working his way back up to her ear. He whispered, "So you can just sneak in." He licked the inside of her ear sensually. "No one will even notice."

She could feel his excitement pressed against her pelvis. Although she definitely wanted him as much as he wanted her, she took this opportunity to pay him back for teasing her earlier. She softly said, "Sorry, gotta go." Then she pulled out of his grasp and walked towards the door to leave, turning to blow him a kiss. Teasingly she said, "I'll see you later then."

He growled, "Mmmm you know you'll give in later."

She teased, "Maybe, maybe not," then she left.

He sighed turning his head to look at the open closet and noticed the bear staring at him with that dumb bear grin. He let out a huge aggravated moan as he picked the bear up to look at it. "Where to put you? The fireplace sounds like a good idea." He started walking towards the fireplace, put the bear inside and struck a match. Before he tossed the match in, he saw that stupid bear smile and changed his mind about torching it. "Nah, it will piss Klaus off more when he finds out he bought something for the very kid that's going to end his life." That brought a huge smile to his face as he took the bear out of the fireplace. He walked out of the bedroom with it under his arm, to the room across the hall, and tossed the bear inside." As he went to leave, his hand already on the door knob, he turned back around to glance about the room. "Hmmmm," he tilted his head curiously then he shut the door behind him.

The meeting was held at its usual location, the Lockwood estate. The remaining council members had been divided since Pastor Young initiated the vampire round up a few months ago, resulting in a mysterious explosion that killed several of their members. The mass death of so many people in a town as small as Mystic Falls was devastating not only to the community but to the council itself. Some of the more conservative members wanted to continue where Pastor Young left off, eradicating the vampires from their town, while others were fearful of future retribution. Their fears were magnified by the death of an experienced hunter at the hands of a group of vampires. This prompted some of the more open minded members to look at other alternatives to fighting the vampires. At Mayor Lockwood and Sheriff Forbes' urgent suggestion, they agreed to meet with Damon in an attempt to avoid more bloodshed. However, their willingness to meet with a vampire, even one who had effectively lead the council, was considered blasphemous by the other members who labeled them traitors.

Damon walked into the great room of the Lockwood mansion to six sets of eyes boring into him. He knew this wasn't going to be easy but he had to try. At least the mayor and sheriff were there to support him. He nodded to each of the members taking a seat across from them. "Thank you all for coming. I know this is a rather unconventional meeting for you, but I think we all agree something needs to be done to prevent any more unnecessary deaths. As you know, I've been involved with the council since not long after I arrived. I've lived amongst you without incident,..." he thought, sort of, "contributing financially to the community and have worked to control any rogue vampires, who have tried to cause problems. Most of us never wanted this kind of life. We didn't choose to be vampires, but it happened to us anyway. There are others like myself who just want to live here in peace. This has always been my home, and I'd like to come to some agreement so we can co-exist."

One of the members, Chris Adams, a man in his mid-fifties, challenged. "Alaric Saltzman filled us in on the activities that have gone on behind our backs, most of which are quite disturbing. How can you justify these incidents?"

Damon explained, "Alaric Saltzman was my best friend, and that wouldn't have happened unless he felt comfortable enough to trust me. He unfortunately was manipulated by a vengeful person to the point of insanity which, as you know, drove him to kill some of the council members. The stories he told you were from a disturbed man's perspective." I'm sorry to throw you under the bus here Ric. "The real Alaric Saltzman understood there were good and bad vampires just like there are in ordinary people. He understood that we just wanted to live like anyone else, but that there are others with evil intentions that needed to be dealt with. I was there when Ric died. I had the chance to see a glimmer of my old friend. Yes, there have been some things that have happened that I can understand would cause you concern, but they weren't done without just cause. Unfortunately, there have been some human casualties along the way. Ric was one of those casualties."

Founding family member Shelley Lang spoke up irrate. "Human casualties are the very reason we want to rid this town of vampires. It was their evil that destroyed this town over a century ago. We've all heard the stories passed down from our families. Vampires manipulate us to do what they want through compulsion. They feed off of us then kill when they're done. They have no soul. They can't be trusted."

Sheriff Forbes tried to neutralize Ms. Lang's hostility. Liz said, "Shelley, please hear him out. I grew up with the same stories as you, but I've come to realize that we were wrong."

Shelley fired back, "Sure you'll defend him because you're daughter is one of them!"

Liz began to respond, "You've known me..."

Damon held up his hand to stop Liz. "Liz let me handle this." He looked back at Ms. Lang trying to remain calm. "Ms. Lang, I understand your concern, but the information you have about vampires was passed down to you from a long line of fanatical vampire haters. I was here in 1864 when the original founding council rounded up the vampires and killed them. These vampires had been living among them in peace for some time, until one out of control vampire caused paranoia to spread. I saw how the vampires were gathered up and burned alive in the town church. There was mass hysteria amongst the towns people, and the vampires weren't the only ones to suffer for it. I was one of the human casualties, but it wasn't by the hand of a vampire. It was by my own father, who was convinced that my brother and I were damned, because we believed not all vampires were evil." Shelley stiffened in her chair at the tragic story of a father killing his sons. Damon continued, "I assure you the number of human casualties would be great if another uprising against vampires occurred. Do you want to be responsible for that when it can be avoided?"

Steven Rivers, one of the more elderly founding members, said, "We may appreciate all the financial contributions you've made to this town, but it sounds to me like you're trying to bully us Mr. Salvatore."

Damon sighed heavily in frustration. "No Mr. Rivers. I'm just giving you the facts. It's up to all of you to decide how you want to proceed. Thank you for your time. I hope you give this serious consideration before you make your final decision."

Mayor Lockwood thanked the members for coming as each rose to leave. When they were gone, she said to Damon, "Let's hope they agree. If we can get them on our side, we might stand a chance against the others."

Damon picked Elena up at the boarding house for her ultrasound appointment with Meredith. The clinic was attached to the hospital. They arrived through the main entrance, making their way through the lobby towards the clinic. Meredith greeted them warmly when they walked into the exam room together. "Elena, Damon good to see you. How are things going so far?"

As Elena hopped up on the exam table, she said, "Pretty good. The nausea is finally subsiding."

Damon chided, "Yeah, she can finally watch me drink a glass of blood without running to the bathroom."

She playfully swatted at him. "I still feel exhausted though. I try to rest but it never seems like enough."

Meredith had placed her stethoscope on Elena's stomach to listen to the heartbeat. She said, "That's normal at this stage. Your body is trying to get used to all the changes it's going through. Also, if you haven't been eating enough you'll have less energy."

Giving Elena an 'I told you so' look, Damon said, "I tried to tell her that but she's pretty stubborn."

Irritated, Elena said through clenched teeth, "I'm not being stubborn. It's just I've had a hard time keeping things down."

Meredith suggested, "You can try some warm ginger ale or milk before you eat. It might help. Now let's have you lie back so we can see how your little one is doing."

Elena laid back on the exam table, lifting her shirt up to reveal her tiny bulge. Meredith said, "Damon if you want to pull that chair over here, you can get a better look once we get him on the screen." Meredith adjusted Elena's pants, exposing more of her belly, and draped a sheet just below her hip bones to cover her sensitive areas. Meredith put jell on Elena's stomach. She warned, "Now it's going to be a little cold at first, but it will warm up as I go. This is a more detailed ultrasound than your first one. It takes various ultrasound waves and reflects them back giving us a 3 dimensional look at the fetus."

As Meredith ran the wand slowly over her stomach, they all watched the monitor intently. They could see the walls lining the uterus, the umbilical cord, and a very detailed image of a tiny baby with a large head and small body. The baby's legs were scrunched up to his chest, and his arms were lifted to his face, as if covering his eyes with his hands from the light. They were absolutely stunned at the sight. Meredith pointed out what they were seeing. "So, as you can see, there's his head, the arms and hands, his legs. This type of ultrasound gives us a better view of his progress. His reproductive organs haven't developed yet so that puts him at around 14 weeks."

Seeing his son for the first time on the monitor was overwhelming for Damon. He sat there speechless, his eyes frozen on the monitor. Elena was talking to Meredith, excitedly asking her questions none of which registered in Damon's head. His head was swimming like the time he hallucinated from the werewolf bite. He felt excited and panicked at the same time. That's my son. I actually have a son! Hearing the heartbeat is what convinced him that Elena was actually pregnant. But seeing him with his own eyes a detailed picture was unfathomable. He had never seen anything like it in his 170 years. Technology is incredible. He was brought out of his stupor when Elena touched his arm.

"Damon, are you ok?"

His eyes reluctantly left the monitor to look at her. Shock was still evident on his face. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Meredith said to him, "He's developing nicely. His heartbeat is strong."

Finally, Damon smiled broadly. "I know. I can hear it." Elena smiled sweetly at him as she squeezed him arm.

They were both smiling uncontrollably, as they exited the clinic, looking at the photo print outs from the ultrasound. As they walked through the lobby, they heard an all too familiar voice behind them.

"I hope all is well with our girl."

They looked up, turning in unison to see Klaus there. Damon immediately put himself protectively in front of Elena. Her eyes widened. "Klaus!"

Klaus smiled at them devilishly with his cherry lips glistening. "So I assume she's doing well?" Elena still had the ultrasound photos in her hand. Klaus managed to grab them from her before Damon could stop him. "Let's have a look, shall we?"

Elena gave Damon a panicked look. Damon shook his head slightly, indicating it was alright. Meredith had said the baby's sex organs hadn't yet developed, so there was no way Klaus would know the baby was really a boy.

Klaus scanned over the photos with sheer delight in his eyes. He teased, "Now isn't she adorable?" Handing the photos back to Elena, he said, "I can't tell you how thrilled I was when Rebekah told me you were with child."

Damon glared at him with distrust. He said, "I'm sure you were. Now you'll have a future doppleganger to drain." It obviously wasn't true, but they needed to keep up the ruse.

Klaus toyed. "Yes, yes. You know I was really starting to worry about that what with Elena falling for another vampire. But nature found a way." He stepped closer to Damon and said, "So tell me Damon, how does it feel to know another man's seed is growing in your lover's womb?"

Damon's blood was about to boil at Klaus' attempted dig. The only thing that kept him from snapping and attacking Klaus was the knowledge that none of it was true. Smug bastard. Just wait 'til you see how wrong you are. Damon's silence egged Klaus on.

"What a shame you couldn't keep the woman you love safe from a little ol' human. Well then you did get your revenge I hear by torturing the poor boy before you killed him. I would've done the same if it were me."

Finally, Damon said, "Is there something you wanted Klaus? Why are you here?"

Klaus clasped his hands in front of him in delight. "Why I've been gone so long I just wanted to check in on my doppleganger and make sure things were going well." He winked at Elena. "I'll be seeing you around. Take care of that bundle. I have a lot riding on her," he said as he started walking away.

Damon and Elena looked at each other seriously. Elena breathed out, "That was close."

Damon said, "Yeah too close."

Later that night, Elena was sitting in bed looking at the ultrasound photos when Damon climbed in next to her. He sat with his back propped up against the pillows, putting his around around her, as she slid in closer to him. He pulled her close to him, so her head rested on his shoulder, and looked at the photo she was holding. Concerned, she asked, "You don't think Klaus knows it's not a girl, do you?"

Damon squeezed her shoulder. "No, I don't think he can tell from these pictures. I mean he kind of looks like an alien."

She laughed, shoving him playfully. "Stop, he does not."

Damon laughed, teasing her some more. "Sure he does. Look at the size of his head. If his dick ends up being that size, he'll be a lucky boy."

Elena rolled her eyes. "Of course you would think that. Seriously though, you don't think he knows, do you?"

"No, if he knew, he wouldn't have been so delighted." Damon kissed the top of her head, taking the photo from her and placing it on the night stand next to him. "Now stop worrying and go to sleep."

Elena leaned up to kiss him. When their lips parted, she said, "I love you."

His blue eyes sparkled whenever she said that. He replied, "I love you too. Now go to sleep."