Sorry for the delay but the holiday threw me off. Also I already had this chapter written but was debating about putting something before it. Instead I divided it up and changed it a little. Hope you like it.

Damon walked into the great room to grab a drink and see how Elena's studying was coming along. Her paper was due by the end of the week. He had left her alone for the last 3 hours to work on it. She was a bit of a perfectionist when it came to writing, so she was struggling to finish it on time. It didn't help that her concentration wasn't what it normally would be due to her fluctuating hormones.

Elena was sitting on the couch, with her legs folded under her, holding a pen in her mouth. She had books and papers spread out all over the coffee table, with her laptop stacked on top, as she typed away. Damon took one look at the scattered items in front of her and shook his head. Being a person who liked things kept neat, he couldn't understand how she kept anything straight in that mess. He poured himself a drink at the bar. He said, "Looks like someone dropped a grenade in front of you. No wonder it's taking you so long to finish, you can't find anything."

She continued to type intently, as she answered over her shoulder. "Not everyone is a compulsive neat freak like you. And I know where everything is that I need, thank you very much."

He chuckled to himself. He set the decanter back on the bar and walked over to the couch. She moved over so he could sit next to her. Taking a sip of his drink, he picked up one of the papers she had on the table to see what she was working on. "Need any help?"

"Not unless you know something about textile manufacturing in the late 1900's."

He made a funny face at her, tossing the paper back on the table. "Pfst! Of course I do. It was one of my family's businesses. What do you want to know?"

She stared at him blankly at first then gave him a huge smile. "Was there anything your family didn't do?"

He thought for a moment and gave her one of his usual snarky comments. "Sure, we were never into basket weaving."

She found his answer amusing. She burst out laughing, prompting him to chuckle too. "Thanks, but I don't think I could list you as a reference. What would I say? My 170 year old boyfriend gave me the information. And he should know because he was there."

"Hey, I'm sure somewhere in the library, we have documents you could use."

She leaned over the coffee table to save her document and closed her laptop. "That's ok. I'm almost done anyway."

When she began to sit back up, a sharp pain on the right side of her abdomen shot through her. Her breath escaped her suddenly. Her hand immediately shot up to hold the spot. Damon set his glass down quickly. He turned to touch her arm. His eyebrows were furrowed in concern. "Elena what's wrong?"

She let out a slow breath, blinking her eyes a few times as the pain subsided. Delight shown in her eyes and her face lit up. She said, "I'm fine. Here give me your hand." She took his hand and placed it on the spot where the pain was a moment ago. He looked at her confused until he felt a thump against his palm. His face contorted in surprise and his mouth slightly hung open. Elena smiled even bigger at the expression on his face. "Did you feel that?"

"Uh yeah. When did this start?"

"Just a few days ago. I didn't want to say anything unless you were here to feel it."

There was another thump, stronger than the first, followed by yet another. Damon teased, "What the Hell is he doing, in there dancing?"

She smirked. "I don't know. Maybe he's already practicing his vampire slaying skills."

Damon pulled his hand away suddenly. In jest, he raised them both up to surrender. "I better back off before he tries to stake me with one of your ribs. He doesn't know whose side I'm on yet."

She smiled and scooted closer to him. She took one of his arms and wrapped it around her. Then she leaned her back against his chest, resting her head on his shoulder. He fell in line, wrapping his other arm around her. He positioned himself so his feet were rested, crossed over each other, on the coffee table. She bit her lip as she looked up at him sweetly. Elena knew what she was about to say would make him melt. "Sure he does. You're his father." She saw the expression on Damon's face change from his usual sarcastic playfulness to that of an innocent boy.

He said, with all seriousness, "Huh, I still can't get used to that word being used towards me."

"That's why I keep saying it. This way 5 months from now it won't sound so strange."

He pulled her closer to him, placing a kiss on top of her head, as she closed her eyes. "Yeah, maybe," he said, not very convincingly. When she didn't respond, he looked down to see her eyes fluttering shut. She was on the verge of falling asleep. He whispered, "Come on. Let's get you upstairs where it's more comfortable."

She grabbed his hands, pulling his arms around her tighter. Then she turned her head and nuzzled it under his chin. Like a child resistant to sleep, she whined, "No, I'm comfortable right here." He smiled and scooted down to get more comfortable. His cheek rested against her head as he watched her fall asleep. Damon stared at the flames dancing in the fireplace, enjoying the warm secure feeling of her against him. Suddenly he felt it again, the thump against his hand, only this time much softer. He smiled hugely in awe at the feeling. The smile was still on his face when he closed his eyes to sleep.

The next morning, Damon met with the Mayor at the Lockwood mansion regarding the council dilema. It had been nearly 3 weeks since some of the council members had met with Damon, to discuss a truce between the town and the vampires. "Damon thanks for coming by," Mayor Lockwood said.

With his usual charm, he said, "No problem Carol. This is an important issue. I'm glad to meet about it any time. So have we heard their decision?"

Carol sighed. "Yes, but it's still not definitive. The group you met with is willing to make a tentative truce with some stipulations."

Damon's voice rose with an enthusiastic inflection. "Great. What are the stipulations?"

He could hear the reservation and concern in Carol's voice. "I have no idea what they are. They want to meet with you again to discuss them in person. The problem is anything we agree on is meaningless unless we have the support of the full council."

That's what he was afraid of. All he wanted to do was get this resolved so he would have one less threat to worry about. He needed to focus his full attention on protecting Elena and their son from the Originals. Frustrated, he said, "Except the two sides are refusing to talk to each other right?"

Carol's face held the deep concern of not only a mayor with the weight of the town's welfare on her shoulders, but also the concern of a mother for her only child. She nodded. "Exactly. I've been trying to meet with the resistant members individually to ask them to be open-minded. I've urged them to give the other members' idea a chance, but it hasn't been going well. If we could just get the opposed members to hear the proposal, they might change their minds. It's going to take some time before this is settled."

Damon leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his knees. He clasped his hands together and looked down at the floor. He gave a heavy sigh. "If we can't get it settled, it could get ugly really fast. I know the outliers don't want anything to do with me, but let me know if there is anything I can do to help move this along."

As he stood up to leave, Carol said, "I will."

She escorted him to the door. Just before walked out, she added, "Damon I heard about what happened to Elena, the attack. I'm so sorry. Carrying this baby given what happened must be hard on you both. I hope she is doing alright."

Damon stared at her a moment in silence, contemplating his response. Of course she knows. Caroline tells Tyler, Tyler tells her. It was inevitable that people would find out. Word spread like wild fire in a town as small as Mystic Falls. Besides, Elena was showing enough now that it was obvious she was pregnant. At least the story is sticking. He gave her a somber look to make it more believable. "Yeah, it's been hard on her, but she's doing ok. Um, you don't happen to know if Ric mentioned anything about Elena to the council, do you?"

Carol looked at him confused. "Not that I'm aware of, but I left the room briefly to call Sheriff Forbes. Why would he mention Elena?"

Damon hadn't been sure if Carol knew about Elena's doppelganger status. Her obvious confusion confirmed for him that she had no idea. Good. "Well the closest people to her are vampires which makes her a sympathizer. And we know how the council hates those. With the baby and all, I just want to make sure she's safe."

Carol smiled weakly and nodded. "Of course, I understand. If I hear anything, I'll let you know. But right now it doesn't seem like they know anything. She's never been mentioned to my knowledge."

"Good. Maybe Ric spared her that at least. Ok, well keep me posted."

Damon had just returned from the grocery store, and was in the process of putting the items away, when he heard Elena enter the foyer. He looked at the clock confused by why she was already home from class. He made his way into the hallway to see her hanging her coat on the rack. "Hey, I didn't expect you home so early."

As Elena turned towards him, he saw that her face was flushed red. Her eyes were squinted, and her hairline was wet from sweat. Immediately Damon knew something was wrong. She said, "I left class early. I'm not feeling very well."

He stepped closer, looking at her concerned. "What's wrong?"

She wrapped her arms round herself shivering. "I'm freezing and achy."

Damon raised his hand to feel her forehead. "You've got a fever. You're burning up. Come on let's get you upstairs." She took a few steps to follow him, but he could see she was weak from the fever. Damon picked her up and flashed upstairs to their room. He set Elena down on the bed. As soon as he pulled off her shoes off, she immediately pulled the blankets up tight around her. She was still fully clothed but continued to shiver.

"I'm so cold Damon."

Damon asked, "Where is your thermometer?"

Elena answered, "It's...in the...bathroom...cabinet," her teeth chattered, "near...my toothbrush." Before she finished saying the word bathroom, he was already out of the room searching through the cabinet.

First, he made her sit up in bed and pull the covers down to get an accurate temperature. Pulling the thermometer out of her mouth, he frowned at the reading. "That's not good, 102.6 degrees." He looked back down at Elena to see she had already pulled the blankets back up to her chin. Despite the fact that she was shivering uncontrollably, he could see the sweat pouring off of her forehead, soaking her hair. He'd seen bad fevers before when he was in the war. So he was well aware how quickly they could spike to dangerously high degrees. Damon knew he had to get her fever down. He went back to the bathroom and grabbed a wash cloth, running it under cold water then returned to her beside. He dabbed the cold compress all over her face, attempting to cool her off. She flinched at the feel of the contrast in temperature. Elena's eyes were fluttering shut. She began mumbling incoherently. "Elena? Elena, can you hear me?"

Elena mumbled, "Don't leave me..."

"No, I won't leave you," he said, not yet realizing she was delirious.

She finished, "...out in the snow. I'm free...freeeezing."

Snow? There wasn't any snow outside. Damon was definitely worried and not sure what to do to get her fever down. He could give her his blood, but she was pregnant. And with no previous knowledge of a vampire fathered baby to draw on, he was concerned that anything he did could cause Elena or his son harm. The spell was placed on him to temporarily turn his genes human again. According to Bonnie, the baby would be human. The most logical thing for Damon to do was call the only doctor he knew he could trust, the only one who knew the truth, Dr. Meredith Fell. He reached Meredith's voicemail. "I'm sorry I missed your call. Leave a message, and I'll call you back as soon as I can. If it's an emergency, I can be reached through my pager at 617-503-4479."

"Damn it!" Worried and frustrated, Damon paced by the bedside as he punched in the pager number. While he waited for her to call back, he sat on the bed next to Elena and continued to wipe the sweat from her face. This time Elena didn't flinch when the cool cloth touched her skin. She had passed out from the fever.

It seemed like an hour before Meredith called back, yet in reality it had only been 10 minutes. Damon answered before the first ring could finish. She didn't even get a 'hello' out before Damon started rambling. "Meredith, I need your help. It's Elena. She has a high fever. I'm not sure what to do for her."

"How high is it?"

"The last time I took it, it was 102.6. That was 15 minutes ago." He could hear the concern in Meredith's voice.

"That's pretty high. You need to try to break the fever. First make sure she's not layered with covers or clothing. She'll probably fight you on it but bundling up is only going to make her fever higher."

Damon pulled the blankets back. Elena moaned as she weakly attempted to fight him for the covers. "Alright the blankets are off. I've tried the cold compress thing, but it doesn't seem to be helping."

"Keep applying them. If you need to, you can put her in the bath tub in cool water. Also, try to get some cold fluids down her. It's important she stays hydrated. Dehydration can be especially dangerous for the baby."

He nodded vigorously as if she could see him through the phone. "Alright, what about the achiness? Should I give her something for that?"

"No, whatever you do don't give her any drugs. It can be dangerous for her especially asprin. Asprin is a blood thinner. It could cause her to bleed out. If her fever doesn't break in a couple of hours, or it gets any higher, bring her to the ER right away and page me."

He paused for a moment to look at Elena's pitiful form fitfully sleeping. "I'll keep you posted."

After Damon hung up he stripped Elena of her clothing down to just her camisole and panties. He felt horrible doing it because he could see how much she was shivering, despite the sweat that was pouring down her. She had her eyes closed, yet she still kept trying to pull the blankets back up to cover herself. Damon pulled them down to the end of the bed, leaving her with just a sheet. She shivered and her teeth chattered once more. "I'm sooo cccold."

Gently, he said, "I know. I'm sorry, but I can't let you have them. Your fever is too high." She moaned once more at her futile attempt to grab the covers. To make sure she didn't pull them up again, Damon placed them across the room on a chair. He flashed downstairs to get some ice and returned with a pitcher of water and a glass.

He poured the water into the glass then positioned himself on the bed, leaning his back against the head board. He placed his arm around her, propping her up against his chest, so he could get at the right angle to give her some cold water. He held the glass to her lips, offering her a sip. "Elena open up. You need to drink this. It will help you cool down."

Her head rolled to the side away from the glass as she muttered, "Mmm, umm, no."

Damon shifted her head back towards the glass. "Hey, I know you don't want this, but you have to stay hydrated. Come on drink." Her hand flailed up to push the glass away. He pushed her hand down. "Elena, drink just a little. Do it for the baby." Her eyes fluttered open briefly to look at him. She nodded her head ever so slightly signifying she understood. He placed the glass to her mouth, and she took a small sip. When he tried to give her more, it just ran down the side of her mouth. He thought, A little is better than nothing I guess. He set the glass down on the night stand and began rocking her to sooth her whimpers. "Shhh, it's going to be ok." He grabbed the cold wash cloth again. He dabbed it across her forehead and face, brushing her wet hair back.

He repeated this over the next hour, making sure to take her temperature in between. Her fever was gradually increasing. At its last reading, it was 103.1. He stayed at her bedside, watching her flinch and mumble incoherently in her sleep. Damon was growing more impatient and deeply worried as time passed with no improvement. Her face was flushed, but her lips looked very pale and cracked with dryness. Her hair, under garments, and the bedding underneath her were drenched in sweat, yet she continued to shiver uncontrollably. Feeling helpless, he decided to try Meredith's suggestion and fill the bath tub with cold water. He hated the idea of leaving her in this state even for a second, but he knew he had to do something. The bathroom was just around the corner and within ear shot even for a human. As the tub filled, he tested the water temperature with his hand to make sure it was cold enough. God I hope this works.

As the tub continued to fill, Damon went back to the bedroom to get Elena undressed. He paused when he entered the room, immediately smelling the familiar scent of copper. Blood! He flashed over to Elena and noticed the sheet that had covered her was nearly saturated with blood from her waist down. Her hand rested over her abdomen. She was moaning in her delirium obviously indicating she was in pain. Damon's breath was becoming ragged with fear. His anxiety increased as he pulled the sheet back, revealing what he already knew. "No, no, no, no, no...please no." Suddenly her body flopped in the bed convulsing. He held her still as the panic welled in him. He shouted, "Elena! Elena!" Damon knew even if he rushed her to the hospital it might be too late. Desperately, he did the one thing he knew he could do to help them. It was risky but at this point they had nothing to lose. He bit his wrist, placing it against her lips.

At first, she wouldn't drink. He sat on the bed behind her, like he had done with the water, and propped her head against him. He placed his bleeding wrist to her lips. His free hand he used to open her mouth as wide as he could. Fear and frustration were setting in. Desperately, he yelled, "Drink! Elena you have to drink! Please! I can't help you unless you drink." After a moment, he felt her lips move almost imperceptibly under his wrist and saw her throat swallow. He let out a heavy breath and kissed the top of her head. "Good, that's good." Damon rocked her a moment, stroking her hair while she drank. Gently he placed her head back down on the pillow as he slid out from under her. He had blood down the front of his leg from sitting on the bed but he wasn't about to take the time to change. He went to the chair where he'd placed the blanket earlier and brought it over to Elena. Wrapping her in the blanket he scooped her up in his arms. She was limp under his embrace. He cradled her against his chest resting his chin on top of her head and whispered soothingly, "I'm taking you to the hospital. Everything is going to be ok."

Damon flew down the stairs at vamp speed not wanting to waste one second of time. He quickly strapped Elena in the Camero and tore out of the driveway towards the hospital. If his heart still beat, it would surely be racing to the point of a heart attack. The drive to the hospital was a blur between watching Elena and racing down the street at more than illegal speed. Fortunately as a vampire his sight and reflexes were enhanced allowing him to avoid anything in his path. En route he paged Meredith his number followed by *1 indicating a stat emergency. Damon made it to the hospital before Meredith had called back. He gathered Elena in his arms once again and rushed at human speed into the E.R. triage. Even in his desperate state he didn't want to draw unwanted attention to them.

Walking straight to the front desk still holding Elena he told the nurse, "I need you to page Dr. Fell. It's an emergency."

The nurse gave him an aggravated look pointing to the full waiting area. "So are all of these."

Furious Damon looked her in the eyes, "You will page Dr. Fell immediately. Tell her Damon Salvatore is here."

The nurse gave him a glazed looked repeating, "I'll page Dr. Fell immediately. Damon Salvatore is here."

Before the nurse finished entering the number Meredith showed up at the desk. "I got your page. Is her fever higher?" Damon followed Meredith back to one of the examination rooms placing Elena on a wheeled bed.

"It was up to 103 when I checked it last. I was about to put her in the tub but she started bleeding a lot." Meredith took out her pen light lifting Elena's eyelids to check her pupil dilation. She attached Elena to a blood pressure cuff and placed an electronic thermometer in her mouth before unwrapping her from the blanket. The lower half of Elena's body was soaked in blood. Meredith paused looking up at Damon with a serious expression on her face. A pregnant woman bleeding profusely was not good.

As a vampire he certainly wasn't squeamish around blood but seeing the amount of blood covering Elena made his voice tremble slightly when he told Meredith, "I didn't think I could get her here before it was too late." He whispered, "I gave her some of my blood but I'm not sure how much she drank."

Meredith nodded her understanding of how desperate he must have been to feed her his blood. Trying not to reinforce how dire the situation was she said, "Let's hope it was enough…for both of them." Damon wiped his hand down the front of his mouth. He swallowed the hard lump in his throat at the thought of it not working. Meredith could see he was trying his best to maintain his composure for Elena's sake but the anguish was written all over him.

She placed her hand on Damon's arm when additional medical staff walked in to assist. "You need to wait outside so I can help her."

He shook his head walking past her to Elena's bedside and grabbed her hand stroking it gently. "No, I'm not leaving her."

Firmly Meredith said, "Damon, we have to clean her up so I can examine her and draw some blood for testing. The baby needs to be hooked up to a monitor so I can check hi…," she nearly slipped in front of the other staff but corrected herself quickly, "its condition. I promise I'll come and get you as soon as I'm done. Now please go wait outside." He stared at her stubbornly not moving at first. She firmly held his gaze until she saw the logic of her words register in his eyes. He nodded his understanding and reluctantly exited the room to wait in the hallway.

He placed both hands behind his head and paced back and forth for a moment unable to ease his fear and rage. He was about to sit down in one of the chairs when the dam to his feelings broke wide open. He picked a chair up flinging it down the hallway against a wall causing a loud crash. The chair smashed into pieces like it was made of toothpicks leaving a large dent in the wall. Frustrated and feeling defeated he plopped himself down in another chair. He looked down at his hands and clothes caked in blood. Anyone who knew he was a vampire would've thought he'd lost control and killed someone. He laughed manically to himself. And I thought for once I could actually be happy. I should've known it would be taken away. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back resting it against the wall. He began mindlessly tapping it in a rhythmic manner over and over. There was nothing he could do, he was completely helpless. This waiting to find out if they'd be ok was killing him. It was far more painful than the 146 years he'd spent waiting to get Katherine back yet waiting was all he could do.