Nearly a week had passed since Elena had been hospitalized from a near fatal poisoning. She paced in her room anxiously awaiting Damon's arrival with her clothes so she could finally be discharged and go home. She'd been on bed rest most of the time and was going stir crazy, but that was the least of her concerns. The longer she stayed there the more likely it was that someone would discover the truth about the baby's sex. They had already had a close call earlier that day.

Meredith had insisted on doing another ultrasound to make sure the baby was fine before she agreed to discharge Elena. During the ultrasound, a nursing assistant came in unexpectedly with fresh linens and placed them on the table across from Elena's bed. The baby was far enough along for the genitals to have developed, and Meredith had just finished pointing them out to Damon and Elena when the assistant entered. They all froze in position holding their breath, as the assistant paused at the bed side and smiled at them. She gushed over the picture of the baby on the monitor. "Oh, look how sweet."

Meredith gave her an admonishing look. It was out of character for Meredith to belittle the hospital support staff, but in this instance it was necessary to pull rank in order to protect their secret. "Excuse me but I'm in the middle of a procedure here in which your services are not required. Need I remind you that you are violating this patient's privacy? I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Flustered, the nursing assistant averted her eyes, lowering her gaze to the floor. "I'm so sorry Dr. Fell. I'm sorry." She looked up briefly at Damon and Elena and apologized once more for her interruption before quickly exiting the room.

Panicked Elena asked Meredith, "Do you think she saw anything?"

Meredith replayed what had been recording at the time of the interruption and showed it to them. "I doubt she could've seen anything. Take a look at this." She pointed her finger to a spot on the screen.

They both looked at the monitor, confused by what they saw. Damon bent over squinting to get a better view. He asked, "What the Hell? Did he just…?"

Meredith chuckled, "Yep. He did."

Damon raised his eyebrows and down turned his mouth nodding, impressed by what he saw. "Smart little guy."

Damon left to get Elena's clothes not long after the official discharge order was written. He'd been gone about an hour when he finally walked through the door all chipper carrying her tote bag. "Ready to bust out of here?"

Elena eagerly grabbed the tote bag out of his hands. "More than. What took you so long?" She pulled the clothes out of the bag, placing them on the bed, and started to get dressed.

"I couldn't find half of the stuff you asked for. We really need to organize your stuff better."

Elena rolled her eyes at his need to have things neat and orderly. She pulled on her jeans to button and zip up but wasn't having much success getting them around her swollen belly. She kept trying to force them to button. Frustrated, she dropped her hands down with an exaggerated motion and looked up at Damon, blowing a piece of hair away from her face. "I've only been here a week. I couldn't have gained that much weight in a week."

"Guess you did. Good thing I brought a back up." He reached inside the bag, pulled out a pair of sweat pants, and handed them to her. "I put these in the bag when I was looking for your jeans. I doubt you're going to be able to wear most of your stuff much longer."

She smiled brightly, batting her eyes playfully. "Then I guess you'll just have to take me shopping."

His head dropped in exasperation. "Oooh I knew you were going to say that."

She picked up her tote bag and teased, "But you love shopping."

"Yeah for my own clothes, maybe furniture, artwork, not women's clothes." He smiled broadly, suddenly changing his tone. "Well that is unless it's lingerie."

She grabbed Damon's arms and turned him around before looping her arm through his. As they walked towards the door she said, "Of course you would say that."

Elena trudged through the door of the boarding house, allowing her bag to drop from her shoulder to her hand, dragging it close to the floor. "Oh it's so good to finally be home."

Damon grabbed her by the waist and turned her around to hold in his arms. She dropped her bag to the floor, returning the embrace.

In his most sexy drawl he said, "Mmm well it's good having you home." He placed a soft lingering kiss on her lips.

They smiled sweetly at each other when their lips parted. She rubbed her hand up and down his chest, as her eyes lingered on his lips. She whispered, "Then why don't you show me how much you missed me?" She slid her hands up to bring his face to hers and kissed him more passionately. She could feel his arousal against her, raising her own level of excitement.

However, instead of continuing Damon gently took her hands in his, pulling them away from his face, holding them in front of him. His lips parted hers with a contented smile on his face. "As much as I would love to continue this, it's going to have to wait until later. I..." He placed another small kiss on her lips. "Have dinner to make." He released her hands and started to head towards the kitchen, leaving a stunned Elena standing in the hallway.

She followed him into the kitchen, whining in annoyance at his tease. "Seriously? You're going to make dinner now?"

He was taking slight pleasure in teasing her this way. He definitely was eager to make love to her, but he wanted to draw things out. He wanted to make this night special. "Yep," he said popping the 'p' at the end of the word. "You've been eating crappy hospital food all week, and I want to make something nice for you. I can show you how much I missed you later. We have all night for that," he said, giving her a devilish smile and a wink.

Elena rolled her eyes, accepting defeat. "Ok what can I help with?"

After dinner, Damon sent Elena into the great room to relax by the fire while he finished loading the dishwasher. She was scanning through a photo album, reminiscing about the happy times she had as a child with her parents, when Damon walked in with two drinks in his hand.

Offering Elena a mug, he said, "Here, I thought this might help settle your stomach. Hot chocolate is a lot better than warm milk." He gave her a tempting smirk.

The dinner Damon had made for them tasted incredible, but after a week of eating bland hospital food, the spices he used gave her a little heartburn. She looked up at Damon with a half hearted smile as she grabbed the mug. "Thanks."

He sat down next to her, placing one arm around the back of the couch, the other holding his drink, and peered over her shoulder glancing at the album. He could tell by the look on her face that he already knew the answer, but he asked anyway, "You all right?"

Elena took a sip of her drink then stared into the cup, contemplating how to answer. "I was just thinking about my parents, and how much they would've loved to have a grandchild."

Damon could see the tears in her eyes and the sadness that threatened to overwhelm her, so he attempted to lighten the mood with his usual sarcasm. "Until they found out who the father was."

She smirked. "That's not true. For all you know they would've loved you."

Damon's face contorted like she was crazy. "Pfst! Have you forgotten your family's opinion on vampires?"

She chuckled knowing how right he was. For generations no Gilbert has tolerated vampirism that is until Elena Gilbert. "Ok, so maybe we wouldn't have mentioned your vampire nature, but you still could've won them over with your charm," she teased, before taking another sip from her mug.

"Yeah I am charming, but I'm also a dick remember?" There was a slight delay before they both burst out laughing.

"They would've been happy as long as I was happy." Her demeanor once again turned somber. She looked down to her stomach, giving it a gentle rub, and said, "I swear my heart was in my throat when that assistant walked in during the ultrasound."

Damon tightened his lips remembering. If he hadn't known better, he would've sworn his heart started beating again just as hard as it did when he was human. "I know what you mean. At least you're home now, so that's one less thing to worry about."

As a tear escaped her eye and rolled down her cheek, Damon gently wiped it away with his finger. Seconds later, her demeanor changed, and she let out a giggle. Damon knew she was going through mood swings from the hormones, but her sudden change of emotions left him confused. "What's so funny?"

She put her hand up to her mouth to stifle her laughter. "I can't believe we just finished discussing his penis, and he crossed his legs to hide it when the assistant walked in."

He quipped, "Maybe he's shy." The memory of that moment caused him to smirk.

"Pfst! Are you serious? He's your son. There's no way he's shy."

They both chuckled again, and when the laughter died down, they sat in silence while Elena continued to thumb through the photo album. Damon watched her lovingly, as she turned the pages, stroking her hair where it fell against the back of the couch. After a minute or so, he took a big gulp of his bourbon before setting the glass down on the table in front of him. He turned to face Elena, taking her hand in his, caressing it gently. She paused from her album to look up at him. He said, "Elena, I know this isn't how you pictured your life, but I just want you to know that these last few months have meant more to me than anything in my whole life."

His touching confession made her eyes well with tears again. She sniffled, as she wiped the tears from her face. She said, "No, this isn't how I expected my life to be, but that doesn't mean I'm not happy. Does anyone's life ever really turn out how they planned? Yours didn't turn out the way you thought either, but you're still happy." She looked down at their combined hands. "It's just I'm worried about what's going to happen to him. What his life is going to be like."

Damon nodded solemnly, "Me too. Um..." He cleared his throat then took another swig of his drink before continuing. "This is going to sound really, really, really old fashioned, but keep in mind that I am 170 years old before you discount it completely."

She briefly closed her eyes, shaking her head in confusion. "Damon what are you talking about?"

He took in a deep breath before he spoke. Here we go. "Look, I know how fast everything has happened but..." He pulled out a small black box. "It would mean a lot to me if our son was born legitimately."

Elena's eyes widened when she saw the box. For a second, she was speechless. "Oh my God Damon are you proposing?"

He gulped then began stammering, "I'm..I'm not trying to rush you into anything. I just want you to think about it. I get that I'm not..."

Elena placed her fingers over his mouth to stifle his ramble. "Will you shut up a minute and let me answer?" When he nodded in agreement, she pulled her hand away from his mouth. She said, "I know you still have a hard time believing that I really love you. It's my fault after everything I put you through because of Stefan." She looked down at her glass, recalling how much she'd hurt him. She met his gaze again and said, "I loved him Damon. I'm sorry for the pain I caused you both, but I don't regret the time I spent with him."

Damon felt the familiar pain of rejection threatening to take over him once again. He sighed deeply, preparing himself for the inevitable.

Elena noticed the drastic change in his demeanor. She could see his emotional wall going up. She squeezed his hand in reassurance. "I don't regret being with Stefan because it brought me to you."

His eyes shot up at her in surprise and the tenseness in his body noticeably melted away.

She explained, "Do you remember a while back when you told me you used to have fun controlling the fog and how you used to use birds to spy on people?"

He nodded subtly.

"I never told you this but not long after Stefan arrived in town, before you and I met here at the boarding house, Bonnie and I were at this bonfire. She was trying to convince me that she could see the future. So jokingly I handed her a beer bottle to use as her crystal ball. And when I did, we accidentally touched. She had a vision. She said she saw a crow, fog, and a man."

His face contorted into a confused expression.

"She saw you Damon even through the compulsion."

He looked blankly at her unsure of what to think.

"Do you know what she saw the first time she touched Stefan?"

He shrugged, slightly shaking his head 'no.'

"She saw what she pictured death to be like. It was always supposed to be you. I'm exactly where I want to be. I love you."

He frowned giving her a suspicious side glance. "Soooo…is that…a yes?"

Her smile just beamed as she laughed at his uncertainty. "That's a yes."

The elation he felt showed in the broad smile that appeared on his face. He gently grabbed her behind the neck and pulled her to him for a deep lingering kiss. When they parted, she looked down at the black box and asked, "Can I see it?"

Caught up in the moment, he briefly forgot about the box he was holding. His mind snapped back to attention. "Absolutely." He opened the box revealing the ring, a 3 carrot ruby at its center, surrounded by a circle of diamonds, in an antique silver setting. Her eyes widened, gasping at the sight of it. He explained, "It was my mother's. If it's not your style, I can get you something..."

She cut him off, "No! It's beautiful. I love it." She took the ring out of the box, placing it on her finger, and held it out in front of her, admiring its beauty. She turned to Damon holding his face between her hands and gave him another lingering kiss. She pulled back, holding his gaze in her eyes. "Is it ok with you if we keep this to ourselves right now?"

He furrowed his eyebrows giving her a puzzled look. "It's fine with me, but don't you at least want to tell Jeremy?"

"No. I know that sounds strange, but..." She searched for the right words to explain herself. "Every time there's an event, it gets ruined by some outside drama. For once, I'd like to have just one day that's special and flawless without anyone getting in the way." She reached for his hand and squeezed it pleadingly. "Can you understand that?"

"Sure," he said, the tight expression on his face relaxing.

"I want it to be only the three of us. We can tell everyone else afterwards."

He smiled at her agreeably. "Whatever you want Elena." He could care less when she told her friends. He was just happy she said yes.

They leaned into each other for another kiss that rapidly became deep and passionate. Elena pushed forward, forcing Damon onto his back, their hands wandering over each other's body. A week apart had been far too long for both. She frantically started unbuttoning his shirt to run her hands along his bare chest. They gasped for air, as they feverishly kissed each other, before Damon pulled away once again. Elena let out a whimper. Panting he suggested, "Let's go upstairs." They got up and Damon lead her by the hand to the stairs.

Elena veered towards their bedroom but Damon pulled her away. "This way. I want to show you something." He led her to the baby's room.

"Another surprise?"

"Just a small one." He opened the door, guiding her by the hand to enter first.

The room that had once been occupied by bedroom furniture was now mostly empty except for Elena's rocking chair and a newly put together crib against the far wall. Her eyes widened when she saw it. She inhaled in surprise. "You cleaned the room out. And you got the crib." She half turned to look at him in delight.

"That's the one you wanted right?"

The surprise still evident in her voice, she said, "Yeah, that's the one I saw in the catalogue."

"I know it's a little early to get the room ready, but I thought it might cheer you up, give you something to look forward to working on." He brushed her hair away from her shoulder.

She turned back to the crib beaming. "I love it." She noticed some odd stuffed toy sitting upright in the crib. Picking it up, she immediately started laughing when she saw what it was. The toy was a stuffed version of The Count from Sesame Street. She turned to look at Damon again. "A vampire? Cute."

He smiled broadly. "I thought it was fitting given his lineage and all." Damon and his smart-assed sense of humor was part of what Elena loved about him. He always made her laugh.

She put the toy back in the crib and wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him in for a deep kiss. His hands naturally went to hold her by the waist, and they showered each other with multiple kisses. She bit her lip lowering her eyelids seductively. "So now will you show me how much you missed me?"

He drew his lips mere inches from hers and purred provocatively, "Mmm absolutely." Their lips met once again, ravaging each others, while their hands worked on removing each other's clothes.