I apologize for such a huge delay between chapters. Unfortunately, real life issues must take precedent over fantasy. I appreciate your patience. This chapter is brief but no worries the honeymoon smuttiness is still to come. Enjoy.

Damon stirred awake first and looked over at the peaceful, sleeping form of his new bride. She was turned slightly on her side, facing him with her long brown hair fanned out on the pillow. He shifted in bed, propping up on his elbow, to get a better view. The light streaming in from the window cast a glow around her. His eyes soaked in every feature of her angelic face. If this was a dream, he never wanted to wake again. The 146 years of emptiness and loneliness he had suffered were all worth it. He now had the only thing he had ever wanted, real love. As he watched her gentle breathing, his eyes wandered down to her distended stomach. He shook his head subtly in awe. It didn't matter how often it was explained to him. Or how clearly he could hear the heartbeat, and how many times he saw the ultrasound images. He still couldn't believe this was happening. His trepidation increased with each passing month. It wasn't just the concern over their safety that weighed on him. There was no question in his mind that he would protect them both with his last dying breath. For Elena, he had tried to be the better man. His love for her had changed him. Yet he wasn't sure if he could ever change enough to be good for his son. In the end all he could do was try.

Damon brushed her hair aside and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. His eyes remained fixed on her sleeping form as he slipped out of bed. Moving slowly, so as not to wake her, he grabbed his pants off of the chair. He pulled them up and shrugged on his shirt. The floor of the old plantation house made a creaking sound when he placed his foot in his shoe. He froze in position, his eyes shooting up to look at Elena. She stirred but didn't wake. Instead she simply rolled over and went back to sleep. The tension in Damon's body eased. Quietly, he crept towards the door and opened it only to find it creaked even louder than the floor. The sound of it made him cringe. Damn noisy old house. This time when he glanced back at Elena, her figure remained still. Somehow he managed to sneak out of the room without disturbing her further.

When Damon returned, he opened the door as quietly as possible. On one hand, he balanced a tray that held a domed metal serving dish, the type typically used for room service. Clenched between his teeth was a single red rose. He gently shut the door behind him and slowly walked to the nightstand, trying not to spill the glasses of milk and juice that were on the tray. He set the tray down then carefully sat back on the side edge of the bed. Taking the rose from his mouth, he delicately ran it down Elena's cheek and along her lips. The soft feel of the petals and the rose's fragrant scent roused her awake. Her eyes fluttered open to find Damon smiling down at her. "Good morning sleepy head. Were you dreaming about me again?"

Elena yawned and stretched out her arms. "Mmmm, no longer necessary when I can have the real thing any time I want," she said with a smirk. Then a puzzled look came over her face when she noticed that Damon was fully clothed. She pushed herself up to a seated position and asked, "Did I over sleep?"

"Of course not," Damon replied rather jovially. "You can sleep as long as you want. We're on our honeymoon." He playfully tapped her on her nose with the rose. His smile was simply beaming.

This was the best mood Elena had ever seen him in. She teased. "Then shouldn't you be naked beside me?"

He hummed a wicked laugh. "Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm. All in due time, my love." He wiggled his eyebrows playfully. "But first, you need to eat. I don't want you passing out right when I'm in the middle of pleasuring you. What fun would that be?" Damon turned to pick up the tray from the nightstand then placed it on her lap. He lifted the lid of the tray to reveal a delectable array of breakfast foods. On one side sat a stack of toast with fresh jam, while on the other, there was a bowl of strawberries and a cup of whipped cream. The center plate held scrambled eggs, bacon, and small piece of steak. The bloody juices of the steak ran along the plate and coalesced with the eggs. Lately, this seemed to be the dish Elena craved the most. It wasn't unheard of to have Steak for breakfast. However, it was unheard of for Elena to eat her steak rare. Normally even the slightest bit of pink turned her stomach. The sudden change in her craving for bloody meat seemed a bit ironic. Bonnie had said the baby would be human. Yet it was Damon's blood that coursed through his veins, the blood of a vampire. All in all he guessed it wasn't all that surprising.

Elena's eyes widened. "Oh my God, I can't possibly eat all this."

Damon picked up a large strawberry and dipped it in the whipped cream. "Don't worry. I'll help you." He held the strawberry in front of her lips. Her eyes were fixed on his pale blue orbs, as she seductively bit into the strawberry. His eyes became filled with lust as he held her gaze. He popped the remaining piece of the strawberry into his mouth and leaned in for a tongue filled kiss. Their kisses became deeper and their hands began to roam. But before they could go any further, Damon's phone vibrated unexpectedly in his back pocket. He pulled away from Elena with a groan of disappointment. There was a reason he had turned his phone off last night. Unfortunately this morning, while he was out preparing breakfast, he turned it back on and had set it to vibrate. Although at first annoyed by the interruption, his mood lightened when he saw the name on the caller ID. Cheerily, he answered, "Liz, my favorite sheriff."

"Damon, where are you? I've been trying to reach you since yesterday afternoon."

"Oh, um," he said. His lips were drawn out in a pucker, as he contemplated his response. "Sorry, I had my phone turned off. I take it you've got something for me?"

"Yes. We received a call from Fall's Inn about a truck in their lot fitting the description of the one that hit Bonnie."

"That's great." His voice cracked slightly with his enthusiasm.

"Well, they've had problems in the past with non-guests using their lot. Now all guests have to register the make and model of their vehicle when they check in. One of the clerks spotted the truck with the front end smashed in and didn't recognize it. He called it in to be towed."

"Were you able to trace it back to the owner?"

"The owner had reported it stolen 3 days ago."

"Just in time for the accident." Damon's eyes looked up at Elena to find her staring at him intently.

The word 'accident' piqued Elena's curiosity. Try as she might, she could only make out Damon's half of the conversation. It was times like this that she wished she had vampire hearing. She tapped him on the arm and gave him an inquisitive look. He raised his index finger, halting her unspoken question. He pointed at the tray, urging her to eat then returned back to the sheriff."

"Exactly, but it gets better. We checked the list of registered guests from around the time of the accident. There was one guest, a man, who checked in the day before. He was scheduled to stay only one night but he never checked out. We found his body in his room."

Damon looked confused. "Any idea what he died from?"

"The coroner's report said pulmonary embolism."

"Probably from the accident."

"I don't think so. It would have taken days for that to happen. The time of death was less than 24 hours after the accident. The coroner noted some bruising along the jugular and a small hole consistent with an injection site. She believes someone injected him with an air bubble. And there appeared to be signs of a struggle."

Damon scoffed. "Sounds like someone wasn't too happy with his work. Any idea who this guy is?"

"He registered under the name of Theodore Rush, but that was just an alias. His fingerprints came back as Jeffrey Durham from Devil's Creek. He has a long criminal background from petty larceny to kidnapping. Get this, his last conviction was on murder for hire, but it was thrown out due to a technicality."

"Of course it was," he spit out with a snarl. "That's why my method of justice is more efficient."

Liz ignored his comment. She took a deep breath before continuing, knowing what she was about to tell him was huge. "Damon, his weapon of choice in that case was poisoning. He used Penny-Royal."

If she didn't have Damon's full attention before, she certainly had it now. His eyes widened then narrowed into angry slits. He bolted up off of the bed and began to pace the room. The mere mention of the poison that nearly destroyed his world, brought back memories of the fear and helplessness he'd felt watching Elena suffer. His breathing became more ragged as the rage welled within him. This reaction made Elena more curious than ever.

He gritted out, "You mean to tell me this is the guy responsible for nearly killing Elena and…" In his anger, he nearly slipped and said 'my son,' but instead came out, "the baby?"

The sheriff let out a sigh, shaking her head. "It looks like it. The person or persons who hired him the first time, brought him back to finish the job. And when he failed again, they killed him so he couldn't talk just in case he got busted."

Damon chewed on his lower lip deep in thought. He glanced sideways at Elena who was now out of bed, standing next to him. She was hanging on his every word. "Or they wanted us to think this mess was over, hoping we'd drop our guard so they could try again."

"Let's hope we can find whoever is behind this before that happens. I'm going to do some more digging to see if we can connect him to anyone in town. For now, you might want to keep Elena at home."

"No worries about that. Elena and Mystic Falls are on a little break. We're taking a little trip down the coast."

"I think that's a good idea. I'll keep you posted on anything else I come up with. Be careful."

With his usual cockiness, he said, "Aren't I always?"

Elena looked at him with deep concern and confusion. "What was that all about?"