I have to warn you,

this chapter will be pretty long!

Sorry, but enjoy.

XxX

"Merry Christmas!"

Elena and Anna quickly shot up as they looked around the room and gasped silently as they realized Damon and Jeremy were straddling their legs. Both boys wore Santa hats on each of their heads, along with large grins across their faces. Anna and Elena looked at each other as they laughed uncontrollably.

"Come on!" Jeremy shouted as he grabbed Anna's hand and dragged her out of the bed. Anna smiled one last time at Damon and Elena before she was dragged into the dark hall way.

"Don't think you're getting out of this," smirked Damon as he lifted Elena up and threw her over his shoulder, holding her tightly even while she kicked and punched at his back, demanding that he put her down.

"Not happening kitten!" Damon smirked as he jogged down the stairway, ignoring Elena's demands to let her be free. He stopped suddenly as he met up with Anna and Jeremy who were now sorting the gifts under the tree into separate piles – one for Elena, one for Damon, one for Jeremy, one for Anna, and one for Jenna.

"Anna should open her gifts first," smiled Elena as Anna smiled widely at Elena as she mouthed thank you.

"I agree," Jeremy smiled sweetly as he removed four gifts from the large pile and placed them in front of Anna. She bounced with happiness as she grabbed the first gift and shook it lightly.

"To Anna, from Damon," she read a loud as she looked at the small tag attached to the box before quickly tearing at the wrapping paper. Damon felt his mouth twitching as she grew closer to knowing what the surprise was.

"Condoms?" shouted all the three people sitting on the ground, causing Damon to laugh loudly.

"You can never be too prepared," he smirked as he turned towards Elena, hoping she caught his hint. Judging by the roll of her eyes, she must have understood him. He smirked once again.

"Moving on," laughed Anna as she threw the box of condoms at Jeremy, "To Anna, from Elena."

Anna had the small package apart within seconds as she pulled out a beautiful leather jacket. She quickly slipped it on as she adjusted to the warmth of the leather. "It's beautiful, thank you," smiled Anna.

"No problem," Elena replied with a small smile of her own.

"Open mine's next," smiled Jeremy as he pulled out a large box. Anna grinned as she shook it lightly, causing a jingling sound to fill the area around her. She opened the large box only to find three smaller boxes inside. She grabbed the largest of the three and opened it slowly.

"Oh my," she whispered as she pulled up a gold necklace with a small heart at the bottom, "Jeremy..."

"Open it," he said softly as he watched as she unlocked the locket.

Anna felt as tears leaked down her cheeks as she looked into the locket. On one side of the heart was a picture of her mother and her, while on the other side was a picture of her mother smiling happily during the last few days of her life. Anna held her hair up as she waited for Jeremy to clamp the necklace around her neck.

"Thank you so much, I love it," she whispered as she hugged him tightly.

"I wanted to give you something to remember your mom," he said quietly, "There's still two more."

Elena felt her own self tearing up as she watched Anna's reactions to Jeremy's gifts. She had never seen her brother so serious about a girl before Anna. She knew that the two were in love based on the way they reacted to one another.

Anna opened the next largest box only to find a gold ring. She slipped it onto her finger as she read the engravings a loud. "J & A, for eternity," she laughed as she placed a kiss on the side of Jeremy's face. "Ironic how when you say eternity, you really mean eternity."

"Open the last one," Damon said, obviously frustrated by how long the girl was taking to open four simple gifts. She cast a look of anger at Damon before returning to her gifts. The last box from Jeremy contained a small bottle of perfume, which smelled exactly like Anna's mother used to. She hugged Jeremy tightly for the last time before moving on to Jenna's gift.

"Oh hey guys," Jenna yawned as she held a cup of coffee in her hand. She took a seat in the recliner as she watched Anna open the last gift which just so happened to be from her.

Anna opened a bag quickly as she pulled out an entire bath set containing soaps of all sorts, along with lotions, perfumes, and body scrubs. Anna scratched the scratch-n-sniff card slowly before bringing the package to her nose and inhaling deeply. She smiled as she removed the gift from her face.

"It smells lovely, Mrs. Gilbert. Thank you all," Anna smiled as she gathered her gifts and moved aside, leaving the floor open for the next person.

"Damon you go next," ordered Elena as he rolled his eyes and smirked as he sat on the arm of the couch.

"Gift me, babe," he smirked as he folded his arms and waited for Elena to grab his gifts and bring them to him. She rolled her eyes as she kneeled on her knees and handed the first gift to Damon.

"From Jeremy to Damon," he sighed as he tore the bag open and pulled out a magazine. A Playboymagazine. Damon's head fell back in laughter as Elena quickly removed the magazine from his hands before dumping it in the trash can.

"You are not reading that," she said sternly as she turned to Jeremy who was also laughing uncontrollably.

"How on Earth did you buy that Jeremy? You're too young!" shouted Jenna as she made sure the magazine was shoved far into the can.

"Chill, a friend of mine bought it for me. It's not like I looked at it," Jeremy explained as he smiled at an angry Anna. Her facial expressions lightened as he explained his reasoning to the family.

"Personally, that was amazing," Damon smirked, "On to the next. To Damon, love Elena." He felt himself smirking once again as he shot a look at Jenna that read 'Ha, she's mine and you can't take her away'. Slowly Damon's hands grabbed a hold of something smooth and cold. Quickly, he dragged a black Prada bomber jacket. His mouth dropped opened in shock, causing Elena to smirk quietly.

"Do you have any idea of how much this cost?" he asked, still in shock, "Elena, this jacket costs over a thousand dollars. How on Earth did you afford it?"

"Thanks for believing that I have money," she teased as she walked over to him and helped him slip it on, "I saved."

"I can't believe you bought this – spent that much money on me. Thank you," he said as he wrapped his arms around her tightly and kissed her softly, causing her to blush.

"Damon," she whispered as she pushed herself away from him, "we're in front of my family."

Damon turned to look at a disgusted Jeremy and unhappy Jenna before smirking. "Sorry. Anyway, next gift please." Elena handed Damon a small box wrapped in bright red paper. "From Anna, to Damon."

Damon unwrapped the box slowly as realized there was a cover to the small box. He removed it slowly, revealing a Hermes dark brown leather wallet. Damon smirked to himself as he looked towards Anna. "I don't even have to ask you how you came up with a thousand dollars, since this wallet cost over a thousand."

"How did you manage to afford that?" Jenna asked in disbelief as she stared at the wallet.

"She's a stripper," Damon smirked as Jenna's mouth dropped open suddenly as she quickly turned towards Anna.

"Damon!" Anna shouted, "He's joking. Family insurance policy."

"Oh," Jenna sighed as she turned back to face Damon, who was now laughing louder than before, and shot a look of unamusement at him.

"Stop it," giggled Elena as she removed the wrapping paper from her boyfriend's hands and replaced it with another bag, this time from Jenna. Damon smirked to himself as he removed the colorful paper.

"Shock collar?" he asked in confusion as he pulled out a shock collar made for a dog and looked at Jenna.

"That way," she said as she walked over to a large desk and pulled a small remote from the desk jar, "anytime you do something to Elena that I don't approve of, I can shock you."

"Aunt Jenna!" Elena laughed as she grabbed the collar from Damon and placed it along the side of his other three gifts. Jenna laughed softly as she smiled sweetly at Elena and Damon. Damon rolled his eyes as he looked around the room, only to find that the other three people were laughing along with Jenna.

"Very funny," he mumbled as he rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Aunt Jenna, you next," smiled Elena as she moved over to the pile of gifts and handed four to her Aunt.

"The first one's from you, Elena," smiled Jenna as she unwrapped a brightly colored package. She slowly pulled out a silver necklace with half a heart at the end of it. She read it a loud, "Mother."

Elena slowly pulled out a silver necklace from inside of her shirt as she revealed the other half of the heart to Jenna. "Daughter," she smiled sweetly as her Aunt's eyes swelled up with tears. She made her way over to Elena and embraced the teen with a tight hug as she wiped away her fallen tears. Jenna returned to her remaining gifts and unwrapped them quickly. All together, she had received the necklace from Elena, a bottle of perfume from Anna, a photo album filled with all kind of family memories from Jeremy, and a book titled "I like an Idiot" - with a picture of Alaric taped to the cover, from Damon.

"Okay Elena, your turn," Jenna announced a she allowed Elena to take her seat as she made her way over to the remaining gifts.

"Save mine for last," Damon said suddenly as he appeared on the side of Jenna and scooped three boxes up and brought them over to his seat.

"Of course," Elena rolled her eyes, "Any who, moving along. Dear Elena, I saw this and thought of you. Love, Jeremy."

Elena smiled sweetly at her brother who wore a smirk upon his face. He lowered his face into his hands as his laughter exploded as Elena removed a medium sized box from the bag. She quickly removed the cover only to find-

"Lingerie?" shouted Jenna as she grabbed a hold of the clothing – if it could even be considered clothing.

"Lingerie?" smirked Damon as he leaned over to get a better view of the clothing in Jenna's hands. He winked at Jeremy as he gave the young boy two thumbs up. Elena felt her cheeks growing red as the whole room looked at her with smiles on their faces – except Aunt Jenna of course.

"Since when did this household become so – so- "Jenna stuttered as she reluctantly handed Elena the outfit back.

"Please, don't finish that sentence," groaned Jeremy as he buried his face into Anna's shoulder, causing her to giggle. Elena had finished opening the remaining gifts, besides Damon's. She had received lingerie from her brother, a new personalized diary for her Aunt, and a charm bracelet from Anna.

"Now, time for the encore," smirked Damon as he handed her the first gift, which was a brightly covered box. "Don't shake it."

She unwrapped it quickly and removed the bubble wrap, revealing a glass bottle. Inside the bottle was a message, written in Damon's handwriting. She looked at him questioningly.

"It's a message in the bottle, a love letter," he smiled for the first time that night as she smiled slightly as him before setting it aside.

"I'll read it when I'm alone," she said slowly. Damon nodded as he grabbed the next gift and handed it to her. This time it was a large plastic bag with green and red paper coming out from the top of the bag. She slowly removed the second gift from the bag – which happened to be a black tight tee shirt with a picture of – Damon?

Damon laughed loudly as the four stared at him with unhappy looks on their face. "That way, even when I'm not around, you can still be with me."

Elena rolled her eyes as she threw the shirt over the back of the rocking chair before moving on to the next gift.

"Okay, you'll understand this one in a bit," he said as he placed a small box in the palm of her hand. There wasn't any wrapping on this one – just a cover. She removed the cover quickly, only to pull out a personalized key.

"It's your key to the boarding house," he said slowly, "That is, if you Aunt allows it."

"Elena," Jenna said slowly as she looked into the eyes of the rest of the room. Each begged for her to allow Elena to move in with Damon. She sighed, "You have my permission. As long as I can trust you two to make wise decisions."

"Thank you, Aunt Jenna. You know how I have a smart head on my shoulders," chuckled Elena as she started to rise, however, was stopped as Damon gently pushed her back down.

"Not done yet," he smiled as he dug into his back pocket.

"But there's no more gifts," she said slowly as she scanned the room, still finding nothing more than the gifts for their friends.

"Sure there is," he smirked as he slowly dropped down to one knee, causing the entire room to gasp in surprise. Elena felt her heart stop beating as Damon pulled out a beautiful ring, and held it right above her knee.

"We've been through a lot – I'll tell you that much. I loved you the moment I first saw you, because you were your own person. Even when you were with my brother, you still saw past him and paid me attention, something no other person has done before. You knew how...misfit I was, but yet you still didn't give up on me. You weren't afraid of me and you never backed down from a challenge. I put you through hell and you were still there, standing right along my side. I fell in love with you more and more, each day, Elena. Somewhere along the line, you found a reason to never give up on me," he whispered quietly as he felt himself choking up, "I always told you that you'd end up mine one day, but I never dreamed it'd really happen. Elena Gilbert, will you marry me?"

Elena looked down at her boyfriend as tears of joy spilled down her cheeks slowly. She looked up around at her family members, who were still in shock. Anna was crying as well as she held Jeremy's hand tightly. She smiled at Elena as she noticed Elena's eyes lingering on her. Elena looked back at her aunt who was beginning to wipe away at tears that were forming in her own eyes, as she nodded slowly to Elena before smiling sweetly.

"Yes," Elena whispered.

"What?" Damon asked as he looked up quickly at her.

"Yes!" she shouted as she felt herself grin happily. Before she knew it she was being lifted into the air as Damon held her tightly and spun her around the entire room. He set her down gently as he brushed the hair out of her face before gently resting his forehead against her own.

"Merry Christmas," he whispered as he pressed his lips against her smooth forehead.

XxX

Matt walked into the small living room of his home as he handed his girlfriend a cup of hot chocolate. She smiled sweetly as she gently removed the cup from his hands before bringing it to her mouth. She set the cup down as she felt her cell phone buzzing besides her.

"Text from Elena," explained Caroline as Matt sat besides her and placed an arm around her shoulder.

Be my maid of honor ;D – Elena

"Oh. My. God." Caroline breathed as she stared at the screen of her phone. Matt reached over and grabbed the phone from her hand as he read the text a loud to himself.

"Oh. My. God." he repeated, "Elena's engaged to Damon. Oh. My. God."

"Wow, um, wow," Caroline said as she blinked a few times before grabbing her phone back from Matt's hands in order to type her reply.

OMG, OMFG! OF COURSE! Be the nanny? ;D – Caroline

"That's unbelievable. Who would have thought that Damon Salvatore would ever settle down?" Matt whispered to himself. Not two years ago, he was dating Elena.

OMG! YES! You're prego? - Elena

"Elena knows," laughed Caroline as she typed a reply into her phone.

Yes :D

"We should start thinking of baby names," smiled Caroline as she put away her phone, "it feels so weird to say that."

"I still can't believe I'm going to be a dad," Matt said as he placed his hand on top of Caroline's stomach, "I say if it's a boy we name him Matt."

"Of course you'd say that," Caroline said as she rolled her eyes, "What Dad wouldn't want his son to have his name?"

"A stupid one. Okay, you pick out the girl's name, and I'll pick out the boy's name. And I choose Matt," Matt laughed as he removed his hand from Caroline's stomach as he smiled at his girlfriend.

"Fine," Caroline sighed, "But if she's a girl, I want her name to be Camiee."

"Camiee?" Matt asked and watched as Caroline nodded. Obviously, her mind was made up. He laughed as he pulled his girlfriend into him and hugged her tightly.

XxX

"I can't believe Elena's engaged," Jenna sighed as she sat besides Alaric. He had shown up a little after Elena and Damon's announcement.

"Time's going by fast," he sighed as he looked back at the woman.

"Too fast," she sighed as she picture Elena in a wedding gown, "She's moving out soon and getting married."

"She's in good hands," Alaric said quietly, "Damon will take good care of her."

"I know, but it'll be weird not having anyone in the house with me. I'm so used to having company," she replied, just as quiet as Alaric.

"You have me," he said suddenly as looked into Jenna's eyes, causing her to blush. His head moved in slowly, closing the gap between the two as he kissed her softly, causing her to smile against the kiss.

"Sounds like a plan," she whispered as he pulled away, causing him to smile.

"Merry Christmas Jenna."

"Merry Christmas Alaric," she replied.

XXX

Damon pushed open the boarding house door forcefully as he made his way into the home with his new fiancee` at his side. He smiled to himself as he said the word fiancee`.

"Merry Christmas, Brother!" Damon shouted as he walked around the empty hallway as he looked for his brother. Suddenly, Stefan appeared with Meredith at his side as he cast the couple a happy smile, before noticing the ring on Elena's finger.

"It appears that Christmas isn't the only thing worth celebrating," he said slowly, still not removing his eyes from the ring.

"Oh my God, that ring is beautiful," Meredith said quietly as she tried to get a better look at it.

"Would you like to see it?" Elena said suddenly, although she wasn't sure why.

"Oh, yes! Let's go into the proper to get better lighting," suggest Meredith as she walked off into the distance with Elena following closely behind her.

"I'm happy for you, Brother," Stefan said slowly as he looked at his brother closely.

"She'll be living here, I hope you know," Damon said quietly as he refused to break the eye contact he had with his brother.

"As will Meredith," Stefan replied, "She has no other place to live since her parents reside out of state."

"Her and Elena seem to be getting along fine now, so no problem," Damon answered, "You know, I expect you to serve in my wedding."

"Understandable," Stefan said with a small smile, "I accept."

"I wasn't finished," Damon said quickly, "I expect you to serve in my wedding, as my best man."

Stefan was silent for a moment as the shock moved throughout his body. He never expected his brother would ask him to perform such an honor.

"My pleasure, Brother," Stefan smiled as he pulled Damon into a tight family hug. Damon felt himself smirk as he hugged his brother back.

XXX

Madeline sat alone in her room as she felt her two children moving around quickly in her stomach. She looked into the mirror which sat directly across from her as she realized her eyes were back to the unusual bright shade of yellow.

"Damn it," she cursed silently to herself.

It had never acted up before – she always had her werewolf side under control. But every since that one night with that guy from the bar, it'd been worse than she'd ever seen it. The thirst – the hunger – the growth rate, all multiplied by a thousand.

She sat quietly as she tried to remember his name. She had been wasted, as was he, which was how she ended up pregnant. She cursed herself for not checking to see if the guy was wearing protection. Her mind flashed back to the night of the event. His name was on the tip of her tongue, she was so close to remembering. She froze as his name came to mind.

"Tyler," she whispered quietly to herself.

Xxx

DUN DUN DUN.

THE END OF THIS STORY!

Be sure to read the sequel to find out what happens!

Enjoy and review!