Heeeey, I'm back :)

I really don't have much to say except THANK YOU! to everyone who's still reading this, you guys are the best, like I said before we're alredy close to the end(not to close but close enough :p) so It would really mean a lot to me if you could leave me a review telling me if you liked the chapter and if you're still enjoying the story :D

Thanks a lot to Amy who always correct this for me and gives me amazing comments :D

Please, Enjoy

Love,

Sam :)

When darkness comes upon you
And covers you with fear and shame
Be still and know that I'm with you
And I will say your name
If terror falls upon your bed
And sleep no longer comes
Remember all the words I said
Be still, be still, and know

Be still –The Fray-

.

Three weeks, it had been almost three weeks since they found out the truth. Jeremy and Bonnie were in Chicago still trying to find anything they could about the baby but it seemed that they ended up empty handed every day. There were no records about the child - it was as if he had never existed.

Damon's chest ached with pain every time he saw the troubled look that was now permanent on Elena's face, he swore to protect her and now he just had to stay still while the world kept hurting her. The only thing he wanted was to relieve the pain her heart was in.

They had to admit her into hospital last week due her high blood pressure and the doctor said that she needed to stay in bed and rest with zero stress. The last one was almost impossible but Damon was making sure that she got as much rest as possible.

She was constantly telling him that he was over-reacting, that she was so much better now but he wasn't letting her out of that house anytime soon, he couldn't risk it anymore, that's why he didn't bring her to see Julian today.

It seemed that the adoption was finally happening, despite all the developments of the last few weeks the people in charge didn't see any objection in letting them keep Julian, especially since the kid was getting older - they know that it's really hard for the older kids to get adopted, so why refuse him this chance?

He was going to tell him today and see his reaction, he was wishing that the kid was happy about the decision, it would break his heart if he didn't want to go with them. It would break Elena's heart.

"Damon!" The soft melodic voice of the blonde child brought Damon back to the present and he lifted his eyes to see him running towards him.

"Hey there buddy!" he answered while Julian threw himself in his arms, locking him in a tight embrace.

"Where's Lena?" Julian answered once he let go of Damon and took a seat in one of the small green chairs in the salon.

"Well, she's been sick, so she couldn't make it today." The man answered sympathetically while he moved his chair closer until his legs were grazing the kids knees.

"But she's going to be okay, right?" The trace of worry in his voice didn't go unnoticed by Damon and a small smile crept onto his face.

"She'll be fine kiddo."

"So, when are you two getting married?" Julian asked with a big smile on his face. Damon always felt shocked at how straight forward this kid could be at this age, in some way it reminded him of how he used to be.

"Truth is, I don't really know buddy." Damon gave the most honest answer he could get, the same question was in his head too, there was nothing he wanted more than to turn Elena into his wife but he feared that maybe she thought it was to soon so he never brought the conversation up, especially now.

"But it will be soon right?"

"I hope so." The blue eyed man answered with a smirk on his face. "So, Julian, I'm here because I want to talk you about something." His tone turned more serious and for a minute the kid feared the worst; maybe they had both gotten tired of visiting him, maybe they didn't want him anymore.

"Okay." His response was simple as his stomach clenched with fear of the words that could come out of Damon's mouth.

"You see, Elena and I have been thinking and well, how would you feel about officially turning into our son?" Damon spoke each word carefully while he felt the hole in his stomach grow with anticipation. He saw Julian's eyes grow as big as plates but no word came out of his mouth. "Julian, come on, say something to me buddy?"

"Are you playing with me?" The voice of the kid was a small whisper as his eyes turned glossy with unshed tears.

"No, of course not Julian." Damon's voice grew warmer and he placed a hand on the child's knee. "Elena and I want to adopt you."

"But why?" That was not the response Damon was waiting for, did that mean he didn't want to be with them?

"Well, we care about you so much, and we have a connection with you that we can't explain Julian. We want you."

"But no-one has ever wanted me before." His blue eyes looked down and Damon was able to see small tears escaping his eyes. "Not even my parents."

"But we do, we want you so badly." He put his hand under his chin and lifted his small face so he was able to look into his blue eyes. "And from experience I can tell you that sometimes things happen that mess with us but that doesn't mean your parents didn't want you."

"That's not true; if they loved me I wouldn't be here."

"Hey, you can't think like that." Damon got up from his chair and kneeled in front of him. "I'm sure they loved you Julian." He circled his tiny form with his arms and hugged him tightly, as if doing this would make all of his pain go away, shielding him from the hurt and dangers of the world. "So, do you want to be our son?"

"You know I do." His voice was muffled against Damon's chest but he could feel him smiling against him.

Damon wanted to make him happy, to erase all of the hurt in his young life, to protect him from the world, the cruel world they lived in. Soon they would get their other son back and they could be the family he always dreamed of having.

Her eyes were closed as her head rested against the wall, she could hear the voices in the other room but decided to stay there for a few more minutes. After three weeks she still couldn't believe what was happening to her, she thought her child was dead and now life was giving her a second chance.

A week ago she started to see the bright side of the situation, yeah what her parents did was completely awful but now she was just grateful to know that her baby was okay and was out there somewhere, she just needed to find him.

She let out a sigh and looked at the room she was in while a small smile appeared on her face. Damon was going to be the best of the fathers, she still couldn't believe that he'd turned this room into Julian's. Her heart warmed at the memory of the little blond child, Damon was going to tell him today and she was praying that he would be happy about the idea; her heart would break into a thousand pieces if he decided not to go with them.

"Elena are you okay?" She heard Jenna's voice from the hallway.

"I'm fine." she answered opening the door of the room. "You don't have to check up on me every five minutes." Her lips were curved into a small smile.

"Well no, but if we're moving your stuff it's only fair that you help us." Jenna answered mocking her, Elena rolled her eyes at her and hugged her tightly before returning to Damon's room where Caroline was.

The room was full of boxes with her belongings; she had doubted this decision for the last few days, in fact she wasn't entirely convinced yet, which was why she left some her stuff in her apartment and decided to keep the place for a while. She loved Damon and wanted nothing more than to be with him, but she thought that maybe they were moving too fast, she was so scared that for some reason he would realize that she wasn't the one for him and then she would be all alone and homeless.

But he had been so insistent, he told her that he wanted nothing more than to live with her, they were practically doing that already. When he looked at her with those big blue eyes and a pout on his lips she just couldn't refuse him.

"You know…" Caroline's voice brought her back to the present and she watched with a smile on her face as the blonde girl rummaged through Damon's closet. "He really knows how to dress. Are you sure he's not gay?"

"Completely." The brunette girl answered firmly while a smirk appeared on her face and her eyes sparkled mischievously.

"Okay, that's all the answers we need." Jenna said smiling as she opened one of the boxes on top of the bed and started pulling out Elena's clothes.

"So, are you ready to forgive Alaric?" Elena said casually while pulling clothes out of the same box Jenna was currently working on.

"Oh yes, please. The man can't keep sulking about it." Caroline said from the closet. "It's painful to watch, really."

"I don't know, I mean, he's still married." Jenna said with a frown, yet they still weren't that serious but she at least hoped for a little bit of honesty, how was she supposed to trust him now after that?

"Well yeah, but he's not living with her or seeing her, it's just a piece of paper Jenna."

"It's not that easy Elena."

"Yes it is." Caroline said with a roll of her eyes. "Look Jenna, he loves you trust me, you can see it in his eyes every time he looks at you." The blonde girl walked closer to the bed. "Loving a person who doesn't loves you back is the most painful thing in the world, trust me I know." Elena's eyes looked at Caroline with admiration. "So if the one you love is loving you back you just have to enjoy it." Jenna looked down, really considering what Caroline had just said. "Plus, if I walk into the grill one more time while he's singing 'The shape of my heart' completely drunk I will shoot myself straight in the head." Jenna and Elena started to laugh so hard that the brunette girl had to sit down on the floor to try and catch her breath.

"That is a mental image I won't forget." Elena said with a huge smile on her face, she hadn't laughed that hard in the last weeks and she felt really thankful to Ric and Caroline for letting her do it now.

"Speaking of man and forgiveness, what about you Caroline?" Jenna asked with a stern voice, testing the waters. "You talked to Stefan?"

"What?!" The blonde girl asked with a shocked expression. "Does everyone already know about that?"

"Sorry Care, I have no idea how it happened but the thing between you and Stefan is of popular knowledge now." Elena said, giving her best friend an apologetic smile.

"It probably has something to do with us being sewn to each other for the last two weeks." Jenna said to the blonde girl.

They were being supportive to their friend which meant they had been sticking with Damon and Elena almost every waking minute, they didn't want them to go through all of that alone, they knew they needed the support, that's why she didn't take off to Chicago with Jeremy and Bonnie. Elena needed a distraction and Damon couldn't be glued to her 24/7.

"So?" Jenna asked Caroline with a raised brow.

"Well I haven't spoken with him since then, I didn't return any of his calls." Caroline looked at the box she was wrapping not making eye contact with any of the girls. "Damon told me that he went to Italy, he's going to spend some time there." There was a trace of sadness that didn't go unnoticed by any of the girls.

"And how do you feel about that?" Elena asked softly.

"I don't know yet." Caroline wiped her eyes softly and just like that she masked all the sadness behind a smile. "But who the hell cares about him?"

Elena and Jenna looked at each other but before any of them could comment on the blonde's change of attitude the phone rang and Elena ran as fast as she could to answer it.

"Hello." she said anxiously, hoping it would be Bonnie or Jeremy.

"Lena?" Her friend spoke from the other side of the phone.

"Yes Bonnie, it's me what happened?"

"I think we've found him, I mean not found him found him, but close to it." Bonnie explained quietly. Elena's heart was beating faster than ever at the excitement over the news Bonnie was giving her.

"Why? What do you know?" Her voice was trembling as she sat down on the bed followed by the two girls who quietly observed her reaction.

"Well since they have none of his records in the orphanage your dad left him in we've been going around in circles but just today we went to one of the last houses here in Chicago and there's a boy-" Elena felt like she was holding her breath for the entire conversation. "He arrived here from the same orphanage your baby was at, that was in 2005, he was two." Tears were gathering in her eyes as Caroline held onto her hand tightly. "He had deep blue eyes and he had a pathologic murmur in his heart that was giving him some troubles, his medical records said that he was born at 7 months of gestation."

"Oh my god, oh my god." Elena felt like her entire world was spinning, could it be? Could her baby be there? Excitement and fear were running through her body and she was trying her best to keep her emotions at bay.

"I know that it is pretty vague information but it all fits Lena." Bonnie said softly. She and Jeremy weren't sure whether to call her now or wait until they knew more, but given the circumstances they opted for the first option.

"It's okay Bonnie, I want to know everything, what's his name, where's he now?" The words were coming out of her mouth at full speed while tears kept falling from her eyes as Caroline and Jenna looked at her with their eyes tainted with tears as well. They couldn't believe that this was actually happening.

"He didn't have a name yet, here they called him 'Charming' you know, because of the prince." Bonnie said smiling softly. "They said he was so beautiful, breathtaking even, everyone in the orphanage was in love with him." Elena smiled through the tears at the words of her friend.

"Was? What do you mean was?" Panic started to rise up in her at the thought of losing her baby all over again.

"Because he's not here anymore." Bonnie took a deep breath before continuing. "They were crowed here and by fortunes desires they sent him to Mystic Falls before he turned 3."

"Oh my god." She dropped the phone out of her hand while a smile appeared on her face, her baby was here, he had been here the entire time. There were no words to describe how she was feeling at the moment, she was aware of Caroline taking the phone to speak with Bonnie but she couldn't register anything else.

Her baby was here, and she was not going to stop until she found him.

If you forget the way to go

And lose where you came from

If no one is standing beside you

Be still and know I am

Be still and know that I'm with you

Be still and know I am

.

.

She felt his arms wrap around her from behind and sighed contently into the pillow, she went to bed without him and after the events of the day it actually took a long time for sleep to come, the bed felt too big and cold without him but now he was back, making her heart feel warm inside - completing her.

"Sorry that I woke you." he murmured softly into her ear.

"It's okay baby, I'd choose you over sleep any day of the week." A small smile graced her lips as she turned in his embrace so she was able to stare at his handsome face.

"How are you?" he asked softly as he rubbed their noses together.

"I'm fine Damon, I told you that there's nothing to worry about, I'm better." she answered. She loved him for taking care of her but having Damon as your personal nurse could be quite stressful.

"It's just... I get worried." His voice showed a trace of vulnerability and Elena tightened her arms around him immediately. She wanted her body to melt into his, to attach their skins together and stay that way forever, he was her safe place and she didn't want to leave it ever again.

"I know Damon and I love you for that." Her lips pressed softly against his. "What's wrong?" she asked, tracing the frown on his forehead.

"I'm worried for Stefan too. He went to Italy and god knows when he'll be back." He closed his eyes for a moment. "And my dad is freaking out and taking it all out on poor Karen and-"

"What?"

"I can't stop worrying about you Lena, you've been so sad and sick the last few days and I promised to make you happy and I'm not exactly honouring that promise." There was a trace of sadness in his voice and Elena placed another sweet kiss on his lips.

"You've got an atlas complex you know, carrying the world on your shoulders." she murmured against his mouth.

"Only yours." He pressed their foreheads together and relished in the warm feeling of being with her.

"How's Julian?" Excitement was evident in her voice at the mention of the little blonde kid.

"He's good, I told him about the adoption." His blue eyes sparkled as he looked at her.

"And?"

"He's happy," The biggest of smiles made it's way onto his face. "I can't wait to have him here."

"I know." Her body got closer to him instinctively. "We are going to be so happy Damon, finally."

"Don't you doubt that princess." His lips took possession of hers in the sweetest of kisses, one charged with love and happiness, showing her that their souls belonged together.

"Bonnie called." Elena said breathlessly once their lips parted. "She said our son is in Mystic Falls, he's in one of the two orphanages here."

"What? Are you serious?"

"Yes, Damon. He's here."

"We're going to find him Lena, I promise you." He held her once again as she rested her head against his chest. "I would look in every corner of the world until we found him."

"I don't know what I would do without you Damon." she murmured against his chest.

Damon was everything she needed, he changed her, made her strong, made her feel things she didn't even know existed. He made her a better person. Suddenly, she felt sad for their parents, what they did to her was horrible but that only proved that they weren't capable of loving with such intensity as she was, that they weren't happy. If they had what she and Damon had they wouldn't need to destroy everything around them, they would understand what it is to love someone to the tip of your fingers, to do anything for them, suffer their pain and enjoy their happiness, to love beyond your control. Her parents didn't know the kind of love she and Damon shared, and for that she was so sorry.

"You do know that I will always be here to protect you right?" His voice was charged with emotion and Elena felt the hairs on her arms bristle at the sound.

"Of course I know, just like I will always be there for you."

"You are my special person Elena, and I would do anything for you: be there whenever you need me, be anything you want. You are it for me" He was never going to be able to put into words how much Elena meant to him, no-one would ever understand how great his love for her was. "I don't care how many things I have to carry on my shoulders, I would do anything for you."

Elena lifted her head and her chocolate eyes stared into his blue ones. One soul in two different bodies, she could never be grateful enough for the opportunity of being with this man, the love of her life, how many people can have the chance she had?

As their lips found each other once again they were consumed by the love that pulled them together, they worshiped their bodies as if they hadn't seen each other in years and just enjoyed the happiness of being reunited, knowing that no matter what they had to face, they would do it together.