DISCLAIMER: I only own the plot (of the fanfic).

Chapter 4
Nobody

"Should we make dinner soon?" I ask Willow as we sit on the couch watching a movie. Her head was rested on my lap and her dog was tucked in her arms along with her baby knit blanket draped over her shoulders.

"Sure, but I'm not too hungry." She informs me, yawning despite herself.

"Are you still sleepy?" I ask.

"Yeah." She nods. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion of how this could be possible. She slept until 12 once I got home from the school and it was only 6:30 now. She can't be exhausted from watching movies all day.

I shrug it off, and lift her off the couch, walking us to the kitchen. I set her down on the counter top and open the fridge.

"What do you want to eat?" I ask, looking at our options for an easy dinner. "We have left over pasta, and there's some chicken that we never finished from Saturday." I suggest, pulling the containers out and placing them next to her. She opens both and carefully sniffs the pasta.

"Will," I laugh, shaking my head at her pickiness. "You know what that tastes like, you ate it yesterday at lunch." I point out.

"Oh yeah." She says, remembering the food now.

"Silly girl." I say, placing two plates down. I separate the food equally and toss the containers into the sink. "A quick and easy dinner." I say, placing the plates in the microwave and getting to work on rinsing the dirty boxes and lids. I place them in the dishwasher and begin to dry my hands when the doorbell rings. I sigh and increase the time of the food heating up before pulling Willow off the counter and handing her the towel.

"Here, can you fold this and place it back on the rack?" I ask, she nods and takes it from me.

I head for the door and flip on the entrance light, spooking myself in process when I trip over one of Willow's little boots. I should really teach her how to put away her shoes. Being distracted by the shoe I forgot to look into the peephole on the door.

"Hello-" I begin to say, only to jump at the sight of the person on the other side. "Damon." I say beside myself, leaning on the doorknob for support.

"Elena," He whispers, smiling weakly as my eyes shoot daggers.

"What do you want?" I ask him, kicking the boot behind the door so he wouldn't notice.

"Umm… I ran into Stefan and he told me about you and-" Just then the timer went off on the microwave and Willow came running out of the kitchen towards me.

"Mommy the food is ready." She informs me stopping in her tracks at the sight of the man at the door. "Who are you?" She asks in her sweet, confused tone.

"Uh-"

"He's nobody sweetheart." I explain quickly, glaring at Damon before looking back to Willow. "How about you go and turn off the movie and fix the pillows before dinner, okay Bug?"

"Alright, nice meeting you." She says to Damon, waving at him before running back to the living room.

"Her name is Willow?" He asks with a wider grin.

"Don't flatter yourself. The last name is Gilbert. You're literally nobody in her life." I say angrily, trying to keep my voice low so Willow wouldn't hear.

"You can't say that Elena-"

"And why not?" I cut him off. "You weren't there through all the late nights, or colds, or tears, or even the milestones, and the laughs. She knows only me as a parent, I'm both her mom and dad." I say, crossing my arms.

"I didn't want to leave." He says. I scoff at this.

"Last I remember, it was my fault that I got pregnant. Don't worry Damon, we're doing just fine without you in our lives. And I'd hate to ruin your life with my presence." I make sure to point out that those were his words and not mine. "Now please, leave. I don't want to keep her waiting."

"I'm sorry." He whispers, ducking his head just as I shut the door.

"Mommy." Willow calls for me.

"I'm coming, baby." I promise, fixing my hair and wiping away at the glimmer of tears brimming my eyes. Once I feel better I head back to the kitchen and pull out our dinner. She happily gets to work on eating while I prod at the chicken and eat two or three pieces of pasta.

"I'm full." She says, placing her fork down next to her half eaten plate.

"Alright, time for a bath I guess." I say, dropping out leftovers in the garbage and cleaning the plates. "Come on." I offer my hand as we both head for the stairs. I flip the lights off downstairs and call it a night for that floor. Upstairs I get to work on getting her set for a shower. I turn on the warm water and show her the shampoo, and conditioner. I place her towel down next to the tub and help her undress.

"Will you be able to clean yourself off?" I ask her, holding her shoulders so she'd watch me.

"Yup." She nods, smiling proudly. I nod and help her in, reminding her not to change the temperature of the water and to carefully rinse her hair so then she doesn't get soap in her eyes. When I know she is in a shower I get started on my own. Washing off today's worries and scrubbing free the grime that Damon has brought upon me.

I shower quickly and dress in my pajamas just with enough time to help Willow rinse her hair from the conditioner and help her from the tub. She dries and dresses in a pair of poodle pajamas.

We both fall asleep before 9pm, she lying in my arms and I nuzzled my nose into her fresh smelling hair.

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-Valentina