Warnings: Mature – adult content, adult situations, domestic violence, alcohol use, drug use

"Godfather." Stefan rested his elbows on the center island in the kitchen. "I figured Ric and Jo would have been smarter than that."

"Don't ask me." Damon shrugged his shoulders. He'd have figured his main role in Ric's child's life would be the drunk uncle that corrupted the kid – not something like godfather. "Elena made sense, but no idea why he picked me."

"You two are kind of a package deal, aren't you?" Stefan raised an eyebrow. "Have you picked out a ring yet?"

No. They were not going there.

Immortal or not – Elena wasn't even nineteen yet. She was too young to think about forever, even if Damon was who she'd be spending forever with. He changed the subject. "How'd you hear about the godparents stuff anyway?"

"Elena called Caroline." Stefan answered the question like it should have been self-explanatory.

Of course Elena called Caroline. Ever since they got Caroline's emotion-switch back in the on position, the two had quickly resumed their best-friend status. The two women treated the boardinghouse kitchen like their own private beauty-parlor – exchanging gossip about people he could care less about. But the gossip was better than when Caroline started chatting about her sex life with Stefan. There were some things he just didn't want to know.

So why was he surprised to hear she'd called Caroline? Elena was thrilled. She wanted to share the news.

God, it seemed like forever since he'd seen Elena as happy as she'd been while holding one of the babies in her arms. She looked… He paused, not liking where his thoughts were headed, but he had to admit it anyway. Eyes alight. Smile on her face.

She looked like she did when she was human.

Stefan cleared his throat. Damn, for a minute he'd forgotten Stefan was still in the room. And now his brother had his patented expression of concern plastered across his face.

"What?" Damon snapped in reply to Stefan's unvoiced question.

"I didn't say a word."

And he was right. Stefan hadn't spoken. He didn't even ask a question. He didn't need to. The look in his eyes said it all. Stefan had been his brother for too long. He knew exactly what was running through Damon's mind.

"So she was happy to be a godmother?" Even the most innocent question felt weighted.

"Yes."

"Did they ask you two first?"

"No. We didn't know until we were each holding one."

A cynical glint played at the corners of Stefan's eyes. "Did they name them yet?"

"Not that I know of. Pretty sure Jo revoked his naming rights after he suggested Bruce Wayne."

"Probably for the best," Stefan answered, masking a smile.

Damon nodded and moved toward the liquor cabinet. A day and a night and another day in the labor and delivery ward and recovery area required alcohol. Adding his conversation with Stefan into the mix, he might be tempted to finish the whole bottle. For now, Damon was pleased that Stefan seemed to have dropped the line of conversation he'd been precariously close to starting.

Damon selected one of his best bottles of whiskey. Finding out he was a godfather deserved a toast, didn't it? He unscrewed the lid and watched as the amber liquid trickled into his glass.

"She always wanted kids you know."

Damon's hand shook in reply. He placed the bottle on the tabletop before he accidentally dropped it. Then he shot his brother a death-glare.

Stefan didn't take the hint. "Yeah. She told me once. Back on that day you fed her your blood, and Klaus was about to kill her. You remember, right? That night when Jon died to keep her human since he knew she wanted a human life too. She wanted it all. White picket fence. Two kids in the yard."

"I remember."

"Caroline said Elena used to talk about having a big family. Three or four kids. Maybe five. She was all about the big family."

It took every ounce of strength Damon had to not heave the bottle in his brother's direction. If Stefan hadn't seen him staring at the box Bonnie had given him that morning, they wouldn't be having this conversation now.

Why did Stefan have to know about the cure?

"What do you want me to say?"

"I think you already know. But I'm not the one you need to be talking to right now."

Elena came home far closer to twelve than eleven. Her shift at the hospital ended at nine, but she said she'd wanted to check in on Jo before she left. With a third of the hospital's staff out with the flu, even the maternity ward was understaffed.

He had to give her credit. She tried to come in without waking him. As if she could sneak up on a vampire…especially one so much older than she was. She was good, but not that good.

It wouldn't have mattered anyway. Damon hadn't been asleep. For the past hours, he'd been lying on his back, his mind far too busy.

"You can turn on the light."

Elena cursed under her breath. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's okay. You didn't. I just went to bed." Technically, two hours ago…but she didn't need to know that. The light on the nightstand flicked on, and he got a good look at her. Saying she was a mess was being kind.

Her hair looked like rats used it to build a nest. Her clothes had mysterious spots that he couldn't identify. And what little makeup she wore to work was gone. She was a vampire, and she seemed exhausted.

That was before he studied her eyes.

They were almost brighter than he'd ever seen them.

"You see the twins?"

"I did." Her eyes shone even brighter. "Jo was thrilled I came by. She hadn't gotten a chance to take a shower."

"Where was Ric?"

"Asleep on the couch." She perched on the side of the bed next to him. "I didn't have the heart to wake him. He looked tired while he was still asleep."

"How are you?" He reached out to stroke her hair.

"Nope." She popped to her feet. "Not the best idea right now." She ran a hand over her hair, wincing. "I'm fine. Really. Better than fine. But I need a shower." She gazed down at her scrubs. "I'm not exactly sure what body fluids I'm currently wearing."

She waited for something. Maybe a reply? Possibly a joke about adding a few extra fluids. But he couldn't. Not after his conversation with his brother and what he'd witnessed tonight.

A minx-ish expression filled her eyes. She raised one eyebrow, nodding toward the bathroom. "If you're not tired, do you want to help me in the shower? I might need a little help."

"Well, when you put it like that, how can I resist?"

Author's note: Sorry this one is short. I'll admit, it's been beyond difficult to even get this chapter to happen with the events of this week. However, I definitely don't want to leave everyone hanging. This will be a shorter story than originally planned. That's not bad news, though. I have an announcement to make that I hope all of y'all will be happy about. I've partnered with LastDayOfMagic (also an author on this site) to do our own take on seasons 3 through the end of the TVD series. We're hoping to give the lead character the attention she deserves. While I can't give a link here, you can find it by searching for the story "Half-Life" by LastDayofTVD.

Also, I've had a few readers mention if I could give a few hints about my alter-ego's writing. If you're interested in finding an author whose style is remarkably similar to mine, look for the book "Playing by the Rules" by an author named Burrow on your favorite e-retailer.

Thanks for sticking with me during these interesting days in the fandom.