Warnings: Mature – character death, adult content, language, violence, Stefan, Bonnie, Caroline

Epilogue

August 23

Damon took a drink of the too-hot coffee and made a face. He'd been at the hospital for over 20 hours now, and he was pretty sure he was finishing off the dregs of the pot that had already tasted stale when they arrived. He shook his head and dumped the liquid into the water fountain before tossing the cup in the trash. He needed caffeine, but not that badly.

Soft laughter came from behind him. "Looks like I got here just in time." Alaric held out a tall white paper cup. "Here."

Damon curled his fingers around the cup with gratitude. Hospital coffee shouldn't really be called coffee. "Thanks."

"How is she?" Alaric waited as Damon yawned.

"Elena?" Damon rubbed the day's growth of stubble along his cheek. "Exhausted. It was a long night."

"What time did Meredith finally convince her to get the epidural?"

Damon narrowed his eyes and thought about it. After eight hours of labor, everything just sort of started to run together. "Pretty sure it was close to two."

"Ouch." Alaric winced.

"Tell me about it." Damon stretched one arm above his head and yawned again.

Alaric walked at Damon's side and paused as Damon stepped into a beam of sunlight pouring through the window. "How are you doing? Feel much different?"

Damon placed the coffee cup on a table in the hallway and held out his hands, looking down at the solitary ring on his finger. The narrow silver band on his left ring finger shone in the sunlight. "It's going to take a little getting used to."

Alaric nodded. "How'd Stefan take the news?"

Damon cocked his head to the side and grinned. "Better than I thought. I'm pretty sure he drove by the drug store to buy a box of condoms on the way home."

"No more Salvatore/Petrova babies?"

Damon ducked his head and laughed. "At least not for a while." Damon's phone buzzed in his pocket. "Looks like I can go back up now. Nursing is apparently harder than it looks. The nurse kicked me out about a half-hour ago. Want to go see her?" Without waiting for an answer, Damon pressed the button to call the elevator.

Alaric tossed his cup into the trash as the elevator doors slid open. "Jeremy said you finally convinced her to move. Was she drugged up at the time?"

Damon swallowed and leaned against the back wall of the elevator. "She needs some time…away from here. Every time she looks around, she sees them. I think some time with the sand and the sun will do her good. You and Jeremy are still welcome to come live in the guest house."

"Move with you to Hawaii. Tempting." Alaric backed up to allow other passengers space in the elevator. "But Jeremy wants to finish out his senior year here."

"Understandable." Damon nodded as the doors parted as they arrived on the fourth floor. He'd seen far too much of this waiting area over the past few weeks. Their little one had been more than a little impatient to arrive. "This way." He pointed to a cluster of doors to the right of the nurse's station. A pink wreath with a teddy bear hung on one of the closed doors. Damon pointed to the wreath and explained, "Meredith thought we needed a little extra celebration." He tapped softly twice on the door, shaking his head at Alaric's amusement at his excitement to enter the room.

"Come in." A nurse opened the door and motioned them inside. "Mom's asleep right now." She whispered and held a finger to her lips.

"No I'm not." A very groggy Elena answered.

"She was." The nurse corrected herself. "Just buzz if y'all need anything." She stepped through the doorway and closed it behind her.

"Ric." Elena smiled up through heavy-lidded eyes. "Damon said you were here almost all night."

"Till about midnight." He hesitantly walked to Elena's bedside. "I heard you had a long night."

Elena nodded slowly. "But it was worth it." The bundle in her arms moved and Elena shifted in the bed. Damon quickly arrived at her side and helped her reposition herself. "Do you want to hold your goddaughter?"

Alaric quickly looked to Damon for permission. The dark-haired former vampire's blue eyes locked on his friend's face. "Don't drop her."

Alaric took a step back. "Maybe not."

Elena shook her head. "Come on, Ric." She motioned for Alaric to come to her side. "I'd like you to meet Amelia."

"Isn't that kind of an old-fashioned name?" He raised an eyebrow as he reached out and took the baby in his arms.

"Watch her head." Damon appeared to be ready to jump over Elena's bed as he watched Alaric adjust his grip on the baby.

"Amelia was Damon's mother's name." Elena reached out and took hold of Damon's hand.

"It's a beautiful name." Alaric corrected himself, looking down at the blue-eyed bundle in his arms. He glanced at Elena. "She has your eyes."

"Like I said, someday she'll have all the guys wrapped around her finger."

Elena took a shaky breath and backed away from her brother. "You're sure you're going to be okay?"

Jeremy laughed and pointed to the car where Damon was placing the last suitcase in the trunk. "I think it's a little late for second thoughts." He smiled reassuringly at his sister. "We'll be fine. Ric's a much better cook than you are."

"I heard about the fire department." Damon glanced at his friend in amusement.

"Definitely not my fault, the wind got too high and the fire in the grill got out of control." Alaric bounced Amelia gently in his arms. The baby grasped hold of his fingertip and pulled it into her mouth.

"That's not what I heard." Liz Forbes reached out and took hold of the bundle in Alaric's arms. "Let me see her. She's gotten so big." She leaned her head down and brushed a kiss on the baby's downy black hair.

Elena stood back and watched as her baby was passed between her friends and family members. She hadn't been prepared for this impromptu goodbye party. She'd hoped that she and Damon would be able to slip away. But she knew that wouldn't really be fair.

"Don't worry about your little brother." Matt wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I'll watch out for Jeremy too."

"Thanks." Elena felt her lip begin to tremble as she gave Matt a quick hug. "I know you will."

"And it's not really goodbye." Damon lifted Amelia from Liz's arms. He turned and faced Stefan. "We won't be gone forever." Stefan stood with his arm around Katherine's waist. Somehow regaining their humanity restored the balance in the brothers' relationship. Stefan and Katherine were happy, and if Damon guessed correctly from his experience with Elena, the slightly green tint to Katherine's skin meant he and Elena would have reason to visit by next summer.

"You take good care of them." Stefan looked back and forth between the baby in Damon's arms and Elena.

Holding Amelia in one arm, he wrapped his other around Elena's waist and pulled her to his side. "I always have...I always will."

The End.

Author's note: Thanks for coming on the journey with me. I've loved sharing my version of Damon and Elena's story with you once again.

As you may have guessed, this story was also my goodbye. Damon and Elena are leaving Mystic Falls. It's time for them to move on. The time has come for me as well.

I hope I can come back and visit. (I have two one-shots in the works.) But this will be my last multi-chapter story.

Thanks so much for all your support. Y'all have no idea how much it has meant to me.

Until next time -

D'Ann