"What have you got there?" Elijah asked as Selina came in after visiting Amelia and Andrew, a letter clutched in her hand.

"This is what got Mama and Uncle Andrew talking about my half-brother," Selina told him. "The guy who wrote it has the same name as him." She sat down. "I wish I could have known him."

"Like I told you before, sometimes, having siblings is not all it's cracked up to be," Elijah said and sat down next to her. "There were lots of days when I was growing up that I wish I could have been an only child."

"Only people who aren't single children say that," Selina sighed. "Cause they don't know how lonely it can be."

"Have you thought any about what this brother of yours was like since you found out about him?" Elijah asked. "I know you like thinking about stuff like that."

"No, but now that you mention it, I think I'd want him to be like my uncle Jake," Selina said. "You know, nice and sedate instead of brash and bossy like the rest of my boy cousins. That would have been a nice change."

"Yes, I have to agree with you," Elijah nodded. "I have a fondness for your uncle myself."

Selina began reading the letter, muttering the words under her breath.

"Anything interesting?" Elijah asked. "Information about our mysterious letter-writer, perhaps?"

"No," Selina sighed. "This is just about Charlotte and how well she's adjusting to where she lives now, which I'm sure is driving Damon and Stefan insane."

"Damon and Stefan know about this?" Elijah asked.

"Yeah," Selina confessed. "They do. And I won't lie to you: Damon has asked me to come and help him deal with it sometimes."

Elijah bristled and stood up. "And just how have you obliged his request? I know you have."

"I just talk to him," Selina assured her husband. "I swear! There's not even any drinking involved!"

"There better not be," Elijah huffed.

Though Selina was as miffed as she usually was in situations like this, she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her husband. Things regarding Damon came from her human life, which was a part of her that Elijah would never be able to truly connect with, no matter how hard he tried. That's probably why he got so defensive every time she brought Damon up. Well, that and the fact that she and Damon had once been a couple, and though it wasn't a problem any longer, she had once had a very enthusiastic wandering eye, even early in her and Elijah's relationship, which had her going after her past boyfriends, so she really couldn't blame Elijah for being a little upset.

"I would ask you if you want to come with me next time I see him, but…" Selina paused. "Wait a minute, is that what you want? Cause we can do it. I've got nothing to hide. You'll just have to listen to a lot of stuff that has nothing to do with you and be extremely bored for a long time."

"How long?" Elijah asked. "Seriously, how long would it take to assure Damon about his mother?"

"Well, how screwed up was I when I found out about Daddy and Christine?" Selina asked him. "That should give you a hint."

"Oh, good lord," Elijah sighed. "I just hope it won't take that long."

"It won't," Selina assured him. "Would you like to change the subject now?"

"Yes," Elijah nodded fervently. "Yes, I would."

"And I don't think I have to make too many guesses about what you'd rather talk about instead," Selina replied. "You wanna meet me in the bedroom?"

"I would, but not now," Elijah told her. "Now I just…I need to get out of the house and try to get my mind on something else."

"All right," Selina nodded. "Heading to Laura's? Or Charlie and Elizabeth's?"

"Yes, one of those," Elijah nodded. "Not sure which one at the moment, though."

"Well, have fun," Selina told him. "I'll be waiting in the bath when you get back."

"All right," Elijah said. "That sounds nice."

But instead of going to either Laura's or Charlie's, Elijah decided ask Lucy to come see Damon with him.

"Why?" Lucy asked as he stood in her doorway, which was a few doors down from his and Selina's. "The whole reason why I came here was so he could focus on the business with his mother and not use me as a distraction."

"I know, but your mother just told me that she's thinking about helping him through this since you won't," Elijah said. "She's clearly not as determined to resist him as you are."

Lucy heard this, sighed, and rolled her eyes. "Oh, for heaven's sake. I love my mother but sometimes…sometimes…"

"Yes," Elijah nodded. "I know exactly what you mean."

"Would you like me to come try and head off any conversations between the two of them?" Lucy asked.

"If you wouldn't mind," Elijah told her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Lucy said. "Come on, let's get this over with."

They headed back to Lucy and Damon's and found the brothers sitting at a table and trying to out drink each other.

"Well, it's nice to see you're making some sort of progress," Lucy told them and took their alcohol away, taking Damon's chin in her hand. "Look at me and focus," she ordered.

It took a little time, but finally, Damon's eyes met hers. "What is it?" He asked, his voice slurred. "What do you want from me?"

"If Mom comes to talk to you about Charlotte, don't try to engage her in conversation, okay?" Lucy told him firmly. "You don't need her help. She doesn't need to be involved."

"Why not?" Damon asked. "Who else will I talk to?"

"That's what you have your brother for!" Lucy said impatiently, gesturing at Stefan, who was smirking. "The whole point of this is that you're supposed to talk to each other about this whole thing.

Stefan chuckled. "Well, Lucy, you of all people should know how impossible it is to talk to him about anything, so why am I bothering?"

"Cause my father is currently missing and you've got nothing better to do with yourself," Lucy told him.

"Yeah," Stefan nodded. "That's a good point."

Just then, his phone rang. "Hello?" He asked.

"How are you?" Felicity wanted to know. "With Daddy and Amy being gone, I have the house to myself. Wanna come join me?"

"Yes," Stefan nodded. "I would love to. I'll be there in a minute."

"Where are you going?" Damon asked.

"To see my girlfriend," Stefan grinned. "Because unlike yours, mine doesn't have a stick up her ass and actually wants me around. Goodbye." He zipped away and left Damon alone at the table. "I hope you're proud of yourself," he told Lucy. "You owe me for this."

Lucy sighed and sat next to him. "I should have known that Felicity would cave first." Her eyes narrowed. "And when Stefan comes back, remind me to punch him in the face. I don't have a stick up my ass."

"Oh, I'll remind you," Damon assured her. "Then I'll give him a few licks myself for insulting you. It's not very mice of him."

"Well aren't you sweet?" Lucy smiled. Then she looked at her uncle. "I'll watch him here," she told him. "Then you shouldn't have to worry about Mom." She looked at Damon. "Does he?"

"No," Damon shook his head. "I like you better anyway."

"Good," Elijah said and gave Lucy a hug. "Thank you, see you later."

"Yeah," Lucy nodded. "See you later."

"This might not be any of my business," Charlotte said one day. "But I notice that you haven't brought any women around here. Why is that?"

"I don't know," Thomas replied, locking eyes with her. "I've dated of course, but nothing that's ever really lasted very long."

"Cause you don't think the women will be able to handle you being a vampire?" Charlotte asked. "What kind of women do you like?"

He looked her over with an intensity that made her blush. "Ivory-skinned women," he said. "With big blue eyes and bold attitudes," he reached out to play with her hair. "And curly dark hair I can play with."

"Oh, don't be silly!" She said, after cutting off a loud, embarrassing giggle. "You can't like me!"

"Why not?" Thomas wanted to know. "I've had so much disappointment and maybe it's cause every lady I've been with is too modern. You've been around a while. You have class, you have manners. You're beautiful."

"I'm too old for you," Charlotte told him quietly. "And I'm dead. There's no future for us."

"I don't care," he said, grateful that he could feel her, warm and soft as he held her against him and kissed her deeply. "I really…really don't care."

Charlotte didn't respond to the kiss right away, trying to stay stiff and unyielding in his arms, but she soon found that hard to maintain and felt herself kissing him back, running her fingers through his hair and over his (shirt-covered) torso.

"See?" He said after they pulled apart. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"No," Charlotte said truthfully. "In fact, I really liked it."

"Good," Thomas smiled. "That really makes me happy." He paused. "Now would you tell me another story about your friends?"

"Of course!" Charlotte replied. "What sort of story would you like?"

Thomas shrugged. "I don't know. Anything."

"Well, after I died, I stayed around longer than I probably should have," Charlotte said. "And it was a good thing I did too."

"Because Amelia had problems with her daughter, right?" Thomas said. "I remember you telling me that."

"Exactly," Charlotte nodded. "She had one child that gave her troubles and I thought for sure that she wouldn't want to have another one. But she finally found it in herself to be with the right man and soon after that, she was with child again. She was happy and I was happy for her. I thought for sure that this was the one time something would go right for her." Charlotte sighed sadly.

"And it didn't ?" Thomas asked.

"No," Charlotte sighed, trying not to cry. "Soon after she was certain about her condition, the baby's father went away for an evening of gambling and he was shot dead. When Amelia found out, I thought for sure she would miscarry. But she didn't. It really was some sort of miracle, I always thought. But then…then she decided that it would be best to give the child up. That she'd had enough difficulty raising one child without a father, and she didn't think she could do it again. So she put it in a foundling home after it was born."

"And when would that have been?" Thomas asked. "Do you know?"

"Some time in 1856," Charlotte told him. "I don't know exactly."

Thomas gave a wry chuckle. "It's funny…that's the year I was born."

"Was it?" Charlotte smiled. "What an interesting coincidence."

"I don't see what's so hard about agreeing to let my client see the child every so often," Malachai's lawyer said to Matthew's lawyer for what seemed like the thousandth time. "We're not even asking that there be a change in custody."

"My client feels that your client will use his magic as an excuse to take Sarah away and not give her back," Matthew's lawyer replied. "One of the things that you're saying about him is that he's an unfit parent."

"Well, you can't say I have no reason to feel that way. He shot at me!" Malachai cried as his lawyer tried to shush him.

"My client and his wife have discussed this and have agreed to send all of his guns away so that they are no longer in the house where Sarah could be hurt by them," Matthew's lawyer said. "I believe that concern has been fixed."

"Well, then, back to the most pressing concern," Malachai's lawyer said as usual. "How is it that your client is planning to compensate for the fact that his daughter has magical powers, but neither he nor his wife do? That's why my client wants in Sarah's life."

"You know our answer," Matthew's lawyer said firmly while Malachai groaned. "Stop wasting our time and get your client to drop the suit. We're done here."

Matthew and his lawyer left the room and Andrew, who had been waiting outside said, "You made it through another day."

"I did," Matthew nodded. "We didn't get anywhere, but I got through it."

As they walked away from the courthouse, Matthew asked, "Do you think I'm being ridiculous about this? Tell me honestly."

"No," Andrew said, his expression grave. "I think you should keep doing exactly what you're doing." He then pulled a folder out of his briefcase and gave it to his brother. "Read everything that's in here," he said in a hushed voice. "But don't tell anyone that you have it."

"Why not?" Matthew asked. "Andrew, are you doing stuff that's illegal?"

"Perhaps," Andrew replied. "But if you want that man away from Sarah once and for all, that is the ace up your sleeve."

"Oh?" Matthew smiled as he sat down in the car and opened up the folder. "What is it?"

"Just some information about Mr. McCullough," Andrew shrugged. "And how he has twelve other children besides Sarah. I can bet he's not taking care of them in any way. It shows that he's horribly irresponsible at most and completely unfit to take Sarah out of the stable home where she already lives."

"Very true," Matthew nodded. "But if we're technically not supposed to know this, how can I use it against him?"

"You might not be able to use it against him now, but after I have a word with your lawyer, it shouldn't be long before you can confront Mr. McCullough with it." He chuckled. "I really can't wait to see the look on his face when you mention it."

"Yeah," Matthew smiled. "I can't either."