"I'd like to thank you for telling your mother about me and Davina," Thomas spat at Stefan from the open door of Charlotte's room as Stefan watched him from the other side of the door. He'd just found out from a talk with Charlotte that she sensed he had his mind on someone else. "You could have kept your mouth shut. I would have been honest about it."

"Would you?" Stefan asked as he stood and watched Thomas emerge into the hallway. "Or would you have just kept it quiet forever? My mother came back for you, you know. Not to be abandoned while you run around with a girl in tight pants."

"Your mother is all right with me seeing someone else," Thomas told him. "She says she's glad to know that I'm gonna have someone to look after me once she's gone."

Stefan chuckled at this. "I don't see that girl of yours as a caretaker type at all. Not when she gets you in trouble every time the two of you meet."

"Well, I just…I have to work harder at stopping that," Thomas said resolutely. "And once I do…once I have control, everything between Davina and me will be all right."

"Yeah," Stefan snorted derisively, thinking that as long as Davina hung out with Samantha, the chances of her being tamed were slim to none, even with Thomas' whole 'knight in shining armor' air. "Good luck with that when she hangs around people like Samantha."

"Well, with you occupying all of Samantha's time, I think I have a very good chance of getting Davina to a good place emotionally so that we can have a relationship," Thomas told him. "It might take time, but I think it'll happen." He scowled. "I just have to get through her being the big pain that she is now." He paused. "Your mother is resting now and I'm going to be away for a few hours. But I'll be back later."

"What will you be doing?" Stefan asked. "Or whom?"

"I won't be doing anyone!" Thomas frowned at him. "I'm going to see my sister's new kids. That's not a crime, is it?"

"Well, no, but I bet you you'll find some way to work in a visit with your new best friend," Stefan said.

"No, not me!" Thomas defended himself. "I never go looking for her. She always finds me. But I hope against hope that this time, just for a little bit, she'll give me a break."

"Do you really think I do nothing but get you into trouble and make you do bad things?" Davina asked, ambushing Thomas outside of Elijah and Selina's house and pulling him into some bushes. He'd expected to see her and here she was.

"Well, considering that in the time that we've met, you've gotten me thrown in jail and made me cheat on my girlfriend, yes!" Thomas nodded. "Yes, I do!"

"You can blame me for the jail thing," Davina told him. "That's fair. But you chose to kiss me back when I kissed you. That's on your own head."

"Oh, just don't!" He said, and to his own surprise, he slapped her.

"I don't believe you, hitting a girl like that!" Davina cried and punched him back.

"Keep it down!" Thomas told her quickly. "Someone will hear you!"

But it was too late. Andrew poked his head out the front door and chuckled. "Well, here's the source of the noise," he said. "You wanna bring your friend inside, Thomas? It's more comfortable there than in the bushes."

"I would, but unfortunately she can't stay," Thomas replied, quickly standing up. "And she's not my friend."

"All right," Andrew nodded. "Of course, whatever you say. Bring her in away."

"You're not gonna let this go, are you?" Thomas asked dryly.

"No, I'm really not," Andrew shook his head.

"Oh, all right," he capitulated. "Come on." Then Davina let out a screech as he picked her up, put her over his shoulder, and brought her into the house.

"What was the noise, Andrew?" Amelia asked, coming to meet them.

"It was Thomas," he told her. "And it seems he's brought a friend."

"She's not a friend," Thomas told Amelia. "She's a big annoyance who stalks me. But I wasn't allowed to leave her outside, so…here she is." He turned around so that Davina was facing Amelia and said, "Davina, this is my mother, Amelia. And my father Andrew."

"Well, hello," Amelia told her and reached out to take the hand Davina offered her. "How nice to meet you."

"Charmed, I'm sure," Davina drawled with a smile. Then she said to Thomas, "Would you mind putting me down now?"

"Fine," Thomas said and dumped her on the sofa. "I guess." Then he said to Amelia, "I came to see the babies. Are they awake?"

"I think they just woke up from a nap, so you came at the right time," Amelia told him.

She was right too. A few seconds later, Selina came in with Drew in her arms and Elijah followed behind with Stephanie. They were so focused on their children that Selina didn't notice Thomas before she asked Amelia, "Could you ask Thomas if he wants to come and see the twins some time? I would like for him to meet them."

"That's exactly what he came over for," Amelia told her and gestured at him. "See?"

"Hello," Thomas said and waved.

"Oh, sorry," Selina chuckled and apologized to her brother. "I didn't see you standing there."

"It's okay," Thomas replied and pushed Davina over a bit before sitting down on the couch. "You were otherwise occupied. I don't blame you."

"Hi," Davina told her. "Since he won't introduce me, I'll introduce myself. I'm Davina."

"Selina," Selina replied, handing Drew to Thomas and then taking Davina's hand. "Nice to meet you. How long have you known my brother?"

"Not long," Davina shook her head. "We just bump into each other from time to time."

"Well, it must mean something if he brought you to visit his family," Selina said. "I wish the two of you luck."

"No!" Thomas shook his head. "Don't say that. I only brought her because I had to. Andrew wouldn't let me leave her out in the bushes."

"There's probably a story there, but I won't push it," Selina told him. He thought he was pretty calm, but thinking about Davina obviously made him more agitated than he realized because baby Drew began to cry, so he quickly gave him back to his mother and took Stephanie from Elijah instead. This time he talked to her in a low, soothing voice and rocked her a bit, meaning she had a greater fondness for him than her brother did.

Eventually, their good moods wore out and Selina opted to put them back in their rooms and feed them while everyone else talked and Thomas moved as far away from Davina as possible. Just because she was there didn't mean he had to be friends with her.

"Are you decent?" Elijah asked as Selina finished breastfeeding baby Stephanie a few hours later and put her back in her crib.

"Just a minute," she called back and quickly buttoned her shirt. Then she told Elijah he could come in. "You'll have to open the door for me," he told her. "My hands are full."

"Oh, you decided to bring Drew to visit his sister after you fed him?" Selina asked and ran to the door. "Okay." She opened the door and let Elijah in, and he strode over to set Drew into the crib by his sister, who was very close to falling asleep.

"Thank you for giving me more children," he told Selina as he smiled down at his new son and daughter and stroked their blanket-wrapped bodies. "I just…I have a good feeling about these two."

"Me too," Selina said and hugged him. "But remember, you can't just forget about them if they don't turn out the way you like."

"I won't do that again," Elijah said, picking up Stephanie and holding her close. "I won't. I promise."

"I know you won't," Selina replied and patted Stephanie's head. "I really do think you've learned your lesson there."

They sat down on the spare bed in Stephanie's room and put their arms around each other.

"You know, I confuse myself sometimes," Selina confessed quietly. "I'm usually so much about independence and running my own life and really being careful about what traditional female things I do, but you put a baby in front of me and I just melt into a puddle."

"And why is that confusing?" Elijah asked. "It's clear that you love children. There's nothing weird about it. Didn't you get turned into a vampire before you could raise your first child?"

"Yep," Selina nodded and sighed. "That happened."

"And maybe that's why you're so attached to children," Elijah suggested. "Losing the chance to raise the first one was hard on you, so for all subsequent children, you've really thrown yourself into it."

"Well," Selina nodded thoughtfully. "Would you believe that I've never looked at it that way before?"

"Yes," Elijah nodded. "I would. But I'm glad to help." He then watched her lay down on the bed and yawn. He tucked her in and kissed her cheek. "You sleep," he said. "When the twins wake up, I'll take care of them."

"All right," Selina nodded. "When it's time to feed them, milk's in the fridge."

"Good," Elijah nodded and went back to looking at his sleeping twins again. "I'll be sure to remember that."

"What the hell?" Stefan cried when Samantha appeared at Vince's repair shop where he'd taken a job and gave him a sound slap across the face.

"That's what you get for the other day!" She said. "Serves you right for treating me the way you did. Using me and abandoning me like that!"

"You're the one who left," Stefan countered. "I would have given you more time if you'd have let me."

"I wouldn't want to stop you from spending the evening with your favorite bed partner, your hand!" Samantha shouted. "And better you get slapped by me than my brother! He really hates you now."

Stefan scoffed. "You're all talk," he told her with a smirk. "You make threats and then run and hide behind your brother who's much stronger than you are. I bet you couldn't fight if your life depended on it."

"I could," Samantha replied. "I've never really had the chance, but I could. And for you, I'd be willing to try."

"Really?" Stefan asked, sliding out from under the car, standing up, and then shouting to one of the men that he was going on his break. "I can't wait to see this."

Samantha began pushing him out the door of the garage.

"Hey!" He said, turning around and picking her up when they were a distance away. "Stop pushing me."

"Yeah?" Samantha smiled. "And what if I don't? What will you do to me?" She continued to poke at him and finally, he just grabbed her and kissed her.

"What did you do that for?" She asked, looking shocked after he pulled away.

"I figured it would be the best way to get your hands off me," Stefan replied. "Or at least to get you to touch me in a better way." He smirked.

"Oh, please," Samantha shook her head. "That takes time and last time, you lasted all of five minutes. If that's all you can do, at least be honest about it."

"That isn't all I can do." Stefan replied. "I can do a lot more if I had the time."

"Well, now you don't because you have to work," Samantha smiled. "Remember?"

"All right," Stefan said, picking her up again and taking her to her car. "We'll make out for a bit and then tonight, I'll show you what I can really do."

"Oh, don't try so hard on my account," Samantha replied.

But what had initially been proposed as a brief make-out session quickly developed into more as they settled into the wide truck of her land rover.

Samantha felt her body go hot as he pulled off her clothes, laid her down, and kissed her while running his hands all over her body.

"Oh," she gasped. "Oh, god! I hate it! I hate your hands all over my body!" She slapped him, then grabbed his face and pulled it down to kiss him. Then she felt him part her legs and heard him unzip his pants before burying himself inside her.

"Oh, fuck it!" She cried as her hips bucked forward. "Fuck me, fuck it all!"

What they didn't realize was that their actions were causing the car to rock back and forth in a very pronounced way, which caused someone to come running out and tap on the window. The windows were tinted, so no one saw anything (much to Samantha's relief), but when she heard the voice say "Everything okay in here?" She was more than happy to see Stefan pull out and zip up, then scramble around for his shirt.

"Fine," he said. "Coming. I'll be there in a minute!" He then smiled down at Samantha. "We should do this again sometime."

"Fine," Samantha replied dryly as she dressed herself. "When I have a few minutes free, I'll let you know."

"You do that," Stefan nodded.

"Oh, and before you run off and leave me alone like you do, could you have a look at my tire and tell me if it's flat?"

"Sure," Stefan nodded. He got out of the car and bent down to look and that's when Samantha kicked him in the butt and he hit his head on the wheel.

"Damn, that was satisfying!" She crowed. "Even more than what we just did in the car!"

"You do have a flat," he told her when he got to his feet. "And even though you just kicked me, I'll fix it for you cause I'm a nice person."

"Yeah, sure," she said as he went and got a spare tire to put on. When it was done, he said, "We're having a sale. I can get you a couple more if you want, but don't expect to get them for free because of what we just did."

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it," Samantha told him. "I mentioned the flat to my guardian and she said I could use her credit card to pay for it. So just tell me what it costs and you'll get your money."

"All right," Stefan nodded as she dug the card out of her back pocket. "The replacement and a spare will be $132."

"Sounds good," she said and handed him Victoria's card. "Put it on this."

Stefan nodded. "All right," he said. "Wait here. I'll be back in a moment."

Samantha then watched him go and had to admit to herself that he filled out his jeans very nicely. After it was clear the transaction was successful, they put the other tire in the back and then she got in her car and drove home where Ian was waiting and would undoubtedly grill her about what had gone on between her and Stefan, just as he always did. She sighed to herself as she thought about this. That had to change, she told herself. She really needed to convince him to find a boyfriend. Or at least another way to occupy his time.