Long lost & gone
Chapter 17
Epilogue
"Look who's finally awake."
She stroked the black hair that covered her breast and laughed when the ocean blue eyes started to flutter. A smile appeared on his beautiful face with the sound of her voice and she couldn't help but to pull him closer with the arm that was draped around his shoulder.
Even if she, they had woken up like this in the past five years, she still had trouble believing that he was really here. That she could touch him, hold him, kiss him, love him. Every day she was waiting for the universe to tell her that she had used up her share of happiness and that they were taking it away from her. That she needed to let him go because people weren't allowed to be this happy, to feel like this every second of the day. And she would understand. Because it shouldn't be allowed to feel this way, they should forbid it. People would do dangerous things to feel this way, to be this happy.
Ocean blue eyes looked up at her and the smile on his face grew wider while he pushed himself up and hovered above her.
"I'll show you how awake I am." His husky voice sent shivers down her spine.
His skillful lips closed around hers and together they started moving in an all too familiar synchronized pace. His hands stroked their way up to her hair and started to untangle the knots in it while her palms traced the contours of his muscled back and her legs wrapped around his waist.
"I can feel how awake you are." She chuckled and moved her thigh so his hardness pressed deeper into her flesh.
"It's all your fault. You shouldn't be this damn sexy." He started nibbling on her bottom lip and drove his hips into her.
She growled and grabbed his hair. "You're the one that's insatiable."
She didn't say that she was as much insatiable as he was. That she wanted him as much as he wanted her. That she wanted him every second of the day, needed him every second to realize that he was really here.
"We're still making up for those six years." He waggled his eyebrows and started pecking her jawline.
A moan escaped her lips when he started licking that sensitive spot behind her ear, his tongue letting goosebumps appear on her arms.
"So in a year we can quit making up?" She stammered and pulled him closer against her neck.
"No." He shook his head against her neck and laughed. "Then we'll have to make up for this past five years."
"Let me guess." She laughed. "After those five years we'll have to make up for those five years and it goes on and on and on."
He pushed himself up on his arms, a smile on his face and trailed his nose over her cheek. "I love it when we're thinking the same."
She laughed and cupped his face in her hands, looking into the ocean blue eyes. Still not believing that she ever tried to resist him, fight him, fight them. It was unfair to people who didn't get to experience this. Who didn't find that one person in the world that was made for them and could take over their whole life. She couldn't believe that there had actually been people that had ever felt this way because she had never seen it. She had never seen someone love a person with just the look of their eyes, she had never seen someone's soul intertwined with another one through their voice, she had never seen a person carrying her heart on the outside so her love could keep them both alive.
"Didn't I tell you last night to pull on some underwear?" She arched her eyebrow and smirked.
"Why would I wear boxers if I know they're going to come off in a few seconds?" He smirked and pushed his lips back against hers.
She didn't bother to protest and kissed him back. Her whole body arching against his to feel more skin against hers.
Little footsteps pattered on the wooden floor of the corridor and came towards the closed door of their bedroom.
She pulled away from his lips and smiled. "That's exactly why you need to wear boxers."
He growled and buried his face in the crook of her neck. "Do they ever sleep past nine?"
"Put something on." She patted his bare buttock and pushed him off her to grab her robe next to the bed.
Damon plopped down next to her and pulled his boxers on before turning on his stomach and snuggling his nose in the pillow.
The handle of the door went down, making a crackling sound. The heavy wooden door went open and a little girl who was wearing a pink robe raced inside and jumped on the bed.
"Can we swim in the lake today?" The little girl started bouncing up and down on the bed.
"I don't know sweetie, maybe if the water isn't too cold." Elena pinched the girl's cheek and stroked the brown curls out of her small face.
"But I want to play in the water." The little girl crossed her arms and started pouting.
"We have to make sure you don't get sick." Elena took the little girl in her arms and hugged her.
Another pair of light footsteps sauntered into their room and stood still in front of the bed.
Damon turned his head around and looked at the four-year old boy in his blue pajamas. "Did this little hyper thing wake you up again?" He pointed his chin to the girl on the bed.
The little boy nodded while rubbing his eyes and clutching the teddy bear in his right arm tighter to his chest.
"Come in here." Damon picked him up from next to the bed and lay him down next to him against the mattress, shuffling himself to the side so the boy could share the pillow with him.
"They're always so grumpy in the morning." The girl looked up at Elena and pointed to Damon and the little boy.
Damon sighed and patted the boy's small back. "I always liked you better. You're so quiet."
The girl's mouth fell open and she crossed her arms again, staring daggers at Damon. "That's not nice." her voice sounded offended.
Damon laughed and tousled her hair. "I'm not a nice person." He growled. "I'm a mean vampire that eats little girls like you." He started tickling the girl's sides.
The girl's laughter filled the room as she tried to pull away from Damon's ticklish hands.
"Too much noise." The boy next to Damon buried his face in the pillow and covered his ears with his little hands.
The little girl took heavy breaths when Damon stopped tickling and crawled on his back, punching her tiny fist against his skin. "Silly uncle Damon, daddy told us that vampires don't exist."
Damon laughed and looked at Elena. "Alaric has been lying to his kids again."
Elena gave him a warning look and got up. "Miranda, why don't we go make breakfast and let uncle Damon and Braydey sleep some more?"
"Okay." The girl nodded her head and jumped off Damon's back onto the wooden floor. "Are they going to eat breakfast?" She looked back at the two grumpy boys in the bed.
"Yes." Braydey nodded his head in the pillow. "Five minutes."
Elena laughed and leaned over Damon's body to kiss the little boy on the head. "That's what your uncle always says when he gets up two hours later."
The uncle grumbled and smirked. "I'll be up in ten."
She pecked his cheek. "Whatever you say."
He turned around and grabbed the collar of her robe to pull her closer. "I mean it." He pushed his lips against hers.
She pulled back and whispered against his mouth. "Of course you do, baby."
After pulling on her yellow summer dress, she brushed her hair and made a ponytail.
"Make sure my coffee is ready!" Damon's voice yelled behind her when she opened the door and stepped through it with the bouncing Miranda.
"Good morning Cooper."
"Good morning ladies." Cooper turned around with a pan in his hands. "I made pancakes." A proud grin spread across his face.
"Pancakes!" Miranda clapped her hands with a huge smile on her face.
Elena grabbed three plates and Cooper filled each of them with a pancake. She put one down in front of Miranda and one on her other side for Cooper before she took her own place on the table.
Miranda started cutting her pancake into pieces and took a bite before spitting it back out again. "I'm going to wait until uncle Damon gets up."
"Really?" Cooper's mouth fell open. "You don't like my pancakes?" He sounded offended.
The girl shook her head. "Sorry uncle Coop."
Coop growled. "Damon spoils them too much." He looked at her a moment too soon and arched his eyebrow. "Did you really just spit that piece of pancake in your napkin?"
She smiled at him guilty and got up to make Damon's coffee.
"Okay." Cooper sighed and looked at Miranda. "Why don't you go wake up your aunt Caroline and your mom and dad. I need to talk to your aunt Elena anyway."
Miranda got up and disappeared upstairs, leaving her full plate of pancakes behind.
Cooper walked towards her and took the cup out of her hands.
"Coop - " She tried to warn him but it was too late.
Cooper spit out the red liquid and started rinsing his mouth under the tap.
"You have been living with a vampire for the past five years and you can't tell blood apart from coffee?" She arched her eyebrow and started cleaning up.
Cooper and Caroline had started officially dating the week after she got Damon back. Elena hadn't even noticed that Caroline had broken up with Tyler weeks before the incident in the church but apparently she had and not long after she and Cooper had started dating, they moved in together. Three years ago they had gotten married and moved to New York, they bought a loft a few blocks away from where she and Damon had been living for the past five years.
"I'm not warming up blood for her!" He got up and took some orange juice from the fridge to get the taste out of his mouth.
"Damon prefers it that way." She shrugged and took a sip from her own cup of coffee.
"And it doesn't freak you out?" He threw his hands in the air.
She rolled her eyes and put the mug down on the counter. "Cooper, what did you want to talk to me about?"
"You know I'm not good with the whole beating around the bush thing, right?" Cooper saw her smile and started tracing patterns on the counter. "I might have found a way for vampires to have children."
He heard her breath hitch, her eyes staring blankly into the empty kitchen. Everything she had ever dreamed about. Everything she had ever wanted before she fell in love with a vampire. Everything she thought she could never have when she surrendered to her feelings for that vampire. The whole future she gave up when she kept him a vampire five years ago, because she couldn't imagine having only one life with him. Because she wanted forever with him, forever to love him, to hold him, to treasure him.
"Elena?" Cooper's voice made her look up again. "Are you okay? I know it's something you always wanted so I thought I should give you and Damon the chance to have it."
She nodded her head and took a deep breath. Thinking back to the day she got Damon back. A day she would forever carry in her heart but ban from her mind. The day her life had started again, her heart had been healed, her soul had been cured, her existence had gotten meaning again. The same day she had promised to never ask for anything more than what they had given her back. To never want more than him, no new shiny things, no house with a white picket fence, no fancy car on the driveway. One of the reasons why she had kept him a vampire, because she didn't want anything else from him, she wanted him, to be loved by him, the fact that he was human or vampire didn't matter. She didn't try to change him and he loved her all the more for it.
"No." She shook her head and looked up at Cooper. "I don't want it."
"What?" Cooper shook his head in confusion. "But it's what you always wanted."
"Maybe I once wanted it." She nodded her head. "But do you remember at the wedding when I told you If I got him back I wouldn't ask for anything more. I would be happy because I had all I wanted." She grabbed his hands in hers and locked their eyes. "There is a reason why I never bought a new cellphone, new handbags or expensive clothes. Damon had to buy that new Audi behind my back because he knew I would never allow it. He drags me to Victoria's secret because he knows otherwise I would still be wearing the same underwear as five years ago. He knows I don't want new things but I never told him why because he would think it's silly. But I made a promise that day and whoever decided to give him back to me can keep it against me."
"It's crazy, you know?" Cooper looked up at her and squeezed her hands with his. "How you love him."
"I know." She nodded her head and smiled. "But I'm not going to risk losing him because I want something more, I don't. He was enough eleven years ago and he's still enough now. He'll still be enough for me in a thousand years."
"Caroline and I think about using it." He started fumbling with the hem of his shirt.
"And we'll be there to babysit." She smiled and rubbed his arm. "Just like we do with Miranda and Braydey."
"So I found my daughter." Jenna walked in the kitchen with her robe tightly bound around her waist. "Do I have to ask where my son is?"
"Damon." Elena and Cooper shrugged at the same time.
"Of course." Jenna sighed. "God forbids that those two are separated for longer than two minutes."
"Good morning." Alaric stepped inside the kitchen and pulled the refrigerator open. "Where are the kids?" He looked around before seeing Jenna's face. "Oh wait, I know the answer to this one. Damon."
"You know." He patted his wife shoulder. "It's not that bad, if Damon and Elena are here they don't wake up us in the morning and we have time for ourselves." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"Don't act like you're getting laid." Damon came down the stairs with Braydey on his back. "I walked in the bathroom yesterday. Seeing Jenna's legs you haven't had sex in three months."
"Daddy." Miranda came bouncing in the room with Caroline behind her. "Uncle Damon still thinks he's a vampire."
"Speaking about that." Damon pointed his finger at Alaric. "We don't lie to our children, that's not the way we want to raise them."
"They're not your kids, Damon." Jenna rolled her eyes.
"But they like me better than you." He shrugged.
"So if Damon is a vampire what does that make me?" Cooper crouched in front of Miranda.
"A bitchy witch." Braydey yelled from Damon's back.
"Jenna, you need to keep the kids away from Damon." Cooper looked up offended. "He's a bad influence."
"Don't blame me." She pointed her chin to Alaric. "I was all for you being Braydey's godfather but he had to ask Damon."
"I love this kid." Damon patted Braydey's arm. "Can I keep him?"
"Oh no." Elena jumped off the counter and pointed her finger at him. "Do you remember what happened to the goldfish?"
"It was your turn to feed him." He threw his arms up. "Don't blame me."
"You needed to have that goldfish after you watched Nemo with them." She pointed her hand to Miranda and Braydey. "That wasn't my fish."
"Baby, everything I own is yours too." He smiled at her. "That means the fish too."
"You killed Nemo." Braydey pointed his finger at Elena.
"Buddy." Damon squeezed Braydey's arm. "That was my line."
"Sorry." The little boy muttered and buried his head back against Damon's shoulder.
"See, this is exactly what I mean." Cooper sat down on one of the kitchen chairs. "They even think the same things."
"Speaking about my thoughts." Damon rolled his eyes and looked at Alaric. "Your kids are seriously screwing with my morning sex."
"At least they are screwing something." Jenna smirked and turned around to the coffee machine.
"And don't act like you didn't get any last night." Caroline gave him and Elena a look. "Vampire hearing." She tapped her ear and chuckled when Elena's face went red.
"Do you remember the first months after he got back?" Jenna turned to Caroline. "We couldn't call Elena without hearing Damon's moans on the background."
"And then you sent Alaric in their room with vervain darts." Caroline squealed. "I've never seen Damon run so fast."
"I was naked." Damon yelled.
"So was Elena." Caroline turned to Elena who tried to hide her red face. "The poor thing had to hide her naked butt."
"I'm still sorry about that, Elena." Alaric held his hands up apologetically. "Jenna wanted the guestroom back."
"It's okay." Elena waved him off. "I understand."
"It's not like you noticed we were there." Damon lifted his shoulders. "We never came out that room."
"It was not that you were staying there." Jenna shook her head. "But I was three months pregnant, horny as hell. And the moans and growls that came from your room didn't make it easier."
"If you shaved your legs, you wouldn't be so horny." Damon smirked.
"I don't know how you can stand him." Caroline sighed and looked at Elena. "We've been here less than twelve hours and I already want to stake him."
"You would be dead before you could try." Damon rolled his eyes.
"And you would be dead before you could think about killing my wife." Cooper went into protective mode.
"Safe the tough witchy act." Damon shook his head. "We both know you can't do more than change a prince in a frog."
"Elena." Caroline whined. "Please do something about him."
Elena shook her head in amusement and stepped around the table to Damon. "You just have to focus on the body and ignore anything he says." She wrapped her arms around Damon's waist and pulled his head down, letting her lips move over his.
"I love you." He whispered.
"And acknowledge it when he says something really smart." She smiled against his lips and kissed him again. "I love you too."
"Uncle Damon." Miranda tugged on his black jeans with a pout on her face. "Can you make pancakes? Uncle Coop messed it up."
"Of course." He pulled his lips away from Elena's and took the girl's hand in his. "See, uncle Coop isn't a real witch. A real witch would use magic and make you descent pancakes."
"I'm going to kill him."
"Are you okay, Coop?"
"I'm fine." Coop pulled away from Jenna who tried to clean the scars on his face. "I just don't understand how he can be that fast."
"He's...a vampire." Elena bit her lip. "They're pretty fast."
"But did he really have to let me fall in the cabinet with the glasses?" Cooper flinched away from the washing cloth that Jenna placed against the wound.
"You attacked him." Elena shrugged. "He just flew out of the way."
"You have to stop being jealous." Jenna sighed. "This has been going on for the past five years. I know you don't want to give up your spot from bad boy but you don't stand a chance against Damon."
Jenna ignored Cooper's grumble and sat down next to Elena. They watched Caroline and Miranda collecting shells on the sand. A little further Alaric and Damon were playing with Braydey. They both laughed as Damon and Bradey tackled Alaric.
"It makes sense, you know?" Jenna focused her gaze on Elena. "Damon."
Elena smiled at her and looked back at Damon, feeling her heart skip a beat just by the sight of him.
"Stefan was always on the sideline, never really a part of the family." Jenna nodded her head and looked at Damon who was playing with her son. "But Damon just blew in and took his spot, he became the center of our family."
"Damon was never good at standing on the sideline." Elena grabbed Jenna's hand and squeezed it.
"I guess Damon and I will never be best friends but my kids love him." She squeezed her hand back. "They worship the ground he walks on, especially Braydey."
"Braydey told him about summer camp." Elena smiled. "He's not going to let you sent those children to a camp for a month."
"They can't always stay with you guys." Jenna shook her head. "They practically live with the two of you."
"Why can't the kids stay with me and Caroline while you and Alaric go on that cruise?" Cooper looked up at Jenna and shrugged. "We can take them."
"We've tried that once before." Jenna laughed. "You had to call Damon in the middle of the night to pick them up."
"I could have expected that from Braydey." Coop's brow frowned together. "But Miranda was a disappointment."
"Why?" Jenna shook with laughter. "Because she rather went with Damon than to stay with you?"
"Yes." Cooper nodded his head fiercely. "She was fine and the moment Damon walked in she was all pouty and depressed." Cooper started mimicking Miranda. "I'm going with uncle Damon." Coop growled. "Traitor."
"I didn't like it either at first." Jenna smiled sadly. "But then I thought about it, they will always have someone there to look over them. Me and Alaric we're human, we can die any second but Damon will always be there for them." She looked at Elena and smiled. "And Caroline and you."
"I know it's difficult for you." She scanned Jenna's face. "But I want to be with him and not just for a few decades."
"I know." Jenna nodded her head. "I get it now, you want to be with him forever. And you should be, they kept you long enough from him."
"Mommy." A sobbing Miranda ran in their direction.
"I'm sorry, Jenna." Caroline ran after her. "I turned around for a second and she fell off that stupid rock, I told her not to climb on it."
"It's okay, Caroline." Jenna looked at Miranda's scratched knee. "It's just a scratch, lets get her cleaned up."
"Are you sure you want her as the mother of your children?" Elena laughed and looked at Cooper after Jenna and Caroline went upstairs to clean Miranda up.
"Crazy, isn't it?" Cooper laughed. "She's what? Seventeen?" He shook his head. "I'm a pedophile."
"Then what is Damon?" Elena arched her eyebrow. "He's almost two centuries older than me."
"It's not Damon." Cooper pointed his finger at her. "You're a cougar."
"Only if you look at it technically." She rolled her eyes. "I'm twenty-nine, Damon was twenty-eight when he was turned."
"Which makes you a cougar." Cooper nodded.
She shook her head in amusement and looked back at Damon who was still rolling in the sand with Braydey and Alaric.
Cooper followed her gaze. "Jenna is right." He looked back at her. "He just fits in."
"Wow." She pretended to be shocked. "You better hope I'm not telling Damon this, you'll hear it for the rest of your life."
"It would make him even more of an asshole." Cooper rolled his eyes.
"I know you secretly love him." Elena smiled.
"Don't tell him." Coop stage whispered. "I think most of the time I was jealous of him. There might be a time when I thought you and I.." He trailed off. "But that was before I saw you with him."
"So you gave up on me at the wedding?" She shook her head in amusement. "That's so romantic and cliche."
"No." Cooper shook his head and smiled. "It was in Richmond when he saved us. He killed those men and picked you up from the ground." Coop stared at the lake. "And for a second you just opened your eyes, looked at him and you whispered I love you." Coop smiled. "You knew it was him, he didn't have to say anything. That's when I realized it, there would never be anyone else for you."
"I don't remember that." She bit her lip.
"I know." Coop smiled. "In the hospital he placed you down on the bed and you wouldn't let go of him, he whispered something in your ear and you smiled and let them take care of you." Cooper looked up at her. "I think he promised you, he would come back for you. That's why I stumbled in your room that night, to see if he came back."
"Those women at work who work overtime because they don't want to go home to their husbands, I just want to punch them in their faces." She shook her head. "I spend six year fighting to be able to go home to him and they just stay at work."
"I think there aren't many people that feel the way you and Damon do." Cooper shrugged. "Not even me and Caroline or Ric and Jenna." He bit his lip and thought about something. "When one of us dies, the other lives on but with you and Damon.." He shook his head. ".. that's why I helped you save him. Because I knew if he died, we would lose you too."
"I'm not going to let anyone take him away from me." She snorted and shook her head. "Not anymore, those days are over. He's here and that's exactly where I'm going to keep him."
"You're going to turn soon, aren't you?" Cooper locked their eyes. "He finally gave in."
She looked down and nodded her head. "I had the flue a few weeks ago, it scared the hell out of him."
"When?" Cooper's voice pitched
"In a month." She nodded. "That's why we want to take the kids with us, I'll probably not see them for some time until I can control the blood."
Cooper nodded too. "I assume you won't stay in New York."
"No." She shook her head. "We're moving to Italy, we bought a farm and he's going to learn me how to control it. We're going to lock ourselves away for a while, spend some quality time."
"Don't give me any details, I know Damon's definition of quality time." He rolled his eyes.
"Apparently young vampires are twice as horny as normal vampires." She teased.
"No No." Cooper covered his ears. "I don't want to hear this."
"You heard horny and had to get me in bed, didn't you?" She giggled as pulled the summer dress over her head.
"We both know you find me irresistible." He pushed his lips against her skin.
"I surrendered a long time ago."
"I surrender."
He let the shirt he was folding fall on the bed, his eyes looking up at her, scanning her face. Both their breaths held back, their bodies waiting to be reunited again, their souls ready to intertwine.
"You surrender to what, Elena?" He devoured her name, like he always did. But this time it sounded different because she had heard him do it in completely different circumstances. Their bodies panting and moving together, their skins covered with sweat, his breath against her face, her hips arching to meet his thrusts. Her voice screaming his name.
"To this thing between us." She whispered.
"And what is this thing between us?" He straightened his shoulders, his whole face mocking her. "I thought that was never supposed to happen again?"
"It's never supposed to happen again." She shook her head. "It was wrong."
"Then why are you here?" He crossed his arms over his bare chest.
"Because I want to feel that again." She looked up at him, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears, her heart beating in her chest and begging him to let her in his. Her soul fighting against her stubbornness and begging her to let it collide. All nerves in her body screaming for his touch, to feel alive, to breath again, to come home.
"Feel what?" He approached her, his steps slow like a predator hunting its prey.
"Alive." She placed her hands on his bare chest when he stepped into her personal space, his skin burning under her touch, her hands tingling in anticipation, her whole body registering his presence as the place it never wants to leave again.
"Then take it." He placed his hands on each of her shoulders. "You want to escape? You want to live again?" He let his nose trail over her cheek, his skin leaving tingles behind everywhere they touched. "Take it."
She looked up, her eyes finding the ocean blue ones that a week ago had hovered above her, held her whole world and ruined her for the rest of her life. Because she had tasted him, she had gotten a piece of him, he had loved her like every woman dreamed to be loved, he had made her his and let her scream his name, knowing that she would never scream another one again.
"Stop being scared." He let his hands move over her sides, making her whole body scream for him. "Stop fighting me."
"No." She shook her head, keeping her heart from his, keeping her soul away from him, fighting every nerve in her body. She was someone else's, she belonged to the good brother, the one that was always there for her, the one she would never have to fear. And here she was, standing in front of someone that killed without blinking, a vampire that reveled in his nature, a monster that had teared his way in her heart. Here she was, her heart in his hand and her soul waiting for him to crush it. "I'll never stop fighting you."
"Don't pretend to be strong, little girl." He stroked her hair back behind her ear. "You've felt me, you know how it feels to have me inside you, there is no way back. You're mine now."
"And are you mine?" She bored her eyes into his, her hands still pushing him away, her heart shutting him out, her soul backing away from his.
"I've always been yours." He sounded broken, exhausted, tired from fighting, tired from chasing someone that had put all her energy in fighting against him, running from him, keeping every feeling she ever had for him behind closed doors. "I've never been anyone else's."
And that's the moment she let him in, her heart opening the gates to her core, her soul releasing itself out of her chest and her body giving in to his call. Her lips finding their owner, her body intertwining itself with its possessor. Her heart letting him in and closing the gates behind him.
"You still do it." She looked up at him from her place on his bare chest, sweat drops still running down both their bodies. "You still make my heart beat faster."
"Well, I am pretty to look at." He waggled his eyebrows at her.
She rolled her eyes and punched his chest. "I'm sorry I ever fought against you." She pushed herself up on one elbow and scanned his face, her fingers tracings patterns on his skin. "I should have known the first time I saw you."
"I think it made us stronger." He cocked his head to the side and smiled. "The waiting, the fighting, the longing. I think that's why we're so strong now, why we were strong from the start."
"You were right." She stroked his black hair backwards. "I knew once I gave into you, that there would be no way back. And it was true, there was no way back. Once I knew how it felt to be yours, I didn't want to be anyone else's anymore. Never again."
"When you told me it would always be Stefan, I knew you were lying." He smirked and shook his head. "How could you be his, when you were made for me?"
"I was a fool." She pushed herself up and pressed her lips against his. "I was afraid to love you. If I had given in sooner, I would have never had to miss you for all those years."
"But we're here now." He swallowed back the lump in his throat and pulled her body against his. "We made it, getting here, it was worth all the pain."
"I love you." She whispered against his skin.
"I love you more." He pressed his lips against her forehead.
"I'll let you win today." She chuckled. "But tomorrow I'm back to loving you the most."
"Deal." He smirked against her skin.
"Auntie Lena." Miranda ran into her arms when she stepped into the kitchen. "We've been looking for you and uncle Damon."
"Uhm." She scratched her head and blushed. "We were busy."
"Yeah.. yeah." Cooper rolled his eyes. "Quality time."
"Don't blame us for not getting any last night because your hands were too cold." Damon waggled his eyebrows at Cooper and Caroline. "I have vampire hearing too." He tapped his ear and grabbed the bottle of bourbon from the counter.
"Dinner is ready." Jenna clapped her hands and walked outside with the tray filled with plates. "Everyone to the beach."
"Coming?" Damon held his hand out for her.
"I'm just going to fresh up." She pushed herself up and kissed him.
"Did I worn you out completely?" He smirked against her lips. "Just wait until I get my hands on you tonight."
"You damn vampire." She smiled against his lips. "Always horny."
"It's not necessarily a vampire thing." He waggled his eyebrows. "It's a Damon-thing."
"I know." She whispered against his lips. "I've had another vampire."
"Don't make me think about that." He pecked her cheek.
"I'll be there in a minute." She leaned her forehead against his lips, knowing he would lean forward and press his lips against it.
"Wine or water?" He untangled their bodies and started walking to the back door.
"Water." She yelled after him. "You'll be drunk enough for the both of us."
"Elena wants wine." She heard him yell outside and rolled her eyes at him.
"Auntie Lena." Miranda grabbed her hand. "There is someone outside for you."
"Who?" She looked down at the little girl.
"I don't know." She shrugged her tiny shoulders. "But he knew my name."
"Okay, I'll see who it is." She patted the girl's hair. "I want you to go outside and get uncle Damon, okay?"
"Okay." Miranda nodded her head and started running to the back door.
She walked to the front door and pulled it open, stepping outside the lake house.
"Hello?" She looked around.
"Hello, Elena."
She turned around, her breath hitching in her throat, her heart beating frantically. His green eyes scanning her body. A face she never wanted to see again, had begged to never see again.
"It's been a long time." He looked up at her, fumbling with a set of keys in his hands.
"Five years, Stefan." She crossed her arms over her chest. "It hasn't been long enough."
"We heard you were staying here for the weekend." He pointed his chin to the lake house. "And we wanted to see you, see how you were doing."
"I'm doing great." She shrugged. "Happier than ever."
"Are you still with Damon?" His green eyes looked up at her.
"I'm still with Damon." She nodded her head. "He's going to be here any second."
"We wanted to tell you something." Stefan smiled. "That's why we're here."
"Who's we, Stefan?" She glared at him.
"Hi, Elena." A girl with brown hair, brown eyes came from around the corner.
"Bonnie." She whispered.
"I guess you're not so happy to see us?" She came to stand next to Stefan. "Are you still not ready to forgive us?"
"I think I'll never be ready for that." She shook her head.
"We thought we could ask for your forgiveness and Damon's." She patted her stomach. "And start over."
When Bonnie patted her stomach, Elena looked down, seeing the bump. "You're pregnant." She swallowed.
"Yes." Bonnie nodded. "I'm seven months along."
"I guess we have you to thank for this." Stefan placed his hands on Bonnie's stomach. "If you hadn't made me human then we would've never be able to get children."
"I didn't do it for you." She shook her head. "I did it so Damon and I don't have to look over our shoulders the whole time." She shrugged. "And in a few decades you'll both be gone and we won't have to worry about you anymore."
"Auntie Lena." A squealing Miranda ran out the front door and hugged her leg, her green eyes shimmering. "Uncle Damon said we don't have to go to summer camp and we can stay with you, but we have to ask you first."
"Of course you can stay with us." She ruffled the girl's hair. "I already told your mommy."
"Hi, Miranda." Stefan crouched in front of her. "I guess you don't remember me anymore."
"Get away from her before I rip your heart out." Damon closed the distance between the front door and where they were standing, Braydey on his shoulders.
Stefan stood up again, taking his place next to Bonnie.
"You have a lot of nerve, coming here." Damon stood still next to Elena and put Braydey on the ground. "Miranda, I want you to go inside and take your brother with you."
"But.." Miranda started protesting.
"Miranda." Damon looked at her, knowing she didn't want to mess with him at this moment.
"Okay." She grabbed her brother's hand. "Come on, Braydey."
Four pair of eyes watched until the children stepped inside the lake house again.
"What are you doing here?" Damon looked at Stefan, his arm wrapping around Elena's waist.
"We wanted to tell you that you're going to be an uncle." Stefan pointed to Bonnie's round stomach.
"I'm already an uncle." Damon smirked. "And I'm already babysitting enough."
"We just want her to know her family." Bonnie shook her head and looked at Elena. "She's your family too, we've always been sisters."
"We were." Elena nodded her head. "But not anymore, not after what you did."
"We're sorry." The former witch shook her head. "We know now how wrong we were."
"It's a shame you didn't know that when you took him away from me." She wrapped her arm tighter around Damon's waist.
"We thought we were doing the right thing." Stefan shook his head. "We wanted to protect you."
"You didn't protect me." She whispered. "You just took what you wanted and removed what you didn't want, what you didn't want to be."
"We want her to know her family." Bonnie patted her stomach again. "Maybe she can play with Jenna's children. Maybe they can be friends like we once were."
"That child is not coming near those children." Damon spoke through clenched teeth. "You're not coming anywhere near those children. They're like my own and I don't want two lunatics like you anywhere near my kids."
"But this will be your niece too." Stefan shook his head and looked up at his brother.
"No." Damon let out a hard laugh. "You're not my family anymore, you stopped being my brother a long time ago."
"Come on." Elena took his arm. "We're wasting time here."
Bonnie called her back when she turned around. "You were right about Jeremy, it was my fault."
"It was." She nodded her head. "But it's too late for that, he's gone."
"I'm sorry." She whispered.
"I'm sorry I ever believed you were my friend." Elena turned around, dragging Damon with her.
"Why did you yell at my daughter?" Alaric stood with crossed arms in the kitchen, pointing his gaze at Damon.
"I didn't yell at her." He shrugged. "Where is she?"
"You raised your voice." Miranda came from behind the corner, her eyes red and puffy from crying. "You never get mad at us."
"Sweetie." Damon crouched in front of her and wiped the tears out her face. "I wasn't mad at you."
"No?" She whispered and looked up at Damon with her wide brown eyes.
"No." He shook his head and pinched her cheek. "How can I be mad at such a pretty girl like you."
A smile appeared on the girl's face.
Damon held his arms open for her. "Friends?" He studied her face.
"Best friends." She walked in his embrace and wrapped her small arms around his neck.
"You can eat my dessert, okay?" He stroked the girl's hair out of her face and started walking to the back door.
"Like he would eat that piece of cake." Alaric rolled his eyes.
"That means I'll only have one piece." Elena stomped her foot.
"What happened out there?" Alaric studied her face.
"Bonnie and Stefan were here." She swallowed back the lump in her throat. "That's why he raised his voice, he wanted them to go inside but Miranda started protesting."
"I guess I should thank him." Alaric looked outside to were Miranda sat on Damon's lap, eating his dessert. "I don't want those two anywhere near my children."
"That's what he said." She smiled at Alaric.
"Are you okay?" Alaric wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
She nodded her head. "They're out of our lives now, let's keep it that way."
"Come on." Alaric started dragging her to the terrace. "You can have my dessert."
"You're the best pseudo stepfather ever." She leaned her head against his shoulder and stepped outside with him.
"How can you forgive him so quickly?" Cooper looked at Miranda. "He yelled at you."
"Uncle Damon wasn't mad." Miranda looked up from Damon's lap and chewed fiercely on his piece of cake.
"He yelled at you." Cooper extended a wooden spoon. "You should be mad at him, just stake it in his heart."
"Uncle Coop." The girl shook her head and rolled her eyes. "You're crazy."
"Just do me a favor and stake him with it." Coop pushed the spoon in Miranda's direction.
"Braydey." Damon looked at the boy that sat beside him. "Get a cookbook for your uncle Coop, witches like recipes that should keep him quiet for a while."
"Okay." Braydey jumped off his chair and ran into the kitchen.
"I'll buy you a game boy if you stake him, okay?" Cooper waggled the spoon in Miranda's direction.
"What's a game boy?" Miranda turned to Damon.
"Like the Wii I bought you but smaller." Damon ruffled her hair. "You're uncle Coop doesn't know that game boy's aren't cool anymore like in his young days."
"At least I can still remember my young days." Cooper glared at him. "They're not that long ago."
"At least I'm still a stud." Damon smirked. "And you're just.. wrinkled."
"Are you causing trouble again?" Elena placed a kiss on Damon's temple. "Maybe I should give you a time-out."
"Can you put him with me in the corner?" Damon looked at Cooper. "I want to see him faint again."
"I told you a thousand times." Cooper threw his arms up in frustration. "I used too much magic."
"He really thinks he's a witch." Miranda whispered in Damon's ear.
"Told you, he's crazy." Damon shook his head.
"Saltzmans, I think it's time for your bath." Jenna picked Miranda up from Damon's lap, already holding Braydey's hand.
"Are you going to read us a story?" Miranda looked at Elena.
"Come get me when you're ready for bed." She nodded.
"With sounds." Braydey looked up at her.
"I can't do the sounds." She shook her head. "You'll have to ask Damon."
"Sounds?" The boy looked up at Damon.
"If your aunt reads I'll do the sounds." He ruffled his hair. "But first you need a bath."
"What sounds is he talking about?" Caroline looked at the both of them. "We can use some tips for when we have our little one."
Damon looked up at Elena and scratched his hair. "This is not good."
"So you two are having a kid?" Damon hugged Elena closer to his body and looked at Cooper and Caroline. "Is that responsible?"
"We're adults, Damon." Caroline rolled her eyes.
"You never became an adult." He mocked her and pointed his chin to Cooper. "And he's already approaching his retirement."
"I just found the spell a few days ago." Cooper shrugged. "I wanted to tell Elena before we decided anything."
Elena looked up from her place on his chest. "I wanted to tell you about it." She whispered and locked their eyes. "But I don't need kids." She shook her head. "I have you, that's all I want."
"It's okay." He nodded his head and pressed his cheek against hers, staring into the campfire. "We have kids." He pressed a kiss against her cheek. "We stole them from your aunt and my best friend but we have kids."
She chuckled and snuggled herself deeper in his embrace. "And in a few months we'll probably have another one."
"Damon isn't coming anywhere near my kid." Cooper pointed his finger at him.
"You're just worried he'll like me better than you." Damon rolled his eyes. "But just so you know, a boy needs a strong male figure in his life."
"And what do you mean by that?" Cooper put his hands on his hips.
"That's exactly what I mean." Damon pointed his chin to Cooper's hands.
"Bedtime story." Miranda and Braydey ran on the beach, throwing themselves at Damon and Elena.
"One more." Braydey clapped his hands.
"No." Damon kissed his forehead and tucked him under. "My lips can't handle more sounds."
"Okay." The boy yawned and snuggled into his pillow, clutching the teddy bear to his chest.
"Love you." He stroked the boy's brown hair out of his face.
"Love you too." Braydey's eyes started to flutter.
"And now you, miss hyper active." Damon turned around to where Elena was sitting next to Miranda on the bed.
"Uncle Damon, you need to go." Miranda nodded her head seriously.
"I need to go?" Damon asked offended.
"Yes." She nodded her head. "I need to have a girls talk with auntie Lena."
"I wouldn't want to interrupt a girls talk." He shook his head.
"But you can tuck me in." She giggled.
"Well at least I get to do something." He took the comforter from the end of the bed and dragged it over her body.
"Good night, uncle Damon." She held her arms out for him.
"Good night, princess." He hugged her and pressed a kiss on her forehead. "I love you."
"I love you too." She whispered. "And I knew you wouldn't let mommy send us to the camp."
"You're going with us." He pinched her cheek. "There's no way I could miss you two for a month."
"Are you going?" She looked up at him through her long lashes. "It's girls talk."
"Sure." He nodded. "I'll let Coop know."
Miranda chuckled and Elena punched his chest. "Get out of here, you mad man."
"I love you too, mad woman." He kissed her temple and showered the side of her face with kisses before turning to Miranda. "Make sure she's in my bed by midnight."
Miranda nodded her head and watched her uncle disappear through the door.
"So what's the girls talk about?" Elena stroked the girl's hair.
"Why didn't you want me to talk to that lady and that man?" She looked up at her. "I saw pictures of you and them from my baby shower, mommy showed me."
"And do you know who that man is?" Elena swallowed back the lump in her throat.
She nodded her head. "Mommy said you and he were together before you and uncle Damon. But that's just weird. You and uncle Damon were always together."
"And did she say something else?" Elena smiled.
"She said that he did bad things." Miranda clutched the sheet to her. "And that he took uncle Damon away from you."
"He did." Elena nodded her head.
"Is he taking uncle Damon away from us now?" Tears started to form in the girl's eyes.
"No." Elena shook her head fiercely. "Uncle Damon isn't going anywhere."
"And what if the bad man takes him away?" She whispered.
"I won't let him do that." Elena stroked her cheek. "He did that once but I'll never let him do that again."
"How did you get him back?" Miranda looked up at her.
"Do you know why always ask you if you said your prayers?" She stroked the girl's hair. "It's because I prayed every night for uncle Damon to come back and after a long time, he did."
"So you and uncle Damon will never leave?" A smile appeared on the girl's face.
"Maybe we will but we'll always come back." Elena smiled. "We'll just be a phone call away."
"Okay." She nodded her head. "Goodnight auntie."
"Goodnight, Sweetie." She pressed a kiss on her forehead. "I love you."
"I love you too."
"I thought girls talk started when they're twelve, not when they're five." Damon shook his head in confusion.
She sat down in the sand next to him and leaned her head against his shoulder. "She was just worried."
"About what?" He leaned his cheek against her forehead.
"It's like she feels we're going to leave." She pulled his hand in hers.
"We don't have to." He kissed her forehead. "There's still time."
"No." She shook her head and crawled on top of him, pushing his back in the sand. "I want to do this now."
"Are you sure you're ready?" He looked up at her. "Forever is a big deal."
"I've been sure for years." She rolled her eyes. "It's you that doesn't want to do it."
"You can still have it you know." He started playing with the strings of her dress. "The husband, the kids, the dog."
She sighed. "I want forever with you. There is nothing else I want. I wanted it the day you left me and I still wanted it that day I found you in Atlanta."
"I never told you what you promised." He looked up at her, his eyes shimmering with that dangerous glint.
"What did I promise?" She put her hands on his chest.
"To love me forever." He pulled her head down and kissed her. "Never be anyone else's, be mine forever." He whispered. "I know I'm always saying that you should marry a human but that day.. " He shook his head. "I got you back and I couldn't say it. I was selfish and I let your promise it because it was what I needed to hear."
"We're getting forever, baby." She pushed her lips against his. "I'll love you forever."
"I guess then you're going to need this." He pulled a box out his pocket and opened it for her, revealing a silver ring with a lapis lazuli stone like his.
"Where did you get that?" She shook her head in disbelief.
"I got it eleven years ago from Lucy." He stroked her hair back. "She told me about the blood in your system before the fight and handed me the ring. She said if I survived that I should marry you because you were prepared to let everyone die for me. Her exacts words were, you don't find a girl like that everyday."
She chuckled and looked up at him. "I love you so much." She shook her head. "There was never anyone else."
"You and me." He looked at her, the same look he had given her eleven years ago in the mirror, the same look they had shared when he had showed up six years ago behind her in the mirror, the same look she would see for the rest of forever.
"We're perfect."