A/N: So sorry for such the long wait! I hope this is worth all the downtime.

Chapter 23: This Woman's Work

Elena knew she couldn't, she wouldn't, call out for help. Nothing could be wrong, she kept telling herself repeatedly in her mind. In fact, it was just the opposite. Her uterine had begun to have contractions, resulting in her cervix to open earlier. The pain came in jabs, leaving her to stand, but stumble towards the door, where she gripped the handle for support.

It was at this time that she knew that something was definitely wrong.

No, I can't be. I can't be going into labor.

"It's too early." She choked out, gripping the handle harder as another jab erupted from her stomach. No book could prepare a mother-to-be for the excruciating pain of labor. Biting her bottom lip from screaming out, Elena tried her hardest to open the door, pulling it open by mere inches before a black combat boot pushed it shut. The breath was caught in her throat when she saw the boot directly in her path to savior.

To Damon, she looked like she was trying to escape, crouching down by a bit so no one could see her. It wasn't until the doe brown eyes, pooling with tears stared coldly into his blue ocean. The stab of guilt rushed through him seeing the terrified expression on her face. Before he could reach out to her or even get a word passed his lips, she drew her chest nearly down to her stomach, emitting a muffled, high-pitch scream. It lasted nearly four minutes, Damon standing in front of her, dumbfounded. Reality had finally settled in, the terrifying fact that he was about to become a father struck down on him. Panicking, he sped to his car near the hill and turned the key, letting the engine roar to life before he raced off.

When the contraction grew softer, she glanced up to where Damon had been standing moments ago, only to find an empty spot. Her eyes grew wide as they flooded with tears which spilled onto her cheeks. Once another contraction hit, she called out, "He-lp!" The word was cut into two syllables as the contraction grew to be too much for her. Just as Elena was about to give up and fall to the wooden floor, someone picked her up.

It wasn't a vampire, for they all had gone out to hide Klaus' body, Matt along with them out of curiosity. And Bonnie was preparing a spell to disconnect the bloodline from all of her vampire friends and Klaus, for she couldn't lose all of her close companions. Elena opened her eyes to see the same doe brown eyes as hers, "Jeremy," She choked out, "It h-hurts badly."

Jeremy had picked her up bridal style carefully, and with the help of Alaric, he rushed her to his truck up by the hill. He bit his bottom lip momentarily, "I know, Lena, but in the end, this will all be worth it."

She nodded her head before another contraction hit, making her forcefully shut her eyes and her entire body tense. As gently as they could, Alaric and Jeremy laid Elena on the backseat of the truck before driving to the nearest hospital.

He had waited, waited for his sanity to come back to him as he sat in his car which was halted in the middle of the forest. How he got there in the first place, he did not remember. It was as if the idea of suddenly being propelled into fatherhood this early was unbearable. He had thought that he would have nine months to prepare for this, but instead, he only had a diminutive seven months.

The questions and worries racing through his mind, making his chest heave up and down were left unanswered and unresolved. Everything in that moment was a hectic race for answers that he needed just then.

Turning the key, he hesitantly started the car before speeding out of the forest and onto the main road.

"I need to push, I need to push." Elena hissed, nearly crushing Jeremy's hand. The hospital room was filled with anxiety, as the waiting area of the hospital was packed with equally-worried friends.

Jeremy's eyes widened, "Not yet, Elena."

Jeremy shook his head towards Alaric who was still trying to contact Damon. After he got the voicemail for the umpteenth time, Alaric slammed the phone onto the table, cursing under his breath, "Can't even pick up his fucking phone," He glanced up towards Elena, seeing her in pain before looking back to Jeremy's car keys, "Fuck it." Grabbing the keys, he rushed out of the room without giving Jeremy time to ask him where he was off to.

Alaric knew exactly where he was driving to, he would go there if he was in Damon's position. Pulling the door open, the familiar sounds of the clinking of silverware, the friendly chatter, and the consuming of food filled his ears. He surveyed the room for the black haired man-of-the-hour before his eyes were met with the back of his leather jacket. Not surprisingly, he was sitting at the bar, a glass of strong bourbon in his shaky hand.

Just as he put the glass to his lips, it was pulled from his grip. With anger set in his eyes, he locked gazes with the thief, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He tried to whip the glass back, but Alaric placed it on one of the passing-by waitress' tray.

His stare was cold as he looked into Damon's eyes, "What the fuck are you doing here?"

Damon shrugged his shoulders, placing his chin in his hands, "I'm living my life."

Alaric sighed heavily, taking a seat next to him, "Well there's another important life about to be welcomed into this world," Damon's eyes softened, "And you're going to fucking miss it if you don't get your ass there now." He smacked the back of Damon's head before rushing back to the truck, hoping that Damon would follow.

The nurse smiled towards Elena as she glanced under the sheet, "You're almost ready," She glanced towards Jeremy who was still gripping her hand, fear evident in his eyes, "Is this the father?"

Elena and Jeremy both snapped their heads up, "No."

The nurse's lips were in an 'o', awkwardly looking around before she asked, "Will the father be coming soon?"

Jeremy gave an icy glare towards her, resulting in the nurse to rush out of the room just before Elena started sobbing, "I want this baby out of me!"

Jeremy winced as the pressure on his hands grew, feeling his bones cracking. Just as he was about to pull away, Doctor Alsvik came walking in through the threshold, a clipboard in his hands. Without a word spoken, he checked under the sheets before announcing in a thick, Swedish accent, "Baby is ready to be born."

Elena looked warily at the doctor, not sure if she should trust him with her baby's life.

It was the second red light that they had run, and so far, no cops had been chasing after them. The speedometer was reading eighty miles per hour, and Alaric's foot could have been nearly pushing straight through the floor.

"Come on, come on." Alaric muttered, leaning forward as if it would help the car to go any faster. Damon was constantly wiping his forehead from the beads of sweat that was building up.

Moments later, the speedy dash was interrupted by the roar of a siren directly from behind their truck. Alaric sighed in frustration, Damon let out a breath of relief. He slowed the truck down, slowly pulling it to the side of the road.

Damon unbuckled his seat belt, only to be stopped by Alaric who was looking in the rearview mirror, "Keep it on." Damon tilted his head, confused beyond belief. Alaric watched as the police officer was about to step out of his car. Once his boots touched the ground, Alaric put the car into fourth gear before slamming the accelerator to the floor. The police officer watched helplessly as the car sped off, the fourth one to do so that day. With a long sigh, he got into his police car and drove back to where he was originally.

Her cheeks stung from the tears that were cascading down, her eyes burned, her chest was heaving up and down, and her stomach felt as if it might just explode. Elena never expected labor to be this..horrific. She was constantly told by her obstetrician that birth was the most magical moment in your life.

"Lying bitch." Elena hissed, using every excuse to curse off anyone who she currently had a reason to mouth off. The pain grew immeasurably so, and Jeremy was asked to leave, leaving her alone. There was no warmth radiating from her hand by the person who was gripping hers. She was afraid that if that certain person showed his face around there, he would lose control again. To tell the truth, she was frightened of him.

Doctor Alsvik clapped his hands, jolting her up an inch, "We shall begin." The nurses glanced towards Elena apologetically.

One nurse had even previously whispered to Elena, "It's a full moon, all the doctors are delivering babies, and Doctor Alsvik was the only one available."

Breathing sharply, she tried her hardest to find a focal point, but soon realized that there was nothing to focus on, just a bland wall was before her sight. She forced her eyes shut, not wanting to open them as the doctor began instructing the nurses on what to get him.

"Breech baby!" The doctor called out, immediately alarming Elena.

Doctor Alsvik glanced up towards Elena, the mask covering his mouth, "Elena, we'll need to do a Caesarean section."

His words were not computing her mind until she weakly muttered out, "No. No."

The room grew silent except for Elena's groans of pain. Doctor Alsvik cleared his throat, "You do realize the risks, correct?"

Elena nodded, keeping her eyes shut.

Damon rushed into the East wing, following the direction that Alaric had pointed. There was a part of him that was making his legs run; the other part of him was wanting to just run away from all of this. He reached the door to the delivery room where he hesitated, his palm flat against the metal. He weighed his options heavily in his head as he glanced in through the glass, immediately alarmed by the amount of blood pooling at the floor.

Without another moment's hesitation, he rushed inside, finding a pale Elena, her eyes shut as she continued pushing. Damon was taken aback for a minute by the scene before him.

His hand glided into her hers as he rested his forehead against the side of her head, his fingers wrapping tightly around hers for support. She snapped her eyes open, fear setting in, "Get away!" She continued pushing.

Doctor Alsvik's face dropped when he saw that what he believed was true; the baby's legs were coming out first, "The feet are partially out!"

Damon shushed her, not wanting to get kicked out, "I'm so sorry, Elena. I'm so sorry." He caressed circles into the palm of her hand with his thumb, reassuring her that he was truly sorry.

"One more push and baby will be here." Doctor Alsvik instructed.

Damon looked down towards the doctor, reality finally settling in for him. Elena scrunched her nose up, trying to muster all of her strength as she let out a shattering scream, pushing with all of her might. Her body shook before the doctor began announcing, "It's a boy!"

Damon's eyes widened, his vision slightly blurring from the tears that were pooling at the base of his eyes. The nurse cleaned out the baby's mouth, allowing him to scream. It was the most beautiful noise Damon had heard, the sound of life that he had helped create.

The nurse smiled towards Damon, signaling for him to hold the small child. Damon glanced down towards Elena, who was warily looking back. She knew that she couldn't keep him from his son, so she nodded. He smiled as the nurse placed the baby into his folded arms.

Damon had always thought that he could never be fatherly-material, until that moment when it felt so right to be holding his newborn son in his arms. Any doubts that he had of being the father of this small wonder were shredded into millions of tiny pieces. The raven black hair was the same shade as his, and as the infant cracked his eyes open, Damon smiled, for the infant had the same ocean blue shade as him.

All the worry that was building up inside of Elena was immediately relaxed, for she knew by the sight before her that he would never harm them again. When Damon locked eyes with her, he said the three words that made her certain of their future, "I love you."

A/N: The end?

Much thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story and has given me the inspiration to keep writing!

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