Lover Come Back:
The Epilogue
Dear Diary,
I feel as if I have neglected you, and for that, I am sorry. It's been almost a year since I gave birth to the beautiful baby boy I had always dreamed of, the little boy who was nestled inside me for months. The little boy who we named Aiden Deangelo Salvatore, his middle name being chosen by Damon, of course, means 'from the angel'.
Damon and I have had our tough journeys up the mountain of marriage and parenthood, even having to kick him out to knock some sense into him. Hmm, that was the day I most enjoyed, getting to spend the entire evening with my baby, cuddling up on the couch, watching shows that Damon hated like Barney and Blues Clues. Turns out Aiden has the same likes as me, with the exception of pickles. I guess it's from eating all those pickles during my pregnancy. Damn cravings!
The cake is prepared, the balloons are filled, and the table is set. I still can't believe that my little Aiden, blue eyes and raven locks, is turning one. It brings back the sweet memories of when Damon first held him, Aiden looking miniscule in his toned arms. Since he was born, Aiden was an early bird; walking at seven months, Aiden kept us on our toes, especially Damon who was constantly right behind Aiden, ready to catch him for when he fell. When Aiden took his first wobbly steps, Damon was paranoid, while I took pictures of Damon's ridiculous, yet funny faces. And when he began to walk on his own, Damon was at ease, even following Aiden around with a glass of bourbon in hand. He was quite the trickster though, letting Aiden walk into the kitchen by himself, and up to me with a sealed beer bottle in hand, a smug smirk on his face. And when he opened his mouth and said, "Dada," Damon came running into the room. It was his first word, which Damon eventually began rubbing in my face.
The tenth of August will always be a special day for me. It is my baby's birthday, and I always want to make it special for him. The whole gang should be arriving soon, so I guess until I write again,
Peace out,
Elena
She placed the pen on the paper, smiling in content with the entry. It was a bit longer than she had anticipated, but still loved it altogether.
"Oh, Mommy! The birthday boy seems to want you." A voice called from the nursery just down the hall. With a sigh of pure happiness, Elena slid off the bed, placing the diary on the desk before walking down the hall. The pads of her feet made small thuds before she reached the nursery, leaning against the doorway at the sight before her.
She had to bite her lip from bursting out in laughter. Damon was standing a good twenty feet away from the crib, his eyes narrowed at Aiden who was glaring right back. Somehow, Aiden had managed to pull his pajama bottoms off and tug them onto the top of his head, but Damon had pulled them off, resulting in his hair to be in all directions. Elena believed it to be a heartwarming sight, for they looked like doppelgangers, Damon's hair a mess from waking up was parallel to Aiden's hair, as well as the humorous faces they had on as they glared at each other.
"How could you get a one-year-old to dislike you already?" She sarcastically asked while she gently picked up Aiden, watching as he continued to glare towards Damon.
Damon narrowed his eyes further, "He's not just any one-year-old," Elena tilted her head, "He's my one-year-old, and that means he's just like me," Elena chuckled, shaking her head, "And that's creepy."
She sighed before dressing Aiden, all the while singing, "Aiden, my little Aiden. Sent from the heavens,"
Damon cut in, inserting jokingly, "Or maybe even hell."
She shook her head, before humming the rest of the tune, making Aiden give a crooked smirk.
"Picture time!" Alaric called out, gesturing for Damon and Elena to gather around Aiden, strapped in the highchair with chocolate icing smeared across his face. Damon had spiked Aiden's hair directly after doing so to his own locks.
Damon wrapped an arm around Elena as they knelt down, smiling wide for the photo as Aiden flashed his own rare smile.
Click!
Her fingertips grazed against the photo, dust collecting on the tips of her fingers. Her eyes would always begin to water at the sight of the photo, remembering the good times she could still remember today. While the few wrinkles she had were evident, Elena looked as young as ever, never aging a day since that fateful day.
The seventy-year-old woman at heart, twenty-four -years-old in appearance. Before she could continue down the line of photographs, there was a loud thud of the door, indicating the arrival of guests.
"We're here!" She loved hearing the sound of his voice after being gone for so long.
Rushing to the entrance of the home, she found the two favorite people waiting for her there, seeing the uncanny similarities.
"Mom!" A fully-grown Aiden wrapped his arms around Elena, pulling her in for a hug. He had grown to be his father's height, the same, piercing blue eyes, finely-curved lips, pale skin, toned muscles, raven locks, dark, thick eyebrows, all just like his father. The only thing he had gained from his mother was her passion for helping others. Of course, he had most of his father's personality, a slight womanizing problem.
When Aiden pulled away, Damon leaned in and kissed his wife on the cheek, sending shivers down her spine. Even after years of marriage, he could still make her feel things that Elena felt when she was just a teenager, meeting her boyfriend's brother for the first time as he kissed her hand. This resulted in him having a smug smirk on his lips, which Elena rolled her eyes to.
Aiden impatiently waited, tapping his foot, "So…" He trailed off, letting them know he was still there.
Damon cleared his throat, "How's the world treating you?"
Aiden smirked, hearing the hidden message. It seemed that Damon and him had a secret language only they could understand, "Just fine." He waggled his eyebrows. Damon chuckled before wrapping his arm around Aiden's shoulders and leading him into the parlor for a drink.
Elena shook her head in amusement before walking towards the kitchen. As she reached the threshold, she stopped dead in her tracks when she heard a thud from upstairs. Curious, she cautiously wandered upstairs, trying to locate the direction from which the thud came from. Following this path, she was led to the doorway to the attic.
Her head tilted to the side before pushing the door open and walking up the small staircase into the loft. When she reached the landing, her eyes skimmed the room, finding few boxes, trinkets, books, and a… what was that?
Elena stepped closer towards the object which had quite clearly fallen off of the shelf. Immediately after seeing what it was, her eyes widened.
"My diary." She whispered, overwhelming feelings overcoming her. She glanced up to the shelf, finding the entire ledge filled with her diaries dating back to when she was ten. Her eyes filled up with tears as she grazed her fingers against the spines of each diary, going down the row. The diaries stopped with the one in her hand, its last entry being when Aiden turned one.
How the memories came flooding in…
LA FIN