"So," Joshua said as Damon shut the door on Selina's heel. "Who was that girl you were practically drooling over?"

Damon looked up at him. "You won't believe me," he said. "You probably won't approve either."

"Is she a prostitute?" Joshua asked. "Father, I know you're upset about Mother moving on, but you really should-"

"No!" Damon said, cutting him off. "It wasn't a prostitute! It was Lucy!"

Joshua started. "Lucy? You mean ornery little spitfire Lucy? But she's little! Have you lost your mind?"'

Damon sat down on the sofa and ran his fingers through his hair. "I wish I was. But I got on the bad side of a witch with faulty magic and she went to put a spell on me, but it hit Lucy instead and made her grow up. At least in body, anyway. Not necessarily in smarts."

"Oh, and here I thought you'd just picked up another vapid, shallow cocktail waitress." Joshua smirked.

"Yes, well, if your mother hadn't left me, then we wouldn't be having this problem," Damon grumbled.

"Don't put all the blame on her," Joshua said. "Didn't you leave us first?"

"It was war time and my father insisted on pain of death!" Damon said. "I quit after four months, but by then it was too late."

Joshua nodded. "You don't need to tell me the rest," he said. "I know it all too well. Maybe it was supposed to happen this way, though. Maybe you and Mother just weren't meant to be together. Father, you have to let her go, for your own sake and hers."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Wonderful," he said. "Selina gets to have a fun time with her new boyfriend and what do I get?"

Joshua gave his father a long look and then went to get Sam, who'd been brought back earlier. "You need something to distract you from all this," he said. "Mom, Lucy, just women in general. Why don't you take Sam outside? I remember when my friends and I would go out camping and fishing. Those were good times."

Damon raised an eyebrow. "My father let you go camping?"

"It was after he died," Joshua admitted. "And no, he wouldn't have let me before. I tried to ask him once, but he looked incredulous and asked me why I would want to do something like that."

Damon nodded. "That sounds like my father."

Joshua held Sam out to Damon. "So, are you going to go? You could always call Uncle Stefan if you don't want to go by yourself."

"You know," Damon said, taking Sam, "That doesn't sound like a bad idea. I think I'll do that!"

"Now, what exactly do you want from me?" Stefan asked when Damon came over.

"I'm taking Sam camping and I was wondering if you wanted to come with us," Damon said. "So do you?"

Stefan sucked in his breath. "I don't know. Ordinarily I would say 'yes,' but..." He trailed off as Lucy came toddling into view. "But Selina asked me and Anna if we'd watch Lucy and Anna said yes. Based on what happend mere hours ago, I don't know if you're fit enough emotionally to be around Lucy yet."

"Oh, yes I am," Damon said. "Just bring her along. I'll be all right, I promise."

"What's going on?" Anna asked. She picked up Lucy and Lucy let out a whine, reaching out for Damon.

"Stefan, Sam, Lucy and I are going to go camping," Damon told her. "Wanna come with us?"

Anna crinkled her nose. "Dirt and nature and nothing to eat but animals? No, thanks. I think I'll pass. Good idea asking Stefan though. He's used to stuff like that."

"You just want to keep looking at what's in that briefcase Elijah gave you, don't you?" Stefan asked. "When are you going to tell me what's in there? Is it some big secret?"

Anna looked suspiciously at Damon, then back at Stefan and shook her head. "I'll tell you later. I can't tell you now though."

"Because Damon's here?" Stefan looked incredulous. "He can know about it. He saw Selina kill those boys at Joshua's grave. He knows she's got a dark side."

Anna came up short. "Well, it appears that you already know about what's in the briefcase, so I don't have to tell you." She handed Lucy to Damon after Stefan took Sam.

"Well, then can someone tell me?" Damon asked. "I hate being the one left in the dark."

Stefan nodded. "I'll tell you when we get to the camp site."

Selina put her ice tea down and looked out the window. "It looks nice out there today," she remarked. "I think I'll go out and take advantage of it."
Elijah didn't look up. "Maybe you should take Lucy to the park. She's getting restless around the house."
"I sent Lucy to Stefan and Anna's. I had something in mind for today that children would interfere with."
Now Elijah looked up. "Oh? Like what?"
She grinned. "I got a new bathing suit and I thought I'd test it out." She gulped down the rest of her tea and ran out of the dining room, then came back few minutes later in a tiny purple and white striped bikini, with a green beach towel draped over her arm.
"That's what you're wearing outside?" Elijah asked, nearly spitting out his coffee. "It's very revealing, isn't it?"
Selina nodded. "Of course. I mean, I won't wear it once I lay my towel down. Because that would mean tan lines and then I'd just look weird, can you imagine?"
Elijah's eyes narrowed. "In fact I can."
Selina grinned. "Well, I'm heading outside now. Goodbye!" She went out to the deck in the backyard and lay down her towel, then slowly stripped off her bathing suit and lay on her stomach. Elijah could see her from the window. She was shameless, completely shameless. She turned over on her back and after a minute, he couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed another towel and went out to the yard, throwing it over her. "This is unacceptable!" He thundered. "I would think you'd have more respect for yourself than to lie out here flaunting your body for the whole world to see. It's indecent. Now get up! Let's go! Come inside."
She smirked as she followed him inside. "You say it's indecent, but you were looking, I know it. How else would you have gotten out here so quickly?"

"Well it's okay for me to look," he said. "I respect you as a person. Other men, however..."

"I knew you'd say something like that," she said.

"Are we going to get dressed now?" Elijah asked her. "I think you should."

"In order for you to get dressed, you'd have to undress," Selina said. "I'm not opposed to that."

Elijah just rolled his eyes and strode away from her. "I'm going out," he said. "I don't know when I'll be back."

"You're in a mood," Selina called after him. "What's the matter?" But he didn't even look back. She sighed. In a way, she knew what the matter was. She hadn't been very nice to him earlier when they'd talked about Lucy. It had just been a misunderstanding. She regretted it. And when he came back from wherever he was going, she'd tell him she was sorry.

"So," Damon said, "that briefcase Anna was talking about. What's in it? And what does Selina have to do with it?"

"Well, I don't know for sure because I haven't been allowed near it since Anna got it home, but whatever it is must have something to do with Selina's murderess past."

Damon looked at him silently and then burst into laughter. "You're kidding, right? Using 'Selina' and 'murderess past' in the same sentence?"

Stefan shook his head. "I'm not, actually. It was an effect of you leaving her, I think. You or Aleksandr. Or maybe both of you. Anyway, by the twenties, she was just a mess of anger and bloodshed and ruthlessness."

Damon scoffed. "I don't believe you."

Stefan grinned, one side of his mouth up. "Remember when we were at Joshua's grave? What she did to all the boys there? And the restaurant story I told you? Those things really happened. I wasn't just making them up."

"Okay," Damon said, doing his best to ignore Lucy, who was holding her arms up to be picked up, keeping an eye on Sam and trying to put the tent together at the same time.

After a while, Lucy's lip began to tremble and Stefan picked her up instead, doing his best to stem her tantrum and keep hold of her while she tried to squirm out of his arms.

"Why couldn't you have picked her up?" Stefan asked.

"Because I am attempting to stay on good behavior," Damon said. "And that includes not coddling Lucy too much."

"Well if you took her now, you wouldn't be coddling her, you'd be keeping us all sane. If she keeps this up, Sam might copy her and do you really want to be in the woods with two screaming toddlers?" Stefan asked, holding out Lucy.

Damon shut his eyes tight and groaned. "Fine," he said. "Hand her over and I'll see what I can do."

The second he held her, she stopped crying and giggled, hugging him. "That's better," Stefan said. He went over to get on his knees next to Sam, who was intently watching a bug crawl along a log, stopping him just before he reached out to grab the bug and stick it in his mouth. Then Sam turned and began whining and squirming. He looked really uncomfortable.

"Damon," Stefan said, "would you come here a minute? I think something's wrong with Sam."

Damon went over to them and Lucy followed obediently. He looked Sam over. "There's nothing wrong with Sam," he said finally. "He just needs to go to the bathroom. I guess we'll find a tree and take care of business." He gave Stefan a wink. "Watch Lucy, would you? Thanks!" Stefan opened his mouth to protest, but Damon and Sam were gone before he could get a word out. As Lucy began to follow them, he picked her up and pulled her back. She screeched, but Stefan turned her to face him. "Look at me," he said. "You're a big girl. Big girls don't scream and cry every time they don't get their way. Now you just stay here with me until Damon and Sam get back."

Lucy gave him a considering look. Then she sat down for a few minutes and when Stefan took his eyes off her, she got up and ran in the opposite direction. By the time he turned around, she was gone. "Damn it," he whispered. "This isn't good." He ran around the woods calling for Lucy, but she didn't come back. He finally stumbled on Damon and Sam, who were standing facing a tree with their pants unzipped.

"Not to interrupt," He told them. "But Lucy ran off, and she might come this way."

Damon shut his eyes. "Good god, Stefan. She's two years old! Can't you watch her for five minutes?" He heard a trickle, opened his eyes and grinned. "Sam, look at you! I'm so proud!" Sam giggled and after he finished going to the bathroom, Damon helped him zip up his pants and wipe off his hands with a towelette before picking him up. "We won't tell Mommy about this," he said. "She wouldn't appreciate it."

Just then, they heard a giggle and Stefan groaned. Lucy was situated against another tree, her skirt around her ankles, attempting to do what Sam and Damon had been doing seconds before, but she soon realized that something was wrong. After she finished, she looked up at Damon and Stefan sheepishly. "Oopsie," she said.

"Damn," Damon said. "We'll have to take her home and give her another bath."

"What about her clothes?" Stefan asked. "We do have other clothes for her, don't we?"

"Why does that matter now if we're going home to give her a bath?" Damon asked. "We can get her clothes changed then! Until we get home, we'll just put her in something of Sam's. It's not like we have any other choice."

Wincing, they stripped off Lucy's clothes and threw them in a box in the trunk, along with all the other stuff they'd already taken out then Stefan struggled to get a jersey and jeans that were a little too big onto Lucy. But she wouldn't have it. Every time Stefan got them on her, she'd take them off, giggling wildly like they were playing a game. Finally, he gave up and just stuck the shirt underneath her and let her sit naked on the seat. Then he rubbed his temples. He couldn't wait until they got home.

"Elijah!" Klaus said in surprise. "What brings you here?"

Elijah looked up. "Selina," he said. "You won't believe what just happened."

"What?" Alistair asked. "Something bad?"

"Well, you should probably know too," Elijah said to him. "It applies to you as well."

"What did he do?" Klaus asked.

"For starters," Elijah said, "Alistair, do you realize that Helene's magic isn't working properly? Whever she casts spells, they go wrong! A few days ago, Damon asked Helene to do a spell for him that would help him regain Selina's affections, but Lucy got in the way of it and she ended up with the body of a teenager. She's back to normal now, though. And Selina decided to have Lucy stay at Damon's so I wouldn't know what happened to her."

"What?" Klaus asked. "My daughter had a teenager's body and she was staying in the home of a Lothario like Damon? Why didn't I know about this?"

"Wait!" Elijah looked at him strangely. "You didn't know? Selina didn't tell you? I honestly thought she had. At least that's what she led me to believe when she told me she didn't tell me anything because I'm not Lucy's actual father."

Klaus shook his head. "Well, she didn't. I think we should go and ask her why, don't you?"

Elijah nodded, his lips in a thin line. "I agree."

"And I'll go visit my daughter," Alistair said. "So I can see what's going on with her magic."

When Klaus and Elijah arrived back at his house, Klaus said, "Are you sure she's here?"

Elijah nodded. "I think so. Selina!" He called. "Where are you?"

"In the library!" She called. "I want to talk to you."

Elijah and Klaus looked at one another. "What a coincidence," Elijah called back. "I want to talk to you too."

They went to the library and Elijah said to Klaus, "Stay outside. I'll tell her what happened, then you can come in."

Klaus nodded and Elijah went inside "Selina," he said, I-". He broke off and watched as his leather desk chair turned around to reveal Selina in one of his white button down shirts. She held a book, but as her eyes found his, she snapped it shut.

"Did you know," she said, getting up, "that eighty percent of people who say they're too busy to be in a relationship are really lonely?" She strode toward him, her legs looking really long without a skirt or pants to cover them up. She wore black heels that clacked on the floor as she neared him. "Are you lonely?" She asked. "I can help."

He shook his head. "No, no, no!" he gently pushed her away. "I came to have a serious discussion with you and I will not be distracted!"

Just then, the library door opened and Klaus came in. "I suppose it's been long enough," he said. "Selina, I can't believe you didn't tell me that-"

Selina let out a shriek and Elijah shielded her with his body.

Klaus blinked. "Oh, my god," he said, looking at Elijah. "She's not wearing anything, is she?"

"I'm more dressed than you think," Selina said. "But don't get any ideas."

"Oh, don't flatter yourself," Klaus said. "I think we both know I have other things on my mind besides you. Even if you aren't wearing any pants." He smirked.

"Sit in the desk chair," Elijah whispered to her. "And don't move it back."

"Nicky, shut your eyes," Selina ordered. And when his back was turned, she scampered to the desk chair and sat down. Once she was seated, Elijah and Klaus took seats on the other side of the desk and leaned forward.

"Now, as I was saying," Klaus told her, "Why didn't you tell me what happend to Lucy?"

"I planned to," she said. "It's just that I didn't want you to get all worked up for nothing. The two of you always blow things way out of proportion."

Klaus narrowed his eyes. "Our daughter turned into a teenager. What if something had happend to her? What if she'd run away? She could have gotten lost, or been kidnapped or worse and I wouldn't have been any the wiser. Do you have any idea how angry this makes me? I know we have our differences, but I would hope that you still respect me enough to keep me up to date on Lucy's life. Don't ever leave either of us in the dark again, do you understand me?"

"Yes," Selina nodded. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kept this from you and I won't, ever again, even if I do think you're blowing it way out of proportion."

Klaus stood up. "I would offer a difference of opinion, but I have a date soon and if I don't leave now, I'm going to be late." He looked at Elijah. "I trust you'll take care of things here?"

Elijah nodded. "Of course I will."

Once Klaus was gone, Elijah looked at Selina. "Tell me something," he said. "What's wrong with you? Why are you acting like this?"
Selina sniffled. "I'm really sorry about what I said in regards to you and Lucy, and I hope that you'll eventually tell me what I can do to make things better between us." She took his hand and began massaging his palm with her thumb and then rubbed up and down his arm. "You've been good for me," she said. "And if we split up because of one silly fight, I'll probably just do something dumb like going back to Nicky. Actually, I can't do that because he's working on getting an actual girlfriend now and I wouldn't want to ruin that, but Damon's still free. And don't you want better for me?" She lay her head on his shoulder and looked at him with big eyes. "I want better for me. You taught me that I'm more than just my body or a dowry. I need you. And judging by how you were looking out the window today, you need me too." She grinned.

Elijah put a hand under Selina's chin and smirked. "And what, pray tell, would I need you for?"

She grinned and kissed him, while he unbuttoned her shirt and placed it on the chair. She put her arms around his neck and he backed her up against the wall and pulled down her panties. They fell around her ankles and she kicked them under the sofa. He lowered her to the rug and began kissing down her neck and collarbone. She moaned as he sucked leisurely on her breasts. Her fingers were in his hair, mussing it horribly, but at this point, she figured he didn't care. Then he swirled around her belly button with his tongue and she reached down and unzipped him. He paused and gave her a penetrating glance before standing up and removing his pants she whimpered as he stood over her, then he got down to his knees, kissing her again and pulling her knees apart before he entered her and she squealed, her leg hitting the edge of the desk and sending a small Tiffany lamp crashing to the floor.

"Oops," she said, blinking. "I hope you weren't too attached to that."

Breathing hard, he paused and looked up to see what she was talking about. He looked at the shattered lamp for a moment, then back down at her body, and shrugged. "It doesn't matter," he said. "I can always get another." Then he turned back to her and kissed her again.