"Hey," Vince said, going out the front door of the bar and finding Roxie sitting on the front step. "What happened in there?"

"Didn't you hear?" Roxie sniffled. "The woman Daddy's living with is living with him as his girlfriend!"

Vince sat down next to her. "Yeah, I heard. Why is that a problem?"

"Because it's one more woman for him to pay attention to who isn't me!" Roxie said. "God, Dad can be so self-centered sometimes!"

"He's happy because he's in a relationship and he's the self-centered one?" Vince asked. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, I'm sure!" Roxie said. "She's just a floozy. I'm his daughter. He should be paying attention to me!" She sighed. "But then again, it's not like this is new behavior. He hasn't paid attention to me in years."

"Have you ever tried telling him you want attention?" Vince asked. "I mean, Lucy's not a little kid anymore. I'm sure he could find time for you if you told him you wanted it."

"Oh, please," Roxie said. "With Lucy having her eye on Damon? Dad won't look away for a minute!"

"Well, then what if you tried a different tack to get the attention you want?" Vince asked. "What if you looked outside of yourself and tried to give to others? That might fill the gaping love hole."

"I do not have a gaping love hole!" Roxie said irritably. "I'm fine."

"Well, then I guess you don't want a hug," Vince said.

"No," Roxie shook her head. "I don't need any of your sympathy hugs, thank you very much!"

"Okay," Vince said, slowly removing his shirt and throwing it in a bush. "I'll just be waiting here, all alone, for when you do." Whistling, he began to edge sideways towards the door and then Roxie ran after him and threw herself at him, knocking him to the ground and hugging him hard.

He looked up at her and moved some hair out of her eyes. "That's better," he said. She leaned closer. "What do you say we ask Enid to let us off early and go home?"

"And leave your sister here by herself?" Vince said. "That's not very responsible!"

"Dad's here. Let him take her home for the night. It will be a good lesson for her," Roxie told him.

"No," Vince shook his head. "We are going to finish our shift and then take your sister home with us."

Roxie pouted. "Oh, okay. But my idea would have been more fun." She got up off him and Vince put his shirt back on and headed toward the bar. "You gonna come in with me?" He asked. "Or are you just gonna sulk out here?"

"When my daddy leaves, I'll come inside," Roxie said. "But not before then."

Vince rolled his eyes. "Fine. Whatever."

"So where exactly did you go last night?" Caroline asked Klaus the next morning.

"I went out to a bar," he said to her. "You've been there. Enid's."

"Oh, the werewolf place where your scary daughter works?" Caroline asked. "I remember it!"

"I went there to tell everyone about the change in our arrangements, including Roxanne," Klaus said. "That's the name of my 'scary daughter'."

"Well, I'm sorry, but she is," Caroline said. "I remember how she looked at me the first time she saw me! I thought she wanted me dead!"

Klaus sighed. "She probably still does, but it's a werewolf thing, Caroline. That doesn't mean she's ever going to get a chance to carry through with it. And when you really get to know her, she's not scary at all."

"Let me guess," Caroline said. "Underneath her mean exterior, there's a sad little girl who just wants to be loved."

"Maybe," Klaus said. "Maybe. So I take it you don't want to go back there with me."

"I might," Caroline said. "As long as it's at a time when Roxanne's not working."

"You're going to have to get to know her sometime," Klaus said. "After all, she's been in my life far longer than you have. I can't just make her go away because you don't know how to talk to her."

"Well, what's the point in teaching me?" Caroline asked. "It seems to me like she's as reluctant to get to know me as I am to get to know her."

"Well, at one time or another, you two are going to have to talk and at least learn to be civil. That's all I would want out of either of you," Klaus said. "You don't have to be friends, you just have to be able to be in the same room without making me worry about whether or not the two of you will kill each other."

"I think she'll need that talk more than I will," Caroline said. "Seeing as she's stronger than me and could probably flatten me in two seconds."

Klaus sighed. "Fine. I'll ask her over and I'll see what I can do. But if she agrees to be civil, I hope you can as well."

Caroline nodded. "Of course. I will if she will."

"So this is what a mall looks like?" Adam asked, letting the sound of the grand piano wash over him and watching people scurry in and out of stores.

"Yeah," Stefan said. "You didn't know that?"

"No," Adam said, reddening. "First my mother bought my clothes, and then my personal shopper, and then as a dog, I didn't need clothes. It was a much simpler time."

They walked into a men's clothier and instructed Adam to try on dress shirts, and things were going fine until, as Damon came back with three more shirts and a suit jacket for Adam to try on, he suddenly ducked into the dressing room and slammed the door behind him.

"What's the matter with you?" Stefan called.

"I think I just saw Lucy!" Damon whispered loudly. "Over by the rack with all the dress slacks on it! Do you see her?"

"No," Stefan said. "I think you're seeing things. You haven't seen Lucy in so long that you think you saw her."

"I am not," Damon said. "I would know that hair and those long legs anywhere."

Stefan gave him a look.

"I mean," Damon said, "I would know her anywhere."

Stefan rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Give me the shirts," he said. "I'll get them to Adam."

"Here," Damon said. "Take them. If you need me, I'll be in the food court."

"Is he always like that?" Adam asked as Stefan helped him put on his suit jacket.

"What? You mean crazy?" Stefan asked. "Yeah. But it's only recently it's gotten noticeable enough to irritate me." They both looked in the mirror. "So what do you think?" Stefan asked.

Adam looked at the suit jacket and squirmed. "It feels weird," he said. "I don't like it."

"Do we need to try a bigger size?" Stefan asked. "Or a smaller one?"

"It's not the size," Adam said. "The size is fine. I just don't like it!"

"Fine," Stefan said. "We'll go try something else."

After they tried on what seemed to be every jacket and shirt in Adam's size that the store head to offer, Stefan looked at him. "So did you see anything you like, or should we try another store?"

"I don't see why we have to go so fancy at all," Adam said, even eyeing his original clothes with distate and fiddling with the button on his cuff. "Why can't we do something more casual?"

"No," Stefan said. "If I were you, I wouldn't start with casual. You need to have a suit in your wardrobe. It makes you seem less like a slob, which believe it or not is very attractive to women."

"I used to drool and lick myself in public and women still loved me," Adam said. "Did you know that?"

"But you're not a dog anymore, you're a person," Stefan said, trying to be patient. "Do you remember that?"

"Excuse me," said a pretty, long-legged saleswoman in a black suit. "Can I help you find anything?"

"No, thank you," Adam said. "We were just leaving." He began pushing a very resistant Stefan out the door of the store and once they were out in the lobby, Adam said musingly, "I'm hungry. I wonder if they have any places around here that sell big cookies."

Damon was having much better luck in the food court. "There you are!" He said when he saw Lucy sitting at a table near the Cinnebon. "I thought I saw you, but Stefan said I was crazy."

Lucy pushed a bag of clothes underneath the table with her foot. "Hello, Damon," she said. "What brings you to the mall?"

"Stefan and I have been attempting to reacclimatize Rusty," he said.

"And how has that been going?" Lucy asked. "I bet it won't be easy. He's been a dog forever."

"I wouldn't know," Damon said. "I got bored right away and left. Well, that and Stefan was tired of hearing me talk about you. Where have you been? Why didn't you answer any of the letters I sent you? Didn't you get them?"

"I got them," Lucy nodded. "But I just-I needed a little break from us, you know? To think about stuff."

"Well, are you done?" Damon asked.

"Yeah," Lucy nodded. "I'm done. That and I've finally decided that I don't care what Dad and Adrian and whoever else thinks. If I want to spend time with you, I will."

Damon peeked under the table. "What's in the bag?" He asked.

"I just bought some stuff for Lenora," Lucy said. "As an early birthday present, you know."

"Ah," Damon said. "All right."

"Speaking of Lenora," Lucy said, "I was going to tell you something: Helene and Adrian are thinking of getting her a nanny and Adrian wondered if you'd be interested."

"Your brother wants me to look after Lenora?" Damon asked. "I would have thought he wouldn't want me near any other females related to him, you know, since you and I...did what we did."

Lucy shrugged. "Well, he seemed very insistent," she said. "So what will I tell him? Would you accept the job? I come by to visit at least two or three times a week if that will help your decision." She looked at him appealingly.

"Well, how could I say 'no' to that?" Damon asked. "You can tell Adrian I accept."

Just then, a voice came over the speakers: "Could we have security at Rothman's, please? Security at Rothman's, asap."

It just so happened that the balcony near the men's clothing store was just above the food court and Lucy and Damon watched in amazement as a naked Adam ran down the escalator with four security guards after him and jumped into the fountain in the center of the food court. When he saw Damon, Adam grinned sheepishly. "I think I'm ready to go home now," he said.

After Damon, Stefan and Adam left the mall, Lucy picked up her things and drove over to Adrian's. Her brother met her at the door. "So," he said, "When are you planning on talking to Damon about the job offer?"

"I did it already, as a matter of fact," Lucy said. "I ran into him at the mall when I was getting Lenora's birthday presents."

"He didn't try and touch you, did he?" Adrian asked.

"No," Lucy said. "I was sitting in front of Cinnebon and we talked. That's all. That and we saw Rusty streak through the mall and jump in the fountain. I do not know what is going on there, but maybe we should consider turning him into a dog again."

"So what did he say about the job?" Adrian asked, ignoring the change of subject. "Did he say yes or no?"

"I don't understand why you're so eager to let him have the job," Lucy said. "If you won't let him near me, I don't see why you'll let him near Lenora."

"Because Lenora is different," Adrian said. "She's little, not to mention she'll turn him into a toad or something if things get out of had. Or even if they don't. You know how trigger happy she is with her magic."

"You're hoping that Lenora will turn Damon into something gross, aren't you?" Lucy said. "Adrian, that's really transparent."

"That's what I told him," Helene said, coming in with a cup of coffee in hand. "I told him it was transparent and stupid, but he still wants to go through with it."

"How do you feel about all this, Helene?" Lucy asked her.

"Well," Helene said, taking a sip of her coffee, "I think Adrian is acting ridiculous, but if he feels the need to satisfy a macho revenge fantasy, it's not like I'll be able to stop him, right? So I think I'll just sit back and laugh."

"I don't see what's so funny about this situation," Adrian asked.

"Well, you're rooting for Damon to fail," Helene said. "And honestly, I don't think he will."

"Of course he will," Adrian said. "One tea party with Lenora will send him screaming for the hills."

"I don't know," Lucy said. "He used to play tea party with me all the time. And he was pretty good at it."

Adrian growled. "Don't ever talk about him playing with you in front of me ever again," he said.

"Well, fine," Lucy told him. "No need to throw a fit."

"Did you say you brought Lenora's presents with you?" Helene asked. "We can keep them here if you want."

"No," Lucy said. "I can keep them. But thanks for the offer, Helene."

"I think I'll go take Lenora those clothes I bought her," Lucy told Roxie a few weeks later.

"Take your time," Roxie said absently.

"Oh, all right," Lucy said. She grabbed the bag of clothes that she'd put by the door and got in the car to drive over to Adrian's. True, she didn't exactly have a permit to drive, but as long as she compelled the police officers to forget that, it wasn't really a problem. When she reached Adrian's house, she saw a familar car in the driveway: Damon's car.

Grinning, Lucy parked in the street and went up to the front door, knocking loudly. Then, the door opened and she dropped the clothes in shock.

"Can I help you?" Damon asked. He was wearing a dress and a floppy hat. Lucy stared at him for a moment and then burst out laughing.

"Oh, my god!" She said when she could breath. "Why the hell are you dressed like that?"

"Because Lenora and I are playing tea party," Damon said. "And apparently, my normal look isn't allowed."

Lucy picked up the bag of clothes again. "May I come in?" She asked, trying to keep a straight face.

"Sure," Damon said, gesturing into the hallway. "Knock yourself out."

Lucy stepped inside and said, "How's watching Lenora?"

"Your Aunt Anna's glad I have a hobby," Damon said. "Apparently, she was sick of me hanging around the house all day." He paused. "Lenora! Your Aunt Lucy is here!"

"Yay!" Lenora said, running into the room and giving Lucy a hug. "What's in the bag?"

"I brought you some clothes," Lucy said. "You can try them on and see if you like them."

"I think we should take a walk," Damon said. "Down in the park so you can get some fresh air."

"Okay," Lenora said. "Let's go!"

"Wait a minute!" Lucy said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Give Damon some time to get out of his tea party costume. He probably doesn't want to walk around the park like that."

"Why not?" Lenora asked. "I think he looks pretty."

"I think I'll go change," Damon said. "Where did you put my clothes?" He asked Lenora.

"In my room," she said.

"Why do you need to ask her where your clothes are?" Lucy asked.

"She likes to hide them," Damon said. "I learned that right off the bat."

"Well, Mrs. Nesbitt wouldn't wear boy clothes," Lenora said.

"You hide Damon's clothes?" Lucy asked, looking at her niece. "Well, that's just-just-" She gave Damon a look. "Are you gonna go change, or what?"

Damon left to go find his clothes and once he was gone, Lucy said to Lenora, "You hide Damon's clothes? That's so clever! I wonder why I didn't think of that sooner!"

When they reached the park, it was crowded with people, enjoying the first reasonably cool for summer day they'd had in weeks. "Can we play with my dolls?" Lenora asked Lucy.

"How about you play with your dolls under that tree, and Damon and I will go look at those flowers?" Lucy asked, nodding at a flower bed.

"Okay," Lenora said. "But don't do it for too long. I need someone to be Ken. I can't be him by myself." She ambled off in the direction of the tree and spread out her toys.

"Wanna look around?" Lucy asked Damon.

"Sure," he shrugged. "Why not?" As they made their way toward the flower bed, Damon's eyes widened as he felt Lucy's hand go down his back and over his butt. "What are you doing?" He asked her.

"I wanna touch you," she said. "I've missed you." She kissed him before he had time to pull away, her hands going from around his waist into his back pocket.

"What are you doing?" Damon asked. "Lenora might see!"

Lucy looked at Lenora, who was deeply absorbed in playing with her dolls. "She's not even paying attention!" Lucy said. She spied a gazebo and pulled Damon inside it. "Would it be easier for you to concentrate in here?" She asked.

"Yeah," Damon looked around. "This is better." They began kissing and touching each other everywhere. Lucy felt incredibly glad she'd decided to wear a skirt that day. As his hand went up her thigh, she kissed down his neck and let out a moan as he rubbed her panties. She unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off, but just as he was about to unzip her skirt, they heard knocking.

"I know you're in here!" Lenora called. "I heard the kissing noises! Damon has to come out and be Ken or I'll tell Daddy!"

Lucy and Damon looked at each other guiltily. "We're coming, Lenora," Lucy said. "Just a minute."

Selina led Gregory down the hallway and paused outside Elijah's office door. "Now remember," she said, pausing, "We have to knock because it's polite." She got up from her crawling posture and, balancing on her knees, knocked on the door. "Come in," Elijah called.

Selina got back down on her knees and whispered to Gregory, "You go in ahead of me." She opened the door and nudged Gregory on his bottom to make him move, and then watched as he crawled in. "Surprise," Selina said to Elijah, who came around his desk to get down on the carpet next to Gregory. "I bet you didn't know it was us, did you?"

"Well, I was confused when I told you to come in and the door opened and no came," he said, taking Gregory back to sit on his lap. "But now, I get it."

Gregory leaned against his chest and Selina looked at the two of them and said, "Aww! That is so cute! It's scary how much the two of you look alike, you know."

"I think that's a good thing," Elijah said.

Just then, they heard the phone ring. "You two stay here," Selina said. "I'll go get it." She ran to get the phone. "Hello?"

"Mom?" a voice said on the other end of the line. "Is that you?"

"Yeah," Selina asked. "What do you need, Roxanne?"

"I need help," Roxie said.

"From me?" Selina asked. "Why?"

"Dad wants me to be friends with that Caroline woman," Roxie said. "He's gonna put the two of us in a room tomorrow and expect us to get along."

"And what sort of help do you want me to give you?" Selina asked.

"Be my buffer, please!" Roxie begged. "I know that if I don't have a buffer, things won't end well!"

"But why me?" Selina asked. "Why couldn't you ask Vince?"

"I tried him, but he and Tony are going to the shooting range!" Roxie said. "I figured if you and Uncle Elijah came, it would be less awkward!"

"All right, all right," Selina said. "Take a deep breath and just stay calm. Now, when is this thing your dad set up?"

"Three days from now!" Roxie said. "Cancel everything on your schedule. I'm that desperate!"

"Why are you trying so hard?" Selina asked. "You've never put forth effort in a situation like this before."

"I know," Roxie said. "It's an ugly shock to me too. Ordinarily, I would resort to acts of sabotage to make Caroline look like an idiot, but-"

"But what?" Selina asked.

"But it's just that Dad's so happy, and I don't want him to be unhappy just because I am," Roxie said quietly."

Selina grinned to herself. "I'll tell you what," she said. "I'll talk to your uncle, and I'll see what we can do about three days from now. all right?"

"All right," Roxie said. "Thank you, Mom."

"You're welcome, Roxanne," Selina said. "And I'm sure your father will be proud of you when he sees the effort you're putting forth on his behalf."

"He better," Roxie said. "It's hard work!" She hung up without so much as a goodbye and Selina went back to Elijah's office where he and Gregory were looking at the paper. Selina walked over to the desk and peeked at what they were reading. "Not the comics, I see," she said.

"Of course not," Elijah said, and then looked sheepishly at Selina. "Not that there's anything wrong with people who read the comics instead of real news. Who was on the phone?"

"Roxanne," Selina said. "Apparently, Nicky and my friend Caroline have made their relationship official, so he wants Roxie to get along with Caroline, but Roxie's freaking out and wants me to come to this thing Nicky's having three days from now and be her buffer so the whole thing doesn't end in disaster."

"She wants you to come by yourself?" Elijah asked.

"No," Selina shook her head. "With you. She asked that you come too, but even if she hadn't, I wouldn't go through an evening like that by myself, so you would have come either way, right?"

Elijah sighed. "I guess."

"See?" Selina said. "I'm giving you unpleasant news and we're dealing with it. Aren't you proud of me?"

"Yes," Elijah said, rubbing his temple. "Ecstatic."