"So what changed your mind?" Elijah asked. "Because I know you wouldn't have forgotten to take your pill. You're too smart for that."

Selina sighed. "Well, I have my own business, like I wanted, and I figure Mama and Sir will be nicer to me if I'm pregnant. I'm taking one for the team here."

"You mean you don't really want to have another baby?" Elijah asked.

"Well, I do, yes," Selina said. "I just am not used to having babies so close together. I mean, there was thirteen years between Adrian and Roxie, sixteen years between Roxie and Lucy, and don't forget the big one: more than a century between Joshua and Sam. Can you blame me for being a little nervous?"

Elijah put his arm around her. "Well, it's not like you have to raise them by yourself."

Selina raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? Are you sure you won't cave under pressure from your father and revert back to your old ways?"

"I'm sure," Elijah said. "I'll help you, I promise. No matter what Father says."

Selina relaxed. "Well, all right then."

"I think we should celebrate our prospective family member," Elijah said. "How about I take you out sometime?"

"Just you and me?" Selina asked. "A place where we order from a waiter and have to wear evening clothes?"

Elijah nodded. "What other sort of place would I take you?"

Selina hugged him. "Good point. I just thought I'd check."

"So, how do you want to handle this from here on out?" Vince asked. "Should we go to Enid's and make sure everything worked out the way it was supposed to, or do you just want to go right on ahead and tell your parents?"

"I think I'll tell my dad now," Roxie said. "It won't be so hard telling Mom. She's good with that sort of stuff. Dad on the other hand will be more difficult, so I think it would be kindest to tell him about my being pregnant as soon as possible."

Vince nodded. "All right. But remember: you have to tell him as gently as possible. Don't go blurting it out."

"I told you before," Roxie said. "There's nothing to worry about. Dad will not get mad at you. We're married, for crying out loud! He should expect something like this to happen."

"I still want to tread on the side of caution," Vince said. "Can you understand why?"

"Yes," Roxie nodded, patting Vince on the head. "And that's why I'm not making you come with me when I tell him. Because I am a loving and merciful person."

"At times, I would agree with that," Vince said.

"I think I'll go now," Roxie said. "Are you going to be all right by yourself? Don't worry too much about this, all right?"

Vince sighed. "All right. So you don't want to go to Enid's and check to make absolutely sure things worked out the way they should?"

"If the stuff Enid gave you is the same stuff she gave Damon before Mom got pregnant with Sam, I think it'll work all right," Roxie said.

Vince followed her out to the living room where he helped her put on her coat. "Good luck," he said.

"Thanks," Roxie told him. She left the house, got in the car, and started to drive toward Klaus', but changed course at the last minute and drove to Alistair's instead.

"You will never believe who's at the door," Astrid said to Alistair.

"Who is it?" Alistair asked, not looking up from the chess game he was playing with himself. "If I'm never gonna guess, you might as well tell me? Is it Klaus?"

"You're close," Astrid said. "But think of the girl version."

Now, Alistair did look up from his chess game. "Roxanne? But why would she come here?"

Astrid shrugged. "She told me she has to talk to you about something urgent. I let her inside and got her a cup of cocoa. She's in the living room, waiting for you."

Sighing, Alistair stood up from the table and walked to the living room where Roxie sat on the sofa, a cup of cocoa in her hands. "Roxanne?" Alistair asked. "Are you all right? What's the problem?"

"It's not really a problem," Roxie said. "I just need some advice and I figured you'd be the perfect person to give it to me. It's about my dad."

Alistair sat down next to her. "Continue please," he said. "I'm going to need more than that."

"Well, you know I'm married now, right?"

"Yes," Alistair nodded. "I was there."

"Well, my husband and I talked and decided we wanted to have a baby, so he went down to Enid's and got something from her that made it possible for him to father babies even though he's a hybrid and we had sex and now I should be pregnant if the stuff he took worked like it's supposed to. The problem is, I don't know the best way to tell Dad. I don't want to upset him or anything."

"You sure don't," Alistair said. "I remember what happened when you had your pregnancy scare. I tried to talk him out of that, by the way, but sometimes, when your father gets it into his head to do something, there's absolutely no talking him out of it."

"So why don't you tell me something helpful instead of telling me stuff I already know?" Roxie said impatiently. "Please?"

"What do you want me to say?" Alistair asked. "I really don't know what I could say. I suppose I could come with you to tell him," he offered. "To head off any really bad behavior."

Roxie nodded. "That would be a good start," she said. "Thank you." She stood up and began walking out of the living room. "Let's go," she said.

"You want to go now?" Alistair asked.

Roxie nodded. "No time like the present. The longer we wait, the more risk we run of Dad being upset."

And with that, Alistair and Roxie left his house and they drove over to Klaus'. When Klaus answered the door, Roxie said, "Are you here by yourself, Daddy? No Caroline?"

"Why?" Klaus asked. "You're going to have to start getting along with her at some point, Roxanne."

"And I will," Roxie said as she and Alistair came inside and made their way to the dining room. "It's just that now is not the right moment. I have to tell you something and it's good she's not here because the thing I have to tell you, well, it's not really any of her business and she'd just make a big deal where there is none."

"What is it then?" Klaus asked. "Tell me."

Alistair and Roxie looked at one another and Alistair said, "Go ahead and tell him, Roxanne. It won't be as bad as you think."

"All right," Roxie said quietly, her eyes not meeting her father's. "Daddy, I think I'm pregnant. But Vince and I are married now, so don't send anyone to break his legs, okay?" After she said what she'd needed to say, she looked at him. He was silent, frozen.

"Daddy?" Roxie asked. "Are you okay?"

"Do you need me to get you a drink?" Alistair asked.

"No," Klaus said, standing up slowly, his knees shaking a little. "I think I can get one myself. Thank you though, Alistair."

Roxie moved closer to Alistair as her father began pulling containers of alcohol out of the cabinets and mixing them all together in one big glass. "He's not mad," she whispered. "That's a good thing, right?"

"Wait just a minute," Alistair whispered back. "I wouldn't start celebrating yet."

"I can hear you two talking," Klaus said. "If you're gonna say something-" He paused and gulped down a large swig of his concoction and then came up for air, stumbling toward the dining room table and collapsing into a chair. "-If you're gonna say something, say it out loud to me."

"We're just worried about you," Roxie said cautiously. "We weren't quite sure how you'd take the news of me being pregnant."

Klaus leaned forward. "You're pregnant?" He asked.

"Yeah," Roxie said. "I told you that. It's what made you start drinking."

Klaus stared at her for a moment and then burst out laughing. "Wonderful," he slurred as he took another sip of his drink. "Just wonderful."

"Really?" Roxie asked.

Klaus nodded. "Yes! Of course! You're having a baby. Why wouldn't it be wonderful?"

Just then, the door to the house opened. "I'm back!" Caroline called. "Klaus, who else is here? Where are you?"

"In the kitchen, Love!" Klaus called.

Caroline appeared a few minutes later. "Roxie?" She asked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"She just came by to tell me that I'm going to be a grandfather...again," Klaus said. "Isn't that wonderful, Caroline?"

Caroline turned her eyes on Roxie. "You're pregnant?" She asked. "That is so great! I wanna help! Where should we start?"

Roxie narrowed her eyes at her father and stuck out her tongue. Then she looked at Caroline. "I think we'll start with a drink," she said. Caroline went to get a bottle of champagne out, but Roxie said, "I think I'll have some of this."

Caroline took one look at it and snatched the glass away from her. "I don't know what's in there," she said. "But I know that you definitely shouldn't be drinking it in the state you're in. I'll get you an orange juice. How about that?"

"Will it have vodka in it?" Roxie asked.

"No," Caroline shook her head. "But we have the kind that has pulp." She poured some in a glass and put a little umbrella in it. "There you go," she said. "Is that festive, or what?"

Roxie stared at her and she just smiled. "Where did you find her again?" She asked her father. "I want to make sure I never, ever go there." She took the orange juice, sipped it, and winced. "I don't like pulp," she said. "Get rid of the pulp." She held the glass out and shook it. Caroline took it, but not before she poked Roxie in the neck with the umbrella for good measure. Blood spurted out of the wound.

"That's a real nice thing to do to someone who's pregnant," Roxie groaned as she pulled it out.

"You shouldn't be a bitch to people who are just trying to help you," Caroline said. "You should say 'thank you' and go on." She threw a towel at Roxie. "Dab that on your neck before it drips all over my table cloth."

"Thank you," Roxie said mockingly.

"You're welcome," Caroline replied. And when Roxie wasn't looking, Alistair gave Caroline a wink.

Lenora heard the doorbell ring and went to answer it, seeing a very grumpy old lady holding a box standing on the other side. "Hello, Mrs. Goldfarb, she said sweetly. "How are you?"

"Horrible!" Mrs. Goldfarb barked. "You tell your parents to keep that horrible dog of yours away from my Lady!"

Lenora frowned. "He has a name!" she said. "His name is Rusty and he is not horrible!"

Mrs. Goldfarb plunked the box down just inside the door. "You keep these!" She said. "They're your problem now!" She turned to stomp off and Lenora turned her into a frog. "I'll turn you back when you tell Rusty you're sorry," she said, putting her in a box she got from the nearby garage.

"Who was at the door?" Damon asked Lenora.

"Look!" Lenora said. "Puppies!"

Damon groaned and rolled his eyes. "Did you make those?"

Lenora shook her head. "Rusty did. I didn't know he had magical powers too!"

Damon shook his head. "Rusty didn't make the puppies because he's magical."

Lenora put down the puppy she had been cuddling and looked at Damon curiously. "Then how did he make the puppies?"

Damon cleared his throat. "That's something that would be more appropriate for your parents to tell you. Ask them when they get home."

"I don't want to wait until my parents get home," Lenora said. "I want you to tell me now."

"Well, who says I know anything?" Damon asked. "I could be as clueless about how Rusty made the puppies as you. Did you think of that?"

"You do too know!" Lenora said. "You knew that it wasn't magic that made the puppies!"

"Well, just because I know that it wasn't magic that made the puppies, that doesn't necessarily mean I know how they really got here."

"Are you lying to me?" Lenora asked.

"No," Damon said. "I'm telling the truth."

Lenora shook her head. "No you aren't!" She waved her hand and Damon felt strange. Lenora asked again, "How did Rusty make the puppies?" She put her hands on her hips and looked at him severely.

"Well," Damon said after a moment of silence. "He and a girl dog decided they liked each other very much and the girl dog gave Rusty a piggyback ride, and while the girl dog was giving Rusty a piggyback ride, he gave her something that made her have puppies in her stomach, and then she gave birth to the puppies and now here they are."

"That's it?" Lenora said.

"Yes," Damon said. "That's it. Now the discussion of where puppies come from is closed. We have to figure out what to do with them."

"I know you're not even lying to me," Lenora said, flicking her hand again. "I put a truth spell on your and if you'd been lying to me, bad things would have happened to you."

"I would never lie to you," Damon said.

"All right," Lenora replied as they rounded up all the puppies (and found a cage for Mrs. Goldfarb the frog) and then headed in the direction of the pet store.

"You remember when you and me and Aunt Lucy went to the park that one time?" Lenora asked after they'd been driving awhile.

"Yeah," Damon nodded. "What about it?"

"What were you and Aunt Lucy doing that you didn't want me to see?" Lenora asked. "Were you and Aunt Lucy making babies?"

Damon almost swerved but managed to right himself just in time. "Your aunt and I were not making babies," he said. "We just wanted some time alone."

"Do you want to make babies with Aunt Lucy?" Lenora asked.

"You're just full of questions today, aren't you?" Damon asked. "How about we don't talk anymore and just look out the window? That's a good idea."

Lenora rolled her eyes, but obeyed and looked out the window. When they got to the pet store, they dropped the puppies off and Damon compelled the owner of the pet store to keep them. They were about to go when Lenora turned back. "Can I keep this one?" She asked, taking one of the puppies from the box. "He likes me."

"You already have Rusty and Snowball," Damon said. "I don't know if your parents would want you to have any more pets."

"But look at him!" Lenora said. "Isn't he cute?"

"That doesn't matter," Damon said firmly. "You can't always have what you want."

"Yes, I can! Rusty is Daddy's dog, not mine." Lenora said. "And I want this puppy!"

"And you might be able to have it," Damon said. "All you'd have to do is ask your mommy and daddy first and see what they say."

"They're gonna say 'no'," Lenora said.

"You don't know that," Damon said, gently taking the puppy back from her. "They might say 'yes'. He put the puppy back in the box and took Lenora's hand. "Let's go," he said. "We've done what we came here to do and now we can go back home and do something else. Like you can turn Mrs. Goldfarb back into a person."

Lenora crossed her arms and sank down into the passenger's seat. "I don't like Mrs. Goldfarb," she said huffily, pushing her blonde hair out of her eyes. "I don't want to turn her back into a person."

"I'm sure your mother would want you to," Damon said. "I'm sure she doesn't want you to use your magic to do bad things to people all the time."

"I don't!" Lenora said, looking offended. "Just to Mrs. Goldfarb. Daddy would want me to. He says she's a bitch."

Damon smirked. "And having actually met her, I'm inclined to agree with him, but that doesn't mean she deserves to spend the rest of her life as a frog."

"Can I at least keep her a frog until Mommy comes home and tells me I have to change her back?" Lenora asked. "Please?"

Damon sighed. "Okay. Just don't tell her that I said it was okay. She might get mad at me if she knew I was encouraging you to misbehave."

"You don't do anything Daddy doesn't do and Mommy still likes him," Lenora said. "I think it will be okay."

They got home and found Helene already back. "Why are you home so early, Mommy?" Lenora asked.

Helene shrugged. "I just thought I would come home early and spend time with you, but if you want me to leave-"

"No, no!" Lenora said. "You can stay."

Helene grinned. "Well, all right then." She went to sit on a sofa in the living room and gestured for Damon and Lenora to join her. "So," she said to them, looking eager, "What have the two of you been doing today?"

"Nothing much," Lenora said. "Just playing outside. And we went to the library."

"You did?" Helene asked in surprise. "Did you find any good books?"

Lenora shook her head. "No. Not really. Oh, and Mrs. Goldfarb came to yell about Rusty, so I turned her into a frog."

"Your daddy will be proud of you," Helene said dryly.

"But you're not, right?" Lenora said. "You probably want me to change her back now."

"Eventually yes," Helene said. "It's not good to use your magic on people just because they're irritating pests. But I suppose it wouldn't hurt to let your daddy see what you did before you turn her back into a person. It'll make his day."

"See?" Lenora said, turning to Damon. "I told you Mommy wouldn't be mad about Mrs. Goldfarb!"

Damon stood up. "Well, I stand corrected," he said. "Since your mother is back, if you don't need me for anything else, I think I'll be on my way."

Helene grinned. "Thank you, Damon," she said. "Why don't you try going for a drive? It's a little cold, but otherwise a nice day."

"I'll keep that in mind," Damon nodded. "Thank you, Helene."

But instead of going for a drive, he headed right back to his room at Stefan and Anna's.

"What are you doing back so early?" Stefan asked, meeting him at the door. "Did Lenora become too much for you to handle?"

"She asked me where puppies come from today," Damon said. "If I can survive that, nothing she throws at me will be too much to handle."

"You didn't tell her the truth, did you?" Anna asked.

"I told her a version of the truth," Damon said. "She put a truth spell on me. I couldn't flat out lie to her without horrible things happening to me."

Stefan clapped him on the shoulder. "You sound like you could use a drink," he said. "Could you?"

"Yes, please!" Damon nodded. "The stronger the better."

Saying goodbye to Anna, Damon and Stefan left and drove out of town to a dive where they could not only get a good drink, but also feed on the customers with less of a chance of getting caught.

"Two beers, please," Stefan said when they sat down. "Those are for him." He pointed at Damon. "I'd like three shots of whiskey myself."

"Looks like they got a new barmaid," Damon said.

"Of course they had to," Stefan told him. "We drained the last one. So, how did this Lenora and puppies thing come up?"

"Well, you know about Rusty, of course, and how he's back to being a dog," Damon said. "Well, apparently he became infatuated with the next door neighbor's cocker spaniel and they made puppies together, which pissed off the cocker spaniel's owner to no end, so after the puppies were born, the woman drops them off on Lenora's doorstep and says they're not her problem anymore. Lenora, of course, turned the woman into a frog. I can't say I got too mad when she told me about it. Lenora saw the puppies, asked how they got here and things progressed from there." He took a big gulp from the beer bottle and swallowed, sighing with satisfaction. "That's good stuff."

Stefan looked at the barmaid who wore a low-cut dress. "That's even better stuff," he said. "Do you want the first taste, or can I have it?"

"You haven't fed today?" Damon asked.

Stefan nodded. "Yeah, I have. But that doesn't mean I can't have more, right?" He eased himself off the barstool and and boosted himself over the bar.

"Hey!" The barmaid said. "You can't be back here!" Stefan smirked. "I think I can," he said. "And I think you'd be more than happy to let me. I just came back here for a drink. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"

"No," the woman said flatly. "Go ahead." Stefan grabbed her around the waist and gently tilted her head back to expose her neck. Then he bit down and began sucking greedily. When he finally stopped himself, his mouth was covered with blood. "You want some?" He asked, offering Damon the woman's limp body.

Damon shook his head. "No, thanks. I'm good."

Stefan shrugged. "Suit yourself." He continued to drink from the woman until she was dry, then he dropped her crumpled body behind the bar and went back to sit beside Damon.

"Should have saved some for Anna," Damon remarked.

"Nah," Stefan shook his head and wiped off his mouth. "She prefers to get her blood herself. Nothing wrong with that."

"True," Damon said. He finished off his first beer and started on the second one. "Now I have to figure out what I'm going to do with myself for the rest of the day. I'm not used to being out and about this early."

"Don't act like you're mulling over a lot of options," Stefan said. "You're gonna go back home, lock yourself in your room and think about Lucy, aren't you?"

"Oh, come on!" Damon said. "You are not allowed to judge me about that. As I recall, you had a certain someone that drove you to behave the same way."

"Elena and I were a mistake," Stefan said. "I should never have gotten involved with her. She messed with my mind. Stopped me from being myself. I was stupid."

Damon nodded. "Well, it's good you finally see that. But to compare your supposed 'feelings' for Elena and say that they're the same as my feelings for Lucy, well, that's just ridiculous."

"It is the same, Damon." Stefan said. "You had a thing with Isobel and then that made you want to have a thing with Elena. You had a thing with Selina, but that ended, so now you're transferring those feelings for Selina onto Lucy. You shouldn't do that, Damon. It's not fair."

Damon's lip curled. "Can I assume by your tone and the words you're using that Klaus still doesn't approve of my relationship with Lucy and is doing all he can to ruin it while she's not here to stop him? And the Isobel-Elena issue was a coincidence. I developed feelings for Elena because she looked like Katherine and I thought I had feelings for Katherine."

Stefan shook his head. "Klaus has nothing to do with what I'm saying. This is all me, trying to reason with you about Lucy. If you don't stop things now, one or the other of you will get hurt and I don't want that."

"What's that supposed to mean, Stefan?" Damon asked. "You think she's off in Europe somewhere with another guy? Do you think she's forgotten all about me?"

"It's possible," Stefan said. "I'm not saying it's a definite thing, but it's possible. She's so much younger than you, that it's not inconceivable she'd want a guy her own age."

"She tried that already," Damon said. "And you know what happened? He tried to kill her! I almost died myself saving her life! And you should have seen how much she cried when I put her on that airport to Paris. It was a lot."

"And is it possible you influenced her to have these feelings for you because you're afraid of being alone?" Stefan asked.

Damon finished off his other beer and got off the bar stool, looking Stefan straight in the eye. "No," he said firmly. "Manipulating people for fear of being alone is your thing, Stefan. Not mine." And before Stefan could reply, he strode out of the bar, and drove off in Stefan's car, leaving Stefan stranded at the bar.

"Show your father what you did today," Helene said to Lenora.

"What did you do?" Adrian asked, looking at Lenora warily.

"Just a minute!" Lenora ran and got the box from her room that had Mrs. Goldfarb the frog in it and brought it back, handing it to Adrian. "Look inside!" she said eagerly, rocking back and forth on her heels.

"Okay..." Adrian opened the box just as the frog let out a loud croak. Surprised, Adrian dropped the box and freed Mrs. Goldfarb, who began hopping away. Lenora picked her up and said to her father, "Do you know who this is?"

Adrian ran his hands through his blond hair. "Not another pet, Lenora. No more pets."

"It's not a pet," Lenora said. "It's Mrs. Goldfarb. I turned her into a frog!"

"Did you?" Adrian asked, looking less perturbed. "What'd she do that finally made you give her the finger?"

"She was being mean about Rusty!" Lenora said. "Just because Rusty made Lady have puppies."

At that, Adrian choked and began coughing. "What did you say about Rusty?"

"Lady gave him a piggyback ride and then they had puppies," Lenora said. "But I don't have the puppies anymore. Damon made me take them to the pet store."

"Good," Adrian said. "I guess that means we'll have to get Rusty fixed."

"Why?" Lenora asked. "Is he broken?"

"No," Helene said. "It just means that he's gonna have an operation so he can't make anymore babies."

"Oh," Lenora nodded. "Is Daddy fixed? Is that why you don't have other babies besides me?"

"No," Helene said as Adrian turned red. "Your daddy isn't fixed. He and I decided after you were born that you were the only kid we were gonna have. And that's okay; my parents didn't have any other kids besides me, either."

"Oh," Lenora said. "Okay." She went over to Adrian and hugged him. "I love you, Daddy."

Adrian hugged her back. "I love you, too. Now what do you say I finally teach you how to hunt tonight?"

"Yeah!" Lenora said eagerly. Then, she looked at her mother. "Is that okay, Mommy?"

Helene nodded. "Yeah," she said. "Go knock yourselves out."

"So, how are you doing?" Joshua asked when he appeared at his father's bedside that night. "Any better?"

Damon rolled over. "Just a little," he said. "But not much. What are you doing here? You promised your mother you'd look out for Sam."

Joshua nodded. "And Sam is doing okay. You look like the one I should be worrying about."

"And why are you caring all of a sudden?" Damon asked. "You know why I've been a bad mood and you made it clear before that you'll give me no sympathy about Lucy. Just like your uncle Stefan."

"You really love her?" Joshua asked. "She's not just some quick way to get over Mother?"

Damon sat up. "I almost died saving her. What does that tell you?"

Joshua sighed. "It tells me that I underestimated the whole situation," he said. "And I'm sorry. Is Mother all right with it?"

Damon nodded. "She's made peace with it, I think."

"Then I will too," Joshua said. "Now I best be getting back to Sam, since I assume you can handle being here by yourself?"

"Yes," Damon nodded. "I don't like it, but I can handle it." Joshua then faded away, leaving Damon alone. He lay on his back in bed, staring at the ceiling and listening to the silence. Then, the silence was broken by the ringing of a phone.

"Hello?" A voice broken up by static said loudly. "Damon, are you there?"

"Lucy?" Damon said after a moment. "Lucy, is that you?"

"Yeah," Lucy shouted back. "It's me! Did I wake you? I woke you, didn't I?"

"You would have if I'd have been sleeping, but I wasn't," Damon said. "How are you?" The phone static was starting to lessen now.

"Good," Lucy replied. "I got a big job that's gonna get me lots of publicity when I've finished with it. I'm doing a mural for the opera house down here."

"Congratulations," Damon said. "So have you started already?"

"No," Lucy said. "I start in the morning. And I've been having trouble sleeping because I'm so excited. How have you been?"

"Functioning," Damon said. "Did you get the letter I sent you?"

"Yeah," Lucy said. "It was so sweet, thank you. And I hope you really are able to come down here for your birthday. I'd like that."

"I would too," Damon said, gripping his phone tighter. "You miss me?"

"Well, yeah," Lucy said. "Of course! Especially whenever guys hit on me. It's impossible to turn men off down here. If I tell 'em I'm already seeing a guy, it just makes them want to pursue me more. I told Sam and he suggested I try the opposite and tell them I'm a lesbian, but that doesn't help either." She sighed. "You'd think he'd be able to say something constructive, but I guess he's just too distracted by his new girlfriend."

"Sam has a new girlfriend?" Damon asked. "What's she like?"

"I haven't met her," Lucy said. "But he says she's the manager of his band, her name is Corrie, and she's really pretty and really nice. That's all I know, though."

"It's more than I knew," Damon said. "Thanks for keeping me updated."

"You're welcome," Lucy said. He heard her yawn.

"You should go to sleep," he said. "It sounds like you've got a big day ahead of you tomorrow."

"Are you going to be all right?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah," Damon said. "I'll be fine. You need to be awake and aware for tomorrow. Goodnight, Lucy. I love you."

"Good night, Damon," Lucy replied. "I love you too."