One month after Elena's birthday and it was finally time for Christmas! Now five months along, both Katherine and Elena's stomachs had grown an inch or two and Damon was absolutely adoring it. He loved everyone knowing Elena was his, and with her growing belly it was obvious.

While Damon and Elena were happily planning and decorating for their first Christmas together as a couple, Katherine was spending the holidays with her favorite Original…Elijah. Katherine hadn't seen Elijah since two weeks before she found out she was pregnant and she had been dying to see him again. She had called him the previous week to ask if he knew of Klaus's whereabouts, knowing if she could find Klaus then she could find Stefan. All Katherine wanted was the father of her baby back. Elijah had agreed to meet Katherine at the Gilbert Lake House, which Elena had given them permission to use.

Elijah showed up at sun down and froze as he entered the house. Katherine was sitting on the couch in the living room with her arms crossed over her stomach. He gazed at her a little too long, causing her to clear her throat uncomfortably.

"Are you going to stare at me all night or are you going to help me?" She snapped. He sauntered to the couch and took a seat beside her, his eyes narrowing and his lips pressing into a thin line.

"Give me one good reason why I should." She shrugged.

"Well, you agreed to come here and you slept with me last time I saw you, so I assumed that meant you liked me…isn't that a reason to help out a friend?"

"Katerina…I slept with you because I had spent the last week reminiscing about 1492 and then all of a sudden there you were…and you're hard to resist as it is." He said absentmindedly, as if he were deep in thought, and gently caressed her hair.

"When I woke up that morning I thought maybe you wanted to try again, but when I rolled over…you were nowhere to be found. I assume you went straight back to Stefan? And now you want me to help you get him away from my brother for your little…issue. Why me, Katerina?" He asked in an accusing tone.

"Elijah, you know Klaus better than anyone…you'd find him fastest. Please Elijah, I just want my daughter to have a father, I want to do things right this time." She tried to reason with him, but the anger was clear on his face and he stood up quickly, his body towering over her.

"How far along are you?" He asked, his voice dropped to a menacingly low tone.

"What does that have to do with –" Elijah cut her off by gripping her shoulders roughly.

"Answer me!" He sounded desperate and his emotions were raw, yet unreadable.

"Five months." She whispered. Elijah released her from his grip and just stared at her, the anger fading from his features and replaced by remorse. He shook his head to clear his thoughts before speaking.

"It's not Stefan's…is it? That's why you asked me to help you, you wanted me to figure it out?"He asked quietly, looking hard into her eyes. She sighed.

"Elijah I honestly don't know. I had sex with Stefan shortly after I had it with you…I just assumed it was Stefan's." He stood like a gentleman and held out his hand.

"Then we need to run a test. Listen, Katerina, if it's Stefan's I'll help you hunt him down…it shouldn't be that hard if he's with Klaus. I'll do it for old times' sake. And if it's mine, then I request your hand." Katherine's mouth dropped open and she stared at him in shock.

"M-My hand?" He nodded solemnly.

"I'm not from this era, Katerina, and neither are you. You know I'm old-fashioned. If I did this, I will make it right by making you my wife." She cocked her head to the side and a little bit of hurt filled her eyes.

"Only to make it right? Not because you love me? That's because you don't believe in love, right Elijah?" Her tone came across harsh and Elijah cupped her chin in his hand to reassure her.

"You're right…I didn't believe in love. Not until I met you. I've loved you for the last five hundred years, you just never returned it." He whispered, causing a blush to spread across Katherine's face.

"Kiss me." She uttered breathlessly, saddened when he backed away.

"Katerina, I'd rather have you take a Paternity test to get this out of the way, kissing can wait. And by the way, if this baby is indeed mine I expect you to stay away from Stefan Salvatore. I don't care if you love him, you'll be mine, do you understand me?" Katherine ignored the last part of Elijah's speech and addressed his main concern.

"We don't need a Paternity test. According to Damon, the Doppelganger can only conceive if she mates with her true soul mate. The only thing we need to do is find out which one of you that is, and the only way to do that is- "

"—by blood sharing." He said, completing her sentence. She nodded. Elijah didn't hesitate, biting his wrist and offering it to her. She took his wrist with trembling hands, part of her wishing the baby was his and part of her wishing it wasn't. She bit in and sucked gently, noting that his blood tasted sweeter than any blood that had ever touched her lips. Elijah bent down and bit her neck, causing her to moan and clamp down on his wrist harder.

Behind their eyelids a very brief vision began to unfold. There was Katherine, her long curly hair braided at the top, her green dress softly swaying in the wind; and there was Elijah, his hair longer and also curly, his face brighter and happier. It was just like they were back in England. He placed his hand in hers and kissed it very gently.

"It should have always been this way…Katerina. You're my soul mate." The vision ended and Elijah pulled back, waiting for Katherine to release his wrist. When she did he looked at her with a small smile and dropped to his knee.

"Marry me…you said your daughter needed a father, and I'm here to fill that role." Katherine would have said no to a marriage proposal from anyone, even Stefan under most circumstances, pregnancy or not, but the effects of the blood share were intoxicating, making her want to be as close to Elijah as possible.

"I'm not used to being tied down Elijah…I don't want to hurt you." She whispered, trying to make him understand that he didn't want to marry a girl like her.

"I know that, Katerina, trust me I do, but for the sake of our child…marry me. Do right by her." Katherine didn't say anything, fearing her voice would betray her, so she simply nodded. Elijah smiled and pulled her into a very gentle, long awaited kiss.

Damon and Elena finally had put the finishing touches on the Christmas tree and around the house and Damon pulled Elena to his side, smiling lovingly at her.

"This is the first Christmas I've celebrated since Stefan and I were little…I've missed this, but up until now I haven't had a family to share it with." He placed his hand on her belly.

"You've given me that back." He whispered, leaning down and capturing her lips with his. She clung to him, pouring her soul into the kiss, and him pouring his. When they pulled back he gently caressed her cheek and took her hand.

"I know Christmas isn't until tomorrow, but it's Christmas Eve…and I want to give you one present early." He tugged on her hand, leading her into the spare bedroom that was right bedside theirs. When he turned on the light Elena gasped. The room had been painted a light shade of blue and there was a white crib in the middle with satin sheets and a teddy bear mobile hanging over it. I A N was on the wall in block patterns, there was a changing table in one corner and a horde of stuffed animals and children's books in the other. She turned to look at him, her eyes filled with tears.

"It's beautiful." She whispered. He pulled her into a tight hug, breathing in her scent deeply and smiling in to her hair.

"I love you so much." He murmured, running his fingers gently through her brunette mane.

"I love you too." He led her over to the crib and pulled something from inside it.

"We got this on our doorstep this morning…read the note." It was a small stuffed blue bunny with a note tied to its arm.

"Merry Christmas from your Uncle Stefan" was written on the front and when she turned the note over there was something written for her and Damon.

"Heard it was a boy…congrats. Yes it's a bunny, figured I'd leave you with a little humor. Give Katherine a kiss for me, Brother." Damon sighed and shook his head sadly.

"He isn't too far gone, Elena. I was wrong, and maybe we can get him back before Katherine delivers." Elena smiled at him.

"That would be amazing, Damon. She needs him." Damon nodded and kissed her gently.

"We can be a family." He whispered.