Author's Note:
Before this story ends for good I wanted to dedicate it to a person who actually doesn't even know me. Her name is Aneta and she runs the pretty cool tumblr blog getthegirlbuddy. She once posted a link of one of her favorite stories here, and this is how I came in touch with fanfiction for the first time. You never know, but maybe if it hadn't been for her, I would have never found this page and the guts to write this story down. Thank you Aneta! If you ever read this... This story is for you!
.
Every week there were about 200 people who read what I wrote, and if I could make a wish, I would wish to know what you guys thought of this story too.
A special thank you to karolina94 and kfulmer7 who reviewed each and every chapter! You two have no idea what this means to me!
I really hope that all of you are going to like the epilog!
xoxo Giuna
Epilog
Damon looked softly at the blurred sight in front of him, and whisked the tears out of his eyes, clearing his view. What he saw and what he felt took his breath away. Reverently, he stared down at the hospital bed where Elena lay bare-chested with their naked baby girl on her breasts.
Only seconds ago, she had screamed in a way he would never forget, and which had almost prompted him to yell at the delivery nurse to do something, anything to help Elena survive this torture. Before he had been able to verbalize his fear for Elena, a strong cry had filled the room, and his daughter was born. While he hadn't been much help to Elena in the delivery, he had been afterwards. As soon as the nurse had realized that something was wrong because Elena wouldn't stop bleeding, he had compelled her to leave them alone for 10 minutes in order to give Elena his blood.
Now with the bleeding stopped and the pain gone, she was calm. Although the exhaustion was still written all over her face, she beamed at the tiny little baby in her arms. After a couple of minutes, the compelled nurse reentered the room and took care of the baby. Elena followed the nurse with her eyes while she sat upright. She didn't like the feeling of being separated from her daughter. Of course she was happy that her baby was born, but resting her hands on her empty belly, she felt a stitch in her heart. She was so used to have her inside her all the time that it almost physically hurt to be separated from her. She had experienced a wonderful pregnancy, and she vividly remembered the first time she and Damon had visited her new gynecologist in Manhattan. Before this visit, she had had problems to fully realize that she was pregnant. Sure she had felt the morning sickness, her breasts had become fuller and fuller and from time to time she had been highly sensitive, but still, for her it was hard to wrap her mind around it. During the ultrasonogram, though, there hadn't been a doubt left that she indeed was carrying a baby inside her. Seeing and hearing the rapid heartbeat of her child had done all she needed to believe it. She still could see Damon's smiling face while he had stared onto the screen. It was one of the few times she had seen tears in his eyes. Of course he had heard her heartbeat before, but obviously hearing didn't equal seeing.
In-between observing each and every move of the nurse, Elena glimpsed at Damon who too, stared at the nurse. Elena wasn't sure, but it looked as if Damon was ready to jump at any time in case the nurse would drop his baby. Elena smiled proudly at him. He didn't know it yet, but without him she would never have made it through the delivery. Not because he had given her his blood, but because he had done all the small things she had needed to make it through the pain. He had taken care that she had something to drink when she was thirsty; he had given her space when she hadn't endured to be touched just as he had hold her tight when she had wanted his strong arms to protect her and he had cooled her sweaty forehead all the time. No, she wouldn't have made it without his support.
When the nurse had finished the first check-up, and had wrapped the newborn into some blankets, she came back, but instead of laying the baby into Elena's arms she offered the bundle to Damon. Hesitantly he took the baby into his muscular arms, and swallowed while an emotion so strong spread through his body, it overwhelmed him completely. Although it hit him entirely unprepared, he still knew exactly what it was. It was the love for his daughter!
"She is beautiful, isn't she?" Elena whispered still exhausted. The delivery had been rough, and to be honest even rougher than she had thought it would be. Maybe because she had counted on the PDA she hadn't been able to get since the delivery had been too far advanced when they had arrived at the hospital. But now that it was over, it didn't matter anymore. She had never been happier in her whole life.
"Yes, she is! Just like you!" Damon breathed, smiled down at the sleeping black-haired baby and inhaled deeply. "And she smells so good…" Damon informed her fascinated, causing Elena to smile even brighter, "Yes, indeed," she confirmed and knew that she would enjoy this smell as long as it would linger on her child. Only a couple of minutes on earth and Elena was already addicted to this baby.
Very carefully, Damon sat down on the bed next to Elena, and it took some time until he was able to tear his gaze away from the tiny face of his daughter. He didn't expect newborns to be that small!
"I'm very proud of you," he said sincerely and leaned in to kiss Elena's lips. Kissing him back softly, she felt the heat within her cheeks. Actually, she was proud of herself too, but hearing it from Damon meant the world.
"Thank you, Damon, that's really nice to say. And thank you for being there for me too," she told him and took a deep breath to explain for what exactly she was grateful for, but just when she opened her mouth her eyes felt so heavy, she couldn't hold them open any longer.
"Sshh, it's okay, you need to rest. I'll take care of Miranda," he soothed her, but he wasn't sure if Elena had heard him; her breathing was already calm just as her heartbeat. Again, he felt the corners of his mouth rising at the peaceful sight of his two sleeping girls.
They had been on a rocky road for almost the entire time of their relationship, but he knew that they had reached another road now; a safe one. On this road, he was sure to see Elena's face this peaceful way more often.
After she had daggered Klaus, Alaric and Stefan had come to help him taking care of the original's body. To make sure Klaus would never return to take Elena or the baby, they had decided to drop him into the Atlantic Ocean. This undertaking had been a little complicated, and Damon wasn't sure if he had ever before compelled so many people in one day, but they had managed to get rid off Klaus in the end.
With Klaus gone and still being invisible to any other vampires and witches, Damon and Elena had resolved to stay in New York. They had found themselves a new apartment in Manhattan since they would need a room for Miranda too. Besides, this was a good way to blur their traces, because from the moment they had arrived in New York, they had used their new identities as Roman and Helena Tristano. Their apartment was only a few blocks away from Jenna's and Alaric's, so Miranda would grow up with her godmother and godfather. Caroline and Stefan had thought about returning to MysticFalls, but had opted against it. They wanted to prolong the unavoidable encounter with Elijah as long as possible. Therefore they had moved in to the apartment in New Jersey Alaric had actually arranged for Damon and Elena. Stefan and Caroline had stayed by their identities because they knew Elijah would find them sooner or later, and new identities would have created the impression that they wanted to hide something. Preventatively, they both took vervain each and every day. When Elijah would come, they had planned to tell him that Damon did never return from the attempt to dagger Klaus, and that they assume him to be dead since Elena too never showed up again. Of course Elijah would search for Damon and Elena anyway, but how was he supposed to find them?
For the fist time in a long time there had been nothing that had bothered them. Elena had experienced a beautiful pregnancy and Damon had done everything in his power to support her during that special time. The pregnancy had done wonders to her mental state. She had never been more excited or more alive, and Damon was beyond happy to see her like that; able to ultimately let her past behind her. He couldn't remember a time in his existence he had been happier himself. He would be able to live a life that felt so close to a normal human life that he still couldn't believe his luck. He had a family, a real family and an eternity to live this miracle. Sitting next to the love of his life, and caressing Miranda's fluffy black hair with his fingertips while he hold her tight to his still heart, he knew that there was no place or time he would rather be.