Dear Diary,

I can't believe it! Claire is now six months old and it feels like only yesterday I brought her home from the hospital. She has grown so much since then and it's crazy to look at some of her baby photos and see just how small she use to be. She is now able to sit up by herself with little support and she is always reaching and grabbing objects close enough to her. She is babbling a lot more now, making vowel and consonant sounds and make two syllable sounds. Her favorite thing to say is bah bah meaning her bottle.

Things are also good between Damon and I. Since the first time we were together after having Claire we have been working hard to find time for just the two of us. With Claire being six months now we have her on a schedule that allows Damon and I to make time for ourselves although Claire doesn't always go along with the schedule. Other then that things with Damon are going amazing and I even have a special Halloween surprise for him that I know he will love.

Elena

"Okay smile baby girl!" Elena said with a cheerful voice. She knelt down holding a camera and aimed it at Claire, who was dressed up in a red ladybug costume while she sat on Bonnie's lap. The little girl looked at her mom with a huge smile on her face as she clapped her little hands together.

"This is so adorable!" Caroline chirped as she too got her cellphone out to snap a picture.

It was Halloween and Elena planned to capture practically every second of Claire's first Halloween on camera. The house was decorated with black and orange and met Caroline's standards.

"Come on little ladybug, smile for mommy!" Elena said happily to her little girl, as she wanted just one more picture. Claire on the other hand had enough and started pulling on her black hood of the ladybug costume trying to get it off her head. She made a pouty lip and with a giggle Elena snapped the picture.

"Aw look she's go her daddy's pout" Bonnie teased as she bounced the little girl up and down on her knee.

"I heard that" Damon called out as he entered the room.

"Let's be civil!" Elena said nicely to both Bonnie and Damon.

"It's Halloween nobody is civil" Damon stated. "But hey at least on Halloween Bonnie's witch costume isn't out of place" Damon said just to tease her.

"Oh Damon if I were a witch trust me I would of put a curse on you and little Damon long ago" Bonnie teased right back as she stood up and bounced Claire up and down. "You wouldn't be so cocky then."

"Hey it's not called little Damon" Damon called back shaking his head.

As both Bonnie and Damon bickered back and forth, Elena and Caroline just shook their heads and took a seat on the sofa trying to ignore the two.

"Do you think there will ever be a time that they get along?" Elena asked Caroline as she rested her chin on her palm as her elbow leaned against her lap.

"If that day ever comes, I'll die my hair green" Caroline wagered "and you know I would never want my hair to be green." Elena smiled at her friend and shook her head.

Just then the front door swung open and Jeremy walked in. Elena looked up at her brother and eyed him closely. "Where have you been, Jenna expected you home half an hour ago."

"I was out" he told her without any other explanation and then as he stepped into the room they realized he wasn't alone. In behind him came Vicky with her greasy stringy hair and she reeked of cigarette smoke. She gave a slight smile to the group and waved but nobody in the room smiled back.

"What is she doing here?" Caroline whispered to Elena quietly.

"I have no idea," Elena said as she shook her head knowing that for the past month at least Jeremy had been hanging out with Vicky a lot again. She watched as Jeremy and Vicky held hands and Vicky whispered into Jeremy's ear about something. With daggers in her eyes she was not pleased this girl was in her house. She had cause so much trouble for Jeremy last year and now was getting him in trouble with the police all over again. Plus no one could forget that she pretended to get pregnant to try and keep Jeremy around.

"Oh look at the cute baby!" Vicky said as she walked over to Bonnie who was holding Claire.

Seeing what was about to happen Damon stepped in and took Claire from Bonnie, "Oh no touching the baby when we don't know where those hands have been!" Damon said in a cheerful voice as he carried Claire away.

Vicky stood there completely confused at what Damon was doing as he headed up stairs with Claire, holding her tight and smiling at the group as he left. The girls couldn't help but giggle at Damon's protectiveness.

"Nice," Jeremy snapped at his sister. "Can you get your boyfriend to be a little nicer!"

"I've tried" Elena said in a giggle. "He's very set in his ways" she added with a smile as she was a bit happy with the way Damon didn't want certain people near their baby girl. Jeremy just glared at Elena as him and Vicky took a seat on the sofa and decided to play some video games.

Not wanting to stick around and hang out with the two, Elena and the girls made their way to the kitchen. Elena got the girls some sodas as Bonnie and Caroline huddled around the island counter. Caroline turned her head and stared at Jeremy and Vicky with a disgusted look before turning back to her friends. "What does he see in her?"

"I don't know but I see nothing but trouble and a girl who will for sure lead Jeremy down a path he may have trouble getting out of," Bonnie told her honestly.

"I know and Jenna has tired everything, grounding him, making him check in with her every hour even forbid him from seeing her, nothing is working" Elena insisted.

"Yep the joys of family" Caroline said as she raised her eyebrows and bit her bottom lip.

"Yeah how are you handling that?" Elena asked her as she shook her head. Caroline had told both Bonnie and Elena about the unexpected visit her dad's new wife gave as well as introducing her to her little sisters.

"It's… I don't know" Caroline said honestly. "I mean how does a person go years not knowing that they have two little sisters?" Caroline asked.

"You didn't have a relationship with your father, how could you possibly know?" Bonnie told her as she put an arm around her friend. Caroline nodded her head understanding what Bonnie was saying but that didn't make the situation seem any better.

"So what did she want?" Elena asked totally confused by the woman just suddenly showing up for Caroline to meet her little sisters.

"I have no idea, we talked briefly, the girls talked about school but to be honest I have no idea why she introduced them to me. It seemed like she wanted to talk to me about something but never brought it up." Caroline had spent about thirty minutes with the woman but when Elena had shown up with Claire she just left in a hurry.

"Do you think? Do you think he is hurting them?" Bonnie asked knowing it was a question they were all wondering.

"I don't know; I was afraid to bring it up I guess," Caroline said feeling a little ashamed. She had watched those girls play in the square while talking to the mother and the idea that her father was hurting them like he did her was terrifying.

As the girls comforted Caroline, Jenna strolled into the kitchen looking very nervous about something. She walked into the room looking at Elena and seemed to be thinking about what she should say. Elena looked at her aunt with a puzzled look as she came to stand against the counter across from the girls. "Everything okay?" Elena asked her aunt.

Jenna bit her lip and tapped her fingertips on the counter. "I need to tell you something, I've been meaning to tell you for a while but didn't know how" Jenna told her honestly. Elena nodded her head, while both Caroline and Bonnie listened as well to what Jenna was about to tell them. "I've been seeing someone and now that its getting serious I think it's only fair to let you know" Jenna told her.

Elena gave a smile and allowed Jenna to tell her the news she wanted to tell. "I've been seeing Alaric Saltzman" Jenna said as she felt a huge weight being lifted after telling her.

When Elena just smiled and nodded, Jenna was a little surprised. "Your history teacher I'm dating your history teacher," Jenna tried to clarify but Elena still didn't seem shocked by the news. "You don't seem so surprised."

"Surprised about what?" Damon asked as he came into the kitchen and made his way to the fridge.

"Jenna's got a boyfriend!" Caroline said with a smile.

"Coming clean about Alaric I see" Damon said as he poured himself a glass of water.

"What!" Jenna had a look of complete shock on her face after Damon's statement and wondered just how he knew. "How did you know?" she asked totally taken back.

Caroline let out a giggle and covered her mouth as she saw the very shocked look on Jenna's face. Elena shook her head and ignored the other two and said, "I'm happy for you."

"Did you really know?" Jenna asked kind of seeing right through Elena's politeness.

Elena got a guilty look on her face and slowly nodded her head, "Yeah kind of did."

Damon chuckled as he stood behind Jenna with his glass of water, "Actually the whole town knows really."

Jenna turned to look at Damon very surprised by his statement. "Seriously?"

"Jenna the whole found out Elena was pregnant within hours of you knowing" Damon reminded her. "This town is like gossip central, and it's queen is standing in front of you" he said as he pointed over at Caroline.

"I am not a gossip queen!"

"Of course you not Blondie" Damon said with a sarcastic laugh.

"Anyway, Alaric and I are going out tonight and I will probably be home pretty late" Jenna told her. "Make sure your brother is home by his curfew and that his friend doesn't stick around!" Jenna added quietly as she motioned to Vicky on the couch.

"Don't worry I'll make sure he's in line" Damon said with a smile.

"No you won't because I expect you to be long gone by the time I get home," Jenna said as she eyed Damon closely.

"Hey aren't I always" Damon said with his best attempt at an innocent smile.

"I wasn't born yesterday, I know what goes on when I'm not around" Jenna stated as she turned to look at a very red face Elena. When Elena's face confirmed her suspicions Jenna turned to look at Damon again. "I mean it Damon, behave!"

Bonnie and Caroline also took notice of the look on Elena's face and realized that Elena had seemed to have forgotten to mention that important piece of information.

After a night of handing out candy in a pirate costume Damon was taking a breather on the sofa at the Gilbert house. As he sat there he picked up Elena's camera and started to flip through the pictures of their little ladybug on her first Halloween. In many of the pictures Claire had a big smile on her face as she pulled on the little black antennas on her hood.

There was a very adorable picture of Elena, dressed as a pumpkin and kissing a giggling Claire on the cheek. Many of the pictures showed off Claire's big blue eyes much like his own, and her big smile just like Elena's. There was one picture of the three of them with Damon holding Claire so she was facing the camera and Elena had an arm wrapped around Damon's shoulder while he planted a kiss on her cheek. Damon couldn't help but smile at the picture as it showed off his little family.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard Elena's footsteps coming down the stairs after putting the little ladybug to bed. "Did she go down alright for you?" Damon called out as he was still focused on the pictures.

"She was more then happy to get out of that costume that's for sure," Elena told him as she crossed the room to where Damon was. Damon didn't look up at her so taking advantage of this Elena moved to stand in between his legs where he sat on the sofa.

Taking his eyes off the camera screen he looked at the legs standing in front of him. Slowly his eye moved up Elena's body, she had on a very tight black short strapless dress. The dress really showed off her cleavage, and she had a spike choker around her neck and a pair of black cat ears on a headband. This was definitely not the family friendly pumpkin costume Elena had on earlier he thought to himself as he found himself a little speechless.

With a smile Elena leaned down and placed her hands on either side of Damon's side and let her face hover just inches from his own. "Claire may have gone down like a good little bug but I think this kitty is gonna be a little naughty."

With a smile Elena straddled Damon's lap while his hands came up to run up and down her thighs. Their eyes never left each other as Elena wrapped her arms around his neck and brushing her fingers threw Damon's jet-black hair. "What happen to the pumpkin costume?" Damon said as his body was starting to get excited.

"It's the more family friendly type, I got this one just for you," she said in a husky voice before her lips crashed against Damon's in a hot kiss. With a deep moan Elena kissed Damon as hard as she could while their tongues danced around between each other's mouths. Leaning back on the couch Damon pulled Elena as close as he could while Elena started to remove Damon's pirate costume.

As the shirt was tossed to the floor, Damon had one hand moved to the back of Elena's neck as he started to leave a trail of kisses along her jaw. Closing her eyes and enjoying the feeling of Damon's mouth on her skin she started breathing heavily. "I think we should take this up stairs" Elena said in a heavy breath.

Damon said nothing he just put an arm under Elena's legs and rested the other on her back to help support her weight as he got to his feet. Elena's arms went back around Damon's neck as they continued the kiss. Quickly as he could Damon carried her up the stairs and towards Elena's room.

Damon practically threw both him and Elena onto the bed in excitement. Elena couldn't help but giggle at Damon's eagerness as he started to feel around Elena's outfit trying to find the zipper on her dress. She let out a purr like a cat in Damon's ear before she licked his jaw line. Kissing her chest, Damon hovered over top of her as he finally found the zipper and slowly started to lower it.

In a quick move Elena brushed his hand away and rolled them over so that she was on top. She had a little devilish smile on her face as her hands pinned Damon's arms above his head. "Not so fast" she told him and then leaned down for a kiss.

"And Jenna thought I was the one who wouldn't behave" Damon said in a heavy breath while he was left completely under her control.

With a smile on her face, Elena kissed Damon with passion while she held his hands up above his head. Their eyes were closed as the kiss deepened and their tongues moved in between each other's mouths. Still straddling Damon's waist Elena shifted her body so that she brushed up against his groin. Damon left out a deep moan and Elena grinned.

"You can be such a tease," Damon told her as he tried to move his hands needing to touch her.

Elena let out a giggled and then leaned down again to capture his lips. The kiss was tender and quick before she moved to kiss his chin, neck and chest. As Damon breathing quickened Elena left a trail of kiss down Damon's front. All Damon could do was watch her as she moved down his body and then let out a moan as she pushed his pants away.

(couple days later)

Caroline was up extra early with excitement, she was finally getting the opportunity to babysit Claire for the first time. When the topic came up she was more then happy to agree and decided to bring Tyler along for the day.

"Hello baby girl!" Caroline said in a cheerful voice as Elena passed a happy Claire over to her. "How's auntie Caroline's favorite little niece" she asked as she pressed a kiss to Claire's temple. "Can you say Caroline? Say auntie Caroline" she said happily to the little girl who just giggled at her.

"Oh her first word better not be Caroline!" Damon chirped in as he kissed his little ladybug's cheek.

"Don't worry her first word will be mama" Elena said with a smile as she kissed Claire's tiny hand. Taking a step back, Elena and Damon stood at the door a little nervous as Caroline and Tyler stood in the hallway with Claire. Tyler held out his finger and Claire grasped hold of it tightly.

Elena bit her bottom lip and tucked her hair behind her ear, "Okay so I've fed her breakfast and she should be good but if she gets fussy you can put her in her swing; she likes that. Her soother is on the coffee table so if she doesn't calm down you can always give her it. Call me if she gets too much for you."

Damon stood behind Elena and placed his hands on her shoulders as Elena made sure to tell Caroline and Tyler everything they needed to know. It wasn't an easy thing to just let someone new take care of Claire, sure she trusted Caroline but still Claire was her little girl.

"We'll be fine," Caroline told Elena as she bounced Claire up and down. "Won't we?" she said looking at the little girl and tickled her stomach. "Say bah bye," Caroline said in a soft voice as she waved Claire's little hand in the air to her parents.

"Bye ladybug!" Damon said and then with Elena's hand in his lead her out of the Gilbert house. Turning to look at her one last time Elena blew Claire a kiss before walking out the door with Damon.

"There goes your mommy and daddy," Caroline said with a smile as she brought Claire into the family room and took a seat. Tyler followed in and took a seat next to Caroline and talked softly to the little girl who seemed to watch his every movement.

"I still find it hard to believe Damon has settled down and has a baby" Tyler said as he brushed his fingers over top of Claire's head and soft dark hair. "I never actually pegged him for the stay at home dad" Tyler added.

Growing up in Mystic Falls he remembered when the Salvatore's were younger and how much of a troublemaker Damon use to be. He was also the kind of guy that knew he was good looking and used it to his advantage. Pretty much every girl at high school wanted him and did pretty much anything to be with him. The guy was a player and almost every guy wished they had his charm when it came to getting women.

It wasn't uncommon to see Damon with one girl in the morning and a different one by lunchtime. Many of the girls had hoped they would be the exception but the only girl who he ever kept around was Katherine. Damon was like the ultimate womanizer and didn't try to hide it at all.

It was hard for anyone really who had grown up with Damon to see him as anything else then a womanizer. Yet here he was now a completely different person with his eye only on two girls, Elena and Claire.

"He's definitely changed, I mean he can still be an ass but at least he's done something right and not run. Although who could ever run away from this cutie!" Caroline said as she kissed Claire's cheek. Claire giggled at Caroline and reached out to touch her face with her tiny hands.

For the rest of the afternoon both Caroline and Tyler played house as they took care of baby Claire. They two were down on the floor with her and her toys and just loving the sound of Claire's giggles and her bright smiles. Caroline was starting to wonder why Elena seemed to think caring for a baby was so exhausting when Claire seem nothing but adorable.

"NANA! NANA!" Claire squealed as she clapped her little hands together while Tyler held her in his arms.

"You are so adorable and precious I could just eat you up!" Caroline said cheerfully. "Can't you just imagine having one?" Caroline asked and saw the shocked looked on Tyler's face.

Rolling her eyes Caroline shook her head; "Not right now of course, but one day?" she clarified.

"Yeah I guess one day," Tyler said feeling a little better. "We would definitely have cute babies."

Caroline smiled and then jumped to her feel, "Well it's almost lunch time we she feed her lunch. Elena's got a bottle in the kitchen." As Tyler got up to follow Carline he happily talked to the little girl, "Do you want your bah-bah?"

"Bah-bah" Claire repeated and smiled knowing what was coming.

After lunch Damon and Elena had planned on spending the day out in the park but had somehow found themselves back at the Salvatore house and without their clothes on. Shirts and jeans were tossed on the floor in Damon's room and leading a trail towards the bed.

Moans and groans could be heard in between the heavy breathing. The white sheets covered them up as Damon hovered over top of Elena as they were locked in a deep kiss. His arms were by her shoulders and keeping as much of his weight off her that he could while Elena had her arms brushing up and down his tone back. Their kiss was deep as their bodies were pressed together while they came down from a climax.

They were definitely at that stage in their relationship where they had sex pretty much all the time. Although in their case, having sex wasn't as easy compared to most since they had a six-month-old baby wanting their full attention. So whenever the possibility became available both Damon and Elena jumped at the chance to have some alone time.

With one of his hands moving to brush through her hair, Damon pressed one last tender kiss on Elena's lips and the rolled onto his side. Fixing themselves into their new positions Elena rested a hand on Damon's chest and let her thumb rub against his skin. With a very satisfied moan, Elena untangled her legs with his and just cuddled up close.

"That was…. Hmmm amazing" Elena said as she reached up and kissed Damon's neck while her foot ran up and down his leg. With a smile Damon wrapped his arms around her tight and kissed her forehead. It definitely was amazing. It didn't take them long to find their rhythm together and now it was hard to keep their hands off each other.

"I wonder how Caroline is holding up," Elena asks as she reached for her phone on the nightstand. So far they had left Caroline and Tyler with Claire for three hours and hadn't heard of any problems yet.

"It's more like how is Claire holding up with Caroline" Damon joked as he leaned down to kiss her neck while she checked to see if she had any messages.

"Well no messages of help me so she must be doing okay" Elena said with a smile then she placed the phone back. Rolling over she wrapped her arms around Damon and pulled him back on top of her. Since everything seemed to be fine with Claire she was going to make the most of her time remaining with Damon alone and Damon was just as eager about that as well.

Unknown to Damon and Elena, things with Claire weren't exactly going as smoothly as they were earlier. After giving Claire her bottle she became very fussy and it didn't seem to matter what Tyler or Carline did she wouldn't stop crying. 'Come on! What else should I do?" Caroline asked as she bounced Claire up and down around the house.

"Maybe she is hungry again," Tyler offered as he raced to get another bottle. Caroline let out a groan as she talked softly to the crying little girl pleading with her to stop crying. Tyler came back into the room holding a bottle and tried to give it to Claire. Yet she just pushed it away with her hands and continued to cry leaving both Caroline and Tyler helpless.

"We have tried everything," Caroline said as she passed her over to Tyler.

Tyler nervously took the little girl and tried swaying her back and forth. Caroline brought over her blanket, soother and even her plush toy ladybug but Claire didn't seem to want any of it.

"Maybe she's tired" Caroline offered.

"I think if she were tired she would have fallen asleep by now" Tyler said not seeing that as the problem. She seemed to ignore all of Caroline and Tyler's solutions and kept on crying. "Maybe we should call Elena" Tyler suggested as he handed her back to Caroline.

"NO I will not be defeated by a baby!" Caroline stated as she bounced the little girl again. "We can handle a baby." Although she tried to sound sure of herself she was really starting to doubt that she would be able to give Claire what she needed and wanted.

"Yeah I don't think we can" Tyler admitted as he watched Claire continue to cry and push away at what ever the two of them tried to calm her down. Her crying was so loud they were sure the neighbours could hear and both Caroline and Tyler were ready to pull their hair out if it would make her stop crying.

Caroline just glared at her boyfriend and then turned and headed up the stair deciding to try putting her down for a nap again. "Come on Claire no more crying" Caroline pleaded as they entered the nursery. Claire just started to toss in her arms not wanting to go along with what ever Caroline was planning. Placing her in the crib Claire just cried louder and rolled over not wanting to go to sleep. "Claire baby you have to be tired," Caroline complained as she tried to get her to lie back down on her back.

With a sigh, Caroline picked her up again and started to bounce her up and down. "Not as easy as you thought huh" Tyler said as he leaned against the doorframe watching Caroline struggle with Claire.

"I'm use to being able to hand her back to Elena if she starts crying" Caroline complained trying her best to get Claire to stop crying. Suddenly Caroline heard one of the best sounds ever in a long time; she heard the front door open and Elena's voice call out. "Oh thank GOD!" Caroline said happily and quickly headed out of the nursery to meet Elena.

"Aw baby girl!" Elena said with a smile as she held out her hands to take Claire from Caroline.

Caroline was more then happy to hand Claire back over to her and finally no longer be responsible for her crying. She watched as Elena took Claire into her arms and talked softly to the little one. Damon stood behind her and brushed a thumb over Claire's head as she started to settle now that her mommy and daddy were home.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Caroline said as she shook her head at how easy Claire seemed to calm down for them.

"Don't worry it isn't this easy most of the time" Damon said as Elena handed Claire over to him. He smiled at his ladybug and pressed kisses on her cheeks while Claire snuggled into her daddy's arms.

"Did you give Auntie Caroline a hard time?" Elena said softly and then pressed a kiss to Claire's cheek as she laid her head on Damon's shoulder and had a big smile on her adorable little face.

While Elena said thanks and good-bye to Caroline and Tyler, Damon was in Elena's room and lying on the bed with Claire on his stomach. As he held her up he made clicking sounds with his tongue and held Claire so her face as just above his. The little girl squealed and reached out and touched her daddy's nose as he talked softly to her.

With a sigh, Elena entered the room and jumped onto the bed and lay beside Damon and rested her head on his shoulder. With a smile she touched Claire's cheek as Damon sat her on his stomach so she was looking at her parents. "So is Caroline off the babysitting list?" Damon asked with a chuckle remembering how eager Caroline seem to be when she was able to leave.

"I think she may need a break before she does it again" Elena laughed. "She is use to Claire the angel not the screamer."

"See if your not careful Ladybug they won't just see you as the adorable cutie!" Damon told her with a chuckle and tickled her tummy and made her giggle.

"Ladybug; is that going to be her new nickname?" Elena said with a smile as she snuggled up closer to Damon and Claire.

"Yeah why not, we called her little bug during the pregnancy" Damon said with a smile as he turned his head to give Elena a kiss on the forehead.

As Claire started to babble away Damon brought her down to lie on his chest so that her face was just inches from Elena's. The three took advantage of their lazy afternoon and snuggled on the bed together with Claire holding on tight to Damon's shirt as she drifted off to sleep.