"Dad, can you watch the stove while I run over to pick up Elena and Jeremy?"

"Sure. Do you need me to make anything?"

"You could get the garlic bread ready if you want? Otherwise I'll do it when I get back."

"You go on now, I'll get it ready."

"Damon?"

When I hear that, I walk into the living room to grab my keys, stopping for a moment to look at the TV just in time to see the batter hit a homerun over the centerfield fence. After watching him round the bases, I turn to my attention back to my grandfather.

"Did you want something papa?"

"Do you have anymore of this lemonade? It really hits the spot."

"Papa, I made that. There's a gallon jug in the refrigerator. Help yourself."

"I will. Thank you."

"Anything else? I'm going to run over and pick up our guests."

"Drive carefully."

"I will, thanks papa." I tell him then pick up my keys and trot outside to my car.

Just as I raise my hand to rap on her door, Elena pulls it open. "Hello Elena."

"Hi. Come on in," she tells me, motioning with her hand.

"Daymin," Jeremy screams then runs right to me.

I lift him into my arms. "Hey little man. How are you today?"

"I good," he tells me then presses his little hands on each side of my face to give me a sloppy kiss.

"What's that for?" I tease.

"I wuv you."

I all but melt at those words. Swallowing back the lump in my throat, my voice cracks a bit when I tell him, "I love you too, Jeremy." When I turn my eyes to Elena, I exhale a breath of relief to see her smiling at both of us through glistening eyes.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah. Just let me grab his bag."

After securing Jeremy in the car seat I bought, I drive back over to my house, clutching her hand in mine.

"Oh my goodness Damon. I don't think I could eat another bite. Who taught you how to cook?" Elena remarks, pushing her chair away from the table just a little bit.

"I'm glad you enjoyed my homemade manicotti. My mom taught me how to cook."

"Obviously you paid attention," she says, as she turns to Jeremy to wipe off his face and fingers.

"Damon was always very attentive when my Annabelle would try to show him something. One day, his mom and I were out getting some groceries. When we walked into the house, Damon was covered in flour, it was strewn all over the place. The boy's dog was licking it up. Damon was just sitting on the floor shaking his head. His mom and I burst out in a raucous laughter. I think I even have a picture of him somewhere. He was trying to make some bread. He had the mixer turned on but turned his back for a minute. His cat jumped onto the counter and knocked the mixer into the dry flour. Needless to say, that's how it got all over the place," Dad tells her, still laughing at my expense all these years later.

"Thanks for that dad," I utter before smiling myself.

"Are you going to go back to work, Elena?" Papa asks, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Yes, but I won't be able to for a few weeks. I have to get an okay from my doctor first."

"Enjoy your time off with Jeremy. Kids grow up much too fast. Jack's mother and I got married in our thirties. I was in the military and when I got out, we did some traveling. As such, Jack is our only child. We tried for more but I guess it just wasn't meant to be," Papa says wistfully.

"I know. I've had him since he was barely a year old. I can't believe how big he is already."

"They do grow fast. Stefan is thirty two, Caroline is twenty nine and Damon is almost twenty eight," Dad mentions.

"Almost twenty eight? Do you have a birthday coming up?"

"No comment."

"Oh come on Damon. When is your birthday?"

"July fourth."

"Awe, you're an Independence Day baby," she fawns.

"I am. And dad has never let me forget that they had to miss the fireworks display that year," I tell her, my gaze falling on my dad.

"Oh Damon. You know it was only in jest," Dad scolds playfully.

"Yeah, I know. Do you guys want some dessert? I made some cookies and I've got ice cream."

"Ice keem," Jeremy squeals, clapping.

"Do you like ice cream?" I tease him, ruffling his hair when I get up to dish it out.

"I'll walk you to the car," I say to papa and dad as I help him put his jacket on. His shoulder is still giving him some grief.

"We still on for golf Saturday?" papa asks me while he adjusts his jacket and puts his fedora on.

Nodding, I turn to him, "Ah ha. I'm going to kick your ass this weekend too," I smirk.

"Dream on boy," he says, scoffing at me.

"Twenty bucks says I win."

"You're on young man. Be prepared to pay up," he tells me with a wink.

"Dad, when your shoulder is better, you're going to have to join us on the links."

"I look forward to it. Thanks for inviting us for supper." He then turns to Elena, taking her hand in his and pressing a soft kiss to it.

"Elena, it's was lovely to see you again," he says, exuding the Salvatore charm.

"You're making me swoon, Mr. Salvatore," she says, smiling.

"Clearly my work is done here. Let's go dad," he says to papa.

"I'll be right back," I say to Elena as I follow dad and papa outside to walk them to their car.

When I step back in the house, Elena is sitting in my rocking chair with Jeremy in her arms. Bringing her fingers to her lips, she shushes me as she continues to rock him to sleep.

Whispering, I ask if she wants to put him to sleep on my bed. Nodding, I carefully lift him into my arms and carry him upstairs to my bedroom. After gently laying him on my bed, I surround him with pillows. Elena steps into my room with a baby monitor so one of us can come to him if he starts to fuss while we're talking. After she plugs one part of it into the wall, she hands me the receiver part then we carefully step out of my room and close the door ever so quietly so as not to wake him. Taking her hand in mine, we walk down the stairs and settle in the living room.

"Have a seat," I tell her gesturing to the couch.

"This is hard for me Elena. I tend to keep things tight to the vest. I don't like to share this side of myself. Aside from my family, I've always been pretty stoic with others. But you have no idea how much I struggle to keep my emotions under lock and key around you. I want you to know me, all of me, warts and all," I explain, taking a seat opposite her on the couch.

"I'm sure you remember seeing me kiss that woman." When I turn my eyes to Elena, I can see that she's a bit wary and her hands are clasped together tightly in her lap.

"I want to be completely honest with you. I don't want any secrets between us." I squeeze her forearm gently and release it before continuing.

"There's a story there too. I was completely in love with her at one time in my life. We were together for about two years while I was in med school. Aside from school and my family, my world revolved around her. I thought she felt the same, but she didn't. One day, I brought up marriage to her. You should have seen the look on her face. She looked horrified. I'll never forget it. It was then that she told me she didn't love me." Pausing a minute, I scrub my hand over face before turning back to Elena.

"She wasn't cruel, she didn't cheat on me, she simply didn't love me back. She moved out of our apartment the next day while I was at the hospital but not without leaving me a letter apologizing.

It broke me because I was completely, irrevocably in love with her yet she felt nothing but affection for me. I wanted marriage, babies, the whole nine yards, just everything with her. After I finished my residency and moved back here, I threw myself into my work and one night stands. I'm not proud of that, but.." When I feel Elena placing her hand over mine, I take a deep cleansing breath and continue.

"That day at the hospital. I operated on her husband. She simply kissed me. I'm sorry it took my brain a moment to catch up but I swear, Elena, that I pushed her away. I told her that it couldn't happen again. Ivy apologized profusely saying she didn't know what came over her either. Also that she's head over heels for her husband. But I'm so sorry you had to see that and that I acted like such an ass." I tell her with all the sincerity I can summon.

"Thank you for telling me this Damon. I'll admit, I was jealous when I saw you kiss that woman. Obviously I didn't know the story behind it but it hurt you know?"

"I know, Elena and I'm so sorry," I tell her. When she scoots closer to me on the couch, I wrap my arms around her and pull her against my chest. After pressing a kiss to her lush lips, I begin to tell her about Stefan.

"My mom was kind of the glue that held our family together. Don't get me wrong, I adore my dad. I couldn't ask for better but she just had this sense of calm about her. Salvatore men are passionate, short-fused folks. So yeah, I'm more of my dad's son. When she died, Stefan really spiraled. He started hanging around with the dregs of society and then started experimenting with drugs. It didn't take long for him to become enslaved to his addiction. It was when he started shooting up heroin that he really changed into someone that none of us recognized anymore," I tell her, closing my eyes.

When I open them again, she raises up a little bit to lift a kiss from my lips, giving me courage. "Stefan would disappear for days, weeks on end. We worried about him so much. He spurned every offer we made to help him. One day, dad had invited Caroline and I over for supper. I happened to get off of work a little early that evening. I had this gnawing feeling all day. So I decided I'd go straight to dad's house rather than go home to shower and change. I still had some clothes at his house so I figured I could shower there," I tell her, exhaling heavily.

"When I walked into the house, I just felt chills. It was eerily quiet with just one lamp turned on. Dad liked to have the place well lit. I just had a sense that something was very wrong so I cautiously started to look around as quietly as I could. The house had been ransacked. Furniture was toppled, glass broken. Then I saw his shoes sticking out from under some debris. I've never seen anything so scary in my whole life, Elena. Dad was laying in a pool of his own blood. He'd been beaten," I whisper, reaching up to wipe the hint of a tear that's threatening to fall.

"Damon, I'm so sorry," she tells me sincerely, snuggling into my chest even closer.

"He almost died, Elena. Stefan beat him to within an inch of his life. That's what happens when you're so desperate for your next fix that you'll do whatever it takes to score a hit. With the distance of time, I now realize that 'that' Stefan wasn't my brother. Dad suffers from PTSD since the beating," I utter, looking her directly in the eyes.

"Stefan disappeared after that for five long years. None of us heard anything from him. Out of the blue he called dad and said he wanted to see us, all three of us. Dad had a little bit of a relapse when Stefan came into our house again. Other than that, he's made a remarkable recovery both physically and emotionally. I think it was just Stefan being back in the house. That's what you saw the other day, dad getting edgy seeing Stefan in his house."

"You can hardly blame him. You say he nearly died?"

"Yeah he did. If I hadn't gone over when I did, he would've died at the scene," I whisper, pressing another kiss to the crown of her head.

"Stefan looks healthy," she remarks.

"He is doing great. I'm proud of him. However, I don't quite trust him completely yet. I don't want him to be alone with dad till I'm certain that he's off the drugs for good. He tells me he still struggles everyday but his wife has really been a godsend to him. I don't know her very well yet but April seems really good for him."

"That must've been so hard for all of you to see someone you love so much descend into such madness?" she mentions.

"It was but I don't want to talk about them anymore. I want to talk about us. I was attracted to you the moment I laid eyes on you, Elena. We were getting close and having fun. I even enjoyed being with Jeremy. But that night he called me 'dad', I freaked out. I'm so sorry about that. I have no explanation for it and there aren't enough I'm sorrys to make up for my abhorrent behavior. And then when you were hurt, my world tipped off its axis. I knew that I had to make it up to you somehow. I'm so, so sorry that it took a near tragedy for it to sink into my thick skull just how much you mean to me. I know now, Elena. I love you. I am totally and completely, head over heels in love with you."

She raises up, taking my face in her hands before crashing her lips to mine. I can feel her fire as she teases my lips with her tongue till I open my mouth and let her in. After several moments, she pulls back leaving me panting. "I love you too, Damon," she whispers.

"Stay with me tonight?"

She nods her head vigorously. I scoot out from under her to stand up before lifting her into my arms. I carry her up to my room bridal style only to remember that Jeremy is sleeping on my bed. After setting her down onto my bed. "I'm just going to go pull down the covers in the room next door then run down and grab the baby monitor. I'll be right back."

When I get back, I carefully take Jeremy into my arms carrying him across the hall to my spare bedroom. Elena follows setting the baby monitor on the bedside stand. "The little meerkat you bought him is in his baby bag. I'll go and get it. He always sleeps with it," she tells me, lifting a kiss from my lips.

After we get him tucked in with his stuffed pal in his arms, I turn on the lamp at the bedside so he has a little night light. Taking Elena's hand, I lead her back into my bedroom. Shutting the door behind us, I immediately wrap my arms around her and press my lips to hers in a sweltering kiss. Needing a breath of air, I pull away before nuzzling her neck and dropping kisses to every inch of her exposed skin. When I hear her whimper, I pull back and look into her eyes.

Nodding her consent, I unzip her dress, then drop a sleeve from one shoulder then the next. When it falls to the floor, I help her step out of it so she doesn't trip. Then I lift her into my arms once more and carry her to my bed. Once I lay her down, I crawl on top of her to smother her beautiful body with kisses, nips and hugs. I raise up off of her when she starts to sit up, reaching around to unclasp her bra.

With her eyes fixed on mine, she drops her shoulders letting the bra straps slide down her arms. I help her take it the rest of the way off. I'm awestruck by the magnificence of her body.

"Beautiful," I whisper when I take her breasts into my hands, kneading them and caressing them. I'm absolutely mesmerized by her blazing eyes and her moans.

"Damon, I... "

"What do you need, sweetheart?" I tell her as I continue to caress her gorgeous bosom.

"Please... " she says, then moans even louder when I take one of her nipples into my mouth, suckling and biting till she's writhing beneath me. Letting it go with plop, I raise up and take those beautiful lips of hers for another ride. I can't get enough of this woman. I pull back and work my way down her body till I get to her panties. When I see her lust blown eyes, I slip my thumbs into the elastic and pull them down her svelte legs. I quickly rid myself of my own clothes before crawling back into bed with her. Spreading her legs, I press my lips to her moist flesh. It takes no time at all for her to start squirming and whimpering and then she screams my name as her body arcs up off the bed. I gently coax her through her orgasm.

"You're so incredibly beautiful like this, when you surrender yourself to the throes of passion," I whisper, pressing another torrid kiss to her swollen lips.

When she finally opens her eyes, I slide inside of her. I drop my head onto her chest to try and ground myself for a moment. The feeling of being inside of her is enough to make me erupt like a teenaged boy.

"Damon?"

"I'm okay. I'm just savoring how unbelievably good it feels to be inside of you, Elena." I raise my head to steal another kiss from her lips and then I begin to move. When she wraps her legs around my waist, my eyes roll back into my head for a moment. Chill bumps begin to erupt on my body as I continue to push in and out while swiveling my hips. She surprises me when she flips us over so she's on top, all the while keeping me inside of her.

I place my hands on her hips as she places her palms on my chest before beginning to move up and down. Using my hands as leverage, I pull her down even harder onto me. When I feel her beginning to tire, I sit up, pull her flush against my body while raising my hips to thrust deeper inside of her. After one more thrust, I feel her body begin to shake and quiver in my arms as she cries out my name. I pull her even tighter to my chest as I continue till I tumble off the precipice and slowly waft down to earth, utterly boneless.

"Damon, I.. I've never felt so complete before," she whispers, pressing a kiss to my chest where I'm still holding her close.

"I'm never letting you go," I pant breathlessly.

"Promise?"

"I promise," I whisper sincerely, stealing one more kiss. After she rolls off of me, she snuggles in against my chest as I wrap one arm around her and stroke her hair with the other. I drop yet another kiss to her crown then close my eyes, my heart bursting with so much love for this woman lying here in my arms. When I look down, she's sound asleep.

"I'm going to marry you someday, Elena Gilbert," I whisper before closing my eyes, letting sleep consume me.

Thank you so much Eva. I hope you're having a wonderful time. Thank you so much, all of you. With this chapter, this will surpass 'Breathe' as my most reviewed story. THANK YOU. One chapter left. *tears* Although I appreciate the favorites and the follows and the fact that you're interested enough to follow along as things unfold, I don't know why some of you never review? Especially when I see that a few of you do take the time to review other stories?

Still working hard on 'The Unforgiven'.. There's a lot of research involved so it's going slower than I'd like it to. Plus my brilliant friend and beta is on a much deserved vacation. But when I see the end in sight, I'll give you a sneak peak.

'What If I Was Nothing' has been updated as well as 'Shatter Me'. Much left to come in both of these stories. I hope you all have a safe and lovely weekend. Thank you again for all of your support with this story and all of my stories. This one has been the most successful by far. Until next time...