I feel like I can't write this story fast enough. I have a number of updates finished already and the amount of times I've fallen asleep writing is astounding. There is just so much going on with all of these characters and they are all so complex and I'm just really loving how things are unfolding. WHEW. See? Excited.

Thank you so much for your responses to the last chapter! I'm so glad you're loving this!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Vampire Diaries.

Ginny couldn't wipe the smile off her face as Elena wiped chocolate from Molly's face. The toddler had thoroughly enjoyed a slice of chocolate cake, but Ginny felt sure she had enjoyed having Molly in her home to eat it even more.

"Can I get down now?" Molly asked Elena, squirming in her seat.

"You may," Elena confirmed with a nod. She helped Molly out of her chair and smiled as the toddler made a beeline for the toys she had been forced to abandon when dinner was ready. "Thank you so much for dinner, Ginny. It was absolutely delicious."

"It's so nice to have the two of you here," Ginny said in response. "I have waited so long to hear the sound of Molly's footsteps on my hardwood floors." Elena gave her a smile tinged with sadness. She knew Ginny struggled the most with Damon's self-imposed exile and the fact that he was unaware of Molly. To Ginny, a mother to her very core, the coast-to-coast distance between her and her granddaughter while her son was 800 miles away and refusing to speak to her was heart wrenching.

"She seems to be adjusting well," Elena said, glancing over her shoulder at Molly who was happily playing with a princess play set. "Her teacher said she's doing really well with her classwork and that she's sociable, outgoing. She adores getting to see Caroline so much and Stefan too, of course. Then there's there fact that her Gigi and Nonno are spoiling her rotten. I was worried that moving would be hard on her. She's only ever known San Bernardino. My parents, her school there, her friends… I uprooted her whole life. I knew I was bringing her to a place full of people that love her, but I have no idea what I'm doing as a mother half the time." Ginny smiled.

"I'll go ahead and let you in on a secret about motherhood," she said. "Even when Molly is in her late twenties and you've got her out of the house, you are still not going to know what you are doing as a mother. Giuseppe and I ask ourselves nearly daily where we went wrong." Elena played with the cloth napkin she had placed in her lap when they started to eat dinner. She glanced at Molly again to make sure she was occupied.

"I have no idea how I'm going to tell Damon about her," she confessed. "But, I also have no idea how I'm going to tell her about Damon."

"She's three, or almost three," Ginny reminded her gently. "When you do decide to tell her, just keep it simple. Molly will understand."

"I hope so," Elena said with a shake of her head. "She's been asking questions about her daddy lately."

"She has?" Ginny inquired, unable to hide the note of surprise in her voice.

"A girl in her class has told her she doesn't have a dad because he doesn't live with her. I hated that conversation with Molly."

"What do you tell her about her father?" Ginny asked curiously.

"I tell her father her father loves her, even if he isn't with her. Regardless of how I feel about Damon, I don't ever want Molly to think her father doesn't love her. If I can help it, I don't want her to feel like he doesn't want her, either, no matter how Damon reacts when he finds out she's his."

"That child will never feel like she isn't wanted," Ginny said with certainty. Elena reached across the table and rested her hand on Ginny's.

"Thank you," she told Ginny. "For everything, both since I moved back and over the last few years. I know it hasn't been easy, lying to Damon, visiting when you could, relying on Facetime and phone conversations to stay close. I know how much you and Giuseppe, as well as Caroline and Stefan, have sacrificed for Molly and I." Ginny shook her head.

"You don't have to thank us," she said. "We told you from the day you told us you were pregnant that we would be there for you and your child. Not telling Damon… We tried. All of us did. The harder he worked to keep us out of his life, the easier it got to keep it from him. Being a whole country away from the two of you was hard, but we made do with our visits and video chats and all the photos and videos you sent us. Elena, dear, no matter where things stand with you and Damon, you and Molly are our family, too. I hope you know that."

"I do know that," Elena said, squeezing Ginny's hand. "But still, thank you for everything." She took her hand away and reached for what was left of her glass of wine. "Have you talked to Giuseppe about how the first day of practice went?" She was curious, particularly, about how Damon did behind the wheel.

"I talked to him briefly, just before the two of you got here. He said everything went well. He did ask Damon not to talk to media, but other than that, it seems like it was a pretty smooth day."

"Damon did okay with getting back behind the wheel?"

"Giuseppe said he thought he was nervous, especially for the first few laps around, but he seemed to settle in as the session went on."

"Daytona will be the real test," Elena said, more to herself than to Ginny. Still, Ginny nodded.

"There's a world of difference between practice sessions and racing." Elena could tell Ginny was nervous at the mere thought of Damon racing again.

"Damon will be okay," she told her with confidence. "Once the green flag drops, he will be right back where he belongs."

"I hope so," Ginny said with a sigh. "God help us all if he crashes at Daytona." Neither of them said anything. Talladega was notorious for big crashes, but so was Daytona. Elena hadn't considered the idea of what it would do to Damon's head if he crashed in his first race back. She sent up a quick, silent prayer that he wouldn't.

"Mama?" Molly called.

"Yes?" Elena turned to find Molly standing in the middle of the living room, bouncing up and down in place. She knew exactly what her daughter wanted and was already starting to stand as Molly answered.

"I gotta go to the potty," she announced.

"Right this way," Elena directed, taking Molly by the hand and leading her down a hallway. Ginny smiled at their retreating backs. She had her girls back. And she wasn't going to lose them again.

Elena groaned as the sound of her phone ringing broke through the night. She tried to ignore it, but it was incessant, vibrating across the nightstand as the upbeat jingle continued. She had just made up her mind to answer it when it stopped. Sighing, she laid her head back down. The phone started ringing once more. She groped in the dark for the phone and didn't bother to look at the display as she slid her finger across it to answer.

"Lo?" she asked sleepily.

"Elena?" came a familiar voice.

"Damon?" Elena was alert now, sitting upright in bed. She reached over and turned on her bedside lamp. "It's barely 6AM. Is something wrong?"

"I'm sorry for calling so early," Damon answered. "I just… Well, I wanted… Nothing is wrong, exactly, but I just wanted you to hear it from me…" Elena was fully awake now.

"Wanted me to hear what?" she demanded, an extensive list of possibilities already forming in her mind.

"It's nothing, really," Damon backpedaled. On his end of the phone, he ran his hand through his hair, suddenly nervous. "I mean, I didn't do anything wrong. Stefan was there. He'll vouch for me. Or, at least he said it would. Who really knows with him?"

"Damon, what happened?" Elena asked in a tone that was all business. Damon sighed.

"I went to a bar last night," he started.

"Damon…," Elena sighed. She couldn't dictate that he stay out of bars and night clubs, but she wished he had the good sense to keep his distance, at least for now.

"Just, listen, okay?" Damon asked. Elena furrowed her brow. There was a sense of desperation in Damon's voice that was so faint it would have been missed by anyone else. She still knew him too well, however. "I went to a bar near the track. I just wanted a beer after the first day of practice. Just one. I was sitting at the bar, minding my own business, when Vicki Donovan walked up."

"Matt's sister," Elena stated, already dreading where this was going.

"Yeah," Damon agreed. "She came up to me, started hitting on me. I told her to leave me alone. She didn't. Next thing I knew, Matt was jerking me off my stool and warning me to stay away from his sister. I didn't put my hands on him. I didn't take the bait. Stefan showed up and broke everything up. I didn't do anything, Elena. But there were cameras there. I saw the flashes. There are probably videos and photos on the internet. I know it's early, but I wanted to tell you before you found out some other way."

Elena sighed and rubbed her temple with her free hand. "Hang on," she said. Keeping the phone to her ear, she retrieved her iPad from where Molly had left it in an armchair and returned to her bed. Keying in her passcode, she quickly opened and scanned her email. Sure enough, the Google alerts she had set up with Damon's name had populated her inbox overnight. Most of them were reporting on his practice session, but it didn't take her long to find one that read 'Damon Salvatore and Matt Donovan Moments From Brawl Before Crew Chief Intervenes.' She skimmed the article and then opened the accompanying photo gallery. Every single photo showed Damon with his hands held away from Matt.

"How much trouble am I in?" Damon asked. "I haven't looked to see how the press spun it."

"I think we're going to be okay," Elena answered, clicking on another link. "You're clearly not fighting back in these photos. Hold on, this one has a video." She put her phone down and watched the short clip. She could hear Damon telling Matt to let go of him several times before Stefan arrived and broke them up. She picked the phone back up. "Matt Donovan is a jackass," she stated. Damon chuckled despite everything.

"He is," he agreed. "I'm telling you that in confidence, of course."

"Of course," Elena agreed. She opened a web browser and Googled Damon's name. She found a few more stories about Damon and Matt mixed in with practice reports, but nothing detrimental. "I will smooth things over when I get into the office in a couple of hours. I was planning on releasing some updates from day one of practice so that should push down these stories about you and Matt. I'll monitor it, but I think if we ignore it, it should go away, no harm, no foul."

"You sure?" Damon asked.

"I'm sure," Elena confirmed. "Thanks for giving me the heads up."

"I'm sorry it's so early," Damon said again. "I know I woke you up." A thought occurred to him. "I didn't wake up Molly, did I?"

"No, she's still sleeping like a rock down the hall," she answered, glancing at the video monitor she kept in her room. She couldn't quite let go of being able to glance at a video screen and know her baby was safe. "I'm glad you called and told me, Damon."

"Giuseppe isn't going to be pleased," he replied.

"I'll talk to him," Elena promised. "Reassure him there was no damage done."

"Still," Damon muttered, more to himself than to Elena. Elena frowned, picking up on still more undertones in Damon's voice that most would have overlooked.

"You okay?" she asked. Damon sighed. There was a beat before he answered.

"Just trying to keep the peace," he said. "It's easier said than done."

"I'll talk to him," Elena said again, sensing there was more and knowing Damon wasn't going to confide in her. "It's going to be fine."

"Thank you," Damon replied, and Elena knew he meant it.

"How was the first day of practice?" she asked, deciding to change the topic. "The truth, not the song and dance you would give to the media if you were doing interviews this outing." Damon sighed.

"It took me a while to settle down," he admitted. "I was more nervous than I thought I would be. I started to settle down after several laps. Things went pretty well after that. I managed to draft without causing a wreck, Stefan got his precious prototype data. Now that I've got a day behind me, I'm starting to look forward to tomorrow."

"See?" Elena asked. "Everything was fine."

"It was just practice," he reminded her. Elena could hear the doubt in his voice and frowned. The Damon she knew was bold, fearless. This Damon, she was starting to realize, had lost confidence in himself. Once so sure of himself he was often described as cocky, he now seemed almost timid, despite the persona he liked to put forth.

"Driving is what you do," Elena reminded him. "Just – have fun. At the Daytona 500, just have fun."

"I hope you're willing to give me that pep talk a few more times between now and Daytona."

"As many times as needed," Elena told him. She glanced at the clock. "I should go. I still have enough time to take a shower before I have to wake Molly and get her ready for school."

"Sorry again for calling so early," Damon said. "Hell of a way to start your Friday."

"Are you kidding?" Elena asked, tossing her blankets off as she climbed out of bed. "In a few short weeks, my Fridays will be spent running around race tracks during qualifying rounds and Nationwide and Truck races. This is a peaceful wake up call." Damon chuckled.

"Well, thanks again," he said. "I'll talk to you later."

"Talk to you later," Elena repeated. "And, stay out of trouble, okay?" Damon chuckled.

"I'll try," he promised.

"You wanted to see me?"

Giuseppe looked away from the screen he was reading to find Elena standing in his doorway. He smiled warmly and swiveled his chair so he was facing her.

"I did," he confirmed. "Come in, have a seat." Elena did as instructed, closing the door behind her. She settled on one of the thick leather chairs across from Giuseppe and waited for him to begin. "I wanted to follow up with you about Damon's little incident in Daytona."

"What about it?" Elena asked.

"You're sure everything is fine? No more damage has been done? I'm not going to get a call from NASCAR issuing more fines or notifying me of a parole violation?"

"No," Elena assured him. "Like I told you, Damon called me early Friday morning and told me what happened at the bar. I looked at the photos and videos. He never put his hands on Matt. He asked Matt repeatedly to let go of him. If anyone gets a call from NASCAR, it will be John Rowe."

"I'll never understand what Rowe sees in that snot nosed kid," Giuseppe muttered. He reached for his coffee mug and took a sip of the now lukewarm liquid. "Mediocre driver, at best. That's why he puffs out his chest and looks for trouble – to make up for the fact that he hasn't won a race in two years."

"He's not pleasant," Elena agreed, opting to leave out the fact that it was closing in on two years since Damon won a race as well. "But, Damon handled things well. There's no reason to be upset with him."

"And you said he called you?" Giuseppe asked. "Told you what happened?" Elena nodded.

"Early Friday morning," she confirmed. "It was barely 6AM."

"Huh," Giuseppe said, letting the surprise he felt at the news show. Elena raised an eyebrow.

"He did what he was supposed to," she said. "He kept his temper in check and then called me to let me know what happened."

"That's the wonderment of it all," Giuseppe mused. "He called you. He hasn't owned up to his mistakes in a long time. The fact that he called you and told you there was likely an unflattering story out there about him may as well be one of the Seven Wonders of the World." Elena shook her head.

She was starting to piece together the framework of Giuseppe and Damon's relationship. Giuseppe clearly loved Damon, wanted the best for him. But, he was also taking the tough love too far, in Elena's opinion, so determined to help Damon that he was only succeeding in pushing him further and further away. It wasn't her place to call Giuseppe out on his style of parenting, but she did have something else she wanted to address, so long as she had his seemingly undivided attention.

"How did he do at practice?" she asked. "On paper, it seems like it was a success." A few moments passed before Giuseppe nodded.

"He did well," Giuseppe confirmed. "He started slow, cautious. But after he got about twenty laps on the tires, he calmed down. We let him dictate things on the first day, let him set the pace. The second day, we pushed a little more and he responded. Overall, it's safe to say he had a solid two days of practice."

"It was good for him to get behind the wheel again in that environment," Elena mused. "Rather than just throwing him back into the thick of things on race day."

"Daytona will be the real test of his mettle," Giuseppe said. "I'm not expecting him to win. I'm not even expecting him to place in the Top 10, frankly. All I want for him is to drive his race and finish. A crash at Daytona would do nothing for his psyche." Elena nodded in agreement.

"I want to see him finish as well," she admitted. "Car intact. He needs it."

"He wants to make the Chase," Giuseppe confided in Elena. "He is determined to prove that he can compete at this level. He's going to have to win at least once to make that happen with the new format." Elena looked squarely at Giuseppe.

"Do you think he can compete at this level?" she asked. Giuseppe didn't hesitate to nod his head yes.

"Without a doubt," he said with absoluteness. "It's Damon that, despite his talk, doesn't believe he can. He thinks he's lost his touch. He was struggling with the Mikaelsons, not because he wasn't a good enough driver, but because his off track behavior was affecting him. That crash at Talladega took away any shred of confidence that boy had in himself as a driver. He wants it. He wants to race. He wants to win. He wants to be a champion. But wanting it, and believing you can do it, are two different things. And Damon doesn't believe he can do it. At least not right now."

Elena remained quiet for several long moments when Giuseppe finished. She had been unclear as to wear Giuseppe stood with Damon. She couldn't tell if he were merely giving his son a car to drive out of pity or because he believed in him. She had her answer now. And, she realized, she was quickly getting pulled into a part of Damon's life she hadn't signed up for.

"How are you going to change that?" she finally asked. "How are you going to get Damon to believe he can win?" It was Giuseppe's turn to take several moments to answer. When he did, his eyes were fixed intently on hers.

"I have my ideas," he said. "Let's leave it at that for now."

The faintest of chills ran up Elena's spine. She had the distinct impression she was a part of these ideas. She was already tiptoeing the line between Damon's professional and personal life. She couldn't allow herself to cross that line. She would have to put a toe over it at some point, for Molly's sake, but that was all she could give of herself. She knew the path of destruction Damon was capable of. It had been nearly four years since their relationship ended and her heart still hadn't quite recovered.

"Now, change of topic. How is my principessa? I haven't seen her since the day before we left for Daytona," he said, turning his attention back to his laptop. Elena smiled at Giuseppe's pet name for his granddaughter.

"She's wonderful," Elena confirmed. "She actually took a photo of you from your last Winston Cup championship for show and tell today." He smiled fondly.

"That's my girl," he said. "She'll be here this afternoon? Mondays are the days Caroline picks her up from preschool, right?" Elena nodded.

"She'll be here," she said. "I'll bring her by your office. Although, I'm going to have to warn you, she may decide to stay. She's rather partial to you."

"She can help me sort out some of these damned ridiculous requests from sponsors," he answered. "Or, at the very least, distract me so I won't have to." Elena laughed.

"There's one request in that batch having to do with a bounce house," she said as she stood to return to her office. "Good luck getting her to turn that one down."

"I'll offer to buy her a bounce house of her own if that's the issue," Giuseppe teased, well aware of Elena's desire that they not spoil her daughter with elaborate gifts. They did it anyway, of course, as demonstrated by the present he had tucked away in his bottom desk drawer, purchased while in Daytona just for Molly.

"I'll be in my office if you need me," Elena said, ignoring Giuseppe's comment. She left, leaving the door open.

"We need you, Caro," he said to himself as he clicked "reply" on an email. "We definitely need you."

"Nonno, can I drive a car?" Giuseppe looked down at Molly who was walking along by his side and grinned broadly.

"You want to drive a car, do you principessa?" he asked.

"Si!" Molly replied, proud of herself for remembering the Italian word her grandpa had taught her. "A race car!" Giuseppe chuckled again.

"You have to get a bit bigger before you can drive a race car," he told her. "But, me and Gigi will see what we can do about getting you something to drive that's more age appropriate. Sound good?"

"I want a pony," Molly countered. She wasn't quite three, but she still realized her opportunity to negotiate. Giuseppe laughed once more, as sure as ever that the precocious child was indeed Damon's. They had similar discussions when he was Molly's age.

"We will work on your mother about that," he promised.

"Okay," Molly agreed happily.

Hand-in-hand as they made their way from his office to the kitchen for a snack, Giuseppe felt like he was floating. He loved having sons, had been thrilled when his wife gave birth to not one, but two healthy boys. But there was something to be said about little girls. Molly loved pink and princesses and sparkles, everything his boys had pretended to gag at when they were young. She believed in fairy tales and loved books. She was innocent, saw the world through her big, blue eyes.

Those eyes were exactly like her fathers. Looking at her, it was like someone had put Damon into a photo copier and it had spit out Molly, just with her mother's hair color. While she had Damon's strong features, his high cheekbones and strong jaw, she was still delicate, petite. She needed someone to protect her. She needed, Giuseppe reasoned as they walked, her father.

He was listening intently as Molly babbled on about her day and didn't notice Damon exit the gym. Molly, however, did.

"Day-mun!" she called out. Giuseppe startled, as did Damon who stopped in his tracks at the sound of his name. He couldn't stop the soft smile that appeared when he realized it was Molly.

"Hi, Molly," he said. "Been practicing with the Pirate's Booty?" Molly nodded.

"I not catching it," she told him. Damon chuckled. He glanced from Molly to his father, wondering why the pair were together.

"Keep trying," he told her. "You'll get it eventually." Giuseppe watched the exchange with interest. He had seen photos of Molly and Damon side by side. Ginny was prone to pulling out his baby photos and holding them next to Molly's for comparison. But seeing the pair together in person for the first time, he couldn't believe Damon seemed to be clueless as to the fact that the child was his.

"Mama said that too," Molly agreed.

"So, she's letting you practice then?" he asked, now within a few feet of his father and Molly.

"Yep!" Molly agreed. She looked up at Giuseppe. "Nonno, can we get Pirate's Booty in the kitchen?" she asked. Damon looked sharply at Giuseppe as the Italian word for "grandfather" filled the air. Giuseppe held his eye for a long moment before he turned his attention back to Molly.

"Anything you want, principessa," he assured her.

"Nonno?" Damon asked. Giuseppe opened his mouth to answer, but Molly beat him to it.

"This my nonno," Molly told him. "We getting snacks and then Nonno said he has me a present."

"That's cool," Damon replied distractedly, still looking at Giuseppe for an explanation.

"You stopped talking to Elena," Giuseppe said quietly, just loud enough for Damon to hear. "Your mother and I didn't."

"Neither did my brother," Damon responded. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he felt like he was missing something. He wrinkled his nose, trying to figure out what. It was like trying to put a puzzle together without a photo of how the completed piece was supposed to look. He was drawn from his ponderings by Molly.

"Nonno, can we go now?" she asked. "My tummy is hungry."

"Well, then, we must feed the tummy," Giuseppe said. "Come along, principessa." Still holding her hand, he started to steer her in the direction of the kitchen.

"Bye, Day-mun!" Molly called over her shoulder. Damon smiled in spite of himself and wondered vaguely if the child ever wore anything besides dresses.

"See you later, Molly," he said. He nodded politely at his father.

"Dad."

"Damon," Giuseppe replied, before leading Molly down the hall.

Damon remained where he was, watching them go, hand-in-hand once more as Giuseppe talked animatedly to an enthusiastic Molly, a Molly he seemed to consider his granddaughter.

Not for the first time, Damon felt like an outsider in his own family.

I think we can see now that Damon and Elena are taking baby steps towards one another. Tiny baby steps, but baby steps. We'll learn a lot more about their past relationship as well as about Elena in future chapters. I hope this chapter also gave you some insight into several relationships besides theirs.

NASCAR stuff:

Talladega is known for huge wrecks, but so is Daytona. Everyone has an underlying fear that Damon will get caught in one on his first race back. Of all the races to get back to racing in, he had to go and choose the 500. Stubborn guy.

The Chase for the Sprint Cup is essentially the playoffs of NASCAR. It's somewhat complicated to explain as far as how the field gets slimmed down as the 10 races go by, but the idea is that the best 16 drivers make the Chase. Any driver who wins during the regular season is pretty much in the Chase and then there are knockout rounds until the last 3 drivers race for the Championship in the very last race of the season - whoever finishes best is the Sprint Cup Champion.

Please let me know what you think!