...

The house was filled with happy noises and the nice sweet smell of Jo's perfume. Alaric stopped for a moment, right there on the stairs, and soaked it all in.

As he continued walking up toward the girls' room, he could hear peals of laughter and he smiled. This was perfection. After all the stuff he had had to endure in the past, he had finally been granted his little piece of paradise. Dinner was waiting downstairs, but nobody had heard him calling because they were just laughing too loudly.

Before he could emerge in the doorway, it got quiet and he heard Lizzie ask, "Jo, when will our mommy-"

"Our other mommy," Josie corrected her quietly.

"When will she be coming back to live with us?"

Alaric felt a pang of guilt. He shouldn't let poor Jo have to deal with answering that question alone, and so he rushed in, a happy smile on his face, and said, "Hey girls."

Jo was kneeling next to the girls on a heap of pillows and blankets - the remains of a fort - and had a slightly uncomfortable expression that was barely masked by a grin.

"Oh, it's daddy! I guess dinner is ready. Should we…" she trailed off, then, as if she remembered something, she turned around to face the girls and cupped their cheeks. "Listen," she began, "Caroline, your other mommy, will always be there for you two. She loves you just as much as I do, or daddy here. But she won't ever be living with us again."

The girls looked stricken. Josie's chin started to wobble, and her sister, always the stronger one, always the little protector, grabbed her hand and held it.

"Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry. It's just… she lives over at uncle Stefan's now. She has her own life, okay?"

"Without us?!"

"No no no, Lizzie, Josie," Alaric stepped in, resting his hand on Jo's shoulder, "that's not what mommy meant. Mommy Caroline will always be your mommy and she will always have time for you girls. And when you're a little older, you can spend a night or two each week or so at her house!"

Jo abruptly turned her head to him, giving him a look of alarm - or maybe annoyance? He shrugged apologetically. He hadn't exactly thought this all through as well as he should have. He was winging this whole new situation as best as he could.

There was more hope in the twins' little faces. "Really? In uncle Stefan's house? Can we, can we go right now?"

"Easy, easy," he chuckled. "Like I said. You girls need to get a little older first," their faces fell a little again, but he raised a hand quickly and smiled, "and what better to help you girls grow than a nice Spaghetti and meatballs dinner?!"

"Meatballs!"

"Spaghetti!"

The girls yelled and were up and on their way downstairs quicker than he could help Jo to her feet. She looked up at him.

"Every week? And how old were you thinking they should be?"

"I was making it up as I went along, I'm sorry. We can talk about it."

"We should have talked about it before you said anything. Now, if I say I'd rather not have them go every week, I'll be the mean mom."

"Jo, I'm sorry. No you won't. We will… let's talk about it later, okay? Nothing is set in stone. The girls will have forgotten about this conversation by tomorrow."

"Right." Jo's lips formed a thin line. She then went past Alaric, letting him stand there with his arms stretched out in an attempt to hug her.

He sighed. Looked like there was some trouble in paradise after all. Hadn't taken very long. Of course not…

...

The couch dug into his back at an uncomfortable angle. Or maybe it was the springs. Either way, Enzo was tired of resting and tired of the stupid couch and yes, he was tired of being human again and feeling so helpless and weak.

Slowly, he sat up, grimacing in pain. His shoulder felt stiff and sore and his chest still hurt where that bastard Grayson Gilbert had stabbed him with a piece of splintery wood. He closed his eyes for a moment and waited for the pain to ebb away. Obviously, he was no stranger to pain, but he had forgotten just how different it felt when you were human, and how it affected you for way longer and way more.

"Enzo, you are supposed to take it easy!"

Bonnie had come into the room just as he stood up and walked over to the door. He looked at her and smiled.

"I know, love, but I'm going crazy over here and I can't just lay around anymore. I need to get out."

She tilted her head. She was worried about him. He could see it battling inside of her, her wish to keep him safe and bundled up far from any danger, and her understanding of his situation. Most of all, he saw her sorrow and her guilt over what her explosive psychic blast had done to all her friends.

He knew she was happy that he was human. In a way he was happy too. It was all he ever wanted, to spend a life with a person who loved him just as much as he loved them and who would do anything for him, just as he would do anything for them.

But now he was also scared, and worried. Without his vampire strength, he couldn't protect Bonnie as well as he would have liked. And if anything happened to her… He forced himself to not think that thought through to the end. He clenched his teeth and walked over to his girl.

"Come on, Bonnie Bennett, let me take you out to dinner." He pulled her close and ran a hand through her hair, and one down her back. He leaned forward and gently kissed her neck. She giggled a little.

"What?"

"Still a neck guy, aren't you?" She smiled.

"Always. - Now, will you, Ms. Bennett, allow me to invite you to a fancy restaurant of your choice?"

He held out his hand and she laid hers in his. With a fake little curtsy and a long sincere smile, she agreed, and together they went out the door.

...

"Come on, Stefan! Haven't you done penance enough for the moment? Get your ass back to Mystic Falls and talk to blondie. You heard Elena. She means business." Damon chewed on a toothpick till it suddenly snapped. He grimaced, looked at the piece of wood, then over to where Elena sat, coaching him through this conversation, and shrugged in her direction.

I'm trying, he mouthed.

"Try harder!" She hissed.

"Stef. Come back. I'm not joking. Care bear has some kind of crisis and she needs you here. Don't be me. Don't be an asshole to the girl you love."

On the other end of the phone, he heard Stefan sigh. "Alright. I'm… we've almost wrapped up everything out here. I should be able to get back by Sunday…"

"Sunday funday then. Hang tight, brother!"

With that, he ended the call and swaggered over to his girl. He started unbuttoning his shirt as he went, and her eyes couldn't hide her grin.

"Really, Mr. Salvatore? Again?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's just too hot in here?"

She slapped him gently with the scarf she had been wearing earlier and he danced away from her a little before zooming in and shoving her back into the cushions of the couch.

"Where were we before you started to emotionally blackmail me to do something about your girlfriend's demise?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I did no such thing. I merely informed you that I was too preoccupied with poor Caroline's sorrows to…"

"... to let me have my human way with you…"

He kissed her then, his mouth quickly traveling down further and further as her light protest got swallowed up by moans.

...

They were sitting together in a gloomy corner of her favorite French restaurant and Bonnie was glad for the dim light as it masked her flushed face that she felt was a dead giveaway for what Enzo's touch was doing to her…

"I enjoy sitting next to you, love. I never understood why couples did that instead of sitting across from each other like normal people." He grinned at her, clearly enjoying himself as his hand slowly traveled from her warm thigh upward. "But now I do…"

"Enzo!" She gasped as his hand traveled under her panties. But just as she was starting to let go and let it happen, she felt him tense next to her, saw his jaw work. Quickly, she brushed his hand off and held his wrist. "Enzo," she whispered and scanned the room. "It's him, isn't it?" A coldness crept up her spine. Elena's dad…

Enzo closed his eyes. She noticed his breathing become slightly erratic. Not here, she thought. Not in his current state. Not with Elena's dad.

She had to get him out of there.

Thank you guys for the reviews for the last chapter! Very much appreciated. :)