...

A few months had passed since a psychic blast of unknown proportions had changed all of their lives. It had transpired pretty quickly that the changes had mostly been centered in and around Mystic Falls, more specifically around Bonnie and her immediate circle of friends. It was, somehow, all tied to her. Seeing as she had been the one to cause it in the first place, it was, of course, not all that surprising.

What was, however, surprising, was the fact that they hadn't heard or seen anything of Cade or his hell dimension anymore. He had had made no claims on anyone's lives or souls. He hadn't tried to hunt down the Salvatores or Bonnie, or anyone for that matter.

It was almost as if he was gone. Maybe his psychic plane, his hell, had imploded in on itself? No one was sure and they all thought it best to try and investigate and check the armory and other places for any evidence on the nature of "the devil."

It meant a whole slew of work for Alaric, who was back in town with no real plans of returning to Dallas anytime soon, and who had decided to make the devil a class for his students. He was back teaching, and it seemed to help him cope with his private life a little better. It was also interesting to be working with Bonnie in the armory, where they tried to look deeper into her powers and what she had done.

When he got home from a long day, he usually found the twins giggling happily with Caroline in the kitchen, or splashing water in the garden, or drawing pictures together at the big table, and he felt a sense of home and completion.

But then he thought of Jo and his heart would start feeling heavy. She had stayed in his house in Dallas at first, but her desire, her need to be with her kids had been too strong. So she had come to Mystic Falls, too, where she lived not far from them.

Alaric sighed as he entered the oddly quiet house now to get the girls. They spent the nights at his place, but during the days they were usually first at home with Alaric or at Jo's and then, when they had to go to work, the twins went over to Caroline's. Thankfully, Caroline had been able to align her work schedule with his and Jo's, something he couldn't thank her enough for. Another thing he couldn't ever thank her enough for...

It was still a new arrangement, and everyone was very wary of each other, but it helped them all out, and they all got to spend time with their kids. Alaric was secretly terrified of what the whole parenting triangle might do to the girls, however, and he tried to find a better solution. If only he could get his head to be a little more in the game.

"Hello girls, daddy's here to pick you up!" He called out as he got to Caroline's after a particularly long day, and he found the three of them huddled up on the couch, looking at books together.

"Hey daddy!" Lizzie said, turning around now, jumping on the couch. "Mommy just told us the story of how she came to be our mommy!"

"Oh?" He was a bit perplexed. "She did?"

"Ya! She said we were so special that we needed two mommies. And and and - that mommy Jo was our first mommy, but an evil man decided she shouldn't be with us and so he took her away."

Josie peeked up from behind the couch cushions, too. "A very evil man," she whispered.

"Yes. But he didn't know that we had another mommy who was there to take care of us."

"Mommy Caroline!" Josie piped up, as if it wasn't obvious. Alaric couldn't help but smile as he saw Caroline gave him an apologetic grin.

"And when the evil man was found and put away in a jail that no one can escape, he had to return mommy Jo as well. So now we have two mommies!" She ended their story triumphantly.

Meanwhile, Alaric had walked over to the big couch and sat down on one of the armrests. He put on a fake thoughtful look and scratched his chin theatrically as he asked, "But is it okay that you only have one dad?"

The girls both rolled their eyes at him. Caroline stifled a laugh.

"Silly daddy!" both called out at the same time. "Of course it is! Because you're a very special daddy already! Because we are special, and you are our daddy!" It all made so much sense to them, he started laughing.

"Duh!" He made, and finally scooped them both up. "Then let this extra special daddy get you girls home and to bed. Say goodnight to mommy Caroline."

"Goodnight, mommy!" They blew kisses as she walked up to the three of them, waving.

"Family hug!" Alaric announced, and they all threw themselves at Caroline in their usual nighttime routine.

"Thanks," Ric whispered and smiled, and Caroline briefly stroked his arm.

"Thank you," she muttered, then louder, "goodnight Josie, goodnight Lizzie! I love you girls sooo much! Now promise me you'll quickly go to sleep and don't cause daddy any trouble when putting on your PJs!"

"Okay, mommy! Love you, mommy!" And they blew her more kisses as they all went outside and to the car.

Saying goodnight and goodbye was always especially bittersweet.

...

One thing that had definitely changed in Damon's life was the need for an actual, real job.

To celebrate that he had finally gotten the license to serve alcohol in his newly opened bar, he had invited a few people over for an open bar event. As he swaggered over to a small table toward the back, he called out nonchalantly, "And a round of shots for those once wrongfully killed by Damon Salvatore when he was still a vampire."

He grinned at Vickie, then Tyler, then Matt, then he added, "Sorry Mattie, I guess that excludes you. You'll have to wait for the next round then."

Matt merely rolled his eyes at him when he caught Elena's glance from a table further to the front, where she sat with Bonnie and Caroline. She looked a little apologetic, and Matt shook his head. He still didn't understand what she saw in Damon, and how she could have ever forgiven him for all his shortcomings, but he had finally accepted it as fact and decided he'd stop bringing it up.

Over at the bar, Stefan was waiting for his brother, and when the older Salvatore eventually sat down next to him, swiveling in his chair, he said, "So… to what do I owe this rare pleasure?" He pointed at a big walled glass with brown liquid in front of him and finally picked it up to slosh it around a bit.

Damon did the same with his very own glass.

"Brother, only the best for you," he said, and breathed in with closed eyes as he drank.

He had ordered the really good stuff. His favorite bourbon.

"Rip-bar? Really?" Stefan was still a little upset about the stupid title Damon had given his bar.

"In memory of my beloved brother's alter ego." Damon grinned.

"Damon," Stefan warned him.

"What? I'm being nice!"

"Keep telling yourself that." Stefan finished the bourbon in just a few sips, then turned around to take in the scene. Damon followed his example.

"Despite your opinion on the name, this place isn't so bad, is it?"

The younger Salvatore looked around. It was a modern bar with old style elements, lots of wood, a wall with mirrored shelves displaying lots of bottles, a big stylized name sign above the entrance. Like a higher end version of the Mystic Grill with less food and more drinks, and admittedly a much better atmosphere. Maybe because it was small and kind of cozy.

"It's really nice, Damon," he easily admitted and Damon raised an eyebrow.

"Just nice?"

"It's great, okay?" Stefan huffed, then added a little more sincere, "It really is. You did good. You seem to be born for this new human life, brother."

Damon frowned at his brother's somber tone. "What's up with you? You're no fun today, Stef. Long day at the garage or something?"

"Something like that."

Stefan just wasn't in the mood for Damon's usual banter. His new job at a local garage was not the problem. It was his relationship. He and Caroline were still trying to mend things and live together as a newly human couple, and the return of the twins - while great for Caroline - wasn't really helping with their alonetime much.

That wasn't even taking Alaric into consideration, who kept hovering. He gave a sigh and finally said as much to his brother. Then, he bent over the bar table and pointed to the bottle of bourbon. "Can I have another?"

"Sure thing, coming right up." Damon pulled out the bottle and gave his brother and himself another serving. He patted Stefan on the back. "Come on, man, you can't blame Ric, can you?" Damon showed unusual understanding.

"You're taking his side? I thought you guys had broken up or something."

"He's funny! Everyone: Stefan is trying to be funny," Damon pretended to address the whole bar, but Stefan didn't care. Damon quickly sobered. "He's just trying to keep his family together. You'd do the same, you know you would. Unfortunately, in his case that includes Care bear as well, so that's tough…"

"I get that, thanks." The younger brother sounded annoyed. He wasn't here to be told the obvious by his brother.

Damon raised his hands as if in surrender. "Alright. I'm… I know the timing sucks and you are super busy atoning for past sins while I haven't even really started, but…"

Was that… did Damon's cheeks just flush a little? Stefan was slightly amused, and intrigued. What was his brother up to now?

"I want to ask Elena to marry me. I mean, duh, right?"

"Damon! That is awesome news!" Stefan looked sincerely happy as he rose to give his brother a hug and a pat on the back. "About time, too."

"Ya well… it's just the start of a plan for now, nothing real yet, it may still be quite a while till I'll actually do it."

Stefan smiled. Sometimes Damon was very transparent. The man was anxious and when he was anxious he started stalling.

"Anyways," Damon started stammering, "I'd - I'd need a best man and I'd like that to be you."

Stefan's heart ached. He was both ridiculously happy for Damon and honored his brother had chosen him for the position, and at the same time he couldn't shake the feeling that it should have been the other way around. That he should have been the one planning on getting married, with Caroline as his bride.

Now, though, there was no knowing whether there was even a real chance for that to happen anytime soon. Until they had untangled their relationship mess, nothing was going to happen.

He mentioned none of that to his brother, of course, and simply said: "I'd be honored, Damon."

The brothers hugged again, longer this time. By the way Damon's grip on him tightened, Stefan could tell that the older understood more than he'd verbalized and that knowledge was strangely soothing.

...

Over at Elena's, Caroline's, and Bonnie's table the initial excitement and happiness had long passed. The three girls had fallen awkwardly silent and their meeting had gotten stale quickly.

"Okay," Elena finally sighed, frustrated and a little sad, "can't you two please be friends again? I hate it when you're not talking. I kinda really need you both right now and… I just want my best friends back."

Caroline and Bonnie exchanged a guilty look; a first good sign? Elena could only hope. At least they had agreed to meet…

"I'm sorry, Caroline." Bonnie's quiet apology surprised her friends equally. Elena had been prepared to negotiate for a while before the two girls were willing to apologize to each other. They were both so strong headed, after all, especially when it came to family matters.

"I know you're mad at me, and I get it," Bonnie continued, and Elena could already see that Caroline's features had softened. That prominent line between her eyebrows was smoothed out.

"I really do. I wish I understood better what happened and how I did it. I wish I had had any actual conscious influence on it. Because I would have never ever willingly let you suffer."

Bonnie's desperation was evident. There was not much she could say, because she really didn't understand any of it, yet, and a part of her wished the stupid blast had never happened like that.

"I know that." Caroline' voice was barely above a whisper. "Ach, Bonnie. I guess I just needed… someone to put the blame on and… I'm sorry too."

The girls started crying, a crying that soon turned into giggles and laughter at the end of which Elena soberly proclaimed, "Well, that was easy."

She earned herself a few fake slaps that way.

"Ow!" She made, laughing, just as Damon came up from behind her, hugging her.

"Someone here in need of a few more drinks?" He inquired. "Elena, darling? Bon? Blondie?"

Elena merely waved an arm. "Barkeep? Give us something good."

"Alright." Damon beamed. "A round of tequila shots for the table of the sisterhood of the crying girls!" He yelled, clapped his hands and was off.

The three friends rolled their eyes, then burst out laughing again.

For the first time in a long time they finally had a great night with stories and laughter and lots of reminiscing together again. And it was beautiful.

...

Thank you again for reading - and for the great reviews. Really, you don't need many reviews to keep you going when the ones you get are so thoughtful. Thank you!

Shadowdancer: that's exactly what always bothered me with TV shows, not just TVD: how they often seem to forget how traumatic some things should be and how mental and physical injuries can have lasting effects.