Massive apologies. I planned to update yesterday but my husband passed out in the shower and crashed to the floor. He even knocked the fixtures out of the wall. We were at the doctor.
"Oh, what a difference this new paint and carpet make," Elena comments as she admires her handiwork.
"Those stripes were awful and what we've done is looking perfect," Caroline agrees. "I expect to be compensated. Part ownership should do," she giggles.
"Keep helping me and we'll talk," Elena counters as she pulls the sheet off of a hobbit-like structure.
"What kind of weird dollhouse is that?"
"It's not a dollhouse, Caroline, it's a fairy house."
"If you say so. It looks like it came from Lord of the Rings."
Elena rolls her eyes and looks away for a moment as if lost in thought.
"What is it?" Caroline asks as she refills her coffee mug.
"It's weird. I could have been married now and living in New York."
"Yeah, with Matt and that whacked out Mother of his. I know it didn't seem like it at the time but you catching him cheating was the best thing that ever could have happened."
"I know you're right. Kelly never did like me; I don't know why."
"The two of them deserve each other. On the plus side, you never have to think about them again," Caroline remarks as she one-handedly hugs Elena.
Elena smiles genuinely. "You're the best... Now, let's get back to work so we can have our grand opening."
After running a bath for Nadia and tucking her in, Damon goes downstairs. As he's about to enter the parlor to get a drink, he stops short when he hears Stefan's voice.
"I'm doing what I can but he's in over his head. He has no idea how to raise a child let alone deal with her obvious psychological issues and he's deluding himself if he thinks he's up to it."
Rather than saying anything, Damon quietly backs away from the parlor and returns to his room where he has an ample supply of bourbon.
Two days have passed and Damon is pissed and hurt as hell, but is too dazed to do anything about it.
And the sad truth is, what if Stefan is right? What if he's the wrong person to be raising Nadia? The only other option would be adoption or foster care and he'd never be able to live with himself if he took that route. Katherine would be cursing him until the last star in the sky was extinguished.
He'd felt it the other afternoon when he'd picked Nadia up at school. Looking at her little face, he knew then and he knows now that he loves her. If everything else in his life goes astray, he cannot fail her or her mother.
Now, alone in his office, he sits in silence and tries to figure out why Katherine had chosen him instead of one of her friends.
The little flares of doubt creep in at times.
Before he can torture himself any longer, the silence in his office is interrupted by a polite rapping at the door.
With what little energy he has, he calls for her to come in.
"Bonnie, listen," he says tiredly, resting his elbows on his desktop. "I appreciate what you're trying to do but…"
"How do you know what I'm trying to do?" Bonnie asks playfully, trying to lighten the mood. "I know you like to think of yourself as all-knowing, Damon, but that's a little presumptuous, don't you think?'
"You win."
"Bonnie sighs, pulls over a chair, and gingerly sits down beside him.
"You don't have to pretend this isn't hard for you, Damon," she said. "No one's going to judge you for being overwhelmed…"
"I'm not pretending anything," he growls. "What if I mess this up?"
"You love that little girl," Bonnie says gently. "Sure, there will be mistakes. Every parent makes mistakes, Damon. You have to cut yourself some slack."
Damon looks away, toward the window where the blackness seems to stretch on for infinity. He exhales, slowly, painfully, and nods. "Yes, I love her," he whispers. "But that doesn't matter much if I fuck this up."
Bonnie takes Damon's hand between hers. "You won't. Enzo and I are always here for you. We can help out if you need us."
Even now, the mere thought of Nadia has the power to bring a smile to his face.
"I know. I know," he hears himself saying. "I'm grateful. And already, I can't imagine my life without her." He looks up at Bonnie. "That's because Katherine entrusted her to me."
"Where did all this doubt come from?"
Damon closes his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose, and tries to figure out how to explain how everything veered so far off course, to explain the knots in his gut.
"I overheard Stefan. He was talking to someone on the phone and said I'm in over my head and am delusional to think I can raise her."
Bonnie stares at him, looking vaguely horrified. It occurs to him then that he's laying it out there, wearing the mangled, broken shards of his heart on his sleeve, but he can't seem to stop himself.
"Wait until I get a hold of him," Bonnie growls. "That's bullshit, plain and simple. Sure, things need to be worked out. Mystic Falls is new to Nadia, new house, new school, new friends but you're her constant, Damon. And remember what Katherine wrote in that letter, 'Just love her, everything else will fall into place'. It will. And yes, it'll take time, maybe a lot of time but you'll both be stronger for it."
Damon chuckled mirthlessly. "I wish I had your confidence."
"It'll come," Bonnie smiles poignantly as she squeezes his hand. "I should probably get going, and you probably need to head home, too," she says after a moment.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Damon," she says.
He grunts in response but doesn't turn to watch her close the door.
Alone again, he spins away from his office window. On the corner of his desk in a silver frame sits a photo of the most important people in his life. Katherine and Nadia are cuddled together on a picnic blanket, mother and daughter wearing identical smiles, both laughing at something he'd said just before he'd snapped the picture. It had been taken just over a year and a half ago, but it might as well have been another lifetime.
Sighing, he stands, grabs his jacket, and heads for the door.
Distraction is Elena's friend. Her very dear, very trusted friend. Because if she is distracted then she isn't busy thinking and if she isn't busy thinking then she is always better off. This is how she always gets herself into trouble after all – thinking, obsessing, analyzing, dissecting.
Distraction is the best way to avoid all of that.
So last night, she'd spent hours compulsively stocking bookshelves, setting up the TV and DVD rack in the children's area, and vacuuming rugs that hadn't even been used yet while Caroline worked on the coffee nook.
It had worked, by the time she fell into bed, she was too exhausted to contemplate much of anything, let alone something as momentous as the challenge she took on with starting a business during an economic downturn.
Sometimes, she still thinks of Matt, and what if she hadn't caught him? Who knows how many times he cheated on her before he was caught and she was pretty much oblivious to it all.
Caroline is right, she's so much better off without him but in quiet moments, his betrayal still feels raw.
She started again early this morning, deciding as soon as she got up, to make Caroline an elaborate breakfast, including their favorite apple pancakes.
The door to the kitchen opens then, and she watches Caroline walk in.
"Mm-hmm," she murmurs as she pours herself a cup of coffee before sitting down at the table. "What's on the agenda today?"
"We need to finish putting the books in the correct sections. Finish the children's room, the correct furniture should arrive today."
Caroline rolls her eyes, prompting Elena to laugh.
"Okay, obviously you're not feeling the same way," she surmises. "Did you have something else planned?"
"Yes. I think we deserve a day off. We can have lunch at the little bistro and maybe do a little shopping. We haven't explored Mystic Falls at all."
"I want to open next week so if you promise we'll get that done, I'm in agreement on a day off," Elena contends as she slides a plate in front of Caroline.
Caroline's blue eyes twinkle as she replies, "You have my word, now pass the syrup."
It's mid-afternoon and it's a warm fall day in Mystic Falls, Damon tells Bonnie she's in charge while he drives over to the school to pick up Nadia. He barely steps through the door when someone jogging brushes past him.
"Hey, now you're just making the rest of us look lazy," Damon laughs as he jogs to catch up with her.
"No judgment on my part, I promise," Elena laughs and pulls the buds out of her ears.
"You a runner?" Damon asks.
"Yeah, I try to make time for it but Caroline and I have been so busy getting the store ready to open. She wanted to do a little shopping today so I thought I'd take the opportunity to run."
"Congratulations."
"Thanks...Mystic Falls seems like a nice place."
"Yeah, it's nice more than it's not." Damon shakes his head.
"Excuse me?" Elena looks at him curiously.
"Ah, too much of my brother can be hazardous to my health."
"Really?"
"If you've seen the Salvatore mansion, you'd think it was big enough for us to avoid each other but it's not. I moved out to start my own business and get some space. But now with Nadia, she needs more room and a yard to play in. We tend to rub each other the wrong way. Sorry, I'm dumping all my baggage on you."
"I once told my whole life story to a stranger on a cross-country flight so..." Elena adds, smiling at him.
"Oh, well, guess we better stop, 'cause we'll probably keep running into each other."
"Yeah, especially since you have a little girl and I have a bookstore."
"Yeah. Except she's not that into books," Damon teases with a smirk.
"Yeah, okay." Elena counters with a flutter of her eyes. "All right. See you around," she adds, sticks her earbuds in, and takes off running.
"Bye," Damon calls aloud as he watches her until she's no longer visible.
Thank you everyone. And thank you, Eva, Kate, and Sarah for their support.
I've seen some new writers popping up. 'The Bourbon Diaries' by wattskerrylou is a Stefanie Salvatore story if any of you are interested. (I wrote about Stefanie Salvatore in "Angels Fall" back in 2016.) Bob's by Oiselet is fun and a really good first story for her. CosmicAdventurer is back to posting on FF but is farther ahead with her stories on Archive of Our Own. And my dear friend, Florencia7 is the best DE. Her versions of them are magic. I used to be just a voracious reader but I simply don't have the time anymore.
Chapter title: The World We Knew by Frank Sinatra.
Have a wonderful day and a terrific week ahead.