Mystic Falls, Virginia

The County Fair

"We look like a gay couple," Gabe complained to Damon as they walked through the fairground with four-year-old Stefanie leading the way.

It was early morning and, with none of the larger rides yet set up, and crowds not yet forming, this was the best time of day for families with young children to go. Which meant friend-of-the-family, Gabe, instead looked like part of the family, specifically Damon's life partner. It was generating some endearing looks from other couples who obviously thought they were stunningly well-suited.

"Well, maybe that's because you're wearing a designer suit to a county fair," Damon pointed out, rotating Gabe's arm to expose gold cufflinks.

Gabe pulled his sleeve away from Damon's sticky cotton candy fingers. "No, it's because you're wearing a pink Barbie t-shirt," he grumbled.

Damon lifted back his leather jacket, examining the top underneath. He thought it quite suited him. "My daughter picked it out for me this morning."

"Isn't the parent supposed to dress their child; not the other way around?"

Damon lifted his arms into a shrug and grinned. "I'm just embracing being a Girl Dad, Gabe."

With the way Damon was dressed, Gabe just had to hope that the bank manager they were both meeting in two hours to discuss starting a bar franchise was also a Girl Dad. "When's Elena getting here?"

"She's just finishing up on a night shift, she should be here shortly."

"Won't she be tired?"

Damon side-eyed him with an incredulous look. "We're parents, Gabe, we're always tired."

With an excited squeal, Stefanie suddenly decided she'd found exactly what she was searching for and took hold of Damon's hand, pulling him towards the ride. She was giggling as she approached the spinning cups decorated with fishes, featuring a large dolphin centerpiece, and thin strips of plastic seaweed hanging from above.

Gabe studied the unusual theme. "Teacups and marine life?"

"It's a children's ride, Gabe, don't overanalyze it," said Damon, heading over to the booth to get tickets.

Stefanie took hold of her father's jacket, tugging him back to her. "I want to go on the ride by myself," she declared, puffing herself up to appear like the big girl she felt she was.

Damon crouched down to her level. "You sure, honey? If it goes too fast, you'll have nobody to hold you. You might catapult into outer space."

Stefanie placed her hands on her hips, letting out a dramatic sigh. "It's a teacup, Daddy, not a rocket ship."

Well, that told him. Damon smiled and nodded in agreement, took a final look at the ride, deciding it was slow enough for her to go on alone, then walked over to the booth and paid for one ticket.

Stefanie was the first in the queue, waiting for the ride to stop and the attendant to let her on. As the final child departed and the attendant unlatched the chain barrier to let others on, a young boy close to Stefanie's age pushed her aside, taking the first spot in the blue teacup in front of her.

"That little cretin," Damon muttered in annoyance, taking a step forward to yell at the boy.

Gabe quickly put a hand on Damon's chest, stopping him. "Don't ruin it for Stefanie, Damon. This is exactly why Elena wanted me to accompany you until she got here."

Damon pushed Gabe's hand away. "I don't need a chaperone."

"You do when you look like you want to murder a small child for shoving your daughter," Gabe asserted, raising his eyebrows at him. "Take a look at Stefanie right now. Is she upset by it?"

Damon watched Stefanie get into the teacup next to Cretin Boy, followed by another child. She was smiling, completely unaffected by the incident, and waved with excitement towards her father as she waited for the ride to start.

"No," Damon begrudgingly admitted.

"Then let it go, Damon, it's that easy."

With her hands on the seat and her feet rhythmically tapping the floor of the teacup, she decided to make friends with the boy next to her while they were waiting. "I'm Stefanie, what's your name?"

The boy did not look like he wanted to be friends but answered anyway. "Cristian."

"I'm four," she continued. "How old are you?"

"Five." He was starting to get annoyed with her questions.

"This is my first time at the county fair," she told him.

"Do I look like I care?" he snapped. He didn't know why he snapped, except that he was still annoyed from last night. His father was disappointed with him. He wasn't old enough yet to do the difficult spells his father was trying to make him do. He just wanted some time alone. That's why his stepmother, Winifred, had taken him to the County Fair to get away from it all. Now he wasn't even being left alone here.

But then, after Stefanie pressed her lips together and lowered her head, deciding to ignore him after his outburst, suddenly Cristian didn't like it.

As the ride started, Cristian pulled Stefanie's ponytail towards him, twisting her head. "What's that in your hair?"

"It's a dolphin clip," she said, wanting to take back her ponytail from out of his hands, but instead grabbing onto the rail in front of her for support as the cup spun around.

He yanked her hair harder towards him, trying to get a better look. "That's not a dolphin."

"It is a dolphin," Stefanie insisted, holding on tight but still trying to pull away from him.

Then realizing it was, he let go of her hair, swishing her ponytail into her face. "It looks stupid."

Stef shuffled further away from him. "Why are you being mean to me?" she asked, her voice almost a wail.

Cristian didn't answer her. He didn't know why.

As the teacup spun faster and faster, Stefanie found herself having to grip harder and harder to avoid slipping in her seat. She couldn't enjoy the ride when she was so close to sliding into Cristian. She clung onto the rail with all her might as she spun around and around, her feet not quite touching the floor to push away from him using her feet. She just kept hoping the ride would stop soon.

She looked around as soon as it felt like the ride was starting to slow down. All the other cups were also slowing. The ride was ending. Relieved, Stefanie's grip began to loosen.

Then suddenly the fairground attendant gave a final spin of her cup, and she went flying into Cristian.

He forcefully pushed her away, causing her to fall sideways on the seat. "Get away from me!" he snapped at her.

"I didn't mean it!" There was more defiance than apology in Stefanie's voice now. She had been trying so hard not to bump into him and he was annoyed with her anyway. She sat upright as he stood up. She couldn't wait to leave the ride.

"Go back to your stupid family," he snapped back at her as the child in front of him stepped out from the teacup.

Before Cristian could follow, Stefanie was standing behind him, tapping him on the shoulder. He turned around, ready to snap at her again, when he felt a sharp crack against his nose and he tumbled backwards, falling out of the ride. He put his hand against his nose but, flinching at the pain, pulled it away only to see blood against his palm. He looked up at Stefanie who was stepping out of the cup and over him, clutching the hand she'd just hit him with.

Damon was already calling out to his daughter, close to throwing a punch himself at the attendant who wouldn't open the chain barrier for him. Stefanie wasted no time in running along the ride's platform, down the three steps, finally off it completely. Not waiting for the barrier to be opened, she ducked under it and was immediately scooped up into the arms of her father.

"It's okay, baby girl," he whispered to her as she finally let herself cry.

Cristian did not cry. He did not even let his stepmother comfort him. Not that she offered much comfort. Instead she took him by the arm and marched him towards Damon and Stefanie. But just before she reached them, Gabe blocked her path.

At first Winifred didn't realize who had stepped in front of her – too busy ensuring Cristian kept up his pace behind her – but when she did, she raised her head to look at him. Then smiled.

"Well," she sighed nostalgically. "Gabe Morelli. How long has it been?"

"Just over five hundred years, I suspect, Winifred," he replied with a slight smile of his own. He gestured towards Cristian. "Is this your child?"

Winifred pulled Cristian closer, crouched beside him, grabbed him underneath the chin, and angled his face against hers, contrasting his porcelain white skin against her umber black skin tone. "Does he look like my child?"

Gabe chuckled, "I guess not."

Winifred stood, her posture poised and elegant. "I do have a child – a daughter – only a few months younger than this one, but let's just say she's far more committed to her studies of witchcraft than he is," Winifred said, casting a disappointing look at Cristian. "This one just wants to sulk and play." She sighed in exasperation and raised her head back to Gabe. "But he has potential, and since he has the benefit of my immortal knowledge, my curse is to be his blessing, I suppose."

"Have you given up hope of finding a spell to cure your immortality?"

"I have learned to live with it," she said, a slight emotional crack in her voice which she quickly corrected. "The witches of the Hanging Fields have not forgiven me, not even in death, not even after so long. Just as I haven't forgiven you for turning that young girl, and I was then cursed trying to save her."

Gabe, suddenly struck by the memories, took her by the arms. "I was trying to save her too, Winifred. I didn't realize you would get involved. I didn't realize I would lose you."

Winifred stepped back, away from his grip. "If I was to be cursed to live eternally, Gabe, then I needed to find meaning in bearing children. Could you provide me with children as a vampire?"

Gabe also took a step backwards, his eyes lowering. "No."

"Well, then there is nothing more to say." Winifred blinked back tears in rapid succession, and then diverted her attention towards Damon and Stefanie. She resumed her grip on Cristian's arm, pulling him towards them. "I apologize on behalf of my stepson," she said to Damon. "He was provoking her, and he met with the consequences."

Damon, still holding his tearful daughter, gestured with his eyes towards Cristian. "Shouldn't he be the one apologizing?"

"He's not one for apologies," she explained with embarrassment, but she urged Cristian forwards regardless. "He will do his best."

Stefanie untucked her head from Damon's shoulder and looked at Cristian, tears still falling down her face.

"One day," Cristian began, red smears beneath his nose and a cruel smirk on his face, "when we're older, I'll make it up to you."

Winifred clapped her hands together. "There! All done!" She took Cristian by the hand, starting to lead him away. "Come along now, I think it's time to leave."

As soon as they both left, Stefanie returned her head to Damon's shoulder and resumed bursting into tears, except this time it was due to a new overwhelming emotion. "Mommy!" she cried out, spotting her in the distance.

Damon turned around to see Elena approaching them. She wore a beige chequered shirt under a blazer and walked uneasily across the grass in her low-heeled boots. Her expression turned into one of concern the moment she saw tears in Stefanie's eyes. Damon lowered Stefanie back down to the ground and she immediately ran up to Elena, hugging her.

"What's going on?" Elena asked as Damon and Gabe approached. "What's upset her?"

Damon was going to find this awkward to explain to her. "Some boy was being mean to her."

"Oh, no, my poor girl," Elena said, crouched down, stroking Stefanie's back.

"Yeah, but it's okay, she kind of punched him," Damon clarified.

Elena was shocked. She leaned back and cupped Stefanie's face. "You punched a boy? Stefanie, sweetheart, you shouldn't hit."

"Daddy said it was okay," Stef said, sniffling.

Damon pinched his lips tightly together and took a step backwards from his wife. Oh, he was in trouble!

"Oh, he did, did he?" Elena said, getting to her feet, shooting Damon an impending-lecture stare as he held his hands palm outwards as a sign of peace. "Damon, it's not okay for her to hit boys."

"Well, to be fair," he began, not knowing how she'd react to this reminder, "you have slapped me once or twice in the past."

Elena narrowed her eyes at him. "That was different, and besides we were older –"

Stefanie interrupted her mother by tugging on her blazer. "Why did you slap Daddy?"

Damon was quick to answer her. "The first time, it was when I tried to kiss her."

Elena barely had time to let out a huff of annoyance at Damon before Stefanie was tugging once again on her blazer.

"I thought you liked kissing Daddy," Stefanie asked, confused.

Elena sighed. "I do now… but back then I didn't." Despite her annoyance, she couldn't help but smirk at Damon at the memory.

Stefanie continued with her questions. "Does that mean when I'm older, I should hit boys who want to kiss me?"

"No," Elena said.

"Yes!" Damon said, simultaneously and far more emphatically. It earned him a scolding look from Elena, but that was fine.

"Look, maybe we should just forget what's happened and just try to enjoy the rest of the morning," Elena decided, taking hold of Stefanie's hand.

Stefanie suddenly let out a little shriek of pain, withdrawing her hand from her mother's and cupping it with her other hand, tears beginning to fall again.

Elena crouched down beside her, gently pulling Stefanie's hand forward, inspecting it. The thumb was swollen, likely to bruise soon. She quickly deduced that this must have been the hand that Stefanie hit with. "Okay, honey, you're going to have to be brave, I need to check your thumb properly, can you be brave for me?" At Stefanie's tearful nod, Elena began to gently prod and move her thumb. There was no serious damage as far as Elena could tell. "You're okay, sweetheart, it's just very sore. Is there anything we can do for you to help you feel better?"

Stefanie gave a tearful nod. "Daddy could win me a toy."

Elena stood, supressing a chuckle, casting a smug smile at Damon. "Okay, Daddy, go win her a toy."

Rising to the challenge, Damon grinned back at her. "Piece of cake."

"Not cake, Daddy," Stefanie said. "I want a toy!"

"It's an expression, sweetheart."

Then, with his hand on Stefanie's back, Damon guided her through the fair with Elena and Gabe following, looking for a stall with a prize he knew Stefanie would like. Definitely a stuffed animal, he decided, since she already had a small collection of them on her bed. Preferably some kind of aquatic animal. Despite being afraid of the water, Stefanie loved them. After passing nearly a dozen stalls with no toys he knew she would like, he began to give up hope. Then he suddenly spotted it: a stuffed dolphin. Perfect.

Damon stopped at the stall. It was a knock down carnival game; six cans and three balls. Easy. Damon widened his shoulders, ready to impress, then paid up. As the balls were placed in front of him, he removed his leather jacket and passed it to Gabe to hold.

"Oh, yes, the Barbie t-shirt definitely makes you look more powerful," Gabe commented dryly.

Damon threw the first ball at the cans. He hit them but they didn't budge. He'd have to throw harder. "If I were still a vampire, that ball would have crashed through those cans, through the back wall, into the next stall, and I would have won two prizes."

Gabe lifted his hand. "I'm a vampire," he reminded him.

"No way," Damon said, preparing to throw the next ball. "I'm winning this for my daughter, no help necessary." The ball struck harder this time, but none of the cans shifted. "This game is rigged!" he snapped. With the final ball in his hand, Damon took a quick look back at Stefanie, seeing that her attention was diverted; she was demonstrating her punching skills to her mother who was pretending to be impressed for her daughter's sake. Damon conceded, slyly passing the final ball over to Gabe.

With vampire speed, Gabe pitched the ball through the cans, not only toppling them all but also severely denting all the ones he touched.

Damon pumped his fists in the air, then picked Stefanie up, bouncing her in his arms in celebration. "Pick a toy, honey." As predicted, she chose the dolphin. He kissed her on the head before lowering her back down to the ground. He leaned in towards Gabe. "If either of us ever tells this story, I'm the one who won it, okay?"

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Gabe confirmed.

As Stefanie proudly showed her mother her new dolphin, Elena's pager suddenly beeped. "Aw, I'm so sorry, I have to take this," she said to all of them. "Someone on the dayshift probably wants a handover, I'll be right back." She stepped away, trying to find a quiet place to take the call.

Gabe's eyes drifted down to Stefanie, who was swishing the dolphin around, making it swim through the air. She really was an adorable child. He could understand Winifred's desire to have children of her own. He leaned towards Damon. "You were secretly really proud of her for hitting that boy, weren't you?"

"Of course I was," Damon admitted. "She's a little fighter, just like her parents."

Gabe quickly noticed something about the way Stefanie was holding the dolphin. She was still guiding it through the air, but she was no longer gripping it. Her hand was flat above it, the toy suspended below her palm. Between the toy and her palm was… nothing. She was making it float. "Erm, Damon, I don't think that's all she is," he said, directing Damon's gaze towards his daughter's hand.

Damon's eyes widened. "That's impossible."

"Not impossible," Gabe corrected. "You both have witch blood in your lineage, right?"

Damon pawed at his mouth with his hand. This wasn't what he wanted for her. This isn't what any of them wanted for her. They wanted her to have a normal life. "Yes," he finally admitted.

"What are we going to do about this?" Gabe asked.

Damon sighed. What could they do about it? That's something that was going to take a long time to figure out. In the meantime, he had only one answer. "Not tell her mother."

Thank you for reading! This has been a short side story to Chapter 12 in my fanfiction story The Bourbon Diaries when Damon reminisces to Phoenix about Stefanie's childhood. It can be read as a standalone, but can also be read alongside The Bourbon Diaries. There are some further clues about what will appear in upcoming chapters in The Bourbon Diaries but there are no spoilers. If you like this and want more, please follow The Bourbon Diaries! Thanks once again! x