So it seems like every story has to come to an end. Goodbye TVD! You were a huge part of my life. Here's where my obessesion for writing started. Here's where it ends. Please enjoy the last chapter of Someone like you. Thank you all for going on this journey with me!

Someone like you

Chapter 23

'Rolling in the deep'

"You have bad seed."

Damon stomped past Stefan into the hallway, ignoring the way his younger brother sputtered inaudible words in his general direction. He stopped in his tracks when he realized he didn't even know where he was going in this mansion, in this place where Stefan was raised – not him. They shared the same father and yet they were from totally different worlds. He'd grown up in a two-bedroom apartment in a not so nice neighborhood in Chicago. While Stefan had been surrounded by servants, his mother had chased him down until he cleaned his room. And yet despite their many differences, they had one very important thing in common – they loved the same woman. Maybe that's why Damon had run here, because Stefan would be the only one to understand. His little brother held the power to save his sanity, or break it.

"What are you doing here?" Stefan slammed the door shut with an irritated swing. "And what are you talking about?"

"How else is it possible that you can't get her pregnant in two years?" Damon threw his hands up, eyes wide. "And why I sleep with her twice and she's pregnant for God's sake!"

"Elena's pregnant?"

Damon's rage finally seemed to subside as Stefan's green eyes searched his blue ones for an answer. He'd never heard that kind of disbelief in a man's voice before. His brother and Elenahad spent all those years trying to make a miracle together to no avail. And Damon couldn't ignore the twist in his stomach as he saw the pain etched on Stefan's face, all because he was going to have what this other man might never have. He was going to become a father again, something that Stefan had only temporarily been because he had handed it to him on a silver platter.

"I'm going to need a drink." Damon cleared his throat, plopping down on the chair. "Something strong."

"How far along is she?"

"I don't know." Damon let out a hard laugh, shrugging desperately. "I heard her say the words and my legs started running by themselves."

"How can you run away when the woman you love tells you something as wonderful as that?" Stefan's rigid body turned to him, clasping the glasses in his hands. "I don't get you. I don't get why you're so scared of being a father when it's obvious how much Liam loves you."

"What if this kid is different?" His eyes locked onto Stefan's. "I didn't have the best role model, you know."

"And you think I did?" Stefan huffed, shaking his head. "I know you think because I was the one that lived with Dad that I know how to be a father. The truth is, he was never here. I had to figure fatherhood out along the way, and that's the only way you're going to learn it."

Stefan quietly offered him the drink as Damon contemplated his future, imagining the unexpected – a second child. He'd only just learned how to accept having one child, knowing that it was necessary if he wanted to be with Elena. And now here he was again, making that same decision he had to make five years ago; letting her go or fighting the demons inside his head. He didn't know how to be a father, not even the past few months with Liam had taught him that. He only knew that he wanted to be a part of his son's life, and part of Elena's. Now he had to decide if he also wanted to be a part of his unborn child's life.

"In case you were wondering," Stefan started, pulling him out of his thoughts. "I'm not going to raise this one."

Damon's eyes snapped up. "Why did you raise the first one? Not many men would have done that."

"Because I loved Elena," he whispered, sipping his drink. "I thought you were a mistake. I only figured out later that I was her mistake."

"Is that why you made the divorce so easy?"

"I made it easy because I would have never won that fight." Stefan stood up from his chair and walked to the bar. "She always loved you more than me."

"You don't know that."

"She made it pretty clear the day she gave birth." Damon's brow furrowed in confusion. "She called him Liam."

"She called him Liam."

Damon stared through the glass at the newborn babies, having no clue which one of them was his son. He'd packed his bags, hopped the next flight out to Virginia with Grayson and not even all of that travel time was enough to grasp that he had a son – a son that carried his name. He still couldn't understand why she did it. Maybe out of love, but he was certain he'd ruined every ounce of love she had for him the second he'd told her about Katherine. Maybe because she liked the name, as she'd told him five minutes before she'd walked down the aisle. Or maybe she wanted to hold on to the memories of their time together as much as he did.

"You've been saying that since we got on the plane," Grayson chuckled with a quick shake of his head. "It's as if you can't believe it."

"I can't believe it." Damon's head snapped around. "I don't know why she did it."

"Neither do I to be honest." Grayson's lips formed a tight line. "Why don't you go meet your son?"

His heart started to frantically beat in his chest as he looked back through the glass. One of those children wrapped in blue was his son, born less than twenty-four hours ago, vulnerable and so dependent, yet Damon had never been more scared to meet anyone else in his life.

"I'd like to see Liam Salvatore, please."

"Sure," the nurse nodded eagerly, placing another baby girl down in her crib. "Let me see if he's awake. Are you his father?"

"Yeah..." Damon's heart raced at the question. "I guess I am."

"Why don't you go sit in that chair?" The night nurse waved her hand toward a rocking chair the far corner. "Then we'll be right there."

Damon sat down in the chair and swallowed his spit, fighting his dry throat, but nothing he did seemed to ease his heartbeat. His eyes locked with Grayson's through the window and for some reason that made him all too aware of what he was going to do later - sign a birth certificate so he'd have someone carrying his name, someone to carry on his legacy. But first he was going to meet that boy and hold him in his arms. He watched the nurse go through the rows of babies, hushing one occasionally, and then she paused, looked down, and picked up a baby that was wrapped in a blue blanket. Tears fought behind his eyes to get out. He took a deep breath to hide the raged one and he kneaded his hands into fists to stop his itching fingers.

"Here he is."

Those three words were so simple, yet they hid an ocean of truth. Here was the child he'd been waiting for, after six months it was finally placed in his arms. This was why he had to stay away from Elena, so she could love a piece of him instead of fully hating him. This boy was the reason why he would never be truly be happy again, because he couldn't give him what he needed. He wasn't a father and yet he was, because even he couldn't deny the resemblance - the dark black hair on his son's head and the big blue eyes that stared up at him. Despite how many people in his life had commented on his blue eyes, he'd never realized what they looked like from the other side. But now he was on that other side of the blue, staring into them, and it felt like falling into the ocean.

"Hi, buddy." He took his son's little hand in his. "I'm your dad."

The heart that had been beating untamed in chest suddenly stopped and collapsed. Then it regained its strength again, filling with something he'd never known before, something that took over and solely focused on the life in front of him – on the wriggling child in his arms.

"You're so small," he chuckled quietly, blinking back the tears. "And I hate that I won't get to see you grow up."

Liam's fingers wrapped around his thumb, squeezing it softly while he stared into his eyes, blue on blue, a sight Damon thought he'd never see other than in the mirror every morning. His eyes reflected in a child with his DNA. He thought he'd run away from such a possibility when he'd forced Katherine into having an abortion. But here he sat with his child in his arms and he didn't feel the slighted need to get rid of it as quickly as he could. Rather, he wanted to hold it right there in his arms, protect it from pain, shield it from the world - he wanted to be a dad.

"I'm pretty sure I'm going to miss you when I walk out the door." He placed the boy's head on his chest, gently stroking his tiny back. "And you won't even know I exist."

"He'll know." Grayson appeared in the doorway, looking more serious than ever. "She'll tell him about you. She might not tell him the truth, but she'll tell him about you."

"I don't see why she would." Damon placed his cheek against his son's head. "I broke her heart."

"She called him Liam, Damon." Grayson's voice grew hoarse. "There are a billion names in the world and she picks your middle name. She wants to be reminded, she'll make herself remember you."

Grayson's speech slowly sunk in as Liam dozed off on his chest, the little fingers still holding onto his thumb, making him smile softly. He couldn't resist bringing his nose to Liam's neck, inhaling him, and feeling the soft baby skin against his cheek, even softer than Elena's. Her name made his mind go on red alert, his muscles stiffening as he realized that after six months she was finally within reach again. He swallowed the lump in his throat as he remembered her face the day she left him, red with tears clouding her vision as she packed her bags, and he couldn't help but to want to fight that image with the peaceful expression of his son's mother.

"I have to see Elena."

"I have to see Elena." Damon buried his face in his hands, grunting. "She's going to kick my ass and pull my teeth out."

"It's what you deserve." Stefan threw his head back with laughter. "I don't know how you can fuck up so many times with her and still she takes you back."

"I don't know either." Damon looked back up with a sigh. "Believe me, I've asked myself that very question multiple times but I can't come up with an answer."

There was one answer – love - but he didn't want to admit to himself that Stefan had been right, that she'd loved him more than she'd loved her husband. And yet some part of him knew that any rational woman would have walked away from him a long time ago, and while Elena did walk away from him, it didn't seem like she really closed the door behind her. Maybe that crack in the door was why it was so easy for him to step back into her life, maybe the door shut once he came back into her life again, maybe she locked it so he'd stay with her forever.

"She was a wreck when she came back, you know?" Stefan broke the pregnant silence. "I think she doesn't want to go through that again."

"She would have saved herself so much pain if she wouldn't have gone with me."

"But she would have always wondered," Stefan lifted his shoulders desperately. "What if..."

"Yeah, those what ifs can make you go mad." Damon's eyes snapped to Stefan's. "What if I had come after Elena? What if I had been Liam's father from the start? What if I hadn't walked out of that hospital an hour ago?"

"What if it turns out you're not as bad at being a father as you think?"

Words failed him as Stefan's eyes bored into his, putting that one big question mark behind the most important question of his life. For 30 years, he'd thought his genetic code lacked that thing that made you care about your children, and when Katherine had gotten pregnant, he'd panicked so hard that

he'd never had the chance to figure it out. But then Elena put Liam on this earth, and he couldn't imagine not caring about his son. That boy took over his whole heart the night he held him for the first time, maybe even before he was born. He'd gotten into his system because, while Katherine had been easy to persuade, Elena had not be deceived by his tricks and he had had to accept the fact that a baby was coming. Damon was standing at that crossroad again, wondering which exit to take. One road led to Elena, Liam, and the unborn baby they were expecting. The other would take him back to Chicago where he'd become a shell of himself – again.

"It runs in our genes, Stefan." Damon's eyebrows furrowed. "We can't escape it. It's like having green eyes but still you have the genes for brown in your system. We pass it on and some of us get to escape the brown eyes, others don't."

"You think that my father's genes would make you a bad father?"

"It's the only certainty in life I have."

"Stefan."

Stefan's head snapped up, and Damon's eyes searched for the man that voice belonged to. Giuseppe stood on the living room steps, a glass of bourbon resting in the palm of his hand. His green eyes wandered between Stefan and Damon, as if he never thought he'd see the two of them in one room having a drink together. Maybe he never wanted Damon in this house, the one where his brother had grown up and where Stefan's mother had died so many years ago, the wife he'd cheated on with Lauren, and the one that had forgiven him for his every sin.

"Give me and Damon a minute alone."

Stefan put his glass down on the coffee table and got up, giving both of them a quick nod before he disappeared behind the corner from where Giuseppe had so quickly appeared. Damon didn't know whether to stay put or bolt out the door. His every nerve told him to get up and find the front door, but his mind told him to sit down and listen to what the old man had to say, his old man. It was a fact he couldn't deny. While they might differ in character, physically he was Giuseppe's son; the same jaw, the same mouth, the same nose. He was in that respect more this man's son than Stefan ever would be.

"I heard what you said." Giuseppe came off the steps and into the sitting area. "Do you really think that by sharing my blood, you're bound to fail at fatherhood as I have?"

"I think your blood makes it difficult for me to care." Damon's grip tightened on the glass in his hands. "The single person in my life I seem to care about is me, and I do nothing but hurt the ones I should care about."

"You think if I didn't care about you, you would be sitting here?"

Giuseppe's eyes connected with his as he lifted his head and let out a deep breath. Damon had once thought this man was pure evil, that he left his mother in the gutter so he could come play house here with a trophy wife, with a trophy wallet and a trophy son. He'd never thought that while he was rotting away in Chicago, Giuseppe would be the one to save him, to give him back what he wanted most. It was a secret he never shared with anyone but his mother, and while he still hated this man,

he couldn't help but feel some sliver of gratitude toward him. It was Giuseppe that held the door wide open for him back into Elena's life, that gave him the excuse he needed to get back in. He wouldn't be in this situation without this man, he wouldn't have gotten to meet his son, or hold Elena in his arms again, he wouldn't be sitting here contemplating the dilemma of Elena having their second child, if Giuseppe hadn't given him the opportunity.

"You said you did that because Stefan was unhappy." Damon narrowed his eyes at Giuseppe. "Not because I was unhappy."

"I did it for the both of you." Giuseppe held his chin up, swallowing. "Believe it or not, I did care about you. Maybe you weren't aware of it, but I tried to be a part of your life."

"Yeah," Damon rolled his eyes. "My mom told me about your wife that wanted to borrow me from her."

"I didn't mean it like that." Giuseppe sat down on the coffee table, right in front of his son. "I kept an eye on you when you were growing up. You might be surprised with the things I know about you."

"Surprise me."

"Does your mother know about that car you and Alaric stole in high school?" A small smile appeared on Giuseppe's face as he saw Damon's eyes go wide. "Or did you never tell her that you dumped it by the creek?"

"Hey!" Damon pointed his finger at the older man. "That was not my idea and my mother will never know about that. Besides, they found it back in the condition we stole it."

"Don't worry." Giuseppe patted his shoulder with a laugh. "That's our secret."

"How do you know about that anyway?"

"Like I said, I cared more than you can possibly imagine." Giuseppe got up and moved to the bar. "Didn't you keep tabs on Liam through Grayson too?"

"Yes." He nodded, glaring. "But I didn't go as far as spying on my son."

"I had no choice. If your mother had someone she confided in, then she certainly never introduced me to them." Giuseppe scoffed, filling the glass again. "You got to know Elena's whole life, her friends, her family, she made you a part of everything. But your mother was different, she didn't want me to be part of her life unless I chose her."

"You can't compare what Elena and I had to what happened between you and my mother." Damon shook his head, biting his lip. "You used my mother for a week, I fell in love with Elena."

"Things change when a woman bears your child. You should know, you've been there yourself." He stomped his food with anger. "Helen and I had been trying for years to conceive and it didn't happen.

Lauren had my first-born son, and you have no idea how much that meant to me."

"If I meant so much to you, then why didn't you fight for me?" Damon got up from the couch, coming to stand face to face with Giuseppe. "If your first-born son was so important than why did you give up on me when I was barely two days old?"

"But I didn't! That's the whole point!" Giuseppe threw his arms in the air, eyes wide open. "I might not have been there physically but I knew what you were up to, just like you knew how Liam was growing up. You had your appendix removed when you were seven, and your mother called me in the middle of the night and I took a flight there. She might not know, but I was there. We have more in common than you might think. I was there when you needed me because you are my son. And I know you think I hate you, but what you said in the hospital got me to thinking that you were right. I don't hate you, I hate myself for what I did to my wife. And when you wanted to meet me in the hospital, I realized how much you care about Liam. Giving up your inheritance so I'd be nice to your son, that's a big deal. But I didn't write you out of my will, Damon. You are my son and that inheritance is what you deserve, it's rightfully yours."

"What I deserved was a father."

"And your unborn child doesn't?"

Giuseppe's breath slowed but his fists remained balled next to his sides. Damon took a step back and averted his gaze from his father's. He recalled his own childhood - sitting alone on the floor, trying to put his new train set together, no one there to help him; no one to play baseball with him in the park while all the other kids were running around with their dads; no one to push him high on the swing-set, no father that could explain math to him in high school, no slap on the back from his old man as he graduated from high school, college, or med school. He felt lonely during those times, and not even his mom, with all the love she had for him, could make up for that person that was missing in his life. And he was about to put his unborn child through the same thing - loneliness like an empty feeling in your stomach because something was missing, jealousy because all the other kids had two parents that cared about them. His own fears were going to become his children's reality.

"You're right." Damon started for the hallway. "I have to talk to Elena."

"Damon." Giuseppe stopped him in his tracks. "How's Lauren doing?"

"Not so well." He turned around with a shake of his head. "If I don't find something soon, I'll lose her."

"If there's anything I can do." Giuseppe lifted his hand to his ear. "Call me."

"Thanks."

"And concerning us," Giuseppe took a few step towards him. "I screwed up."

"I screwed up."

Damon placed his head next to hers, stroking her hair back behind her ear, admiring the face that he used to wake up to every morning. He missed it so much. He placed a kiss on top of her head, tasting her skin, holding on to the new memory because tomorrow morning that's what this would be, a memory, one of the many that would have to keep him going. And he wanted to cry, he wanted to

scream, he wanted for her to open her eyes so he could see those chocolate orbs melt into his once more. He remembered how they used to glimmer as she spoke to him, how she'd say the silliest things with those eyes wide open, how they'd shimmered with mischief the day she'd painted his wall green. He wanted to see those eyes every day. He'd give up anything to spend the rest of his days next to her, so he could make her happy, protect her from what she feared. He wanted to be her husband. But he'd taken that lifeaway from himself, his stupid fears controlling him and sending her running back to another man, one that could be a father to their son, that wouldn't waver from her. He had to let her go. This was the last time he'd ever see her, and it broke his heart into a million pieces.

"I really screwed up." A single tear rolled over his cheek with his confession. "And I'm so sorry. I wanted to give you everything, I really did, because you deserve everything. For Christ's sake, I was going to marry you, we were going to spend our lives together. Why did I have to screw that up?"

His hand found hers, their fingers entwining as she moaned in her sleep, making him smile slightly. He didn't want to face this reminder, a sleeping Elena next to him, conjuring thoughts of what they had been and what he'd given up. The past few months had been hell on earth for him, and the years to come would only be the everlasting sequel.

"Someone misses his dad." Grayson came around the corner, bouncing a whimpering Liam up and down. "Seems like he's already attached."

Damon's eyes fell on the boy in Grayson's arms, his own hands reaching out to take over and offer comfort to his son. He didn't know what had taken over him, something inside of him that longed to hold that boy against his chest and give him what he needed to be happy. Maybe it was the instinct of a father, or maybe it was just that side of him that did everything to make Elena happy, and this boy would be what would make Elena happy in the future. He couldn't think of himself as a father, neither did he want to think about himself as one – there had been too much damage done by him, so much that it would take a lifetime to repair, and he only had one night.

"Shh." He held the crying child against his shoulder. "You're going to wake your mom up."

"They gave her something that knocked her out." Grayson took his position against the wall. "I don't think she'll wake up before morning comes."

"It's already 5 a.m." Damon looked back at the sleeping Elena. "She'll only sleep for a couple of more hours."

"You could have more than just those few hours with her." Grayson placed his hand on Damon's shoulder. "If you stay, you can have a lifetime with her."

"I can't."

As if he didn't agree with what his father said, Liam started wriggling again, making Damon's eyes snap to the identical blues ones. It made him want to protest too, because he wanted to be there, wanted to do this. Even though he'd always said he didn't want it, he couldn't deny the fact that looking at that boy in his arms gave his life more meaning, made his connection to Elena even stronger. And she should get to see this, him bonding with his son, it's what she'd always hoped to see, but he wouldn't give her that – he couldn't. So he had to give her the next best thing. He got up

from the chair while clutching Liam to his chest and lay down next to Elena, waiting for Liam to calm down. And while he exchanged a look with Grayson, Elena suddenly grumbled in her sleep, her eyes blinking a few times, before she lifted her arm up and molded herself against his body like she'd done a million times before. But this time was different - his skin caught fire where it touched hers, his stomach started turning, his head spinning, his breathing heaving, and tears filled his eyes.

"I can't stay," he whispered against Elena's forehead. "I can't do that to you or our son."

"She'd tell you differently, you know?" Grayson pushed himself off the wall. "You're a fool if you think you can't do this."

"Then call me a fool."

"You're a fool."

"You're a fool."

Grayson came at him with more anger than he'd ever encountered in his life. The words brought him back to five years ago, that night he'd decided he couldn't be a father and held Elena and his son in his arms all night. He'd gotten up in the morning, placed a kiss on Elena's forehead, wiped a tear off his cheek, murmured some words to Liam and handed him back to the nurse, never to return again. This time it was different. Sure, he was scared like the first time, but he wasn't on a plane now. He was here by his own will, ready to beg for forgiveness and stay by her side through this whole pregnancy, just like he should have done the first time.

"I know, okay?" He held his hands in the air, pleading innocence. "But I'm here to fix it. I'm not running this time."

"How is it that you always find a way to hurt my daughter?" Grayson crossed his arms over his chest. "You're a surgeon, not the fucking president. And even if you were, nobody has the right to hurt my daughter."

"I didn't mean to hurt her." Damon closed the door of Grayson's home behind him. "I don't know what happened, okay? She said the words and my legs started moving by themselves, like a goddamn reflex."

"It's definitely not a healthy one." Grayson glared at him with his arms still crossed. "You listen to me, mister. She has been waiting for that baby for years, now it's coming and you are not going to ruin it for her. Do I make myself clear?"

"Absolutely." Damon nodded his head seriously. "I'm here for the long haul. I'm going to be a dad, and I'll be here by her side to give her everything she needs or wants. I won't mess it up this time."

"Good." Grayson stepped aside with a quick nod. "Now go tell her that."

"First, he has to go past me."

Lauren stood at the bottom of the stairs, her demeanor equally as cold as Grayson's. He hadn't seen that look on her face since she'd yelled at him for letting Elena leave five years ago. He'd never thought he'd see that face again either, but there it was, a little less scary this time because he knew

she was weak, that she probably had trouble standing up like this. But it didn't seem like the right time to tell her that she should still be in the hospital where he'd left her, with Elena, after he'd heard he'd be a father again. It made all too much sense why his mother had discharged herself, most certainly against medical advice. She'd never let him get away with anything stupid.

"I am this close," Lauren held her fingers inches apart. "To disowning you."

"Mom..."

"Don't you dare speak!" Lauren silenced him with a finger and a look that could kill. "You don't know the damage you've caused. Do you think it's any woman's dream to see her man run off after he finds out she's pregnant? Do you have any idea how much you've hurt Elena?"

"I di..."

"I said don't! It was a rhetorical question, of course you don't know." Lauren prodded her finger into his chest. "Because you've never been pregnant. And you've never been abandoned by your child's father. But I have, and Elena has, twice. You never recover from that kind of pain, and there is no apology in the world that can make the memory of that look in your eyes go away."

"I'm sorry, okay?" His eyes burned into his mother's, looking for some compassion. "I don't know what else I can say to you. I was an idiot when I let her go the first time. And I was an asshole in the hospital when I walked away from her. But the thing is, it happened, and I'm trying to fix it."

"Then go up there, and fix it!"

Just like Grayson had done before her, Lauren stepped aside to give him access to the stairs that led up to the guestroom. He didn't comment on their glares, or the fact that his mother should still be in the hospital. He took his chance and escaped, running up the stairs, taking them two at a time. The hardest part was yet to come - he had to look into Elena's eyes and beg her for forgiveness. He'd broken her heart, again, and by doing so, he'd broken his heart again too. Life seemed to be unfair to the both of them. They were meant to be together, yet it threw so many obstacles in their way that it almost seemed impossible to overcome them all.

"I hate you!"

Damon yelped as suddenly a little foot connected with his shin. He grabbed his leg and turned around as he felt a little fist connect with his ribs, then the foot hit the back of his knee. Liam grunted through his teeth as he assaulted his father, his little arms and legs swinging with more power than Damon thought possible.

"You hurt Mommy, again!" Liam went for his shoulder, punching it. "I hate you so much!"

"Liam." Damon stumbled forward in a failed attempt to grab his son. "I didn't mean to."

"She's crying because of you." Liam's fist hit Damon's back. "You promised you'd never hurt her again!"

"Liam." He managed to grab his son by the shoulders. "I'm really sorry, I didn't want to hurt her."

"What did you say to her?" Liam crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Why are you fighting?"

"Didn't they tell you?"

"Not really." Liam started sulking, lips pouted. "Mommy ran up the stairs into her room and Laury and Grandpa tried to come after her."

"What did they say?"

"What did they say?"

"He's going to be fine."

Damon's head turned back to his three-year-old son, stroking the chestnut hair on the boy's back, while doing his best to keep his heart from beating so fast. The way it had reacted when he'd picked up the phone three days ago to have Grayson tell him that his son was brought to an ER to have his appendix removed had been a test. The hours after that had been even worse, as he'd paced his whole apartment debating whether coming down to Vermont. His heart had won out in the end. He'd packed his bags and took the first flight here. He sat in his hotel room during the day, wondering if his son was rattling to Elena during the day as he talked in his sleep to him during the night.

"You should go." Grayson placed a hand on his shoulder as his eyes focused on Liam. "Elena's going to be here soon."

"I know." He squeezed Liam's hand in his. "Are they sending him home today?"

"Yes." Grayson nodded. "First thing in the morning."

"I guess then it's time to book a flight back to Chicago." He placed his chin on the mattress in front of his sleeping son. "Goodbye, buddy. It was nice seeing you again. Maybe we'll do this again in a few years."

Although he said the words, no bone in his body moved to actually leave. He'd been about to lose his son, and it was a wake-up call; he wanted to know this boy, not just sit next to his bed during the night. He wanted to play outside with Liam, he wanted to teach him about life, answer his every question, watch those blue eyes look up at him. But then there was the other nagging part of him, that part that told him not to stick around because the responsibilities would crush him. He wouldn't be able to fulfill them, he wouldn't be able to give this boy everything he needed, and as a result, he wouldn't be able to give himself what he needed, or Elena.

"Damon." Grayson shook his shoulder. "It's time to go if you don't want to run into her."

"Yeah, okay okay." He got up and placed a kiss on his son's forehead. "Bye, Liam."

Grayson pulled him by the arm to the door, but Damon couldn't help but to stop for a second and turn around. His son lay there snoring lightly, not aware of his existence because he'd done nothing but sleep while his biological father sat next to his side. And still Damon felt something pulling him towards that boy. But he wasn't ready, he couldn't deal with it, so he peeled his eyes away from his three-year-old son and let himself being guided out of the door.

"I'm going back to the hotel." Grayson pulled his cap over his head. "They'll be wondering where I am."

"Yeah." Damon nodded. "Thanks for calling. I owe you."

"Of course."

Grayson's arms wrapped around him and his own arms reach out to hug the only father figure he'd ever known. If he didn't have his mother back in Chicago, he'd ask this man to adopt him. He wanted to experience that warm feeling of family that Elena was raised with. Maybe then, he'd be able to give the same to his son, because he'd know how a father was supposed to treat a son. But he did have to go back, and Grayson made that all the more clear when he let go and nodded shortly before turning around and starting his way back to the hotel where Elena was staying, only a mile away. But he couldn't see her, couldn't run to her, because if he did, he'd surely fall apart. He'd drop to the ground and hug her knees, and he wouldn't be able to take her rejection.

"Damon?"

He spun around to a voice that was all too familiar, but not because it was family. It was someone that didn't want to be his family, someone he'd given up on him long ago. Giuseppe's eyes wandered up and down his body as he shook his head in disbelief. Finally, he cleared his throat and took a step closer, looking at the ground as if he'd find the words there to speak.

"I didn't expect to see you here." Giuseppe's eyes came up to his. "I guess you're here to see Liam?"

"Grayson called me."

"I didn't know you knew about Liam." Giuseppe cleared his throat again, as if he needed something to do. "Does Elena know?"

"No." Damon shook his head firmly. "And she'll never know."

"She's unhappy." Giuseppe swallowed the lump in his throat. "You have a right to know that."

"Do you want to make me feel more miserable than I already do?" Damon clenched his teeth together. "She has a family – a son and a husband. She has everything she always wanted so it's hard for me to believe that she's so unhappy."

"She is." Giuseppe raised his voice, eyes widening. "And so is Stefan, and so are you. Why don't you fix this situation?"

"Because I don't know how to fix it." He threw his arms in the air. "She's Elena, she's stubborn. I can't just walk back into her life and ask her to forgive me, it's not going to work."

"I can get you back in her life."

"And how would you do that?"

"I have tapes, very explicit tapes." Giuseppe shifted uncomfortably. "I could leak them to Klaus, which would get Elena into trouble for sleeping with a client, and they'd have to bring you back in as a witness?"

"What?"

Damon's eyes almost popped out of his head at the thought of him and Elena, lost in an intimate moment, as Giuseppe had been watching the two of them. He'd never felt so betrayed in his entire life, and yet it felt like he was swaying in a safety net, because he was being offered a way out of his miserable existence. The only question was if he could trust Giuseppe with one of the most important things in his life.

"You have me and Elena on tape while we're making love?" He half-shouted, slapping himself on the head. "What kind of sick pervert are you?"

"I didn't know she was sleeping with you until I saw the tapes!" Giuseppe shouted, making a few nurses turn around. "I thought I was only spying on you. How was I supposed to know?"

"Fuck me."

"Well, she certainly did." Giuseppe answered dryly. "The thing is, the tapes exist, and if you need a way back into her life, I'm giving it to you."

"Why would you do that to Stefan?"

"Because he's unhappy." Giuseppe shrugged. "And I want more for him. He loves her, I know he does, but he won't be able to live much longer with the knowledge that she loves you more than him."

"The problem is," Damon said, shaking his head and wetting his lips, "I can't be a father, and Liam deserves one."

"You can be." Giuseppe nodded gently, taking a card out of his wallet. "Get yourself together and call me when you're ready. No matter how long it takes."

"Why are you doing this?"

"I want to make things right."

"I want to make things right."

He watched as her red-rimmed eyes slowly opened and locked onto his, looking at him with disgust. He wanted to slap himself a thousand times in the face for hurting his beautiful woman, for putting her through this – again. He gently repositioned himself next to her on the bed, taking his hand off of her thigh because he felt like she might scratch his eyes out if he didn't.

"Why would you have to make something right?" Elena shrugged, clearly upset. "You did exactly what I expected you to do."

"Elena, I know what I did." He gently placed his hand on hers. "The news was so unexpected and it overwhelmed me. And I was wrong to run off like that. But I want this baby with you, I swear that I want this."

"You don't have to lie." She patted his hand, nodding. "I knew the moment I found out I was pregnant that I was going to lose you again. But that's okay, because I'll have this baby and I'll survive, just like I did last time."

"Elena, I'm going to be here with you this time, through it all." He took her hand in his and squeezed it. "Please believe me. I love you, and I love Liam, and believe it or not, I love this little one that you're carrying already too."

"You really mean that?"

"Yes."

She flung herself up from the bed and wrapped her arms around his neck, squeezing him tight against her. He couldn't imagine anything more beautiful than this moment - holding the woman that was carrying his child, the woman he loved and wanted everything with. It was no longer just about giving her what she wanted. The more he pictured it, the more he wanted this baby too. And with that same thought, a smile grew on his face, and something in his belly started turning. He became excited about the prospect of seeing Elena feed that baby, of that wriggling child in his arms, and he couldn't wait until it was finally there.

"How far along are you?" He placed a kiss on her cheek as he gently pulled away. "You never said."

"You ran off before I could tell you." She gave him a smug grin. "But I'm six weeks. We probably made this baby the first night we reunited."

"On the bathroom floor?" His eyebrows knitted together. "That's a story we'll never tell him or her."

"Damon?" She bit her bottom lip gently as she looked up from under her eyelashes. "Where did you go?"

"Believe it or not, I went to visit Giuseppe."

"Well, that is hard to believe."

"It's not the first time he's done a good thing for me, Elena." He looked down, preparing for what was to come. "He helped me come back here."

"You mean he gave you the tapes of us together so Klaus could sue me?" She arched her eyebrow at him, half-smiling. "I'm a paralegal, Damon, it's my job to figure these things out. You stayed in

Giuseppe's hotel and he spied on you. He didn't know he was spying on me too."

"How mad are you?"

"Not that mad." She shrugged, shaking her head. "I figured it out a while ago, when you made that lawsuit disappear so easily. It's okay though, it was a good thing to do."

"Yeah, I believe it was."

A comfortable silence fell between the two of them as he brought his hand to her stomach, slipping it under the fabric of her shirt so he could feel the taut stomach that would soon be swelling up. Elena's eyes started shimmering with happy tears as he rubbed a circle around her navel, bending down to gently place a kiss on top of the shield of his unborn child. His eyes locked with Elena's again, and as his lips found their way to hers, he climbed on top of her, his hands moving over her sides, his thumbs pointing in her navel's direction as if all attention was on the child in her stomach.

She moaned softly as he sucked on her neck, his hands coming to cup her breasts, gently stroking their undersides as her hips began thrusting upward, begging him with her body.

"Your phone is buzzing against my thigh." She chuckled only an inch away from his mouth. "Toss it or pick it up."

He laughed as he took the phone from his pocket and looked at the caller id, freezing as he read it for a second time. He pushed himself up, sitting on his knees between Elena's legs as her eyes watched him stare at the phone. Through his daze, he heard her ask what was wrong, who was calling him. But he'd waited too long for this call, and when he'd given up all hope, here it was, right when the best news of his life had been delivered an hour before, a second thing came around the corner. Something that would take him away from all the happiness he had here.

"This is Damon Salvatore."

Elena watched him as he spoke to the other man on the line, a worried frown appearing above her nose. His heart raged in his chest like a tornado as he had the conversation he'd waited for, maybe ten years, maybe even longer. He was going to change somebody's life, while he was going to miss another.

"Damon." Elena's hand found his cheek as he ended the call. "Who was that?"

"A cardiologist I've been working with for years." He sat back on his heels, eyes wide open. "He thinks he can help my mom."

"That's wonderful." Elena exclaimed, a smile growing on her face. "Why don't you look happy?"

"Because he's in Bangladesh." Damon watched the expression on her face change. "And I'd have to go there with my mom and I don't know how long it will take. It may be a week but it might be months too."

"You have to go."

"Elena, you're pregnant." He grabbed her thigh for support. "I'm not going to leave you. I did that when you were pregnant with Liam, but I'm not missing this second one."

"It's your mom." Her eyes bored into his. "You have to go."

"I can't."

"Have you ever seen The Thorn Birds?" Elena smiled gently, clasping his hand between hers. "It's about a priest that falls in love with a girl. And at some point in the movie he says, 'I'm a man but a priest, first, last and always.' You're a surgeon and sometimes I forget what you can do. You can save people's lives and now you have to go to Bangladesh and take care of your mom because you are a surgeon first."

"I don't even know how I'm going to get her on a plane." He shook his head. "She won't go Elena, especially now that she knows you're pregnant. She'll think I'm using it as an excuse to get away from this."

"She will go." Elena nodded, sure of herself. "Because she wants to see her grandson grow up, and she wants to see this baby grow up. So start packing your bags, Salvatore. You're going to

Bangladesh."

She jumped up from the bed and pulled the closets open, grabbing a bag from the top-shelf, throwing his clothes on the bed so he had to do nothing but put them in the bag. He watched her as she rummaged through his stuff, and at any other time it might have bothered him, but he couldn't stop watching her, asking himself how he'd gotten so lucky. Why he couldn't rewind the last five years and spend every second next to her side, but then, without that journey, they wouldn't have gotten here. They wouldn't have the amazing future in front of them like they did now.

"By the way, Elena. The priest, he also says that after all of those years of denying that he was a man, when he was with the love of his life, he wanted nothing more than to just be a man." His ocean blue eyes found her chocolate ones. "I'm just your man, you know?"