a/n: I have to admit, that while writing this story I was very torn from the beginning as to which direction I was going to take it. This project was nearly scraped many times, but it was you guys that kept me going. Without your reviews I would never have been able to finish this. Then, came another dilemma; to baby or not to baby….So many of you had wonderful arguments for both sides and since I was torn it was wonderful for me to hear all of them. I didn't want to alienate those readers that clearly didn't want there to be a baby, and therefore ruin the ending for them, which is how this chapter came to be. You can view it as an alternate/continuation ending or simply an epilogue for those that voted no.

After all, this would be their only chance to have a baby, and for me that's what it comes down to. For those of you that did not vote for pro-baby I hope you read this anyway and enjoy it for what it is; Delena fluff, because after everything they've been through, they deserve a little happiness.

p.s. I'm aware that Meredith shot Ric in the last episode, but please try and ignore that for this chapter. I needed a doctor everyone knew for the hospital scenes.

Chapter Fifteen- The Sum of the Parts of the Whole

Mystic Falls Hospital

Damon paced back and forth furiously in the waiting room. Tyler had tried to convince him to sit down a good hundred times, but he hadn't yet. "Why won't they let me in to see her!"

Bonnie sighed, pushing up from the cushy sofa to put her hand on Damon's shoulder. "There's complications. The doctors don't need you in there bellowing at them."

"I don't bellow!" he said, clearing bellowing.

Bonnie face flushed in relief when Alaric came running through the sliding glass doors. If anyone could talk sense into a distressed future daddy, it was him. "What's going on?" Ric asked, taking in the sight of Damon's distressed face and Bonnie's pleading eyes.

"They won't let me in to see her." Damon said through gritted teeth, his hands in tight fists at his sides.

Ric nodded and came forward, forcing Damon down onto the couch. "You need to relax, just a bit."

"I'm relaxed!" Damon shouted, only realizing that he'd been yelling when he noticed the looks on everyone's faces. This time when he spoke his voice was much more even. "I just want to see her."

"We know you do." Caroline reached over and patted his knee, doing her best to hide the fact that her hands were shaking. It wasn't everyday your best friend gave birth to a baby she'd been caring for 9 months, or 165 years- depending on how you looked at it.

There was a very real possibility that they could lose the baby, even Elena. There wasn't exactly a textbook you could study on how to deal with time travel pregnancies. Ric balanced on the edge of the coffee table across from Damon, catching his friends gaze. "We know you're terrified, and that's alright. Try to think about something else."

"Like what?" Damon spat, his eyes instantly apologetic.

Matt took this opportunity to make his presence known. "Tell us about the day she told you she was going to have the baby." He'd been around when Elena was back in 1864, but they'd kept him out of most of the dangerous situations since he was human. It wasn't a bad thing, as Damon liked to tell himself; it was more of a keeping the last normal thing about Elena's life alive and unharmed. He would never admit that he'd purposefully not invited Matt to Elena's homecoming because he was afraid she would see him and realize she wanted the normal life that came with being Matt Donavan's girl instead of this craziness that was being involved with the Salvatore brothers had thrown her into.

But she'd chosen him, chosen their baby and their life together. Damon looked around at their little makeshift family and felt his dead heart soften a little. He had to remember that he was not the only one waiting for the doctor to come out and give them good news. He owed it to them, to at least distract them a little. After all, without these people he wouldn't have Elena right now. "Well, as you know- I never thought I would get to be a father. I mean, I'd had over a hundred years to get used to the idea. Big Bad Damon Salvatore didn't need a family to complete him. That was the angle I was going for, but when Elena told me we were going to have a baby, everything changed. How could it not?"

Eight and a Half Months Ago…. (Salvatore Boarding House)

Elena gently closed the lid of the toilet and sat down, holding the test in her shaking hands. This isn't possible…it can't be possible. She glanced at the ruby stone of the ring that had been moved to her left hand. Her engagement ring. Oh, please don't be positive. Guilt racked her for thinking that, after all she was being incredibly foolish. Sure, she and Damon had been making love like crazy for the past two weeks, but that didn't mean she could be…pregnant. This wasn't Twilight for Christ's sake… Still, there was the chance, just the slight but very real chance that on her little trip through time she'd managed to bring back more than some new memories.

Elena was sure that she'd never sat through a longer three minutes in her entire life. Everything seemed completely still. Even the sound of the workers hammering and cursing downstairs was lost to her. The boarding house had been construction central since the afternoon they'd gotten home from brunch. A new beginning, a new couple, a new living room…and if this test read positive…well she and Damon could be adding new baby to the list of recent changes they'd made to their lives. She was sure that her heart was going to beat it's self right out of her chest if the damn test didn't gave her a answer either way soon. She thanked the heavens that she'd managed to sneak upstairs while he'd taken the opportunity to shout at a worked for accidently breaking a vase.

As if one vase really hurt the Salvatore fortune. She shook her head, unable to hide her smile. He was very stuck up about his family heirlooms sometimes, especially the rugs. With a frustrated sigh she set the test on the counter and pushed herself up, pacing back and forth in front of the mirror. Her reflection caught her gaze and she stopped, realizing her hand was over her stomach protectively. Slowly, she lifted her shirt and turned sideways, as if that would give her a clue. It was flat as it always had been. With a sigh she glared back at the stick, biting her bottom lip furiously. Damon could only rant for so long. She would not take her tummy doing somersaults as a clue, no; that could just be her nervousness. Another glance at her watch told her she had ten seconds.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two…one. Still shaking, she reached out her hand for the test, jumping slightly when Damon banged on the bathroom door with his fist. "Are you alright?"

He'd been a little concerned since she'd started throwing up yesterday morning. Thankfully, being a vampire didn't mean he was overly genius about things men normally missed and she'd managed to pass it off as the flu. "I'm fine." She called back, suddenly terrified to look at the small screen now.

The moment of a worried need to know had passed to frozen fear and she found herself staring at the door, the test still unread and clutched in her fist. She wasn't ready for this, they weren't ready for this. The panic begin to set in then and her stomach lurched in distress. There it was again, the nausea she couldn't control. Setting the test on the counter she bent over the sink, knowing there wasn't enough time to lift the lid of the toilet. Thankfully her hair was already up in a ponytail. Damon pounded on the door again, turning the knob to find it was locked. "Let me in!" he demanded through the polished wood.

Once Elena was finished, she rinsed out her mouth and quickly washed the sink. Hardly glamour and exciting. Hardly beautiful and thrilling. Her heart began hammering once more as she caught the reflection of the little stick in the mirror. She reached for the mouthwash on the counter, took a good swig and spit the awful taste from her mouth, hoping that the fear wound go with it. It didn't, but Damon was still banging on the door so she grabbed the test and unlocked the door. Damon lowered his arm, his eyes confused and worried. She felt the little twinge in her heart and bit her lip. How was she going to tell notorious bad boy Damon Salvatore that it was possible he could be a father? She'd never really considered having children with either of the Salvatore brothers since it had never been a possibility, but her time travel stunt certainly had turned the tables.

She wasn't sure she was ready to be a mother, although that's basically what she'd been for Jeremy for the past few years…and if she could handle a drug using, depressed, ghost seeing teenage boy; what couldn't she handle. Damon cleared his throat, seeing the emotions battle in her eyes, then he glanced down to see the tiny pink stick clutched tightly in her hand. A rush of adrenaline, of fear, of confusion blazed through him all at once and he stepped closer to her. "Damon," the tone of her voice had him stopping short, his fingers hovering in the air just before her face before his arm dropped down to his side. "we need to talk."

"I can honestly say, I've never had a girl say those words to me before."

She looked up at him, smiling slightly. His eyes were transfixed on the test and her heart dropped slightly. "Can we sit?"

"Of course." He guided her to his bed, their bed.

His hand was pressed to her lower back, but she could feel from the lack of usual pressure and the energy humming through his body he was trying very hard to control himself. "Come." She said quietly, smoothing a spot on the comforter beside her. She needed him close, she needed to feel his warmth, and dammit she simply needed to hold his hand when she told him this.

"Go ahead." He said comfortingly, unable to say more than two word sentences apparently. His voice already shook in fear at just those short phrases.

"We've never talked about this." She began carefully, gripping his fingers almost painfully between hers. She held onto him like an anchor, like a grounding to keep herself steady, keep herself sane. "I mean, it wasn't an option before, so why would we?"

Damon sensed that she was going to start mumbling and covered their hands with his free one, turning to face her. "Breathe."

She nodded, taking a deep breath and bringing the test forward, slowly opening her hand. As if fate was testing them, trying to kill them with anticipation, the tell-tale screen was facing down. A stay of execution as it were. "When I was afraid I was going to be a vampire, I told Stefan I didn't want to because I had so much more of my life left to live. I wanted to get married and have babies and grown old…well I've lived a lot since that day and while I'm not ready to give up my mortality, I'm not exactly ready for babies either."

"Babies." He said, the word sounding incredible foreign on his tongue.

"There is a very real chance that I could be pregnant Damon."

Finally saying the words brought both a sense of relief and a sense of dread to her. She desperately searched his eyes for any sign of emotion, her sliver of hope falling when he didn't move.

It seemed like hours later when he finally spoke, but it was probably only a minute. "This could be our only chance to…have a baby."

She nodded, wishing he would look at her instead of the stick in her hand. "Yes, I know."

"I never thought I would have this chance." His tone was detached and she felt her heart collapse when he stood from the bed, releasing her hand.

He moved to stand in front of her, looking at her like she was the answer to all his prayers. "Are you okay with this? To staying with me forever?"

"I agreed to marry you didn't I?" she said quietly, finally their eyes meeting.

"This is entirely different." He countered, bending in front of her so they were level. She felt the warmth of his skin when he set his hands on her knees. "This will change everything."

"We just found our way back together." She reasoned, as if all this talking would change the outcome a test they didn't even know the results to yet. "It's a big step, and one we didn't expect. I don't even know how I feel about it."

"I guess, we just look at the test and then see how we feel."

She nodded, knowing that he was right and that as long as they were stuck in limbo a decision could never be made. Slowly, she turned the test over her hand, realizing her eyes were tightly shut only when Damon caressed the side of her face. "What does it say?" she asked quietly.

Then suddenly her eyes were open, the test had been tossed to the ground and she was up off the bed and in his arms. "It says we're going to have a baby." He grinned, a real smile that warmed her insides.

Damon smirked and he laughed, but this genuine display of intense happiness was one of the most beautiful things she'd ever seen. "We're going to have a baby." She repeated, letting her tongue wrap around the words, letting her mind get used to the idea.

She split in half, partly terrified but mostly excited. It was hard not to be happy when he was so obviously pleased. "I love you." He whispered, kissing her gently.

Mystic Falls Hospital

Everyone knew that the first few months of Elena's pregnancy had been an epic war between the two and their internal desires of what they wanted, of what they'd been expecting their life to be. Damon had turned any fear he had into adrenaline for the remolding of the house and kept the construction workers on a few more weeks to prepare on the east wing rooms for a nursery fitting a prince or princesses. Once they'd gotten him talking about the past few months, Damon found it hard to stop. He kept his eyes on the clock, counting the seconds that passed while Elena was off somewhere in the hospital, fighting for something that he should have been in there fighting for with her. He'd already been threatened by security once and didn't want to risk actually being thrown out and missing the birth of his child, so he stayed in his spot on the couch between Bonnie and Caroline and kept up his storytelling.

Elena had already been in the delivery room for six hours.

Three and a Half Months Ago (Salvatore Boarding House)

Elena let Damon guide her through the hallways to the nursery he hadn't let her peek in on ever since he'd had the men start working on it. Even Caroline and Bonnie had been allowed to help, but not her. The hormones that were currently playing mind games on her body had allowed that fact to start quite a few good fights the past few months, but they'd always managed to make up…eventually. "Keep your eyes closed." He whispered in her ear and she felt him reach forward to open the door.

They shuffled forward a few feet together and she heard the faint click as the door closed behind them. She'd been good and kept her eyes closed, but when his arms went around her waist and his hands rested protectively around her belly, she couldn't take the anticipation anymore. "Please Damon?"

He chuckled, hugged her tightly and nodded. "Alright, open them."

First, he heard the relieved sigh, and then the delighted gasp as she took in the sight of the room. They'd decided to opt out of learning the sex of the baby until it was born- what was one more surprise- so the room had to be done for either way. The roof was painted a dark blue with stars, each wall a different color as decided by a overzealous Caroline and all the furniture was Winnie the Pooh. "It's wonderful."

"We can always exchange and redecorate after he's born." He offered, watching as she went over to the crib, running her hand over the smooth wood.

"You mean after she's born." They shared a knowing smile as he came over to her, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Yesterday you were the one rooting for a boy."

She laughed as he knelt before her, gently lifting her shirt to kiss the revealed skin. "As long as our baby has your eyes I will be fine."

Damon shook his head, standing when he'd gotten his fill and pulled her tightly against him- or as closely as he could in her current state. "I think your eyes would suit him much better."

She laughed, pressing her face to his chest. "I guess we'll just have to wait."

Mystic Falls Hospital

The group fell silent for a few minutes. It was nearing one am now and Damon wasn't sure how many more stories he could tell them. They'd gone through the different cravings Elena had and the rather uncomfortable moment when Caroline blurted out a few sex questions that had Ric wishing he had a gun to shoot himself with. Mostly everyone else in the waiting room had cleared out and the nurses that had been on shift when they'd gotten there had switched for the night staff. By two am Caroline had fallen asleep, her head in Tyler's lap and Matt had passed out in a chair, snoring loudly. Alaric was fully awake however, a cup of steaming coffee in his hands, his eyes alert on the tv hanging from the roof. The volume was too low to really hear, but at least it was something to keep his mind off the girl he'd come to see as his daughter.

Ignoring the simple fact that she was the last real thing he had of Isobel to hold onto, he'd really come to love her since becoming her guardian. Again he checked his phone for a message from Jeremy, wondering just when the boy's was going to get her. Bonnie had excused herself from the group an hour ago to go pick him up at the airport. Now that Klaus was gone and everything seemed marginally safe in the town of vampires, werewolves and witches, it was time for the youngest Gilbert to return home. Slowly, all the loose ends were finding their way together. The only person that wasn't here or on their way was Elijah, and no one had heard from him since the brunch they'd all shared the morning after Elena had gotten home.

Damon cleared his throat, gently shifting off the couch and setting Caroline's feet on the couch. He wasn't quite sure how she'd managed to trick him into supporting her legs while she slept, but she'd done it. He made a quick gesture at Ric and they went away from the group. "I can't take this anymore."

Alaric smiled; his hand on his friends shoulder. "She's a few weeks early Damon, you know that. They're doing everything they can to make sure that they're both safe."

"I want to see her." Damon's whisper came out in a loud hiss, but he kept his tone under control as best he could.

Ric could tell that the man was going to explode soon, and he was seriously considering going to find Meredith himself when the familiar squeak of a nurses shoes caught their attention. Caroline's vampire ears seemed to pick up the sound as well and she sat up, instantly awake. With a quick kick at Matt's chair, she woke the human and they all looked expectantly at the pretty redhead in bright green scrubs. "Which of you is the father?"

"I am." Damon stepped forward anxiously.

"Elena's been asking for you."

"Of course she has." He pushed past the nurse, not waiting for her to guide him back down the hall, but simply picking out her scent through the normal tangs of the hospital. Faintly, he found the smell of her blood, sweat and vanilla perfume in the air, relieved when it led him right to her room. For a moment he just stared at her through the glass, taking in the sight of her. Her face was pale, her hair a complete mess, her eyes tired but she was smiling faintly and he found the strength to open the door and cross to the bed. She held out her hand for him, sighing when he bent to kiss her gently.

"You were wrong." She whispered, her hand cool against his face.

He watched her sleepy eyes close for a moment before she pointed to the glass window across the hall. "Help me up."

"Are you sure you should get out of bed?" he asked as she threw back the covers.

"I want us to go see her together." She said, motioning him to bring the wheelchair over.

"Her?" he whispered, as he helped her into the contraption.

She didn't speak again until he'd wheeled her across the hall and they'd found the baby wrapped in a pink blanket with 'Salvatore' written on the tag at the end of her crib. "I believe the last vote you chose was boy."

"That's hardly fair." He countered, looking down at the tiny life they'd created together. Sure, he'd only had to wait over a hundred years for both of them, but every moment had been worth it. "I thought we had a few more weeks to argue over the sex."

"Oh God, not more sex talk." Ric groaned from behind them, the rest of the gang behind them. "The nurse couldn't fight us all off." He laughed and Damon could only shake his head.

"Elena!" Jeremy's voice came down the hall and Elena turned around expectantly, her eyes searching for her brother.

Bonnie came into view first, but soon Jeremy moved through everyone to wrap his arms around Elena. "You're here." She whispered, unable to hold back the tears now.

"Damon called me and I got on the first flight."

Elena glanced over her brother's shoulder and smiled at Damon. "Thank you."

He only smiled, his hands aching to hold their baby. "When can we have her?"

As if on cue, Meredith came out of the bathroom, wiping her hands on a towel. "I told you to stay in bed."

Elena shrugged, not really much for listening to orders from doctors and reached for Damon's hand. "Can we see her?"

"If you go back to bed, yes."

Elena wasn't sure that a doctor could blackmail her like that, but she was feeling very weak and she didn't want to pass out in front of Damon. He didn't need to know just how difficult the last few hours had been on her body. At least not right now when he looked so happy. "Fine."

When Elena was back in bed and Damon had taken his protective place next to her side, a nurse brought in the little pink bundle. Damon wasn't sure how that tiny thing could be a person and he felt relieved when Elena held her first. He wasn't sure he could without breaking her. He'd never seen anything more beautiful in his life as her smile as she looked down at their baby. Their baby. "What color are her eyes?" he asked, reaching out one finger to push the blanket back so he could see her face a little better.

"I was right about that too." Elena smiled and shifted on the mattress so she could pass the baby to Damon. "You're turn."

He shook his head, his body tensing. "I don't know. She's pretty, fragile."

"So am I." she smiled and tilted her head back against the pillow. "Don't worry, you won't hurt her."

Damon took the baby, cradling her in his arms and for a moment- one perfect moment he felt perfectly human.

a/n: hope that managed to please you all. I wanted to get some of the pregnancy in there as well as the birth so I figured this was the best way to do it. I tried to make it as realistic and canon as possible and I hope that was obvious. I really loved the journey this story took me on and I wanted to thank everyone that reviewed and inspired me to keep going.

Of course, a special thanks goes out to ReadingisPassion2 for trusting me with her idea and letting me run with it. I know it wasn't exactly how you wanted it to go, but I pray you are still happy with it.

The story took on a bit of a life of its own and demanded to be told this way. For those of you that voted no for baby Delena, I hope this put a smile on your face. I'm not certain what my next project will be or how long it will be till the sequel but I promise there will be more coming from me. As always, watch out for my oneshots and please let me know of what you thought of this epilogue.