Best Friend

Part 28- Infectious Giggle

R-M

This is just a Doodle, Bird and Family chapter. Sorry for the long over due update. Last I updated, I thought readers lost interest. So, I put it on pause a while. But, I spent the past two weeks rereading it, to post this update. And I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for showing support as always, I appreciate you guys.

Damon sat in the living room with his son for over two hours, waiting for Bonnie to come back home. Even if he feared she'd leave him after what he'd done, he expected to see her walk through the door, since they'd been apart for so long. And his separation anxiety wouldn't allow him to take anymore time away from their marriage. For better or worse, he was all in.

...

Earlier, when Bonnie finally let him in, she had no patience to help get him dressed or wait for him to shower after pouring iced tea on him. She left, him to take care of Dimitri Dylan, while she used her separation time to think. After showering, Damon put on jeans and nothing else, and dressed their son the same. Sitting for over two hours, he felt two painful sensations in his back, but couldn't reach and he couldn't very well force himself to the bathroom after finally being in his house on his couch out of the sun. He opted to let the pain surpass, and get comfortable. As he leaned back, he looked at his injured leg and attempted to lift it using his thigh muscles, right where he'd fractured the bone. His two ribs and his arm was healed, but not without some tenderness. Now all he wanted to feel was himself lift his leg. Slowly, he straightened out his bent knee, and started to lift. The moment he felt his foot leave the ground, he smiled, realizing his leg was lifting without the use of Bonnie or the crutches.

"Damn baby girl. You really are good at his physical therapy thang." He said to himself. Though he have to start with a new physical therapist, he knew he'd worked with his wife up until the most recent couple weeks, and credited her for his progress so far. He dropped his leg slowly, and lifted again. He did this several times as part of an exercise his wife taught him. A smile lit his face and he was proud of himself. Mouth turned up into a large grin, teeth and all.

That is until he heard heard the truck pull up. Shocked, she didn't decide to go to her mommas old house for the night and forget about him. Then he turned to look at his sleeping son, and remembered. "Aww she came back b'cos of you munchkin."

He realized at this point he couldn't feel bad about the hair cut. His son was sleeping better because he wasn't as overheated, and his wife outdoor have to get over it, right? Eventually, he hoped.

Bonnie took her time grabbing a couple bags out of the back of the truck, and walking to the porch of the single story duplex. The neighbors they shared a wall with had moved out, and the place next door was vacant. Bonnie scrolled past the window straight to the door, and opened it. Damon sat on the other side of the room facing the door. When they made eye contact she quickly looked away and headed to the kitchen island of the opened room area. Connected living room, dining, and kitchen.

"I grabbed some kale and potatoes. I'm gonna make soup. I need something light but healthy."

"What's new?" He said sarcastically, under his breath. Not a fan of her LA diet from months ago.

"What's that?"

"Nothin. I asked what's new, what happened at the doctor's?"

Bonnie paused and thought to answer with anything that would justify her being gone for well over two hours, cutting into three. She thought to tell him she had to do blood work, and urine test, because the doctor had a sneaking impression she was pregnant. But, Bonnie knew she was good on birth control until recently, she'd missed it a few times due to the stressful nature of her new home life. That's why she figured her period was off, and late. There was always still a chance pregnancy could occur with missing taking her pill, but she had enough stress, she didn't want to over think it.

When her conscience got the best of her, she thought to mention it to him. Then she remembered he cut Dimitri's hair behind her back and proceeded to antagonize her after she put him on the porch. And that was enough to override a guilty conscience.

"Baby... the doctor's?" He repeated.

"Routine check up. I'm healthy as a race Salvatore horse." She started the sink water, cleaned it out and put cold water with apple cider vinegar on one side, and put her kale and potatoes inside to sit for a while to clean them. While doing that she walked back to her room and sat on the bed away from him. She saw a small plastic ziplock baggie on the bed. It was filled with locks of black hair. And a small note.

Dimitri Dylan Bennett-Salvatore

Age 2

"first hair cut" by daddy.

She laughed at his typical chicken scratch.

Bonnie grabbed the baggie and held it, before opening it and sniffing his hair. Smelling awfully similar to hers. She felt her calmness become rocked by her tingling eyes again. The very inner corner of her eyes watered and she held the little ziplock bag to her chest and cried. Quietly enough, so that Damon didn't hear her. On a normal day, Bonnie didn't allow herself to cry so easily. It bothered her, that she was so bothered by this incident. The emotions were overwhelming. And maybe this is why she was so angry at him, because she didn't expect to be flooded by emotions in such a way.

After a few minutes she wiped her eyes and walked to the kitchen to finish cleaning her produce. She'd given Damon plenty of silent treatment all day. And wasn't in a rush to engage him. She took her time cleaning and cutting both her potatoes and kale. Parts of her brain were tuned into her anger at Damon, and parts were tuned into the possibility of being pregnant. She couldn't gather her emotions as she filled a pot with her fresh food, and added the remainder of the ingredients to flavor it. In a separate pan she sautéed some Italian ground sausage and sprinkled it into her soup, just lightly enough to give it flavor, but not enough to overpower the veggies and potatoes. Damon watched her prepare food for just over half an hour, and stood himself up forcing her to turn suddenly to him.

"Doodle, what are you doing?" She hurried to him, grabbing him and placing his arm over her shoulders.

"Baby, I'm fine. I just need to go to the spare bedroom."

"What for?"

"B'cos. Why you so dag on nosy?" After she rolled her eyes, he giggled, afraid she'd let him fall. "It's a joke baby, damn. You always tryna get up in my business." He joked again, then grabbed her by the elbows before she moved away from him. "I'm playin. Sorry. Just my pathetic last attempts to make you smile. But, it ain't workin is it?""

"Damn sure ain't!"

"Sorry baby girl." He gave in. She won. She could take his soul, if it meant she'd smile at him again. Sure it had only been a day, but he couldn't take it anymore. He had to crack that hard shell of Bonnie's, and he had to crack it now.

They walked for a few feet until she got him to the crutches. Once there, he let her go. "Thank you darlin. I'll be right back." He stood, and smiled, hoping to get another smile from her. But it was hopeless, he really messed up. Bonnie walked back to the kitchen, no smile, no blink, no eye role. She was more interested in covering her pot, and letting it simmer for a couple hours. And that is when she spotted her baby boy asleep, on the couch, and Damon still had the tv on cartoons. She shook her head, hopelessly. Then she heard her husband call her name.

"Bird!" She wanted to sigh angrily, but she just followed his voice. Walking to the spare room to see him grinning like an idiot.

"Yes?"

"I know you gone stay mad at me. And I know I can't take back what I did. But, least I can do, is pull another surprise out of the safe."

"Damon, I ain't got time for-"

"Shh. Listen. And stop with that Damon shit." He furrowed his brows seriously. "Bird, baby... Everything in that safe, is a part of a bigger picture. A past, a future, a present. And all of it involves you, and me, and our family."

She crossed her arms impatiently, nodding her head. "Okay." Heavy sigh of annoyance.

"Sooo, underneath that sheet is a canvas. I painted this for you years ago. When all I had was time to think. I ain't never showed nobody. But, today, I'm showing you, because... I painted it, just for you."

"Doodle, right now, ain't really the time to be playing games."

"Bird, shut up, okay. Just shut up, for a doggone minute, and look at me. You ain't looked me in the eyes all got damn day. I can't handle when you don't look me in my eyes. It hurts my soul." He hobbled to her, with his crutches, lifted her chin, and forced her to look him in the eyes. "I'm gone give you some privacy. No need to talk about it, after you see it. Not til your ready. Just, observe it, and let it fill your heart with whatever you want it to."

The words worried her. But, once again she nodded her head to just get him to shut up and move. "Fine doodle."

"Long as you call me Doodle and not Damon." He used his crutch and walked out, closing the door behind him. Bonnie was so irritated he'd put on a broadway spectacle to reveal a painting. She knew he was amazingly talented, but she also knew, he angered her, and he wouldn't just get past this with a painting.

She waited til he shit the door, before she walked forward, slowly, grabbing the cream colored sheet between her middle finger, index finger, and thumb. As it drapped off slowly, and clung to itself, gliding off the canvas, her slender fingers dropped the sheet unintentionally, onto the ground, as she'd been shocked.

Bonnie stood in place breathless, before falling to her knees. She'd never seen such a breathtaking visual in all of her life. So much pain and beauty in one image. An old wound was finally being soothed. In a way, she was feeling something she'd never felt before. The strong woman, wanted to protect herself, by fighting to hold in every ounce of emotion: happy, sad, angry, hurt, confusion, and anything else that could taint this perfect moment. For once, she felt the connection that she'd been missing. The one thing, she'd never had resolution on. She touched the picture delicately, allowing her fingertips, to glide across the canvas, just to feel every stroke of life he felt, when he made it. But when her eyes could no longer conceal the emotion, a single tear drop fell down her cheek. A light steam from the fountain of Bonnie. "You are so astonishingly beautiful, and wholesome and good. And I love and miss you, with my whole heart."

Her voice cracked unintentionally.

Before her, was pictured a little girl, toddler aged. She'd been sitting up, in a white form of material. Dress, shirt, or maybe even pajamas. Bonnie didn't look to hard at that detail. She just knew she looked like an angel. Her arms sprawled down before her, holding her toes as her knees were bent upward, and she was laughing. She had light-brown curls and while her features were painted delicately enough to see, how soft and playful she would have been, the one thing that stood out more than anything was her honest, and happy, teal colored eyes, and long fluttering eyelashes. Skin caramel brown, with eyebrows so light they blended in with her skin. Button nose, and infection giggle. Bonnie could hear the giggle in her mind, as he'd drawn the smallest laugh lines in her forehead and at the side of her eyes, and dimples in her cheeks, while her lips were heart shaped, like Bonnie's. She looked at her toes, and counted them for some reason. Ten perfect little toes.

The little girl was perfect, and Bonnie was overwhelmed with emotions. She looked like Dimitri, and also looked nothing like him. But she made perfect since.

She was perfect sense.

"Damon!" She called out. The name he didn't want to hear often, and knew it meant she was one of two things. Angry or sexually needy. And he had a feeling it wasn't the latter.

She paused a moment, waiting. But she remembered he didn't walk fast enough, and decided to go to him instead. She opened the door quickly, and began shouting, "Damon-" but he was standing there waiting. "Why..." she shook her head, tightening her lips. "I mean... you coulda told me." He didn't speak, he just listened, knowing she had words for him. "I mean, when did you... how could you possibly...?" She couldn't formulate a thought or a sentence. He just stood there, until she shook her head emotionally, at him. Her small hands hit his bare chest.

Once.

Twice.

And hit by hit, she delivered, to his bare skin, and he let her. Over and over, until she stopped, and rested her face on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held her as she cried.

Her tears ran down his chest, and he bit back tears, and his bottom lip, as she cried. She looked up at him, her eyes watery, his glossy. He was afraid of her anger. In this moment he hoped his plan didn't backfire. She was pained, but vulnerable. His thoughts were scattered, until she cupped his face.

"Thank you." She cried. "Thank you so much. I love you Damon Dimitri. I love Dimitri Dylan. I love Baylee Raye." Her tears forced his tears to fall at the same time. "I love us, and I love our..." she gulped, "Beautiful, dysfunctional life. You're my home. And I still hate you for cutting our son's hair, but... I love us." She cried.

"I love us too baby girl." He wrapped his arms around the small of her back. "And I'm sorry. I only did it, because he kept bumpin into things. I didn't want our beautiful boy to get hurt." He shot a guilty grin.

"I'm not ready to forgive or talk about it." She said. "But, you should know, this is the best gift, I have ever received. And I wanna look at it everyday, and know, that she smiles down on us. She's beautiful baby. You did so good. She's everything I could have imagined."

"She looks just like you Bird. That's..." his tears fell more, "...that how I see her." Bonnie wiped his tears. "I've always visioned that she's beautiful with an infectious laugh, like her momma. And she is... such a good girl. Like her momma."

"I love, how you see her... how you see me." She reached up, onto her toes, and kissed his tear drenched lips with a firm, but soft touch. "I know I ain't the same girl from back then, sweet, and innocent. But, somehow, you see me that way sometimes. And you're, the only person, who sees me that way."

"You..." he looked her directly in her eyes, "will always be my little Birdie. The voice of an Angel, that saved my life. And everything I do, will always be for you." They cried together, and Bonnie turned around and leaned her back against her husband who leaned his back against the wall, and they just stare in silence. Remembering the little girl that they never got to meet. Loving the idea of who she would've been.

Who she was to them.

Who shell always be, because they'd never forget her. She was the most special guiding source for them. She was the part of them, they lost sometimes, when they were far away from each other, trapped in a dark space.

A light.

And still, the guide, that kept bringing them back home. When Damon didn't want Baylee buried in Virginia, he now realizes, it was the best thing for them. Bonnie made the right decision. Because, they're back home, with Baylee.

"I say we take our boy, to go see his sister. I mean, if you're ready for that." He said, with his arm wrapped around her collar, and her hands holding his forearm. She then grabbed his other arm and wrapped it around her stomach. She could tell him about the doctor's suspicions. But she knew it wasn't the right time. This was Baylee's moment. And they both owed her the grievance. Together. And they owed her to speak more about her to each other, for each other. And tonight, was the moment, they would start. She leaned her head back into his chest, and his chin rested atop her head.

"I'd love that Doodle." A name fitting for the man who doodled magic into Bonnie's world.

They stood in silence, for a few more minutes. Grateful for all they had between them. Their son. Their daughter. Their love. And their home. No matter what place in the world, no matter how small. As long as they were together.

Baylee always brought them home to each other.

Excerpt Part 29

"Bird, can we talk?"

"Of course." Bonnie looked at her brother-in-law while her husband tried sitting their son on a horse with him. Her body kept tensing up and she grit her teeth watching Damon wrap his arm around the two-year-old.

"You okay?"

"Of course. I trust him. But..."

"But, what?"

"Does he trust himself? He's still dealing heavy with his issue."

"I know he's probably sick and tired of not being able to walk and drive. But a gentle ride on Sheila, will probably be good for him. Besides, he ain't gone run 'er. He'll just stroll along the farm."

"Yea. Maybe, you're right." She spoke timidly. "B'sides, G and Lily are right beside him."

"Yeah. Relax, it's gone be okay."

"Yeah. You're right." She grinned, and looked up. "So, what's on your mind, Stefan? Why you seem like you need some serious advice?"

"B'cos I do." He said nervously.

"Talk to me Stef. What's got you all tensed and anxious, looking lost in love, or confusion? Or should I say who?" She smiled, waiting to hear Sarah's name.

"Ginny."

Bonnie stopped suddenly. "Come again..." she put her hand to her chest. "My best friend, Ginny? You're ex Ginny?... Mike's Ginny?"

"That'd be the one."

Sorry for such a short chapter. But honestly maybe I should make them all this short from now on. :) it worked for me, and ended up longer than I was planning. But the painting was a pleasant and emotional surprise for Bonnie and it was a good moment between her and. Damon to bond. Hope you enjoyed. Thoughts?