Here we go the first chapter of the third installment of the "Expecting the Unexpected" series. I really hope you enjoy this. The first chapter is a bit slow but I promise it'll pick up soon with college starting and their adjustment to living together, being full time students, full time parents and still having time for being young people in love. Let me know what you think.

Elena

"Make sure you call us daily and come to visit every chance you get." My mom said as she hugged a struggling Madalyn to her chest. Mady was at the stage now where all she wanted to do was walk so she was very unhappy being practically suffocated by my mother. Caroline was driving to Richmond with us and then flying out tomorrow to New York. She was already in the car looking more nervous than I had ever seen her.

"I may not be able to call every day once school starts. I'm going to be very busy with everything." I reminded my mom and she frowned.

"I have spent the past year pretty much every day with Mady and you, you can't just disappear out of my life." She said her eyes beginning to fill up.

"She's not disappearing from our lives. She's simply going off to college." My dad interjected and I smiled at him. He was taking this far better than my mom was. He put my large suitcase into the back of the SUV and shut the hatch. The suit case was mainly filled with Mady's stuff since most of mine was already in Richmond. Damon and Klaus had went up two days ago with the moving van so everything was ready when I got there with Mady. I was glad I got a couple extra days here, it was hard to leave my family. But I was excited to start my new life at college with Damon and Mady. We would finally get to be a real family. Now we would finally be living together and we would raise Mady with just the two of us and Klaus.

"It feels like she's disappearing." My mom said as she pulled Mady down so her face was mashed into my moms chest.

"No Mama." Mady screeched as she tried to fight out of my moms embrace.

"Let Mady go." My dad urged and she reluctantly put Mady down. Mady walked over to my dad and pulled on his shirt with her arms open.

"Hug Papa?" She asked and my dad bent down to hug her.

"Are you ready to go see your dad?" My dad asked her and she nodded. Mady's smile lit up and she hugged my dad.

"My daddy." She said with a wide smile. Mady still absolutely loved her dad, it was amazing to see. He was easily her favourite person in the entire world and I couldn't blame her. He was definitely tied for first place with Mady for my favourite person.

"Why don't you go get in the car so we can go see daddy." I told her and she kissed my dad quickly and walked over to the car. The door was opened and my dad gave her a boost so she could get in. My dad buckled her into her car seat and shut the door.

"Now just do me a couple favours." My mom said wiping tears out of her eyes.

"What do you need?" I asked her. She really was taking this hard and I hated that she was hurting. But she still had Jeremy so it wasn't like I was leaving her an empty nest. But I understood her sadness, she was losing both me and Mady all at once.

"Please don't have another child right now, it would be horrible timing and please don't get married. I want to be present for your wedding and I don't want it to happen at the city hall." She said.

"Done and done. I have no intention of getting pregnant again so soon and wedding plans have already been started for next summer when we get home." I told her and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"You should probably hit the road so you don't get there too late. Call us immediately when you get there, just to let us know you got there safely." My dad said and I was happy one of them was keeping a level head.

"You're right. I promise I'll call in a couple of hours." I told him and my mom nodded.

"I'm going to miss you guys so much." She said opening the back door and kissing Mady once more. My dad copied her and then they both stepped back. I hugged them both once more then walked around to the other side to get in and make my way to Richmond.

"So what's going on with you?" I asked Caroline after we had been driving in silence for nearly an hour. Caroline could rarely go five or ten minutes without conversation so the fact that she had been silent for this long was a cause for concern.

"What do you mean?" She asked me snapping out of a trance that she seemed to be in.

"You're acting weird. What's going on?" I asked and she sighed so I knew it was bad.

"I'm breaking up with Klaus." He told me and I nearly slammed on the brakes and pulled onto the shoulder.

"What?" I asked her. That had come right out of the blue and I was completely shocked. Last time I checked she was happy with him. This was so completely out of left field it was crazy.

"I'm breaking up with Klaus. It's just time. Our relationship has run it's course and I can't be in a relationship with someone who's not even in the same state as me. The distance will be too hard and it will hurt less to just do it now rather than us both being completely miserable for the next while." She explained.

"Does he have any idea?" I asked her.

"I don't think so. I wasn't sure how to hint that I was breaking up with him so I decided to take the band-aid approach." She answered.

"I think the two of you could make the distance work." I argued but I knew it was futile.

"We couldn't, mainly because I don't think I want to. I want to meet someone who is willing to be around me. Klaus chose you and Damon over me and that hurts just a little bit." She said.

"You chose New York over him. Klaus has been planning on going to Richmond with Damon and I since I found out I was pregnant with Mady. It shouldn't be a surprise to you that's what he chose." I reminded her and she scowled.

"I really hope you're not going to immediately be on Team Klaus after this." She sighed.

"I'm hoping there won't be teams. I love you, you're my best friend and my daughters god-mother but I also love Klaus. He's my daughters god-father and one of the best friends I've ever had. He's done so much for Damon and I and we owe him so much." I told her and she nodded.

"I can understand that. I'll try to remain as civil as I can. I don't know when it happened but I fell out of love with him. I'm thinking in the summer since I didn't see him very much." She murmured.

"Probably and it's okay that you fell out of love with him. I'm not holding anything against you, just please be careful and don't hook up with the first guy you meet when you get to New York." I pleaded with her.

"I won't. I don't want a rebound relationship, those never work out." She promised and I nodded. I glanced in my rear view mirror and saw that Mady was fast asleep with her favourite Elsa doll wrapped in her arms. No wonder it was so quiet in the car right now.

"I can't wait to see Damon. I miss him so much." I said changing the subject.

"It's only been two days. I never got like that over Klaus, so that's why you and Damon are going to go the distance." She uttered and I had to agree with her. Damon and I would be together forever, it doesn't matter that you fight and sometimes you really can't stand the other person. It matters that you love them enough to deal with their faults and your own.

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When we got to Richmond, I followed the directions that Damon had texted me earlier. I drove into a nice area and found the number I was looking for. There was a double parking spot beside the house and I pulled in beside Damon's Camaro. When I parked the car the front door opened and Damon and Klaus came out. Caroline sighed and got out of the car at the same time that Damon opened the back door to get Mady. Mady stayed asleep until Damon unbuckled her.

"Daddy!" She squealed and threw herself into his arms.

"Hi baby." He said kissing her forehead and pulling her out of the car. I got out on the other side and opened the back of the

SUV so we could get the stuff. Damon took Mady into the house and Klaus, Caroline and I all grabbed stuff from the back. I caught Caroline's gaze and gave her a reassuring look as I grabbed the play pen from the trunk.

Once everything was inside I sat down on the couch beside Damon and leaned my head on his shoulder. Klaus and Caroline had went upstairs and I sighed knowing what was going to happen.

"How was the drive?" He asked me. Mady was playing with Anna and Elsa on the floor looking completely happy. I knew I should go unpack the rest of our stuff and tour the condo but I was too happy sitting with Damon to move. I had all day to unpack so right now I just wanted to be here.

"It was fine. Nothing too special happened." I answered. I instantly realized I hadn't kissed him since I got home so I tilted my chin up. He knew what I wanted so he kissed me sweetly. I hadn't touched him in two days so I missed him. We kept the kiss tame so we didn't get out of control. A few minutes later Klaus and Caroline came back down. Caroline had tears in her eyes and Klaus looked solemn.

"What's up?" Damon asked seeing the two of them looking so unhappy.

"Caroline and I have broken up." He said sitting on the third spot on the couch on the other side of Damon. Caroline took the recliner on the opposite side looking miserable.

"Are you okay?" I asked Caroline.

"I'll be fine. It just hurt more than I thought it would. But it still feels right." She whispered and I understood.

"Why did you two break up?" Damon asked.

"Caroline informed me that she needed to be single to go up to New York. The distance would be too much for her." Klaus said and I was happy that he wasn't making it entirely her fault. It was like Mady could tell that something was wrong, she got up and went to sit on Caroline's knee.

"Maybe I should just get a hotel room tonight so it's not awkward. I don't want to sleep on your couch." She whispered.

"There's a twin size bed in Mady's room that you can use tonight. I don't want you to leave, we're not going to see each other for quite a while now." I told her hoping she would decide to stay. Starting tomorrow we would have a much larger physical distance between us than we have ever had before. It was strange knowing that my best friend wasn't going to be close to me anymore.

"Okay." She agreed and I breathed a sigh of relief. I knew it was selfish considering how awkward it was going to be with both Klaus and Caroline here tonight, but I wasn't ready to lose her yet.

"I think I'm going to go out." Klaus decided upon hearing that Caroline was staying.

"Don't Klaus, please. You managed to be around each other when you weren't together. For Mady's sake try to be civil. I don't want her to think there is something wrong." I begged. Mady would notice at some point if they started avoiding each other. She may still be young but she was very perceptive for only being sixteen months old.

"Alright, but I'm going to go finish unpacking. I'll see you guys in the morning." Klaus said and I sighed. But at least it was better than him leaving.

"I'm sorry I'm messing everything up." Caroline cried.

"It's okay Care. I can't blame you for not wanting to be in a relationship with like 350 miles in between. It's a long commute." I assured her. I didn't think it was wrong, I just wished it would have been. As much as I wanted them together it was impossible.

"I'm going to miss you and Mady so much Lena. I really wish I had changed my mind and come here instead." She wept. Her tears were starting to get out of control so I got up and knelt in front of her. Damon got up and snuck out of the room and went upstairs. I figured he was going to talk to Klaus who was upset but not as upset as Caroline. I knew Klaus well enough to know that he understood why it was happening.

"You've wanted New York since we were freshman. Don't throw that away. I'm going to be living vicariously through you." I told her.

"I don't want to do it without you. It was supposed to be you and me." She murmured through her tears. She sniffled and I hugged her.

"You'll be fine. I know you, you'll have people bowing down at you very quickly. I'm sure of it. You'll call me next week and tell me all about all of your new friends and I'll be telling you I told you so." I tried to convince her.

"My flight is early tomorrow, I think I should get some sleep." Caroline decided finally.

"I'll bring Mady to bed with me and Damon tonight so you can sleep. She still sometimes wakes up at night." I told her and she nodded. She bent her head and kissed Mady on the top of the head before handing her over to me. I knew I wasn't going to sleep much tonight with Mady in the bed with us but it was better me than Caroline. I was used to having no sleep by this point.

When I got into bed I put a pillow on Damon's side until he came to bed so Mady didn't roll off. She immediately snuggled into me and I really hoped she wouldn't get used to this. Damon came in a few minutes later and came around to my side to kiss me so he didn't disturb Mady. When she was tired she fell asleep easily and she couldn't be disturbed. Her thumb was in her mouth, Elsa in her other arm and her eyelids hid eyes a bright shade of blue. They perfectly matched her fathers. I had taken her pig tails out before she fell asleep so I brushed a small amount of dark hair away from her forehead.

"I still can't believe how beautiful she is. She amazes me every single day." Damon said as he pulled his shirt off and carefully slid into the king sized bed beside Mady. There was plenty of room but I knew the three of us would be huddled together in the centre by morning.

"She looks so much like you it scares me. You have no idea how excited I am to start being a family with you and Mady. It's finally going to be how it should have always been." I told him and he reached across Mady to brush my hair away from my face.

"It's exactly as it should be and even before it was perfect. We weren't ready to live together then. Now we're mature enough to be a family." He whispered. We had to talk low so we didn't wake Mady up. I loved watching her sleep, I could do it all the time. She looked so peaceful. Her lips were slightly open so her pacifier was hanging loosely from her lips. I knew better than to pull it out, she would wake up screaming.

"You're right. So when do your classes start?" I asked him.

"Tuesday. Yours are Monday right?" He asked and I nodded.

"So you'll watch Mady on Monday while I'm in class. Tuesday Klaus gets her in the morning and I have her in the afternoon since I only have a morning class. Wednesday I have to see if I can get her into a day care and see how much that will cost me. I'll figure that out tomorrow." I told him. We needed to work out the child care issue.

"I have an orientation thing tomorrow. I can skip it if you want me to, but I'd like to go." He said into the darkness.

"No you should go. I can take Mady with me to figure out the child care issue." I said.

"Are you sure?" He asked. He wanted to make sure we were equal on everything. He didn't want me to spend all my time

taking care of our daughter while he was out living the college guy lifestyle.

"Absolutely." I promised him and he sat up.

"I guess we should get some sleep." He decided. I sat up and leaned across Mady to give him a goodnight kiss. Goodnight kisses were going to be one of those things I was going to love about living with Damon. Everything was different now but it was going to be perfect.

"Goodnight." I whispered into the darkness. Tomorrow our lives together would officially start.

So do you all hate me? Somewhere in the past little while I decided I didn't ship Klaroline anymore really. When asked the question of who is best for Caroline, the answer ended up not being Klaus. Stay tuned.