The First Year

A/N: This was written for my friend Hailey as a Christmas present :) As always, the character of Delena belongs to her. I'm only borrowing her for this fic.

Elena gave a dainty sniff at the sweet smell of cinnamon drifting through the air.

It was Christmas Eve, and it had been Stefan's idea to buy the air freshener in order to set the mood. Elena was honestly surprised that Damon had agreed to it, but she supposed that anything that wasn't causing an actual mess was alright for him.

Damon. The name, in that moment, caused a feeling of both annoyance and slight sadness to spread through the brunette's very being. Only a few weeks prior, the most joyous occasion of her life had taken place. Her daughter, a human child that she had been able to conceive through help from witches, had been born. The days following her birth had been most filled with so much happiness. The only problem was the fact that Damon had yet to really bond with his own daughter.

"Elena?"

Elena turned to see who had called her name and gave a small smile when she realized that the person was Stefan. Stefan in turn shot her a playful smirk. "Enjoying the holiday scent?"

She nodded, an honest response. "I am actually. It was a good idea. I'm excited to use the peppermint one tomorrow morning." She paused, and then after realizing that Stefan had just come from upstairs, she asked her next question. "Is Delena still asleep?"

Yes, Delena. The name of their daughter had been created by mixing the two names; Damon and Elena, together. It had been Elena's idea and although both of the Salvatore brothers had initially believed that it was a ridiculous notion, the name grew more and more fitting for her as the years went by.

Stefan nodded. "I just checked and she's still out like a log. Which is strange, since she usually wants to eat at this time."

Elena winced at that. It was another reminder that Stefan had been taking the role as his niece's father figure while her real father had bee slacking off. "I'm sorry Stefan. I know you've been doing a lot of the work..."

"I actually don't mind it, Elena," Stefan assured. But then a frown crossed his brow. "But Damon needs to pick up the slack. Eventually, she's going to start thinking i'm her father. And even if he doesn't want to admit it, I know he would hate that."

Elena sighed and slumped down onto the sofa, knowing full well that Stefan was right. "I just don't know how to get him to bond with her. He's been so stubborn about it. It'd be nice if he would actually put in the effort to really spend some time with her during her first Christmas."It was then, at her own words, that an idea sprang to her mind. In result, her brown eyes lit up.

"I think I just thought of something. He's been asking over and over again what I wanted for Christmas." Although Damon wasn't one to really celebrate the holidays at all, he never missed out on a chance to spoil her. And right now, there was nothing Elena wanted more than for him to begin trying to have a genuine relationship with Delena. "I could ask him to try bonding with her tomorrow." She then bit her lip a bit nervously and looked back up at Stefan. "Do you think that would work?"

Stefan sighed. "Maybe. it isn't really a good thing that you have to use that tactic just to get him to sit down with his own daughter for a little while, but hopefully it could lead to something genuine. Progress."

Elena nodded. "I think it's worth a try."

Damon was lounging around in the bedroom when she found him, a book in hand. Elena had to hold back a small laugh at the sight. It was very seldom that Damon ever read books but when he did, it was usually because he was very bored.

"I know what I want for Christmas now," she said solidly as she approached him, eventually sitting down on the bed next to him.

At the sound of her voice and the motion of her sitting down, the blue-eyed vampire looked up from what he had been reading to smirk at her. "You're a little late. Christmas is tomorrow."

"Better late than ever, right? Besides...what i'm going to ask for shouldn't be too hard for you to do."

"Alright. Name it."

"I want you to actually spend some time with Delena tomorrow. And just you. Not like last time when you lingered in the room with her for twenty minutes but had Stefan do all of the work."

The only emotion she could clear see from Damon's expression was surprise. "You know, when I asked you what you wanted, I was mainly looking for an item of some kind."

"But there's nothing I want more than for the three of us to have a shot at being a real family. Damon, please." She scooted closer to him, her brown eyes displaying clear pleading. "I know you only agreed to having her to make me happy but one of the reasons I wanted this was so we could be her parents...together. Please at least give it a chance, even if it's just for my sake."

Damon sighed in a frustrated fashion but Elena could clearly see the defeat in his eyes, proving that she had won. "Alright. I'll try. But i'm not making any other promises. I don't think the kid is going to like me."

Elena desperately wanted to tell him how wrong he was. She wanted to tell him that even as a little baby, their daughter seemed to always gravitate in his direction..always craved his attention. From the looks she gave him when he walked out of a room to the little squeals of happiness that emanated from her whenever he entered a room but she didn't want to risk starting an argument with him. Not when he had only just agreed to give her what she wanted.

She managed a small smile in his direction before she leaned forward to give him a chaste, short kiss on the lips. "Thank you."

Despite his obvious annoyance, Damon smirked once more, even if it was in a grim fashion. "I still think this is going to be a disaster. But if it's what you want...then I guess i'll have to risk it."

When Christmas morning eventually came, Damon forced himself to trudge up in the direction of...his daughter's bedroom. It was a term that he was still trying to get used to, even weeks after her birth. Truthfully, although he would never admit it to anyone, the idea of fulfilling his promise to Elena terrified him. He didn't know how to act around babies or how to handle them, other than the fact that they were very fragile. It was one of the many reasons he thought the idea of him being a father was laughable in the first place.

But...he had to do it. Both because he had promised the woman he loved and because he figured life would be easier for him if he just grew to accept this new aspect of his existence that life had thrown at him. She existed and she was biologically his. There was no going back on that.

After he approached the bedroom door he forced himself to open it and enter the room, seeing her lying in your crib, a pacifier in her mouth. As Damon stepped closer, he took a moment to gaze down at her small face. He could already tell that she would grow up to be the spitting image of his mother, aside from his blue eyes.

"Hey kiddo," he began hesitantly, gulping a little in nervousness. It was utterly ridiculous that a baby was making him feel this way but he couldn't help it. This was completely new territory for him. "Ready to get up and go downstairs?"

Delena dropped her pacifier and let out a small, happy sounding squeal and reached up towards him with her tiny hands. And...alright, Damon would admit it. It was kind of cute. He let out a small chuckle. "I'll take that as a yes." After carefully scooping her up into his arms, he made his way to join Elena and his little brother downstairs.

Elena unfortunately had this big Christmas gathering being planned...and she was so excited about it that Damon didn't have the heart to put a stop to it, no matter how much the idea of the boarding house being filled with people aggravated him. But luckily, it wasn't going to happen until later that night, leaving a afternoon and morning of peace.

Damon sat in his usual armchair, with Delena in his lap. It was a bit of a foreign feeling that he wasn't used to but it wasn't pleasant. But that may be because she hadn't had a crying fit yet.

Elena beamed at the sight of them as she turned away from admiring the Christmas tree. "You two look so cute."

Damon rolled his eyes and murmured underneath his breath. "It's a work in progress."

But secretly, with the way his daughter's small body seemed to instinctively curl into his arms, he had a feeling that progress was being made quicker than he thought it would.

The morning and afternoon passed by much too quickly for Damon's taste.

Elena rolled her eyes in Damon's direction. "Alright Damon, you fulfilled your promise. You held her all morning. You can retreat back to your bedroom now if you want, before the house becomes filled with people."

Damon frowned in slight suspicion. "Where will Delena be?"

Elena blinked in a motion that looked like confusion. "Obviously she'll stay down here. Besides, I think the others would like to see and hold her."

"My kid isn't going to be passed along like some kind of pet at a party."

Now the only expression that could be clearly seen on Elena's face was utter shock...which quickly melted into one of amusement and smugness. "Not that i'm complaining, but when did you decide to be Mr. Dad?"

"I don't need her to be placed in a position where she could be dropped," Damon clarified, completely ignoring the 'Mr. Dad' bit.

Now a small frown crossed Elena's brow. "As much as i'm enjoying your sudden father instincts, I promised everyone that they could see her. Even though I think it should be obvious that I wouldn't allow anyone to drop her, if you really want to watch over her yourself, you're just going to have to stay down here and join the party."

And shockingly and to Elena's delight, that was exactly what he ended up doing.

A few weeks had passed since that fateful Christmas and Elena couldn't be happier with all of the changes that had occurred in the household.

The changes in Damon in particular was more than apparent. He was now doing more of the work involving Delena than Stefan was and without even complaining much. There were a few groans thrown here and there when she woke up crying in the middle of the night but that was expected. Even Elena herself could do without that aspect of parenthood. But everything else was wonderful.

It was late at night now and the female vampire was on her way to bed. She was planning on taking a straight trip to the bedroom since Damon had volunteered to tuck Delena in but as she passed the nursery, she couldn't help but completely stop in her tracks at the sight that caught her eye.

Damon was tucking Delena into bed, but it wasn't just that. He was gazing at her with a look of pure adoration and her tiny fingers were curled around one of his fingers. The very sight made Elena's heart want to burst with the cuteness overload. She desperately wanted to say something but at the same time, didn't want to interrupt the precious moment.

But eventually, it became clear that she was found out anyway.

With amusement in his voice, Damon called out to her. "I know you're there Elena."

Elena laughed lightly. "You caught me." She then stepped into the room. "I'm sorry. But when I saw the two of you like this, I couldn't resist." She walked over to stand beside Damon, grabbing onto his arm affectionately. "Thank you."

Damon turned to look at her. "For what?"

"For doing this. For bonding with her and really trying to be her father. And I have to say, I think you're succeeding."

"It isn't for you...well, at first it was. But i've come to a few realizations." Damon's icy blue eyes now had a serious glint in them. "This may not be the life I would have ever imagined myself for the past but i've come to the conclusion that maybe it could work...the three of us. As a family."

Elena's eyes began to glisten with tears of happiness.

Damon continued. "I can't promise you that it's going to be perfect but..."

"Damon," Elena said firmly. cutting him off. She placed a tender hand on his cheek. "I don't care if you're not perfect. I won't be a perfect mother either. All that matters to me is that you're finally accepting this...and embracing it. That means the world to me."

And then to silence any other objections or insecurities he might have, she pressed her lips passionately to his.

The End