Six Months Later

Elena sighed as she watched her husband hammering nails into a board in the new interior of what used to be the storage room, ogling him openly as she watched the powerful muscles in his arms and back flex. He was sweating even though it was winter, shirtless because of the manual labour he was doing at the moment.

Unaware of her presence, he kept working, and Elena kept watching, still wanting to pinch herself to make her believe that the life she was living now was actually real and not a very lovely dream.

A whimsical smile passed over her face when the glitter of the enormous diamond wedding ring on her hand winked at her as she lifted her hand to pull the warm knit cap from her head. She had just come from the Ridge. The business of the resort had grown into a monster in a very short amount of time since she had become the president.

She had more employees than she could count, and she enjoyed working with all her staff. John was already searching out more sites for the business because it was growing so fast, and they were planning to build an extra wing to accommodate for more customers, especially during the peak seasons.

The presence of a growing business of the Ridge had brought incredible economic growth to Mystic Falls, employing many people who needed jobs. For Elena, that was one of her greatest accomplishments.

Mystic Falls was her home. This was where she belonged. She wanted everyone living in here happy. Just like her.

As she eyed her husband hungrily, she knew Damon was her greatest asset and always would be, no matter how large her business grew in the future. She could live without the business; she couldn't live without him.

Just like he had promised, he did seem to love her more and more every single day. So much so that they would both had a hard time parting in the morning. Damon had needed to make a few short business trips together with John for extension of the business since they had gotten married, and separation for even a few days had been excruciatingly painful for both of them. Maybe it was the newness of their love, or maybe it was just because they were addicted to each other and couldn't bear to be apart.

I love you even more today. I miss you.

That text appeared on her cell phone every day without fail while she was working at the Ridge, and her heart never ceased to skitter every time she saw it, and she quickly texted back.

I love you. I miss you, too.

Today, his text had been different, throwing her off balance.

I love you even more today. I need you.

He had never texted that he needed her, and the slight difference had put her senses on high alert. She handed everything over to John and left the Ridge early, suddenly needing to see Damon, to assure herself that everything was okay.

Now that she was here, she could see that her husband looked fine in more ways than one, and she wondered if she had just panicked for nothing.

She removed her jacket and gloves, dropping them onto the countertop by a beautiful, large window. Damon had done a complete teardown on the storage room. He had wanted to build an office for himself so that he could work at the Manor instead of leaving her alone. She couldn't deny his gesture was sweet and he had always put her first before himself.

Elena kept her eyes glued to his muscular back as she moved toward him anxiously, needing to touch him.

I need you.

It wasn't like Damon didn't tell her that all the time, but he had never changed his text. They had been married for five months, having an even hastier wedding than Mason and Samantha had put together. Jenna had come for their wedding, as had her friend Bonnie. In the past few months, she had become good friends with Isobel, Melissa and Samantha, all of the women—including Lillian and Valarie— and they tried getting together as often as possible.

I have family again. Lots of family and friends.

It felt good to have family and friends, people she knew she could count on to support her through anything. She was not alone.

Elena carefully slipped her arms around Damon, hugging him from behind after he had put down his hammer. "Hello, handsome," she purred against his back.

"Hey, sweetheart. You are early." He turned instantly and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sweaty and I probably smell," he warned her huskily.

"I happen to love you hot and sweaty." Visions of the many times he had been hot and perspiring with exertion from making her come until she screamed floated through her mind. She inhaled his musky scent, the erotic images becoming more vivid. She had plenty of those memories due to Damon's insatiable desire to make her come. Not that she was complaining.

"I love you that way, too. Want to work up a sweat with me?" he asked hopefully as he moved his hands down the back of her sweater.

She pulled back and looked into his eyes. "Are you okay?" She could see that he was fine, but the sense that something was troubling him still lingered.

He hesitated a moment before replying, "Yeah. I'm good. Why?"

I need you.

She shook her head slowly, realizing she had overreacted. "Your text was different today. I thought you needed me, so I left early."

Damon pulled back for a minute to dig into his pocket for his cell phone. He stared at it for minute before he replied, "I guess I typed what I was feeling at the moment. It is different." He frowned as he looked up at her with an intense expression. "I can't believe you even noticed." He put the phone back into his pocket.

She tried to explain. "It wasn't just the words. After I read them, it was like I sensed…... something."

Damon released a masculine sigh. "I was thinking about an idea I had been considering right before I texted you."

"What?"

"Since I have been working on this office, I realize I actually enjoy it. I got a crazy idea to do more."

Elena's eyes widened "You want to do more?"

"Huh, uh."

She glanced around the room. "What do you want to do?"

He shrugged. "It was just a thought. There are so many guest rooms here that are left empty. Maybe we can utilise some of them."

She raised her brows. "Utilise some of them? How?"

He grinned at her. "I know you have always enjoyed painting. What about an art room for painting?"

"Really? An art room?"

"Why not? I love watching you paint." He winked at her. "You look sexy like hell."

She smiled up at him. "Okay." She stroked over his jaw tenderly. "Let's do it. As long as you are happy, I'm okay with whatever you want."

He pulled her tightly against him and buried his face in her hair. "I'm already happy because I have you, sweetheart. Building an art room would just be a very small amount of icing on an already very sweet cake."

"Then bring on the frosting," she murmured right before she pulled his head down and kissed him tenderly. "A cake can never be too sweet."

"You are amazing," he said huskily. "There is one more thing I think I really did need to talk to you."

"Hmm, hmm."

"I want to build a nursery room," he whispered.

Damon's cell phone rang before she could respond, and he scowled as he pulled it back out of his pocket again. "It is Mason." He answered it immediately.

Elena listened intently as Damon spoke, his voice sounding nervous.

"Okay, we will be there soon. I don't care if there is nothing we can really do. I want to be there. And I'm sure Elena wants to be there," Damon grumbled into the phone.

Elena smiled. Obviously Samantha was in labour, and it might be a very long wait at the hospital since it was her first child, but Elena wouldn't miss being there for any reason. She knew Samantha was excited and nervous. If Samantha had to wait around for her labour to start in earnest, Elena wanted to be there for her.

Damon hung up the phone. "Samantha is in labour. Mason said it could be a while, since the contractions are pretty far apart. I should be able to grab a shower."

"I will make us all something to eat while you clean up," Elena agreed. "I'm so excited. I can't wait to see the baby."

"I think it will be a boy," Damon said. "In case you haven't noticed, boys seem to run in the Lockwood family."

Elena laughed. "You know Mason and Samantha didn't want to know the sex of the baby beforehand. You are basing your information on the fact that there are historically more boys than girls in Mason's family?" Nobody would know the new infant's sex until he or she was actually born.

His shirt and jacket now on, Damon grinned. "Not really just that."

"You just hope it is a boy," Elena accused him with a laugh as he pulled her towards the door, her heart light at the thought of welcoming a new baby into the family. "It could just as well turn out to be a girl. Would you really care?"

"Nope. I don't really care whether it is a boy or a girl. I would be just as excited to have either one. The same applies for us."

Elena stopped at the door to stare at her husband. "Us?"

"I don't really mind if our first child is a boy or a girl." He shrugged. "As long as the child is healthy."

She smiled at him. "Same here. But I think I prefer a girl."

"Why?"

She chuckled. "I can dress her up like a princess."

Damon groaned. "Oh, God!"

Elena burst out laughing. "But right now, we will see if Samantha ends up with a girl or a boy,"

"You are right," Damon teased as he pulled her out the door and locked it behind him.

It was a very long night, but they had plenty of company with all of the Gilbert family gathered there in the waiting room. In fact, Samantha didn't deliver her healthy baby boy until the next morning.

Elena walked out of the hospital the next day yawning, her head resting on Damon's strong biceps after they had finally had a chance to welcome the new baby to the family.

"It was a boy," Damon said smugly.

"Beautiful boy," she answered sleepily.

Damon shrugged and pulled her closer to him to shield her body from the cold wind as they walked towards their vehicle. "He looks like Mason," he said.

Elena nodded and huddled closer to Damon's warmth. She yawned again as Damon unlocked the door of the vehicle and opened the passenger-side door for her.

"Tired?" he asked in a concerned voice.

"Definitely." Now that the excitement of the new arrival was over and both Samantha and the baby were healthy, her exhaustion had hit her like a rock.

"Let's go home so you can get some sleep." Damon settled her into her seat and belted her in before he jogged around to the driver's side.

She smiled as her husband got into the car, shooting him an adoring look before she closed her eyes peacefully and started drifting off to sleep. Home wasn't a place or a building for her anymore; it was a state of mind. As long as Damon was with her, she would always be home.

THE END

"Family Ties" has come to an end. I hope my readers have enjoyed this story. It is a slow burn and doesn't have a lot of thrills or excitement like some of my other Delena stories. What I'm hoping to bring out is the family bonding - the family is like music, some high notes, some low notes, but always a beautiful song.

I promise I will continue to write Delena stories and share them with all of you. Watch the space!