Ah…the epilogue…

Such a sad thing to write. To know that your story has finally come to an end. I would like to thank you all for reading and reviewing. Particularly a handful that have stayed with me for quite some time, and are almost NEVER quiet.

As always, my "beta" Kryptonite12: the fact that you are critical, but in a constructive way, helps me so much. It is because of you I write. I have so many more that I don't want to leave anyone out. Just know I read every single review, and I appreciate the comments, truly.

My inspirations…those who's stuff I read regularly…AngelGoddess1981, Bronzehyperion, MsBond, and Jenny0719 to name a few…. I absolutely LOVE they way they write. They write mostly, if not all, Twilight. I may delve into that world in a bit…Got some ideas swimming around in my head with that storyline…

And now…

Epilogue

Damon

If anyone would have told me I, Damon Salvatore, would have taken to writing in a journal, I'd have thought them mad. Still, it seems to help my bride, so I thought I'd try my hand at it. One would be amazed to see how much better you feel after putting your feelings on paper.

It's been three years since that day in Mrs. Flowers' home. Three years since our world was finally made right. My bride is happy knowing we will be together for an eternity. Do I think we are no longer at risk? Absolutely not. I'm not a fool. The moment another of our kind gets wind of our existence, we will have to move ourselves, our belongings, our families…

Ah yes, our families. Jessa is now three years old, and into just about everything she can get her hands on. She is extremely inquisitive, and we are all anxiously awaiting the day when she notices our lack of aging and questions us. She's still young enough that she hasn't yet, and that scares both Meredith and Bonnie immensely. I continually tell her she need not worry, but it does nothing to calm her. Perhaps when we are able to move from this place and start anew it will put her fears to rest. Never completely, but somewhat.

Elena and Stefan have decided to adopt.

Not that they didn't try to conceive, but they weren't sure of what the outcome would have been. Stefan didn't want to deal with the what-ifs, and I cannot say I blame him. Had it been Bonnie in her place…well…I'd rather not even think of it. I know the thought of leaving Jessa behind will torture both Bonnie and Elena, as they refer to her affectionately as their niece. But it's a necessity, and both of our brides are well aware of it.

Curiously, Elena doesn't seem to have aged either. My kind is usually fairly attuned to changes in the body, and neither Stefan nor I have noticed any differences. I've been meaning to discuss this with him, but it seems as if we never get the time.

I heard Bonnie's squeals before she hit the stairs and ran to put my journal away. Not even my bride knew of my new hobby, and I was more than willing to keep that little secret from her. She burst through the door as I walked back into the room from our adjoining bathroom, and threw herself into my arms, wrapping her legs around my waist and kissing every part of my face except my lips. I chuckled. "To what do I owe this extreme show of affection, cara?"

She leaned back and grinned from ear to ear. "Our nephew," she said as she continued her assault on my face.

I pulled back to look at her and raised an eyebrow. "Our nephew?"

"Yes," she squealed between kisses. "Our nephew."

"I take it my brother and his wife were given the green light?"

Bonnie's eyes glistened as she spoke. "You take it correctly." Suddenly she leaped from my arms and was across the room before I could blink. "They'll be here any minute."

My wife...she was somewhat of a tornado in that moment, and I found myself leaning back and watching her. As she sashayed about our bedroom, even at our speed, she was breathtaking. Out of nowhere, or perhaps she had had them all along and I was too lovestruck to notice, she had outlet covers in her hands and was gently pushing them into every outlet in our bedroom. "Cara," I whispered, "do you really think we need all of that already?"

Bonnie stopped short and looked at me, her head cocked to one side in thought. "Why wouldn't we?"

I walked slowly to her, my arms outstretched, and she walked into my embrace, running her hands along my arms until they rested behind my head. "Well, how old is this nephew we are expecting?"

Bonnie grinned and turned a beautiful shade of crimson. "Six months," she said shrugging. "I guess it's a little premature?"

I nodded as I smiled at her. No, breathtaking was not the word for her. In all my existence, there had never been a woman more beautiful than my Bonnie. "There are no words for how beautiful you are. Truly. Non posso dire abbastanza."

She smiled and I heard the thoughts in her head that made me want to lock all the doors and take her right where we stood. She giggled, no doubt at my thoughts, and pulled my hair to bring my lips to hers. "Have I mentioned how sexy it is when you speak Italian to me?"

This time I grinned and pulled her impossibly closer. The smell of strawberries assaulted my senses and I could think of nothing but her. Her eyes, her lips, the way her hips fit right into my hands...I could hear her heart rate quicken and at the exact moment I was prepared to pull each article of clothing off, we both heard the car doors outside. "Another time," she whispered against my lips as she pulled away slowly. My growl resonated throughout the room and I heard my brother chuckle from where they stood at the front door.

Did we interrupt something, Damon?

I shook my head, knowing he couldn't see me, but could probably guess what he did interrupt. Oh, I would surely repay his horrible timing sometime in the near future.

"They're here."

Bonnie

"They're here."

With my husband's words I flew down the stairs in excitement. I reached the door in record time, even for my speed, and threw the door open.

Beautiful gray eyes captivated me, as the little boy in Elena's arms reached for me. "Well, it looks like he's taken to his Aunt Bonnie already." Stefan chuckled as Elena handed the baby to me.

He looked to be about eight months old, and he had the chubbiest cheeks I had ever remembered seeing on a baby. "His name is Dante."

I could hear Damon's thoughts behind me as he stared at the boy in my arms. He's beautiful, isn't he? I nodded in response and felt my eyes glistening.

"Dante Salvatore, you are a handsome one," I said, lifting him high in the air as he squealed with delight. Toothless baby grins had always been a weakness of mine. "Whatever will we do with such beauty in one family?"

Elena giggled and reached for Dante. He squirmed in her grasp and tried to turn to see me again, and that's when I noticed it.

He wore a lapis lazuli ring on his pinky.

Damon must've noticed it at that exact moment, too. He gasped and pulled me to stand behind him. "Tell me you didn't."

Stefan stopped him almost mid-sentence. "Of course not! We all know the legends of the immortal children. They are born from evil. And besides, no one has ever actually seen any of them anyway. They're a myth."

Elena clutched Dante to her chest tightly. "My son is not evil. And he's not an immortal either. We just figured he could have a ring that matched Stefan's so no one would question it."

I laughed lightly. I was the only immortal out of all of us that could be seen in daylight without the ring, and it hadn't occurred to me that they would give their child one. No one had ever questioned Stefan's when we were in high school, so the thought of others asking about it was almost unheard of. "Sorry," I whispered, grinning sheepishly. "Habit."

Elena smiled slightly and walked further into the house, holding a squealing Dante on her hip. She looks absolutely natural, I thought, and Damon and Stefan both nodded.

"I do not," Elena said, and then gasped. "Wait, did you say that out loud?"

I shook my head slowly and Damon and Stefan were looking back and forth between us and each other. "What do you think that means?"

Elena shrugged and sat on the sofa, placing Dante on his blanket that seems to appear out of nowhere. Stefan shrugged this time. Apparently he was faster than even my eyes could see. "Doesn't matter, I guess. Whatever happens, happens. Right guys?"

No one spoke, not out loud anyway. Damon's thoughts were going a mile a minute. I saw people that must've been from his past, because I surely didn't recognize any of them. The places in his thoughts were somewhat more familiar, but still not totally clear. I recognized Florence, and the room in which most of our honeymoon was spent. I smiled as he lingered on the first night we made love as husband and wife, savoring every inch of my body that his hands touched. And then, Francesca came into his thoughts and I growled quickly.

Stefan's were easier to follow, so I jumped over to his. He was thinking of all of his time with Elena, from the moment they met in high school till the very second he walked in today, all in the span of about sixty seconds. I saw the memories clearly.

He was trying to put all of it together with no luck.

I felt bad that he was frustrated with this new finding, and realized at that point that a mere five minutes had passed. It seemed like a lifetime. Then again, I had just seen two lifetimes flash across my eyes in that short time frame.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and looked around the room. Dante was playing with one of his toys, Elena was hovering over him, smiling and playing with him. Stefan and Damon were in the corner talking quietly. And I stood crouched in the living room, poised to attack. Strangely enough, no one commented on my stance and I stood quickly, smoothing my t-shirt down and back into place. I knew Damon would tell me later, and if he didn't...No, he'll tell me. I caught his eye and he nodded slowly, still speaking with Stefan. I knew he had heard my thoughts but that would be discussed later as well.

"Well, are we gonna have dinner or what? I'm starving!" Elena's voiced sounded strained, and I knew her well enough to know she was stressed over what hearing our thoughts meant, but she would never say it. I made a mental note to talk to her later about it.

We pulled up to the Italian restaurant my husband and I frequented and Giovanni welcomed us with open arms. He kissed both of my cheeks and embraced my husband in that 'manly hug' they all did. We introduced him to Stefan and Elena, and then Giovanni's wife, Rosa, caught sight of Dante.

It was all over after that.

Not a waitress in sight hadn't come to coo over Dante, and gawk at my husband and brother-in-law judging from all of their thoughts. Dante ate up the attention and I knew this would be the start of something so much bigger. We are so gonna have a heart breaker on our hands with this one. Stefan nodded and laughed, picking up his son from his wife and kissing his forehead.

On the ride back to our house, Elena and I sat in the back of our Escalade, while the boys sat up front and attempted not to listen to our conversation. They failed miserably.

"What do you think it all means?" Elena asked quietly over Dante's sleeping form.

I pulled my gaze from his entrancing face and shook my head. "I don't know. I suppose we could go back and speak with Mrs. Flowers, but last I heard she was traveling the world. And the thought of anyone else knowing about us frankly scares me to death. I think we may be at a standstill with this one."

"That would be an impasse," Damon corrected from the driver's seat and then flinched at the realization that he'd been caught eavesdropping. "Sorry, we were all thinking the same thing."

Stefan swallowed thickly. "I say we leave things as is. No sense leading more people to us than necessary."

I could hear Elena wanted to agree, but another part of her was terrified of the possibilities. There was no telling what the knowledge of her future would do to her, her family, and especially others out there that meant to do our kind harm. And unfortunately, those that hated us outweighed those that didn't. Still, what she didn't know couldn't hurt her, right? None of us were sure.

Stefan

Three days had passed since we had returned from Damon and Bonnie's. Three days since the subject of our future had been addressed. I knew Elena was fairly freaked out about it, but I knew I could never take the chance of someone else finding out about our family. I would never put my wife and son in danger.

My son...

Had anyone told me that this ...fate... I had been dealt would give me a wife and son later in my existence, I'd have thought them cruel for joking with me. I walked into my bedroom to find Elena rocking our son gently and singing to him. "I sing horribly," she whispered softly, "but I don't think he minds too much."

I smiled and walked over to sit on the bed across from the rocking chair she sat in. "Keep going. He's almost asleep."

Sure enough, just moments later we heard the soft snores coming from Dante's sleeping form. Elena rose and walked him into his room across the hall as I sat and watched them. For the first time in my life, I had no fear, no apprehension. Everything was exactly as it should be in the world.

I looked up to see Elena closing the door behind her softly and sauntering over to me. "Y'know," she said as she crawled up my legs, "we could try again."

"We could," I said as she captured my earlobe between her teeth.

"Stefan..." her voice was almost inaudible and I wouldn't have caught it if not for my impeccable hearing. "Non ti manca di me?"

"Don't I miss you?"

"Huh?" she asked bringing her head back.

"You just asked me if I missed you."

"No I didn't."

"Yes, you did. And you asked me in Italian."

Elena leaned back and took my face in her hands. "Stefan, I didn't say anything, and you and I both know I can't speak a lick of Italian."

"But I'm sure-"

"I think we both need some sleep," she said, and rolled off my lap, turning out the bedside lamp and settling herself under the covers.

Damon

The air whipped around me fiercely, almost as if it were angry. If such a thing were possible. I narrowed my eyes at the figure walking toward me. The shape was forming into a person. I could see that at least. I was about to spring when a musical voice came from the shape. "Damon…" it whispered in tune with the wind.

Long, blond locks started to form, and then eyes so blue they could only compare to the stone in my ring. I shielded my eyes to give myself a guard against the wind, now howling uncontrollably. The figure stepped closer to me, and I almost choked when I saw her face. Katherine?

The closer she came, the more afraid I felt. There was no way Katherine could be here now. She came closer, and I let out a deep sigh of relief. "Elena," I looked down at my feet and then back at her face. "What the hell are you doing out here?"

Elena didn't speak. She just kept moving as if I hadn't spoken. My eyebrow went up in confusion. Why wasn't she speaking? Suddenly she leapt at me, grabbing me by the face and pulling me close to her for a kiss and knocking us to the ground. No, not a kiss. She was preparing to bite me.

I felt my eyes widen. "What the hell…?" I tried to push her off through her struggles, but she was strong…almost too strong.

Elena threw her head back, laughing cruelly. And then the form changed, and I was staring into Misao's cold, dead eyes. "Hello Damon," she said seductively, and bent her head down to me again from where she sat on my chest.

I used all of my strength and shoved against her shoulders as hard as I could, throwing her across the field. She laughed again, the laughs turning into impious screams, and then she disappeared.

I was up with a start, drenched with sweat and reaching for Bonnie to make sure she was still there. Her long arms wrapped around me, holding me to her as I shook. What the hell was that?

"Tell me," she whispered.

"Katherine. Misao. They're back."

Uh oh! Does that leave this open for a sequel?

Tell me what you think? I wanted to continue this storyline, but I would have to get a few chapters written before I even go there. Can't be updating once a month anymore right? Let me hear from you. If no one wants me to continue, then I put this story to bed, open ended and all!

I look forward to hearing what you all think!

Much love...

-Firefly