You Lost Me

Epilogue

Damon couldn't believe what his ears were hearing and taking a few seconds, he finally kissed her back. He reached for her waist and he never held her like that before. Katherine had been right and that was his plan all along. He didn't need to spend a lot of time with her, he just needed to know if she wanted him forever, although they already said it to each other a few times. He knew what he wanted and if they were both sure there was no reason to wait. Jeremy was right after all.

After more minutes than they cared to count, they broke apart. Air wasn't a problem but the excitement in having the ring on her finger was. It was simple, the diamonds were small with a medium sized one in the middle. Nothing extravagant, but all like Elena, beautiful in the simplicity but never ordinary.

"It's beautiful Damon" she looked at the ring on her finger and back at the man she loved.

"The most beautiful" he replied but his eyes had never left her face.

"How exactly does it work?" she asked a few minutes later as he held her in their bed.

"What do you mean?"

"Our engagement. Actually the wedding. I suppose you proposed because you want me to really marry you right?" she played with the hem of her pajama shirt. Of course she wanted to marry him but she didn't know how they could do it. She didn't want to simply go to the City Hall, although that was probably the only way they could do it.

"Well, despite my sucking skills to propose, I'd say yes, I asked you to marry me because I want to marry you as in a wedding" he realized she was nervous to talk about the subject and for the first time in his life he was thankful for Katherine. Elena wasn't absolutely wrong in her assumption. When he decided to go to Mystic Falls to get his mother's ring all he had thought was that he wanted to marry Elena but he didn't really think about the wedding itself. As vampires they could have whatever they wanted, he could fill a church with people compelled to be there but he knew that wasn't what Elena wanted. That wasn't what he wanted. The purpose of a wedding ceremony was to share with others an important and sacred moment to them.

"And how would this wedding be?"

"Katherine knows or heard of someone in Italy that does vampire weddings"

"What exactly is a vampire wedding?" she turned to look at him with a small smile on her face that he knew was half because of her wit but mainly because she could have the prospect of a real wedding.

"What is a wedding for you Ms. Gilbert-soon-to-be-Salvatore" he offered a big smile. Mrs. Salvatore definitely sounded good.

"The public commitment of two people who love each other. I guess a good excuse to throw a party and get drunk. But also an intimate moment between the groom and the bride" she offered as her eyes showed that she wasn't simply relating her opinion but seeing it in her mind.

"I guess a vampire wedding would be all of that maybe with a blood feast instead of eating like starving people but I suppose all that bla-bla-bla that priests say would be something fitting to our reality. When I promise to love you forever in my vows it may mean literally and not just some love-sick lame expression"

"That would be nice"

"The blood feast?" he faked enthusiasm and she narrowed her eyes at him but soon the smile was back on her face.

"Having a ceremony that fits who we are. But when did Katherine talk to you about it?"

"She followed me and saw the ring. Then she gave me a card. The priest seems to be from a monastery in Italy"

"A wedding in Italy must be the most romantic thing ever!" she slightly zoned out again thinking about the vineyards and other beautiful things he showed and described to her about the European country.

"Yeah but I was thinking of having the ceremony here"

"Why?"

"I guess if a wedding is a public commitment than we should share it with people who matters to us"

"Stefan and Katherine could be in Italy with us, I'm sure she's already sick of this beach" Elena chuckled softly. She knew for sure the other doppelganger wanted nothing more than to leave and continue her adventure with her boyfriend.

"I wasn't talking about them. Maybe we could invite Jeremy, Caroline, even Bonnie if she wants to come. I'd like for Ric to be here too and I was thinking while I was there that it seems like you forgot a big part of the family part"

"Did I?" she smiled thinking he was referring to her brother but his next words made her smile drop.

"Isobel. For someone that wants me so badly to reconcile with my brother, I should remember you that you have a mother and a father for that matter that are your family too"

"You know they were never parents to me. My parents died when I was sixteen Damon" she was clearly uncomfortable talking about her biological parents. Every now and then she thought about Isobel while John never really crossed her thoughts and she didn't know if she wanted to fix their relationship, if they had any to start with.

"Stefan was nothing to me but my favorite puppet to play with for decades. The moment he made me drink that girl's blood and become a vampire he died to me as a brother but just because I didn't think of him as my brother it didn't mean he wasn't and look where we are now" he reasoned. It wasn't about giving her a payback for what she led him to go with Stefan. But she didn't know anything about Isobel, except that she had been a bitch because of Katherine and maybe in the future it would be nice for her to have a mother around.

"I don't want to have Isobel and John here just because they aren't people I can share our wedding with. I don't think I want them to be part of anything in my life let alone something as special and important to me as marrying you"

"Is it that special?" he asked kissing the side of her neck.

"It's the most special thing"

"Just think that you don't know anything about Isobel. Maybe she's not as bad as you think. When you're a newbie and a vampire as old as Katherine makes sure you're part of her plans, you just do what she says. Unless you want to die but still she had choices. You do what you feel up to do" he explained but he wouldn't push the subject anymore. It was her decision to make and he didn't want her to feel obliged about anything.

"When I said I understand, I meant it Damon. Stefan and Katherine don't need to be here if you don't want them. I understand you love your brother but can't get over what Katherine did to me. Honestly I wouldn't get over if it had been the other way around. Take your time and make the decision you feel comfortable doing, okay? I will always be here with you and for you" she explained and they kissed passionately. They definitely felt in a good place where both understood the reasons behind their decisions.

It was a sunny day in North Carolina. Elena made sure to get married during summer. She thought a wedding on the beach on a sunny day would be just the memory they needed for their special day. It was a way to contrast with what they were as vampires. A contrast she welcomed and embraced.

"I'm honored" Alaric said in one of the house's room where Damon was getting ready.

"Get over it already. If Elena has a maid of honor I'm supposed to have a best man and believe me, in my case it could be called only man" Damon quipped.

"So, where are the rings? I need them to play my part properly" the human had a big smile stamped on his face. He wished Jenna could be there too, especially because he knew Elena's death still hurt her but he knew it was best this way. Knowing that her niece was a vampire could be complicated and hurt her even more. He just hoped if Elena ever decided to change her mind that Jenna wouldn't feel betrayed by him. It wasn't his truth to tell.

Damon handed him the pair of golden jewelry and found himself being pulled into a man-hug.

"Congratulations" the blond offered simply Damon thanked uncomfortably happy. Hugging, especially men, wasn't his thing.

"You look beautiful, Elena" Caroline offered her friend as she watched Elena making the final adjustments in her appearance. She wore an ivory strapless dress with a lace over lay and a sweetheart neckline coupled with a daringly low back. In the lace were crystal beads and sequins, making it shimmer softly in the light. The princess silhouette fit her body perfectly, almost as if it were made for her. It had a chapel train in the back, not too big, not too small, floating away from the body. It was a bold change from her simple, mostly boring style but she wanted to impress Damon. For once she wanted to feel sexy and breathtaking and Caroline thought she got it just right. Her hair was down and curly and the only thing adorning it was small crystal points in the back that held the small amount of hair she pulled back.

"Thank you for coming, Car"

"There's no way I would miss it" she held Elena's hands with a big smile on her face.

"I just want you to know that I asked you to be my maid of honor before Bonnie said she wasn't coming. You're not a rebound. You're my best friend" Elena offered teary. She had been deeply hurt by Bonnie's denial to attend the wedding. She thought their friendship was bigger than Bonnie's recent resolution of taking no part in the supernatural world anymore. She respected her decision but it didn't hurt any less.

"I promise to be closer from now on. I needed time to find my place in the world. Leaving Mystic Falls and the life I loved behind me led me to a very bad place but I'm happy I finally found it"

"I promise to be closer too" Elena offered and the two friends embraced each other but Caroline kept her distance between their bodies.

They broke the hug and Elena had a small frown on her face.

"Don't want to crease our beautiful dresses" she winked to Elena when they heard a knock on the door.

"Everything is ready, Elena" Carla announced. Damon made sure she was there and it was important to Elena to know that the redhead held no grudges against her because of the attack in the hospital.

"We're going" Elena answered with a smile and the human led their way to spot on the beach a few yards from the house.

Carla took her place by Jeremy's side. Katherine and Stefan sat by the other side of an imaginary aisle while Damon, Alaric and the priest were already standing in the center waiting for Elena's entrance.

Damon couldn't take his eyes off of her when she started walking towards him. She was a vision to him and he didn't even blink while contemplating how beautiful his wife-to-be was. He loved the dress, the sexy hair, the subtle make up. And the last rays of sunlight making her dress sparkle but especially in her eyes made it look like a dream sequence.

"You're… mesmerizing" he whispered when she finally reached him.

"All for you" she answered back as he kissed her cheek softly.

Priest Toni soon started the ceremony talking about how important that day was for both Elena and Damon. But soon moved to the special part Elena and Damon were waiting for. The Italian native came to North Carolina almost two weeks ahead of the wedding date. He wanted to know and to talk to Elena and Damon before he made their wedding. He wanted to say things that mattered and were important to them, not to any random vampire.

"You know God is about love and forgiveness and I must say the more you need both, the more he's ready to give it to you. Just because you're vampires it doesn't mean you can't receive his mercy and blessings. I know it may include some compulsion but the fact that you're feeding off of blood bags instead of harassing and killing people shows a good effort. Maybe in the future you could move to animal blood and stop with the compulsion but that's between you and your conscience.

"Marriage is sacred. That's the biggest form of love. I know kids aren't part of your reality but not even the love of a father and a mother should be bigger than a genuine love between a man and a woman. And that kind of love I'm talking about here isn't easy. You can't just stop loving your child or abandon them because they carry a part of you but when a man and a woman reunite their bodies they become one together. That's bigger than having a part of you in someone's life. This should be bigger and that love should be stronger but that's not the case to the huge majority of people. As vampires you may never know how it feels to parent someone but it doesn't have to make your life incomplete. If you nurture this sort of love I'm talking about, all you'll need is the two of you. I know Elena this might be a little harder for you. Dealing so beautifully with your humanity it's expected that sooner or later the maternity call will come but remember all you need is Damon.

"Although you're living under a curse for as long as you live as vampires, it doesn't mean you're dark creatures or damned. I can say you're making the best out of this and I don't have a lot of advices for you in this subject but just because your heart doesn't beat anymore it doesn't mean you don't have a loving one. You can have a fairly normal life and I know the instinct and craves for hunting can be challenging at times but hopefully it won't happen to the both of you at the same time. You Damon will help Elena when she falls and you Elena will help Damon when he falls. You'll be there for each other to assure that a curse won't make you cursed"

Elena was overly emotional about the words and Damon had been touched by them too. They needed to hear them and Damon could finally be in peace with his humanity. Embracing it was what he had feared the most in his life but also what he truly wanted. He missed being human but with Elena by his side and the life they were dreaming about he got the closest thing he could have to being human again. And he had Elena and her alone to thank that for.

By the time the ceremony was over everyone but Katherine seemed to be teary. Caroline and Carla didn't try to hold back the tears and let them fall. Jeremy was happy that his sister's life wouldn't be doomed by darkness and pain, while Alaric and Stefan were simply happy for Damon and his lady.

"We should have thought about it before" Elena offered as soon as their clients left their office in Miami.

"About what Mrs. Salvatore?" he asked bringing her to sit on his lap. She loved it when he called her Mrs. Salvatore and it didn't get any older after fifty years and three wedding ceremonies later. Each time they had to start a new life, with new documents and a new place, Damon made sure to marry her again. He didn't want his marital status to ever be single again in his life. He didn't want to not be Elena's husband ever again.

"Being in the same business. Work with you is just… amazing" his wife plastered a smile on her face that always made his heart melt.

"And why is that? Because of my undeniable talent to design houses or it would be my dashing figure keeping you company the whole day? Because I know the sex escapades won't do it. I was quite fond of them while you taught"

"Don't remind me! I can't believe my students brought fruits and gifts to the table where we had sex"

"The munchkins didn't know what sex was"

"Still"

"Well, working with you is just as pleasurable, Mrs. Salvatore. Those interior designers were my nightmare"

"I'm happy to meet your very high standards" she kissed him.

"You go beyond each of them every day. Now shall we go home?"

They closed everything in the fancy house in front of the beach and headed to their car, parked a few yards down the street. Living in Miami was Elena's idea and Damon had learned a long time ago how much his wife loved beaches and beach houses.

"We need to stop by the hospital" she reminded him and he groaned. They had postponed it twice already that week but he knew today was unavoidable because they were nearly running out of blood.

They took turns to get it and this time was Damon's so Elena waited in the car for him. She was very close to the ER entrance when she caught up a conversation that broke her heart.

Damon thought it was odd to come back ten minutes later and not find his wife in the car. He put the blood in the trunk and sharpening his senses he tried to catch a hint of her scent. He thought it was odd when it led him to the ER and soon he saw Elena's frame in one of the many rooms with a couple of doctors inside. She had her back to him and he wondered what she was doing there. She was then closing the blinds and he decided to see with his own eyes what was going on.

He entered the small exam room to find a doctor and a nurse watching while his wife fed her blood to a newborn. The baby barely looked human. It was very small, covered with dust, and had a lot of bruises all over his thin skin but as soon as Elena's blood finally entered his system the bruises started to heal.

Elena felt his presence when he entered the room but it didn't stop her actions. Her heart broke when she heard the baby entering the ER after being found in the trash. They suspected he had been there for more than one day and he was barely alive. She couldn't allow it to happen. Being a kindergarten teacher for almost forty years certainly helped Elena get over the fact that Damon and she would never have kids but also made her very close and connected to children.

"I couldn't let him die" she whispered low enough so only Damon could hear her. "They disposed of him in a trash can as if he was nothing" and he didn't need to be in front of his wife to know she was crying. It wasn't the smell of her tears but the crack in her voice that showed him the little baby broke Elena's heart.

"It's okay, honey" he stood behind her, resting one of his hands on her shoulder.

"It's done" she said a couple of minutes later when the baby finally woke up.

"You won't remember everything that happened here" Damon compelled the physicians. "We brought the baby because we found him in a trash can, you did everything you could and he finally answered to the medication" he finished and they monotonously repeated after him.

"What will happen to him now?" Elena asked turning around to face the hospital employees and her husband, who soon enveloped her in his arms.

"It's really rare in cases like this for the mother to regret her actions and look for the baby. He's probably going to be sent to adoption" the doctor explained and Elena nodded, turning her attention back to the baby.

"I hope you find the best parents in the world" she said to the little boy.

"Thanks to you and your husband, he'll have a chance for it" the nurse said and nodding Elena looked at Damon and they walked out of the room.

"I'm sorry. I know that is irresponsible and risky and if he has anything that my blood can't heal and still dies he'll be a vampire but he seemed to be in so much pain" Elena offered crying to her husband as they entered the car.

"Don't worry, I'll come visit tomorrow and see if he's still human" Damon offered. He knew what she was saying was true and maybe he should be lecturing her but ever since Elena stopped being a teacher to toddlers and small kids she seemed sad and he knew she missed the children around her. They never talked about adopting a baby but he knew she wanted to be a mother and how it was for her to watch women literally throwing away their blessings like that.

"Thank you"

"I can't believe eighteen years passed so fast" Elena whispered in her son's ears as they hugged each other tightly.

"It doesn't have to be that way, Mom" Chuck offered with tears in his eyes.

"Yes, it does, dear. Those eighteen years were the best of my life but now I have to let you go" she wiped her son's tears and it broke her heart all over again.

"But I'm not ready anymore. Why does it have to be like this?"

"Because I can't watch you die and I don't want you ever to be tempted to ask me something I won't ever agree with"

"But you and Dad have a fairly normal life! It isn't that bad"

"But it isn't normal. You deserve to meet a girl, fall in love with her, marry her and have your own family. That's why we adopted you Chuck"

"So please, wait until I find her, Mom. I don't want to be alone, I love you and Dad and I don't give a fuck if you're vampires or what"

"Watch your mouth, Mister" Damon offered as he came back inside the house after taking the last suitcase to the car.

"Dad" Chuck nearly cried leaving his mother's embrace and running to his father's arms. Damon hugged the boy with his life and in one of the very occasions in almost seventy years Elena saw her husband shedding a tear.

"Please, Dad"

Damon looked at Elena and she was also crying. They knew what they were getting into when Damon appeared with Chuck a couple of weeks later in their house. They knew the risks and that when time came it would be complicated to explain to their adopted son why they never looked older. They moved from Miami when Chuck was nine and started making questions. They knew he wasn't ready to handle the truth yet but they needed to cover their non-aging process from his teachers and friends. When the boy finally turned fifteen and Damon and Elena's explanations weren't that satisfying anymore they told him the truth. Chuck had known the truth about how he ended up adopted and he loved his parents even more for rescuing him from death, although only they told the whole truth he found out that instead of finding him in the trash, Elena gave him her blood to save him. His immediate reaction had surprised both Elena and Damon. The boy confessed he knew for awhile that something was wrong with his parents but not for once he thought they were vampires because honestly, nobody believes in those things for real. But he promptly said it didn't matter. Elena still remembered his next words: You and Mom are more human than most people I know and certainly much more human than who abandoned me.

Damon and Elena's plan was to let him go once he started college because that's what most parents do anyway but in that case it would mean a real goodbye. They knew Chuck was very close to them and they didn't want their son to think about becoming a vampire either. No matter how good they handled their condition they didn't want the curse to be passed to their son and they had that conversation with Charles more than a handful times. They didn't stop until the boy promised he would never do it but that didn't make their farewell any easier.

"Elena…" Damon started. Elena had been the one to find their son and the first to love him to some extent but Damon and Chuck grew closer. The boy saw his father as his hero and Damon never loved someone more than Chuck, except for his wife. The boy was everything to him and when he got sick Damon thought he would die too. Elena had been absolutely against giving the boy their blood and risking to turn him into a vampire at age eight but thankfully the doctors were able to contain the infection and after a couple of weeks in the hospital he was back at home with his parents. That was when they decided they should let him go. They couldn't watch Chuck die. It had hurt Elena when Jeremy died a few years ago and that was her brother but this was their son.

"If we make exceptions now we may never allow it to happen" Elena reasoned while avoiding looking at the two men of her life.

"I'm not ready, Mom. Someday I will be, I promise, but I'm not ready yet" Chuck pleaded and Elena couldn't keep saying no to her son and hurting him like that. She looked at Damon and he was just powerless as she was about the situation.

"Do you understand that the longer we are part of your life the harder it will be for you to let us go, Chuck? How can you introduce us to your fiancée without her thinking that I could be your sister instead of your mother? And how could you explain that your parents didn't show up to your own wedding?"

"Just give me a couple more of years. I'll be living across the country and maybe with time it will be easier, just don't let today be the last time I see you guys. Please" the teenager pleaded and more tears rolled down his face. His blue eyes, that reminded Elena so much of Damon's were almost gray when he cried like that and despite knowing that she should be stronger and that postponing this decision would never make it easier in the future she couldn't do that to her son.

She ran towards him and Damon and hugging them both the three of them cried while they held one another.

"We'll forever be your parents, Chuck. Nothing will ever change that. We'll always love you" she said in tears.

"Thank you, Mom"

Chuck changed Damon and Elena forever and no matter how painful it was to cut the connection completely when he was twenty-one they knew they did the right thing. They never regretted the whole experience and from time to time he sent them e-mails with pictures and every time he needed an advice he would ask his father. He died too young at age forty-eight and their parents mourned him for long months. That was when they decided they should travel around the world for a couple of years. The pain stopped being so raw and devastating but sometimes they remembered their son and cried silently.

It was almost a century and a half since she turned before they tried again. But parenthood was something that both vampires had loved and they knew the pain of loss was part of the journey of many parents who lost their children prematurely. Brooklyn Salvatore was also going to die if Damon and Elena hadn't crossed her way. The small girl was rescued from a country in South America, starving to death, and she was their bundle of joy and they just hoped when time came to tell her the truth it would be as easy as it had been with Chuck. Eternity seemed like a very long time for Damon and Elena to spend alone. The occasional visit from Stefan and Katherine every other decade didn't count and they were happy to start a new family. They stopped being humans a very long time ago but they never stopped feeling so.

AN: so another journey is over. I, like Damon, am a sucker for humanity in vampires and that's why ever since Elena turned I made sure that she kept her life as human as possible and I loved the idea of them rescuing babies that would have died if they didn't intervene.

I want to thank immensely every and each of you who read, added to story alerts and favorite'd and who added me as their favorite author. It means a lot to me. I want to thank even more especially my reviewers. It's always amazing to read your opinion, criticism and encouragement. In a website that I have no payment for my work, your words pay mine just fine.

Also I want to especially thank my beta, Mayghaen who is really amazing. I write three stories at the same time, I send tons of chapters and she kindly gives me them back really quickly. And she's such a sweetie.

I hope you have a few more words to me for the epilogue and maybe when I'm inspired (and if you're interested) I could write a sequel about Damon and Elena raising Chuck or Brooklyn.

xoxo

Babi