Rome wasn't built in a day

The rustling of sheets... The quiet sighs of pleasure... She had always guessed that a man like Damon Salvatore would be a skilled lover, but the reality was even better. He made her tremble with desire and had her begging for a simple touch. He knew of erogenous zones that she never even knew existed with her body.

"Damon, please," she was urging him on.

"Don't worry, baby. I'm going to make it so good for you."

He was already making it good for her; her body seemed to be on fire as his manhood pumped inside of her with slow, strong strokes. Her nipples were erect as they chafed his chest with each of his thrusts.

When he slid his hand underneath her rear, he slipped even deeper inside of her and for a moment there, she thought that she would black out with the force of her orgasm. She didn't know how long it had lasted, but when she opened her eyes again, she was lying on her stomach with Damon pushing into her from behind.

"I don't want this to end," he moaned.

The penetration from this angle provided a whole different level of feelings as new places were reached inside. Before she knew it, she was building up towards another peak again. Holy hell, this man had some stamina! He was outlasting her, she didn't think she could take a whole lot more.

As if he could read her thoughts, he whispered into her ear: "One more, Elena. One more."

Everything inside of her seemed to tingle with his forceful strokes. She probably wouldn't be able to walk after all this, but she didn't care. Her speech was suddenly reduced to babbling as he hit a particularly sweet spot. "Yesyesyes, Damon! Right there, right there!"

Damon's rhythm faltered with her words as he pummeled himself to orgasm inside of her. Then, they both collapsed together….

Elena smiled at the memory as she stared out the window. She had imagined them making love for over a thousand times and yet, when it finally had happened, it was better than anything she had conjured up in her head. Damon Salvatore was indeed quite the ladies man. Only now, there was only one lady for him.

"This is quite unique for me, you know," he said, as he kissed the top of her head.

"How so?"

"Women. Love. I had shut myself off. You think it has everything to do with my father and his incapability to show his love for me, but that's not the only reason. My last relationship? The one I once told you about at Stefan's exposition? It broke me. You see, it didn't just end. She…"

He suddenly stopped talking and took a deep breath.

"It's okay, you can tell me," Elena urged him on.

"Katherine was killed. Some driver didn't see her.. she was hit so hard that…"

Elena put her arms around him, hugging him tight. She suddenly remembered that conversation that they had had about relationships very well; how he had talked about this one woman and how his gaze had drifted off after seeing a picture made by Stefan. It was one of a crowded street. Cars were flashing by, making their headlights appear as rays of light. She understood that conversation very clear now.

"I'm so sorry, Damon."

"It's okay. It was a long time ago. It's just that after all that, I didn't want to get invested in anyone anymore. It hurt too much."

Elena stroked Damon's chest and sighed.

"I get that, but that's just the way life is sometimes. It can hurt like a real bitch and it's easier to care about nothing and no one. That way, when someone dies or leaves your life, it doesn't hit you as much. But to live without love is like going through the motions. There are no highs and no lows. It's bland and you don't want to wake up one day when you're 80 years old to realize that you had no one."

Damon chuckled a bit.

"Back to the passion and love speeches, are we?"

"Hey, I know I had renounced it for a few years, but then I saw you again. You bring that out in me."

"Maybe it's better if we separate again, then," Damon laughed.

Elena punched him playfully, before turning serious. She looked at him intently. "There is no way I'm ever letting you go again…."

Elena swallowed something with that memory. She looked next to her and saw the love of her life sitting there. It was true what she once told Damon. Love provided the ultimate highs and the most terrible lows. What she was looking at now, was the ultimate high of her life. Another memory hit her as they drove up the driveway towards Stefan and Caroline's house.

Her phone rang somewhere and Elena hurried to reach it. It could be Damon, back from Italy. They had agreed that she would go back to Mystic Falls, since she really had to be back at her job and Damon had to finish up some things at the Rome establishment. After that, he would come to her and pick up where he left things off at the Mystic Falls office.

"Hello?"

"So here I am, barely back from my honeymoon and word gets back to me that you're cozying up to my new brother-in-law," Caroline's voice resounded in my ear.

Elena rolled her eyes.

"Really? Sophia has already contacted you about that? That woman needs to find a hobby or something. But it's good to know that she's back to her old self."

"Yeah, I was so shocked when she called us to inform us about what had happened. It's good that you were there, Elena. Anyway, we talked somewhat and I learned that you and Damon were busy romancing each other all over Rome. I'm really happy for you."

"Thanks. We're just figuring things out as we go along. But he's coming back to Mystic Falls to stay. In fact, I'm expecting him home any day now."

Caroline chuckled.

"Look at us, trading Salvatore's with each other. If you had asked me five years ago where we would be right now, I would have said that you were blissfully married to Stefan with 2.5 kids running around. Instead, I'm the one married to Stefan and you chose his brother. It's funny how life works."

"Yeah well, we're not switching back anymore. I'm keeping this one."

"I'm keeping this one as well. We'll just have to find something else to share with each other."

We both burst out laughing…

Caroline and Stefan were now living in the suburbs of Atlanta, since New York was not a particularly handy place to raise children. Also, they wanted to be close to us as our bond had deepened over the course of the last few years. Nana Sophia was living with them, as she was getting older and required care. Stefan was still a very well known and used photographer.

"Elena!" Caroline screeched excitedly as she opened the door. They hugged fiercely. "So good that you were able to make it. I have the chicken roasting as we speak."

Elena raised her eyebrows at that.

"Wait. You cooked?"

"Oh honey, of course not. You know that's Stefan's thing, not mine."

Caroline stepped aside to let Elena in and her eyes brightened when she spotted her company.

"Dominic! Come here, my little man. Give your auntie Care a kiss."

From out behind Elena's legs stepped a little boy. He leaned forward and put his chubby little arms around Caroline, who had tears in her eyes immediately.

"Crap, I'm so emotional these days, it's not even funny. This is our last child I'm pregnant with, I am telling you that!"

"That's what you said the last time, but afterwards you still wanted loads of children."

Elena took hold of Dominic's hand and guided him inside a spacious living room, where nana Sophia was sitting in her wheelchair with Stefan and Caroline's other child. Dominic spotted the little girl and looked up at Elena expectantly.

"Can I go and play, mommy?"

Elena's heart clenched as his crystal blue eyes gave her a pleading look. He looked so much like his father.

"Yeah, you go and play with Lily, sweetie."

Caroline came up from behind Elena and put an arm around her.

"I swear, that little boy is a miniature Damon Salvatore. The dark hair, the piercing blue eyes. Those genes are very strong."

Elena could only nod.

"I can't believe he's five already. Also, I can't believe it's already been four years since… I mean, as much as we bickered, I miss it. I miss him calling me 'blondie' and mocking me."

Damon died after his heart just stopped beating one day. It was sudden and way too soon. Dominic had been a year old when Elena had received a panicked call from one of Damon's secretary's, notifying her that an ambulance had been called. He had collapsed in his office and was found by one of his employees. They had tried to revive him, but as it turned out, he was already gone. How a man so young and healthy had managed to get a heart attack was beyond Elena. But it had happened and it had taken away her great love.

"Today is Christmas, Care. I don't want to stop and think about what I don't have. I want to be thankful for what I did get in life."

With those words, Elena went and greeted nana Sophia, who was watching her great-grandchildren with a look of absolute pride on her face. She was now 90 years old and still going strong. She sometimes felt guilty for surviving her heart attack at a much older age when Damon didn't at a young age. But Elena reassured her that there was nothing that she could have done; life didn't stop to look at numbers…

The Christmas table was set beautifully as Elena looked around. There was Stefan and Caroline with their 4 year old girl Lily, Dominic and herself, nana Sophia and Stefan and Caroline had been gracious enough to invite Jeremy and Anna over with their now 9 year old daughter Ava and their other daughter Olivia. It was perfect. Of course, she could mull over how things were missing from this table; her parents… Damon… But then she remembered what she once had told Damon herself; "Life can hurt like a real bitch and it's easier to care about nothing and no one. That way, when someone dies or leaves your life, it doesn't hit you as much. But to live without love is like going through the motions. There are no highs and no lows. It's bland and you don't want to wake up one day when you're 80 years old to realize that you had no one."

Elena knew that she had someone: she had Stefan and Caroline, she had Jeremy and Anna, but most importantly, she had a little piece of Damon called 'Dominic.' He was her whole world. Dominic may have been a little accident, since she and Damon had only been dating for about 3 months when the pregnancy had announced itself. But he was the greatest gift of those two years that she got with Damon. She sometimes wished she could have made up her mind sooner. Maybe if she had made it known to Stefan a little quicker that she had developed feelings for his brother… then she could have had more years with Damon. But wondering about 'what if' didn't help.

"There's something that I would like to say," Elena suddenly said, and she got up from her seat.

Everyone looked at her expectantly.

"Christmas is a rough time for me sometimes, as it is a time when you want everyone you love with you. But then I realize that I have to be grateful. I've spent two wonderful years with a fantastic man, who gave me his whole world and a son to boot. I was raised by two amazing parents who loved me and Jeremy dearly. To know that I was and am loved that much makes me the richest person on this planet. Yes, I wanted more days with them, but some infinities are just bigger than others. I sometimes still think back to the day that I met Damon. Of course, the timing was extremely unfortunate, since I was in my wedding dress.."

Everyone around the table chuckled at that statement.

"But look at where it lead us and how we managed to overcome everything. We're lucky. Salvatore Enterprises is still flourishing with Damon's former vice president taking over for us and who knows; maybe one day Dominic will want to follow in his father's footsteps. But if he doesn't, then that's all right too. I just want to say that I love you all and that I hope that we will continue to be happy together as a family. Let's raise our glass to Damon and my parents, the most beautiful stars up there for years and years to come. "

She sat down with tears in her eyes, as her son tapped her shoulder.

"Mommy, are you crying?"

"That's okay, sweetie. These are happy and grateful tears."

Dominic leaned forward and quietly kissed Elena's nose. As his crystal blue eyes searched hers, Elena was catapulted back in time…

"Elena, may I introduce my brother Damon. Damon, this is my wife Elena."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Elena," his husky voice said.

"The pleasure is all mine, Damon," she managed to get out.

"Would you mind terribly if I took that hot wife of yours for a spin on the dance floor?"

"I like you, Elena. You've got fire. And you make Stefan smile, which is something I haven't seen in a while. Welcome to the family."

Damon leaned forward, carefully brushing her cheek with his lips.

"Thank you for the dance, Elena," he whispered in her ear.

Later that night, as all the children were asleep and Elena was sitting in the backyard by herself, she looked up at the sky and saw a particularly bright star shining down. She smiled.

"Thank you for the dance, Damon. It's been one hell of a journey with you…."

A/N: So I chose to wait with the author's note till the end of the chapter, since it had a huge surprise in it. I realize it's not the best of surprises, but I felt like you can't always end a story with hearts and flowers and a bunch of children running around. I've been there and done that. So for this one, as it already was a story filled with angst, I wanted an ending that was completely different. I know some of you will hate me with a fiery vengeance now ;-) I want to thank everyone who has ever read, faved, followed and/or reviewed this story. Your words of encouragement were amazing! I'm leaving you with the happy note that Damon is still watching over Elena and their child. Theirs is a love forever. And yes, that whole 'infinity' sentence was taken from The fault in our stars. Thank you! I'll go and hide right now ;-)