Into the Deep

Elena slowly opened her eyes, blinking as she noticed it was still semi-dark outside. The world was quiet, and not even the anxious pitter-patter of feet from a certain birthday boy could be heard. It surprised her, since she had heard him rummaging around his bedroom until at least one in the morning, too excited to sleep. Elena smiled to herself as she realised she still had some time left to cuddle up to the man next to her.

She turned over and saw Damon was out cold, his incredibly long eyelashes resting on his cheeks, hiding those beautiful blue eyes from her. She watched as he breathed deeply and evenly, looking as if he didn't have a care in the word and nothing could hurt him. He was so innocent in his sleep.

Elena ran a hand through his thick, dark hair and enjoyed the texture of it slipping through her fingers.

A year had passed since Damon had first spotted her lying in his bed; a whole year where they had tried to make it work between them. They had both realised how fast things had happened between them and had been taking it slow since that day when she had come running back from the airport. She even went back to her apartment in Los Angeles in the beginning of their relationship and tried doing the long distance thing with him. It had failed miserably, of course. One of the main reasons was that Lorenzo threw a fit every time Elena left them. It broke her heart when she had to get back on the plane to Los Angeles again, or when she had to drive Damon and Lorenzo to LAX after they had come to visit her, and she had to leave him screaming and crying.

Quickly growing annoyed with the arrangement, and two months into their relationship, they discussed what to do. The way they saw it, they had two options; one was breaking up, the second was moving in together. To say that Damon was scared about the second option was an understatement. Elena understood that; here was a man who had lost his wife, had spent his life on the road for his business ever since and never had a woman in his bed for more than a night or two. It was a bet for him that they had talked about thoroughly. What if they didn't work out? What if Lorenzo got so used to having her around as a mother figure that, if she and his father would break things off, it would leave some damage on him? "He already lost a mother. I don't want to give him another mother figure, only for circumstance to take her away again," had been Damon's exact words. Things had been complicated, but they quickly realised that option number one, breaking up, wasn't an option for them at all, no matter how scary option number two was.

So they took the plunge; three months into their relationship, she gave up her apartment in Los Angeles and told her agent that she was leaving town. Elena had zero regrets; that life wasn't for her anymore anyway. Hollywood was a closed book, and even though her mother still liked to hang around there and was upset with her daughter for throwing her "Hollywood life" away, Elena had made her decision. She moved out of Los Angeles and into Mystic Falls, and into the Salvatore Boarding House.

And now, she and Damon were doing well. Elena had taken a job at the local newspaper, basically as a gopher for its employees. She was dreaming about one day writing for the paper herself, though, and in about a month or two she would be going back to school to study journalism. Damon was still working at Salvatore Inc., but he had cut back his hours vastly. He wanted to be at home more often and he wanted to be a father to his son, for him to be able to live with him instead of his grandparents. They understood Damon's need to be there more for his son. They still babysat of course, and spoiled their grandson rotten.

Elena smiled with her musings on how they had made their life work together.

"Would you stop staring? Your burning eyes could be felt all the way in my dream, and I was having a good one!" Damon complained, one eye cracked open to glare at her.

"You are one to talk, Salvatore! Isn't this exactly how we met, with you staring at me from across the room until I woke up?"

Damon had his eyes closed again and sighed. "I wasn't staring, I was glaring. There's a difference," he explained. "I wanted you to get out of my bed."

"Funny," Elena deadpanned.

"Why is that funny?"

"Because these days, you seem more interested in getting me into your bed, rather than out of it." Elena emphasised her point by taking her index finger and dragging it slowly over the skin of his chest.

"Hmm," Damon let out gruffly.

Elena's finger trailed even lower, stopping at the waistband of his boxers. She crawled even closer to him and put her leg between his, causing the skin of her thigh to softly caress his crotch. This caused Damon to open his eyes completely.

"Are you trying to seduce me, Gilbert?"

"Is it working?" Elena breathed against his throat. She felt his Adam's apple bob up and down, making her smirk. Oh, it was working all right…

"You do realise that it's only six in the morning, right? I'm still very, very tired," Damon teased her right back. He turned over on his back and shut his eyes, trying to make her believe that he was going back to sleep.

Elena was having none of it, though. She slipped underneath the covers and crawled up his body, giving his chest baby kisses. Meanwhile, her hands wandered down and began to softly stroke his thighs. Damon still played dead, so she upped her game a little more. She kissed her way down to his boxers, stopping a moment, before teasingly giving his still clothed cock a peck. It twitched eagerly, betraying how Damon wasn't uninterested at all.

Her hands were still stroking up and down his thighs, her nails scraping over his skin. She noticed how he got goose bumps and she smirked proudly. Any minute now, and he would be putty in her hands…

"Daddy! Elena! It's my birthday!" an eager voice could be heard from the doorway.

"Ugh! That kid is not good for my sex life," Damon groaned softly above Elena.

Lorenzo pounced on the bed, jumping up and down in his pyjamas. How someone could be so vibrant early in the morning was beyond Elena. She quickly got back to her own side of the bed and peaked up at the bouncing child.

"Lorenzo! What did I tell you about jumping on the bed?" Damon glared at his son. Lorenzo immediately sat down and crawled up to his father, burying himself in his arms. "Sorry, Daddy. I just want my presents," he breathed into Damon's neck.

The sight warmed Elena's heart. This was how things should be, with Lorenzo living with his father and Damon being able to spend more time with him.

"I will make breakfast downstairs in a minute. After that, you can have your presents," Damon promised.

"Yay!"

"Why don't you go and wake Uncle Stefan up. He needs some breakfast as well."

Lorenzo sped from the room, already on his way to bestow the same morning greeting on his Uncle.

"That was a little mean of you, Salvatore. You know that both Stefan and Caroline are not morning people. You'll have to face their wrath all day long, you do know that, right?" Elena told Damon.

Damon rolled over on top of her and smirked. "I know. I just love to torment my brother endlessly. Well, that, and I wanted my son to leave the room for a minute."

His mouth closed over Elena's before she had a chance to reply. His tongue massaged hers, until she felt her stomach flutter with the tell tale signs of her arousal.

"This would be so much more fun if we were naked," Damon whined.

Elena pushed him off of her. "We don't have the time for this. Lorenzo could be back in here any minute now."

Damon sighed and slipped from the bed, before throwing on a shirt and some cargo pants.

"You're right. Besides, this probably wouldn't be that hot with the smell of your morning breath and all," he winked teasingly at her.

Elena's mouth dropped open with his words. She fumbled around for a pillow behind her and threw it at him as hard as she could. Sadly, it missed him, as he had already rushed from the room….

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"Lego's!" Lorenzo said with a grin, as he tore at the wrappings from his present.

"Well, I know how you love to build things, little man," Stefan told his nephew.

Lorenzo didn't answer, already lost in the new toys he had gotten. It had been a great morning. After Caroline had bitched at Damon about teaching his son some manners in waking people up, they had all sat down for breakfast and enjoyed the tale of Stefan and Caroline's adventures in Los Angeles.

As it turned out, this exchange had turned into much more than just an exchange for the Holiday. It had turned everyone's life around. Elena was now living here in Mystic Falls permanently, while Stefan had moved in with Caroline in Los Angeles. Apparently, he had made the exchange a year ago, because he was questioning his life in Mystic Falls. He had felt terribly guilty about wanting more, especially after his brother had lost his wife and was not doing so well emotionally. But it just wasn't working out for him anymore; his work at Salvatore Inc., Mystic Falls… The exchange had introduced him to the artist life in Los Angeles and Caroline. After that, he was hooked and knew that his life in Virginia was over. He had recently opened up a shop in Venice Beach, selling his paintings, pictures and sketches.

Of course, with every special occasion, Stefan and Caroline came back and stayed over. Now that Stefan could see with his own eyes how good things were going for his brother and Elena, he didn't feel so guilty about quitting his job and moving away anymore.

"That was the last present, Lorenzo," Damon announced.

"Actually," Caroline spoke up, clearing her throat. "I have one last present. But it isn't just for you, Lorenzo. It's a surprise for everyone."

Lorenzo looked at Caroline with big eyes, expecting something wrapped to come out of hiding.

Caroline looked at Stefan nervously, reaching for his hand. "I uh… This is not something expected or planned. It just sort of happened, but I... we're very happy about it. Lorenzo, how would you feel about getting a cousin to play with?"

Lorenzo blinked, not getting the message yet. "A cousin?" he questioned.

"Oh my God!" Elena screeched. "Oh my God! You're having a baby?"

Both Damon and Lorenzo's head whipped around towards her, before looking back at Stefan and Caroline again.

"Yes, I'm pregnant!" Caroline cried out happily.

Elena hugged her fiercely, ecstatic for her friend. Damon clapped his brother on his back. "Well done, bro," he smirked.

Lorenzo stepped forward quietly. "You're gonna be a Daddy?" he asked, looking at Stefan.

Stefan nodded proudly. "I am."

Lorenzo's eyes drifted towards Caroline. "And you're going to be my cousin's Mommy?"

"Yeah," Caroline trailed off, seeing that something was obviously bugging Lorenzo.

"Lorenzo?" Damon questioned worriedly.

His son suddenly whirled around and stomped up the stairs, rushing off towards his bedroom. Damon immediately wanted to run after him, before Elena stopped him.

"Do you mind if I go after him? I think I know what's wrong," Elena said, her heart already breaking a bit.

Damon eyed her hesitantly. "Sure," he mumbled.

Elena followed Lorenzo's earlier path and stopped at his closed bedroom door. His heart wrenching sobs could be heard through the wooden panelling, piercing right through Elena's very core. God, she loved that little boy so much!

Quietly, she opened the door and slipped inside. Lorenzo had thrown himself onto the bed and his little body was heaving with his incessant crying. Elena sat down next to him on the bed and put a hand on his back.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" she whispered.

The little boy sat up and threw his pillow at the door angrily, tears running down his cheeks. "This is the worst birthday ever!" he yelled.

"Why is that?"

"I hate my new cousin!"

Elena wiped at Lorenzo's tears with her thumb and stroked his heated skin. "Come on, sweetie. Stefan and Caroline's baby hasn't even been born yet. It hasn't done anything wrong."

"Yes, it has! This is my birthday and that stupid baby got something that I want!"

Elena swallowed hard, knowing that Lorenzo's next words would probably bring on the tears.

"What do you want?"

"I want a Mommy! My cousin has a Mommy and I don't," the boy wailed.

"Yes, you do," Damon's deep voice suddenly spoke up behind them. He walked up to his son with strong and sure steps and collected him in his arms. "You have a Mommy. You'll always have a Mommy. You know where she is, right?"

Elena wiped at her tears, unable to stop them.

"Yes," Lorenzo pouted. "She's a star up in the sky."

"Exactly. She's up there and she's looking down at you. I'm sure she is very proud of the boy you are. She'll always watch over you, Lorenzo."

Lorenzo looked down at his little hands, his bottom lip quivering with held back sobs.

"But I want to talk to her," he whispered.

"You can talk to her. You know where we do that. I can take you there anytime you want," Damon promised.

The little boy nodded and looked up at Elena.

"Sometimes, the boys at my school ask me where my Mommy is. They don't believe me when I say she's a star in the sky. When you came to pick me up from school one time, they saw you and I said that you're my Mommy. Can I call you Mommy? You live with my Daddy and you help me with school sometimes. That's what Mommies do, right? Can I, Elena? Can I call you Mommy?"

Silence overtook the room as Elena was completely baffled with Lorenzo's request. She eyed Damon carefully, not sure how he felt about all of this. He was about as still as a statue, not looking her directly into her eyes. She could imagine how it was hard on him. He probably didn't want this.

"Sweetie..," she began to say.

"It's okay," Damon interrupted her. "If you want to call Elena 'Mommy', that's okay."

Elena raised her eyebrows at him in surprise.

"Just remember that you also have another Mommy."

Lorenzo left his father's arms to crawl into Elena's. He buried his face in her neck and wrapped his small arms around her, sighing. "I kind of have two Mommies, then. My real Mommy and you. This birthday is getting better now. My new cousin doesn't have two Mommies. I do!" he said cheekily.

Both Damon and Elena laughed at this.

Lorenzo leaned back suddenly, looking Elena dead in the eye. "Mommies and Daddies have babies, don't they? Can't you and Daddy have a baby? That would be cool! I want a brother to play with! I guess a sister is okay too."

"Whoa! Slow down there, buddy. One thing at a time," Damon told his son.

"Okay," Lorenzo nodded earnestly. "Not now, then. Later…"

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Elena relaxed underneath the spray of water from the rain shower, the hot water washing away the eventful morning. Lorenzo was currently downstairs, playing with his Uncle and Caroline. The prospect of having a cousin was now better for him, knowing that he was still the bigger child and that he had the same things as the new baby did. She would have to get used to being called 'Mommy', though. But the idea of that little boy thinking of her like that warmed her heart.

She closed her eyes, running her fingers through her soapy hair.

All of a sudden, a warm chest was being pressed to her back and two strong arms encircled her waist.

"Hmm, I knew there was a reason why I picked a see through shower stall," Damon whispered in her ear. Apparently, the vision of her in his shower had been enough to catch his lustful attention, since his member was already pressing against her ass cheeks.

Elena leaned her head back against his chest, still keeping her eyes closed.

"Do you think it's wise to do this now, with your son's timing and all?"

Damon chuckled, kissing the pulse point of her neck, making her shiver underneath the hot spray.

"I made a deal with Stefan. He'll keep him entertained for at least an hour."

Elena's eyes opened wide. "Do you mean that you actually told your brother to keep your son busy, so you could come up here to have sex with me?"

Damon nibbled on her earlobe, trying to distract her.

"My brother may be a bit dense, but not that dense, Elena. I didn't tell him, but he can put two and two together. As soon as I asked him to play with my son so I could go upstairs to clean up, he smirked at me. He knows, and I don't give a flying fuck!"

"It just feels weird that he knows what we're doing up here."

"What do you think he and Caroline were doing in his old room last night? Let go, Elena. We now only have 50 minutes left until Lorenzo is released from his Uncle's clutches."

As soon as Damon finger's teasingly danced across her sex, all thoughts flew from her mind. She let him spread her legs open for better access. He used that access instantly, tickling her clit while he kissed her shoulder.

"Turn around," he whispered to her.

Elena complied, facing him completely. He looked jaw-dropping beautiful as usual. Water was trickling down his chest, the drops rolling over his skin until they reached the place where he was proudly showing his desire for her. Her eyes drifted back up to his face. The way he was staring at her was intense, and her stomach squeezed in lust.

Damon grabbed hold of her hand, placing it on his chest. He kept his hand on hers as he slid a path down, keeping his eyes on hers. It was sinfully hot, knowing that he was guiding her hand to where he wanted her, where he needed her to be. When they finally reached his erection and she wrapped her hand around him, he hissed.

Carefully, she began to pump him, feeling him grow even harder in her hand. She flicked her thumb over the head, earning a moan from Damon. Feeling proud for reducing him to this, she leaned forward and began to nip at his chest, keeping her hand busy on his member. She licked at his wet skin and nibbled on his nipples, until Damon pushed her away.

He backed her up underneath the spray and kissed her with such intensity, Elena felt her knees might buckle. Their tongues mingled deliciously as Damon's fingers went back down to her centre to prepare her for him. She mewled as he dipped a finger inside, thrusting it in and out slowly. The palm of his hand was pressed up against her clit, and with every thrust of his finger, he applied pressure to it, building her up higher and higher.

"Oh, Damon," she whispered, feeling her inner walls tighten around his finger. She needed more. She wanted him to bury himself inside of her. She needed him to claim her with his cock, as she squeezed around his girth for all she was worth. The image alone almost had her coming.

Damon turned her back around again, so she was facing the see through shower stall. Whoever came in now would get an eyeful of them.

"Put your hands against the shower stall," Damon breathed into her ear.

Elena complied eagerly.

"Good girl. Now spread your legs."

Elena's heart was hammering in her chest now with how aroused and ready she was. She could feel Damon behind her; he was teasing her, running his penis up and down her slit. Then, without warning, he pushed forward, all the way to the hilt. Elena let out a guttural moan.

"Damn, you feel good!" Damon rasped.

He put his hands on her hips and began thrusting slowly, allowing her to feel him slide against her inner walls at an excruciating slow pace. She grit her teeth, keeping herself from howling out her frustration.

"Please, Damon. Faster!" she begged.

Damon chuckled. "Patience."

He had her teetering on the brink with his pace; never quite speeding up and yet making sure he hit all the right spots. If she could just get him to hit those spots a little faster… Damon angled his thrusts inside of her a bit differently now, causing her eyes to widen with surprise with how good it felt.

"Right there!" she couldn't help but scream. "Right there!"

Finally, Damon sped up, hitting the right places over and over again. She went over the edge with a loud moan, squeezing him tightly. Damon wasn't far behind. He thrust hard once… twice… and then he came as well.

"Hmm, we're getting so good at this," he drawled once the highs of their orgasm started to wear off.

"Practice makes perfect," Elena agreed.

Damon slipped out of her and quickly grabbed onto the shampoo.

"Let's hurry before Stefan can't handle my son anymore. Besides, Ric and Jenna are coming over to give him a present soon."

"Right."

As it turned out early on in their relationship, the 'Uncle Ric' Lorenzo had been talking about once, was none other than the boyfriend Jenna had talked about at the airport with her. Virginia really was a small world. Jenna no longer lived in Europe. She had realised she couldn't be without Ric for too long, and she decided to move back and take a position at Damon's company. This worked out perfectly, since Stefan's place still needed to be filled at that time. Ric and Jenna were now married and living a couple of blocks away from them.

"Oh, Elena? When Lorenzo's birthday party is over, I want to take you somewhere. Our conversation with my son made me think about something. I think it's time that we do this," Damon suddenly said.

Elena frowned, curious about what he meant.

"Sure…."

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Lorenzo was holding onto Elena's hand, as they followed Damon down a path. The sun was beginning to set behind the trees, giving this place a melancholic glow. The air around them was calm, quiet and peaceful.

"We're here," Damon whispered.

Elena watched as his face tightened a bit, before looking down at the headstone in front of her. It read:

Rose Salvatore

1981-2009

Beloved wife

Devoted mother

"Hello Mommy," Lorenzo smiled as he sat down in the grass in front of the headstone. "Guess what? It's my birthday today. I got all these cool presents; I got Lego's and a train track. Oh yeah, and I'm getting a new cousin! Uncle Stefan is having a baby with Caroline!"

It was adorable to see that little boy rambling on about his day.

Damon cleared his throat and looked from Elena to the headstone.

"Rose, this is Elena. I uh.. I wanted to bring her here to you. She's been great with our son and… she made me see that even though you will always be in my heart, I needed to pick myself up and be there for Lorenzo. He's not living with your parents anymore. He's with me full time and he's such a great kid. I wish you were here to see that."

Elena remained silent as she let Damon say his piece. She only held onto his hand to show her support.

"I want Elena to be a part of our lives. Before she came along, I was going about things all wrong. I was so bitter about how you were taken from us. Right now, I see that I need to remember you and the joy that you brought. I can't remember you in anger and bitterness. It's not good for me and it's not good for our son. I hope you're okay with all this. Lorenzo will always know what a great mother you were. No one can replace you, but.."

"I now have two Mommies!" Lorenzo piped up, throwing in his two cents. "I love you, Mommy, and I love Elena too. You can be my Mommy up in the sky and Elena can be my Mommy here."

Tears were rolling down Elena's cheeks as she watched the two Salvatore men express their thoughts and feelings to this person who must have been an extraordinary woman.

"Exactly," Damon breathed, agreeing with his son. "I now have two amazing women in my life. One who gave me the world and my son, the other who gave me my life back when my whole world fell apart. I love you, Rose. Like I said, I hope you are watching us and are okay with the way things are going."

In that moment, a bird landed on Rose's headstone. It sat there for a second, looking at all three of them, before it flew away again.

"Oh wow!" Elena whispered. "Do you think that was some sort of sign?"

Damon looked up at the sky, watching the bird fly high above the trees. He was smiling.

"Maybe it was. Come on, let's go before it gets too dark."

Lorenzo jumped up and grabbed onto Elena's left hand, while Damon latched onto her right. They slowly began to walk away. It was the start of a new life; a new family. All the pain from the past could be left behind them. Damon smiled at his son and Elena, while twirling the engagement ring on her finger….

A/N: There you have it, the epilogue. I understood with the last chapter how some readers thought Damon and Elena's relationship happened kind of fast. You're right, that's true. However, if you've seen the movie this is based on, you'll know that there was also a love confession in that one very fast. It's just the way this movie was built. But, like I said, I understood your point of view and decided to show with this chapter how they did try and take it slow after their love confession. After all, there is a child involved and a man who has lost his wife. I hope you like the way I ended things.

A huge thank you goes out to my beta Kate (This Is My Escape). Since English is not my mother tongue, she helped me get my English grammar right. I love her and her enthusiasm whenever I write a new chapter. Thank you!

Of course, this story would never have been posted if it wasn't for Mollie (everythingbasedonlove). This lovely girl is amazing, and her advice has been my rock throughout this very story.

Lastly, thank you to all of you readers who stuck with me throughout every chapter. You rock!

Now, be a dear and please review this story one last time :)

Twitter: plainoldSandra