Well here we are, the end. This has been an amazing journey and technically we're not done yet. There will be a sequel coming up in the next little while. Shouldn't be too long of a wait but you never really know. As of right now it's titled "Expecting the Unexpected: The college years" just to keep things simple. so be on the look out for that in the next little while. Now without further ado, enjoy the final chapter of ETU

The next weekend Mady's loud wail filled the air at an early 5:30 in the morning.

"I'll get her." Damon sighed and Elena smiled in response.

"Thanks baby." She said and he got out of bed and left the bedroom and walked down the hall. She heard Mady's bedroom door open and Mady's cries immediately subsided. She absolutely adored her father.

"That guy can get that baby to stop crying quicker than anyone else can. I think he should spend the night more often as long as there is no funny business. One grandchild is more than enough for right now." Grayson said walking by the bedroom dressed for work.

"So he's allowed to spend the night without petulant stares from you?" Elena asked with a smirk.

"Well... I don't like it but I like a quiet house so much more than I dislike him being here." He decided and Elena smiled knowing that was a glowing review when it came to Damon.

"Good to know. But yes, Mady absolutely adores her daddy." Elena told him and Grayson smiled.

"It must be a Gilbert girl thing. You loved me too when you were a baby." He said. Elena smiled as her dad walked away.

"Oh are you guys still okay with babysitting tonight while I go to the graduation party with Damon?" Elena asked.

"Absolutely. It would be great if she was sleeping when you left, but it's not a big deal." He told her and she agreed. Before he left she promised to put Madalyn to sleep before she left the house. A few minutes later Damon returned and slid back into bed.

"She's out." Damon told her and Elena sighed happily. He snuck his arm around her and she lay her head on his chest.

"I can't wait for the party tonight." Elena whispered into the semi-darkness.

"Me neither. Are your mom and dad still babysitting?" Damon asked.

"Yeah, but I'm going to make it to the party a little later than you. I need to put Mady to sleep for them first. You know that she doesn't sleep for anyone but me or you." She said and he nodded.

"I think we should get a little more sleep. Chances are she will be awake again soon enough." Damon murmured and Elena agreed.

Later on when it was time for the party to stop, Elena kissed Damon at the door.

"I'll see you in a little while." She told him and he agreed. She watched him walk away as she held Mady in her arms.

"Do you want us to take her?" Miranda asked from the kitchen.

"It's okay, I'm going to put her to bed and then get ready to go. It usually takes a while and I don't want to miss all of the party." Elena said as she carried the little girl upstairs.

"Have fun Lena. You know it's Murphy's Law that states that if you want to get out, the baby is never going to sleep." Grayson called after her and Elena called back.

"Don't jinx it dad." She called back.

"I'm trying not to, just warning you. Murphy's Law can be a bitch at times." He said and Elena laughed carrying Mady upstairs. She went into Mady's room and quickly fed her a bottle and changed her diaper.

"Okay, my sweet baby, now you're going to go to sleep like a good girl for mommy right?" She asked as she lay Mady in the crib. Mady immediately started screaming and Elena sighed. It seemed like it was going to be like her dad said. Since she wanted to get out of here, Mady was not going to sleep. She picked her up and snuggled her close to her chest. Mady stopped crying and nestled in closer. Elena started rocking her and humming softly to her until Mady's big blue eyes finally closed. She rocked her for a few more minutes and then placed her in her crib before as quietly as she could leaving the room. She softly shut the door before rushing to her bedroom to get ready for the party. If Mady didn't wake up in the next few minutes or so she wouldn't, Elena knew.

Elena quickly jumped into the shower to wash her hair and body. Looking nice hadn't been nearly as much of a priority in the past couple weeks with Mady in the picture. Tonight she wanted to straighten her hair and do something with it, and where something nice. It was miraculous but she was already fitting into all of her pre-pregnancy clothes. Caroline told her often that any other woman on the planet would hate her for that. But Elena was relieved. For tonight only she would get to be a typical high-school girl, rather than the fiancee and mother she was now. She would get to be young and in love for tonight before going back to being the mom tomorrow morning. She absolutely loved everything about being a mom but sometimes a person just needed a night out. She straightened her hair and pulled some of it back, securing it with bobby pins and applied some makeup. So far so good, Mady hadn't woken up which was a good sign. Once she was done she walked into her bedroom and found a short jean skirt, a white tank top and her leather jacket which she chose to pair with flip flops. She knew Damon loved the outfit and tonight was as much about him as it was about her getting out. Before she went downstairs she checked with Mady once more before sneaking out.

"Alright, I'm gone." She called from the door.

"Mady asleep?" Grayson asked.

"Yep, you probably won't hear a peep from her for the rest of the night. I'll see you tomorrow." She said before opening the door.

"Have fun tonight, but just know even if you're hung over tomorrow you still have to come home before noon." He called and Elena readily agreed. She knew the rules and was more than fine with them. She said goodbye once more before leaving the house excitedly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, thanks for inviting me." Erica said coming up to Damon while he waited for Elena.

"No problem. You're a senior it's only right you came." He shrugged it off.

"But you didn't have to actually come over to me and tell me I could come." She told him and he smiled.

"Well you're one of the only seniors that doesn't drive me mad." He acknowledged.

"Where is Elena tonight? Taking care of the baby?" She asked.

"She'll be here soon. The deal she made with her parents dictated that she had to put Mady to sleep before she came." Damon said.

"Makes sense. So do you want to hang out with me until she comes?" Erica asked kindly.

"I would, but I've got to track down Klaus and Caroline. I don't want Caroline to ruin their night by complaining about Klaus's summer plans." Damon said.

"Alright, well I'll be around." She said walking away. Damon walked in the opposite direction and like he feared he found Klaus with a frown on his face and Caroline speaking.

"What's going on?" He asked coming up.

"Will you please tell my girlfriend that I am going to London whether she wants me to or not. I have to visit my family." He said.

"You've really got to let that one go Care." Damon sighed.

"Is it wrong that I don't want my boyfriend to leave me for two weeks?" She demanded.

"No, but you still have to let him go. The two of you won't make it through this summer unless you do." Damon told her and she stiffened unhappily.

"Fine, but I'm not happy about it. I'll drop it for now." She decided.

"Good, now just try to enjoy the party. It's the last graduation party of the year." Damon told them and Klaus nodded.

"When is my best friend going to be here?" Caroline demanded in a snit now.

"When she gets here. She had to put Mady to sleep." Damon said going off in search of the keg. He needed a beer, now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Elena parked her car at the Falls she walked over to where the sounds of the party were.

"Well well Elena, look who managed to pull herself away from the baby." Sophia said.

"I'm here." Elena responded.

"And looking hot. Wow." Mason said.

"Thanks but no thanks." Elena said.

"But you look hot. Come on for old times sake..." He trailed off looking at her suggestively.

"I would suggest you take your thoughts away from my fiancee before something happens." Damon said coming up to put his arm around Elena.

"You can't control who or what I think about Salvatore." He said with a sneer.

"No, but I can beat your ass." Damon muttered.

"Let's just go over there or something. I could use a drink." Elena told him.

"Alright, let's go." Damon told her steering her away from Mason and Sophia over to where the keg was.

"Let's not fight with anyone tonight." Elena decided.

"Deal. By the way you look hot." He told her appraising her body.

"I tried." She laughed.

"You succeeded." He told her and she smiled in response. She was happy to know that he liked what she was wearing.

"Can you grab me a beer?" She asked him and he quickly filled a cup for her and she took a sip.

"So how does it feel?" He asked her and she sighed happily.

"You have no idea. Just do me a favour tonight and ignore Mason and Sophia. They deserve each other and they can leave us the hell alone. I want to enjoy this night, drama free." Elena told him.

"You have no idea how good that sounds to me." He said leaning down and pecking her lips.

"Then we're in agreement. I won't bitch slap Sophia into next week and you won't beat the hell out of Mason, though we could do it." She told him and he laughed.

"No bitch slapping and ass kicking here tonight." Damon agreed holding his hand out for her to shake. She accepted it before moving away from the keg. He wrapped his arm around her waist as they walked to a place that was a little more secluded. Not hidden away or anything, just a little quieter. Damon sat down on a lawn chair that someone had thought to bring and Elena planted herself on his lap when Klaus came into sight with a slightly distressed and slightly irritated look on his face. There was only one person who could have put that particular look on his face and that was Caroline.

"What's up?" Elena asked seeing Klaus start pacing on the spot.

"I need you to talk some sense into Caroline. She's on this fucking brain wave that says if I go to London then I don't love her. I have no clue where she got that stupid idea but she's threatening to dump me if I refuse to not go see my family." He ranted.

"Caroline can be a little melodramatic at times. I'll go talk to her." Elena said getting off of Damon and rushing off in search of her best friend.

"Elena will take care of it." Damon promised.

"Oh I hope so. This is completely ridiculous. I'm not going to stay in a relationship with someone who so clearly wants to control every aspect of my life. I need my own life. It's times like these that make me happy she's going to New York for college and I'm going to Richmond. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and that sort of shit." Klaus muttered.

"You knew what you were getting yourself into when you started dating her. She's always been like this. She's a little neurotic at times but she's Elena's best friend and she's been there for Elena through a lot. She's a good person it's just she's a little high-strung at times." Damon explained.

"Oh believe me I know. I love her to death but right now I don't really like her all that much." Klaus said shaking his head.

"Believe it or not there are times I can't be around Elena. We fight and we argue and we sometimes need our space but we never give up. You'll go to London Monday and she'll be fine with it. Then you'll come home and she'll be happy to see you. Everything will go back to normal, I think she's just feeling left out." Damon told his friend.

"She shouldn't feel left out. She has lots of things she could do." Klaus insisted.

"I don't know but you're going to London, Elena and I have Madalyn to take care of. Caroline doesn't think she has anyone until you get back." Damon shrugged.

"She'll be able to spend lots of time with you and Elena." Klaus said shaking his head.

"Yeah, she will but right now she's seeing it as she's being left behind." Damon insisted.

"How do you know that?" Klaus asked curiously.

"I have no idea. I think it's how she's feeling but how I know that I have no fucking idea. I don't relish the idea of

understanding what's going on in Caroline Forbes's brain. The idea scares me a little bit. A little distance would be good right about now." Damon said shuddering.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Elena finally found Caroline who was doing shots with the entire football team, Elena pulled her away.

"Oh no Lanie... don't take me away from my friends." She pleaded.

"Come on you and I have to talk." Elena insisted pulling Caroline towards the woods.

"I don't want to talk, I want to drink." She pleaded.

"You can drink once you kiss and makeup with Klaus." Elena told her sitting her down on a chair and kneeling in front of her.

"I don't want to." Caroline muttered petulantly.

"Would you rather be single all summer and lonely. Because we both know that if you two break up Klaus will be with Damon and I all summer long and you'll have no one to hang out with." Elena said to Caroline. Drunk Caroline was even more panicky than the sober version.

"I don't want to lose you and Damon..." She pleaded.

"Then go kiss and makeup with Klaus." Elena commanded.

"What do I say?" She asked.

"You tell him it's okay that he goes to London and that you'll have tons of fun here without him. You'll miss him and you can't wait for him to come home. Then you'll say that you want to spend every moment you can with him until it's time for him to leave." Elena said smiling as she said it. Words like that come naturally to people who are in love with someone else.

"Okay." Caroline said swallowing hard and standing up.

"Good now go." Elena told her and Caroline went off in search of Klaus while Elena returned to Damon.

When she got back Klaus was gone so Elena sat back down on Damon's lap and kissed him sweetly.

"Where did Klaus go?" Elena asked.

"In search of Caroline." Damon answered. Elena nodded and kissed him again, her tongue teasing the seam of his lips. He parted them willingly and kissed her deeper. The moment he started kissing her back, she relinquished all control. He was much better at it anyway.

"I wonder how Mady's doing?" Damon asked.

"Let's not think about her tonight. My parents will call if something happens. Tonight is just about us celebrating your graduation." Elena told him kissing his lips once more.

"That sounds so good to me." He told her before kissing her passionately. His arms tightened around her and pulled her even closer to his body.

"Hey none of that. That can wait until you get home." Klaus said coming back with his arm around Caroline's shoulder. They were both smiling and they took the other chair beside the one Damon and Elena were sitting in.

"So everything good now?" Elena asked and they both nodded in response.

"Looking back on the four years of high school, did you ever think we would be here like this?" Klaus asked curiously, he knew he wouldn't have ever pictured this, but he wanted to know if Damon would have.

"You mean, me engaged with a baby girl and you dating Caroline Forbes?" Damon asked with a snicker.

"Exactly. I know I would never have predicted that by the time I graduated I would be in love and I would be the godfather of the most perfect baby in the world." Klaus said shaking his head.

"Me neither. I never would have thought I would have fallen madly in love with the most perfect woman on the planet, only to get her pregnant and then subsequently have her give birth to the most perfect baby girl on the planet. But you know what, I wouldn't change any of it." Damon said tightening his hold on Elena.

"Let's make a toast." Caroline enthused holding her cup up.

"To what?" Elena asked.

"To us. To our families. To the good times. Any of it. All of it, I don't care." Caroline said.

"Here's to us." Klaus said.

"Here's to our families." Elena shot in with a smirk while Caroline grinned.

"Here's to the good times." Damon said before everyone clinked their cups together.