CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

"Damn it." Nyx hisses as she drops the babies' diaper bag. She kneels down to clean up everything that fell out. "Son of a—"

"Should you really be talking like that in front of the twins?" She looks up at the sound of a familiar voice, and Damon smiles down at her. "Need some help?"

"I thought you were off helping Stefan find my sister today." She says as he kneels down.

"I was, but Caroline called Stefan and told him what happened​ with the FBI." He tells her. "I figured I'd come and help you. Plus, I think my brother and Carter can handle looking for Elena without me."

"Well, since you're here, can you help me get them back to Meredith's?" She asks, and he nods.

"Yeah."

They get back to the house, and Damon's doing his best to help with baby duty. Caroline's definitely better at it, but he's not awful, and the twins seem to take to him well enough. He also argues that she's very maternal, and he's never had to babysit once in his century-long life.

There's a knock on the front door, and Damon goes to answer it. He's carrying Alex around with him, and Nyx is playing with Everly on the floor in the living room.

The raven-haired vampire sighs when he sees who's standing on the other side of the door. "You people really have nothing better to do than harass a mother while she's with her kids?"

"Oh my God!" Nyx yells from the living room, he can hear the excitement in her voice. "Oh my God, Damon!" She calls, and he quickly makes his way back over with the two FBI agents behind him. "She's gonna do it!"

He smiles when he sees Everly on her hands and knees. She's​ trying to push herself forward to crawl. Nyx's smile falls when she sees Agent​ Henrikson.

"Impeccable timing." The brunette grumbles as she stands up, visibly annoyed. "You sure know how to ruin a milestone for a baby." She picks Everly up as she looks at the agent.

"We need to speak with you." Henrikson says, and she shakes her head.

"You know, five minutes ago I was laughing because Damon tried to change Alex's diaper, and he started peeing. It's the first time that I've ever seen Damon panicked and practically begging for help. Then I saw my daughter almost crawl for the very first time." Nyx says. "Today was actually seeming like it was gonna be a good day until you two had to show up and ruin it."

"Hey, come on." Damon walks over and places his hand on the small of her back.

"No, I'm tired of this." She says. "I don't know what he did now, and I really don't care. I'm trying to take care of my kids, and I don't think it's too much to ask that I do that with some peace of mind that my life isn't going to keep being disrupted by cops."

"Why don't I take the twins into the kitchen, and then you can talk to the agents?" He says as he takes Everly from her. He leans down so his lips are by her ear. "Play nice."

She rolls her eyes, and he walks away with a baby in each arm. Nyx motions for the two agents to have a seat on the couch.

"Would you mind if I use the restroom?" One of them asks, and she tells him where it is.

"So, what's going on now?" Nyx reluctantly asks as Agent Henrikson sits down.

"Sam and Dean have somehow managed to escape from prison, and they assaulted one of the officers who works there." He tells her as she looks over at Damon and the twins in the kitchen through the grand entryway. He clears his throat. "Ms. Gilbert?"

"I didn't hear you ask a question." She says, still watching Damon.

Henrikson glances between the two of them, and then he sees Damon smirk as she catches his eye. He's feeding the twins baby food from one of those little glass jars.

"Have you heard from either of them since you and I last talked?" The agent asks.

"No, I haven't." Nyx tells him, and it's not actually a lie. She hasn't talked to him yet.

"Do you think he'll try to contact you?"

She sighs as she looks at him. "I couldn't tell you." She says, still not lying. They got into an argument after he told her his plan to get arrested to help his dad's old Marine buddy.

"If he does, you'll give us a call?" He asks as he hands her a card with his number.

"I wouldn't hold my breath." She says as she takes it. "And the next time you show up to bother me, you're not getting in without a warrant." She tells him as she stands up, and his partner walks back into the room. "I trust you two can show yourselves out."

Nyx walks into the kitchen, both agents watching her, and she goes to stand beside Damon. She smiles as she leans down to kiss Alex's cheek, causing him to start giggling. Damon's hand rests on the small of Nyx's back, and she wraps her arm around him as she stands up straight.

Damon leans down to whisper in her ear. "I heard his friend looking around the back of the house." He tells her, and she tries to keep from getting visibly angry.

"They're still watching us." She says quietly as she looks up at him.

"Then I guess we should sell it." He leans down and kisses her cheek. She smiles as she lightly pushes him away from her, and then goes to get the twins sippy cups with some water.

The agents are making their way to the door at a slower pace than Nyx would like. Both of them are still watching the two vampires, and they both know it. Damon walks away from the twins in their highchairs and quickly walks up behind Nycole. He grabs her and wraps his arms around her from behind. She chuckles as she sets the two cups down.

Nyx twists around in his hold and wraps her arms around his neck. "I really hate these two jackasses." She whispers with a smile on her face, and Damon nods.

"I know." He says as he tucks a lock of her hair behind her ear.

From where the agents are standing, the exchange between the two looks like a sweet moment shared between a new couple. And that's exactly what Nyx wants them to see. Satisfied with the scene before them, Henrikson and his partner leave the house.

Nycole sighs as she drops her arms and rests her hands on his biceps. "I owe you one, Damon — seriously​." She says, and he shrugs, still looking down at her.

"I probably still owed you for something that I did." He quickly leans down and pecks her cheek one last time before going back to finish feeding the twins. She smirks as she shakes her head at him.

—

Nyx and Damon walk into the sheriff's house with the twins, and Caroline looks over at them as they make their way into the living room. "Hey. My mom told me that those FBI agents were in town again." She says, and Nyx nods as they set the twins down.

"I knew they'd come back after the boys got out, I was just hoping that they'd come while I was at the grill." She tells her. "But still, I think it worked. They seemed convinced."

"It might be for the best, Matt seemed pretty nervous about pretending​ to be your boyfriend for your plan." She says, and Damon laughs.

"Why?" Nyx asks.

"Because he knew how important it was to you that they think you're moving on from any life involving Dean. He just didn't want to let you down." The blonde explains.

"Yeah, well, let's just hope that Henrikson bought it, and he leaves me the hell alone from now on." She sighs as she goes into the kitchen to get herself something to drink.

"I bet you enjoyed the plan." Caroline says as she looks at Damon, and he narrows his blue at her. "You were so quick to volunteer to come back from Elena duty when you heard what was going on."

"Are you always so judgy?" He questions.

"You do know that she's in love with Dean, right?" She asks. "They have a family, and they're happy."

"I want her to be happy, Caroline." He tells her. "And the FBI visits were making her unhappy. I came back to help my friend." He says, and she narrows her eyes at him before turning and walking over to Nycole in the kitchen.

The brunette's amused as she looks at her friend. "I'm sure Dean will be happy to hear how protective you are over our relationship." She says, and Caroline smiles as she looks at her.