Stefan was up to go to school, which was funny considering that the triplets hadn't been enrolled yet.

"You know, for this chick that you like," Peyton told him. "Wouldn't it be more impressive to go to college instead of acing junior year history for like the hundredth time?"

Stefan didn't like getting criticized by her, "Shouldn't you and your brothers be in school?"

Peyton shrugged, "Eh."

"What are you doing up this early? Go back to bed," Stefan told her.

"I could say the same thing about you," Peyton replied. "So, I'll say it. 'What are you doing up? Go back to bed, bitch.'"

"You've spent way to much time around Damon," Stefan told her.

"What do you expect? He raised us," Peyton replied. "Now go to school, you're going to be late."

"You're so bossy," Stefan told her.

Peyton smirked at him, "How else do you think I get my brothers to do my bidding?"

Stefan couldn't help but smile because he truly did miss the triplets.

Damon took off to get the triplets dinner because again, they were human and needed actual food to eat and probably opening a person so he can eat as well.

Stefan at the hospital to clean up 'Damon's mess'. And that left them to wait for a person to come to repair the window that Stefan broke by tackling Damon out the window.

Peyton went downstairs to get something to drink when she heard a knock on the front door. She went over and opened it. She saw some girl standing there. The girl looked startled to see her there.

"Hi," the girl said, awkwardly.

"Hey," Peyton replied confused.

"I'm Elena," the girl stated.

"I'm Peyton," the girl said.

"I was just looking for Stefan," Elena said.

"Oh, he's out back," Peyton said, letting Elena in. "I'll go get him."

Elena asked, "Who are you?"

"I'm Peyton," the girl repeated.

"I got that the first time," Elena replied. "I meant, what are you doing here?"

"Stefan's my uncle," Peyton told her.

"He didn't tell me he had a niece," Elena said, looking at the décor, especially the huge-ass fireplace. "He never told me that he has a sibling."

"He has an older brother, Damon," Peyton said. "Damon's our dad. You wait here; I'll go get my uncle." She moved to go to the backyard.

Elena followed, "Are you visiting or—"

There was a squawk from the crow. Elena jumped and Peyton turned around to see Damon standing there. He had a bag with take-out food.

"You must be Elena," Damon said. "I'm Damon, Stefan's brother, and Peyton's father."

"Peyton told me about you," Elena said.

"Yeah, Peyton likes to brag while Stefan doesn't. I'm sure Stefan will be along any second," Damon replied. He handed the bag of food to Peyton, "Here. Go get your brothers." Peyton grabbed the bag and looked in it. "Yes, I got you salsa. If I didn't you won't let me hear the end of it."

Elena was looking at the décor again, "This is your living room?"

Damon said, "Living room, parlor, Sotheby's auction. It's a little kitschy for my taste. I see why my brother's so smitten. It's about time. For a while there, I never thought he'd get over the last one. Nearly destroyed him."

"Says the one who hasn't been here in years," Peyton said. She went upstairs.

"The last one?" asked Elena.

"Yeah," Damon said. "Katherine, his girlfriend?" Elena made a face, "Oh, you two haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet."

"Nope," Elena said. "So, your daughter and her brothers?" She looked at Damon. He didn't seem old enough to a kid in her teens.

"Yeah, she's in a set of triplets," Damon said. "They're a handful. Sometimes I wish I had three hands so I can wrangle them. I'm sure the exes conversation will come up now. Or maybe he didn't want to tell you because he didn't want you to think he was on the rebound. We all know how those relationships end."

"You say it like every relationship is doomed to end," Elena pointed out.

Peyton and her brothers came down the stairs.

The two boys were identical, except one wore glasses. The one not wearing glasses looked like he had just woken up.

Elena looked at the two boys.

"The one I call Four-Eyes is Ashton and the one that I call his clone is Elliot," Damon joked.

Elliot and Ashton both glared at him before heading to the kitchen.

Peyton said, "Hey, Uncle Stefan."

Elena jumped again, because she didn't hear Stefan come in.

Stefan said, "Elena. I didn't know you were coming over."

"I know," Elena replied. "I should have called; your niece let me in."

"Oh, don't be silly," Damon said. "You're welcome any time. Isn't she, Stefan? You know, I should break out the family photo albums or some home movies. But...I have to warn you. He wasn't also such a looker."

Stefan said, "Thank you for stopping by, Elena. Nice to see you."

Peyton yelled, "Where the hell is the – never mind!"

Damon looked in the direction of where the kitchen presumably was.

"Yeah, I should probably go, so you can eat," Elena said. "It was nice to meet you and your kids, Damon."

"Great meeting you too, Elena," Damon said. He took Elena's hand and kissed it.

One of the boys yelled, "Would you stop?"

"I gotta go," Damon said. "Parental duties call."

"Ashton, stop!" that was Peyton.

Damon headed for the kitchen, "Would you stop acting like I let a bunch of wolves raise you? Our guest is still here and she heard you."

Elena blurted out to Stefan, "Just how old was he when had fathered triplets?"

Now, Stefan could lie and say that Damon adopted them after they were orphaned, which was the truth, but considering the young age and how they were teenagers...

He went with the cover story that Damon had come up with, especially since the triplets got older and Damon was still young looking. Stefan said, "He was twelve and she was fourteen." Elena's eyes widened, "He doesn't see them as a mistake though. Their mother did so she shucked them off of Damon and doesn't have contact with the triplets. He doesn't like talking about it."

Elena nodded and left.

Damon came back in, "Great gal. Whoo. She's got spunk. You, on the other hand, look pooped. Did you over-exert yourself today? Let me guess...hospital."

"Someone had to clean up your mess," Stefan said.

"Well, were you successful? Did the powers of persuasion work? Remember, if you don't feed properly, none of those little tricks work right."

Stefan went into the kitchen. Peyton had crunchy tacos, Elliot had nachos, and Ashton was devouring a burrito. Stefan asked, "How long was Elena here?"

"Maybe four minutes tops," Peyton replied.

Damon asked, "Were you worried, Stefan? Scared we may be doomed to repeat the past? Isn't that why you play your little game, 'I'm a high school human?'"

"I'm not playing any game," Stefan replied.

"Of course you are," Damon replied. "We both know the closest you'll ever get to humanity is when you rip it open and feed on it."

Elliot asked, "Can we not talk about eating humans while we're eating?"

Stefan asked, "What kind of game are you playing, Damon?"

Damon replied, "Guess you'll just have to wait and see won't you?"

The next night, there was some comet thing and Damon had ordered the three to go outside and talk to people. It was oddly reminiscent of the store where Damon had told the three to go sit and talk to the lobsters in the tank because they were getting rowdy.

So, the three went to the Mystic Bar and Grill and sat at in a booth together, eating French fries. Peyton had her bag on the table next to her. 

Damon came in and sat next to Elliot. "I thought I told you to go talk to people."

"And I thought you were going to enroll in school but you haven't done that yet," Peyton told him.

Damon asked, "And punish the teachers by unleashing you three on them?"

"You're the chaos addict," Ashton told him. "You'll get a kick out of what would happen."

"I would," Damon admitted.

A girl came up to their booth. She had gauze on her neck.

"I know you," the girl said to Damon.

"Well, that's unfortunate," Damon replied.

"Um...I don't...I don't know how...but your face," the girl said. She chuckled, "Excuse me. Sorry." She walked away.

Damon looked at his kids, "I'll be back."

There was silence over the booth and Peyton heard a slight distanced scream.

"That poor girl," Elliot deadpanned.

Elena came in and walked over to their booth, "Hey, I'm surprised to see you three out and about."

"Our dad told us to go talk to people," Peyton said.

"He used that 'Go talk to the lobsters' voice," Ashton said.

Elena seemed confused, "'Go talk to the lobsters?'"

Some dude came over to them, "Who are they, Elena?"

"They're Stefan's niece and nephew, Tyler," Elena told him. "That's Peyton and—" She trailed off because she couldn't remember who was who.

"Elliot and Ashton," Peyton said, pointing at her brothers' respectively.

Another dude came over, "Hey, has anyone seen Vicki?"

"You're her stalker," Tyler told him. "You tell us."

"I can't find her," the other guy said ignoring the stalker part.

"She probably found somebody else to party with," Tyler replied. "Sorry, pill pusher, I guess you've been replaced."

Elena asked, "What's with the pill pusher?"

"Ask him," Tyler replied.

The guy asked, "You wanna do this right now?"

Elliot asked, "Can you do this somewhere else?" He pointed at an empty table, "Like over there. That's a nice table."

The group ignored the three newcomers. Elena asked the guy, "Are you dealing?"

"Just because he called him a pill pusher doesn't mean he's dealing drugs," Elliot said. "He could be taking pills recreationally, who gives a shit?"

"I give a shit because he's my brother," Elena told him.

"She's never gonna go for you," Tyler told the guy.

"Oh my god," Peyton said with a groan.

"She already did," the guy told Tyler. "Over and over and over again."

"TMI," Ashton muttered.

"Yeah, right," Tyler replied.

A blonde girl asked the unnamed guy, "You slept with Vicki Donovan? I mean, Vicki Donovan slept with you?"

"There's no way," Tyler said.

"And I didn't even have to force her into it," Elena's brother said.

"Whoever this Vicki chick is, she's allowed to bang whoever the hell she wants. And if she decided to bang Elena's guy, then that's her choice, so shut the fuck up," Peyton stated.

"What the hell is he talking about, Ty?" a guy in flannel asked.

"Nothing, man, just ignore him," Tyler said. "He's a punk."

"You know what?" the flannel guy said, "How about all of you shut up and help me find my sister?"

"We'll check the back," a dark-skinned girl said.

"I'll check the square," flannel guy said.

"I'll come with you," the guy said, following flannel guy.

"Oh, no, no, no," Elena said to her brother. "You are coming with me. So that's your game now, dealing?"

"I'm not dealing," Elena's brother told her.

The two wandered off to go somewhere in private to talk.

Peyton took her iPhone out of her bag to text their dad, wondering where he was.

Ashton asked, "Was it necessary for them to catch us up on their drama?"

"Yeah," Elliot replied.

Peyton texted Stefan because their dad was still gone and Stefan replied that he was outside somewhere. "Uncle Stefan's outside."

Ashton packed up their fries and left the Grill. It took a bit of wandering around when they finally found Stefan.

The flannel guy showed up, "Hey."

"Hey," Stefan replied.

The flannel guy asked him, "Have you seen my sister?"

"No, sorry," Stefan replied.

"I can't find her. She's missing," Flannel Guy told them.

"Funny, our dad's missing too," Peyton told Flannel Guy. "He's wearing a leather jacket. He's kind of broody."

"We'll keep an eye out for your sister," Stefan told Flannel Guy. "We're looking for their dad, so..." He nudged the two boys forward so they can leave.

"Hey," Flannel Guy called to Stefan, making them stop in their tracks. "I saw you at the hospital yesterday."

That made Stefan oddly tense. He asked, "Did you?"

"What were you doing there?" asked Flannel Guy.

"Visiting," Stefan replied.

"Visiting?" asked Flannel Guy in disbelief. "You know, Elena and I, we've known each other for a long time. We might not be together right now, but I'll look out for her. And I'll always look out for her."

Stefan made a slight face, which let the triplets know that Stefan was hearing something that humans can't pick up.

"Excuse me," Stefan said. "You three stay put."

"You can't tell us what to do," Peyton told him defensively.

"When your dad's not around, I'm in charge. And I'm telling you three to stay put," Stefan told them, before walking off.

Flannel Guy looked at the three, "What was that about?"

"He's our uncle," Elliot told him.

Flannel Guy looked at them and after Stefan. The age closeness...

"Our dad had us young," Peyton explained.

"Really young," Ashton added with a nod.

"About twelve-years-old really," Elliot elaborated.

Flannel Guy looked slightly horrified, "I'm going to find my sister."

Ashton nodded and Flannel Guy took off.

Stefan found Flannel Guy's sister, Vicki, who was the girl that recognized Damon's face. Coming from the context clues, Vicki was the girl that Damon intentionally left alive to cause Stefan problems.

Again, he was a chaos addict, having to cause problems for everyone else because he gets bored easily and has to create his own drama. 

Maybe that's how the original vampires found out about how Damon adopted three humans and nearly chased them out. They didn't even know 'Originals' existed 'til that happened.

Damon texted the triplets that he was busy sleeping with someone so they shouldn't wait up for him. He never exactly hid things like that from them. 

He was open about 'forbidden' things to ensure that they were responsible about it, like if they were going to parties, they should at least call him so he can pick them up. He said he'd rather be mad about being woken up, but at least he knew his kids were okay and not dead in a ditch, wrapped around a pole or tree, or in a disgusting pervert basement somewhere. He said it was better for him being grumpy than have one of them in a coffin.

The three watched the comet pass by.