Redamancy | Elena Gilbert

Chapter 61

Jo's place was small.

Not that Rosalind minded. But it did make it hard to feel comfortable during dinner.

Alaric was with Jo in the kitchen, telling her more about Rosalind and Bonnie. She hadn't gotten to learn about why they suddenly came back, given how busy she'd been with her work. Everyone else was setting the table, listening to Caroline barking orders about where the dishes should be placed.

"Where's Luke?" asked Tyler as he set down the name cards Caroline insisted were necessary to tell everyone where to sit.

"Outside, testing a new filter on his phone," said Liv from beside Damon. (According to Elena, Damon and Liv had a lot of playful banter going on that she thought could actually be sexual tension neither wanted to admit to. She'd convinced Damon to bring Liv to dinner, which ended up in Luke tagging along.) "He's making me this stupid retrospective video for our birthday. Twenty-two. Go us."

"I've never met someone who hates birthdays as much as you apparently do," said Damon, swatting away Caroline's hand when she tried to stop him from opening the bottle of bourbon before everyone sat down. "Stop, Care Bear."

"All right!" said Caroline, clapping her hands. "If everyone could gather around the table at their assigned seats, then—"

Luke walked in, removing his earbuds. "Sorry I'm late. Hey—" he pointed at Damon and Tyler, who were closest to Liv. "Want to see some embarrassing baby videos of Liv?"

"Oh," said Caroline, trying not to lose her temper. "You know what? Now would actually be an excellent time just to shut down anything with an on-off button..."

Luke ignored her, clicking play. Everyone gathered behind him, trying to catch a glimpse of the screen. Except for Caroline, of course, who said sarcastically under her breath, "No, please let the food get cold. Whatever that is is far more important."

'Happy Birthday!' came a woman's voice in the video. 'Wave to me!'

"That is so cute," said Lexi, smiling at the sight of the twins as children.

'HI Josie,' said the twins in unison.

'How old are you?'

They held up their fingers. 'Four.'

'How do you add that? You guys want to do some numbers? Okay— what's one plus one?'

'Two!'

'Two plus two?'

'Four!'

Jo walked in with Alaric, already tense and staring at Rosalind and Bonnie as if she'd seen a ghost. Rosalind wasn't sure what to make of that. Did Jo feel uncomfortable because of where they'd been?

When she heard the voice in the video, she asked shakily, "What are you watching?"

"You know," said Elena, listening to the video then to Jo, "that kind of sounds like your voice."

"That is my voice," said Jo nervously. "I took that video eighteen years ago at a birthday party for the twins."

"Oh my god," said Liv softly.

Jo's eyes watered. "Lukas and Olivia?"

Luke stopped the video. "Jo as in Josette?"

"Hang on," said Elena, confused. "You guys know each other?"

Jo nodded weakly. "I'm their sister."

Lexi and Stefan shared a look. Caroline burst out, "So, if you don't know each other, then how did you all just happen to end up at the same tiny liberal arts school?"