A twist on my story The Next Life. What would have happened if Sookie hadn't run away?
Spoilers through Dead & Gone as well as "Gift Wrap". Enjoy!

The roaring flush of the toilet preceded my exit of the bathroom. I washed my face with a damp paper towel before heading back out into the staff hallway. I felt absolutely horrid. For the past few days I'd been throwing up sporadically, but I didn't seem to be showing any other symptoms of an illness like the flu. But there was a virus going around town and working in the only local bar made me highly susceptible to any germs that were brought in.

Sam was waiting for me when I walked back into the bar. Before I could even pick up my tray again to check on my tables, he signaled me over to him. Uh oh. I knew what this meant.

"Sam, I know this looks bad, but really I'm fine." I said before he could get a word in. I could not afford to go home early. I had bills to pay and not enough money to pay them. I still hadn't been paid for my services in Rhodes and now that Sophie-Anne was gone, I doubted I was ever going to see a check.

But to my dismay Sam shook his head. "I'm sorry Sook, but you know the regulations. You're sick and I can't let you work in that condition. Go home and rest for a day and see if you can fight it off. These things seem to be passing pretty quickly. A day of rest away from everyone else should help you get better. I'll call Tanya to cover your shift. Besides we're not really busy, I'm sure Holly can handle it until she gets here."

I sighed. "Fine. But I'm coming back to work in on Thursday." I told him sternly.

"Only if you're better. Now get going. Besides, you deserve a break cher. You've been working hard lately." Sam said gently. He knew I was mad and he was doing his best not to incite my anger while still remaining firm. He was the boss after all, and his word was law.

I drove home more than a little miffed. I'd woken up being sick at my stomach and had actually considered calling in. But after it passed, I'd gone on anyway. And now, here I was, two hours later, driving home. Why had I gotten up at all that morning anyway?

"Sookie, you're home early. Something wrong?" Amelia asked as I came running into the house. Even though its Louisiana the winters were still cold, especially with the chilling wind cutting through you. Just the little jaunt from my car to the back door had been enough to send a chill through me.

"I got sick at work so Sam sent me home." I explained quickly as I hung my jacket up and began to kick off my shoes.

"Oh that sucks. Are you still throwing up?" Amelia asked with some concern. She had heard me paying homage the morning before.

"Yea. I must have caught the bug that's going around. Hopefully it'll pass in a day or two. I can't afford to go on sick leave."

"Well go lay down for a while. I'll handle the phones. Oh! And I'll fix you up a pot of potato soup! That always makes me feel better! Oh but wait, that might be hard for you to keep down. How about I make you some chicken noodle instead?"

"That sounds great Amelia." I huffed. Even to my own ears I didn't sound too grateful. But now that I was home, I found that all I really wanted to do was crawl into bed and go back to sleep. And that was exactly what I intended to do.

I thanked Amelia again for making me lunch, this time sounding much more sincere, before I started to head back to my room. I was halfway down the hall when I heard Amelia giggle a little and call after me jokingly. "Or maybe its just morning sickness!"

I actually laughed. The likelihood of me ever getting pregnant was slim to none. I simply couldn't date (much less sleep with) a normal guy, my "gift" made sure of that. The guys that I did date (and most of the time slept with) either couldn't reproduce because they were technically dead or could get me pregnant but it came with a high chance of miscarriage. Human women tended not to carry were children well, or so I've been told.

But the only were I'd slept with was Quinn and that was months ago. Since then my sex life had been completely nonexistent. At least in reality it was. Every so often my dreams found a way to taunt me with revised memories of my past flings. My subconscious was especially fond of the amnesia ridden Eric with whom I had spent several days and many amazing nights.

No! No no no no no! I absolutely could not go there now! Now that Eric had his memory back, thinking about our time together had become off limits. Having him know just how much I had enjoyed his company would boost his ego to the point of being unbearable. I could just see his smug face now. Ugh! Damn vampire. It was only a quarter till one in the afternoon and he was already giving me grief.

I shucked my work uniform off in record time and quickly pulled on my gray, pink, and white plaid pajama pants and an oversized t-shirt before climbing into bed. I couldn't believe how exhausted I was. I laid in bed just thinking over the different events in my life now. The weres and shifters had come out about their existence almost three weeks ago. So far the response hadn't been too bad. As always there were always some people who just couldn't accept anything other than what had been included in their reality for so long. But, mostly, the Were community was having an easier time being accepted than the vampires had been. After all, shifters were human and still alive. They just went through a change once a month, not unlike every woman after puberty.

These were the thoughts that I drifted off to sleep on. I dreamt of wolves and rabbits and horses mingling with humans at work and at home, wearing human clothes, and eating human food. Although I didn't know why the wolf had an Australian accent and the rabbit spoke with youthful slang. The horse was wearing a top hat and a monocle.

I woke up feeling sluggish and my brain felt fuzzy. Instantly I rolled over and buried my face back in the pillow in hopes of finding sleep again. For the brief instant my eyes were open I spied the digital clock on my nightstand. The digits 6:32 were glowing faintly in the darkness of my room.

I sat up quickly and looked out the window. Sure enough, it was already dark out. Well damn. I hadn't planned on sleeping that late. I hadn't planned on sleeping at all! Obviously my body had other ideas. I must be sicker than I thought. Maybe I would pay a visit to the doctor in a day or two if nausea and fatigue didn't go away. But I figured that this bug would pass by the time I was scheduled to go back to work on Thursday night.

Reluctantly I rolled out of bed and the moment I did I regretted it. I dashed into the bathroom and had a long discussion with my toilet about my eating habits. Apparently, I hadn't been eating enough. Of course I'd slept straight through lunch. Suddenly I was craving some of Amelia's home made chicken noodle soup.

After washing my face with a cold rag and pulling my hair back I headed for the kitchen, praying that I wasn't going to have to stop at the hallway bathroom for an emergency prayer session. Thankfully I made it to the kitchen without incident. I saw a note sitting on the table for me from Amelia.

Sookie,

I didn't want to wake you so I left the soup in the pot in the fridge. I'm going out with Tray but I have my cell so call if you need me to pick up something for you.

Hope you feel better!

Amelia

I couldn't blame her for wanting to get out of the house. There was nothing worse than having to hear someone gagging every few hours. I fixed myself a big bowl of soup and a class of sweet tea and took it to the den to eat. As crappy as I was felt I just wanted to be comfortable. I flipped through channels and settled for watching an episode of House. I didn't watch the show often but I was always highly amused by the episodes I did see. Sometimes I wished I could be as emotionless and cold as House. It sure would have made my life a hell of a lot easier.

The soup was soothing and just bland enough that I was able to keep it down. It warmed me from the inside out and made me feel better than I had all day. I ate two bowls before feeling that I'd reached my limit. I cleaned the dishes and settled back down on the couch with the hideous quilt that I had used to cover Eric and myself on the floor in front of the fireplace during that week that he had stayed with me. It was hard to believe that it had been exactly one year ago that I had found him running down Hummingbird Drive in nothing but a pair of jeans. So much had happened since then. So many things had changed.

I drifted back off to sleep again. This time I dreamt of lying in front of a roaring fire, covered with my quilt, talking to the most gorgeous man I had ever met.

By the time I woke up on Thursday, I was no better. I spent most of the morning throwing up my supper from the night before. When I wasn't curled up on the bathroom floor I was curled up in bed trying to get some sleep. I rested until noon, but never slept. Finally, I had enough and went into the kitchen to eat some more soup. Amelia made me more yesterday when she saw how quickly I had gone through the first pot. Sometimes Amelia could be a little hard to deal with but dammit she knew how to take care of someone when they were feeling sick.

After a light lunch, I started getting ready to run a few errands before I went into work that evening. I convinced myself that if I could stand to go out and run errands, then I could work that night. Nothing was going to keep me from going work. So I pulled on a pair of comfortable jeans and a warm sweater before applying some light make up, just enough to make me look healthy.

I drove to the drug store in a partial stupor. I discovered that as soon as I was a away from the house I wanted to go right back to it. Even in my comfortable clothes I felt awkward and yucky. I just wanted to get back to the house and get back into my pjs. I heard myself make a disgruntled noise, something between a groan and a cry. Maybe I would call in to work tonight after all.

As I parked in the parking lot I made a mental list of the few things that I needed. Pepto. I definitely needed some Pepto. Maybe some Dramamine too. That would work better than Pepto. I'd pick up a Sprite too. That was what Gran always made me drink when I was sick. That's why I couldn't drink it now, it always reminded me of being ill.

Inside I grabbed one of those little plastic baskets and made my way directly to the medicine isle. I found both things that I was looking for and threw them into the basket. After that I meandered through the other isles, picking up a few other things that I needed while I was here. I had picked up the last item and was walking through the feminine section when I stopped in front of the at home pregnancy test. Amelia had commented more than once about it being morning sickness (always joking, of course) and how exactly she knew the details of morning sickness, I wasn't sure but it was enough to unnerve me.

It was impossible for me to be pregnant. The majority of the men I slept with were incapable of reproducing and the few exceptions I hadn't talked to in a few months. There was absolutely no way that I could be pregnant.

Except...

I grabbed a test without looking and threw it into the basket as I made my way to the check out. I tried to keep some resolve, not wanting to appear nervous to the girl behind the check out, but on the inside I was panicking. It just couldn't be possible. There was no way.

I thanked her and rushed out of the store as quickly as I could. The drive back home went by quicker than the trip there. I couldn't remember a time that I had wanted to get home so badly. I was anxious to prove the little voice in the back of my head wrong. At twenty-eight years old with no husband and no future plans for myself there was absolutely no way I could be pregnant.

I made a beeline for my bedroom as soon I got home. I shut and locked my bedroom door behind me before I dumped the contents of the bag onto my bed. I grabbed the pregnancy test and went into the bathroom. I paced back and forth as I read the directions on the back of the box. Okay, simple enough. Pee on the stick and then wait for the line to turn a certain color. Pink was positive. Blue was negative.

Okay, I could do this.

I did my duty and set the test on the counter beside the sink. The directions said that I had to wait 90 seconds. Just a minute and a half and I could stop this senseless panicking. There was no possible way that I was pregnant. Even with what had happened a few weeks ago there was still no way. It was one night with a Were. The chances that I was now carrying his baby had to be slim to none.

That thought brought me more worry than comfort.

When I couldn't stand the wait anymore I gathered up the things on my bed and took them to the kitchen. Amelia was sitting at the kitchen table eating a sandwich when I got there. She noticed my anxiety the instant I walked into the room.

"What's wrong Sookie?" She asked with great concern. Her eyes followed me as I moved to the medicine cabinet.

"Nothing, I hope." I answered with vague honesty. I didn't want her to know that I'd picked up a pregnancy test. Not yet, at least. I hadn't spoken to anyone about what happened at my house on Christmas Eve. I had planned to take that secret to my grave. I prayed that I would get that chance.

But, apparently, part of my telepathy was beginning to wear off on her. That, or I as just very easy to read.

"Sookie I know when you've got something heavy on your mind. And whatever this is, it must weigh a ton. So come on, spill it."

I sighed. "I picked up a pregnancy test at the store. I'm waiting for the results."

For the first time since I've known her Amelia was actually stunned silent, both verbally and mentally. She just stared at me for a minute while she processed everything I had just told her. From the waves I was getting from her brain she didn't think it was possible that I could be pregnant either. After all I only slept with dead guys.

"But...how? I mean, you haven't talked to Quinn since the takeover have you?" Her voice was softer than normal as she continued to process this information.

"I don't think its Quinn's." I replied darkly. If I was pregnant then there was only one person who the baby could belong to.

"Then whose do you think it is?"

I proceeded to tell her about what had happened on Christmas Eve and my one night stand with a man who I had never met and was unlikely to ever see again. We were both quiet after that. For once I was too troubled with my own thoughts to notice was Amelia was thinking.

"How long does it take?" Amelia asked, breaking the silence.

"A minute and a half."

"Its probably finished now."

"I know."

"Do you want me to go look?" Amelia offered.

"No, but I'd appreciate me if you came with me."

God bless her Amelia got up and hugged me tight before wrapping her arm around mine and giving me a brilliant smile. It reassured me and helped me gain back some of my confidence.

"Come on girl." She said as she began to lead me from the kitchen and back into my room. "Besides, what's the likelihood that you would be pregnant? Even if you are one-eighth fae, its not likely that that would be enough to help the process along. You've probably just got a worse case of whatever is going around because you've been exposed to it more. Not to mention all of the stress you've been under. Its amazing that you haven't gotten sick before now."

I stopped listening to what Amelia had to say about half way through. I was too busy staring at the test lying on the bathroom counter. Amelia noticed I wasn't paying much attention and I could feel her start to get irritated before she followed my gaze.

One of us gasped. The line was pink.

So this is what has been distracting me for the past week. As I began planning more details for The Next Life I couldn't help but think of all of the little things that I was missing out on writing about by setting the story twenty years into Sookie's future. While it does create for a unique plot I couldn't help but want to write a different version of the events that happen.

This also gives me a chance to deal with the issues presented by Dead & Gone. While I won't be following the story completely, I will be addressing some of the events in D&G in my own way. Plus I really wanted to showcase Eric's fatherly nature from his human years.

I want to give a huge thank you to SEOrwin for reading over this chapter even after a long day. Thank you so much girl!

Now I'd like to mention that I am not a mother and I've never been pregnant. So, for all you moms out there, if I get something wrong or if there is any information you think I should know about please PM me! I can only learn so much by researching stuff on WebMD and other online baby sites.

Reviews make Eric want to come to the rescue!