Summary: Story takes place a couple of weeks after Deadlocked. Eric has left, Sookie hasn't seen him after the incident in Alcide's farm, but the rumor has it that the marriage contracts between Eric and Freyda had been made.

I do not yet know where I'm going with it, but there will be romance in the future, since I'm all about romance. For now it'll only be a Sookie story, and only from her POV. I have always sucked with the multiple POVs.

All characters belong exclusively to Charlaine Harris, I'm just trying to keep then busy while waiting the release of Dead Ever After.

I was sitting by the kitchen table, reading a classic book from an old Russian writer, drinking coffee and listening the monitor to catch any voices coming from the nursery. It was Sunday, and bar was closed, so I had promised to babysit for Tara and J.B. so they can have some couples quality time out. God knows they need it, they hadn't been away from the twins since they were born.

I suspected that they won't stay away long, even if they did have some grand plans about dinner and theater. My best guess was, that Tara will either skip the play in whole, or leave at the half time to come to see the babies. Can't blame her, any new mom is anxious to leave her babies, and even if it isn't my first time babysitting, it was the first babysitting her two newborns. It's not like she didn't trust me, she's just a good mom.

I looked up at the clock on the wall. They'd been gone for forty five minutes, and the twins had been sleeping the whole time. This was not going to be an eventful afternoon, which was fine by me. I had too much action in my life as it is. I sighed, envious to Tara. She had everything I wanted; a sweet and loving husband (granted that J.B. isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, he sure was loyal) and two beautiful babies.

I stood up, placing a bookmark between the pages, and tiptoed to the nursery. Both babies were fast asleep. Robbie had his little left wist in his mouth, and he was slightly drooling. Sarah looked just as cute, lying on her stomach with her butt up in the air. I stood there looking down on them for God knows how long, feeling this longing. I wanted to hold them, but since I didn't want to wake them up, I backed out of the room.

The coffee on my mug had gone cold while I was in the nursery, so I pured myself another cup from the thermos and continued reading. It was a book about two love stories; one desperate one between a married woman and his lover, and a happier one between two young lovers. I couldn't help thinking that even though I was never married (if you don't count the vampire marriage with Eric, which I don't since there was no proposal, no wedding, nothing), my story seemed always end up some what like the first one.

Deep in my thoughts, I wondered where Eric was right now. It was daylight, so of course he was dead for the day but where? Was he in Oklahoma like the rumor has it? Or was he still in Louisiana, avoiding me? Where ever he was, I didn't care. Sure, I was hurt for him not answering my calls, and telling Pam not to talk to me (I knew that he had, since Ginger told me when I called to Fangtasia and asked to talk to her). He had left without as much as a goodbye. Considering that he is over 1000 years old, he was acting childishly. I got that he was angry to me for using the cluvier dor to save Sam and not us, but it would have been only civil to at least have a decent break-up talk.

Tara barged in about hour and a half after they had left. Sarah had woken up once, briefly, but gone back asleep right after I picked her up. Neither of the babies hadn't had as much as a wet diaper to keep me busy, and I told Tara that as soon as she came in. J.B. came in shortly after. Apparently Tara hadn't bothered to wait for him to park the car before getting off. I smiled. She really was a great mom, though maybe a little over enthusiastic.

I left soon after they were home and I had managed to assure Tara that everything had gone smoothly, and that I could manage longer time with them the next time they needed to get out. I adored those babies, I would gladly babysit for them anytime.

After I got home, I thought about what to do. I knew perfectly well what needed to be done, the task had been sitting upstairs for couple of weeks now. I had been avoiding it the best I could, and tried to do so now, as well. I vacuumed, dusted, cleaned the oven, read and even cut the lawn. I really wanted to sunbathe, but it was too cloudy for that, so I dragged myself back to the house. Knowing what was ahead of me, I took some plastic garbage backs and laundry basket, and started up the stairs.

I hadn't been up there after Dermot left. I had been putting it off, because when I finally cleaned after the guys, I'd have to admit that the fairies were gone from this world, and also that I was once again alone in the house. I had grown to like the company, first with Amelia and Cornelia, then with Claude and Dermot. It now felt lonely in this big old farmhouse. I suspected that the cluvier dor being gone had also something to do with my feeling of loneliness.

I started with the easiest, changing the sheets. I tried to imagine that there was nothing final in that, that I was merely making the bed so that who ever slept in it last could sleep in fresh sheets the next night. That was done quick enough, so I had to now face the more personal stuff. When the guys had left, they took nothing with them. Everything was there, their clothes, their personal belongings, everything.

I decided to go trough the wardrobe first. Everything in there was almost brand new, so I stuffed them in a bag I had labeled "Goodwill". Some of Claude's stuff were kinda high-end designer clothes, but I didn't care. Poor people has every right to dress fancy sometimes, I thought. It's not like I have any use for them.

After the clothes were done, I went through the shelves. Nothing worth of keeping on there, either, so I started up with the garbage back, putting some of the better stuff aside for the Goodwill. There were some books, which I decided to keep to myself. A girl could never have too much books.

Moving to the drawers, which I had saved for the last, I only hoped there wouldn't be anything too personal. I didn't actually want to come across my great uncles adult entertainment collection. To my relief, there was nothing like that in there, mostly socks and underwear. From the bottom drawer, however, I found something that made my jaw drop.

There was a stack of cash. A really big stack of cash. I was quite sure I had never in my life seen that much money piled in one stack. Well, maybe in the movies, but in the real life... Wow. It was a really, really big stack of cash. And they weren't small bills, either.

Just when I was trying to figure out what the hell should I do with the money, I heard a voice down stairs. How could I have been so careless that I had left the door open? My back stiffened, and I reached with my mind. There was a void in there. A vampire, then, and sure enough, it had gotten dark while I was cleaning. I tried to remember which vams had an invitation to my house at the moment, but I wasn't sure. Eric, yes, Bubba, yes, Bill, maybe... But the voice down stair was female's.

I looked around me, saw a pencil on the keep-pile on the bed, and took it. It was sharp and wooden, and that's always a good think when facing unexpected vampires. I started down the stairs, cautiously. Then a female figure came to stand at the foot of the stairs, and I relaxed. It was Pam. Had Eric given her a permission to talk to me? It sure seems that way.

"Well hello there, Sookie. I thought I heard voices up there. We need to talk."

Typical Pam, cutting right to the chase. "What about?"

"I'm here as the new sheriff of Area Five to formally introduce myself. Since you have the areas protection still, I had to let you know."

I was stunned. So Eric really was gone from Louisiana. Of course, it only makes sense that his childe will take his place. Although I was a little surprised that she hadn't gone with him. "So, Eric is gone then?" I asked cautiously.

"Yes. He left to Oklahoma last week. Which brings us to the other subject I came her for." She looked at me, and she did look a bit agitated. A lot, actually, considering she's a vampire, and knowing their facial expressions. "I'm to inform you that you are to attend the wedding of the Queen of Oklahoma and her fiance in Oklahoma next Wednesday evening."

Reviews, please! I'm already almost done with the second chapter, but I want to hear what you think before posting it. So what will Sookie's reaction be to the wedding"invitation"? What should she do about the money? Will she and Eric get to talk things through? What's Pam planning?