***This is my first fan fic and I would love some reviews. I have the next nine chapters in the editing process so they'll be added soon! I hope you enjoy my story and would love reviews!!!

I do not own these characters, Charlaine Harris does.

Plans

The past couple of weeks have been pretty hectic in Bon Temps. I was running Merlotte's for Sam since he'd left to take care of his mother following the shapeshifters' Great Revelation. Sam's step-dad, Don, had shot his mother after she changed in front of him. She had to have surgery to remove the bullet from her shoulder, but Sam says she's healing quickly. Don had been arrested but Sam's mom wasn't sure if she wanted to go through with a divorce. She was thinking that they would be able to work things out. I don't really see how you can work things out with someone after they've shot you though. Hopefully Sam will be able to come home in a couple of weeks.

While Sam is gone Tray and Terry are bartending and I hired Amelia to cover Arlene's shifts since she quit after the latest revelation. It wasn't necessarily hard to run the bar, it was just strange not having Sam here. He usually calls every night after closing to ask me how things are going. We also haven't had one FotS member come in since the night of the Reveal, which I personally think is fantastic.

I'd been putting in so many hours at the bar so I hadn't seen Eric in a couple months. With the long absence, it was no surprise when I began feeling suddenly warm and happy. I turned to look at the door and who else could it have been? Eric, the Viking vampire, had just walked into Merlotte's. He smiled at me and took a seat at one of my tables. So of course I had to go over to him.

"What can I get for you tonight, Eric?" I said with a smile plastered across my face.

"Just you, lover," Eric replied with a grin.

"I mean from the bar Eric, I'm working."

"A True Blood for now then. O negative please."

"Sure thing," I told him and spun on my heel to pull a bottle from the refrigerator behind the bar. I checked on my other tables while Eric's True Blood was warming up in the microwave and then I went and grabbed Eric's bottle and took it back to his table, shaking it to remove the hot spots. "Is there anything else that I can get you, Eric?"

"We need to talk, lover, tonight. I can wait for your shift to end."

"What is it that we need to talk about?" I asked him, already knowing the answer. He wanted to discuss what had happened between us when he had been cursed last winter. On New Years I had found Eric running down Hummingbird Road half naked. To my great surprise he had no clue who he was, so I took him home and kept him safe until we caught the witch who had cursed him. Pam 'convinced' the witch to reverse the curse, and I don't ever want to know how she did it but I was sure it was painful.

"We'll talk after your shift, lover."

"Fine. Are you going to be staying here until I close the bar then or would you rather meet at my house?"

"I'll wait here and if it's acceptable to you, I will accompany you home as well."

"Okay, but try not to cause any trouble." I spun on my heels to go and check on my other tables. It was only two hours until closing. That's not so bad, I thought. At least I feel relaxed with Eric here. The bar was pretty busy tonight and the two hours flew by. The next thing I knew Tray was yelling out last call and everyone started clearing out. Eric, of course, was still there at his table watching me intently. Tray locked the front door behind the last customer and grabbed Eric another True Blood for while we cleaned up, which didn't take long.

"Hey Amelia, Eric apparently has to discuss something with me and he's going to follow us home. You okay with that?" I asked her while we were getting our jackets and purses from Sam's office.

"Oh, okay. I was thinking of going over to Tray's tonight anyway. Then you can have the house to yourself, Octavia's still visiting family this weekend. I'll just let Tray know," Amelia told me as she walked out of the office and gave me a wink.

Great. Now I was going to be all alone in my house with a Viking. Alone with Eric. That hasn't happened in quite some time. When I came out of the office, Tray and Amelia were heading out the back door. I walked up to the front of the bar and Eric was still sitting waiting for me. "Okay I'm ready." I told him. He got up in one fluid movement and came over to me at Vampire speed.

"I'm right behind you, lover." He said, grinning at me.

So he followed me out of the bar and was leaning on my car while I locked the back door. He opened my door for me and then went around and got in on the other side. "So how's Fangtasia doing?" I asked as I started driving home.

"It's doing well since the calendars have come out. They're a big hit," he exclaimed with a big grin on his face.

"Yes, I bet they are," I said smiling. As a matter of fact I hadn't even had the need to look at the other pictures. I still had mine open to January, with Eric standing there in all his glory. Just thinking about it made me tingle all over. Great. I'm sure Eric is feeling the lust rolling off of me. Stupid blood bond. I snuck a glance at him and of course he was smiling and looking at me. Great. Just great. I could feel the heat in my cheeks.

"No need to blush, lover. I'm glad you enjoy the calendar." Eric said with a triumphant look on his face. I pulled around to the back of my house and we went in the back door.

"Can I get you something to drink, Eric?" I asked while I pulled out a bottle of water for myself.

"Yes, that would be nice," he paused for a moment while looking around. "The kitchen has turned out nicely." And then he strolled through the kitchen and down the hall. So I popped a True Blood into the microwave and hit start. I opened my water and took a drink while I was waiting. When the beeper went off I took the bottle out and shook it a bit. Then I followed my mysterious Viking into the living room.

Eric had made a fire and was sitting on the floor in front of it, with his shirt off. I think my heart literally skipped a beat, and as it did Eric looked up at me and smiled. I walked over and sat next to him on the floor. "Here you go, Eric," I said as I handed him the bottle. He really is magnificent. I sighed thinking back to the last time he sat here with his shirt off. Then I had to shake myself back into the present.

"So what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" I asked. I might as well get this over with right now. Eric thanked me for his True Blood and took a big drink.

"Well, there are a few things to discuss. First, the New King has requested my presence in Las Vegas next month and would like for you to join me. I'm not sure what it is about but he did say that he would make sure you were compensated for the time missed from your job. Do you think that you will be able to get the time off?"

Wow. Eric was actually asking me if I could get the time off! That was a first. Usually he just told me I would be taking time off and I didn't have much say in the matter, let alone much notice. And it's Vegas, who wouldn't want to go see that city at least once?

"Hmmm, well I suppose Sam should be back by then, and I did hire Amelia to take over Arlene's empty position. I don't think Sam will mind me taking a week off, and I've been working every day since he's been gone. Just let me know which days and I'll run it by Sam when I talk to him tomorrow. What about the plane tickets though, and where will we be staying?" I had money saved up but I would rather not use it unless it was absolutely necessary.

"That's all taken care of. We'll be flying on a private Anubis flight during the day and we have a special room at the Luxor. Will that be okay with you?"

"Oh great another pyramid!" Just what we needed. I hope nothing happens in this one.

Eric laughed his great booming laugh, "Yes it is but this one is much larger with much better security. Especially for the floors that we will be on."

"Okay then, I'll try not to worry too much." However, I would be keeping a very close watch on things while we are there.

"Excellent," he replied. "Now, I was thinking that we should talk about what's happened between the two of us before we leave for Las Vegas. We wouldn't want to let the new King know that there is any weakness in our relationship."

"Why would it matter to the new King?" I asked and then I saw the answer. "Oh…you think he'll try to keep me in Vegas, don't you?"

"That is certainly a possibility. However if he sees that we are in a committed relationship and that our bond is solid then it won't be a possibility for him to force you away from me," he explained with all seriousness.

"You said committed, what exactly do you mean by that?" I asked because I wanted to be crystal clear on what his point was.

"A holy bond, marriage for example," he explained easily.

"Marriage!" I exclaimed. I knew it was coming but I was still shocked.

"Sookie, I don't want you to think that I'm asking this of you simply because I want to protect you. I am asking this of you because I do love you and I know that you love me. What I propose is that you allow me to court you so that we can get to know one another better before you make a decision about a further commitment." he was looking at me with a hopeful gleam in his eye.

I was starting to get flustered just thinking about that. Eric wanted to "court" me. I giggled out loud, I loved the way he spoke sometimes.

"You find it amusing that I wish to court you?" he looked crestfallen.

"Oh no, Eric, that's not it at all. On the contrary, I'm very flattered…"

"I feel a 'but' coming in here," he interrupted me.

"I would love to date you," I replied to him. "But Eric I want to be a mother at some point. I'm not saying right now, but that's one of the things that I want. Now don't laugh at me or anything but I have put a great deal of thought into this," I took a deep breath to calm myself. "Of all the men that I know in my life you are the one I would choose to have children with. And the thing that gets me the most, is that I know vampires can't have children!"

"Oh dear heart, I am much honored that you think I am worthy to father your children," he paused looking at me. He looked as if he was contemplating something. "I want to give you everything that your heart desires, Sookie. And if you desire my children then I will do everything in my power to see if it is possible. There has not been significant testing done in the area of vampires having children with someone who is part fae before. It may be a possibility since our situation is quite unique. A vampire has never before been able to try to procreate with a fairy before. Of course a full fairy's blood is intoxicating to us," he stopped for a moment thinking of something else.

I was sitting in shock. Did I really hear Eric right? That he would want to have children with me if that was possible. I had a million thoughts running through my head. Is there a fertility doctor out there who would even take us on? Would they want to try and help a vampire create a part vampire? No I couldn't think of one that would think that would be appropriate. And besides, we've had sex plenty of times and I never ended up pregnant so I couldn't let my hopes get too high. It wasn't going to be possible. But oh how I wanted to have Eric's children. And I saw a picture of our family, little blond haired, blue eyed children running around and playing with their daddy. I felt like I was on cloud nine.

Eric pulled me into his lap. "You are more important to me than you realize. I want nothing but to make you happy in life. I will find a way, lover. I will never give up."

I took a deep breath and looked into his deep blue eyes. And what I saw there was breathtaking. He wanted to be a father, and he wanted to make me happy. He was telling me the truth, this was the real Eric. "Eric… what do we do first?"

"We'll call Dr. Ludwig and see if she would be willing to run tests on both of us to see if there's anything that we can do. If the tests all come out negative, perhaps Niall can help us with his magic. I will do whatever it takes Sookie to see if I can give you the children that you want."

I was shocked that Eric had suggested going to my great-grandfather. "Can his magic really help with this kind of thing?"

"Fairy magic is very powerful. It can have affects on many different things; it would be worth a try if Dr. Ludwig is unable to find a way to help us."

I was thrilled that Eric was willing to go through all of this just to make me happy, but that would mean I would have to make the decision about marrying him sooner rather than later.

"Perhaps you would like to know more about me before you make that decision?" Eric asked me. I had always wanted to know more about Eric, but all vampires tend to keep that to themselves. I especially wanted to know details from before he was turned.

"Well…" I began, "I have always wanted to know more about your life before you were a vampire." I said to him feeling hopeful that he would be willing to share a few stories with me tonight.