A light-hearted one-shot set 10 years after Dead Man's Shoes. If you haven't read it I'm sure you can pick up on what's going on easily enough. This is just a fun in-between project until I start on the sequel. So Eric and Sookie have married (in the way that is humanly recognised) by now and Hunter is about fifteen and a half and still living with his adoptive parent, Sookie. All from Sookie's point of view but I'm saying that this is a Hunter and Eric story.

I had a day to myself, having a day off work. Of course this meant a day for catching up on the chores. Two and a half people in this house and it's crazy how messy the place could get when you let it go even a week. I say half because Eric was always in and out. This was his home but he also had another house in Shreveport. The Stackhouse farmhouse in Bon Temps was one I couldn't give up; it had been in my family for generations on end. I know; I could have moved in with my husband in Shreveport- we had rooms at the Shreveport house and slept there some weekends- but Hunter was school in Bon Temps and he was settled in. I didn't want to make him change school and have to make friends all over again. Telepathy made life difficult. With my help he'd been able to fly under the radar well enough but we would have to start from scratch if he moved to a school closer to Shreveport. When he graduated from high school then I may look into moving. A few more years and I wouldn't be able to get away with the fact that I'm aging slowly. I'm now thirty seven but I look twenty two. Anyway, he'd be driving then so he could go wherever the hell he wanted. Being a taxi between Bon Temps and Shreveport wasn't my idea of fun.

As old as the house was though, it was in good condition. After I married Eric he insisted on renovating and when I tried to fight him about how I didn't want to be a kept woman he'd come up with a whole load of excuses such as "we're married, what's mine is yours." So we compromised and now every two years the driveway got relayed and the house a fresh coat of paint. Trust me, it was a compromise, he wanted it done every six months.

We had a system running, Eric slept over in Shreveport on Friday, Saturday and Monday night and all the rest he'd sleep in Bon Temps. Friday and Saturday nights were busy nights at Fangtasia but Monday was slow (although not slow enough to close) so that day was dedicated to other Sheriff activities. Occasionally the pattern broke but what do you expect, he's the vampire Sheriff of Area 5, Louisiana. That entails the management of the entire north half of the state. More often than not I went with Eric on jobs that dragged him away temporarily as his bonded, pledges, wife and telepath. Hunter would stay with Claude or Jason when that happened. Vampire politics could be very hairy and I didn't want him in the line of danger.

I was interrupted from my musings when I heard a car door slam followed by the front door opening and then closing again. I'd been chopping carrots for dinner when I heard Hunter mumbling what I assumed to be profanities under his breath. Yes, I was quite the image of domestic today, cooking and cleaning and just being Hunter's legal guardian. But don't let that fool you, just last month I was in Area 2 of Arkansas with Eric to assist the sheriff, Nicholas Hatchett, with a problem where regular fangbangers and donors that had teamed together to wipe out as many vampires as they could by transmitting Hep D- the only blood born pathogen vampires were susceptible to. Not only did we stop a problem from spreading over into Eric's territory but now Eric had Hatchett in his debt. Always could come in handy later on down the track. Neither Eric nor I were injured so I considered it one of the simpler jobs. Seriously, you should have seen the elves that tried to wreck havoc on Fangtasia one night I had gone in the scan the crowds.

I heard Hunter stomp up the stairs to his room. When he was twelve I let him move into the top floor because I decided he was responsible enough. Another door upstairs slammed so I put down my knife on the cutting board and risked checking on him. Hunter never shut his door because he didn't need to as the only occupant upstairs so I knew something was definitely wrong.

I could have prodded with my telepathy and conversed that way but I knew it was better to see him face to face. I wasn't going to intrude in his mind when it was obviously occupied with something else although we did enjoy using our telepathic bond to communicate from time to time.

I knocked gently on the door and asked, "Hey Hunter, can I come in?"

"Come on in Aunt Sookie," he grunted.

Sometime after I became his legal parent I insisted he dropped the Aunt. It was too formal for the environment I wanted here. Home was a comfortable place. I knew he must be in a mood because now he only called me Aunt Sookie when he was angry or annoyed. Luckily we had a good, trusting relationship, something I noticed not all of Hunter's friends had with their parents and guardians. Our telepathy was a large part of what held us close but even though I was older in age, I didn't look it and I think that also helped because I didn't look like the uncool "old" person.

Hunter's room is like a boy's paradise. His sitting room in the room next door is even worse. Let's just say Aunt Pam had the best Christmas and birthday presents... all paid for by Eric might I add. I couldn't tell her off for buying such top-notch everything because she always insisted, "It's his birthday," or "it's Christmas," or "he grew out of his old clothes and you know how much I love shopping." I drew the line at, "it's the newest model," although he still ended up keeping the PlayStation 6. Pam also liked to remind me that, "all the other boys have it, just Hunter got it first." There was no stopping Pam unless Eric commanded her to and he found it all too amusing so that wasn't going to happen. I was outvoted. But secretly, I think Pam liked playing Call of Duty 11 on Hunter's computer with the two desktop screens. I don't see why he needed two but he connected them both up and played on both at once. And despite all his technology, he still read every night. Guess who got him into that? Yup- me. Foolish, but I felt very proud that I had influenced him so.

His bag was dumped unceremoniously on the floor. He was still dressed in what he wore to school today- dark jeans, a black wife beater and an unbuttoned florescent green flannel shirt. Take away the over shirt and you could have sworn he had stolen Eric's wardrobe except for the fact that Eric was still half a foot taller and broader in the shoulders. Hunter was catching up though; I'm not sure where he inherited his height genes, neither Remy or Hadley had been what you'd call tall. Maybe eating his greens did pay off. Nevertheless he was becoming quite a handsome young man. If girls weren't already attracted to him, then they'd soon be all over him like a rash. But like me, he'd never be able to date regular humans. We'd worked hard for Hunter to fit in though. I doubt many even suspected he was telepathic except maybe his closest friends.

He was lying on his back on his bed throwing a tennis ball above his head and then catching it as it plummeted back down. I actually liked Hunter room; it wasn't dark like bedrooms of teenage boys in movies. The walls were painted light blue and the curtains were almost always pulled open. It wasn't a clutter either because he had the two rooms that made up the top story to spread out. He was relatively tidy anyway.

I sat down at the end of his bed, "did Mitchell and his mum drop you home?"

He pulled himself up and dropped himself up against the headboard, "yup." Mitchell was his best friend, we took turns in carpool.

"You want to tell me what's up?"

"Could," he replied rather intelligently. But I knew he would open up soon. When he said 'could' it mean he wanted to talk.

"Is it something school related?"

He continued to throw the ball in front of him for a few minutes before saying, "Mr. Richards is being a fucking knob again."

"Hey, language," I wasn't naive to think he didn't swear, he was a fifteen year old boy who went to a public school and could read minds. I just didn't want him to be one of those people that swear every second word. I understood the occasional slip, especially when you're mad. Mr. Richards was Hunter's modern history teacher. He loved history and took both ancient and modern but his teacher for modern was, and I quote, "a decrepit loon." I'd introduced Hunter to the word-a-day calendar once he started high school and we now had competitions to see who could use the word of the day best in a sentence. Decrepit happened to be the word of a day a few months ago when the school year started.

Hunter bowed his head but said nothing. He knew my views on cursing. So I ploughed on, "what's he done this time?"

"We were in class and he reminded us," he made quotation marks with his fingers as he said it, "that our essays about the Napoleonic Wars were due in tomorrow. He'd never set the assignment and we told him so. Anyway he said he did, it wasn't his fault we didn't listen so now we have one night to write several pages on the damned topic. The worst part is he then realised he was wrong because I could hear it but he won't admit to it because he's such a prick. I have like, no time to research at the library or anything! Maybe I could get Aunt Pam to track him tonight and glamour him into giving us another week," he added as an afterthought.

"You will do no such thing!" I exclaimed. Hunter took History very seriously. He just loved the stuff. It was the only subject he really enjoyed studying. Going to sleep listening to historic tales by Eric or Pam was probably a large influence to this passion. It was a shame he never got to meet Gran, they could have compared notes. Gran was a history buff but it was the Civil War that was her area of expertise. Every Tuesday she'd meet with her friends for their Descendents of the Glorious Dead meetings. Meeting Bill Compton, a civil war veteran, was like a dream come true for her. Hearing from someone who had actually been there was far better than what any history book said. Although many vampires didn't spill news about their past, he talked to Gran because I asked him to. Eric and Pam told Hunter about their previous adventures because they were close to him. You can't just talk to any old vampire, they can get upset and you don't want to be around then.

"The Napoleonic Wars were very early 1800's am I correct?" I asked.

"Yup," Hunter said.

"Eric will be here tonight," actually he was here now but he was dead to the world so he wasn't here here. "I'm sure if you ask he'll help you out with all the information you need. It's too early for Pam's time but I know Eric was in Europe then so he'd have to know something and what he didn't see or hear he probably found out later anyway." He remembered everything he saw, heard and read. If you could get a vampire to talk, they were a walking encyclopaedia.

He slapped his forehead, facepalming I believe they call it, "I'm an idiot." He crawled over on his knees and kissed me on the forehead, "You are a goddess, thank you."

I laughed, "I really didn't do anything."

"Trust me, you did. I allowed myself to become so shadowed by stress that I just didn't think about Eric. I like to do my history assignments without help because finding the answers myself helps me to memorise them better than being told them so I kinda forgot I could use Eric. It's not like he's giving me answers anyway, he's just like a personal guest speaker or something. The universities do it," he justified.

"Just do what you have to do and get that high grade I know you want."

"Thanks Sook, how long until dinner?"

"An hour and a half to two hours?"

"Alright, then I'm going to sleep until then so I'm not falling asleep on Eric."

I got up to exit, "Don't worry about setting an alarm, I'll wake you when it's ready."

I'd almost shut the door when Hunter called me again, "Oh Sookie?"

I opened the door again and he was closing his blinds to shut out the disruptive light, "yes?"

"I hope you didn't have anything planned with Eric tonight that I've interrupted." I'd raised him well.

"Thank you for checking but it's fine. We were just going to hang around and watch movies," and since I'd done nothing all day and Eric had the night off, use our energy engaging in sex. Lalalalalala, I thought. I was with another telepath, my family no less. No impure thoughts. He hadn't fully mastered shielding but he was getting there. At home though, he usually relaxed up after trying to hold them all day. It could be exhausting, especially with several hundred hormonal teenagers around. "It's nothing we couldn't do any other day. Even if we had had something planned your education is more important. Our plans can always change but you can only go to high school once."

I left him to take a nap and went to finish preparing dinner. Tomorrow he'd be back into his usual routine of playing on his computer, homework a forgotten word. It was good he took an interest in something, even better that that interest could get him A grades in school. It was kind of hitting two birds with one stone. He was also taking literature. I wondered if he could make a career out of combined history and literature that also incorporated his telepathy like vampire-human relations officer. You'd be able to have some pretty amazing conversations I reckon if you understood what they were talking about when mentioning something that happened in 1761. It would be a historian's dream if you could get a vampire to talk to you.

As dinner simmered away I got the fire going because the early November nights were getting chilly and sat down to read. What was a better place to read than by the fire? Around six o'clock I woke Hunter up. I left him to get out of bed and very almost walked into a boulder that was Eric on my way back down the stairs.

"Good, you're up," I had time to state before his lips found mine. It truly was the best greeting one could receive. Regretfully, I pulled away, "come on, before Hunter walks out of his room and we gross him out." I didn't think Hunter would get grossed out, he knew what Eric was like, but I did have dinner waiting to be served.

He pouted, "Then I will have my way with you later."

I disentangled myself from Eric's arms and headed back to the kitchen, "perhaps, but Hunter has something to ask you first though."

I served up dinner whilst Eric removed a bottle of Red Goop from the fridge and poured the artificial blood into a saucepan. Red Goop came out a few years ago and Eric said it was the best bottled blood yet, despite the odd name. One day we had a power cut so the microwave wasn't working but we had gas to use the stove. I heated his blood that way and Eric said that it tasted better warmed over the stove than in a microwave. I don't understand how that works but Pam tried it and agreed. So now, when he has time, he pours his blood into a saucepan until its warm and then drinks it from a glass. I had had to teach Eric how to operate a stove. Even old vampires can learn new tricks.

The three of us sat at the dining table with our different dinners. There were other vampires that knew Eric stayed here but what he got up to here was private. I think if some of them saw him now they would think he was losing his sanity. But hey, Eric wasn't your typical vampire, although no one would question him. Even with vampire-human marriages a legal thing in Louisiana, they were uncommon. Most vampires didn't want a mate, they just wanted to feed, fuck and move on. I'd always been different due to my telepathy. Our unusual family arrangement was just another one of those things. And by God did it make me happy.

"How was school?" Eric asked Hunter.

Hunter waited until he had swallowed his mouthful before replying, "It was alright except my modern history teacher is being a retard."

"Want me to take him out?" Eric joked... I think. I shot him a look just in case.

"It's certainly an idea," Hunter smiled. "Actually, I was wondering if you could help me out with my assignment I got today. It's on the Napoleonic Wars."

"Certainly, when is it due?"

Hunter rested his elbow on the table and scratched his eyebrow, "uh tomorrow."

As if Hunter was no longer in the room, Eric said to me, "I take it that this is the thing you told me Hunter needed to ask me?"

"Uh uh," I sort of nodded as he had asked me while I was taking a drink of water.

"Don't you normally get given more time than this?" Eric asked Hunter this time.

"Well yeah, but Mr. Richards is an idiot," Hunter said and he continued to launch into the story he had told me a few hours ago.

"I hate stupid humans. Alright, we can start as soon as you're ready and with any luck you'll be in bed before midnight which is something I don't think your classmates will be able to say."

I let Hunter skip out of helping me clear the table, put the leftovers in the freezer and do the dishes. I heard him thunder up the stairs to get what he need from his bedroom and then come back down and set up in the living room around the coffee table and fireplace.

I decided to join them by the cosy fire and curl up on the couch and read whilst they bonded over history. I walked in to see Eric sitting in the armchair reading Hunter's question/marking sheet and Hunter waiting patiently with his legs crossed on the floor, his paper and pen set up to take notes on the coffee table next to him.

"What do you know of the Napoleonic Wars already?" I heard Eric ask.

"Not much to be honest," Hunter said. "The essay is like a test on our research method's and stuff because we haven't really studied it. There's a bit in my text book about how they followed on from the War of First Coalition which was kind of like the beginning of the French revolutionary wars. We've done the French revolution in class already. I also know that the French empire was run by Napoleon Bonaparte who crowned himself Emperor in 1804. It was during the Seventh Coalition that the wars ended where they were defeated at Waterloo."

"Yes, virtually all of Europe was affected, as well as the America's and spilling into countries such as Egypt. I was living mainly in what is now Hungary although then was part of Austria, remembering that country borders have changed. France, Germany and even Austria were considerably larger. We had allied with the French- they were powerful at the time. I stayed there because of survival needs but I slept up in the mountain ranges, away from where I could be found to burn, just in case. The French let us live and I got to fight. I had been all through Europe though so it was very easy to slip into different characters to ensure survival. I knew the dress code, the language and the accent's all required to fit in and acted them accordingly."

I had read the same sentence over and over but listening to Eric talk about his involvement in history was so fascinating that my book was suddenly awfully boring. I ended up putting the book down and to listen but remained in the background. Hunter was scribbling notes down as Eric spoke and occasionally interrupted to ask Eric to repeat something or clarify something else. He asked good questions and I was impressed with his intelligence. I knew he was smart but seeing him work just proved it. I was very proud of him. I know Remy would have been too.

Once Eric had briefly told Hunter about his involvement he got down to the business end and explained each of the Coalitions. From what I gathered, Eric didn't care for human politics, he just enjoyed the battle and feeding bonus. Plucking men off the battlefield made it easier to cover up the deaths. Instead of taking sips here and there every day, he would drain a man, make it look like they died in war and not have to feed again for a few days. The older you got, the less blood was required to survive. It sounded harsh but it was practical and ensured that the vampires existence remained secret.

I hadn't learnt about the Napoleonic Wars in high school so most of this was new to me. Even though I hadn't read the question sheet, I gathered by the things Eric spoke about that it was about defining the events of each Coalition and then the effect the wars had on America which had only recently severed ties with the British Empire and the congress had issued the United States Declaration of Independence. Now Independence Day was something I knew about.

Eric talked and Hunter took notes for almost an hour. One thing was for sure, he wasn't once boring. Unlike your stereotypical droning historian figure, he spoke with enthusiasm, made references to his past experiences and made jokes. It wasn't even eight o'clock and Hunter had gathered all the information he needed and more.

Hunter stood up but he looked awkward doing so. "Butt gone numb?" I laughed.

He grinned, "I think I'm going to need a minute to regain feeling in my legs. I have a severe case of pins and needles." He stretched and shook his ankles which made an audible crack.

Without needing my instruction he moved to the dining table in the kitchen to write his essay. My Gran had insisted on me doing my homework there too when I was his age. There wasn't much there that would be a distraction.

I patted the couch next to me and Eric vacated from the armchair and pulled me into his lap. "Thank you for doing that for Hunter," I said.

He waggled his eyebrows, "Who says I did that for Hunter?"

"Well you didn't do that for yourself and you already have access to my pants."

"Excellent," he started pulling on said pants, working them down but I slapped his hand away. "What?" he asked feigning innocence.

"I didn't mean right now! Hunter will hear us. Go chuck on a movie you horn dog."

He stood up and put a new release into the DVD player, "I may be horny, but I am no dog."

"No, you are a vampire," I agreed.

The movie was the sequel to 1994's, Interview with the Vampire. I don't know why they had to make a second movie twenty years later but someone in Hollywood obviously thought it was a good idea. Because it was filmed in New Orleans, Eric had been busy accommodating for the increase of tourism in Louisiana (and still was until the movie's popularity blew over). Almost fifteen years after the revelation and people still hung around establishments such as Fangtasia to get a look at a real life vampire and dare to be bitten. It was ridiculous but it meant money was still flowing into Eric's pocket, not that he needed it mind you.

The movie was horrible. The vampires were actually vampires in reality but instead of making it look more realistic, it just killed it. The human cast looked constantly nervous and the vampire cast looked bored. And they hadn't been allowed to bite so the pretending just looked weird. Maybe it was a good movie and I had just been around real vampires and vampire politics too long. If the director was going for comedy then he definitely succeeded in my opinion.

As the credits began rolling we heard Hunter yell, "Done!" A moment later he came out holding his essay, "Eric, can you read over this and make sure I got everything right and missed nothing?"

While Eric read the paper I got up and took the DVD out. I went to the toilet and came back and saw that Eric was still reading.

"How much did you write?" I asked.

"Uh, eight pages," Hunter replied.

"Holy Cow," was all I could say. "How's your hand?"

"Sore," Hunter admitted. "I'm not writing another word for a week."

Like hell you are, I thought. I wasn't sure if he heard that because he never showed any sign that he did.

Eventually Eric said, "This is good Hunter. You mentioned all the main points."

Hunter sheepishly muttered something that resembled a thanks as Eric handed the essay back over. Naw bless.

As promised, Hunter retired to his bedroom before midnight. I knew he'd be the earliest in bed tonight from his class and half of them wouldn't have finished at all. Anne Rice had the right idea. An interview with a vampire was very informative.

That was a little bit harder than I thought to write without giving away any spoilers for the sequel of Dead Man's Shoes. Then again, I'm still not completely sure what direction that is going to head. I was keeping with the basic themes of Dead Man's Shoes but won't completely follow the sequel for obvious reasons. I don't actually take history but I educated myself (thanks google and Wikipedia) just enough so I could do this because a history teacher from a vampire- it doesn't get any better than that!

Got that out sooner than I originally thought I would. Yay! I didn't think I'd get anything out before exams ( a week away now) but I managed it. I'll be back in December with more stories. In the mean time, reviews = love.

-Clared.