Disclaimer: None of the characters from The Southern Vampire Mystery Series are my own; they belong to the orginal author Charlaine Harris. Carolyn Compton, Ramona and Brad Davis, Mel and Justin Grenville, Delaney Brigant, Mae and Max Grenville, and Carolyn's girlfriends Sharon and Gwen are my own characters; they are not intended to imitate any of CH's characters..

This is just my A/U version of C H's story.

Chapter 1

Bon Temps, La. Two and a half months after Samuel Merlotte Jr. was born

The late February morning sun shone brightly through the Carolyn's kitchen windows as she went about watering the plants on the sill over her double sink. The plants' leaves were lush and green, and she thought about adding a pair of African Violets or some other flowering houseplants to the window. She loved growing things and had a natural green thumb. The many beautiful houseplants Carolyn had scattered throughout the remodeled Compton home gave it a cheery lived in look.

It was Wednesday morning. Bill was in South America on a business trip. He had been gone for a week, but he was due back in the morning. Carolyn missed him so much, she couldn't wait to see him again. She hummed a tune that she knew he liked as she worked.

Around one, Wendy, Carolyn's assistant called to let her know that Delong's Book Nook was ready to reopen the following Saturday. The fire insurance Carolyn had on the place was more than sufficient to rebuild, and re-construction had started in late November. For over two and a half months, Bill had paid her five employees their full salary and benefits, but they were all grateful not to be sitting at home anymore.

She had collected insurance on her old house too, but hadn't made up her mind what to rebuild in its place. It was certain though, whatever she decided on, it would be much smaller than the old Delong mansion. She had looked at plans for a two story colonial and a one story ranch, but she couldn't make up her mind.. She wanted to rent the house out as soon as it was rebuilt.

Carolyn and Bill decided together that she would stay home until the twins started kindergarten. Wendy would be managing the store on a permanent basis now, and Carolyn was happy about that. She couldn't imagine leaving the twins to go back to work herself for a very long time. Still she hoped to pop in from time to time, just to check on things.

Today, she and Sookie were going shopping at the mall in Monroe. If they had time afterward they would stop in Clarice and inspect the rebuilt bookstore. Carolyn was anxious to see how it looked. She sat down on the sofa waiting for Sookie to arrive. Carolyn was too big to drive now, so Sookie was the chauffeur as she had been for the last few weeks.

As she waited, Carolyn thought of Bill's last night at home and started to giggle. She had been baking cookies for the Bon Temps Elementary School Bake Sale and was mixing a new batch of batter in a large yellow bowl. As she puttered in the kitchen, she felt as cranky as an old goat.

"I am as big as an elephant." she declared to Bill who was preparing to go to work. "Ah, but such a beautiful, big elephant, my love." he said. Bill loved to tease her, but that didn't make her feel any better tonight. "I'm serious, Bill. I feel like a stuffed sausage. I must look like a fat, ugly sow." she said.

Bill laughed and started making low oinking sounds behind his hand. "You stop that right now, Bill Compton!" she demanded, getting red in the face. That only made Bill oink louder. Carolyn poked him hard in the stomach with her wooden spoon; it left a big batter stain on the front of his shirt. "Oof!" Bill said, but he laughed harder now.

He got behind her and pulled her back into his arms. His big hands cradled her pregnant belly. "Ah, love; don't you know how beautiful you look to me now?" he laughed softly. His breath tickled her neck. He went upstairs and changed his shirt.

When he came home in the early morning darkness; she was waiting up for him as usual. He had brought her a single red rose. What he did to her in bed a few minutes later didn't make her feel so big and ugly after all. Carolyn tingled at the memory.

Since it was late February and it was much warmer outside now; signs of spring were sprouting everywhere. Carolyn was happy to see the flowers starting to bud. She hated the cold, and often wondered how she ever survived winters in Boston. As she settled back on the sofa, Carolyn looked down at her big body again. The twins were due on March 8th, and she was counting the days until her time came.

The almost daily small supply of blood that she got from Bill made her pregnancy relatively easy. Except for raging hormones, she had none of the usual problems that most women have during their pregnancy. Amy said that the twins were doing exceptionally well too. Carolyn glowed with good health and felt great, but she had gained almost forty pounds. The weight was all in her stomach and hips; she was so big that she waddled when she walked.

With her long slim legs and arms, long neck and short hair, she felt like a big round rubber ball with five appendages hanging out. She continued to exercise as usual, but she added pregnancy exercises to her daily routine. The exercises were recommended by Dr. Amy Ludwig, and Carolyn practiced them faithfully. "They will make your delivery so much easier if you stick to them" Amy said. "I sure hope so." Carolyn thought;she couldn't forget how hard Sookie's delivery had been.

Sookie was a little late, and Carolyn nodded off. She started to dream:

*****

Bill smashed down the door to Eric's cabin. Eric jumped up, turned to face the door and went into a fight stance. Bill's face was red with rage as he picked up one of the broken boards and held it like a stake. Carolyn could not remember seeing Bill so angry; she was so frightened. Eric picked up a stake too, and that frightened her even more.

"No, Bill! No, Eric! Stop!" she and Sookie yelled at the same time, but Bill and Eric paid no attention. They advanced toward each other slowly circling aroun. Eric struck out at Bill, but missed, then Bill caught him a good one on the chin with his fist. Eric reeledback from the force of the blow, but a second later, he managed to give Bill a shot that was just as hard.

Carolyn and Sookie screamed at the two warrior vamps and begged them to stop. But Bill and Eric only had eyes for each another. Both Eric and Bill had large gashes on their face, chest and arms; blood spewed from from their wounds. Bill and Eric closed on each other again, their faces grim and determined.

Suddenly Bill and Eric found themselves smashed against the wall on opposite sides of the cabin. They were being held tightly by some unseen force. The sound of a powerful wind filled the cabin, and the two vamps turned their heads toward the noise. Carolyn stood with her arms stretched out to the side as if she were gathering strength from some unseen source. Her short hair and her clothing blew back against her as if she were standing in a wind tunnel. White pulsating lights surrounded her; the lights made her feel so powerful and alive. White light shot from her fingertips at both Bill and Eric; it was the light that was holding them in place.

Carolyn could hear herself say in a loud commanding voice that seemed to echo throughout the cabin. "Enough!" Then she sank unconscious on the floor; both vampires sank to the floor at the same time. When she woke up, Sookie asked her, "How did you do that? How did you stop Bill and Eric from killing each other?"

*****

Carolyn woke up in her living room after a few minutes and clumsily hauled herself up off the sofa, but she was still thinking about what happened that night in Eric's cabin. She remembered the amazed, but proud look on Bill's face when he had asked her about it after they got home. Carolyn didn't know what to say; she had no answers for him. Later that night, Carolyn started to dream about what happened earlier. It bothered hergreatly that she didn't understand the power that filled her. Of course, Bill always knew from their bond when she had the dream. He told her it didn't matter how or why it happened, but he was glad it did.

Every time she had the dream, she remembered how terrified she was that Bill would get hurt. She felt anew how her fear grew until it became like living thing inside her, but then suddenly it had changed, and she wasn't afraid anymore. The white pulsating light that filled and surrounded her made her feel wonderful. She could feel the power as it flooded through her body. Its force was so strong, and she felt so warm and alive. Instinctively she knew that whatever it was, this power was meant to be used only for good.

If she hadn't seen it in the dream, she wouldn't have believed it possible, but she saw herself forcing two powerful vampires apart as she made them stop stop fighting. Bill told her it was exactly the way it happened, and Carolyn was completely dumbfounded. She had neverfelt or heard of anything like that in her life. She wanted to know where that power came from. She was determined to investigate it after the twins were born.

Carolyn saw Sookie pull into the driveway in her new four door sedan. She grabbed her jacket and walked out of the house. She opened the back passenger door; Sammy was strapped into his safety seat playing with a rattle. She reached in and ruffled his reddish blonde hair. "Hi ya, big fella." she said. Sammy's blue eyes lit up when he saw her, and he made his happy baby squeal. That always made her laugh out loud. Then she sat herself as comfortably as she could in the front seat.

Three hours and several large shopping bags later, Carolyn and Sookie sat alone in the corner of the food court. Sookie nursed Sammy under a baby blanket while she ate a cheeseburger; he made happy little sucking sounds. "How's Bill? When's he due back?" Sookie asked Carolyn who was eating a big juicy hamburger that was cooked very rare.

"He's due back tomorrow morning. God, I am so glad, I miss him so much." Carolyn replied. She blushed, and said in a voice so low only Sookie could hear it. "I am so horny, I want to hump him until he can't stand up, but Amy says no intercourse until after the twins are born."

"Been there, done that! But there's so many other things you can do." Sookie answered brightly.

"Been there, done that! But its not the same thing." Carolyn replied; her face got redder as her blush deepened.

"How are things with you and Sam now?" Carolyn asked. Sookie hesitated, then said in an embarrassed voice. "We haven't, ah, we haven't... you know... since Sammy was born."

"You're kidding me right? Carolyn said. "Sam looks like he has a healthy libido to me."

"He does, but every time I want to start something, he pulls away. He says he thinks its too early, or he says he's afraid that he might hurt me. He's going to Texas tomorrow to visit family for two weeks, now I don't know when it will happen." Sookie said sadly.

"What's he waiting for? Tell him it will grow shut if he doesn't use it soon." Carolyn was teasing, but she could see that Sookie had tears in her eyes. An idea popped into her head.

"Wait here a minute; I have some more shopping to do." Carolyn said. She got up and waddled over to a store nearby that sold all sorts of imported goods. When she came back she was holding two pretty pink gift bags filled with gold wrapping paper in each hand. The bags had a gold bow on the top, and Sookie couldn't tell what was in them.

They stopped at the bookstore in Clarice for a few minutes; Carolyn was satisfied with the reconstruction. Sshe saw that Wendy made sure that the shelves were stocked and all the displays were done. On on the way home, Carolyn asked Sookie if Sam sleeps on his back. "Yes. Why?" Sookie asked. "Oh, nothing." Carolyn replied. When Sookie dropped her off in front of her house, Carolyn gave one of the gift bags. "Don't open this until Sam goes to sleep. Promise?" she said. Sookie was mystified, but she agreed.

Around midnight, Sookie called Carolyn, and she was laughing happily. She was holding an odd shaped expensive looking glass bottle in her hand. Most of the words on the bottle were in Portuguese, but there was no doubt what they meant: underneath there were English words that read: "White Chocolate: Guaranteed to enhance your sexual pleasure." She had three other odd shaped expensive looking bottles lined up on the kitchen table: Chocolate Raspberry, Chocolate Mint and Creme de Cacao.

"I didn't know you were such a big pervert, girlfriend." Sookie gave a bawdy laugh.

"So, I guess it did the trick. Which one did you use? I like the White Chocolate, myself. It tastes so good, and itkind of fizzes in your mouth." Carolyn said with an embarrassed laugh.

"All of them, and oh yeah, boy did they ever work! Where did you ever find them?" Sookie asked; the relief and happiness she felt sounded clearly through the phone.

"Bill found them in Brazil the last time he was there. So, whose the big pervert, now?" Carolyn asked as she laughed and hung up.

At seven o'clock in the morning, Sam Merlotte had several large suitcases waiting by the front door. "Whoa there, big fella." Sookie said as she grabbed one of the suitcases back. "You don't have to take the wholedarn closet; you're only going for two weeks, you know."

"I am leaving, Sookie. I won't be back. I can't take this anymore." Sam said sadly to her.

Sookie couldn't believe what she was hearing. "What do you mean; you are leaving? Just like that? What's going on Sam?" she said.

"I know you're blood bonded with Eric again, Sookie. I could smell him on you that night in the cabin, and the smell was even stronger last night when we made love. I know why you took his blood, and I thought I could take it, but I just can't. Please don't ask me to." Sam pleaded with her.

"But, Sam. I love you. I told you what happened that day. I had to take Eric's blood, or little Sammy and I would both be dead now. I know that's not what you want to hear, but its true. I've been a good wife to you. Haven't I? Why are you doing this now?" Sookie was shocked and she was crying hard. She couldn't believe the words Sam had just said.

"I know you had to take his blood to survive, Sookie. I know you've been a good wife. But don't you see that just makes it harder for me. If you didn't have such a good reason to take his blood, or if you cheated on me, or if you were a bad wife, then at least I could hate you. I can't hate you for saving yourself and Sammy. I haven't had sex with you until last night because I jist can't stand the smell of Eric on you. I thought I would feel different after the first time we were together, but it is so much worse than the first time you bonded with him. Its so much worse than when you were with Bill."

"I love you, Sookie, but I will always wonder if you'd rather be with Eric when we make love. Its driving me crazy, and I just can't do this anymore. I am sorry!" Sam said again. His voice cracked and eyes showed his misery, but they showed his determination too.

"I need to think about what I am going to do while I am in Texas. I'll call you and let you know wha Ihave decided, but I am not coming back to you. Don't worry, Sookie. I will always take care of you and Sammy. You will never want for anything." He put his suitcases in the truck and drove off.

Sookie stood in shock for a few minutes then she started to scream and scream. She thought she was going out of her mind.

Sookie Stackhouse was alone once more; it felt like her whole world had shattered apart in front of her face. She felt bereft and lost.

7