So for the first couple of days after I posted the first chapters of my new stories, I panicked because I wasn't getting any reviews, alerts, favorites, or anything in my email. I was so sad, screaming to the heavens, "Why doesn't anybody love me anymore?" (I can be a touch dramatic at times) and in a depressed state until yesterday morning when BAM! FanFiction, which was apparently having problems, began working again and I had over two hundred responses from all of you!

MAJOR confidence boost. So thanks for everyone who made my day yesterday morning. My coworkers now think I am mentally insane from the excited squeaks from my cubicle. Oh well, it was worth it! Here is the next chapter for you all and I hope to post the next chapter for An Invincible Summer soon!

Chapter 2 (Godric is a little over two and Sookie and Eric have been married now two years)

Sookie

Sookie woke up alone in bed, which was odd. Usually Eric waited to leave until she was awake or woke her up when he was leaving.

Sookie sat up and stretched, grabbing her robe off the end of the bed and walking out to the hall, calling out for Eric. When there was no response she walked to Godric's nursery, dread filling her. She swung open the door and Sookie almost sobbed in relief when she saw Godric standing up with a sweet smile on his face waiting for her in his crib.

"Hi there, mister man!" she said quietly as she crossed the room to his crib and hoisted him up into her arms. She went to the changing table and laid him out, leaning down and blowing a raspberry on his tummy, causing him to kick his little legs and giggle.

Sookie quickly changed his diaper and changed him out of his pajamas into a clean outfit.

"I can't wait to stop changing you boy!" she said as she carried the diaper over to the trash. He was now in pull-ups so he had to be changed after he slept, but otherwise Sookie was already working with him on potty training.

Sookie grabbed him off the table and set him on his feet. "You want something to eat?" she asked him as she held his hand, helping him walk. He looked up at her with Eric's big beautiful eyes and then back down at his own feet, and she could tell he was wondering why they weren't walking.

"Sookie?" someone called out from downstairs.

"Pam? Hang on we are comin' down now?" Sookie called back.

She scooped up Godric who whined, not liking that she wasn't letting him walk. She stepped over the baby gate and walked down the stairs with a fussing Godric.

"Chill out, I will set you down once we get downstairs. Then Pam gets to chase you!" she said.

Sookie reached the bottom of the stairs, climbing over another baby gate, and set Godric down. He stood there and began walking around the foyer on his little legs. Sookie began walking slowly towards the kitchen knowing he would scurry after her when he saw her moving away from him.

Sookie almost laughed when she heard his frantic gurgle and his loud steps as he attempted to move quickly toward her. She led them into the kitchen, Godric panting behind her when Pam stopped him in his tracks and scooped him up, speaking to him only in French.

"Bonjour, mon ami. Ca va?" she asked in perfect accent. He patted Pam's cheek, "Pam," with a lot of indistinguishable baby babble.

Pam was determined for Godric to learn French and Swedish.

"Pam, do you know where Eric is?" she asked.

"He had some errands to run, and then he was going to swing by Isabelle's. He didn't mention it to you?" she asked.

"No, he just usually wakes me up for Godric when he gets up to leave," she said.

Sookie began getting things together to start making Godric some dinner. They usually woke up early in the morning, ate, and played all day. Sookie would then give Godric a lunch and put him down for a nap. When he was asleep, she typically did either housework or schoolwork. Then he would wake up and they would run any errands Sookie needed to run.

After errands they typically both took a nap, ate dinner, waited for Eric to get home and then Godric went to bed, leaving Sookie and Eric time together if neither of them were worn out. Pam and Isabelle were both wonderful at helping out most of the time. Pam often opted to stay with Sookie and Eric, wanting to be near Godric at all times so she didn't miss anything.

"Can I heat you a blood Pam?" Sookie asked as she pulled her and Godric's dinner out of the fridge that she had prepped earlier today while Godric napped. Pam nodded as she played with Godric.

"Sookie, I think it's time you let me cut his hair. Honestly, there is paste in it right now."

Sookie chuckled and said, "No! I love his little curls. Leave them be Pam!" as she rinsed some blueberries for Godric to eat as she threw some hand breaded salmon strips in the steamer for them.

Pam grabbed some blueberries and held them to Godric.

"Boo-berrs," he said to Pam as he grabbed one between his thumb and forefinger, showing it to Pam before sticking it in his mouth. She smiled at him, wiping his mouth and said, "Yes, blueberries, my dear!"

"When did he learn that?" Pam asked in wonder. "I was here two days ago and he wasn't doing that!" she complained, sounding hurt, as if Godric had done it on purpose. Sookie shrugged and said, "Maybe yesterday. Maybe this is the first time, I don't know."

Pam and Jason were both obsessed with tracking Godric's development. Both said Godric far exceeded other toddlers his age in some areas. He could point and identify things or sometimes answer you if you asked him where something was. He could understand you if you asked him something or told him to do something. Much to Sookie's irritation, he didn't always listen, but he knew what was going on, being too stubborn to listen to his mommy.

Sookie grabbed the fish out of the steamer and Pam made a disgusted sound as she smelled it. "Oh honestly Pam, I am trying to get him to eat good food. It doesn't help when you make sounds like that."

Pam rolled her eyes but she nodded and said in a faux excited voice, "Yummy fish for Godric! Aren't you excited?" she said as she handed him some more blueberries.

Sookie let the fish cool off and cut it up. She placed it in front of Godric and he looked up at her and then Pam, as if confused about what he should do with it. He was pretty self-sufficient when it came to feeding himself. Sookie hadn't had to help him eat in a long time.

"Godric, eat for momma," Sookie said, taking a bite of a strip in front of him so he saw it was something she was eating too.

He grabbed one up and smelled it, but put it to his mouth, gnarling it up. Most of it came back out, but she noticed he was still chewing on some of it.

"Do you like that Godric?" Pam asked.

He looked to Pam, hearing his name and when he took another bite Pam clapped her hands in appraisal, causing him to smile and grab for more of the fish.

"Watch this Pam!" Sookie said in an excited voice. Pam merely trained her eyes on Godric, knowing that Sookie was going to do some parent bragging.

"Godric, can you share some with Pam?" she asked him.

Godric looked at Sookie and she repeated herself, "Godric, can you share some of your food with Pam?"

Godric looked between Pam, his food, and Sookie, and there it was, all clicking into place as he held his gummed out fish chunk out to Pam.

" Yay! You good boy! Thank you Godric!" Sookie said as she popped another bite of fish in her own mouth.

"Yes, thank you Godric. Sookie you really shouldn't have!" Pam said sarcastically, pretending to eat the chunk and smiling down at Godric.

Sookie and Pam continued to clap each time he took a bite, but when he began throwing his food, they assumed he was done. Sookie cleaned up as Pam played peek-a-boo and hide and seek, Pam popping out to surprise him each time he found her hiding behind the sofa or under the table saying loudly, "You found me," or "I found you," each time, causing Godric to explode in excited laughter, clapping his hands.

"How is Isabelle doin'?" Sookie asked as she came in the living room during one of their "reading" times. Really it was Pam holding Godric as they looked at pictures in board books, but he loved helping turn the pages, and occasionally gnawing on the book itself.

"She is okay. I think she is actually getting better every day," Pam said in a false cheery tone, as if she was reading from the book. Isabelle had been severely traumatized by the bombing in Rhodes. She and Pam had been at the conference and many of their colleagues had met the true death or were badly injured. Sookie nodded as she walked around the living room, picking up Godric's scattered toys strewn all around the room.

Pam had also suffered, but differently. Sookie remembered the call Eric received in the middle of the night. Nora had left, and Eric and Sookie had just begun to go to sleep when Eric got the call. Pam was injured, and very badly. Might not make it.

Eric hadn't even registered the pain because Pam had been in her day rest when the bomb went off.

When Pam woke, all of her skin was singed, worse than Russell's had been the day Sookie pulled him out of the sun. Parts of Pam's legs were missing and an entire arm. She was in a lot of pain. Eric flew to her immediately, giving her as much of his maker's blood as he could sacrifice.

Sookie and Eric had taken Pam back into their home where Sookie and a reluctant Dr. Ludwig cared for Pam day and night for months. Eric was always there or at the palace and Fangtasia was managed by Chow and a vampire called Thalia.

Pam had asked for the true death as her arms, legs, and skin grew back painfully. Sookie had never left her side. Isabelle was also injured but royal guards were able to extract her before there was more than bruising and burns on parts of her skin. They had left Pam behind, claiming their only orders were to get their regent out. Isabelle had been enraged when seeing a broken Pam begging for her existence to cease. Isabelle's wrath had been felt by many vampires and humans alike the first few months after they returned to Louisiana.

Jason was also always there, never leaving Pam's side. He even slept on the floor of her room most nights, feeding her blood when she needed it and couldn't stomach True Blood.

While Pam was physically damaged, Isabelle had been psychologically damaged. Eric was in charge of nurturing Pam, but more importantly, he was at Isabelle's side most nights to monitor that the state was being run correctly. At the Summit, they had established that Louisiana was back on its feet and prospering and they intended to maintain that appearance even after great tragedy.

Sookie now sat heavily on the couch as Godric wriggled out of Pam's grasp, heading back over to dump all the toys she had just cleaned up. "Little monster," Sookie muttered, causing Pam to laugh.

"Nora is not in your area monitoring you or Eric, so what's up with you?" Pam asked.

"What do you mean?" she asked, feigning ignorance.

"Sookie," Pam said, walking over to her and sitting down. "You can talk to me, Sookie."

Sookie nodded. "I know."

"Sookie, there are some things my maker respects. And your privacy is one of them. So if you fear he will command me to tell him, you don't have to worry about it. He wouldn't do that."

Sookie nodded again, repeating herself, "I know."

"I am not sure it's even something or if I am makin' a big deal outta nothin'," Sookie said after they sat in silence for a while. Pam nodded, her eyes watching Godric play with blocks.

Godric babbled, trying to get his sentences out to Pam and Sookie who nodded and responded as he toddled back and forth between them and the basket, handing them blocks, animals, and toy cars. They both said thank you each time, adding each toy to the growing pile between them.

"Eric and I haven't been...close, recently."

"You mean fucking, right?" Pam asked in her crass tone.

"Jeez Pam, yes I guess if you want to put it that way."

"I am putting it that way. Would you?" she asked with a lifted eyebrow.

"Well, we haven't even really been…active…at all, in a while now. And I feel like I am putting myself out there for anything, but Eric, sex God extraordinaire, is resisting each time by saying he has work or he just wants to relax with Godric or go day rest."

"Well, he has had a lot on his plate Sookie," Pam reminded her. "But what I want to know is how long? A few days? A week?"

"Two months."

The deafening silence and shocked face on Pam was not encouraging to Sookie at all. She began to panic and she asked, "What? It's bad isn't it?"

Pam's mouth opened and closed, giving Sookie a speech that wasn't there. "Pam, say something."

"Well," Pam said, but Godric gave a panicky mewl as he wailed out "Momma!" and rushed to Sookie. Sookie looked down at Godric and she looked him over to see if he was hurt, but then she realized he was probably responding to her own panic, hurt, and confusion swirling around inside her.

Sookie picked him up and his little arms wrapped tightly around her neck as she stroked his back, soothing him. She took deep calming breaths so she calmed down with him and Pam watched, concerned about what was happening.

"The bond," Sookie explained in a whisper. Suddenly Pam's phone buzzed and she answered it. "Eric," she stated.

Pam listened and responded, "Both are fine. I am sitting here talking to them now. Godric just had an upset. He is fine now."

Pam listened for a little longer and eventually clicked the phone shut without saying goodbye.

"See Pam, even that is odd. Eric would usually come running if he felt me or Godric panic, even a little. Now he is calling you to make sure everything is okay. Not even me. Doesn't that seem odd to you?" Sookie asked, trying to keep the tears out of her eyes.

"Sookie, Eric can't run to you after every little panic either of you experience, otherwise he would be constantly on the run. No offense," Pam stated. "But to address you other issue, I have heard that children can kill the intimacy in any marriage. Maybe that's it. I honestly don't know. I know it seems complicated now, but Eric is at his core, very simple and single minded. Slap on some red lingerie, that should do the trick of getting the intimacy right back where it should be."

Sookie blushed slightly talking about this in front of Godric, who was now droopy eyed and sucking his thumb on her shoulder.

"Come on, let's put him down and raid your lingerie supply. It has been too long since I went through you closet," Pam said.

"You have been shopping for me since the last time I have had sex with Eric," Sookie said as she stood gently with Godric in her arms.

"Good fucking God, it's time to get you laid woman. And get you some new clothes I bet."

Sookie chuckled and when they reached the nursery, Godric fussed when she set him down in his crib, but Pam sang softly to him in French, causing his eyes to droop and eventually fall into a deep sleep.

"If you jut glamoured my baby into falling asleep, I will hurt you," Sookie teased as she closed the nursery door, leading the way to their bedroom.

Pam chuckled and said, "Please! My voice just doesn't sound like nails on a chalkboard."

Sookie laughed with Pam, feeling better than she had in a couple of weeks.

Pam

Pam didn't know what was going on with Eric, but she was about to find out. Pam had done everything she could to get Sookie feeling better tonight. Pam had ravaged both of their closets, finding so many red va-va-voom nighties and lingerie sets that Pam saw she had actually double ordered some of them. They would probably get ripped so it didn't matter.

Or so Pam thought. What the hell was going on with her maker?

To be honest, the fact that Eric hadn't been with Sookie in so long not only confused Pam, but it made her worry about him. He had gone this long before, but it was always because he was waiting or wanting only Sookie. Now Sookie was right here, practically begging for it and he wasn't the one following through.

For Sookie to even open up and talk about sex with Pam was a fucking miracle. She was typically so modest and demure. Pam was sure it was mortifying for her to talk about it, especially since it was them having some sort of issue.

Pam, like most women would, briefly considered the worst. Was Eric cheating on Sookie? She quickly dismissed it. That was impossible. There was no way that he would ever do that to her. There was no way he would ever want another. Pam felt it in her bones. And Sookie didn't even seem like she had considered something like that either, and although Pam didn't agree with most human sayings, when it came to the saying "a woman always knows" when it came to cheating, Pam felt women, both human and not, were almost always right.

So what the hell was it?

Not all of what Pam had said to Sookie about Eric had been bullshit. Eric was stressed. Isabelle depended on Eric like a second rather than one of her Sheriffs and it was because of Pam's relationship to Isabelle that he had so much state responsibility right now.

Ever since the bombing, everything had changed. Eric had his hands back in both Fangtasia and Isabelle's rule. He probably was distracted there. And he probably really did miss Godric. Hell Pam had seen significant changes to her petit chou in less than a day! Sookie was there with him all day, every day, so Eric probably took whatever he could get.

But then again, Pam knew her maker. Something was definitely up with him.

And like she had said, she was going to figure it out.

Eric

Eric pored over the papers with Cataliades. Nothing was yielding in the contract. There was no ifs, ands, or buts about it. This was the third week that Cataliades had come to Fangtasia to assist Eric in getting out of this nightmare.

As Mr. Cataliades looked up to him with apologetic eyes like he had every other night this month, Eric leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes.

"I'm sorry Eric," he said softly, stacking the papers and straightening them.

He stood and Eric followed suit, shaking the lawyer's hand as he walked him out the back door of the bar. "I will keep looking, though if we haven't found any loopholes yet, I am afraid…," the demon lawyer trailed off.

Eric nodded in understanding.

"I understand. Thank you for your help," he said, nodding his appreciation.

Eric walked back in the club and into his office, sitting down heavily. He suddenly felt Sookie and Godric's side of the bond panic, frustration, hurt, sadness, and even fear.

He knew Pam was with Sookie so he called her on speed dial, knowing she would pick up right away. All he said when he answered was, "Report," and his child immediately assured him of their safety. Godric was just upset about something. Sookie had sensed his own tension and, although she had been pretty understanding, Eric could feel that she was starting to worry. She reached out to Eric saying she could help, but he couldn't even find the way to tell her.

Eric was desperately digging for a way out of the mess his maker had unknowingly involved him in. Before Eric either Godric or Eric climbed the ranks and settled into their sheriff positions, they had made a plan in securing places in the vampire hierarchy that would protect both of them from whatever the Authority and the AVL had planned for their race, whether their identities would be revealed or not.

Godric had suggested they both find positions in different states as sheriffs. It was perfect position of power where they were not too high so as to put them in the spotlight, but powerful enough to have sway in the system.

Godric had then proposed the idea of arranging a marriage to a monarch. By doing so, a vampire would have almost every resource available to him and regency protection. It was almost like being a regent, but without a massive target on one's back. At the time, Eric had conceded that it had been a wonderful idea and the only way he would consider marrying.

Decades later, he met Sookie and his world changed. His views on marriage had changed. Godric, not having spent much time with Eric and Sookie together, didn't understand what had changed in his child, especially since Godric was so depressed and pained by this his own existence.

Godric had done what Eric had asked him so many years ago. He had arranged a marriage with a monarch that would be enacted five years after Godric met the true death. It was Godric's way of ensuring Eric's protection. The contract was drawn up so elaborately, that it was clear Godric was trying to prevent the marriage being cancelled by the Oklahoma royals. Now it was Eric wanting out. And while Godric couldn't have known then what would have happened between him and Sookie, Eric resented that he hadn't spoken with Eric about it first. Now he was in a bind that he couldn't see a way out of.

Eric begged Cataliades to find a hidden clause or loophole in the agreement that got him out of it, but the lawyer didn't see one. There were only two ways to prevent the impending marriage, which were unlikely solutions.

Contacting Godric's maker, who Eric had only met with briefly only three times over of his entire existence, would be his first step. Only he could "command" Eric not to marry the Queen of Oklahoma, thus stopping the marriage. But the vampire was a recluse, hiding from the modern world, sticking to his old ways. Hell, he may even be dead for all Eric knew. Eric didn't even want to think about what he would be like now that Godric was dead.

The step after that would be to go to the Queen of Oklahoma herself. It was unlikely that she would back out of it because she agreed to the arrangement. Eric was a smart choice for any court. His aged and vampire" breeding" was desirable and provided a good ally and strong defender to whatever territory he would belong to. Eric also came with many connections. More connections than anybody ever would dream of, his mind thinking of Sookie and her Fae family.

Even the thought of Sookie brought feelings of guilt and heartache. This would ruin her. And Godric…his son. He stopped himself because even the thought of being parted from him tore his heart almost completely in half.

There was the unmistakable knock belonging to Pam, and then his door swung open revealing his progeny.

"I am saving you," Pam said, with a smile.

He simply raised an eyebrow toward here.

"Yes, I say, I say, I say it's true!" she said impersonating a "filled with the holy spirit" Baptist preaching bible thumper, her voice sounding growly and nutty like in the movies and on TV.

He chuckled and said, "What is the truth sister Pam?"

"I am releasing you from this den of iniquity and sin for the night. I will do throne duty and paper work for the evening. And Isabelle, since I know she is at the palace, has already got some plans. So you, my beloved maker, are free for the evening."

She smiled at him as she turned to the closet to change into her costume for the night.

"I have a lot of paperwork, Pam."

"I know. That's why I am here. I know you have been cutting me slack since my accident and haven't been giving my full load here at the club, but I am fine. I will take the reins back," she said in a confident tone, her back to him.

"As Sheriff, I have a lot to see to," Eric tried to explain, but Pam turned and her eyes held an odd look.

"And I have never been expected to help you with sheriff duties before my accident?" she asked, placing her hand on her hip.

"Pam," he said, clearly indicating that he was getting annoyed by her interference.

"Go home, Eric."

He looked at her oddly.

"Excuse me? Who is maker? Who gives the commands, Pamela?" he asked softly, but forcefully.

"Eric," Pam said, "Please, just trust me. Go home. Go to Sookie."

Eric looked at her for a long time. "Is she okay?" he asked.

"Physically fine. But like you, she is emotionally suffering. You need to talk to her about whatever is going on with you two."

"What's 'going on' between us? What exactly did she tell you?" he asked, now angry.

"Eric I am not telling you. It's a betrayal of her confidence in me as her friend. Don't make me break that confidence."

"How bad is it?" he asked, now leaning forward, staring at the desktop of his desk.

"I don't know," she said. "Eric what is going on? I know you will get pissed that I ask this, but are you fucking someone else?" she asked timidly.

Eric's mouth dropped open and he was pretty sure the Fangtasia foundation was now cracked from his jaw hitting it so hard. She couldn't be serious?

"Is that what you think of me? Is that what Sookie thinks?" he asked in an angry, deadly voice.

Pam looked at him and said, "Sookie doesn't. She never even considered it. But what else could it be Eric that has you acting so strangely with her? You used to never be here, always wanting to be wherever Sookie was. Now you are never home unless it is to spend your day rest there. What is it? Tell me."

Eric glared at Pam, breathing in large inhales, trying to calm down. He had inherited this behavior after many small fights with Sookie, who filled her chest with air in an attempt to control her anger and her infamous temper.

"Pam, what I tell you, I command you not to tell a living soul, especially Sookie and Godric."

She nodded and sat on the edge of the desk looking him square in the eye.

"I am, for lack of a better word, betrothed to the Vampire Queen of Oklahoma. Godric enacted magical contracts as my maker. I am to marry her by the end of this year. In the eyes of the vampire community, my pledge to Sookie is null. I had no knowledge of this until Cataliades brought it to my attention when he was settling Godric's final paperwork."

Pam sat in stunned silence. She shook her head, as if trying to clear it, which was another one of his Sookie's mannerisms that had sunk under their skin and stayed there. Proof of how much they internalized her within them.

"He could do that?" she asked in shock.

"He can and he did. He believed it was for the best for my own protection. To align myself with a regent so that whatever came of the vampire community, safety and resources were always at my fingertips. If he planned on living, he would have arranged for one himself. We spoke of this idea a hundred or so years ago, when the Great Reveal was just a whisper of an idea. We had back up plans, including becoming sheriffs in differing states. This was something I agreed to back then, thinking marriage ridiculous and pointless unless it was for protection. I could never have foreseen Sookie walking into my bar," he said softly in a bittersweet voice, with a small smile playing on his lips.

Pam looked perplexed, looking down at her designer shoes for a few minutes, both reminiscing about their past memory of Sookie sauntering into their lives. Now Eric was facing a future without her.

"Okay, so how do we get you out of it?" she asked him. He smiled at the 'we'. Pam was a loyal child.

"We can't. Cataliades has been here with me every night, combing through every word and every space, comma, and period to find a loophole or a release from the "official agreement and command" and there is no way. Unless I can find Godric's maker and convince him to command me not to marry Oklahoma, or if I can get Oklahoma to agree with me, which will also be near impossible."

Pam looked to the ceiling as if willing for patience.

"Fuck," she mumbled. "What a mess."

Eric could only nod in agreement.

"You have to tell her," Pam said.

"I can't."

"Well you have commanded me not to say anything, so I sure as hell can't. She deserves to know what is going on, Eric. She is scared right now not to mention confused, hurt, and frustrated. It's better for her to know what's going on than not and make up terrifying situations in her mind about what's up."

Eric could only sit in silence. Pam was right. He needed to man up and tell Sookie. He would rather go through it with her anyway, than without her.

He wondered what Pam and Sookie had talked about. She shook her head as if knowing what he was thinking and he nodded his head in understanding. He stood, grabbing his leather jacket and slipped it on. He grabbed his cell and his keys and as he walked out of his office he stopped to hug Pam.

It was odd for them, but it was another mannerism they had learned from Sookie. When needing comfort or affection, they now embraced. Eric needed all the comfort and affection he could get right now.

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