*My apologies for the delay in posting. I have been ill, aong with my children. We also had a death to deal with. I hope to get this story finished within the next week or two. Thanks for taking the time to read my little story!*

Three

The idea of Jason marrying Lois was amusing to me. It wasn't that long ago that Jason was disgusted with the idea of vampires. Now he was hoping to marry one. Like Bob Dylan sang "The times they are a changin'"

Before he left Jason had explained that he was meeting with Sid Mat to arrange to have our parent's house sold. The thought of our parents' home in the hands of someone else.

"Why not," I suggested to Jason," sell the house to Sam?"

"Sam?" Jason asked.

"Yeah. He's been living in that old double wide trailer behind Merlotte's ever since he bought the bar. He could use the room. Besides," I went on "You know that Sam won't do anything to the place that we wouldn't approve of. And really Jas we owe him after all he did for me in Vegas."

Jason thought the idea over while sucking down the last few swigs of his beer.

"You're right" Jason agreed. "Sam has been a great friend to both of us. I'll talk to Sid Matt and work out a deal."

"Thanks, Jason," I hugged my brother.

I put Abirah into her bassinet. She was wrapped up snuggly and had fallen back to sleep. Jason told me that he was going to meet with the family lawyer, then grab some essentials and then head back to New York. He had described New York City to me. He had been even more wide eyed recalling the city than I had seen him when we were in Las Vegas.

"Sookie," Jason said excitedly. "The lights, the buildings! I had never dreamed that a place like that existed. I mean, it's beautiful during the day, but at night… it's magnificent!"

He had gone on about the buildings. He said the skyline could be seen for miles. Jason said he had even tried to sneak onto the set of an episode of Law and Order, but had been caught and thrown off by security.

He told me about a trip he and Lois had taken into Upstate New York. They had taken in many sights. It would seem that my brother had fallen in love with the snow and the vampire at the same time.

I hadn't dug for details about that trip. I had a lot to do before heading to Shreveport. I had shooed my brother out the door. Jason seemed truly happy and that was enough for me. I would miss my brother but I knew I would see him again.

With Jason finally gone and Abirah snoozing I had a few minutes to just sit down. I got myself a glass of iced tea and stepped out onto the porch. I grabbed my sweater it was cool for December.

I envied Jason in a way. His ability to just pack up and leave everything he has ever known. I thought about it sometimes. Just packing up Abirah and hitting the road. Beyond Shreveport, out of Louisiana. Just filling up the car and driving until I couldn't drive any further.

Of course, that wasn't feasible. I was a Mama now. I have responsibilities and obligations that I can't turn my back on. I had friends, or at least people that I thought of friends, although Arlene was teetering on the verge of a knuckle sandwich.

Arlene had been a real bitch when I returned from Las Vegas. Sure she had told me how sorry she was about Amelia and she fawned over Abirah. Her tune had changed when I told her that Eric and I were going to raise her.

"Sookie," she had said her voice full of disgust. "It just isn't right! It's not normal."

"What's the problem?" I had asked. I knew what her issue was but I wanted to hear her say the words.

"He's. Not. Normal, Sookie? He's a vampire. Don't you worry that he might not be able to control himself?"

I was becoming aggravated as I recalled the discussion with Arlene. I dumped what was left of my ice tea off the porch and went back inside furiously stuffing more diapers into the diaper bag. I could not shake the conversation.

"I read and article at the church," Arlene had gone on. Her idea of "church" was the popular cult masked in religion that was called The Fellowship of the Sun.

"It was about how this 80 year old vampire had made friends with her neighbors. The neighbors had a couple of young kids."

"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked.

"Well," she continued" the family just adored her. They asked the old vampire to babysit one night. The toddlers had a cold and were pretty whiny that night. She couldn't take it and BOOM! She sucked them dry!"

"ARLENE!" I had yelled at her, my temperature rising uncontrollably," Did you ever think that the Fellowship made up the story just so people would become all paranoid?"

"Hell No!" Arlene argued back. "It's a church for Christ's sake!"

I remembered that church. I wondered if Arlene had ever toured the prisons the Fellowship kept. Or if she had seen the stockpile of weapons. I had seen it firsthand. It still gave me chills and nightmares.

It was pointless to talk to Arlene about anything anymore. You could be discussing the recent LSU game and she would find a way to link it to the Fellowship.

It shouldn't bother me. I knew I could trust Eric around Abirah. I had watched him feed her and even change a diaper. He didn't show any signs of wanting to feed from her. Arlene doesn't know Eric like I do. How tender he could be. Beneath that Vlad the Impaler exterior lies the most wonderful and thoughtful man, ah, vampire, I had ever known. Even more so than Bill.

Bill hadn't been around since we got back from Las Vegas, it occurred to me. He hadn't come by the house to check on me. He must just be too busy. I made a note to myself to ask Eric if he knew what project Bill was working on.

Glancing over to make sure Abirah was still sleeping and verifying that she was. Placing the monitor on to my hip, I snuck our stuff out to the car.

Eric had bought me a Pacifica with the third row seat when we had returned home. He had said I would be in need of a "Mom mobile", as he had put it. I had made a big fuss over it, saying that my little beater would be just fine, but Eric would not hear it.

"There is no way I'm letting you drive with my daughter in that death trap," He had scolded.

His daughter.

The words echoed. I knew, as well as he, that Abirah wasn't our biological child. We knew that having a baby of our own was impossibility. Vampires could not impregnate humans, or anything else for that matter. Perhaps that is why he took to Abirah. He knew this was our chance at a family.

The monitor began to sound, a sniffling sort of noise that I had come to know as Abirah waking.

"Coming Darling," I said toward the monitor. Pressing the button on the keychain that automatically closed the hatch, I headed back up the walk. The sun was getting lower in the sky. I knew that Abirah and I had to hit the road if we were going to be at Fangtasia when it opened.