Chapter 3

A/N: I know I'm not so canon. In my stories Sookie's eyes are blue, because they should be blue, damn it, and Alcide drives a real truck, not that stupid van, like a real man. Ahem. Enjoy! :)

Alcide had never been so eager to go to work in his life.

There was something about being greeted by that warm sunbeam of a smile on the front porch that nearly did him in every day. And Sookie harbored a similar warm feeling, beginning with hearing the low grumbling sound of Alcide's Dodge Ram pickup pull up into the drive every morning.

She would greet him on the porch with a cup of coffee. They would sit and enjoy the mist and soft light of the early hour on the front porch, before the werewolf would dig out whatever tools he needed for the day. The sight of him ascending her front steps with a tool belt slung low on his hips like a gunfighter caused more than just a little flutter deep in her heart.

Sookie watched him work with ill-concealed fascination, taken by his handiwork, the sure and careful way those skilled hands brought her house back to life, piece by piece, nail by nail, board by board.

It was so beautiful now, and her heart ached, for deep down she knew she wouldn't be allowed to keep it.

They say you can't go home again.

She was glad she got to see it, just this one last time.

When the vampires returned, everything would change, she knew. The shit would hit the fan, as it always did, and she hoped Alcide was right about her nine lives.

In between laying boards and driving nails, Alcide stole glances of the petite telepath inspecting his handiwork. More than a little pride welled in his broad chest when he noticed her small hand smoothing over her reclaimed wood countertops appreciatively, or her cute pink painted toes curling with pleasure upon the cool surface of the tile floor. She would bring him glasses of fresh made iced tea, and he couldn't help but think that she looked radiant as a queen in her sweet sundresses.

She wore these sundresses stubbornly, for the chill from Faery had not quite left her, deep inside. Sookie would sit in the sun with a book, willing this frigid curse to lift from her body. Even in the spring Louisiana heat of the afternoon, it remained.

This did not go unnoticed by Alcide. There was a shadow to her smile and a chill on her skin that caused his heart to ache. Though they were playing the game of To Hell With Eric fairly well, he knew the impending return of the Viking vampire weighed heavily on Sook's mind. And though Alcide didn't exactly know what had happened to her in Faery, he deduced it had not been pleasant.

While in the Bon Temps farm and home store, picking up a box of fasteners after unexpectedly running out, a sudden whim struck him with the intention of brightening that sweet telepath's smile to its former glory. The inspiration came as he passed by a group of metal water troughs illuminated by heat lamps, a sweet and incessant peep peep peep drifting out. Alcide towered overthe tiny balls of fluff bouncing over each other like popcorn, hands on his hips, studying them with an appraising eye.

What female heart wouldn't be warmed by day old chicks? Much less a heart as generous as Sookie's.

He took two home in a cardboard box, his passenger seat peeping the whole trip back to the farmhouse.

Sookie sat in a rocking chair in a sunbeam upon the front porch when Alcide returned.

By the sly smile upon his handsome features, she knew the werewolf was up to something.

After removing something from the passenger seat, he held it behind his back, approaching slowly. Sookie couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed by the pleasure she took in watching Alcide, even in something as simple as walking. The way he moved, his essence and shape, moved her in a way that pulled at her heart strings. Even as she knew it was a bad idea, she recognized these fateful sensations as the beginnings of love, a love rooted not in desire but appreciation for the being Alcide was. It felt surprisingly…normal. And had the threat of Eric's jealousy not hung as a dagger above their heads, it could even have been termed as healthy.

"Alcide Herveaux, what have you done?" she asked with that shadow of a smile. Lovely but just shy of bright.

"I found something you might like at the store," he answered evasively.

Sookie raised one eyebrow inquisitively as the werewolf knelt carefully before her. Their eyes met, and the telepath couldn't help but marvel at the flecks of color in his eyes, an array of greens, golds, and caramels that left his irises in beautiful indecision between green and brown.

Before she could scold him for buying her a gift, he brought the box around, displaying his find between them. Sookie's jaw dropped for the sight, a small sound of delight escaping her. "Chicks? Oh Alcide, they're adorable!" Carefully she scooped one up, examining the fluffy baby bird with a kind eye. Her thumb stroked it carefully, and its eyes closed. It had had a busy afternoon.

"You like them?"

The telepath smiled, and it was the first inkling of true joy he'd seen in her expression since her return. "Yes, of course. But I've never had chickens, are they hard to take care of?"

"They're very easy. Sis and I had them when we were kids. You'll love it, I promise."

"Where will I put them?"

"In a bin with a heat lamp for a little while. Then they'll be ready for a coop."

"I don't have a coop."

"You will," he assured her with a smile.

Sookie bit her lip, failing miserably at concealing her broadening smile. "Alcide, you don't have to do this for me."

"I don't have to," he acknowledged. "But I absolutely want to."

He would be done with the house in a few more days. He didn't mind having a project to keep him around, if she didn't mind.

Averting her eyes, looking to the chick that had already fallen asleep in her lap, wrapped up in the secure blanket of her hands, the smile broadened.

"There it is," said the werewolf, ducking to see her eyes.

"What?"

"The smile I remember."

Sook sighed, and it did not hold quite the weight as usual. "You're pretty good at making me smile."

Once more Alcide felt brazen, his heart swollen with pleasure for this small thing he'd done, this small battle won with darkness for his lady. "It's a job I'm happy to take on," he dared admit. As Sookie lifted those blue eyes to regard him, Alcide very much wanted to close the distance between them, to lean over her lap and press his lips to hers. The thought was a strong one, and Sookie couldn't help but pick up on it, her heart quickening with the thought.

Perhaps it was a bad idea, but had he decided to act upon it she knew she wouldn't, couldn't, stop him.

Alcide knew he needed a distraction, before he scooped her feather light body up and carried her upstairs.

Gingerly he fished the other chick out of the box, its tiny body dwarfed in his large strong hands. She watched how gentle he was with the baby chicken, how carefully he petted its fluffy back. It stood up tall, chirping with a bit of alarm and wonder at its new surroundings. "See its little beard?" he asked, pointing to the tufts beneath its chin. "She's a salmon faverolle. Very gentle. So is that one, she's a buff orpington. I think you'll like them."

"I already love them," she assured him. He placed the other chick in her lap, and it cuddled up with its friend in the shelter of her hands, falling asleep face down, the way young chicks do. "You guys get to know each other. I'll set up their bin and light."

Sookie watched Alcide retreat back to the truck, her heart light and filled alarmingly to the brim with something warm and fuzzy.

They were both in for trouble.

At that moment, she felt certain of it. Dark clouds loomed on the horizon, yet at that sweet moment they could not damper her mood or her smile.