Chapter 34

Eric had set the alarm for me before he came to bed. The alarm went off at 7:30 and I hit snooze once and gave myself a minute to wake up. I looked at my vampire and gave him a kiss and crawled out of bed and headed up to take a shower. I put on a pair of jean capri's and a t-shirt and grabbed my dress and sandals for the service to get dressed a little later. I decided to take the Escalade in case I needed to give more than one person a ride. I stopped at McDonald's on my way out of Shreveport for coffee and a sausage McGriddle. I went straight to Jason's house I was there by 9:45. He said he wanted to get out to Hot Shot early and asked me to be to his house by 10, but in typical Jason fashion he was still in bed when I got there. By the looks of the house he had done a fair amount of drinking the night before. I knew I was right when he let me in then went straight to the kitchen and fixed his "cure all" hangover drink. "You ok big brother?"
"I'll be ok. I spent most of last night drowning my sorrows. I didn't even get to hold him Sook. But I saw him and he was beautiful. There were tears streaming down his face."
I walked over hugged him and took his hands in mind, "Jason, I am so sorry. I don't have any words that will make everything all better, no one does, only time will make the pain go away." He was looking at my hands wrapped around his shaking his head in acknowledgment.
"Sookie, where the hell did you get that big ass ring on your finger? Wait a minute, that's your left hand ring finger," Jason wasn't the brightest bulb in the pack but he had a way of working things out in his own way, "Is that what I think it is? Did you go and get hitched in Florida?" He was on the verge of yelling.
"No, I didn't get married in Florida. Jason, I was going to wait and tell you when your life had settled down a little," guess I shouldn't have underestimated him and took the ring off if I didn't want him to know, "Eric asked me to marry him before we left for Florida but we didn't tell anyone until he had a chance to get the approval from the King of Louisiana."
"You said yes?" See not the brightest bulb in the pack.
"Yes, I said yes. I am wearing the ring. Jason he had the ring custom designed especially for me. We are going to plan a big engagement party and then we will have the wedding towards the end of summer."
"I am not going to lecture you sis, at this point I want whatever will make you happy. You have always supported me in every thing I have ever done, even when you knew it wasn't the right thing. I love you and you just tell me what you need and I will do it."
"Jason, that means so much to me. Will you walk me down the isle and give me away?" I was crying. Jason and I seem to have finally reached adulthood together.
"You mean it sis? You want me to give you away?" Jason was crying now. We just hugged each other.
"Jason, I love you but I have to tell you, you wreak! You need a shower. Go get ready and I will go get my dress out of the truck and get ready too." I gave him a little peck on the cheek and walked outside. Jason lived in our parents old house and it sat at the front of 20 acres most of it wooded but there was a big pond that never went dry a few hundred yards out the back door and Jason and Hoyt had built a big deck out on the pond for fishing and drinking, I think much more of the latter happened. Jason and his buddies hunted in the woods growing up but now they could provide hunting grounds for Jason when he had to change into a were-panther every month. I hope that someday Jason will find someone to settle down with that will accept him for who he is. He had a good job and his own home and all in all he was a great guy. Jason always took longer then me to get ready so I wasn't in a hurry so I took time to look around and just listen to the woods and let a few fond memories of my childhood slip into my mind. I went in and slipped on my simple black dress and sandals and pulled part of my hair back into a clip and put on a little mascara and lip gloss, that's all the make up I had been wearing since my last ingestion of Eric's blood. I didn't feel like I needed anything else. I went back out into the living room and waited on Jason. He came out in black slacks and a dark grey button down shirt with his suit jacket over his arm. He looked very handsome. "Sookie, you look very pretty, you look great, whatever is going on in your life keep it up, you look so happy and well just different." In his own way Jason was noticing the effects of Eric's blood in me. Jason didn't know anything about our fae bloodline, Niall didn't want to have anything to do with Jason which made me a little sad. He said he had watched Jason too over the years but the only thing Jason got from our heritage was his beauty and his ability to attract women and please them.

We headed outside and I told him I would drive and he didn't put up a fight, normally Jason wants to drive his own truck anywhere he goes but he was content riding in the passenger seat. It was 11:30 now and it would take us about 35 minutes to get to Hot Shot. We would get there about an hour before the service. We pulled into Hot Shot and every house in the neighborhood seemed to have a car in the driveway. Everyone was home so apparently the whole town would be at the service. The cemetery was just outside of the far end of town. We pulled up in front of Calvin Norris' house Jason took a deep breath and I laid my hand on his shoulder he gave me a half smile with a tear in his eye and got out of the truck. I followed close behind him. He knocked on the door and Crystal answered the door. She tried to hug him but he walked passed her straight to Calvin. They shook hands and Calvin gave Jason a firm pat on the back. The house was full of people and there was food everywhere in the kitchen. I walked up to Calvin and he smiled, "Nice to see you again Sookie, thank you for coming."
"Nice to see you too Calvin, how have you been?" I gave a gentle smile.
"Well, thanks, I heard you moved to Shreveport to live with the Viking. You look great life must be treating you well."
"Thanks, I am doing well. Eric and I actually got engaged recently."
"Really, I hadn't heard that news yet, I guess I finally have to give up all hope on you and I." He was half teasing half serious. Calvin had done everything he could think of to convince me to be his mate and bring new blood into the pack. I just smiled at him and rubbed my hand from his shoulder down his arm. Everyone mulled around for a little bit. I actually felt a little sorry for Crystal because everyone was avoiding her as best they could. Calvin called everyone to attention and announced it was time to go. Calvin and Crystal climbed into the truck with Jason and we headed through town. There was an awning set up in front of a tiny casket and the four of us took the front seats Calvin and I sat in the middle with Jason and Crystal on opposite ends. Everyone started filtering in and Amelia made it a point to come up and let us know she was there and then slipped back into the crowd. The service was short and most of the crowd went back to Calvin's house after. The backyard was set up with lots of seating and people were talking and eating and giving their condolences. I stayed close to Jason in case he needed me but Hoyt didn't leave his side either after we got back to the house. Hoyt was a great friend and Jason could always count on him. Sam and Amelia came up and Sam just stared at me for a long moment after speaking to Jason. Finally he spoke, "Sookie, you look radiant. Life in Shreveport is agreeing with you." I just smiled and gave him a hug. He hugged back a little too long and a little too tightly but I just went with it. We stayed for a couple of hours and then several of Jason's friends as well as Amelia and Sam followed us back to Jason's house. When Sam and Amelia got there they unloaded a couple of ice chests from Sam's truck and carried them around back.
I stopped Amelia, "What's this about?"
"Sam and I decided that Jason didn't need to be alone and that every life is worth celebrating no matter how short lived it is. Sam is going to barbeque and we are going to all sit around and be thankful for each other."
"That's great. I know Jason will appreciate the sentiment. Thanks for thinking of him like this."
"Let's go change out of these clothes and get comfortable." She walked back out to Sam's truck and grabbed a bag. We went to the spare room and changed. "Sookie, what are you doing in Shreveport that is making you look so damn great? Or maybe is was the Florida beaches."
"I spent a day at the spa in Florida that was pretty awesome. But maybe just maybe it has something to do with this," I held out my hand and she grabbed it.
"Oh my gosh, this ring is to die for, wait, you mean…"
"Yes," I interrupted, "Eric and I are getting married!" She grabbed me and hugged me and we jumped up and down. I told her about the helicopter ride and everything else about the night Eric proposed. I told her that we were going to have an engagement party and before I could even finish the sentence she was offering to help which was just what I was hoping for. "We better get back out to everyone else before they send a search party for us."

JB and Tara showed up about 6:30 after they had both had time to get off work. Tara looked glowing. She pulled me aside when she got a chance, "Sookie, I thought I was the one that was supposed to be radiant and glowing, you look positively lovely." The changes in my physical appearance since my last ingestion of Eric's blood was definitely noticeable to everyone, they just didn't know what they were noticing. I could get used to all these compliments.
"Tara come with me in the house, I want to tell you something."
"Sookie, you aren't pregnant are you?" I gave her a crazy look, "Oh right, sorry." We went back to the spare bedroom, "What's all the secrecy about?"
I held out my hand and showed her my ring, "Eric and I are getting married! I didn't want to tell you in front of everyone because this gathering is about Jason, Eric and I will be having our engagement party soon."
"Sookie, are you sure about this? Don't get me wrong I am really happy for you, I just worry about you."
"Tara, don't worry about me I couldn't be more sure and I couldn't be any happier." Then she hugged me.
We went back out to join everyone else and Tara was whispering to JB, "No shit?" JB said loudly and he was sitting right next to Sam. "Congratulations Sookie." JB got up and gave me a big hug.
"What's this all about," Sam asked.
"Sookie done went and got engaged to that big old vampire boyfriend of hers." JB, bless his heart, he didn't stop to think about if I wanted it announced I would have done it myself. I looked at Tara and all she could do was mouth "SORRY".
Sam looked at me, "Is that true. You are going to marry Eric?"
"Yes Sam, I am." Then I said quietly to him, "Please don't give me another lecture this isn't the time or the place." He just looked at me for a minute and then everyone was saying let's see the ring but before I could move Sam grabbed my hand and took a long look at the ring himself. "It's beautiful, congratulations." He practically threw my hand down and walked back to the grill. That hadn't gone the way I had planned.

The outside lights kicked on and I felt a little stir inside me, Eric was beginning to wake up. I was about 80 miles away, was I just imagining it because it was getting dark or was this real? The light continued to fade in the sky and I knew for sure what I was feeling was real. Then my phone rang. "Lover, everything ok? I woke to a mixture of emotions." I had walked in the house to get some privacy, "Eric I felt you beginning to wake up and then I felt when you actually woke up."
"Lover, I told you we didn't know what to expect with this change in you. Now, can you answer my question, are you ok?"
"I am fine. Sam just found out about our engagement and it didn't go really well but everyone else is really happy about it and sending congratulations your way. I think you must have picked up on my issues with Sam and my joy all at once. Eric this is strange."