AN: Just a quick note...from this point, we'll be time hopping a bit...showing the morphing relationships between all the men and Sookie throughout her childhood from the varying men's POV's...once Sook finally hits adulthood, we'll be diving back into the 'meat' of the story, including her own POV into things...if that makes sense? Feel free to PM me with any questions you may have and I'll be more than happy to answer them! ;)
Enjoy this chapter! Happy Reading! :)
Godric's POV
A few months later…
"Sweet, Odin, can you two feel that?" Eric groans out, sitting up between Rasul and I on our shared bed as the three of us share mirroring frowns. I shake my head, feeling our young princess' obvious distress. Mímir warned us that first night that we'd all feel one another's emotions with Sookie's feelings dominating them all and he certainly wasn't wrong about this. Honestly, most the time, it feels as though the babe's emotions govern over even my own and the other men have admitted as much as well.
"What the hell are those idiotic Weres doing to that poor baby? It feels as if she's dying," Rasul chimes in as we vamp through our tight living space, throwing on clothes before rushing upstairs to check in on our young ward.
Wailing screams penetrate my sensitive hearing, accompanied by the distressed, frantic voices of Calvin, Alcide and Quinn. Gods, what on earth is going on? Eric, Rasul and I rush into the nursery together, taking in the scene with equally widened eyes. Toys are strewn literally everywhere, half emptied bottles scattered to and fro and the scent of dirtied diapers is aggressively assaulting my delicate sense of smell, but what I don't see or sense anywhere in the immediate vicinity is our faithful house brownie. Where is he?
"What the hell did you three do to her? And where the fuck is Mímir?" Eric bellows, our distress rising right along with our highly disgruntled princess'.
"He popped out a couple hours ago, something about gathering supplies or something. Sookie's been screaming ever since and we can't figure out what the hell is wrong with her," Alcide informs us, his face etched in near panic.
"We already fed her, changed her, sang to her, played with her; you name it, we tried it," Calvin informs us, gently bouncing the still screaming infant in his arms, his face looking entire years older on account of the clear worry lines now strained across it.
"Even Mr. Pickles couldn't calm her down," Quinn enlightens us, scooping the stuffed, purple penguin into his muscled arms with a disheartened pout.
"Fuck," Eric sighs out beside me before striding forward. The five of us stare on in identical astonishment, seeing him hold his hands out expectantly before Calvin. I don't think I've seen Eric so much as touch our young ward thus far, obviously having a clear aversion to infants as a whole and apparently, Calvin has noticed this as well as I see the Werepanther slowly shaking his head whilst pulling the screaming child closer to his chest.
"I don't think so, Viking," Calvin asserts, earning an annoyed growl from my child.
"For Odin's sake, I'm not gonna hurt her, Panther," Eric sighs out, earning rather apprehensive gazes all around. Slowly, I step forward, sending my child a calculating gaze. I of course know he would never harm our future queen, not in a million years, and though I've not the slightest idea what he has in mind, I find myself sending the Werepanther a slight nod.
Calvin's blue eyes go momentarily wide, but as the two of us have come to find a rather unexpected sense of kinship between us these last months, having fallen into similar roles of the group's unofficial leaders of sorts, he finally extends the wailing child towards Eric, though the look on his face, not to mention the waves of doubt rolling from him, enlighten me to his obvious unease in doing so.
"Hey, hush...," sounds the soft, soothing tenor of Eric's normally harsh voice to leave us all staring up at him in shared wonderment. He lifts a hand to his mouth, proceeding to lightly prick his forefinger before bringing the crimson beaded digit towards Sookie's tiny, screaming mouth.
All our eyes go wide once the babe immediately begins suckling upon my child's forefinger, muffled coos of pleasure now sounding in place of her piercing screams. Eric's cobalt eyes soften as he proceeds to softly coo at the now perfectly contented babe and I find a glowing smile of approval stretching widely across my face at the sight.
"Well, fuck me," Quinn mutters, shaking his bald head in disbelief at the picturesque vision of the towering Viking holding the tiny babe within his burly arms.
"No shit," Alcide concedes to earn an eye roll from my child.
"Please, you're all acting as if I just figured out the cure for fucking cancer or something," Eric remarks with a head shake. "It doesn't take a genius to notice when a baby's teething," he informs us, earning small 'ohs' and widened eyes of realization from the rest of us.
"But how did you-, I mean, I had no idea you knew anything at all about kids," Rasul admits, earning a slight smirk from my child as he continues to softly rock the still suckling babe.
"I had a couple back in my human days, I may not have done much as far as actual fathering is concerned, but I at least caught on to a thing or two over the years," he admits, earning slow nods all around. I reach up to place a hand upon his shoulder, seeing cobalt eyes turn my way. I offer him a soft smile whilst sending waves of pride that I'm entirely sure the others can feel as well, seeing Eric send me a slight nod before turning his attention back to the infant once more.
I know he wasn't exactly thrilled to find out our fate included not only a mate, but the caring of a mortal babe as well. So that might be a massive understatement in actuality, but I definitely gathered he was less than happy with this entire arrangement. I also realize he likely went along with this entire endeavor on my account in lieu of his own, something I was certainly grateful for, even if this realization succeeded in leaving a growing guilt weighing heavily upon me over these last months.
But now, well, now as I see him gazing adoringly down to the tiny princess who's quickly wormed her way into all our hearts, either on account of Fae magics, or our solemn vows to see her protected, or more likely, a combination of both, I'm starting to believe our shared fate might not be such a burden on him after all. And for this, I don't think I could possibly be happier.
"Gentlemen," Mímir's voice sounds, accompanied by a resounding pop to signify his abrupt arrival. "I take it all was well in my absence?" he questions, sending a cursory gaze over the wreckage of a room with a quirked brow whilst dropping armfuls of overflowing bags to the floor at his feet.
"Of course," Eric answers with an amused smirk, earning low chuckles and snorts from the lot of us before the brownie nods his apparent approval, even if the glint in his dark eye assures me he's caught on to the rather odd, yet undoubtedly mirthful nature of the room.
"Good," he states, reaching towards my child for the now pacified babe. "And I'm certainly pleased to see you all in such jovial moods as I do believe our Vampires are due for their feeding now," he remarks, earning agreeing nods from Eric, Rasul and I, accompanied by the varying state of emotions suddenly emanating from the three Weres standing before us.
Calvin's POV
Panic; no matter how many times I've played blood donor over these last months, I still can't help but feel this same emotion turning in my gullet at each mention of our Vampire comrades' impending feeding. I know neither Quinn nor Alcide share in my unease, not in the least bit, as the two of them actually seem to find the entire experience to be immensely pleasurable. I actually envy them this, wishing I could just push any hint of unease far from my mind and let myself indulge in even an ounce of the enjoyment they share.
"Calvin, you coming?" Quinn questions, peeking back through the doorway to bring me from my thoughts as I come to quickly realize I'm the only one left standing in the wreckage of a nursery.
"Oh, uh, yeah," I mutter out, trailing along behind him as we proceed down the softly creaking steps before coming to the living room. I momentarily freeze in place, seeing Quinn curled up comfortably against Rasul's chest at one end of the sofa whilst Alcide makes his way towards Eric's towering form splayed out over the opposite end.
Four sets of expectant eyes are sent my way, varying in color from pale lavender to dark, chocolate brown and I find myself gulping audibly whilst absently clenching my fists at my sides. A loud throat clearing finds me turning my head towards the last Vampire of our group and the clear benevolence shining up at me from behind deep, emerald eyes suddenly finds me breathing a bit easier.
"Are you quite alright?" Godric's ever soft voice questions to leave me nodding perhaps a smidgen too quickly before I'm making my way towards him, finding myself once more grateful for the ancient Vampire's eternally serene and compassionate nature.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," I answer back softly whilst sinking myself down to the arm of the overstuffed recliner, meeting emerald eyes that hold entire centuries worth of wisdom that betray the ancient Gaul's remarkably youthful features. It was startling at first to see such knowledge staring back at me from that boyish face, but I quickly came to trust in the promised wisdom of those eyes, soon finding a surprising kinship in the Gaelic Vampire warrior.
He sends me a soft smile and I feel a wave of peace wash over me as I watch him gently lift my wrist towards his lips. As always, he's ever careful with his actions, taking his time whist keeping special attention to my emotions throughout the entire process. I know he realizes just how difficult this is for me and I honestly couldn't be more grateful for his seemingly endless patience.
Sharpened fangs pierce the soft flesh of my wrist and instinctually, my jaw clenches upon feeling Godric beginning to lightly pull at the small wound. As always, I have to take deep, calming breaths and it's only the feel of Godric's silent reassurance coursing through me that keep me from running for the hills. Honestly, none of this would be nearly so intimate and abundantly awkward if it weren't for the waves of lust and euphoria rolling from the four men entangled upon the nearby couch together.
I glance over to said men, seeing Eric and Rasul clutching either Were tightly to their chests. Their fangs are sunk deeply into Quinn and Alcide's throats and I can only shake my head upon noting the glazed over expressions etched over my fellow Weres' faces whilst hearing contented purrs rumbling low from the lot of them. Yeah, I may have gotten a bit better about these feedings, but I don't think I'll ever learn to appreciate them nearly as much as the four of them.
"Thank you, Calvin," Godric soon states softly, pulling his lips from my wrist before taking a moment to brush a drop of his healing bloods over the small puncture holes.
"No, thank you," I insist, shaking my head once more at the men beside us, the four of them completely lost in their shared rapture. A low chuckle sounds from the emerald eyed Vampire as he, too, shakes his dark head.
"Yes, well, as I'm sure you'll come to understand, after so many centuries spent upon this earth, the lines of sexuality all but disappear. And to most Vampires, blood is blood and sex is sex and the two will always overlap, at least to some degree," he explains to earn a thoughtful frown from me.
"You must see me as a complete prude then," I reason, earning more soft laughter in turn.
"You're still so very young, it only makes sense that you'd feel the way you do as far as sexuality is concerned," he enlightens me, this time earning low laughter from me as I reach up to finger the softly graying hair at my temples. I have to shake my head; the fact that the eternally sixteen year old man before me can call me young and actually mean it is just too much.
"I certainly don't feel young most days. It's really too bad I didn't enter into this venture just a few years sooner, eh?" I joke, seeing clear amusement shining behind emerald eyes as Godric sends me a slight shrug.
"Perhaps, though I believe you have your years of wisdom to thank for the way our young tiger and wolf both look to you for guidance," he reasons to earn an agreeing nod from me. I certainly hadn't expected to fall into such a role, but I suppose someone was apt to step in as Alpha and leadership just naturally flows through my veins; it always has and likely always will.
Eric and Rasul soon finish their own feedings and I have to chuckle upon seeing the blitzed out expressions gracing both Alcide and Quinn's faces as healing bloods are gently rubbed over each of their throats. Low, rumbling laughter sounds from both Eric and Rasul as I obligingly help the two, nearly boneless Weres to their feet once more, thankful the magics binding us all have already served to enhance our strength and stamina. I see the satisfied Vampires fall together into a languorous embrace, looking very much like two well-sated kittens as they lick the remnants of their meals from their bloodied lips.
"Alright, boys, off to bed we go," I state, taking firm hold of their wobbling forms whilst glancing back to see Godric joining his Vampire brethren upon the couch, a soft sigh escaping him upon being pulled between two pairs of muscled arms. I suppose he wasn't joking about the lines of sexuality disappearing as I can feel the obvious lust welling between the three of them. And…that's my sign to get my happy ass out of here, along with my two young comrades.
I'm soon spilling the two dead-weights down to their shared bed, having to chuckle at the sight of their bulging, muscled forms curling comfortably around one another with soft, contented sighs. To an outsider, their embrace might appear sexual in nature, but I know better. It's in a Were's nature to draw comfort and strength from their Pack through close contact and human 'puppy piles' are a common occurrence amongst most Pards or Packs, though this would certainly be the first time I've seen, or even hear of, two different animal groups drawing comfort in such a way from one another.
I shake my head, having noticed the budding relationship between the young wolf and tiger really taking off as of late. Like I said, it's not sexual between them, but more brotherly in nature. I suppose it makes sense, really, as the two of them are close in age, plus, with Quinn's mother being so far away and Alcide having lost his standing with his old pack, the two of them were quick to cling onto one another, seemingly having found a new sense of family in one another.
I drop down to my small cot with a resigned sigh, once more envying the younger Weres' ability to adept quite effortlessly under any given situation. Unlike the two of them, I'm an old panther set in my ways, but that certainly doesn't mean I can't strive to change. Godric's words echo through my mind once more, making me ponder if given enough time, even my own narrow way of thinking might widen up a bit. I suppose only time will tell and now, well, that's one thing I've got in spades. Maybe, just maybe it's not too late for this old panther to change his spots, so to speak.