A week passed and for Sawyer it was like the five years she had been away had never happened. Eric and she had fallen back into their relationship as if the five years they had been apart had been a nightmare. Ardith and Aleryck had transitioned into their new life wonderfully and seemed to be thriving. Sawyer knew it was still too soon to tell but she really hoped that the twins would come to love Bon Temps and think of it as their home.
She pushed open the door to Merlotte's and smiled as she led the twins inside. She had finally taken the time out of cleaning the house and getting settled in to visit her friends. She smiled when Arlene saw her and squealed dropping the tray she had been carrying.
"Sweet Lord! Sawyer!" she exclaimed making her over to Sawyer.
"Shocked to see me?" Sawyer laughed pulling her close and hugging her.
"Yes, I am. We all thought you would never come back here because of what happened with Eric," Arlene pulled away and looked at Sawyer sadly, "I always knew that being with him wouldn't make you happy. I man look at all the trouble that Sookie has gone through with Bill."
Sawyer just smiled and nodded. Her smile became wider when she saw Terry and Lafayette in the kitchen. She saw Terry look up and met her eyes. "Hey, Terry whatcha cooking up?" she asked laughing as he shook his head.
"I am imagining things again," he said looking away.
"No, you ain't imagining that bitch," Lafayette said putting down his knife and walking out of the kitchen. His bedazzled shirt and bandana adding colour Merlotte's.
Sawyer accepted his hug and hugged him back. She pulled away and wiped away some tears from her face. She had known that coming back to Bon Temps would affect her. She had missed all her friends; she just hadn't known how much until now. She felt Aleryck take her hand and tug on it. She turned and looked at the twins and smiled. She pulled them in front of her.
"I'm sure you all remember Aleryck and Ardith," she said.
"I sure do. Last time we saw you two you were little babies," Arlene said smiling at them.
"We don't remember you," Ardith said.
"That's all right, honey. I'm Lafayette. Your momma here never listened to a word I said," Lafayette said.
"She doesn't listen to Daddy either. He gets mad and swears in Swedish," Ardith said smiling at them. Since getting to Bon Temps she had slowly started coming out of her shell and was beginning to trust more and more people.
"Swedish?" Lafayette and Arlene asked together.
"Yeah. Um," Sawyer was silent. She didn't know how to explain that she was back with Eric.
"You and Eric are back together," Terry stated coming out of the kitchen and giving her a smile. "Jessica was talking about it the other night after Hoyt called her. She wanted to tell the entire restaurant but some people won't talk to her," Terry said glancing at Arlene.
"What? She is a vampire. The last thing I want is her sucking my blood."
Sawyer smiled and shook her head. Something never changed no matter how long a person stayed gone. "Yes, Eric and I are back together. We got married in New York," she explained.
"You married him?" Lafayette asked. He watched as Sawyer nodded. He sighed, "Hooker, I knew yous was crazy but that is just insane. You do know that Eric is-."
"I know," Sawyer said softly, "but I still love him. And he loves the kids. Isn't that what is important here?"
Everyone was silent. Sawyer knew that they probably couldn't understand why it was that she loved Eric so much; hell she couldn't even explain it herself half the time. She just knew that he was her everything and he would stay that way. He loved her children and had claimed them as his own. To her that told her everything she ever wanted to know about him. She frowned and noticed that one important person was missing from her Merlotte reunion.
"Where's Sam?" she asked Lafayette.
Lafayette sighed and looked around. He leaned in close to Sawyer, "He's in jail."
"What? Why?"
Arlene spoke up, "He shot his brother."
Sawyer frowned confused, "Okay, could someone start the story from the beginning and then explain to me why none of you bailed him out?"
Sam sat in the last jail cell in the Bon Temps jail. He was very familiar with this cell. He had been in it when Maryann had come after him. Except this time he couldn't shift into a fly and fly out the vent. He was sitting in the cell because he had shot his brother in the leg. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He was still certain that Tommy deserved it but he knew that he should have been able to control his anger more.
"Merlotte, you have a visitor," Andy called down the hallway.
Sam frowned. No one had visited him since hearing what had happened. He climbed off the bunk and walked to the barred front of the cell. He looked down the hallway and was shocked. Sawyer walked towards him her sundress flowing around her. She walked up to the cell and smiled at him. He looked at her wondering what had brought her back to Bon Temps.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Bailing your ass out of here. Unless you like it here," she said smiling.
"Sawyer, you know what I mean."
Sawyer smiled wider, "I'm home for good."
"But what about Eric and the queen-."
"Well, queen's dead and Eric is now my husband."
Sam looked at her confused. "Yeah, I know. I'll explain everything when we get you out of here."
Sam just nodded. He looked down, "Do I even want to know how you knew I was in here?"
"I dropped by Merlotte's looking for a job. Heard the owner was thrown in the slammer for shooting his brother. I was shocked and hurt."
"Hurt?"
"Yeah, you never told me you also had a shitty brother."
Sam smiled despite everything and shook his head. "God, Sawyer, you have no idea how much you have been missed."
Sawyer nodded, "I am guessing living without me here was hell."
"You have no idea."
Andy walked down the hallway with the keys in his hands. He looked at Sawyer, "The paperwork is finished."
"Good. And Andy, next time, don't be such a dick about it."
Sam hid his smile as Andy unlocked the door to the cell and let him out. The first thing he did upon being free was hug Sawyer as tight as he could. He smiled when she hugged him back. He pulled away and wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they walked down the hall behind Andy.
"I can't wait to hear your story," Sam told her.
"And I can't wait to hear yours," Sawyer answered.
Eric opened his eyes and the first thing he noticed was the smell of someone in his home. He rolled over in bed and wrinkled his nose. He smelled a shifter in the house and knew that it was Sam. He sat up in bed and sighed. He had known that Sawyer would want to reconnect with all her friends in Bon Temps but Eric still wished that she wasn't friends with the shifter. He climbed out of bed and walked towards the bathroom. He sighed knowing that he had another meeting with Bill that night.
He shut the door behind him and walked over to the shower starting it. He thought about Sookie and how she was still missing. Bill was still worried about her but he had cut back the search for her. However, he still refused to let Eric reopen Fangtasia. It was causing friction between them and Eric was ready to just tell Bill to shove it all. He would have too; if he hadn't been worried about losing Sawyer. Now that he had her back he found himself wondering and worrying about everything that could take her away from him again.
He climbed in the shower and let the hot water beat down on him. He looked down at the ring on his left hand and thought about everything that it now represented. Sawyer was now his in the eyes of the law. She was his wife, his partner in everything. He knew however that in vampire law, that did not mean much. He knew he would have to be careful to make sure that he didn't do anything to cause Bill to sent Sawyer away. He couldn't do it without her again. He simply refused to.
Sawyer laughed as Sam sat at the table with Aleryck and Ardith and drew pictures with them. She saw how great he was with the kids and wondered why it was that he hadn't found someone yet. She had hoped that he would. She turned when she heard the stairs squeal behind her. She smiled when Eric came into view dressed in black jeans and a navy blue sweater. She wiped her hands on a dish cloth and walked over to him. She greeted him with a kiss loving when he pulled her tight in his arms.
"What is the shifter doing here?" Eric whispered to her kissing her neck.
"I had to bail him out of jail," Sawyer answered pulling away. She smacked him on the arm, "And he is my friend Eric. Could you at least be nice to him?"
Eric looked down at Sawyer and remembered what Sam had done for him. He had brought Sawyer and the twins the gifts he had brought them. He looked down and smiled to see that Sawyer was wearing the runes necklaces around her neck at that very moment. He knew that Sam had also been a friend to him and as much as Eric wanted to deny it, he considered the shape shifter a friend as well. He sighed and nodded at Sawyer. "I will be nice to him. I still remember what he did for us."
Sawyer gave Eric a soft look, "Sam would email me and would keep telling me to come back. He kept saying it didn't matter how much it would hurt me being here without you; being with Jeremy would end up killing me."
Eric stroked her hair, "It's all right, Vacker. All that is in our past. We have our entire future to think of now."
Sawyer nodded and kissed Eric again, "It's hard to not think about it. All that time we lost."
"We have forever to make up for it."
Eric and Sawyer kissed again holding each other in their arms. They only pulled away when they heard Sam clear his throat. They turned to look at him and the children. All three of them were watching them with silly grins on their faces.
"I know you two are newlyweds and everything, but some of us here would like some dinner without the show," he said smiling at Sawyer.
"That was just the pre-show. The real show starts after the kids are in bed," Eric stated smiling even when Sawyer elbowed him in the side.
Ardith and Aleryck frowned and looked at one another before looking back at their parents. "We don't get it," Aleryck finally said looking at his parents hoping they would explain it to them.
Sam laughed at the awkward looks that came to Eric and Sawyer's faces. He had never seen Eric look so uncomfortable before. He turned away when the vampire glared at him but he couldn't stop his laughter. He sighed realizing how good it was to laugh. He hadn't been able to laugh much with Tommy around and worrying about whether or not his little brother was behaving or not. He turned back and watched as Sawyer walked over to the twins and kneeled in front of them.
"We'll tell you," she told them, "One day when you're older."
"But Momma-," Ardith started.
"Ardy, that's this last of this conversation. Understand?"
"Yes ma'am," both children said sighing in defeat.
Eric walked over and smiled at the twins. He kneeled in front of them and pulled them both in his arms, "I have to go but I will be back to tuck you in," he told them placing soft kisses on their heads.
"All right," Aleryck said.
"Be careful, Daddy," Ardith replied giving her father an extra squeeze.
Eric let go of the twins and stood up. He pressed one more soft kiss on Sawyer's lips and then turned and left the house. It was hard leaving Sawyer and the twins behind. He had too though; he needed to speak to Bill about Fangtasia and he couldn't put it off. It was time that Bill realized that Sookie was gone and keeping Fangtasia closed wasn't going to bring her back.
