When I awoke the next morning I felt warmth in the bed next to me. I snuggled up to it remembering last night and it dawned on me that it was a little too warm. "MMM, Sookie, you almost could make a man change his choices in life." Claude laughed. I rolled over and hit Claude with the same pillow I hit Eric with last night, and said "Why are you in my bed?" "You looked lonely, and I knew you'd wake up soon as your children are starting to stir, so I thought I'd surprise you, besides its good for you to be close to me on a regular basis, it keeps you healthy, and you will need that today." He responded. "You just seem to always pop up in the most unusual places." I told him. "I came this morning to spend time with the kids and help keep them occupied while you wait for Mike to arrive. I also brought word from Niall. He says that if you need him through the next few weeks just to let him know and he'll cross over." Claude explained to me. "That's nice of him to offer, but I think there are more than enough people trying to help me right now. I've got to get to up and feed Adele and fix Aidan some breakfast." I said as I swung my feet to the floor and sat up. "I'll help." He said joyfully.
I went about my morning routine with the kids and Claude helped by keeping Aidan entertained with his kid's jokes and antics. I kept constant watch on the clock as I fixed breakfast, cleaned up, picked up the living room, started laundry, and showered and cleaned up. I put on Mike's favorite dress, a black, yellow, and white maxi dress with a yellow cardigan over it. I took the time to fix my now even blonder hair, and makeup. I checked to make sure no bite marks were present. I even called Alcide to make sure he was going to be there a few minutes early in case the plane arrived early. I was so nervous.
"You need a glass of wine to help you relax." Claude said. "No, what I need is to go back into time and tell Mike the truth from the beginning. I can only hope that he listens to me before he judges me, and that he sees that in my heart I meant him no harm or hurt." I answered him. It was two-thirty; Mike should have been picked up by Alcide and taken to lunch. Alcide hadn't texted me yet to say it was ok, so I was getting antsy. "Mommy, Uncle Alcide is pulling into the drive-way." Aidan hollered at me. I came in from the kitchen and looked out the front door. Sure enough there was Alcide's truck, and Mike was in the passenger seat. So much for going to see Eric first. OK, Calm down Sookie, you can do this, this is better; he deserves to hear it from you.
I took Adele from Claude, and grabbed Aidan's hand and stepped out the door and onto the porch. Alcide parked and then looked up and caught my eyes. Sook, I'm sorry, he insisted I bring him here first, it was the only way he would get in the truck. He's angry and confused, and trying really hard to trust his instincts. Mike got out of the truck and stretched from the long car ride on top of the flight. There he stood all 6ft 1in of him. He always wore his dark hair short and trimmed. His ever present 5 o'clock shadow and hazel eyes. He had stayed in very good shape since he retired from the Army Rangers. I used to tease him that he had the body of one of those ballroom dancers on TV. Muscles always present but never too bulky. Athletic is the word I would use to describe him. He finally locked eyes with me, and I smiled at him. He didn't smile back until Aidan called out "Daddy, you came; I can't wait to show you around." Mike picks him up into a big bear hug. Then carried him up the steps of the porch and sat him down. "Sookie." He said and leaned over to me and kissed me. It was a slow kiss, one of newness and nerves and it caught me completely off guard. "Mike, please come in to my gran's house." Alcide grabbed Mike's bag out of the back of his truck and followed us in. "Where do you want me to put this Sookie?" Alcide asked holding up the bag. "You can set it in my room Alcide, thanks." I told him. Aidan was showing Mike the new toys in the living room, and Claude came out of the kitchen.
Mike stared at him suspiciously. "Mike, I'd like you to meet my cousin Claude." I said quickly since I read he thought he was Eric. "It's nice to finally meet you Mike, Sookie, and Aidan has told me so much about you." Claude said as he stuck his hand out to shake Mike's hand. Mike took it and said "It's nice to meet you too Claude." "Sookie, I'm heading out of here unless you'd like me to stay." Claude responded. "No, thanks for coming by for a visit Claude." I answered him in full confidence. Claude gave Aidan a hug, and kissed Adele on the head and walked out the door. "How's he getting home, I didn't see another car out there?" Mike said. "He has his own way of travelling." I answered and Mike gave me another suspicious look. I could read that he was trying to act as if nothing had happened. That he was going to give me a chance to explain. And that he desperately wanted to hold me.
Alcide spoke up next. "Sookie, can I talk to you a minute." "Sure Alcide, I was going to go into the kitchen and get us all some tea, you can help." I answered. And we walked towards the kitchen. I could feel Mike's eyes on me the entire time. Once in the kitchen Alcide said "Do you want me to stick around Sookie? I brought Aidan's swing, I could bide my time finding the perfect tree, and take my time installing it if you'd like. I can even take Aidan out to help me." "Alcide, have I ever told you how wonderful you are, that would be great, thank you so much for everything." I responded with a smile. I got the tray of tea ready and we walked back into the living room. No one was there. For an instant I panicked until I heard the voices upstairs. I set the tray down and looked up as Mike and Aidan were coming down the stairs. "Aidan, I brought that new swing over in the back of my truck, would you like to help me pick out the perfect tree, and get it installed so you can use it." "Yes, Uncle Alcide, yes." And he was racing out the door. Once they were both out the door Mike came over and sat on the couch next to me.
He took my hand, looked into my eyes, and said "Talk, tell me everything from the beginning, you get one shot, and I if I get any feeling at all that your not being straight with me, I'm out the door, and taking the kids with me." Mike said in the coldest voice I'd ever heard from him. So I began my story. I told Mike about meeting Bill while working at Merlotte's, and why he was really there. I told him about my telepathy, and that Hadley had ratted me out. I told him that Bill had introduced me Eric the vampire area sheriff. How Bill had betrayed me, how Eric got amnesia, and I fell in love with him. Going to Rhodes and the forced blood bond. The bomb, the aftermath. My relationship with Eric evolving. King Felipe's overtaking Sophie Anne, Eric and I's marriage, and finally how I begged and pleaded with him to give me a chance at normalcy. The stipulations with that agreement. Meeting and falling in love with him. How Eric's blood had helped during my pregnancies, his part in that, which Pam was, everything leading up to me being called back to Louisiana, some of the reasons behind it? I had just finished up explaining Claude, Alcide, and what I expected about our children when Alcide and Aidan came back into the house. It was getting dark by then.
I quickly read Mike's mind. He was just processing all of it. There was so much to it. He wasn't sure he could believe it. "Sookie, its getting dark, the night watch will be arriving soon." Alcide said reminding me that I needed to make sure Mike understood. "Thanks, Alcide, do you mind taking Aidan into the kitchen and getting him something to eat. There's leftover Chili in the fridge, please help yourself too." I asked of him. "Sure Sook." He answered.
"Mike, honey, please say something." I said concerned. "I don't know what to say. You lied to me, you've lied to me about your past, your ability, and do you even give a damn about me?" Mike asked. "Mike I love you, I had no intention of hurting you. I was trying to get away from my life, I created a new persona, and I didn't want it to keep me from having a life. You couldn't or wouldn't tell me about the majority of your life while you were a Ranger. Why could I not have secrets too?" I asked. "Secrets, you call being able to read my mind a secret, its called invasion of privacy." He said angrily. "You thinking about another woman's boobs while holding my hand is not invasion of privacy." I quipped. "I know that vampires, and weres exist, but I've tried to avoid all of that, I saw enough horror from humans. Now I find out that my wife is married to one, and that I was glamoured by one to give my wife vampire blood so that my children would be bonded to one. You have no idea how angry I am. I am so furious at you I can't believe you could be so selfish. I thought I knew you, I thought you loved me, and now my children are tainted too." He said. "Our children are not tainted. I was born a telepath, I couldn't help that. I can't help that people want to use my ability for their own personal gain. Aidan is now a telepath, he could get that ability because of me no matter whom the father was, or whether or not I had vampire blood. You are the reason Adele is an empath, that has nothing to do with me." I snapped back. "I'm not a fucking empath, how is that my fault." Mike yelled. "Claude says you have to have a family line of empathy in you, it's not in my blood line, and it sure as hell isn't a part of Eric." I explained. Mike shut up then, he got very quiet as a matter of fact, so I opened his mind to me. Holy shit, could it be, is that what my grandmother was, I thought she just was really good at comforting people. Mom always said that she was the one in town everyone called for comfort. Fuck, what a mess this is. "Sookie, I had no idea what my grandmother was, let alone that it was even something to think about as genetic. I can't don't even fully understand it." He said honestly. "Mike, it doesn't matter, it's apart of who Adele is, just telepathy is apart of me and Aidan." I explained.
"Why now Sookie, why are you telling me all of this now, why not just keep me in the dark forever?" He asked. "Things have changed. There are political issues that have come up that no longer makes it safe for me, or our children to be out of Louisiana Area 5." I told him. "That doesn't have anything to do with us. You left that, you followed the stipulations, I don't understand." Mike said. "Eric is the sheriff of area five. I'm Eric's wife. He went through a lot of red tape to allow me to be in another state, let alone not by his side and keep my identity and my abilities a secret because he entrusted me to a political ally of his. That person is no longer going to be an ally, and that therefore leaves me vulnerable, and he can no longer protect me and the kids." I answered trying to get him to understand. "It's not his job to protect you guys, its mine. Your marriage to him isn't legal, ours is. I'm ex Army, I can protect you and our kids just as well as he can, maybe even better. If you'd just been honest with me from the beginning I could have been prepared for all of this." He explained through his frustration with me. "I'm not saying that I'm not angry, but I can understand where you thought you were doing the right thing. Now that everything is out in the open we can come up with a strategy to deal with it. If that means moving away from Indiana, then fine, we'll move, but there is no reason for this Eric to have anything to do with that. You can just break your bond with him, dissolve the contract, and your vampire marriage, and we move on from that." Mike said.
Adele started fussing in the upstairs bedroom. "I'll get her." I said, and left the room. I felt that Eric was awake, and angry. He must have realized what had occurred with Mike when he wasn't at Fangtasia that meant I just had a few more minutes to prep Mike. I picked up Adele and took her down the stairs, changed her diaper on the couch, and sat back to nurse her. Mike had sat back down and was pouring more tea for him and me.
"Sookie, I realize I might have a learning curve because I'm not as familiar with the supernatural beings, but I understand keeping someone safe, especially when it's my family, I just can't believe after five years you don't trust me with that, unless there is more to it. Is there Sookie?" he asked.
"Mike, no matter what else comes into play; the most important thing is keeping the kids safe. I don't think you can protect us, I'm sorry, right here is the best place for me and the kids to be, here Eric and all the vampires in Area five, possibly Louisiana will die to protect us, Alcide, and his pack will protect us, Jason, and his panthers, will protect us, and Claude, Dermot, Niall, are all fairies who will fight to the death for my family, even Sam, and the whole town of Bon Temps will try and keep me and mine safe. You can't compete with that." I said.
"Did you ever think that maybe this Eric is lying to you? That he just wants you for himself, and has created this turmoil to get you back." Mike asked.
Alcide came in then with Aidan behind him. "Hey you two, we've got company." Alcide said. I did a quick search, it was Bill and Jeremiah, and two other vampires I didn't recognize, and Eric and Pam. The front door opened and Pam and Eric walked in. Pam was dressed in a gorgeous purple wrap dress, and Jimmy Choo heels. "Aidan, my favorite nephew, comes see what Aunt Pam brought you." Aidan started to walk to Pam, when Mike's hand shot out and grabbed Aidan's shoulder to pull him to him. "There will be no more gifts from "Aunt" Pam, you've been SPOILED enough." Mike said sternly. "But Dad, Aunt Pam always gives the best presents." Aidan whined. "That's too bad; she's done buying your love." Mike told Aidan.
The tension in the room was very thick. Mike looked from Pam to Eric in disgust. I had to reach into his minds to get his thoughts. So this is the mother fucker who is trying to steal my family from me. This skinny ass vampire with girl hair, and too tight of jeans and tee shirt. What was Sookie thinking? "I thought I made myself clear when we spoke on the phone. You were to meet me at Fangtasia so that I could speak to you before you came over here and upset Sookie. Or are you the kind of man who doesn't keep to his agreements." Eric said barely controlling his anger.
"Well you didn't really give me a chance to respond, or else I would have told you that you don't tell me what to do, and you have no fucking right to tell me when and where I can see MY wife and kids." Mike said matching Eric's tone. Alcide then stepped in front of them. "You too keep your cocks in line. There are two children in this room who can hear and feel everything and you need to remember that." Alcide said in an I'll take you both down if I have to kind of way. "You didn't mind using my private jet to come down here, and you enjoyed the last two unexpected raises you got at work, you begged for my blood for Sookie, when she was pregnant, you enjoy the house I bought, you even get to sleep with MY wife because I've allowed it, but you don't respect me as a man to meet me face to face to deal with this without dragging Sookie into it. What kind of man are you Mike?" Eric said.
"Damnit both of you. This is not a competition, you are both here because you love me, you love Aidan and Adele, and you want the same thing, so let's just calm down, sit down, and work this out like adults." I told them in exasperation. "Pam, can you and Alcide please take the kids upstairs and get them ready for bed. Eric, Mike please sit down so that we can resolve this in a calm manner." Pam took Aidan's hand, and Alcide took Adele from my arms and they headed up the stairs. What a cute couple they could have made I thought, and then turned my thoughts back to the problem at hand. "Mommy Aidan called down, yes son, I said, you might want to go to the door, and we're going to have more company." I looked at him scared. I walked to the front door and looked out. There was Jeremiah, Bill, and two other vampires on the porch, one was a little wiry man with tattoos covering his body and he looked like he came from Hispanic descent, the other was a huge black man, I'd never seen anyone that large, he was taller than Eric, and larger than Alcide, and his skin was pitch black, they were watching something very close, and I realized what it was. Felipe and his entourage were coming up the driveway in their cars. I slammed the front door shut.
"Eric its Felipe. You were right; they must be here for a surprise visit." Eric jumped to his feet. "Pam, keep the assets away from the window." He said knowing Pam could here him. Alcide came bounding down the stairs on his cell phone. "The assets are in immediate danger, send in the pack" he was saying. "Sookie, call Calvin" Eric said as he crossed over and touched me on the shoulder, the first time he'd acknowledged me all night. I ran to the phone and dialed Hot Shot. Calvin answered on the first ring. "Calvin, it Sookie, Felipe is here, please send help, the weres and vampires are here too." I said quickly and hung up not needing to hear his answer.
Mike was on his feet watching not knowing what to think of the chaos around him. "What the hell is going on?" he asked. "Well human, there are several vampires that have arrived that don't know of your existence or our children's, they only know of Sookie's and we want to keep it that way, because they would like nothing better to have Sookie to themselves, but I've made damn sure that hasn't happened yet, and its not happening today." Eric told Mike quickly. Mike then pulled his Desert Eagle out of his hip holster under his shirt. "Just make sure you don't shoot one of my guys." Eric said and stepped back over to me. "Sookie, go to the door, do not let them in, if you have to go outside, do it, they won't hurt you, but don't let them in." Eric said to me. "Ok, I can do that." I answered and walked to the door. Mike started to walk towards me. "Mike stay back, I don't want them to know about you, I don't want them to see what you look like, please let me handle this." I pleaded with him. He stepped back then hearing the sincerity and fear in my voice. I heard voices on the porch.
"Bill, what is this little group you have here?" I heard Felipe ask. "Jeremiah and I just came over to introduce Pedro and Diablo to Sookie, since they are now living in the area." Bill answered. "So all four of you just happen to be here at the same time we are, that's quite a coincidence isn't' in." Felipe said. "If you believe in coincidence." Bill responded. "Well, I'm here to talk to Sookie about some business, so if you'll excuse us, and he walked between them and the door. The four vampires gave way and started to head into the yard when Felipe knocked on my door. I answered the big door but kept the screen door closed. "Felipe what a surprise, how can I help you?" I said. "Sookie, how good to see you again. I was just telling Bill and his friends that I had some business to discuss with you, can't I come in?" he asked. "No, you may not, any business you need to discuss with me, can be done through the door, just like Bill and his friends, I don't let just anyone in my home anymore." I responded. "But I am your king, Sookie; surely you do not fear me." He said sweetly. "No, I don't fear you Felipe, but you and I both know that Eric would not be pleased that you were visiting me without his permission." I answered with a smile. Eric was behind the door, and Mike was positioned that if I pushed the door any further open he would have a clear shot. I heard Alcide shifting in the kitchen. "I tried contacting Eric at Fangtasia, but was told he had already left, surely he is already here." He answered. "Yes, he is, he's just getting out of the shower." I answered, if you'll wait a few moments I'll speak to him, and I closed the door. Eric looked at me and took me into his arms "Your doing great" he said barely audible in my ear, that if I hadn't recently had his blood I couldn't have heard him. I glanced at Mike who had such a hurt look on his face. Eric moved around me and opened the door himself this time.
"Felipe, what business do you have with my wife." Eric asked, as Mike maneuvered behind the door this time. "I just have a few questions for her. You see after I left yesterday I began to think about some of the changes I noticed in Sookie, like how dark her hair was, or how full her hips were, or that she gave off the sweet scent of mother's milk. So I wanted to ask again, what she had been doing while away from you. Don't you want to know those answers too?" "Of course not, she was never away from me for very long." Eric replied coolly. "I think you're lying. I think Sookie and you have just recently gotten back together. I also think that while she was away she gave birth to a child rather recently, and that she's still nursing. Now what I want to know is who the father is, and if that is true you realize that she is no longer your wife. She broke the sacred vow by mating with a human, and therefore is no longer your wife or under your protection, which means she is free to whoever wants her. "NO!" Eric shouted. "I have been blood bonded and ritual bonded to her for over seven years. Any agreement we made while she was away is a law abiding contractual one that does not break our vow to one another. She is MINE, and she will always be." Eric stated. "Very well Eric, I can see how passionate you are by this since your fangs are out, but let me assure you I will bring this before the committee in Hot Springs." Felipe said. "Of course, I'd expect nothing less." And he shut the door. I sighed in relief, but unfortunately too soon, because I heard Bill call out before the crash on the step. A fight had begun.
Thanks for all the reviews and the continued readers. I hope its meeting your expectations. It's too close to me that I have a hard time being objective. Thanks again to CH for her characters. I've also realized that I need to check the uploads because my endings keep getting cut off, and I need an editor. LOL
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