a/n: so this unexpectedly became the final chapter to this story. I was thinking I would end at 12 but it just seemed like things could be neatly tied up in this one chapter so that's what happened. Enjoy and thanks for reading…

CHAPTER 10

I didn't stay at the hospital very long. They wanted me to stay overnight but I called Amelia to give me a ride home. I couldn't call Pam since she was pissed at me for trying to explain that Eric's ghost was here. I didn't want things to be bad between us but I also was not going to give in. This was real even though Pam could not handle it. I shook off my pesky thoughts when Amelia arrived, a blubbering mess, to give me a ride home. She was freaking out about how she thought she lost me too. It was a bit strange that I was the one in hospital yet I was calming her down.

Once Amelia was together enough to drive we got into her car to head home. "So are you sure you're fine?" She asked for the millionth time.

"Ames I'm fine the doctor's did not find anything but a few scratches on me." I looked out the window and watched the dark woods blur by.

"It's a miracle, thank god you made it out alive." Amelia was still not over her worries. I couldn't blame her, it had to be hard on her to think she lost another friend so soon. Her and Eric were not best buddies but they became friends over time once I started dating him.

"You can thank Eric." I was quiet and slowly looked in her direction. Amelia's green eyes darted over to me cautiously before returning to the road.

"I'd ask you to explain but I don't know if I'd even understand it. But I believe you have someone looking out for you Sook." There was a soft smile on her face and it made me feel good that she was still on my side.

Once Amelia dropped me off at the house I ran upstairs with one purpose in mind. I had a box of pregnancy tests sitting in the bathroom cabinet, from when Eric and I were trying. Turning the bathroom light on, I kneeled down and opened the bottom cabinet and found the pink box. There was only one test left. As I took it out I realized my hands were trembling.

"Deep breaths, keep calm, you've done this about a hundred times by now." I rationalized with myself. Except every other time I got a big old negative laughing in my face. This time was different.

I carefully followed the directions as usual and put the little cap back on the stick after I did my business. Now I just had to wait. Every second seemed to drag by slower and slower. How could time be so freaking slow? I wandered out of the bathroom and tried to neaten up and even put away some clothes. I'd rather wait a few minutes than return too early. Patience. Patience.

Finally it seemed like enough time had elapsed and I went back to the bathroom. The stick was sitting on the edge of the counter and my heart was racing as I stepped closer. This could change everything. I took one last step and peered down at the little window where a plus or minus symbol should be-it was a plus sign. I was pregnant.

Now I just needed to figure out how to feel. At first I felt nothing and like a robot put the stick into the trash and shut the bathroom light off. I wandered to my room and sat down. A baby, I was having a baby all alone. I would be a single mother raising a child and trying to balance everything. Okay now I was scared to death. Could I handle this? What if I messed up? What if I couldn't afford things for my own kid? Or god forbid got fired for some reason? There were so many variables and they all made my stomach churn. I curled up in bed, which was becoming a habit, and tried to not cry. My nose was all stuffy so I reached over to the nightstand for a tissue. That was when I saw a picture I had set there of Eric and I. We were laughing in the picture and sitting on the edge of his boat on a summer day.

This was Eric's baby too. How had I forgotten that even if only for a few minutes? I let everything else overwhelm me and left out the most important piece. This was the little miracle Eric and I had been praying for before he was taken from me. This baby was a part of me, and a part of Eric. In some way I would now have a piece of Eric still living with me, going through each day learning, laughing, and loving. That warmed the cold nerves in my gut. I smiled and leaned back in bed. I was going to have our baby and I had full confidence Eric would be around to see it. I might not be able to see or touch him but I would know he was around watching our child grow up. I went to sleep feeling content for the first time in a long time and determined to do my best at this new facet of my life.

Two weeks later I had taken another home pregnancy test and also had a visit to the doctor to get everything confirmed. Once I got the positive from my doctor I told Jack and Nora the good news. At first they were a bit cautious but the second they realized I was happy about it, they showed their true colors and were overjoyed. I think they just did not want me to feel bad if I actually was unhappy about it, since that would have been a reasonable reaction considering the situation. Instead we all were looking at the glass half full. Jack's eyes were watering and Nora was jumping up and down in her kitchen. I swear to god she was. I had also told my parents one night when they visited for dinner. Everyone was being supportive and excited.

I had one person left to tell now and that was Pam. We had not spoken since our spat a few weeks ago. I nervously dialed the phone and waited for her to pick up.

"Make it fast, I'm on my way to the salon" Pam never looked at the caller ID on her cell she just answered, and always in a rude way.

"Hey, it's Sookie"

"Oh, hi.." Yeah that changed her damn tune didn't it?

"Listen I know we had a bit of an argument last time we spoke, but could you come over tonight? I have some news I'd rather share in person." I hoped she just said yes and did not argue.

"…..alright, I'll be there after the salon." She hung up without saying bye. Typical. At least she was coming by though. It was amazing how those tiny things about Pam only annoyed me when I was pissed at her.

Pam knocked on the door promptly at six o'clock. I let her in and we ended up at the kitchen table. I was nervous but oddly enough Pam seemed out of sorts too. Usually she was fine even if she had just yelled at someone. We sat in awkward silence for a few minutes until Pam finally spoke first.

"Sookie….you won't hear me say this often but, I'm sorry." It was like pulling teeth to get the words out of her mouth. She seemed to be in physical pain from it.

"Thanks" I answered quietly and met her gaze.

"Even if I don't believe in that ghost stuff, it shouldn't matter. I know you're not crazy and if anyone would decide to be Casper the ghost it'd be my dorky brother. He always liked that crap." Pam stopped there and was drumming her fingers on the table. I knew that was the best apology I would get from Pam. She would never admit she flipped out because she was in pain and missing him, but just hearing she was sorry was more than enough.

I smiled. "Thank you, that really is a weight off my shoulders. I hated feeling like things were bad between us. " I did not want to lose anyone I loved. Pam was included in that list.

"So what did you drag me down here for?" Yep, Pam was just her normal self.

"I have some big news….." I hoped she would take this well. "I'm pregnant."

Pam just stared at me then narrowed her eyes. "It better be my brother's."

"What?! Of course it is! You know we were trying to have a baby for almost a year. I would never chea-" I was freaking out.

Pam was laughing. "Sookie! Calm the fuck down! I was kidding with you!" She was still chuckling, jerk.

I leaned back with a sigh and tried to let all the adrenaline that had just pumped up in my veins seep away. "Don't scare me like that. I'm pregnant and need to be handled with care."

"Oh please, using the pregnant lady excuses already?" She raised an eyebrow at me. God that reminded me of Eric. The both of them had the same expression when they did that. "I'm happy for you though. It's good news and you know Aunt Pam is going to spoil the hell out of this kid right? Especially if it's a girl."

I started cracking up. How weird was it to hear her refer to herself as Aunt Pam? The rest of the evening went well. Pam stayed a bit longer and we got caught up and even argued about when she would be allowed to buy makeup if it was a girl. I was happy, really happy, and it felt good to feel that way again. I went to sleep that night with a smile.

I opened my eyes an hour later and was delighted to find Eric sitting on the edge of the bed next to me. "Hey"

"Hi" He reached over and squeezed my hand. "You're okay? Both of you?"

I sat up some and nodded with a smile.

"I think that's the biggest smile I've seen in weeks. It looks good on you." He was dressed as usual in my dreams, in his black sleep shorts and nothing else. I wondered for a second if that was something he controlled or my mind projected what it was used to seeing him in. Oh well, it wasn't an important question.

"Yeah well, it's been a bit tough to be happy. But I am now, there's something to smile about everyday from now on." I wished he was alive, but I was happy to at least share this with him on some level. It was much better than him being completely gone and having no idea if he would ever know about his child.

Eric moved so he was sitting in the middle of the bed facing me. Apparently he was in a chatty mood instead of a cuddly one. I was pretty sure I was down for some cuddles even if it was a damn dream. "So you're happy? I was worried you might not be. I know it won't be the same as we talked about…" His voice faded off on a rather depressing note.

I scooted closer and wrapped both of his hands in mine, sitting so our knees were touching. Of course his hands were huge so it was more like sort of holding each one. "I know it won't be but that doesn't change how happy I am. We wanted this for so long and now we have it. This baby is a part of me and most importantly a part of you. A living and breathing piece of you. I just have to do my best to not screw up." I smiled a little.

"Sookie that's impossible. You're all organized and rational. You're a perfect Mom. Then when you feel like you need a break just force Pam to babysit and change diapers." He chuckled and I had to laugh with him.

"She called herself Aunt Pam today. It was weird. If it's a girl I'm dreading what Pam will buy for her." I was picturing tons of expensive clothes and makeup by age four.

"She'll act like she hates the kid at first, but deep down she's going to be the biggest sap out of all of us. I'm sure my mom freaked out?" Eric knew how Nora was about grandkids. Everyone knew.

"Oh yes she started jumping up and down and your Dad was really happy too. I think all of them just want to feel closer to you again." I still had no idea why Eric could not appear to them and neither did he. We talked about it once and he even tried to appear to Pam. For some reason it did not work that way and only I could see him like this.

I could see his face darken some at my words. Eric wanted to be there for everyone still. I knew he wanted to be alive and a part of things. He was always close with both of his parents and Pam. So there would be quite a few lives he was forced to simply watch pass by him and no longer be able to take part in them. I was silently praying out child might be able to see him. Even if it was only a few times, or only in their dreams it would be nice. He, or she, would get to know their father in some sense.

"You know I'm never going to shut up about you once this baby is born right?" I smiled and hoped to cheer him up some. "I'm constantly going to be telling this kid how amazing their Dad is, and handsome of course."

Eric seemed hesitant. "Is? I'm not sure that word pertains to me anymore Sookie."

"Yes it does, because you're still here. I'm not going to talk about you like it's in the past when I know for a fact you're still the same great guy I met years ago. You're just on a different frequency now." Thank god for Sophie-Anne's awesome metaphors to explain some of this.

I must have said the right thing because next thing I knew Eric was kissing me. God he was always so good at that and I would always be amazed at how real my dreams felt. I pulled him closer and wrapped my arms around his neck, pushing Eric back onto the bed. I might as well take advantage of my barely clothed husband while I could right? It was nice to just forget about everything and just get lost in him for as long as my dream would let us… and that was exactly what we did.

One year later…

I had been without Eric for over a year now and I could honestly say things had gotten a bit better. I did not cry everyday and for the most part I had my life on track. Of course I had my sad days but usually I fixed those by visiting Sophie or going to the lighthouse. He was always there waiting for me. My husband might be dead but that didn't mean he was not still there everyday looking out for me and most importantly our child. I had only seen Eric's ghost when I was awake at the lighthouse. But there were two exceptions to that: the night I almost died in the ocean, and the morning our daughter was born. A few minutes after I had her and was holding her for the first time I looked up to smile at Nora, and ended up seeing Eric in a small mirror that was on the wall behind her. He was standing right by my head and smiling down at the baby in my arms. It was probably the best moment of my life knowing he was there with us.

Our daughter Riley was four months old now. She was absolutely beautiful. Her head was covered in soft blonde hair and she had Eric's arctic blue eyes. She was perfect and quickly became the center of my world. I still worked at the aquarium part-time and would be returning to my full-time spot soon. Sam had been wonderful about giving me time off to be with Riley. If it was up to me I'd spend everyday with her watching her smile and learn something new.

But the real world was still out there and I was okay with that now. I had my daughter, a great family, and I still saw Eric in my dreams all the time. He constantly asked about Riley even though I knew he was around during the day watching her when I couldn't see him. It was a strange way to continue our relationship but it was enough for us. We were both willing to wait until we could be together completely again. The best part was one night I was putting Riley in her crib and I noticed her giggling. I was not making any faces or sounds though so I focused on her eyes. That was when I noticed her looking just above my right shoulder at what to me was empty air. I remember asking her if Daddy was with us and then one of the lamps turned on as if to confirm my answer. Some people might have been freaked out by that but I wasn't. It warmed my heart to know Riley was interacting with her father and able to see him like I could.

As stopped over to visit the Northman's one afternoon with Riley I noticed tiny snowflakes starting to fall. I paused in the yard and just let the peaceful silence envelope me. That was when I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around me. I couldn't see anything but I knew it was him. I smiled and looked down at Riley who was already smiling away. The feeling started to fade away then I heard Nora calling for us to come inside from the front door. "Love you Eric" I whispered and with a smile I headed into the brightly lit house. My life had not turned out as I expected but I knew in the end everything was going to work out for us.

a/n: that's it for this story folks. I hope you all enjoyed reading, and hopefully I didn't make you cry too much! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing this story! Right now I'm working on a sequel to 'About a Girl and a Boy' so that will be the next thing I'm posting. I hope ya'll stick around and read that one too once its up. =)