A/N So here is another chapter. I should hopefully have chapter 11 up some time tonight to cross your fingers. I am still working on my other stories and hopefully will have updates of those later this weekend. Enjoy!

EPOV

I had a lot to think about on the drive back to the house. Sookie had given me a lot to think over, then the fact that I'd had it with Maxine, I had to think of a way to fire her. I wanted to do it gently, but I'd knew she'd start with the water works and I would change my mind. I had to do this like I was pulling off a band-aid, as quick and as painless as possible, at least for myself.

When we pulled up to the house I told Pam to stay in the car and I walked inside following Maxine. She went straight into the living room, sat down in MY recliner and turned the TV on to her talk shows.

I was seeing red. I was not a man that would hit a woman, but I was close to changing that with Maxine. She had taken advantage of me for the absolute last time. I practically ripped the remote from her hands and threw it across the room. "That's it! I have had it with you!"She looked up at me like I had lost my mind. "Eric, what are you talking about?"

This woman was either completely brain damaged or totally oblivious to her own actions. "Are you fucking shitting me? You sit on your ass most of the time watching your 'stories'. You don't do what I pay you to do. You left my daughter home alone! I hired you to help me take care of my daughter, all you help me do is eat all the food in the house, make a mess and fill me in on the latest gossip that I don't give a shit about. You have raped my ears for the last time." I pulled my checkbook out and wrote her a check, then threw it at her. "Consider this your severance pay. I'm taking Pam to dinner, then we are going to the grocery store. If you are not gone by the time that we get back, I will have you forcibly removed." I stormed out the door before I could register her tears.

I got into the car and slammed my door shut. I took off out of the driveway at a speed that I knew wasn't appropriate with Pam in the car, hell it wasn't appropriate at any time. Bad flashbacks came slamming to the forefront of my mind and I quickly calmed down and slowed way down.

I pulled into the pizza parlor parking lot, turned off the car and turned to look at Pam. I was expecting to see her looking scared or angry at the way that I had been driving, but instead she just looked curious. "Did you fire Miss Maxine?"

"Yes I did sweetie."

I didn't know how she would react to my news, but I certainly didn't expect her to say what she said. "Well, it's about time."

I was shocked. "Why would you say that Pam?"

"Dad, I have wanted to say something to you for the past week, but I didn't want you to do something just because of what I'm about to tell you."

My daughter was nine going on thirty. "Go ahead and tell me baby."

"Dad, she hasn't done the laundry or the shopping in a couple of weeks. I've been doing my own cooking and laundry along with yours and I wash my dishes after I make my lunch. All of the other dirty dishes are hers."

I was even more livid than before, but I kept it in check in front of Pam. This anger wasn't directed at her, it was directed at Maxine. "Sweetie, I promise that you will have somebody a hundred times better to watch you from now on."

I got out of the car and went around to help Pam. I opened her door and pulled her into my arms. As I carried her inside she decided to shock me yet again. "Can Sookie be my new babysitter? I like her a really lot."

"Sweetie, Sookie might not have time to be your sitter. She does have to work."

"Will you at least ask her Daddy? Please, please, please?"

She put out her bottom lip and was preying on my weakness and at this point I didn't appreciate it. I had my own issues to deal with concerning Sookie and I didn't think that I could handle her being around all the time. "I wouldn't get my hopes up baby."

"Can I invite her to my birthday party?"

As we were seated in our booth and I had placed our order I realized that Pam's birthday was fast approaching. Her birthday was a much safer subject to discuss. "We'll see. So, what kind of do you want for your birthday?"

I looked down at Pam and she was going to give me a stroke tonight. She was looking up at me with a look on her face that I had seen dozens of times before, but not on her face. It was a face that Sophie would give me when she was about to call me out on my shit. "Why do you do that Daddy?"

This kid was way too smart for her almost ten short years. Another trait she picked up from her mother. I decided to play dumb and hopefully get away with it. "What are you talking about baby?"

She rolled her eyes at me, another trait from her mother and I knew my playing it dumb attempt didn't work. "Come on Dad. Why don't you want to talk about Sookie?"

"It's complicated grown up stuff Pam." I really hoped that she would let it go at that.

"Fine, but will you promise me that you will invite Sookie to my birthday party?"

She had the lip out again. "Okay Sweetie."

We spent our dinner talking about what kind of birthday decorations that Pam wanted. She decided on a Strawberry Shortcake theme for the party. She wanted every kind of Strawberry Shortcake decorations they made, she wanted a giant strawberry shortcake instead of a regular birthday cake and dozens of other girlie things. I would get every single thing that she asked for no matter what it took. My little girl was going to have the best birthday party ever.

After we finished out pizza Pam wanted to go to the party supply store so she could pick out her own decorations. She said that she didn't trust me to get exactly what she wanted. My little girl was definitely a little spitfire.

An hour and a half and three hundred dollars later we made our way out of the party supply store to get ice cream. (She had convinced me to pick up decorations for Halloween while we were there too. I just couldn't say no to her.)

We went down the block to the best ice cream parlor in town and split a strawberry milkshake and a chocolate fudge sundae. Now that we were both full and working a nice sugar buzz we made our way to the grocery store.

I loaded up on food and cleaning supplies too, so that I could attempt to get the house spotless before Pam's party. There was also the chance that Maxine went into a rage and left our home in worse shape than when we left it.

When we finally got home it was almost eight o'clock. Maxine was long gone, thank God. I didn't think that I could handle dealing with her again.

Pam carried in her party and Halloween things and put them in the den so that they were out of the way, while I carried the groceries into the kitchen. I was shocked at what I walked into. The kitchen was actually spotless. All the counters were clean and the dishes in the sink were gone. I set down the bags that I was carrying to check the dishwasher. Empty. My curiosity was definitely peaked at this turn of events.

I quickly put away the groceries, then made my way from room to room through the house. I really couldn't believe what I was seeing. Every room was completely spotless. I couldn't even remember the last time the house looked this good.

I went into the laundry room and even that was done. The hamper, washer and dryer were all empty. She had actually cleaned the entire house before she left. I started to feel a little guilty about the way that I had treated her, but it only lasted a moment. I realized that she probably had done this to make me feel guilty so that I would hire her back. That definitely wasn't going to happen, so I put all thoughts of Maxine out of my mind and went to spend some time with my daughter.

We did some more planning on her party. We talked about what kind of food she wanted and who she wanted to invite before it was time for her to go to bed.

When she brought up inviting Sookie again I wanted to change my mind and tell her that Sookie couldn't come, but I didn't. I had to figure out what I was going to do about Sookie, but that was my problem not Pam's. Thinking about Sookie made me notice the knot that was there in my stomach that always seemed to be there when I was away from Sookie. That I was going to have to contemplate some other time.

When I was in bed later that night my mind was filled with thoughts of Sookie, the way that she smelled, the softness of her skin, the way it felt being buried deep inside of her. Thinking these things made my cock grow rock hard. I wanted her more than anything right now and that scared the shit out of me,

It wasn't the simple fact that I wanted to fuck her that bothered me, it was the complicated fact that I wanted to make love to her that was my major problem. Fucking her was an absolutely incredible and almost religious experience by itself, as well as a major turn on for both of us, but I wanted to hold her and kiss her and show her how tender I could be. This was not what I wanted to happen, I couldn't allow this to happen.

I had to think with my head and not my dick when it came to Sookie. I couldn't continue with her this way and if I did I knew that I would just end up hurting her and I didn't want to do that to her.

Even with my raging hard on I managed to fall asleep, but it was a completely restless sleep. I dreamt of Sookie and that caused me to not be able to rest like I needed. I had been dreaming of Sookie since that first night we were together. It had only been a week, but it seemed like so much longer than that.

In that short amount of time she had taken up a space inside of me that I didn't realize that I had opened back up and I didn't know how to get her out of it. She was slowly taking up a space in my heart and I definitely needed to find a way to get her out.

When I got up the next morning it was still dark out. I knew that I should have tried to get a little more sleep, but I couldn't handle the dreams any longer. I made my way into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. It was only five o'clock and Pam wouldn't be up for awhile, so I didn't need to start breakfast yet, but I needed my coffee.

As the pot brewed and the delicious coffee smell hit my nostrils I realized that I didn't have anyone to look after Pam today. I apparently had taken having Maxine around for granted.

I fixed my cup of coffee, then sat down at the table to think. I could be a prick and try to pawn my daughter off on one of her friends parents for the day, but I didn't want to be a prick nor pawn off my daughter. The more I thought about it the more I really wanted to spend another day with my little girl. The park yesterday had been kind of a bust since I wasn't really paying attention to her, but taking her shopping and helping her get ready for her party was actually enjoyable. I needed to spend more time with Pam, I needed to make time for her and be the father that she needed and that she deserved.

I realized as I sat at that table that Sookie had been right when she called me a coward. I had been letting my pain control me and take over my life and in that process my daughter was basically having to live without both of her parents. I couldn't let this go on any longer now that I had realized what I was doing. Pam needed me and now she's going to have me.

I went into my room and grabbed a legal pad and a pen, then sat down at the table with my second cup of coffee to make a list. I needed to find somebody who could look after Pam full time at least until school started next month. I knew that money wise I didn't need to keep my job and I could stay home and take car of Pam, but I was afraid that I would go stir crazy not interacting with other adults and neither of us would want that.

I definitely wanted somebody younger to care for Pam this time. Maxine had been the grandmotherly type even though she didn't have any grandchildren yet and now that I really thought about it she had probably been too old to be caring for Pam and doing all of the work that I needed her to do.

As I thought about the person who I wanted to see here helping take care of my daughter, the only face that I automatically pictured that wasn't her mother was Sookie. I had never wanted to raise Pam with anyone but Sophie before. That was how it was suppose to have been, but now picturing Sookie in that role, well I didn't hate it.

I closed my eyes and ran with that train of thought. I pictured Sookie cooking here in our kitchen, Pam sitting at the table a few years older with a couple of little blonde angels running around in contrast to Pam's strawberry blonde hair.

I could imagine that as my life. I would come home to my wife Sookie and the children we would have together as well as Pam. We would all be incredibly happy and not let the past darken our happiness.

I quickly shook myself away from that line of thinking. That wasn't going to happen now or ever. I couldn't, I wouldn't open myself up like that and chance getting hurt again. I lived through the pain once, but I didn't think I would be able to do it again.

Pam got up around eight and she and I made breakfast together. We fixed pancakes, bacon and scrambled eggs. As we were sitting down to eat I watched as Pam's face became sullen. "So who are you pawning me off on today?"

Hearing my baby say that to me broke my heart. I reached over and took her hand. "Baby, I haven't been taking very good care of you since your mother died, have I?" She looked up at me with those eyes, my eyes and I knew the answer. "Pam, I have done wrong by you since losing your mother and I am so sorry about that. Someday you'll understand what I went through, actually I hope you will never understand because I don't want you to get hurt. Life goes on and I am going to make it up to you. I am going to stay with you today and I'll find somebody better to take care of you while I'm at work, then when you go back to school next month I am going to change my schedule so that I only work when you are at school. I'll be there to drop you off in the morning, I'll pick you up in the afternoon, I'll be able to help you with your homework and tuck you in at night."

Pam jumped out of her chair and threw herself into my arms. "Daddy, I've missed you so much."

"I'm so sorry baby." The fact that my daughter missed me while we were living in the same house told me that these changes were an absolute necessity.

She had her arms around me hugging my tightly, then she pulled away and looked up into my eyes. "As great as that is Daddy, you're not enough. I need a mother too." I could feel my heart breaking at her words and I could feel the tears start to form in my eyes. She missed and needed her mother and I couldn't bring her back. My tears were about to fall when her next words shocked me enough to stop them. "I want Sookie to be my mommy."

I was completely and utterly thrown by this. My little girl wanted a woman that I had only known for a week and who I'd met at a whorehouse to be her new mother. This was definitely not how I expected this conversation to progress. "Baby, I don't think that's possible."

"Why not? She's nice and in the few minutes that I met her she took better care of me than Miss Maxine ever did. I think that she would make a really good mommy."

"Pam, there's more to being a mommy than just taking care of you."

"Well, then can she at leas be my new babysitter?"

As much as I wanted to argue with her on that point, I just couldn't seem to get it out. That in some ways might be a good idea. I knew that Sookie was from what I'd seen a potentially good care giver. She had taken care of me and Pam both in the last week. She could give us both what we needed and that scared me. What would happen if she did become Pam's sitter, but something happened between us and she didn't want to see me again? Could I risk hurting Pam like that again? I would definitely have to think about it so I gave her the parental answer. "We'll see."

That seemed to placate her for the moment. I didn't want her to fuss all day about this so I made an executive parental decision. "Sweetie, how would you like to spend the day at the lake? I know how much you love it there and it's been so long since we've been there. I think that it would do us both some good."

She threw her arms back around me and squeezed me tightly. "Oh Daddy, I would love to, but we have to be back by sic because Suzy is have a slumber party that I was invited to tonight."

"I think I can handle that baby. Go get dressed and get your things together and we'll hit the road." She jumped off my lap and ran at top speed up the stairs.

I went and got the cooler out of the garage and filled it with ice, food and drinks for us to take with us. I knew that the cupboards would be bare, but the caretaker that I'd hired years ago came by every weekend during the summer to make sure the place stayed clean and didn't get stuffy, then he would close it up completely for us after New Year's Day.

It had been two summers since anyone had stayed up there for any length of time. There were too many memories there, but I was sure that now would be a good time for Pam and I to go back there.

I had purchased the cabin shortly after I started dating Sophie. She loved the water and we'd both been so busy back then that it was nice to have a quiet place to go on the weekends where we could be alone. I had proposed to Sophie there, we had spent our honeymoon there and it was where Pam had been conceived, plus many more happy memories.

We would spend Sophie's birthday in the spring and the majority of the summer there. It was an hour each way for me to and from work, but it was worth it to see the smiles on my girls faces.

After the accident I couldn't bare to go back there. The memories had been too painful at that time to face them. Now I was pretty sure that enough time had gone by that we needed to resume our lives and the lakeside cabin was part of that. I didn't know if I could stay up here all the time just yet, but coming up for the day would be good.

When I had the cooler packed I put it in the back of the SUV, then I ran upstairs to change. I put on my swim trunks, tank top and flip flops, then loaded my duffel bag with plenty of towels, sunscreen and dry clothes to change into.

I went downstairs and Pam was waiting by the door with her own duffel bag and then her Louis Vuitton rolling suitcase. Her mother had one so she had to have one too. She was going to be the stylish girl at the slumber party.

She started jumping up and down when she saw me coming. "Hurry up Daddy, time's a wasting." She had a huge smile on her face and I knew that this was the right thing to do.

I knew that I had to keep Pam distracted on our hour long drive so she wouldn't pester me about the whole Sookie situation, so I brought along my Ipod and played all of her favorite songs. My Pam loves to sing, she sounds like a dying cat when she does, but it makes her happy and keeps her occupied.

When I pulled up to the cabin all of my memories came rushing back. I was tempted to turn the car around and head home, but I knew that we had to face this. Also I had barely stopped the car and Pam was jumping out and running for the water. It was barely ten o'clock in the morning and she already wanted to go swimming. She was like a fish anytime she was in the water, once she was in, she never wanted to come out. Sophie had taken her to swimming lessons since she started walking. Pam was almost a better swimmer than I was.

I got out of the car and got the cooler out of the back. "Pam, I'm taking the food in the house. I want you to stay in the shallow end until I come back out, okay?"

"Yes Daddy."

"And when I do come back out I will be slathering you with suntan lotion so you don't get burned.:

"Oh, Dad, you know I hate suntan lotion."

"I know you do, but you will thank me when your skin isn't on fire and you don't look like a lobster. I'll be out in a few minutes."

I steeled myself before I walked inside and I'm glad that I did. Even after two years of not being here, I could still smell Sophie's perfume hanging in the air. I felt my heart clench as I stood in the living room looking around. It was exactly the same as the day I bought it. We had only added some pictures and Sophie had put up new curtains and a few knick knacks on the mantle.

I looked down at the fire place and remembered all of the wonderful times that Sophie and I had spent there talking and making love. We were always the most open and honest with each other in front of that fire place. Those were the best times and now the best memories of my life.

I pushed my emotions down and went in the kitchen. I put the food away, grabbed the sun block, and went out to torture my daughter.

We had a wonderful day swimming and playing in the water and building sandcastles on the little beach that we had. We talked about her friends and how she was excited to be starting the fourth grade next month. She also informed me that we would need to go school shopping soon. My Pam loved to shop and not for normal clothes. Her clothes always had to be designer labels. She loved to make a statement and she was going to be the most fashionable fourth grader in her class.

A little after four Pam took her duffel bag inside to change and I went in and cleaned up the kitchen. I was loading the cooler in the car and my mind started going places that I had avoided all day. I started to think about Sookie. I imagined what it would be like to have her here with us. I had gone back inside to get changed and as I looked at the fireplace I could picture the two of us laying there having long talks and making love. The thing that was the most scary is that I could imagine proposing to Sookie here like I did with Sophie.

That thought right there made the decision I'd been debating about a lot easier. I couldn't do this with her anymore. We had known each other for only a week. How could I be even having these types of feelings? It must just be due to the fact that we'd been having sex, that was what was making me feel these things.

I knew that I was kidding myself thinking that way. The knot in my stomach that was making itself known at the thought of ending things with Sookie was proof of that, but I just couldn't do this. I needed to focus on Pam at this point. I had been neglecting her for far too long. I didn't have time for a woman no matter how much my daughter liked her.

I made sure the music was back on for the ride home. I still didn't want to talk to Pam about Sookie. I dropped her off at Suzy's and said that I would pick her up tomorrow after I got off work. She kissed me goodbye and went running in to see her friends.

I went back to the house, unloaded the cooler of food and started a load of laundry. I wandered into the living room and realized that the house seemed too quiet. I couldn't remember the last time that I'd been home alone and I discovered I really didn't like it.

It was Tuesday, so I decided to get my talk with Sookie over with. I knew that it wasn't going to go over well, but it really had to be done. I grabbed the invitation that Pam had filled out for her, went out to my car and made my way to the club.

It was earlier than I had ever been there before and I luckily could only see two other cars in the customer parking lot. I was used to it being busier, but I was glad there weren't many people here. I had a feeling that Sookie wasn't going to be happy with me and the less people that heard her yelling at me the better I'd feel. It was only going to get worse when I had my normal Tuesday night with another girl. This had become part of my routine and I needed it to keep me sane. I was also doing this to get Sookie out of my head.

I went inside and straight into Alcide's office. He had been on the phone, but hung up when he saw me standing there. "I'm surprised to see you here tonight. After how things were left the other night I really didn't expect to see you again."

"Sookie told you about that?"

"Sookie has been my best friend for a long time and I don't take well to people using her then tossing her aside like garbage."

"Alcide, that's not what I did. Things with Sookie and I are very complicated right now."

He stood up and walked over so that he was standing in front of me. I could see that he was trying to intimidate me and it was working. "Look, I love Sookie like a sister and you either need to man up and be with her or grow a pair and break this off." He was waiting for me to say something, but all I could do was nod my head. "I'll go up and see if she wants to see you."

He disappeared out the door and I knew I was about to do the right thing for both of us. I couldn't led her on and I couldn't risk hurting myself. She had said that she loved me and I couldn't return the sentiment, at least I didn't think I did until I started thinking about it. I noticed that the knot in my stomach had returned full force and was making me question if my decision was right.

Alcide walked back in a few minutes later directing me to Sookie's office upstairs. With each step I took my head was telling me to ignore the damn knot in my gut and continue on with my life like I had been, but my heart was telling me that I needed to see where this went, that I deserved to find happiness again. Happiness always led to pain. I was going to listen to my head.

When I walked into her office and laid eyes on her, my resolve tried to go straight out the window. Just being in the same room with her made the knot in my stomach disappear and I in general felt better when I was near her. But I still had to do this.

When she ran over and jumped into my arms my resolve wavered a bit more, but I knew that I had to stay strong. I pushed her away as she was kissing my face. I could see the hurt in her eyes at my rejection that turned to confusion when I told her I wasn't here for that.

I explained about Maxine and told her that I was just here to invite her to Pam's birthday party a week from Saturday. I could see that she was getting angry at me. She reached the point of being totally pissed off when I told her I was going to continue my normal Tuesday night with one of the other girls.

She told me how unfair it would be for me to have sex with one of the other girls basically in front of her, then she actually forbid me from going through with it. I couldn't believe that she was doing this.

She then proposed that I could have sex with her. If that was all that she could get from me than she would take it. I told her that I didn't think that I could afford her and she got even more pissed at me. She stormed out of the room and came back a moment later with the check I had given her. She tore it up and tossed it at me. The she sat at her desk and wrote me out a check for the rest of the money that I had given her. I didn't want her to give me the money back.

She turned the tables on me then and slipped the check into my back pocket while copping a feel and telling me she wanted to pay for my services for the evening. I told her that I couldn't, that it wouldn't be right. She got all forceful sounding and said that we were going to have sex and we were going to start by having it on her desk. She cleared it off with one sweep off her arm, removed her dress showing me her beautiful, naked body underneath and I realized that I was in very deep trouble. I was hard as a rock, but I was still able to refuse her. That's when she pulled out the big guns.

She got on her desk, put her feet on the top making her legs open wide and giving me a heavenly view of her dripping wet pussy, then she started touching herself. I was so close to coming in my pants just from this amazing visual. Deep, deep trouble.

She slid her finger inside herself, coating it with her juices, then she slid it into her mouth lapping up every drop. I started trembling all over from holding myself back. I was on a very dangerous edge. I wanted to fuck her more than anything, but I had a feeling that if I fucked her now I wouldn't want to let her go.

When she said that she wanted a big, hard, throbbing cock inside of her, the last of my resistance melted away. I stripped off my clothes as quickly as possible, then I stepped up to her, grabbed onto her hips, pulled her to the edge of her desk and bottomed out inside of her in one thrust. She had started coming the minute I thrust into her and I had to force myself not to cum as well like a teenager. I wanted this to last for both of us.

When I had control of myself I thrust into her hard and fast gripping her hips even tighter. I could feel that she was close to coming again and I had the overwhelming urge to pull her into my arms to hold her close and kiss her tenderly. I had to separate myself from her before I did something stupid.

I forced myself to pull out of her, grabbed her by her hips, pulled her off the desk, turned her around and bent her over. I thrust back into her and she was so wet I couldn't stop my orgasm from starting to build. I wanted us to cum together this time so I thrust as hard as I could and I knew from this angle that I was hitting her g-spot every time.

A few hard thrusts later and she was milking my cock of every drop of cum it had. I was ready to curl up with her in a nice warm bed after that round of fucking, but I couldn't. I definitely had to leave now.

I pulled out of her and as I reached for my clothes I heard Sookie ask me what I was doing and I could hear that she was getting pissed again. I hated making her feel like that, but I had to go. I told her I was getting dressed, but she wouldn't let me, she said that she wasn't finished with me yet. I knew that I could have and should have stopped her, but I just couldn't.

She led me into the bathroom and pulled me into the shower with her. She said that she had to clean me up since she had gotten me so dirty. I really couldn't argue with that.

She had me under the water and I closed my eyes as it washed over me. I focused on how nice the water felt, but I could also feel this warm and fuzzy feeling where the knot had previously been in my gut. I knew it really wasn't the best time to do it, but I started contemplating my feelings for Sookie. The fact that I was actually admitting that I had feelings for her should have been a warning signal, but then I thought to myself, why am I fighting this so goddamn much?

I have a beautiful woman here in front of me who wants to be with me. She says that she loves me and she understands in a sense what I have been through. She is adored by my daughter and she is someone who I find is very easy to talk to. So yet again I why am I fighting this? I really have no good answer to that, but I know that I feel better when I am around her more than anyone else and I don't want to lose that feeling.

I opened my eyes and I could see that Sookie was lost in her own thoughts. I brushed my hand over her cheek and she looked up at me with a smile on her face. "Sookie, I don't know if I can make you happy, I don't think that I will ever be able to care for you like the way you care about me, but I do know that I feel better when I am with you. I don't like being away from you." I was as honest as I could be with her. I wasn't sure if I could ever fully love anyone again, but I knew that I cared for her very much.

She was so excited that she jumped into my arms and kissed me with so much passion. I knew that I was making the right choice with that one kiss.

That kiss led to us both getting very dirty, then clean. I got her to scream my name and cum harder than ever before. I pulled her into my arms and held her after that. Holding her just felt so right. I knew that we should take things slow, but I hadn't dated in so long that we were going to have to figure this out together. I also knew that yet again my daughter had gotten her way.