A/N I just wanted to take a minute and say thank you for everyone that has been reviewing this little story of mine. Y'all are awesome. I normally try to respond to as many reviews as possible, however, I had a particularly painful root canal last week, and, if I took the time to reply, I wouldn't be able to post new chapters. I hope you guys understand!!

EPOV

There were many things running through my head in the moments after I'd dropped that devastating photo. I tried everything I could think of to erase it from my memory, but knew it would always be there. I deeply regretted that Sookie had seen it as well. She'd never known Cindy, so it wasn't as personal for her, but, it was horrible all the same. Especially considering how tenderhearted she is.

I instantly wanted to grab the photo and burn it. However, I knew that wasn't an option. The envelope hadn't had a return address, so, in order to find the responsible party, we would most likely have to try to lift fingerprints from the photos. Also, I would have a few words with the Shreveport police department. It was obvious to me that their incompetence had led to this photo being in hands it shouldn't have been.

After another moment of being frozen in thought, I grabbed a spare blanket from one of the cribs and placed it over the photo on the ground, removing it from view. I went down the hallway to the bathroom, splashed a bit of cold water on my face, and then returned to the nursery with a glass of water for Sookie, who was still heaving into the trashcan in the corner.

I rubbed her back gently until she was able to calm her stomach, and then sat down in a rocking chair with her on my lap, as she drank the water slowly. She rested her head on my chest, and I simply held her, noting that her whole body was trembling.

"Who could've done this?" She asked in a weak voice.

"I have no idea." And I truly didn't. In my mind, I couldn't imagine someone cruel, and disturbed enough to send this photo to us in the mail.

"We need to report this to the police."

I thought about that for a moment. "Eventually, yes, we probably will. But, for right now, I think I'd rather give Quinn a call. He'll be able to get as much info on it as the police would, without having the restrictions of staying within the law." I felt her body stiffen. I knew she wouldn't like the idea. But, after a moment of hesitation, she simply nodded.

Hadley began to get fussy, so, Sookie stood up and walked over to the crib. While she was attending to our daughter, I bent over and gently slid all of the photos back into the envelope, and left the nursery. I grabbed my cell phone and called Quinn to see if he was available to meet with me as soon as possible.

We'd arranged to meet in an hour at my office at Hell's Inferno, knowing we wouldn't be disturbed since the club was closed. Sookie told me to go ahead without her, and she would stay with the babies. Just before I left, I stopped by to talk to Pam.

"Listen, if you get anything in your mail that doesn't identify the sender, don't open it. Handle it as little as possible, and call me immediately."

She pondered that for a moment. "Why? What's going on?"

"Pam, I don't want to go into details because I don't want you to get hurt. But, there was a large envelope in our mail today that included several photos of Cindy and Lizzie. Please trust me when I say that for your own sanity, you won't ever want to see them."

For a split second, she looked almost appalled. Then her features hardened, and I knew she and I were on the same page.

"I'm going to meet with Quinn, and have him take a look at all of it. Hopefully, we'll be able to find something that will help us figure out who the hell did this, and why."

I let her know that Sookie would be home alone with the babies for a while, and Pam said she'd probably go over and stay with her, and I left. By the time Quinn walked into my office, my rage had hit an all-time high.

"Let me see them," he said, nodding to the envelope.

I pushed it across my desk to him, and he pulled on a pair of latex gloves before touching anything. He examined each of the photos for a few minutes. When he got to the last, worse photo, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and set it face down on the desk. It was only then that I'd noticed that there was writing on the back of it.

In thick, blood red letters was written, "Northman, THIS is your fault. Their deaths rest on your head." Before I could stop myself, I stood, grabbed whatever I could get my hands on (which ended up being a framed picture of Sookie), threw it at the wall full force, and yelled in pure fury and rage.

Quinn sat, still as a stone, for a few moments while I breathed deeply, willing to anger to subside. Finally, he spoke.

"Eric, I WILL find out who is responsible for this. They may think that they're just messing with you, but, they've got another thing coming. They're barking up the wrong tree, here. Soon, they'll discover that messing with you or Sookie will end up being much more trouble than it is worth."

I nodded my thanks to him, and sat back down. "Quinn, you know me. I can handle personal attacks aimed at me. But, this is going too far. Nobody fucks with my family. I don't care what it takes."

By the look in his eye, I knew he understood me perfectly. "Now, tell me, is this the first time anything like this has happened?" I was taken aback for a minute by his question. Of course this was the first time! Then, it dawned on me that whoever was responsible for me seeing visions of my former family, could possibly be behind this as well.

I had begun to tell Quinn about seeing Cindy and Lizzie, when my cell phone rang. I looked down at it, saw that it was Pam's cell phone, and decided to ignore it for now. A moment later, my phone buzzed, saying I had a new text message from Sookie. It simply read, "Emergency, answer your phone."

Before I had time to react, it rang again, this time with the ID showing Sookie's cell.

"What is it?" I asked with concern.

"Meet me at the hospital, okay. Hadley wouldn't quit fussing, and she felt warm to me, and she's got a temperature of 102 degrees. I called the on-call doctor at the pediatrician's office, and they said to get her to the ER immediately."

"Fuck. I'll leave right now and meet you there."

I let Quinn know what was happening, and he promised to get things rolling with the photos, and call me as soon as he knew anything else. We parted ways in the parking lot, and I drove to the hospital as quickly as I could.

When I arrived, I found Sookie in the waiting area for the emergency room. She was alone with Hadley, and said that Pam had decided to stay at the house with Ryan. We were both a little agitated that we had to wait for a doctor to see us, because the pediatrician on the phone made it sound quite urgent.

After waiting for about another 20 minutes, the twin's personal doctor walked in, and took us immediately to an exam room. He ran several tests, and poor Hadley's mood was only getting worse and worse. Now, not only was she obviously sick, but she was being poked and prodded left and right. Approximately three hours and ten invasive tests later, the doctor informed us that Hadley had a rather severe sinus infection.

Because her fever had been so high, he wanted to have her admitted overnight to try and pump as many antibiotics into her as they could. I held Sookie's hand tightly in mine as she stood over Hadley, stroking her head, trying to help her keep calm while a nurse started an IV on her. I noticed that Sookie had a few silent tears running down her cheeks. It was very hard for both of us to watch our daughter be put through something painful, and not be able to prevent it.

Hadley was in a small crib, and there was a twin sized bed as well. Sookie insisted that she stay the night with Hadley, and that I go home and be with Ryan. After arguing with her about it for an hour, I reluctantly headed home.

I filled Pam in on everything the doctor had said, and thanked her again for being so ready and willing to help with the children. She tenderly kissed Ryan's forehead, then my cheek, and went back to her apartment to crash.

I bathed Ryan, and sat with him in the rocking chair until he'd fallen asleep. After everything that had happened that day, I couldn't bring myself to leave him here in the nursery and go back to my room all alone. So, I did something I never thought I'd condone. I arranged several pillows into a makeshift 'crib' on my bed, laid him down, and fell asleep that night holding my sons hand.