Eric turned and looked at Sawyer. She was sleeping on the couch beside him. He reached out and gently stroked her hair. He had spent the last four nights at home with her and the twins. He had watched as nights went by and the bags under his wife's eyes grew. She tried every night to stay awake with him but most of the time she ended up falling asleep half way through. He watched as she turned towards his touch more. He knew that she needed her sleep. As much as he wanted to spent time with his wife she needed her sleep more.

"Vacker, wake up," he whispered shaking her gently.

"Mmm," she said blinking the sleep away from her eyes. She turned and looked at him, "I wasn't sleeping."

Eric smiled, "Yes, you were."

Sawyer sat up and raked a hand through her hair, "All right, I was sleeping. I'm not now though."

"No, you aren't. Now you are going to allow me to carry upstairs and tuck you in bed."

Sawyer shook her head, "I'm fine, Eric. I don't need to go to bed yet."

Sawyer turned and met Eric's eyes. She saw worry in them. She looked away and stood up. She walked over to her desk in the room. She went to grab her laptop thinking that maybe she could get some writing done. She sighed when she felt Eric's arm come around her waist. He pulled her away from her desk.

"Please. I know you need your rest. I will lie beside you until you fall asleep," he whispered in her ear.

"I don't want you laying there beside me while I sleep. I want to spend time with you. We barely do that anymore. The time we do spend together, one of us is sleeping," Sawyer answered pulling away.

Eric looked at her and nodded, "I know. It is hard but we have just gotten back together. I am sure that after a while it will be like it was before."

Sawyer looked at him and felt tears come to her eyes, "It won't ever be like it was before, Eric. We have two five year olds. They need to get up and get to school in the morning. And even when they aren't at school, they will be up early."

"I know that," Eric said frowning slightly, "We will find a way to make it work."

Sawyer shook her head, "I have tried to think about how it will work and I can't see it. I can't stay up all night with you. No matter how much I want that, I can't. I need to get up and look after the kids."

"Then I will stay up with you during the day."

"No."

Eric heard the pain in that one word. He looked at Sawyer and wished she would tell him what had brought on these feelings. He reached out and stroked her cheek. She let her tears fall and he felt a pang in his heart. He could feel Sawyer's emotions. She was hurt and sad. He leaned in and kissed her softly on the forehead.

"Vacker, talk to me. What are you thinking?" he asked softly wanting to know what was wrong with his wife.

Sawyer closed her eyes, "I was alone in New York raising the twins. I couldn't count on Jeremy to help because he didn't care. And here," she opened her eyes but didn't look at Eric, "I still feel like I am alone. It's different because I know it's not that you don't want to help. You just... can't."

Eric frowned. He pulled away and lifted Sawyer's chin so she could look at him, "I want to help you, love. Do you need more help? I could hire a nanny and-."

"No. I am not going to let someone else raise my children."

"Then what do you want?"

Sawyer's eyes filled more with tears, "Something that I know isn't possible," she whispered as she placed her hand on Eric's chest over his non beating heart.

Eric placed his hand over hers, "Tell me and I will make it possible. I will do anything for you, Sawyer. You know that."

Sawyer pulled away from Eric, "Sometimes, lately, I find myself wishing you were human. I wish we could sit on the porch outside and watch Aleryck and Ardith play in the sun. I wish you could play in the sun with them," she wiped away her tears and shook her head, "I never really cared about that before but suddenly it is all I can think about."

Eric looked into Sawyer's eyes before she turned away from him and walked out of the room. He had seen in her eyes how much it hurt her to admit that. He knew that she didn't want to hurt him but that she had wanted to be honest with him. He walked over to the couch and sat on it. He looked down at his hands and for the first time in over a millennia he found himself wishing for the same thing Sawyer was.

"I wish I could be human for you as well, Vacker," he whispered. He had never thought that getting Sawyer and the twins back would be so bittersweet. Part of him wanted to be angry at Sawyer for asking so much of him. However, the other part of him knew that she had a right to ask. She just wanted him to be her partner in everything. She wanted him to be with her and the children like any other normal family. The problem was they were not a normal family. Sawyer and the children were born to live in the light; he had been reborn in the dark. "I wish I was able to enjoy the sun with you," he whispered running his hands over his face.

"Be careful what you wish, vampire," a deep voice echoed in the room.

Eric was on his feet in a second and looking around the room. He couldn't see anything. He closed his eyes again and smelt the air. He couldn't smell anything different in the room either. He opened his eyes again. The room was still empty. He took a step towards the entrance deciding to do a check of all the rooms and possibly the grounds to make sure. He still remembered how Eve had been able to get into the house. He needed to make sure his family was safe. He took another step and stopped. He winced as he felt something ice cold over his heart.

"It is cold now, but soon a fire will burn. You völva wanted you human, and so you will be," that deep ominous voice said again.

"Who are-," Eric was cut off by that ice cold feeling on his skin turn burning hot. He fell to his knees. It felt like he was burning from the inside out. He opened his mouth to scream but no sound came out. He squeezed his hands into fists so hard that his nails dug into the palm of his hands and caused blood to flow from them. He fell on his side on the wooden floor. The burning in his chest seemed to spread outwards and suddenly his whole body was on fire.

"Maybe this will teach your völva to be careful what she wishes," Eric heard the voice say again before everything went black. His thought was one of confusion. Vampires did not pass out from pain. And then the blackness surrounded him and he thought no more.

Sawyer opened her eyes when she heard the alarm go off. She sighed and rolled over and slammed her hand on the button shutting the alarm clock off. She rolled back over intent on just laying beside Eric for a little while longer before she had to get up to get the children to school. She reached out for Eric wanting to hold him close to her. She frowned when all her hand found was an empty spot on the mattress beside her. She sat up and pushed her hair out of her face and looked at Eric's side of the bed. It was empty. Her frown deepened and she looked at the alarm clock. It was seven in the morning. He should have been in bed beside her sleeping soundly. She climbed out of bed.

"Eric?" she called softly knowing she didn't need to yell for him to hear her. She walked to the washroom and looked in there. She didn't see Eric. She turned back and looked around the room. She didn't see his clothes on the floor or any evidence that he had even come to bed the night before.

She stood there and remembered what she had said to Eric the night before. She had gone straight to bed afterwards. She had been so exhausted that she had fallen straight asleep. She wondered if maybe her words had hurt Eric so much that he had gone and slept in his apartment in Shreveport or even at Fangtasia. She quickly walked out of the bedroom and into the hall towards the stairs. She knew that Eric would never leave without letting her know where he was gone and when he would be back. The fear of being apart was still a problem for them both. Sawyer knew that Eric would have left a note letting her know where he was. He would have known she would worry without it.

She took the stairs two at a time and quickly found herself in the entrance way. She turned towards the living room. She walked into the living room and then stopped. She saw Eric lying on the floor in front of the couch. The sun was shining on him from the window. She jumped into action quickly racing to the window and yanking the curtains closed. She then rushed to Eric's side. She rolled him on his back and looked at his face. He wasn't burned at all. She touched her hand to his cheek then yanked her hand away. She looked at her hand then at Eric. He had been warm to the touch. She reached out and touched his cheek again. She hadn't imagined it. He was warm.

"Eric," she whispered softly leaning over him, "Eric, open your eyes. Please," she begged wanting to know what was going on but first needing to know that Eric was fine and not hurt.

Eric heard Sawyer's soft voice calling to him. He slowly shook the darkness around him away. He winced as he felt a soft pain throughout his body. He opened his eyes and blinked several times. His vision was slightly blurry. He could make out the outline of what he assumed to be Sawyer leaning over him. He felt her warm hand in his. He blinked his eyes again and finally she came into focus.

"Sawyer," he whispered.

"Thank god. Eric, you scared me. What are you doing laying here on the floor? The sun is out and the curtains were open. You could have burned."

Eric heard her talking but he wasn't paying attention to her worlds. A feeling in his chest was claiming on his attention. He sat up feeling Sawyer wrap her arms around him. He placed his hand on his chest and was amazed. He was pretty sure his heart was beating. He pushed those thoughts aside thinking he was crazy. He then ran a hand over his face. His skin was warm. He pulled his hand away slightly. He looked at Sawyer and saw her watching him concern itched on her features.

"Vacker," he whispered softly.

"What?"

"My skin, did it... feel warm?" he asked.

Sawyer nodded slightly, "It did. Do you know why it's warm? I mean, no vampire I have ever met ever had warm hands."

Eric was silent a moment, "I think I know why my skin is warm to the touch."

"Okay, mind sharing with me."

Sawyer watched as Eric turned to face her. He then said something she never ever expected to hear coming out of the mouth of a vampire, "I think my skin is warm because my heart is beating again and circulating the blood."