A/N A big thank you to all those who are supporting this story. This is the first story I've ever written, and it means a great deal to me.

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine.

SPOV

It was a bit of a shock finding Eric holding Felicia when I got to her room in the middle of the night. I felt really guilty that he'd got there before me. I also felt a rather huge wave of desire for Eric which I had to suppress. I told myself it was just a programmed response to seeing a hot guy with a baby – didn't they used to sell posters like that? Yeah, if you were a woman you were supposed to like that picture a lot.

That's what I kept telling myself when I went back to bed and wished Eric had come with me. Maybe I should just get one of those posters?

Thankfully Felicia settled for the rest of the night. It was just me who couldn't sleep. Especially after I remembered that I'd kissed Eric, on the arm or the shoulder or something. Shit. I had been half asleep and I just didn't think.

Must do better Sookie.

So I felt a bit awkward when Eric got up the next morning but he seemed OK. Probably cheered up immensely by the prospect of actual coffee, which he busied himself making. I took a deep breath and decided that right, we were just going to push on and pretend it never happened.

When I fed Felicia I did a quick tooth-check. "I think the other front tooth is through, so we might be OK tonight. No more crying in the middle of the night, which would be nice!"

Eric nodded his head, so I said "And, uh, thanks again for helping last night Eric. You really didn't have to."

"Oh, no problem" he said, and went back to making the coffee.

Unfortunately I needed to do some chores so it wasn't going to be an exciting morning for anyone. I told Eric to just hand over any washing he had, and I'll chuck it in with ours. He was a bit reluctant but I told him to just shut up and give it to me.

So I left Eric reading the paper and stripped the beds and put the washing on, and then I went to clean the bathrooms. Amelia decided she would help, although her enthusiasm tends to wane pretty quickly. Eric must have wondered what we were doing as he poked his head in the door. He looked past me cleaning the vanity to where Amelia was standing in the shower cubicle, cloth and bottle of cleaner in hand. Of course it was a bit hard to make her out because of the amount of cleaner she'd sprayed on the shower walls, which I'd have to fix later on, but she thought she was helping.

"Uh…is that OK?" he asked, pointing at Amelia.

"Yeah, it's fine" I said. "Amelia loves to clean!"

"Oh, right. Can I do anything?"

"No, we're nearly done here. You can help me hang out the washing though when it finishes."

EPOV

I spent a lot of the night thinking about Sookie, and how she looked in her tank top, and the kiss on the shoulder she'd given me. I just couldn't figure out what I should do next. Did she want me? Or did she really just think we were friends? I was having a hard time reading the situation and it was killing me.

In the morning though she seemed to be playing the friends angle. At least she didn't tell me to keep the hell away from her baby in future.

Friday seemed to be housework day and Sookie threw herself into it. As did Amelia. I didn't know you could get kids to do stuff like that, it seemed pretty useful. Sookie got a bit defensive when I asked her about it, but I wasn't about to report her for the abuse of any child labour laws.

I did realise though that if Amelia was helping I probably should be too, so Sookie said I could help hang out laundry. There was a lot of laundry. I managed to keep away from anything that looked like it might be Sookie's underwear, but there was a seemingly endless pile of kid's clothes to keep me busy.

I held up something impossibly tiny "I didn't know they made socks this small!"

"Yeah" said Sookie "but you should see the newborn sized ones! They're even worse. I should get some out of the box of baby stuff for you to see, before I get rid of it all."

"Get rid of it?"

"Well I need to sell it or give it away, there's no point me keeping a lot of baby things I'm not going to use again."

"So…you don't want to have more kids then?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"I would have, if things were different, because I like kids and I always liked the idea of a big family. But the ways things worked out for me I don't have anyone to have them with, so, I guess Amelia and Felicia are it for me."

I wanted to say that I'd have kids with her, but I thought that might sound really weird considering we'd never had sex. So I just went with "Oh" and went back to what I was doing.

As we came inside Amelia came skipping out of her bedroom "I wasn't bouncing on my bed" she announced, looking straight at Sookie. Sookie's eyes went wide and I could tell she was holding back a laugh.

"Right" she said "Well that's good, because I'd be grumpy if I knew you had been."

"But I wasn't" said Amelia "so it's OK" and with that she flounced off.

Sookie looked at me and we both burst out laughing. "Oh, she's going to have to get better than that at being sneaky before she hits her teenage years!" Sookie said.

We were just finishing lunch when it started to pour with rain. 'Shit, the washing!" Sookie yelled "Come on!"

We dashed outside and started pulling everything off the line. Only by the time we'd finished we were pretty soaked ourselves. We dashed back inside and I put the washing basket I was carrying down and tried to shake the worst of the water off me.

Sookie was laughing. "I think the washing is wetter now than when we put it out. It will have to go in the dryer. Just once I'd like to get everything dry first go."

I was still standing there dripping, wondering where on earth the rain had come from. Then all of a sudden it stopped. Sookie re-appeared from putting the stuff in the dryer just in time to watch the sun burst through again.

"Um" I said "It's sunny now. Is that normal?"

"Yep, it is for here. Four seasons in one day, like the song, you know?"

I didn't, so I shook my head. "Is that a New Zealand song?"

"Kind of, some of the band are New Zealanders."

Sookie took off again and reappeared with an older model iPod which she attached to the stereo in the corner.

"Here you go; I'll play it for you."

I sat down to listen and Sookie went to clean up the kitchen. When the guy sang "You can take me where you will, up the creek and through the mill" I looked over at Sookie. I knew how that guy felt.

"So what did you think?" Sookie asked when it finished.

"Yeah, it's great, very, um, haunting."

Amelia appeared and wanted 'her' music on, so Sookie came over to put on some kind of pop music. Amelia entertained us all with some enthusiastic dancing. Then she got Sookie to get up and join her. That was even more entertaining; Sookie really knew how to dance and there was a lot of shaking and wiggling and I could quite happily have sat and watched that all day. Unfortunately Amelia decided I needed to join in too, which was a bit awkward, but I did my best to shake off feeling self-conscious.

"It could be worse" Sookie said "she could have insisted on The Wiggles."

Later in the afternoon Sookie drove us to somewhere called Mission Bay where we walked along looking at the sea (well Felicia got pushed and Amelia scooted), then had a picnic dinner of fish and chips next to a large fountain.

It had been sunny since the shower earlier and the evening was pleasant. I sat back and looked around at all the other people out enjoying it. There was a large group of guys playing football, some people still in suits who'd obviously just come from work, some couples holding hands and lots and lots of young families. Families who looked pretty much identical to the little group I was part of on this picnic blanket.

I wondered if there had always been this many families around and if I just hadn't noticed them? Maybe I hadn't been in the right places to see them before. At any rate I found myself looking at them and feeling jealous. Jealous because I finally knew what I wanted and I couldn't figure out how to get it.

SPOV

Eric was doing his best to fit in with us; he'd helped with the laundry and been pretty good about hanging out with Amelia. I figured though that he needed to see a bit more of Auckland so I suggested a trip to Mission Bay and fish and chips for dinner. Amelia was ecstatic to be getting fish and chips and happily munched away. I guess it was because I didn't cook it myself.

The trip out wore the two kids out and they collapsed into bed pretty quickly when we got home. Eric and I had just finished having coffee when the phone rang. I went into the kitchen to answer it.

"Oh, hi Sookie, it's Judith" said the voice on the other end.

"Oh, hi, how's it going?"

"Great. I just, um, rang to ask a favour". Judith said that she and Calvin wanted to go and look at bathroom fittings on Saturday afternoon and asked if I could have Jessica because toddlers and building supply stores don't mix. I couldn't really say no, because I owed them a lot for having both of my kids the previous weekend, so I said sure, no problem, drop her around.

We chatted for a bit longer, she told me about the renovations that were going slowly at their place because Calvin was far more interested earning money working on other people's houses. But they did need the money for their wedding in February, so that led on to talking about how the wedding plans were going.

Finally Judith said, somewhat casually "So, I spoke to Mum and she said she saw you in Mt Albert on Monday."

"Uh, yeah. We'd been to the zoo then we called in to Trinity of Silver for lunch."

"She, um, she said there was a guy with you?"

Oh, crap. "Yeah, that was Eric. He's, um, a consultant from the States. I met him when I was working and he needed a tour guide, so I volunteered to take him to the zoo."

"So he's gone back to the States now?"

Aargh. I couldn't lie. Not unless I was going to make him hide in the bathroom when they came around the next day. But it was kind of hard to explain how he ended up staying here. I guess I had to try.

"Well no, he's actually staying here with us, uh, in the study for a bit. He was lonely in a hotel." OK, maybe a lonely man in a hotel is not the right image to put in Judith's mind. She'll think I'm running some kind of escort business.

Judith was silent for a bit. "So, he's staying with you?"

"Yeah, because we're friends"

"So you're not, um, with him"

"No. NO. He's a lot younger than me, so I'm pretty sure he doesn't want a relationship with me. It's not happening. "

"Yeah, sorry. I don't want to pry. It's just weird, I mean, I was what, 12, when you and Bill started going out? And he was my big brother. So I know that you might move on, but I can't imagine you not being Bill's."

"Yeah, well, I'm not moving on. Certainly not with Eric."

"OK, well, we'll be round tomorrow afternoon then."

"Yep, see you then."

I put the phone down and and turned around just in time to see Eric leave the kitchen.

EPOV

I didn't mean to eavesdrop on Sookie; I just wanted to take the empty cups into the kitchen. But when I got there all I could hear was Sookie telling someone in no uncertain terms that there was no hope for us, that she would never want me.

I was so angry. I couldn't understand how she could say these things after the last few days. Didn't she feel how right this was? Because I did. I belonged with her like I'd never belonged anywhere else in my life and she just wanted to kick me out.

I went into the stupid excuse for a bedroom I was in. Fuck. I wanted to leave, but I couldn't walk out without telling Sookie something. I wanted a drink, but I'd have to leave to get one, and then she'd wonder why I'd gone. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

So I just lay there, on the rocky bed and wondered what the hell I needed to do to get Sookie to see me as more than some kid who needed company. I couldn't think of anything.

After a while I heard lights turning off and the sound of Sookie going to bed. I figured I should get some sleep too. Felicia seemed to be having a good night and I managed to get a couple of hour's sleep before something woke me up.

It took me a while to place what the noise was. I was used to Felicia's ear-splitting wails or Amelia's shouted whispers but this was different. This was Sookie. And she was crying. Shit.

I really hated crying women. I'd seen a fair few of the skanky step-moms lose it and it was never pretty and there was never anything I could do about it. And then there were the women I'd made cry, the ones I'd slept with and never called again. Occasionally I'd run into them later, usually at a bar, and their faces would crumple when they saw me. Then they'd be surrounded by their friends trying to console them, and occasionally one of the friends would be dispatched to tell me what an asshole I was, usually accompanied by much finger-pointing in my direction. I really didn't enjoy that part, but managed to turn it into a game, to see if I could get any of the finger-pointing friends to come home with me. I had a pretty high success rate.

But I didn't really care about any of those women. I really cared about Sookie. As angry as I was, I didn't want to sit and listen to her cry. So I got out of bed and headed to her room. I pushed the door open just a bit and stuck my head in.

"Uh, Sookie, are you OK?"

Sookie was sitting up in bed with her legs under the covers. She looked at me, tears streaming down her face, and just said "Oh Eric, everything's such a huge mess!"

I stopped being angry. Now all I felt was a huge desire to just make her feel better. Without thinking I went and sat next to her on the bed and put my arms around her. She put her head on my chest and just sobbed without abandon, I could feel her body shaking with the effort.

I wanted to say something to make it better, but I wasn't really sure what the problem was so I just stayed silent and rubbed her back instead. She felt nice in my arms. It would have been better though if she wasn't crying quite so much. I hoped she stopped soon.

After a while she pulled away and said "Sorry" in a very small voice, and reached over for a box of tissues off the bedside table. She wiped her eyes and blew her nose and I just waited for her to say something else because I sure as hell didn't know what was going on here.

She looked at me. "Thanks Eric. Thanks for just letting me cry it out and not trying to tell me to just cheer up and get over it."

"Uh, yeah, no problem". I guess I'd done something right.

Sookie continued. "It's just...it's just so unfair. I mean, I feel like I'm just stuck in limbo forever because of fucking Bill. He left me, you know?"

I shook my head, I didn't know.

"Well I sort of kicked him out. Because he wouldn't choose me and the kids. He was um, doing drugs, and I wanted him to choose us and get better. But he didn't, he wouldn't get help, and I couldn't help him, and now my life is totally fucked up and my kids will probably hate me when they grow up and my in-laws think I'm a slut because you're staying here and it's just not fair!"

I guess that explains the phone call in part then. That horrible woman from Monday must have been giving her a hard time.

"I didn't ask for any of this! This wasn't what I signed up for when I was 18! But no one cares about that, they just worry that I might desecrate Bill's memory. When he didn't even give a flying fuck about me or his kids!" She was really getting worked up now. I was a bit scared about what was going to come next. But then she stopped and just, deflated. Like all the fight had gone out of her.

"I shouldn't be burdening you with this. It's not your problem my life is a mess."

"They won't hate you, you know" I said.

"What?"

"Amelia and Felicia. They won't hate you. You're a wonderful mother, you really are." I tried to look at her in a way which showed how sincere I was but Sookie pulled a face and went "Pfft."

She blew her nose again and then looked at me. "Oh, Eric, your shirt is soaked through! I'm sorry."

"Oh, it's no problem." I said, and without thinking I just pulled it off. "See, all fixed."

Sookie just stared at my chest and mumbled "Um, yeah" then looked away.

"So, Bill was doing drugs?" I had suddenly caught up with that part of the conversation and wanted to make sure I had it right.

"Yeah, P. Methamphetamine. Not pleasant for any of us. He wasn't the type you would have picked to be a drug addict. I wouldn't have been with him if he was. But something happened and I'll never know what. I just wish... I just wish I could have seen it sooner and stopped it when I had a chance…."

She was crying again, just silent tears this time. I pulled her back to my chest.

"Sssh. It wasn't your job, he needed to help himself." Fuck, if he couldn't give up drugs for Sookie then he really hadn't deserved her. What a complete fucking moron.

Sookie had by now curled herself completely against me and I laid us down so we were lying side by side. This felt really good. I hoped she wouldn't suddenly kick me out.

I swear that I only wanted to cheer her up a bit. And show her that she was lovely and I wanted her. So I bent my head down and I kissed her. After a few seconds she opened her mouth and responded and allowed me to slip my tongue into her mouth. Well that was even nicer.

But she still seemed a bit sad. And I really wanted to cheer her up and make her feel good about herself. I may have based my next move on what would make me feel good.

"Sookie" I whispered "just let me touch you, OK? I just want to make you feel good."

She didn't say anything but she nodded yes. I slid my hand inside the waistband of her shorts and stroked her gently. She didn't flinch or push me away so I did it again. She was just watching me.

A ran a finger between her folds. Definite moisture, that was good. I placed a fingertip on her clit and made a circular motion. Sookie's lips opened and she rolled onto her back and parted her legs to give me better access.

I became less tentative after that. I moved my finger a little faster and she moaned. I inserted one, then two fingers inside of her and felt how wet she was. Fuck, I was so hard now too.

All the while I kept watching her face and those big blue eyes of hers were just staring straight back at me. I wanted to kiss her again, but my over-riding desire was to see what she looked like when she came, when I made her come. So I couldn't look away.

I pumped my fingers in and out of her and used my thumb on her clit. She pressed her thighs together, locking my hand in place. She started to breathe faster and faster, her back arched, she moaned ever so slightly and whispered, "Oh god, Eric!" and then she came. She came and it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen in my life.

SPOV

When Eric started to touch me, I just melted. I couldn't have told him to go if I wanted to. I don't know if it was just a physical response to his closeness, to the fact he'd been holding me against that gorgeous chest of his, but I couldn't have told him to stop if I'd wanted to. Instead my legs just opened almost of their own accord.

Looking into his eyes while he gave me an orgasm was the most intimate and erotic thing I'd ever done.

After I'd finished he withdrew his hand and gave me the sweetest kiss. My heart was still beating fast and I was just overwhelmed. I couldn't think straight.

Then I felt his erection pressing into my leg. "Oh Eric" I said "Are you…do you want, um, do you want me to reciprocate?"

He shook his head. "No, it's OK. I just wanted to do something for you tonight. Plus I owed you anyway from last week." He laughed and I joined in.

He lay on his side next to me and sort of rolled me over so my back was to his chest. "Let's just lay here for a bit" he said.

There was silence for a while then he said "Your bed is a lot better than the spare one. Fuck that's lumpy"

I giggled "That came from Lorena's, she probably booby-trapped it. Still, at least you don't get Bob and Amelia trying to join you in bed at night."

"I can hear Amelia when she's around at night. She doesn't really understand quiet time, does she?"

"No, but she's hard to lose in a supermarket at least."

We chatted like this for a while, about the kids and what we'd been doing. If I thought what we did before was intimate, then this was even more intimate, lying in the dark whispering about normal, everyday stuff. I never wanted it to stop.

EPOV

I'd been asleep in Sookie's bed for a while, holding her against me, when I woke up and realised she was getting out of bed. Then I heard Amelia shout-whisper "Mummy, I need WEES!" from the hall and realised what the problem was.

Sookie left to help Amelia and I rolled onto my back. It felt so right to be in this bed with Sookie, but I didn't know what the policy was on Amelia finding me here. Would that weird her out? Would it cause problems for Sookie?

I realised that I wasn't going to get the answers to that without Sookie here, but to be on the safe side I got out, picked up my t-shirt and headed back to the bed in the spare room. It was cold and lonely and still very lumpy. Lumpier than when I left it actually, but I managed to shoo Bob off.

I just hoped to fuck that Sookie wasn't going to be pissed off in the morning. Because I'd had a fucking awesome night, all things given. It was a start anyway.

The song is Four Seasons in One Day by Crowded House, in case anyone's interested.

Thanks for reading!