A/N I am on a roll! I don't know how long this is going to last before my muses decide to dump me, so I am taking advantage. I'm starting to set up for some future angst in this chapter and hopefully I have answered some questions from the last chapter. Enjoy and let me know what you think:)

EPOV

It had been such a good week, I should have known something was bound to come along and spoil it. After our wonderful night at the club, then with the terrible misunderstanding where Sookie thought that I had left her, we'd gone back to Alcide's that night where I'd fixed a special dinner for just the two of us. It was nice having that alone time, but it was nice when we finally went back home.

I'd been very excited to get back and show Pam and Sookie the surprise that I'd had arranged. I had an in-ground pool installed with a patio and an adjoining hot tub. Pam was excited that she could swim whenever she wanted like the little fish that she was, but I was more interested in testing out the hot tub with Sookie. She had been all for that and it had been very interesting indeed.

All week I spent my days working while my girls were getting ready for Pam's party, then at night after Pam was in bed, Sookie and I would practically maul each other. I couldn't seem to get enough of her and she seemed to be in the same boat. I knew that I was keeping her up late into the night, but I couldn't help myself.

On Friday afternoon I was working away trying to finish a bit early so that I could get home to my girls when my cell phone rang. It was Sookie telling me that the last people I would have ever imagined showing up at my house had actually shown up.

I had never met Sophie's parents and I knew this couldn't be good. I grabbed my things as fast as I possibly could and was out the door like a flash.

I sped out of the parking lot as fast as I could, but that didn't last long when I realized that I could possibly get into an accident. That was definitely not something that I wanted to happen.

My mind was racing as I drove home. Why were they here now after all of this time? What could they possibly have to say? Did they know about Pam? Did they know about the accident? Oh God! Were they going to try to take Pam away from me? That was absolutely not going to happen. I'd lost enough people in my life, I was not about to lose my daughter as well.

I pulled into the driveway and Sookie came running over to me. I wanted to take her into my arms and hold her for a moment to calm my nerves, but with the LeClerqs here. "Where's Pam?" I looked over at the two people who were possibly here to ruin my life.

"She's inside. Eric, I don't think they know anything about what happened."

That was a bit shocking. "What makes you think that?"

"They asked for either you or Sophie and they never even mentioned Pam."

This was so not what I needed right now. "Would you mind taking Pam out to dinner so I can talk to them and found out what is going on?"

"Sure Eric." I watched Sookie disappear into the house and come back out a moment later with Pam in tow. They walked past me and I leaned down to give Pam a hug and a kiss. "You have fun with Sookie okay."

"I will Daddy."

"Just give me a call when you want me to bring her home."

"I will." I wanted to lean in and kiss her goodbye, but I held myself back. I watched them get into the car and drive off, then kept looking until they disappeared before turning and walking over to deal with this bit of fresh hell that I was in.

I stopped in front of them and didn't quite know what to say, but the older woman started for me. "Are you Eric Northman?"

"Yes I am."

"My name is Isobel LeClerq and this is my husband Alain. We are looking for our daughter Sophie."

This was going to be so much harder than anything I had ever done before in my entire life. "Um, why don't we go inside so we can be more comfortable as we talk." I led them inside and into the living room. They sat together on the sofa while I sat in the arm chair across from them. I really didn't know how to start, so I just decided to come out with it. "I'm sorry that I have to be the one to tell you this, but Sophie's been dead for almost a year and a half now."

I watched them both turn pale and Mrs. LeClerq burst into tears. I hated to see a woman cry and this just made me feel even worse. I was going to have to relive something that I'd been trying to bury deep inside of me and there was nothing I could do about it.

"What happened to her?" Mr. LeClerq was trying to stay strong for his wife, but I could tell that he was about to crumble any second now.

I managed to hold myself together as I told them about the accident, making sure I put all of the blame on myself as I always did, but they both agreed, even in their grief, that it was really just an accident.

"Who was that woman and that little girl that were here before?"

"Well Mrs. LeClerq, that little girl is my daughter Pam, your granddaughter." A smile spread across her face as I said that. "And that woman was my friend Sookie Stackhouse. She's been helping me take care of Pam full time until school starts up." There was one very big question that I just had to ask them. "How is that you knew where we lived, but you didn't know anything about Pam or what happened to Sophie?"

Mr. LeClerq was the one to answer my question. "After our falling out with our daughter, my friend Victor kept pressing us to try to find her and to mend fences, but we are both stubborn and we just wouldn't give in.

"A few years later on my birthday, Victor gave me an address. It was all he would do and he told us that the rest was up to us. We've had many fights over the years about this, most so in the past year. We've gone back and forth about coming here. We knew that she'd gotten married because we looked it up on the internet, but we didn't look up anything other than that. We knew that if we wanted to see any of our possible grandchildren we would have to break down and come and visit, plus we wanted to see our girl, so here we are. If only we had come sooner."

We sat there quietly for a few minutes before Mrs. LeClerq spoke. "Would it be possible for us to meet our granddaughter, please?"

"Of course. I'll be right back." I went into the kitchen and out the back door to the new patio. I wanted to just dive into the pool suit and all to try and clear my mind, but I had to call Sookie and have her bring Pam back. Hopefully talking to her would help me with that.

I dialed her cell and she picked up on the first ring. "Eric, are you all right?"

"Physically I'm fine, mentally I'm all over the place." I sat down on one of the lounge chairs and ran my fingers through my hair. "Could you bring Pam home now?"

"Sure. She's just playing on the playground here at McDonald's. I didn't want to be too far away if you needed me."

"I'll always need you. So you can bring her back now. They are looking forward to meeting her."

"Okay, we'll be there in about ten minutes."

"We'll be waiting." I hung up and just sat there for a moment. I wanted to go inside and pour myself a very tall, very stiff drink right now, but I needed to keep a clear head until they were gone."

I went back inside and offered them some coffee to drink. Waiting for a pot to brew would give me a few more minutes to myself before Sookie and Pam got back.

After I'd started the pot to brew my mind started going a million miles an hour. How was Pam going to take having grandparents in her life when she's gone so long without any? Would she even like them? Would they even like her? Would they want to take her away after they've met her?

When the coffee was finished brewing I loaded it and everything that we would need on a tray and brought it into the living room. I set it down on the coffee table just as I heard Sookie pull into the driveway. I excused myself and practically sprinted out to see them.

I raced out there and they had barely gotten out of the car when I scooped Pam up into my arms and pulled Sookie close to me. It made me feel better and more grounded have my girls in my arms. "Eric, are you all right?"

"I'm fine. I just need to hold my girls for a minute."

They both squeezed me tight before Pam spoke. "I love you Daddy."

"I love you too Pumpkin."

We started walking towards the house and we were halfway there when Sookie stopped and pulled away from me. I turned to ask her what was wrong, when she beat me to it. "I think that I should go. This is a family thing and I don't want to be in the way."

I went over and slid my arm back around her. "You're never in the way Sookie. I want you to stay, we want you to stay, right Pumpkin?"

"Yeah Sookie, you have to stay. We still have to get things ready for my party tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll stay. I can get some more cooking done for the party."

With that settled we made out way inside. Begrudgingly I let Sookie go as she headed for the kitchen and I carried Pam into the living room to meet her grandparents.

SPOV

I went into the kitchen and I had butterflies in my stomach. Why had these people come here now of all times? What were they planning on doing?

I was getting myself all worked up thinking about all this, so I turned on the radio loud enough for me to hear, but not loud enough to disturb them in the living room, then I got started on my cooking.

It took a lot more focus then usual to do what I needed to do, but I just couldn't keep the terrible scenarios from running through my mind. What if they were angry at Eric about the accident and wanted to take Pam away from him? What if they didn't like Pam or Eric at all? What if they broke Pam's heart by not wanting to be in her life? That last thought brought tears to my eyes, so I tried even harder to clear my mind.

Even though I had been cooking all week I needed to bake to clear my mind, so I was making extras that I didn't really need. But at least I was able to clear my mind.

I was able to get the chicken soaking in the buttermilk, had another batch of éclairs baked and cooling, along with more cream puffs, the filling and chocolate for both made, a second cheesecake was in the oven and the second batch of fudge was in the fridge as I was mixing cookie dough.

I was so lost in my baking that I didn't hear Eric come into the room and was startled when he slid his arms around me, but it was only for a moment before I relaxed in his arms. "What are you up to Lover?"

"Just getting more food ready for the party tomorrow."

"I thought that you had most of it done already."

"I needed to keep busy. Besides, Alcide is coming over for a bit tomorrow, so I don't think that we will have to worry about there being any leftovers." I put down the bowl and spoon I was mixing cookie dough with and slid my hands into his. "How are you doing with all of this?'

He rested his head on my shoulder as he let out a breath. "My mind is reeling, but the one good thing is that they are absolutely in love with Pam and she's crazy about them."

"Are they still here?"

"Yeah. They moved into the dining room so they can help fill up Pam's grab bags."

I was glad that I was facing away from Eric so that he couldn't see the tears that started streaming down my cheeks. Pam and I were suppose to do those together. I knew that it was stupid, but it really hurt my feelings that she would do them with someone else. I needed to get out of her for a little while.

I quickly wiped the tears from my eyes and pulled myself out of Eric's embrace. I put the cookie dough in the fridge, made sure that everything was turned off, took my cheesecake out of the oven to cool, then grabbed my purse and headed for the door. "Sookie, where are you going?"

"I need some more supplies from the grocery store. I'll be back in a little while."

"Okay." He came over and leaned in to kiss me, but I dodged him and rushed out through the garage. I fumbled getting my keys out of my purse, but I managed to hold onto them long enough to get inside and get the car started. I was off, but instead of heading for the store I made my way to Alcide's place. I needed to talk to somebody right now and he was only person I could talk to right now.

It didn't take me long to get to his place and to be standing on his doorstep with tears streaming down my face. When he opened the door and saw me standing there like that I watched anger cloud his face. "I'll kill that son of a bitch. What did he do to you now?"

"I'm not crying because of him. Can I come in?"

"Of course." He led me into the living room. We sat down and I proceeded to tell him everything that had happened that afternoon. I couldn't stop more tears from falling as I spoke.

"Am I being foolish Alcide?"

"Do you want me to give you an honest answer?"

That dried up some of my tears. I knew that I wasn't going to like what he was about to say at all. "Probably not, but go ahead and speak your peace anyway."

"Sook, you are getting too close to both of them. Maybe it would be good if you stepped back for a little while and give you all some space and give them some family time."

I was very tempted to punch him at that moment. "Alcide, do you want me to be alone for the rest of my life? Do you not want me to fall in love and have a family?"

"No I would never say that, but you can't really expect to find that with Eric. You need to play the field a little to see if there is somebody better for you who wants what you want and is right for you."

"You are insane. You are absolutely bat shit fucking crazy. I love Eric even if he doesn't love me back. I love Pam as well. I am not about to go playing the fucking field and fuck anything up. That would be the stupidest thing for me to do. I don't care if all he wants to do is fuck me for the rest of our lives, I'll take what I can get from him." I couldn't stand to look at him anymore right then, so I stormed out of his house.

I got in the car and headed for the store. I was angry and when I got there and headed inside I felt like a child having a temper tantrum as I stomped through the store, but I couldn't help it. I picked up things that I needed and some things that I didn't really need. For some reason I was craving junk food and I filled up my cart with crap fairly quickly.

After I paid for everything and was on my way home I got a craving for Chinese food that I just couldn't ignore, so I stopped and picked up enough food to feed a small army. I was starving as I picked it up and I thought that was weird since I had eaten earlier with Pam, but I figured that Eric would share with me and we could have some alone time together.

I pulled into the driveway about eight-thirty and I was relieved to see that the LeClerqs were gone. I knew that was wrong of me to think like that, but I couldn't help myself. It was good that Pam was finally getting to meet her grandparents, but why right now?

I pushed that question away and gathered all of my groceries and went inside. I managed to get everything inside in one trip. I headed straight for the kitchen and I found Eric sitting at the table waiting for me. "Hey you. What are you doing in here all by yourself?"

"I've been waiting for you. Why were you crying before you left so abruptly?"

I really didn't want to talk about that, so I put the groceries away and avoided the question. "Are you hungry? I picked up some Chinese food. I had this craving and I got way too much for just me." I was pulling out place from the cupboard and was about to started plating up the food without waiting for his answer when I was suddenly swept off of my feet. "Eric, what are you doing?"

He headed out the backdoor before he answered me. "You are going to tell me what had you so upset earlier."

"It's nothing Eric. Please just put me down."

"All right Lover." I wasn't prepared for what he did next. He stepped right off the patio and into the deep end of the pool.

I quickly pushed away from him under the water and I sputtered to the surface. "Eric Francis Northman, what in the hell possessed you to do that just now?"

"Because you Susannah Adele Stackhouse wouldn't talk to me." He swam back over to me, slid his arms around me and gently said, "Please Lover, tell me what's wrong."

I buried my head in his shoulder. "It seems so silly now."

"Please tell me anyway."

I looked up into his eyes as I spoke. "I was jealous of the LeClerqs helping Pam with her grab bags." I felt more tears well up in my eyes. "She and I were going to do them together. I know that it's stupid, but that was suppose to be a project for the two of us and they just came in and took that away."

Eric pulled me close and stroked my back. "Sookie, that's not silly at all. I see how well you and Pam have been getting along this week and her birthday has been your thing to share with her. But can I tell you something?" He pulled away from me so that he would wipe away my tears.

"What?"

"She only did a few of the grab bags with them. She already went to bed so she can get up early and finish the rest with you before the party."

A huge smile spread across my face. "Really?"

"Of course. Pam feels the same way that you do. She would never want to hurt you."

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For making me tell you what was wrong and for making me feel better." I went to hug him when I realized that he was still wearing his work suit. "Oh Eric, you're suit!"

He pulled me closer and nuzzled my neck. "I don't care about my suit as long as you're better."

"I'm much better, but I think that we should get out of the pool and out of these wet clothes."

"You always have the best ideas Lover." Before I realized what he was doing, he had my shirt and bra off and my breasts in his hands.

"Eric, what are you doing?" His hands slid down my sides and tugged on my shorts and I really wasn't about to stop him.

"You said that we should get out of our clothes. I was just helping you along with that."

"Well then I guess that I should help you as well." As I started undressing him I couldn't stop Alcide's words from running through my mind. I didn't want to step back from this, from him. I knew that it was a completely fucked up situation, but for now I was willing to deal with that. If that ever changed down the road I would do what I needed to do.

It didn't take long for both of us to be naked and all over each other. I had my legs locked around his waist and my arms around his neck as he thrust deep inside of me. He was thrusting hard and deep and it felt so much better than normal. We'd each had a rough day and this was the way that we needed to calm down and come back together.

I could tell that Eric was in a bit of a hurry, but I needed a little bit of intimacy right now. I pulled his face from my neck so that I could kiss him. I didn't want any tongue or lip sucking with this kiss, I just wanted to feel his lips pressed against mine for a little while. And he understood that and just kissed me breathless.

He pulled me tighter against him and gently pushed me up against the side of the pool. He thrust harder than ever inside of me and it didn't take long for both of us to come hard and deep together.

I clung to Eric as we were coming down from our high and I felt absolutely drained now. My legs were like jelly and I was happy to just stay here in his arms for awhile. "Are you all right Lover?"

"I'm better than I was." I placed gentle kisses on his neck. "But now I'm sleepy, but I'm really hungry and want some Chinese food."

"Don't worry Lover, we'll get you fed." He gently pulled out of me and lifted me up bridal style as he carried me out of the pool. He set me down on one of the lounge chairs and grabbed a couple of towels off of the rack we had set up for the party tomorrow. He wrapped one around me, then the other around his waist. He scooped me back up into his arms and carried me upstairs to the bedroom. He set me down on the bed and I couldn't stop myself from smiling up at him. "Do you want to put a nightgown on Lover?"

"No, I'm fine just like this."

"Okay, I'll be right back." He disappeared out the door. While he was gone I pulled the wet towel off of me and put my wet hair up into a messy bun to keep it out of my hair while I ate.

A few minutes later Eric came back with a tray full of food. I perked up and smiled again at him. "You are too good to me Mr. Northman."

He set the tray down on my lap and gently kissed my lips. "I would do anything for you."

I looked into his eyes and I wanted to believe him, but for some reason I just couldn't. I didn't know why, but I wasn't going to let my thinking about it ruin our night. I just watched him put on a pair of boxer shorts and slide into bed next to me.

We ate and talked together for a little while until I could barely keep my eyes open. "Okay Lover, it's time for you to go to sleep." He lifted the tray away and I snuggled deeper into bed. He set the tray on the dresser, then came back over to tuck me in. "Sweet dreams."

He bent down to kiss me, but I stopped him. "I know that you don't like it when I say this and I don't expect you to say it back, but I love you. You are the sweetest, kindest man that I have ever met and I love you so much." I leaned up and kissed him, then turned on my side to go to sleep.

It didn't take me long to drift off and to start dreaming. I knew that I was dreaming because I thought that I heard Eric tell me that he loved me and that would definitely only happen in my dreams.