A/N: OK, this chapter was the hardest one I've ever written. A HUGE thank you has to go out to APearle for helping me so much with it. I would still be stressing over it if it weren't for her and her willingness to share ideas! I also have to thank my beta, Sunkisz, for catching my mistakes. If there are any here now, they are all mine! I really hope you enjoy this one!

Chapter 21:

The weeks following the wedding were very busy! Eric and I spent the week after the wedding together. The first couple of days we were at the hotel, which were honestly the best of my life to this point. We made excellent use of the huge tub there and I'd decided when we started looking for a larger place, I was going to have to have one of my own! I was also thinking that having our own pool would be a great idea because I was loving the time we spent there too! Apparently water went well with me and Eric. When we finally made it home, we decided that we needed to make sure the nursery was ready.

Pearl and Quinn spent a lot of time together during that week since he didn't have to be with me all the time. They were getting much closer and I could tell they were very happy. We had them over on Friday of that week and they couldn't keep their eyes off each other. Eric and I were both very happy for them.

After Eric went back to work, Quinn resumed his work guarding me and Brenna. Pearl would come by every chance she got. She had just opened her gym, so that was keeping her pretty busy. I wanted to go see it, so she promised me we would go as soon as everything was running smoothly. I finally had to stop working at the book store for a while because I couldn't do the lifting anymore. I felt bad, but Quinn told me not to worry about it because Frannie was helping out and he helped in the evenings when there was any really heavy stuff. Pearl helped too. His parents now knew they were dating and they absolutely loved Pearl. She hadn't had that kind of love in a very long time and she was very happy to have it again. My Gran was really the closest thing she had ever had to it before the Quinns.

One afternoon, I got a surprise call from Eric. I could tell he was upset and he asked me to put him on speaker phone so Quinn could hear what he was saying too. I did as he asked and Quinn joined me on the couch.

"Hey man, what's up?"

"I had a visitor today and found out some disturbing information. Sophie came to see me finally."

Quinn and I both rolled our eyes at that. "So what did she want baby?"

"What we figured. She started out by telling me she hated to be the bearer of bad news, but she had found out that the baby you are carrying isn't mine. She moved towards me to put her arms around me or something, but I stopped her in her tracks when I told her I knew that. She was floored.

Then I went on to tell her that the baby is not mine biologically, but is mine in every other way possible. She tried to convince me that it wouldn't work so I hit her with the news that we were already married and it was working fine. She hadn't heard about the wedding since it took place so quickly and while she was out of town. Being able to surprise her with that was actually kinda fun."

Quinn and I snickered. "So what's the disturbing news you mentioned man?"

I heard Eric take a deep breath. "After she cried for a while and I told her she needed to leave, she looked at me and asked me why I didn't want her. So, I told her that after she killed my baby the way she did, she killed any chance she would or could ever have of being with me again. She cried a little longer, then nodded her head in understanding. I told her that she needed to stop whatever it was she was planning because it wouldn't work. She looked at me surprised, so I told her about you helping me keep tabs on her Quinn.

Her eyes got big and she realized I knew she was helping Bill. I asked her what she thought she would accomplish by helping him and she just shrugged her shoulders. She said when she found out Sookie's baby was really Bill's, she went to see him and Bill gave her this sob story about how much he loved Sookie and the baby and how he was in there because of a big misunderstanding. She felt sorry for him, so she decided to help him get out and get Sookie back so she could have me. Sophie really is pretty stupid sometimes.

Anyway, I filled her in on what really happened and she was shocked. She felt really guilty about helping him then and I saw a very scared look cross her face. She told me that she had already given him the equipment he needed to get his monitor off so he could roam freely around while the police thought he was still at home. She apologized over and over, but I told her to leave and I called you. Are your men still following him Quinn?"

Quinn was in full business mode at this news. "No, they've been monitoring the surveillance stuff we have in place, but I will tell them that they need to start watching the house again. Eric, you should know that I'm training these guys when I can, but they are much better with the technology stuff than they are with the physical. I'll make some calls and see if I can find a couple more people who are better at the physical stuff right now!"

Quinn left the room to make his call and I took Eric off speaker. "Eric, do you think he'll come after me again?" This was down right scary and I was shaking. I couldn't control myself as thoughts of the night he and Lorena raped me went through my head, along with the night he broke into my house. I think I went into some sort of shock or something.

Quinn came back in the room after a few minutes and saw the state I was in. He sat beside me and put his arm around me. "Sookie… Sookie, snap out of it! You're ok. He's not here babe." I finally focused on Quinn and realized that I felt almost as safe with him as I did with Eric and I calmed a little as he took the phone I'd dropped in my lap and put Eric back on speaker. I could hear Eric was frantic.

"Sookie….Sookie, are you ok? SOOKIE!"

"Relax Eric, I've got her. I think she started panicking a little bit and stopped talking for a minute. I've got her now and she's calming down."

"I'm sorry I worried you Eric, I'm ok….just….afraid."

Quinn looked at me as he hugged me to him as Eric tried calming me as well. "Sookie, you know that neither Quinn nor I will let anything happen to you right?"

"He's right Sookie. I've come to regard you as one of my best friends. You can ask Eric, there aren't many people I'm close to. I will not let anything happen to you!" I could see in that moment there was a side to Quinn I'd never seen and didn't really think I wanted to.

"Sookie, I wish I was there now to comfort you, but I know you're safe with Quinn. Please calm down ok. You're safe."

I just nodded and Quinn chuckled as he reminded me that Eric couldn't hear a nod. "Yes Eric, I know that. What do we do now?"

Quinn took charge. "I called my guys and they are heading over to the house. I also called the officer overseeing Bill's case and informed him of what we've been told. He is heading over there now to search the place and see if they find anything. My gut tells me that Bill will have hidden everything very well though, so I think we are going to have to be extra careful for a while. If you guys want to go out, I think Pearl and I should tag along. I may even ask Pearl to pitch in some since she is very good at self defense and can go places with Sookie that we can't Eric. She's actually the best woman I've ever seen and that's saying something!"

Eric and I agreed with everything Quinn said. I talked with Eric a little more before he had to get back to work. The next several weeks were a blur and it seemed Quinn was around all the time now and Pearl was with him every evening. I loved having them around, but I was constantly worried about the real reason they were there so much now.

Pearl and I finally got a chance to get in some girl time one night when she and Quinn were over at our place. The guys were engrossed in some video game, so we found a quiet place to talk. Pearl told me that Quinn knew all about her past. I figured she had told him at least some of it, but I was really surprised that she told him all of it. She said she had a feeling that he already knew somehow and I swore to her that he didn't hear it from me. She just nodded and said she knew that. She honestly thought Jason was the one who spilled the beans, but she figured he did it out of concern for her and she knew he would only tell something like that to Quinn. She also got a huge goofy grin on her face as she told me that Quinn had finally told her he loved her. I squealed and hugged her when she said she had returned the sentiment. She also asked me if I was ready to go see her gym. I gave her a very excited yes and we decided Quinn and I would go the following day.

I felt the baby start moving around and Pearl put her hand on my belly as she had developed a habit of doing. She asked me how far along I was and I told her I was 36 weeks - almost full-term and ready to see my baby girl! Eric and Quinn came in then and lifted both of us as they sat down, placing us on their laps. We really had become quite the foursome and I loved it. After talking a bit more, Pearl and Quinn left. Eric and I got in the tub and talked for a long time before turning into bed. I found out that Quinn had told him that he loved Pearl and that she loved him too. Eric was so happy for them, just like me, but I saw concern on his face too.

"What's wrong baby?"

He turned to me, "Oh, nothing….I was just thinking about Quinn and Pearl."

"Ok, what about them?"

"Quinn told me that Pearl finally filled him in about her past. I'm worried what he might do."

"What do you mean? He shouldn't do anything right?"

"Sookie, Quinn can be a very dangerous man…it's the training he's had. That's what makes him the best at what he does. I don't think he will try to right the wrongs of the past, but I am concerned what he would do if someone were to hurt Pearl now that she's with him."

"Well, let's hope that doesn't happen. I don't want Pearl going through anything even remotely close to what she's already had to deal with."

Eric agreed with me as we snuggled together and fell asleep.

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The next morning, after Eric left for work and Quinn and I finished with our breakfast, we headed out for the day. I had a few things to take care of before we made our way to Pearl's gym. We finally arrived around 11:00 and Pearl was waiting on us at a side door because Quinn had called ahead to let her know we were on the way. I found out that we were going through an employee entrance near Pearl's office so we could avoid the crowded lobby. I huffed a little because I wanted to see the whole thing, so she and Quinn took me out front and my tour started in the lobby as it should! I couldn't believe how great everything looked! I knew it was just a gym, but Pearl had really done a bang up job and had made it look very welcoming. It honestly didn't look much like a gym from the lobby. She explained about some expansions she planned to make down the road and thought her lobby should be an entrance for everything she was going to offer. It sounded like she was going to eventually be running a day spa/gym and I loved the idea!

As we were getting ready to leave the lobby, a man accidentally bumped into me on his way in. He mumbled some sort of apology as Quinn pulled me closer, maneuvering me behind him, and glared at the man. He was wearing a baseball cap which covered most of his face, but I got a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach. I couldn't place what could be wrong though, so I shook it off and we went on with the tour.

The gym was so awesome! She had really done a great job! She even installed some of those swim spa things so people could get the benefits of swimming without having to install a huge pool. I thought it was a great idea! She had a separate area that housed a couple of hot tubs people could relax in after exercising. I was looking forward to using this gym after I had the baby. Of course she had an area for children and kept it fully staffed so her members who had children could exercise without worrying about their kids. She had promised that I wouldn't have to use that area often because she would watch Brenna herself. I told her that I'd have to use it more often than she thought because I intended for her to be my work out partner! Quinn said that we might just have to hire someone specifically for Brenna because he wasn't sure he was going to trust just anyone to watch her. We all laughed as I had a stray thought, but I decided to file it away for a later conversation with Eric.

As we were leaving the children's area and entering a main hallway, Quinn's phone rang. He looked at the id and said he needed to take it. Pearl was telling me more about the expansions she wanted to make in the future and she even asked me if I might be interested in helping her with some of them. I got very excited about that! I loved the book store, but to be able to work with Pearl on something like this was something I found I really wanted to do.

Quinn had finished up his call and was heading back to us. Just as he began talking about us needing to make some plans for lunch, I noticed the man from the lobby earlier was back and seemed to be staring at me, then at Pearl. I got the same feeling in the pit of my stomach again and instinctively moved closer to Quinn, pulling Pearl with me. He noticed my movement and started scanning the area quickly. He spotted the man almost immediately. His voice was very firm as he asked "Can we help you sir?" I could tell he didn't want trouble in Pearl's gym if he could avoid it.

The man kept staring and didn't say anything. I noticed he was almost staring more at Pearl than at me. Quinn noticed too, so he started moving towards the man. I was so nervous and Brenna was going crazy. I think she knew something wasn't right. Just as Quinn was about to reach the man, I saw him pull out a gun. Quinn yelled out as the man fired the gun and Pearl instinctively jumped in front of me. I was down, with Pearl on top of me. It had happened so fast, I didn't know how Quinn had managed to warn us.

I felt Pearl slide off of me as I grabbed my purse and reached in for my gun as I looked and saw the man holding the gun on Quinn. I really hoped Quinn could handle the situation, but I shouldn't have worried. Almost before I could blink, Quinn had wrestled him to the ground with ease and removed the gun from his hand. Amazingly, the hat was still on this guy and I wanted to know who the heck he was. I asked this very question as Quinn ripped the hat off. I gasped, not believing my eyes…it was Bill. I moved to a standing position as Bill started talking.

"So Sookie, is this your new guy? You are getting around a lot these days aren't you."

I refused to answer his question. "It's over Bill. You really are stupid for coming here and trying this."

"Oh, I don't think so. See, I'm going to make sure that no one can have you since you think you're too good for me. I'll make sure that baby growing inside you is well taken care of too!"

Bill really had taken a dive off the deep end. I saw red when he threatened my baby, but when I turned to say something to Pearl, my breath caught again. I saw Pearl still lying on the floor and a red pool of liquid had started forming under her body. I ran to her as we began to hear sirens in the distance. Someone must have already called 911. Quinn heard my gasp and saw Pearl too. I could tell he was having trouble remaining calm.

He took one look at Bill and I saw the man that Eric had told me he was worried about. I'd never seen Quinn so angry and I knew that anger was making him more and more dangerous by the second. Quinn began to beat on Bill mercilessly. I knew he could and would kill him with his bare hands if I didn't do something. I didn't know what to do though. I'd be crazy to try to physically stop him, so I did the only thing I could think of.

"Quinn! You have to stop. Pearl needs you now…you can't risk going to jail yourself… he's not worth it!" Thankfully, he stopped. It had to be hearing Pearl's name that stopped him. I honestly don't think anything else would've had any effect on him at all. He pulled some handcuffs out of his back pocket and wrapped Bill around a pole nearby, locking his wrists in the cuffs before darting over to Pearl. He wanted to move her, roll her over I think, but he's a smart man and knew he couldn't.

We saw 2 men coming up the hall with a gurney. Police officers also arrived and checked on Bill. As the EMS workers were carefully working on Pearl, we heard Bill start laughing. Quinn and I both turned towards him for a moment.

"Oh, this has been a great day! I couldn't take care of you" he said looking at me, "or you," he looked at Quinn, "but I did get revenge on the girl who caused me to have to leave town in the first place!" Quinn looked at me as the realization hit.

"No, no, NO you can't be…." Bill just laughed again as another EMS worker was putting a bandage on him.

"Of course I can Sookie. Pearl shouldn't have led me on like she did. She got exactly what she deserved! I had to go through some painful plastic surgery so I could lead a half way normal life. But I knew I'd get my revenge. I figured torturing her best friend would be a good place to start."

I sank to my knees as Quinn knelt and whispered "What's going on Sookie?" I looked up with tears rolling down my face. At that moment, Bill managed to grab one of the officers' guns and point it towards me. I stood and raised my own gun, pointing it at him. Bill laughed again.

"Oh, oh, oh, well look who's trying to be brave all of the sudden. Sookie, you don't honestly think I believe you'd be capable of using that thing do you? You don't even know how to use one of those! You are such a scaredy cat…you don't have it in you to do something like this."

"That's where you're wrong Bill. I know exactly how to use one of these thanks to my brother. Now stop this nonsense and drop your gun. I will not allow you to harm me or my baby…not anymore." I was through letting Bill Compton control my life.

He just laughed at my words…you know one of those crazy sounding laughs. Then he aimed his gun and I didn't think at all as I fired my gun, hitting Bill in the chest. My hands weren't even shaking as I lowered my gun and Bill fell to the ground. Jason had always told me I had the steadiest hands he'd ever seen. I guess he was right. I did as he had taught me and it turns out Jason Stackhouse is a heck of a teacher! I didn't think, I just acted and my aim was perfect.

I turned back to Pearl as I heard a strange noise behind me. I turned and saw Bill, pointing his gun at me again with a sick, twisted smile on his face. I heard a shot ring out and flinched, thinking I'd been the one shot this time. He'd been aiming at my swollen belly, so I immediately looked there. I saw nothing so I looked up again and saw Quinn lowering his gun this time. He'd shot Bill and this time he wasn't moving. Officers ran over to Bill as two made their way over to Quinn and me. Quinn pulled out his identification as he watched them loading Pearl onto a gurney. I pulled my stuff out too, proving that we both had the proper paperwork to carry guns. Thankfully, the officers had witnessed what happened first hand and knew we'd acted in self-defense.

Another EMS worker was checking on Bill now that the gun had been secured. He confirmed what I already knew….Bill was dead. I felt so guilty to feel relieved about that. Even though he was as awful and evil as he was, he was still another human being.

We turned back to Pearl and saw that she'd been loaded onto the gurney, so we followed them out. Quinn told one of the officers as we were walking out that they could find us at the hospital later for statements. We followed the ambulance in Quinn's car. With everything that had just happened, I didn't notice till that moment that I was cramping badly. As I doubled over with a particularly bad cramp, I felt a gush of liquid between my legs. "Oh no….not yet!" Quinn looked at me as I told him my water had just broken and I was going into labor.

He grabbed his phone and called Eric. All he said was, "Get to the hospital NOW!" and he hung up. He took my hand as we sped to the hospital behind the ambulance. I grasped his hand like a lifeline. When we arrived at the hospital, the EMS workers tried to tell Quinn he couldn't park there behind them as he was helping me out. He bellowed at them, "I can park anywhere right now because her water has broken and she's in labor!"

A different worker who happened to be coming out of the emergency room heard what Quinn said and grabbed a wheel chair for me. He made sure I was in the chair alright and I told him to stay with Pearl. He had protected me, now he needed to be there for her. He finally let down his guard and I saw tears form in his eyes as he nodded. I grabbed his hand before they wheeled me away.

"Quinn, she will be ok. She's tough and has so much to live for now. She has you."

They whisked me away to get me checked out and settled down. Turned out I was in labor just like I thought and my doctor was called in. Eric arrived shortly after they got me to my birthing room. I was so scared because it was too soon for the baby to come and I was really scared about Pearl. Eric smoothed my hair as he told me he had seen Quinn downstairs and he told him she was being taken to surgery to remove the bullet. Eric had called Pam on his way to the hospital and she had called Jason and Amelia. They were waiting downstairs with Quinn. I was glad they were there.

My labor progressed rather quickly, especially for a first baby. Two hours after arriving at the hospital, they had given Eric scrubs to put on and I was pushing with everything I had in me. About 30 minutes after that, they told me the baby was crowning and it wouldn't be long now. A few more pushes and I heard the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. Brenna was crying loudly. They placed her on my tummy and asked Eric if he wanted to cut the chord. He did and I pulled her to me as they finished working on me. She turned her little face and I instinctively started nursing her. The nurses let her finish before taking her to get cleaned up and such. Eric and I both were crying. She was so beautiful.

An hour or so later, they had me cleaned up and had returned Brenna to my room. She began nursing again, having not taken much the first time. Once she finished, I asked Eric if he was ready to hold his baby girl. With tears in his eyes, he just nodded and took her from me. I heard a knock on the door as I was watching Eric hold our baby girl. He looked so very happy. I had tears in my eyes again as I looked to the door and saw our siblings. They came in and went straight to Eric and Brenna. Well, Pam and Amelia did anyway. Jason came to me and kissed me on my head before asking if I was alright. I told him I was and asked about Pearl. He looked grim.

"She's out of surgery Sook, but she's not out of the woods yet. They said the next 48 hours were critical. Quinn's with her. We called Frannie and she's here with him now. We told her we'd let them know how you were doing. He's a wreck Sookie. He loves her so much."

I had tears for a different reason now. "Yes Jason, he does. She's going to pull through this because she has him to live for now." He sat beside me and hugged me as we both cried for Pearl. It was just like all those years ago when we had to wait to see what would happen with her. Amelia came to my other side and joined the hug. She said the same thing I did, that Pearl would be fine now that she had Quinn.

I looked over and saw Pam holding Brenna. Jason and Amelia moved so Eric could hold me. After a few moments, Amelia asked if Brenna was ok since she came a little early and all. Eric answered that she was fine, that everything looked great and she should be able to leave the hospital when I did. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Eric looked at me and whispered, "Sookie, since our siblings are here with you and Brenna, would you mind if I went down and checked on Quinn?"

I looked up at him and nodded. "Of course you should go check on Quinn. Please tell him to remember what I told him before they took me away." He said he would and told the others he would be right back.

After he left the room, Pam looked over at me once she handed Brenna to Amelia. "Sookie, I've been meaning to ask, where did you two come up with the name Brenna? It's pretty, but different."

I realized that in all the stuff we'd been dealing with that Eric hadn't told her where we got the name from. "I think we should wait for Eric to come back before getting into that story."

"Ok, then what happened today?"

Amelia and Jason were paying attention now too. Thankfully they hadn't bugged Quinn for information. He didn't need that then and they knew it. I filled them in on everything and they were all very glad that Bill was finally dead. I also filled them in on what Bill had revealed in those final moments and they couldn't believe that Bill was the same guy who had hurt Pearl so badly when we were kids. Jason was shaking, he was so angry. I touched his arm and he looked over at me. "Sookie, I almost wish he wasn't dead so that I could go kill him myself. He almost completely ruined 2 of my sisters' lives. You know I see Pearl as a sister. How could we not have known? And he planned it all out…. purposely intending on hurting you, over and over." He looked away. I knew he was having a hard time with this. Amelia was crying and Pam was holding Brenna again. I held out my arms to take her, then Pam wrapped her arms around Amelia.

We all ended up on the bed, holding each other. It had been a very emotional day. When Eric returned, I was asleep, leaning on Jason. He took Brenna and Pam and Amelia left. Jason decided to stick around because when I heard him start talking, I woke up. He moved and let Eric take his spot as he finally got a chance to hold Brenna. I asked Eric how Pearl was doing and he said she was still unconscious but her vitals were good. I leaned over onto him as he and Jason talked about the day's events. I couldn't tell it again, so I let Jason do it, filling in areas that I needed to. Eric tightened his hold on me. I knew he was thinking about how close he had come to losing me again today, Brenna too for that matter. Jason decided that we needed some time alone and handed Brenna to Eric before he left. I nursed her again and let Eric laid her down in her bassinet.

He climbed back on the bed with me and began stroking my hair. He took a deep breath and I looked up as he said, "Sookie, are you sure you're alright?"

I snuggled closer to him. "Yes, I'm fine. I feel guilty that I'm relieved he's dead. I don't know why I feel that way after everything he did to me and what we found out today. What's wrong with me Eric?"

"Nothing Sookie, you're a kind, loving person. I'm not surprised you feel this way actually. I'm very relieved too."

"I think I'll be able to get over this feeling though. When I think about all of it, I still feel a lot of anger towards him. He played me for a fool Eric, a bigger one than we knew at the time."

He tightened his grip on me. "You didn't know Sookie, no one did. It's not your fault. I'm just so grateful that you and Brenna weren't hurt. I came so close to losing both of you today." He choked out the last words and I saw his eyes fill with tears.

"Well, you didn't lose us, thanks to Quinn and Pearl. She has to be ok Eric. I can't lose her now…especially not because of the same jerk again!" My eyes were filling with tears now.

"I think she will be fine Sookie. It's just going to take some time."

"How's Quinn?"

"Shaken up. I've never seen him so…lost. When she came out of surgery, he seemed a little better, but he won't be fine until he sees that she will be. I'm shocked he didn't kill Bill with his bare hands once he realized Pearl was hurt."

"I think he would have if I hadn't convinced him to stop beating on him. I knew he would risk jail so I convinced him by using Pearl and how much she needs him."

Eric nodded. "Yeah, I think that would be the only thing to make him stop when he gets in that mode. I'm glad it worked."

"Me too."

"I love you Sookie. I love you more than I ever thought possible. You and Brenna are my life now."

"I love you too baby." I yawned and Eric pulled me closer to him as we both fell into a much needed sleep.