SPOV:

Getting Eric home was a challenge. After the doctors had given him the all clear and said he was on the road to recovery, he was let out. But he was still pretty smashed up. Crutches were necessary for his messed up ankle, and since he'd broken a small bone in his shoulder, he could realistically only use one crutch. Between that and his constant headaches, he wasn't all that pleasant to be around the first few days back at home. I knew he was more mad at himself than anyone else. He wasn't used to laying around, unable to really fend for himself. We'd offered to move one of the guest beds into the den, but since the bathroom was upstairs, he was pretty much confined to the second floor. He hated it, and I can't really say I blamed him. Eric was an active guy, so being unable to be himself really bothered him. He was asked if he wanted to press charges on Sophie, but he declined. He said they couldn't really charge her for stupidity, unfortunately, and he did believe her when she said it was an accident. She'd turned up a little more than a week after he'd gotten out of hospital to apologize to both of us, for everything. She'd put the restaurant up for sale since it was either that or the bank took it back. Her dad was furious, to say the least, but I didn't care. It wasn't my problem anymore, and neither was she. So when she told us she was returning to Paris, it was the first time in my life I'd ever felt sorry for an entire country before.

He'd been home and adjusting for a almost ten days when she showed up, and when I say she… I mean Eric's mother.

Olivia Northman Cole arrived on a Saturday morning. I was still in my pyjamas, having spent the morning in bed with Jessica and Eric. I went down to answer the door—my hair was piled on top of my head and Jessica was in bed watching cartoons with Eric. She arrived with flawless hair, what looked like a vintage Chanel suit and very in season black Gucci coat, as well as her six pieces of LV luggage. Her height and her presence made me feel like a very tiny homeless person.

"You must be Sookie," came her very posh, very English accent. "It's so nice to finally meet you," she said as she air kissed both my cheeks. "I came as soon as I got the message on my machine. How is Eric?"

"Um, wasn't that more than a week ago?"

"Yes…? I had a charity luncheon that I just couldn't miss... But as soon as that was done I hopped on a plane to be here."

Oh, well that made sense, right? Charity before your son.

"Right. Well, he's upstairs," I told her as I led her up the staircase and into Eric's room.

"My goodness, Eric what did you do to your hair?" Was the first thing she said to him. Not exactly the best opener.

"Oh, God! Hi, Mom..." He moved to sit at the edge of his bed as she came and hugged him. Jessica looked very confused.

"Hi, Sweetie... This must be Jessica. Hi Jessica, I'm your Nana Livvy."

Jessica just quirked her brow. My thoughts exactly, Jess.

"How old is she?"

"Nineteen months. Um, I'll leave you guys to it."

"No!" Eric said panicked, before he calmed his tone. "No, um... could you maybe take Mom downstairs and I'll catch up?"

"Eric, the doctor told you to try and stay off your feet."

"I know, but really I think everyone would be more comfortable… downstairs."

By everyone, he meant him.

"Fine... Olivia would you like a cup of coffee?"

"I'll take some tea if you're making it, lovey."

Lovey? How British.

"Sure. Jess, you wanna come?"

Nosy little thing that she was, she held up her arms to me, her eyes never leaving "Nana Livvy."

"What a charming house. It really is beautiful. Your late cousin had wonderful taste, Sookie."

"Uh, yeah I guess she did. Do you take sugar?"

"Two, and a drop of milk please."

"Jessica, oh aren't you a cute little thing indeed," she said coming over to her high chair to tickle her cheek. Jessica wasn't a surly baby, and she usually took well to strangers. But she seemed to be sussing out her new Nana.

"Do you have any biscuits?" she asked when I gave her, her tea.

I hadn't baked in days.

"Biscuits?"

"Yes. For the tea, dear."

I just looked at her. "You mean cookies?"

"Cookies? Well I'm not so fond of chocolate chipped ones, but I suppose they'd do."

"No, cookies… they're not biscuits. They're called cookies here."

"If you say so dear. Would Jessica like a biscuit? Would you, sweetie?"

"Cookie," I corrected and she just laughed again.

"Fine, cookie. Even though technically we speak English, and since we've been speaking it before Americans … our definitions are correct."

"Yeah, well, I speak the American version of English."

"As butchered as it is," she commented.

"And I'm just fine with our cookies."

She smiled. "You're a feisty one, aren't you? I can see why my son is so taken with you."

"Eric doesn't talk about you much, but I was under the impression you both didn't talk often?"

"We don't," she said in a clipped tone. "My son has this deluded idea that after his father died I suddenly became the Wicked Witch of Rodeo Drive or something by forcing him to come here, and when I got remarried … it was a strain. So no, we don't talk often, but he and my father converse quite regularly, via email. So he keeps me abreast of Eric's life. Vicariously."

"Oh."

"I'm sure you've seen by now just how pigheaded my son can be when he sets his mind to something."

"Oh, no, I think he and I are both guilty of that."

"I see. You two are a couple now, I assume?"

"Why would you assume that?"

"Well, there is a level of comfort I can see, one you only have with someone you've been intimate with… and it's written all over both of you."

I blushed.

"Mom that's enough." I heard from the door as a haggard looking Eric hobbled into the kitchen for the first time since he'd gotten home.

"We're just talking, Eric. Forgive me for wanting to know a little more about your life."

"I think you know plenty," he said as I poured him a cup of coffee before he asked for it. He smiled in thanks.

"So, how are you healing?" she asked him.

"Well enough. The surgery went well. It's why I've got a buzz cut mom; they cut into my brain."

She gasped.

"Oh, darling…" she looked to me then. "They didn't tell me on the phone message just how bad it was. I assumed it was a small … what do they call it here, Eric? A fender lender?"

"Fender bender," he corrected as I hid my smile.

"Right. But Jesus… But, you're in one piece and that's what matters."

"Careful mom, you almost sound like you care."

She and I both chided him at the same time with a sharp call of his name.

"Eric!"

"What?" He looked at me. "Oh, Sookie, don't let her fool you, she's only here because she feels guilty and nothing more. Mom, as you can see, I'm fine. Sookie's fine and so is Jess. You're not really needed here."

"Eric, you're being so rude," I told him and he just rolled his eyes.

"You don't know her like I do, Sookie. Trust me, this is a guilt trip. For example, Mom, will you be staying with us?" he asked as if he knew fine well what the answer would be.

"Well, no I … I booked into the Hilton in the city."

"See?"

"Eric…" I said not fully understanding why he was being this harsh.

"Right. So you came to check up on me, and as you can see, here I am alive and not so well right now. But I'll be fine. You can go back to L.A."

His mother shrunk a little in her seat and I felt bad for her. Sure she was a little snobbish, but she did get on a plane and come all the way here to see him. That had to count for something, right? It was the thought, if nothing else.

There was an incredibly awkward silence before she stood up. "Sookie, would you be a dear and call me a taxi please?"

"Uh, sure. Where are you going?"

"The airport."

Ouch.

"Oh."

Eric just rolled his eyes, and honestly he was acting like Jessica, who wasn't even two yet. I wanted to smack him.

She walked out of the kitchen smoothing out the skirt of her dress.

"Eric, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"Don't, okay. You don't know her."

"Do you? I mean, come on, she's your mother."

"Exactly."

"How would you like it if Jessica reacted this way toward me in thirty years, huh? You'd be livid. Look, okay so, I don't know the whole story here, clearly. But she did come all the way here just to see if you were okay. That has to count, right? And, really, I'd like to get to know her a little bit. Maybe let Jessica get to know her Nana." I guilt tripped him, of course, but honestly he really was being an ass about this.

"You just had to lay it on like that, huh?" He relented.

"Doesn't Jess deserve to get to know her?"

"I guess…"

"Good." I smiled.

"Olivia?" I called out and a few seconds later I heard her heels on the tile before her head peeked around the door.

"Yes?"

"Would you like to stay here, with us for a few days?"

"Sookie, what?" Eric asked and I just ignored him.

Her face brightened as she smiled. Well, as much a smile as she could manage with what I assumed was a shit load of botox.

"Excellent! If you'll excuse me, I'm going to make myself a little more presentable," I said motioning to my Snoopy pjs. "I'm sure you both have a lot of … catching up to do. Eric," I raised my brows at him. "Be. Nice..." I whispered to him in passing.

I exhaled a breath as I got to my bedroom before changing into some dark skinny jeans, a long blue sweater, and pulled on my black ankle booties. I brushed out my hair before I tied it back up into a messy ponytail again. Being in the presence of Olivia made want to look as pretty as I could. I wanted to make a good impression, and whether or not Eric cared what she thought, I did. So I applied some light day makeup, just enough to make a difference to my skin, focusing on making my eyes look big and natural. A little clear lip gloss and some perfume and I was good to go. My bed was still made. I hadn't slept in it since Eric got home. We hadn't done much more than kiss, but it was comforting to both of us to have the other there. It also seemed silly to be sleeping across the hall when all I wanted was to snuggle up next to him—which I had done, and I loved every second of it. His pain meds had kept him pretty out of it for the first few days, but he was improving everyday and needing less and less meds, too. It was all very promising.

I had next to no idea what Eric's issues were with his mother, but she didn't seem like a big, bad ogre to me. Since she was essentially the only family Eric had, I would have liked to develop some kind of relationship with her, be it good or bad.

By the time I got downstairs again, she had shrugged the jacket of her suit off and was holding Jessica out by the pool. Eric had made his way to the living room and he wasn't looking too hot.

"You okay?" I asked coming to sit next to him, as he slung his good arm around me pulling me next to him.

"This is a bad idea, Sookie."

"All I'm asking is for you to give her a shot."

"I've given her a shot, over and over again. And every time she messes it up."

"Like, how?"

"Like marrying a guy she barely knew months after my dad died. Like, moving us to a fucking strange country not even a year after he died. Like, choosing her new husband time and time again over her kid for the sake of making her life easier. Like, leaving her sixteen-year-old son to fend for himself while she moved across the damn country for her husband's new job, because again, that mattered more than what I needed."

Well, that sure explained a lot about Eric Northman and his issues with women.

"You told me you wanted to stay here. You seemed mature enough, Eric," we heard from the hallway. We turned to see Olivia—a very forlorn look on her face—standing with Jessica. Jessica was just fascinated by her earrings. They were huge.

"Mom… I…"

"No. Don't. It's good to finally know what you think of me. I asked you to come with me; you refused. You were old enough to …"

"What? Fend for myself? Mom, I was sixteen. Just because I could fend for myself didn't mean I should have had to!"

"You refused! Because you hated him, and you refused, I thought I was doing you a favor. You both didn't get along so… I thought it was what was best for everyone."

"Including you, I'm sure. Why have to deal with the annoying teenager putting a crimp in your lifestyle?"

"That's not true! I wanted you there with us. I asked you every time I called, but you still refused!"

"Mom… I don't want to talk about this, not now."

"Well, tough. We are talking about this."

Wow, Eric was more like his mother than he realized. It was like watching a train wreck.

"If I was such a horrible mother Eric, why didn't you tell me what you thought? You seem to have no problem voicing your opinions now."

"Yeah, well, call it the near death experience wake up call."

"I see…" She looked embarrassed, and I can't say I blame her. "Sookie, maybe me staying here isn't such a good idea after all…"

"Nonsense, Eric is just being… well, for lack of a better term, Eric is being a toddler right now. So you, Jessica and I are going out for lunch."

"We are?" she asked.

"Yes. We are. Get your coat," I said, taking Jessica from her to get her dressed as Olivia went to the kitchen again.

"Why are you leaving? Didn't the doctor say I wasn't to be left alone? What if I fall?" He almost pouted.

"You're acting so fucking awful right now, Eric, and until you grow up and realize you can't talk to your mother that way, we're leaving. We're going to lunch and maybe do some shopping, and you are going to sit here and think about what you've just said."

"Stop treating me like Jessica, Sookie. I'm not a child."

"Then stop fucking acting like one. God. Where is the Eric I know and love? Did they drill all that lovely kindness out of that brain of yours? When he comes back, so will we." I poked him gently in the chest.

"Sookie—"

"No. Call me when you snap out of this shit fit of yours," I said, still mad at him. But I didn't want him to think I was totally against him, so I kissed him on the cheek softy. "I'll bring you back something pretty," I laughed.

"This isn't funny."

"Damn right it's not. She's your mother, and she's the only damn mother you're ever gonna have. Think about that."

EPOV:

Seeing my mother walk into my bedroom that morning was just as big a shock as I could have gotten. She was the last person I ever expected to see. I wasn't exactly thrilled to see her, given that she and I hadn't spoken directly in… well, a long time. I was sure Niall was behind her little trip out here from L.A., and I didn't like it—not one bit. She and I had agreed to disagree about our relationship a very long time ago. It suddenly felt like I was teenager again and my frustrations over our relationship bubbled to the surface almost immediately. Hearing her talk to Sookie, so flippant about how I was pigheaded... Even after all this time, she still took no blame for how fucked up things were between us. It made me see red. Sookie didn't understand it. How could she? She didn't really remember her mother, and she'd had a near blissful relationship with her grandmother. I understood why she was so shocked at how I was behaving. Mainly because my mother could turn the victim whenever it suited her. I hated that Sookie had to find out how fucked up things were between my mother and I, and so soon into our relationship, too. This was definitely a six month to a year bombshell. Not a couple of weeks.

Sookie and I had been getting closer. Not as close as I would have liked, though and thanks to my various injuries, sex really was the last thing they advised. But we had taken some steps to becoming more and more intimate. There was no sex, but she and I were sleeping together. Making out was torture since we always got close, but no cigar. Like I said, it would have sucked. I could barely breathe without there being some degree of pain, so the idea of sexing Sookie like I desperately wanted was so far away. And it was killing us both. As much as we ignored that want, it also allowed us to get to know each other all over again. We'd spent nights just talking, and as queer as it sounds, I loved it. Little things like tidbits from her childhood, how she got various tiny scars, why she hated tomatoes but loved ketchup… it was the little things I loved finding out.

But she took my mothers side, and that annoyed me. We were meant to be a team—Jessica, Sookie, and I—and suddenly Hurricane Olivia comes in and fucks that all up. She chastised me like a child, and I knew I was behaving extremely irrationally… but honestly, I was glad they left me alone when they did. It gave me time to think, and I knew on some level, she was right. My mother was the only mother I was going to have. But really, how many chances do you give someone to love you before you just give up? My anger with her was something I'd held onto for a long time. It wasn't going to disintegrate in seconds just because it was something Sookie didn't approve of.

They'd been gone a few hours and I was coping a lot better around the house than I imagined, when I got a text from Sookie.

"Are you sure Pam isn't really your sister? Your mother sure shops like her. Lol. Love you, but pull your head out of your fine ass. Sookie xx."

I smiled and text back. "Head from ass extraction underway. I'd like a chocolate covered pretzel if you're at the mall, thanks. I'm sorry about before but I'm working on it. Love you, too."

I called Pam and informed her that my mother was in town. It both thrilled and terrified Pam. Pam and my mother shopped together—they were shopping ninjas. One time they went to New York on a whim and my mother bought her a Chanel bag when we'd just opened the business. From then on she adored my mother on one level, but on the best friend level, she was on my side with her shitty mothering skills. She told me since I was a parent myself now that maybe, just maybe, I should think about what it would feel like if Jessica ever shunned me for my shitty life decisions when she became our age. Basically retelling what Sookie had told me but with a Pamela spin on things. I knew they were both right because the thought broke my heart and since I figured I had enough broken things in my body at the time, it was the one thing I could maybe fix myself.

The very least I could do was try, right?

A/N: More issues than Rolling Stone, that family, huh? What do we think of Olivia & Eric's relationship? Is there hope? I kinda like her, I can't lie. Again, thank you all so much for the review love last chapter, but instead of responses I figured you'd all much rather I worked on a new update. I hope I'm right? :D