Dead with the Vikings – chapter 28

A/N:

I just loved your comments about the baby being named Pam. Most of you loved it (or so you said) and some hated it (well, you were polite and said "didn`t like" :-D). I can tell you it was much harder to find a name for Eric and Sookie`s baby than for my own two. I just knew I didn`t want them to have yet another Adele or Alex.

I want to thank Rascalthemutant for reading and correcting this chapter. She is hopefully home again though her plane got cancelled. It was so great to see her and we even got to watch a (shitty) football game with Hammarby. Yay!


From the previous chapter:

We snuggled and it was a beautiful thing. And when Pam cried, we took her into our bed, I breastfed her and we snuggled with her too.

"This is life," Eric whispered into my neck.

I nodded because it certainly was life to have my little daughter at my breast and the man I loved cuddling into my back.

Chapter 28

It seemed as if we were cuddling for a month and we probably were. Pam slept a lot, ate a lot, cried a lot and used a lot of diapers. And Eric and I were together. No sex, just enjoying each other`s company.

We had oceans of time together. Even if I hated the dark and cold Norwegian winter, I welcomed the fact that Eric was gone for fewer and fewer hours each day and that we could spend most of our time together.

We were a family.

I had never thought I would be getting a family. First my telepathy prevented me from having boyfriends and then when I found men I actually could date, they were vampires and you usually don`t put `vampire` and `family` in the same sentence. Unless it was a police report saying `a vampire ate the whole family`.

But having Pam made me miss the rest of my family. Not that I had a lot of it, but I found myself missing Jason and Hunter. And also the people I had come to look at as family. Sam, Amelia, Tara, Bill. I wanted to show them my precious little daughter and I couldn`t.

I couldn`t even show Pam to her namesake. Pam, who I had started calling Pamela to make it clear who I was talking about, hadn`t been to Norway since this summer. Eric said she was trying to make a career for herself, which I figured translated into `Pam is killing a lot of vampires`. She still called us every week. First she wanted me to give her the latest news about little-Pam, as she had named her. She loved it when I could tell her stories about Eric getting poop all over himself or being frantic about Pam crying. But then she would ask for Eric and they would talk about something I wasn`t a part of.

Xxxxx

Christmas was getting closer and I was getting slightly melancholic. It wasn`t as if my Christmases back in Bon Temps had been any huge family gathering. Not since Gran died, at least, and not even before. I didn`t have family enough for large gatherings, but after Gran died I had been alone or I had been at work on Christmas and on New Year`s Eve. It was a bit sad, thinking about it now, but at the time, I`d never given it a second thought.

I missed Bon Temps. I had love, but I didn`t really feel I had a home.

So when Eric announced in the beginning of December that he had to go back again, there was no doubt in my mind.

"I`m going with you," I said. I was sitting on our bed, breastfeeding Pam.

"And you will come with me," he smiled. "Just not right now."

"Why not right now?" Even I could hear how ridiculous I sounded, but when you had just given birth to a child four weeks earlier, one should be entitled to a fair amount of ridiculousness.

Apparently Eric thought so too because he sat down next to me, pulled one arm around my shoulder and caressed the breast Pam wasn`t eating from, with his other hand.

"Because it`s dangerous now. This is the final stage and very soon it will be safe for you to join me."

He leaned down and kissed my breast. I was wearing one of those neat bras that can be opened, one breast at a time, to breastfeed. I had unveiled one breast for Pam. Now Eric opened the other side of the bra. He kissed my nipple and, very gently, he sucked on it. He didn`t suck on it the way Pam sucked on my nipples. He did it the way Eric had sucked on them before Pam was born.

I moaned slightly and felt like a very bad person to moan sexually when my daughter was in my arms. I looked at Eric`s beautiful blond hair, moving slightly up and down my chest, and then I remembered we had been in the middle of a conversation. Eric had a certain way of making me forget what we were talking about.

"What is dangerous? What are you going to do?"

Eric looked up, his eyes full of the mischief I had missed for weeks.

"Pam has her eyes set on becoming queen of Louisiana." And then he was back at sucking my breast.

"Pamela wants to be… how?" I asked. This was completely news to me.

"Usually you become queen by killing the old one, but there`s really no need to kill Felipe. Pam doesn`t want Nevada or Arkansas. Just Louisiana." Eric made it sound like such a humble request.

"And Felipe will give it to her?" I asked.

Eric laughed against my nipple.

"No, he doesn`t know she is alive. Not yet. But Pam has been gathering a few loyal people and they have taken out both Sandy and Victor." Eric talked as if Pam had been out shopping for new clothes.

"She killed Sandy and Victor?"

"Uh huh," Eric answered while giving my nipple an extra lick.

"But why does she want to become queen? I thought you couldn`t be king or queen until your master was dead?"

Eric lifted his head. "It`s not a rule, that the master has to be dead. Just a precaution to make sure the master isn`t a king behind the king. This is why I have to go over. I have to show people that Pam can govern the way she wants to. I will protect her, of course. She is my child. But I will not interfere."

Pam had fallen asleep in my arms, her mouth still on my nipple. Eric looked at her, took her in his arms and carried her to her crib. I had started fastening my bra again, when Eric turned around.

"Don`t, Lover. Let me look at you." His voice was hoarse.

"You want me to lie here with my breasts on display?" I giggled.

"I would have preferred for you to walk around with your breasts on display. At all times. This view is a very nice second best."

His smile had suddenly become the smile of a predator and I realized his fangs were down. It sent some very hot messages to my lower parts and I knew I wanted nothing more than to have sex with Eric. Now.

"Come over here, Eric," I said, holding out my arms to him.

"I can`t, Sookie," he whispered. "If I go over to you now, to my sexy Lover, I will not be able to hold back. So I will just stay here and admire the view."

"Then don`t hold back."

"But the doctor said six weeks. It`s only been four."

Eric took one step back as if I was a large magnet and he needed to get out of my reach. It was a great feeling to have that kind of influence on him. I didn`t feel very sexy in general, what with the extra weight, the stretch-marks and the constant smell of milk, but right now, when Eric looked at me, I felt like the hottest woman in the Northern hemisphere.

"I`ve been taking your blood. I`m sure I`ve healed more than enough. Don`t worry."

Eric came slowly over towards the bed. "Maybe you could take a little more of my blood," he said. The predator was back.

"Maybe I could. It couldn`t hurt, could it?" Somehow I managed to find a sexy voice.

"Oh, it would probably hurt when you bite my skin," Eric answered and it was clear that the pain he was referring to, wasn`t something he objected to. Not at all.

"Then why are you standing over there when your …. Lover needs your blood?" I winked at him.

And in vampire speed Eric was definitely not standing anywhere. He was next to me. On top of me. All over me.

Then we were naked next to each other. Eric with the hot body he had always had and me… well, my body was different. I froze slightly at the thought. My body would be in constant change and his would be the same. My breasts would sag, my stomach would become doughy, my upper arms would flap and…

"What is it, Lover?" Eric whispered while licking and kissing my neck.

"I`ve changed," I said.

"Of course you`ve changed. You`ve brought new life to this world. You`re a mother now."

"Yes, but my body…"

"Your body will keep changing and I will look forward to seeing each and every one of those changes."

And with that he kissed his way down my chest, my stomach and to the place that had just given birth to our little miracle.

Things worked just as well down there as they had done before. Eric licked and nibbled and sucked, while tentatively working his miracles inside me with his large fingers. I tensed when his finger entered me, but it felt good. Not just good. Perfect.

I writhed and bucked under the intensity and it seemed as if Eric enjoyed the ride too because he made some loud noises against my sensitive skin.

And then the feeling came. That feeling I hadn`t had since before Pam was born. Since before Kenneth tried to kill me. Since before Appius came to our house. That very special feeling where your skin starts to go numb and you explode in pure pleasure.

I roared out loudly, my body shaking in the aftershocks of a huge orgasm and my hands pulling Eric up to me.

I didn`t have to ask him twice. In a matter of seconds, he was on top of me, the tip of him at my entrance. He looked me in the eyes as if to ask for permission and when I nodded, he slowly entered me.

I was afraid I would have become too wide after the birth. That I would lose out on that great feeling of Eric being so huge inside me. But very soon I knew my worries had been silly. Eric was huge, he had always been huge and he would always be huge.

I moaned when he was so deep in me he couldn`t get further. We lay still for a moment and enjoyed how we fit so perfectly – and then I bit him.

I lifted my head and bit him in the neck and I sucked all I could.

Eric groaned and started moving faster and faster and before I knew it, another orgasm was approaching.

I let go of Eric`s neck, pulled his head back so I could look him deep in those sky blue eyes and then my heart grew out of my chest. I loved that man so much.

"I love you, Eric," I said. I couldn`t help myself. And then I came and everything felt so good.

Eric pushed in and out of me a few more times, enhancing my orgasm, and then his body stiffened and he came with the growl I had missed so much.

"I love you too, Sookie," he said when he fell onto the bed.

I could have sworn he panted.

Xxxxx

Eric did leave me and I didn`t go with him. That didn`t mean that he went alone. Steinngrim, Sjur and a couple of the guys Eric had been teaching sword-fighting to went with him.

I was home when Steinngrim came to tell us about his decision. He looked pretty agitated for a vampire when I opened the door for him.

I had hardly had time to give him a True Blood before he started talking. There was no `how is the baby?` or `nice weather today`. The last would have been impossible to say anyway. The weather was awful.

"I want to go with you, Eric," he said with a very determined voice.

"You can`t, Steinngrim. You know that. You are king here. You can`t overthrow kings on other continents. It would completely destroy your power base if anyone found out."

"But you need my help," Steinngrim stated.

"We need all the help we can get. Just not yours." Eric sounded friendly enough, but there was an undertone to his voice.

"And why is that? You still don`t trust me? Your maker is dead and you still think I would double-cross you?" Steinngrim was getting angry.

"That is not the reason why I don`t want you with us." Eric was calm.

"Come on, Eric. We`ve known each other since we were human. Don`t lie to me. Please."

"Steinngrim. Both you and I know what you did. Or rather what you didn`t do. But this is not the reason why I`m asking you to stay in Norway."

"What did he do?" I asked. I had no idea what they were talking about. "What happened between you two?"

Eric looked at Steinngrim as if he wanted him to explain. Steingrimm nodded.

"Eric and I had an understanding," he started. "And I broke it."

"Okay," I prompted him on.

Steinngrim started to look tormented. He had never been good at keeping a neutral vampire face, but now it looked as if his features were falling apart.

"Eric promised to kill my maker if I killed his."

I looked at Eric who managed his neutral face just fine.

"Is that true?" I asked him.

Eric nodded. "Appius was a hard maker to live with and he didn`t seem to want to let me go."

"Hard to live with?" My voice was just a few tones too loud. "That must me the understatement of the year."

A small smile flickered over Eric`s lips.

"Indeed, Sookie. That is an understatement."

"So what happened?"

It wasn`t Eric who answered my question, but Steinngrim.

"Eric held his part of the bargain, but I never managed to kill Appius. It was just too hard." Steinngrim came over to me and held both my hands in his. "Especially considering what happened here, with you, I am sorry." He lifted my hands to his lips and kissed them. "Can you forgive me? I did try to kill him. And I did my very best to protect you here." He sighed. "I know I screwed up on both things, but…"

Steinngrim looked devastated and I felt so bad for him, I pulled him into a hug. I had no idea how much pain he had brought on Eric by not killing Appius when he promised to, but I had to forgive him. I couldn`t bring myself to hate him.

"I forgive you, Steinngrim." I pulled back from the hug. "I obviously can`t speak for Eric, but Appius is dead and I have always appreciated our friendship. Even back in… Even when you were human."

Steinngrim smiled a little. "The friendship I unfortunately cannot recall."

I pulled back from Steinngrim and looked at Eric. There was no way to tell what he was thinking. Then he came over to us. He took my hand.

"Sookie said it better than me, Steinngrim, but I forgave you years ago. I may not have trusted you entirely afterwards, but then I don`t really trust that many people." Eric squeezed my hand just a little bit.

"Then let me come with you," Steinngrim said.

Eric sighed. "You may ruin everything for yourself."

"Let me have that choice."

Eric looked at Steinngrim for a while. Then he smiled.

"As I said. Pam will need all the help she can get. I suppose that includes you."

It looked as if Steinngrim had to hold himself back so as to not jump up and down in joy. I smiled and hugged both vampires. And then Pam started to cry and I went to the bedroom and let the two old and renewed friends talk.

When Eric came to bed that night, he showed me his gratitude in kind.

Xxxx

I had to smile when I stood in the airport and waved goodbye to Eric, Steinngrim, Sjur and a dozen other men. I could imagine how women had waved goodbye to men going off to conquer, pillage and steal in foreign lands a thousand years ago. Only back then they waved to boats going slowly out a fjord. I had to stand in an airport building and watch Steinngrim`s private plane disappear in the distance.

I shouldn`t have smiled, of course. As the Viking women shouldn`t have smiled when they sent their men off. Like them, I didn`t know when I would get my man back. I didn`t even know if I would get him back.

But like them I also knew the gain could be worth the pain. And I knew there was no other way around it. If Pam wanted to become queen, she would need Eric`s support, or it would just not happen.

So I smiled. I smiled, confident that I would get my man back and that the battle would be won. I carried Pam on one arm and tried to wave to Eric through the window.

Eric saw me through the darkness of the evening and blew me a kiss. Or at least some 6`4`` guy with long blond hair did. My night vision wasn`t as good as Eric`s. But with the kiss glued to my heart, I went back to our house to wait for Eric. Again.


A/N:
I hope you liked this chapter.

I said a couple of chapters ago that this story wasn`t over until the fat lady sang. Well, the fat lady is warming up her voice now. I`m no fan of dragging out my stories and this one will be ended pretty soon. I may have to join a Vikinglovers Anonymous group, though, because writing this story has been pretty addictive.

But I have two one-shots coming up shortly. Miss Construed and E-F-M were generous enough to bid on me in the Support Stacie Auction and will have a story each. And for all of you who have been asking me about Dead without a Work Permit: I will post a new chapter as soon as the two one-shots are out there.


Sun in Scandinavia

We have sun here now. It was winter two weeks ago and the last snow in my garden melted last week. This week, though, the sun is shining, flowers are blooming and people are wearing shorts and t-shirts. It is 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit) and "summer". Yay!

The sun is up longer in the evenings, people show their extremely pale arms and legs (yes, we do take off our clothes as soon as we can – you never know when you get your next chance) and we drink beer outside.

So I`m cutting this short. I`m going out in the sun and anyone standing between me and a beer will be very sorry!

Have a lovely morning/afternoon/evening!