Thanks to: Mistress-Cinder, VAlady, Lientjuhh, XKaterinaNightingaleX, suzyq59, Londa1795, Duckbutt, The Vikings Succubus, MsNorthman, MissJT2012, TLynnson, violetsdream

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Chapter 29

"Ooo, check out these digs, hooka," Lafayette sings as he saunters into the dayroom where I'm resting in a large comfy chair with my feet up. My poor feet this morning were so swollen that I believe I'll be barefoot this evening. "You is stylin' now, beotch," he laughs as he bends over to hug me.

"Really, Sookie, this is incredible," Holly smiles and hugs me as well. "And look at you, it's amazing."

"It's magic," I explain, grateful to see my friends. "Jason!"

"Can't believe it, Sook," he says as he hugs me next. "How much money does he have? Shit."

"A shit load," I laugh. "Guess Gran telling me to marry up really sunk in, huh?" I rub my belly and just wish the pain would subside but it hasn't since I woke up this morning with a big contraction. I keep thinking 'this is it' but the big ones come every couple hours and there's no other action happening except my hunger and insatiable need to pee.

"You're not kidding," Holly smiles.

"Yeah, well… we're pretty settled in, though there's this big threat to the supe world, so we're trying to figure that puzzle out while preparing for these babies." The babies are just sending discomfort and stress and every time I try to listen to them or comfort them, their little chirping is just too loud and too fast at this point, like it's on another wave or frequency and I cannot tune in. The only thing that's been keeping them semi-calm is drinking from Eric every half an hour, but I worry if it's too much. He chugged four gallons of blood last night and said he hadn't drank that much since he was a baby vamp.

"And the wedding, of course," Holly reminds me.

"Please sit," I tell them. "My ladies can bring you a drink or something."

"Ladies?" Jason perks up.

"Well four of them are lesbians, so just stop," I laugh. "But yes… the ceremony is planned for eight tonight and I'm so grateful ya'll could come." I don't know how Eric did it, but here my three people are.

"Wouldn't miss my little sis gettin' hitched," Jason tells me as he holds my hand. "Or seein' my nieces and nephews." When I told him, he was shocked and worried of course, but we have always respected each other's choices. We're all we've got, as far as blood-kin. Although now I have Eric's huge extended vampire family and my ladies, my chosen family.

"Well… I'm very glad you're happy about it since… I'd like you to walk me down the aisle," I request as I smile at him. I wouldn't have it any other way; I want him to give me away.

"Sook, of course!" he grins. "Of course I will. It's my duty."

"And I need someone to make my hair look fabulous," I say as I touch Lafayette's hand.

"Oh hooka, you is gonna be gorgeous!" he exclaims and kisses my cheek.

I groan as the babies start to push and their discomfort intensifies. "Shh," I whimper and glow purple at them to try and help but it's wasted energy.

"Lover," Eric says the instant he appears by my side with his wrist out. "'Bout that time." He came in so fast I didn't even see him but I saw Holly's hair move as he whisked by her.

I bite into his wrist greedily while he explains that "The babies are extremely uncomfortable. Her body is overloaded and my blood helps." He pets my hair to comfort me as I drink. "We're pleased you all could make it on such short notice but we thought we'd have a couple more months before their arrival and Sookie wants to be married before they're born."

I take a few more mouthfuls before releasing him and the wounds heal instantly.

"Better?" he asks and I nod as he kneels beside me and rubs my stomach. "Want me to massage your back again?"

"No," I shake my head. "Not right now." I caress his face and take a new tissue to wipe the blood from his nose and ears. He hasn't had the bleeds in a long time, since he's been drinking from me. This has me worried. He looks- not well either and I know it's because I'm taking too much blood.

"You should rest," I whisper and kiss his cheek as I stroke his neck.

"The preparations are important. Then we'll rest."

"Such a stubborn Viking," I laugh softly as I place soft kisses along his jawline.

"Stubborn fairy too. You should be resting in bed," he reminds me as he caresses my bare arm and presses his forehead to mine.

"I couldn't stay there all day but I am resting. Though I'm hungry again. More blood, potato chips and whatever else they have."

"In a second," he says and kisses my forehead before he zips off.

"He's… surprisingly attentive," Lafayette notes.

"He's been incredible," I smile. "He is incredible." And selfless. I just don't want him to get hurt because of it. Every time I drink from him, I'm hurting him, making him weaker, and we both know it. He doesn't have time to replenish whatever magic is in his blood before I have to take more.

"Here, three glasses," he says as he returns and places a tray down on the table next to me. "And your chips. Morgan says she's just about got lunch finished. Do you want to move or eat here?"

"Here, we can eat in here," I say quickly. I don't want to move. I have my dress fitting in an hour and I don't even know how I'm going to stand. We've had my feet packed with ice because I'm so hot and they're so swollen.

"I'll let her know," he nods and zips away again.

"Morgan is one of my ladies, a midwife and an amazing cook and nutritionist as well as witch," I explain. "Emma is her partner and an amazing witch and midwife. Dani and Meg are weretigers and have been helping me prepare as well. And Rachel is my other lady. It's a five person team to help bring these little babies into the world."

"That's amazing," Holly states. "Explains why I felt a huge amount of energy radiating from this place."

"There are magical wards up all over the place to protect us since we were attacked a few days ago. There are also human traps I'm sure, as well as weres and perhaps a few vampires protecting the place. Eric is not taking any chances with me or the babies. He's an amazing king."

I'm very proud of my husband-to-be.

"So they've contacted these mysterious sisters to what point, Eric?" Nora asks as she takes a seat and crosses her legs. She's fighting the call to rest but many of us are, in preparation for the coming fight. "What do we know about them? What do we know about the ancients themselves? Why would they come to get me at all?"

"Because, Nora. Everyone is getting involved," I tell her as I use Google maps to look at the topography of the area in Maine we'll be heading. "The ancients don't want things interfering with the new order of power."

I do want to tell her about our blood ties but I will not, not that I don't trust her, but if she needs to know, Layla and Darius will tell her.

"Can we trust them? How do you know she's not involved? She has power; you can feel it when she's around, even when she's not."

That is the truth. Anyone with magic in their blood can feel the power radiating from upstairs where they are with Sookie's mother. I assume she is dead asleep but what of Layla and Darius? I invited them to join us but they retired for a while.

"How can we trust them, Eric?" Pam asks as she reenters, having brought blood for us.

"She certainly has enough juice to overpower anyone," Jacob agrees as he grabs a glass from the tray. "They could be involved in all of this. You say someone claimed Eris has risen? It could be her."

"It's not," I growl. "We trust them, okay? We just trust them."

"Blindly? How can we when so much is at stake?" Nora asks as she stands in front of the desk where I am. "Brother, listen to us all, heed our concerns; if not for your sake than for that of your family."

"I hear but your concerns about them are unnecessary. We all want the same thing here. We all want our world to be safe, to exist without fear from chaos worshipping cults."

"But someone with considerable power, as she, someone who can waltz into the Authority and demand my release is-"

She stops immediately when Darius appears. He enters so quickly that he is even a blur to my thousand year old senses. I'm sure to Pam, he seemed to have magically shown up from thin air.

"The Roman line in its completion?" Darius asks.

"Save for my two progenies," Pam notes. "They're too young still to fight the call."

"And too young to know the truth," he muses as he surveys us all.

"What truth?" Nora demands. "The one where you rip us all to shreds?"

"Nora!" I growl at her. If I didn't know they were related to us, I'd be worried she'd get her head ripped off for showing such disrespect.

"It's alright, Viking," Layla laughs softly before she glows orange and levitates Nora up to the ceiling. "I, too, would be concerned about ones with too much power."

"What truth?" Nora growls as she fights to free herself of the invisible hold Layla has over her.

Darius steps forward and says, "that my progeny Ekur created Amon who begat Caius who made-"

"Godric," Nora finishes softly as the fight dies out of her.

"Woah," Pam comments. "We're-"

"Blood," Layla states as she gently brings Nora back down to the floor.

"Close descendants of very ancient blood," Darius also mentions. "And this is not to be shared with the others. But it is imperative that we end this threat and we have the means to do it together."

"Yes, and I've been scoping out the area where we think they are, but there appears to be nothing but mountains and a lot of wilderness," I say, not that something couldn't have been built since satellites scanned it.

"They'll be underground," Layla states. "Deep under, where there is cover and protection, perhaps into a mountain in a cave."

"Well this area is mountainous and mainly ice; how could they survive in an ice cold cave if they were human?" I wonder but I know the answer: they are no longer human. And that means I can rip them apart.

"Won't be a problem for us," Nora states. "Nor for the weres."

"And I want to leave any fae here to protect Sookie and the babies, in case they try something during the attack. More are expected to arrive tonight and tomorrow. We should have the numbers for an attack tomorrow."

"After the wedding, we'll take our leave," Layla announces. "There are a few supplies we'll need for a proper attack, but I won't miss the wedding."

A jolt of pain rushes through me and I have my wrist to Sookie's mouth almost instantaneously.

This craving has come sooner than the last but they assure us that it's still not time. Whether it goes fae or human, there are signs that will tell us she's about to go into labor and this isn't it. I just wish there was more that I could do for her, but there isn't: except make sure she has a beautiful wedding and plenty of blood.

However the amount she's taken is wearing on me. My case of the bleeds today is quite bad, when it hadn't bad at all when we were drinking from each other before. But it's worse than Jacob's and it shouldn't be since I have seven hundred years on him.

"Eric," Sookie whispers when she pulls away. "You- you can't keep doing this."

"It's what my family needs," I smile and rub her stomach. I kiss her cheek and rest my forehead against her for a few moments. "I'll be okay."

"You need blood, Eric, real, quality blood. What would help you the most?" she wonders and I kiss her nose gently. "Please… I'm worried."

"I'm drinking as much as I can, Sookie; it'll be alright."

"No," I say softly. "Eric, you're- not weak, but I can tell you're also not you-strong and you need to be for the fight tomorrow. There must be something. Would fresh blood help? A donor?"

"Perhaps it would, but the blood Pam is bringing is mainly fresh and secondly, you asked me to keep my fangs for you."

"Well I'm willing to make an exception to keep you healthy, Eric. Please, if drinking straight from the source will help you replenish, then do it." I know I'm demanding this of him but the babies are also encouraging this. "If your blood is what I need and it's not as strong as it must be, then the babies and I suffer as well. Would donors help?"

"If you're sure, then yes, they might, but also-" He pauses a moment. "I don't think you'll like it, but-"

"What? If it'll help, Eric, what?"

"Same as why Maurella needed Bill's blood to help your mother heal, family blood helps healing. So Pam's or-"

"Nora's," I say with distaste. I made my point last night with her but I don't want his fangs in her either, but- hers would help him more than Pam's would, since Nora is older and stronger.

"Or the ancients," he reminds me. "If they'd-"

"Of course we would," Darius says as he suddenly appears. "Granted Pamela and Nora are closer to you but ours is much stronger."

I feel much better about that and the babies start glowing excitedly. It's the first time all day they've been anything but uncomfortable and miserable. They're tired of the separation and want to be together. They want to wiggle and stretch and meet Eric. But if I'm drinking Eric's blood and he drinks from them, that means the babies and I will benefit from their strength.

Perhaps it'll even help with my horrid discomfort and painful belly.

I just want my wedding to be beautiful and perfect. Is that too much to ask?