A/N: Thank you again for all your lovely reviews, I promise I'm going to reply to them, Eric and Sookie have just been talking up a storm the last couple of days and I haven't had two minutes to think about replies to all the fantastic support you've sent through.
*snaps* for bloodyblonde for introducing me to the word 'merdwhore'... it made me laugh so much I had to include it. Sorry I forgot to mention it in the last chapter honey :)
As always, Charlaine Harris created our beloved characters, I'm just playing with them.
ENJOY!
Chapter 29 – SPOV
Seeing Amelia and Trey snuggled up on the sofa, looking for the world like they were about to bust with happiness, made me realize how selfish I had been this week while Eric was here… I knew she wouldn't blame me for wanting to spend time with him, but I felt mean for practically rubbing my happiness in her face when she had no option to be with Trey.
They looked good together; I don't think I had ever seen Amelia looking this happy with anyone else. "Oh Ames! You look all lit up inside" I laughed, hugging her while Trey and Eric got down to some guy talk.
"Sookie, this was the best surprise ever. I can't thank you enough" she grinned "I know I'm going to be back here in a little over a week, but this visit came just at the right time, it'll give me strength to get through spending time with the parents" she groaned, rolling her eyes.
"I wish you were coming to Cali with us" I sighed
"Yeah… but then I wouldn't be able to visit with Trey" she chuckled
"You're so smitten! When's the wedding?" I teased
Amelia's eyes opened wide and she stared at me with a face that was a mixture of horror and joy…
"You're not?" I gasped, sitting up straight and staring at her
"Um" she said blushing
"Really?" I squeaked, grabbing her hands to try and keep myself from doing a happy dance.
"Psych!" she laughed "Gotcha!"
"Aww… I don't know if I should be relieved or sad" I said, pouting and collapsing back against the sofa. "I think maybe sad"
Amelia giggled and hugged me tight "We're not getting married… yet, we did talk about him finishing up his studies early so he can come home though" she whispered
"And live with you?" I asked, getting excited all over again
She nodded this time and grinned happily "I think as long as he doesn't leave his dirty underwear on the floor, it'll be fun"
"I'd be surprised if he wasn't a better housekeeper than you!" I teased with a laugh "That's really great Ame, I'm so happy for you"
"I'm happy for me too" she sighed, looking over at Trey like he hung the moon.
Dinner was fantastic, not only because of the delicious food, but because of the noise and conversation that flowed around me. I wouldn't have changed my childhood for anything, growing up with Jason and Amelia was great and no-one would ever match Gran, but the abandoned little girl in me always wished there was more of my family to love.
All the men-folk seemed to have pressing business as soon as the table was cleared, so the women of the group finished cleaning up and settled in for a cup of tea before we drove home.
"Sookie, I was so excited to hear Eric and yourself had gotten engaged" Maggie grinned "Are you going to live together for a little while or get married first?"
"I hadn't really thought about the possibility of living together first, I guess I hadn't really thought of anything much past graduation at this point" I laughed
"I overheard Amelia and Trey today….Sorry Amelia" she added, with an apologetic smile. "Trey is talking about trying to graduate early so he can come home; I think the idea is for them to share an apartment… is that right Amelia?"
"I think so" Amelia blushed "I know it's a little back to front for some people, but with the role models I had growing up I'm not that keen to jump straight into joint bank accounts"
"So does this mean I get to plan a housewarming as well as a bachelorette party?" Pam asked with a joyful squeak and a clap of her hands
"I don't know yet Pam!" Amelia laughed "What do you think Gran?"
"If you're married or not you're going to fight over something. The biggest arguments I had with Sookie's Grandfather were over housekeeping when we moved in together" Gran said with a laugh "It drove me crazy that he would leave plates, glasses and cups wherever he was finished with them."
"You never broke him of that habit either" I laughed remembering the numerous times I picked up after him.
"I know" she chuckled "after a while I realized it didn't really matter that much, there were things that I did that made him crazy too, so it evened out."
"Eric's father and I were always fighting about cleaning up… he wouldn't lift a finger unless I was cleaning too… it used to make me so cross!" Alexis laughed "Pam and Eric had no choice but to pick up my habit of being a neat freak."
"Definitely a plus if Eric's going to be living with Sookie" Amelia laughed "So it's ok with you if we live together?" she asked, directing her question to Maggie and Gran
"As long as you're both happy, then I'm happy." Maggie said, holding Amelia's hand gently.
"Darlin' if it made you happy I'd let you live in a tree" Gran said with a smile
"Now that you mention it…" Amelia said thoughtfully, a twinkle of mischief in her eye and a smirk on her face.
We all laughed at that and moved on to other topics before finally saying our goodbyes and making our way home. We were all so tired from shopping, and in Amelia's case making out, that we all just went straight to bed.
"Sorry about the bet today Eric" I said with a yawn, snuggling into his side and resting my head on his shoulder. I was finally getting nice and toasty warm after being chilly for the past couple of hours, sleeping next to Eric was like having a man shaped hot water bottle that liked snuggling.
"Pam does it all the time, no big deal" he said with a chuckle "but I can think of a way you can make it up to me, if your conscience is bugging you" he added, pulling me onto his chest.
"And what might that be?" I asked softly, knowing exactly what he was talking about.
"Well" he whispered, brushing his lips against my neck and making me shiver "if you really want to make it up to me" he continued, running his hands over my back "you could get me a glass of water" he finished in a normal tone with a cheeky grin and a twinkle in his eye.
I gasped in mock outrage and clambered off his body, flipping the blankets as far away as I could so that he would get just as chilly as I was about to get.
"Cold from the fridge?" he practically begged while I pretended to glare at him in fury.
"Fine!" I huffed in defeat, pulling on a robe. "But don't say I never do anything for you." I growled before kissing him quickly and smiling to let him know I was kidding "Just water or do you want something in it?"
"Water is fine… thank you" he grinned, pulling the covers back up and relaxing back with his hands behind his head "I'll keep the bed warm."
I chuckled at his impudence and poked my tongue out at him, before running downstairs and grabbing his water. It was a silly thing to ask for, because he could have just as easily gotten it himself, but I knew he'd do it for me, so I did it… I even poured him a full glass, though the thought of only pouring him half an inch had crossed my mind.
"Thank you, love" he grinned after he had finished his water and set the glass on the bedside table. "Am I in trouble?" he asked, pulling me close and kissing the tip of my nose.
"No" I said with a smile "I figured you'd do the same for me, even if I was perfectly capable of doing it myself"
"You know I'd do anything for you" he said tenderly.
"I know" I smiled "That's why you got a full glass"
He chuckled and kissed me seriously, making me groan. "Now… about you making it up to me" he whispered with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
"Brat!" I laughed, slapping at his arm gently "You're such a tease"
"It's why you love me" he smirked, tucking me beneath him and lowering his lips to mine "I keep things interesting" he whispered against my mouth before kissing me softly
"Nope" I smiled running my hands into his hair. "I love you because you're you" I whispered kissing him deeply and continuing what we had started in the car earlier in the day.
Panting and finally, gloriously sated we collapsed back onto the bed, wrapped ourselves around each other and fell asleep.
I woke to the tinkle of silverware against glass and the smell of bacon and coffee. I opened my eyes slowly and grinned at the sight of my sweet fiancé with a tray, bringing me breakfast in bed.
"What's this for?" I asked, happily propping myself up with pillows and kissing him as he lowered the tray onto my lap.
"I felt bad for making you get out of bed once you were warm last night" he chuckled "plus I figured that if I do this now, I don't set a precedent for only doing it when I'm in trouble!"
I couldn't help laughing at his excuses. I didn't honestly care about the reason, I was just happy that he thought of it all on his own. "You're a sweetheart, but you didn't have to do this"
"I wanted to" he said climbing back into bed with me "Can I please have some toast?" he asked stealing a piece with a wiggle of his eyebrows making me laugh again.
"Have I told you lately that I love you?" I chuckled
"Ummm" he thoughtfully stared at the roof "It's been so long I can't remember" he sighed dramatically before laughing at himself like the complete dork he was.
"Well then, I love you." I giggled affectionately "What is with you this morning?"
"Sorry" he said with a chuckle "I'm just excited about you seeing my home, I can't wait to show you around."
"Can't wait to see it" I grinned and dug in to my very first breakfast in bed.
Eric kept me company while I ate, babbling away about what we would be doing and how he would be keeping me entertained when we got to his home, stealing a bite now and then although he said he had already eaten, apparently it was nicer coming from my plate.
Once my plate was emptied and the last sip of coffee had made it's way into my stomach Eric returned the tray to the kitchen while I showered and started packing my suitcase. It was harder than I thought it would have been and after having to start over a couple of times, I finally just gave up and started a second one. Why oh why was it so hard to pack light?
"Are you bringing the kitchen sink?" Eric asked with a laugh as he saw the disaster caused by my packing dilemma
I just poked my tongue out and resumed folding and packing my clothes into the suitcases, I'd clean up after I was sure I had everything I needed… maybe Eric had some room…
"No" he said firmly when he saw me eyeing up his suitcase.
"But… but… but" I begged, looking at him with puppy dog eyes and adding in a whimpering noise when he wasn't taking the bait.
"You know you're not going to need half the stuff you're bringing" he said, pulling me into a hug "We won't be with people all the time, and whenever we're alone you're going to be naked" he said huskily, kissing my neck and distracting me very, very well.
When he finally released me from his arms I was panting and wishing the house was empty. Suddenly the piles of clothes I had seemed completely useless so I weeded yet again, ending up with an outfit for each day plus a couple of extras in case of special occasions.
"Much better" he chuckled, adding in my discarded outfits to his own bag with a wink.
I tackled him onto the bed and started tickling him until he begged for mercy… twerp.
We finished packing and I cleaned up the bomb site that was my room. By the time I was finished my stomach was grumbling audibly causing Eric to laugh at me and shoo me down the stairs for some lunch.
"Finally! They emerge!" Pam teased with a laugh "I was scared to come up stairs, all the squeals and thumps made me think it would scar me for life"
"When two people love each other, what happens between them is a beautiful thing" I said with a wink as Pam collapsed into giggles. "But don't bother setting up a camera because that's just nasty." I added causing her to hoot with laughter.
"Stop making me laugh Sookie" she begged, still sniggering and wiping away a tear "I'll get wrinkles"
"Myth!" I yelped "It takes less muscles to smile than it does to frown… so ner" I added, poking my tongue out in sophisticated emphasis of my point making her laugh again and unknowingly launching a factoid war.
"Hippo's can run faster than people and did you know they've killed more people in Africa than any other animal?" she shot back after she had regained control of herself.
"Lemons have more sugar in them than strawberries" Amelia yelled from the living room
"Cat's have 32 muscles in each ear" Alexis chimed in.
"The Hawaiian alphabet only has 12 letters" Gran said, adding her two cents.
I sighed and rolled my eyes…holy crap, what had I done.
In-between using Google to fact check our little fact war Eric was laughing his cute little ass off with the amount of useless information we seemed to have in our heads.
"Sook, how on earth do you know this stuff?" he asked after checking my latest contribution to the war, that macadamia nuts are toxic to dogs.
"Trivia nights at church when I was younger" I laughed "That and I read a lot…oh and Google is my friend."
After lunch was finished and the factoid war had slowed, we saw Amelia off with hugs and promises to call often. She looked miserable to be leaving, and I couldn't blame her, I still didn't know why she gave her parents the time of day, she'd had her own room here since she was nine.
"I wish she was my real sister, so we'd be her only family" I sighed to Gran.
"She is darlin' in every way that counts" she replied, giving me a one armed hug "but I know what you mean."
Jason showed up soon after Amelia had left, annoyed that he missed her and didn't get to say goodbye but soon cheered up when he got swept into the fact war that was still raging in the house.
"Do you have any interesting facts for us Jason?" Pam asked, digging around in Google and chuckling to herself every now and then.
"French Poodles are actually from Germany" Jason supplied with a chuckle before looking to Eric for an explanation.
"Enough with the factoids Pam… please?" Eric groaned "This has been going on all afternoon and we're going to be travelling for at least the next six hours. I'm going to go prematurely grey if you don't stop."
"Oooo Promise?" she asked with a grin and an evil chuckle
Eric just sighed and collapsed onto the sofa while everyone else laughed. That Pam.
After a quick triple check of everything we were finally ready to leave. California here we come…
Eight hours later, I was completely over travelling and wanted to collapse into bed and not move for a week. We had been delayed getting out of Houston and then got stuck in traffic getting out of LAX… sigh.
Eric was the least sleepy of all of us, being that he'd somehow managed to sleep on the plane from Houston to LAX, so he drove and we all sighed with relief when he pulled into the driveway of Alexis's house.
It was almost midnight by the time we arrived, but we could still tell that the house was beautiful and the view breathtaking. It was a split level home that sprawled over the hill surrounding it, stretching out over three levels and merging gracefully into the garden, huge windows gave an unobstructed view of the ocean and the sound of the waves drowned out any possible traffic noise.
Walking into the main living area it was impossible not to sigh in contentment. Alexis had decorated in such a way that even though you were surrounded by vibrant colors you had no choice but to instantly relax. Textures played as big a part as colors and the whole effect was drool worthy.
"Oh Alexis, your house is beautiful!" I gasped, taking it all in and trying not to keel over in awe and wonder.
"I'd never felt like I was home until we moved into this place. I'm glad you like it" she said with a smile and a little chuckle as Gran asked if she could move in.
Eric was being a good boy and stomping up and down the stairs delivering everyone's bags to their rooms while we talked over the Northman family's first few years in America and Alexis's joy at finding this place when Eric and Pam were only entering their teens and needing more space.
"I always liked this place too" Pam sighed "I almost didn't want to move out, but the commute to the club is just too disgusting to do full time"
"We're going clubbing right?" I asked perking up a little at the thought of seeing what kept Pam in such gorgeous shoes.
"Of course, Sookie! I need to see what happens when Eric gets jealous… I've never seen it before" she said excitedly, as if it was an experiment she was anticipating
"Pfft" I scoffed "He has nothing to be jealous of, why do you think I had to find someone on the internet?"
"I think you severely underestimate yourself Sookie" she said with a smirk "You'll see" she added with an ominous narrowing of her eyes… uh oh. "We might even be able to fix Jason up with someone, although I can't promise they'll have a brain" she laughed.
"I'm doing just fine!" Jason said, a little too quickly "I like being a bachelor."
"We'll fix that!" she smiled, reminding me scarily of a Stepford wife. With that she bid us all goodnight and after telling us not to expect her before lunch, moved off to her bedroom.
Alexis soon followed suit, offering to take Jason and Gran to their rooms and telling me Eric would be back soon. I could hear him coming back down the stairs so I said a quick goodnight to them all and wandered into the living area.
While I was waiting for Eric to finish his last trip upstairs playing bellboy, I sank into a squishy sofa that seemed to hug me when I sat in it. "Gah… I'm stealing this sofa" I sighed and collapsed to the side, hugging the arm.
"If you can bear to part yourself from the furniture, love, I'll take you down to our room" Eric chuckled.
"You promise to hug me better than this sofa? You have yourself a partner for life buster" I smiled, getting up and kissing him gently before picking up my bag.
Eric's room was more than twice the size of mine, there were heavy curtains on the windows and the carpet was so soft I couldn't help squidging my toes into it in bliss. His room was decorated in grays and blues and was obviously a very masculine space, but I wouldn't have changed a thing.
"I love seeing you in my room" he said, coming up behind and wrapping his arms around me.
"I love being in it" I chuckled "No Thor?" I asked after a quick look around the room and discovering it completely void of his favorite super hero.
"I've got it all in the apartment" he smiled "I'll give you that tour when you come and visit"
"I can't wait…" I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes and then winking so he knew I wasn't completely serious.
He chuckled and kissed the top of my head then gave me a towel and showed me into his bathroom, leaving me to take a quick shower and get ready for bed. When I emerged feeling a million times better he had my bag open and was carefully hanging up my clothes in his massive closet.
"Awww" I cooed "you're such a nice boy!" I said hugging him from behind "Thank you… but I feel a bit bad for making you live out of your bag while you were staying with me."
"Oh you'll have to live out of yours when you come to Ithaca" he laughed "I barely have room for my own clothes let alone visitors… for some reason Mom and Pam have claimed my spare room as their own and leave stuff in there all the time."
I laughed and continued unpacking my bag while he went into the bathroom and had his own shower… it didn't even cross my mind to go and join him until after he had finished…damn it, maybe next time I thought, turning to consider his bed.
It was massive and I had almost decided that I would need a running start to launch myself into it when Eric picked me up and deposited me on top of the covers. I sank blissfully into his down filled quilt and luxuriated in the silken caress of the Egyptian cotton cover.
"Eric I don't think I want to leave this bed ever, ever again" I sighed contentedly, humming happily as I stretched and reveled in the pillow like softness.
"I think that could be arranged." came his husky reply.
Yum… was my last coherent thought for the night as he joined me on the bed.
