A/N - Thanks for the reviews and as always, characters belong to CH. This is longest chapter to date.

35:

'What was I so scared of?'

Maybe it was the fact that any time I had any semblance of happiness in my life it was taken away just as quickly. Was I scared that this was all just some kind of sick joke and soon the rug would get pulled out from under me? Sookie Stackhouse is happy, wonder what can happen to mess up her life now?

I looked down at my hands and fidgeted, "I guess I'm worried that it is all too good to be true. Not too many good things seem to happen to me."

"You have to let yourself be happy sometime, Sookie." Quinn hadn't exactly led a charmed life either, but he seemed to be able to make the best of it and let the bad go. That was something I needed to learn how to do. I nodded and sniffed as my nose was running from crying and the cold. Quinn got me a tissue and I wiped my eyes and nose. I peeled myself out of my coat and bent to look at my ankle. It looked pretty bad and the bruising was spreading.

I sighed and flopped back. I noticed then that the bed was made again, so Quinn or Frannie must have done it when I was sleeping earlier. Quinn kissed my temple and said he was going to go make dinner and tell Frannie to bring the ice for my ankle. A couple minutes later Frannie came in with an ice pack and her face was serious. She put it gently on my ankle and I hissed a bit from the pain and coldness.

"You should elevate it, too. Hand me a pillow." I did as she said and she positioned the pillow under my ankle for me. "Sookie, can I talk to you." I nodded and tried to stay out of her head, because I could tell she wanted to get something off her chest.

She sat down beside me on the bed and took a deep breath before starting. "When Quinn first told me about you, I just figured you were like all the other bimbos that threw themselves at him because of his looks or his money. When I finally met you at Rhodes I handled it badly and was a total bitch to you. I was jealous. I realized that later. I'd never heard Quinn talk so highly of a woman before as he did about you, and I just couldn't believe the things he said about you were true. I didn't know you and I pre-judged you, mostly because I never thought anyone would be good enough for him. But after everything you did at Rhodes, including saving me and Quinn, I started to realize that I was wrong. There was something special about you; Quinn said he knew that from the very first time he saw you at some funeral. That you would risk yourself for so many people was amazing to me. I'd never seen such a selfless act before. When you came to the hospital I saw that you would have given me the shirt off of your back, and you practically did. There aren't many people like that around anymore. When I came back after you sent me to get cleaned up I just watched you with Quinn for a while. He woke up briefly and I saw how he looked at you and how happy he was that you had come. When you finally woke up I saw the same look in your eyes. I knew then that you two were perfect for each other." She paused for a moment and then went on.

"Basically, what I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry with how I treated you and I want you to know that I think you guys deserve each other. I couldn't ask for a better person for Quinn to choose to be with. You both deserve happiness after how horrible the past year has been, and everything else you've had to deal with in your lives. I'm really happy for you two."

I had started crying again at some point during her speech, and as she finished I threw my arms around her smiled. "I was horrible to you, too, though! I'm so sorry! I knew from your mind that you loved Quinn, I just didn't pick up that it was because you were his sister, and I was jealous, too." She hugged me back just as warmly and I really felt more at ease knowing that she really did approve of me.

She sat back and smiled, "Don't think this means I'm going to stop teasing you two, though."

I laughed at her through my tears and then she noticed her shredded pants on the floor. She walked over and picked them up looking thoroughly disgusted, "See, you two just give me too much good material to work with!"

I laughed harder and gasped out, "He said he'd buy you some new ones."

"Yeah, he will!" she said and her tone of voice was so acerbic compared to her previous mirth it only sent me into another fit of giggles. She went on with a smirk, "I noticed when doing laundry he owes you some under garments as well."

I stopped laughing and blushed, "Frannie!" I didn't know if I was more upset that she had troubled herself to do my laundry or the fact that she saw the remains of my poor ripped panties.

Quinn came back into the room just then and said, "You seem to be in a better mood."

I smiled and said, "Yeah, Frannie talked some sense into me."

He smiled to his sister and then looked back to me. She rolled her eyes and threw her ruined pants at him. She asked sarcastically, "I assume dinner is ready?"

He nodded without taking his eyes off of me and she left. He sat next to me and his eyes were burning into mine. I opened my mouth to speak, but he silenced me by putting his fingertips gently against my mouth. "I love you, Sookie. I don't care how long it takes to prove that to you, but I am here and I am not going away." Then he pulled me into his arms and tilted my head back and kissed me passionately.

I smiled against his mouth and returned the kiss just as enthusiastically. After several minutes, I pulled away and said, "I know how you can prove it to me right now," smiling suggestively. I tried to move closer to him and inadvertently put weight on my hurt ankle and I flinched and gasped in pain.

Quinn smiled and smoothed my hair away from my forehead and said, "Why don't we eat and get you some pain killers first?"

I nodded emphatically now that I remembered the pain in my ankle. I tried to walk but it was slow going as it hurt if I put any weight on it, so Quinn simply scooped me up and effortlessly carried me upstairs.

He sat me at the bar and pulled another chair up so I could prop my leg up on it, then got me some Tylenol. Frannie put a steaming bowl of chili in front of me and a glass of water.

I took the pills and listened to Frannie lecture me on how to take care of a sprained ankle. I thought I could handle it, but since she was the runner and had some sports medicine training I let her ramble on. I needed to ice it on and off tonight for the swelling and take Tylenol for the pain. She added, "I'd give you some better anti-inflammatories that I have, but I don't know if it would be safe for the baby."

I looked at Quinn and asked, "Did the doctor say anything about pain killers? I was kind of overwhelmed with all the info he was throwing at us. Plain Tylenol was fine, right?"

He nodded, "Yeah, he said you could take it for cramping, too. If it's still bothering you on Monday, I'm sure we can call and he could prescribe something safe."

"Sounds good," I said.

We decided to all watch a movie and Quinn carried me downstairs after dinner so I could pick one out while they were cleaning up. I sat on the floor in front of the huge shelves and I immediately noticed the 'tiger' section. Man, Quinn wasn't kidding about Frannie thinking it funny to get Quinn all sorts of 'tiger' related items. Most of them were martial arts films or war movies about Vietnam or World War II. I thought it was silly that she bought them just because they had 'tiger' in the name, but imagined how Pam and Amelia would love it and it made me smile. Then I saw the section of action movies by that one actor that Quinn kind of resembles and laughed out loud. Quinn was much taller though. I had a feeling that Frannie would get along famously with Pam and Amelia. I ended up going with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon so I could make fun of Frannie's obsession and also because it was a really beautiful film.

The two of them came down and I saw Frannie had an icepack of torture ready for me. I groaned and she said, "Oh, come on, this is nothing. If you really wanted to take the swelling down we could get a bucket of ice water and we could just submerge your whole leg."

I shivered just thinking about it and said, "No, thanks. The icepack is bad enough."

Quinn helped me up off the floor and to the couch and asked, "So what did you decide on?"

I smirked and gave him the dvd and he sighed, "Not you, too."

I laughed, "No, don't worry. I mostly chose it because I wanted to point out to Frannie that I noticed her bad collection of tiger movies. This is the only one that doesn't suck. You don't have to worry about me bringing you any tiger stripe ice cream."

Frannie had glowered a bit at me pointing out her tiger obsession, but when she heard about the ice cream she exclaimed, "Nuh Uh!!! There is such a thing!?"

I told her the story about Pam bringing the ice cream and Frannie's eyes were positively glowing, "If they have a website, I'm ordering some tomorrow!" she stated with authority.

Quinn shook his head, "See what you started."

I laughed and settled against him as the movie started and propped my ankle up with the ice on it. I shivered and Quinn pulled a blanket over us and I cuddled against his warmth.

Frannie was relentless with the ice, acting like a nurse, taking it on and off for me every 20 minutes. Quinn and I discreetly stroked and touched each other beneath the covers and it took every ounce of self control I had not to tell Frannie to go away so I could take her brother right then and there. Part of me thinks she wasn't even really into the movie and just stayed to torture us, but I was too distracted to read her exact thoughts. When the movie was finally over, Frannie slyly asked if we wanted to watch another one and Quinn and I both barked, "No!" at the same time, and then more politely said we were tired and wanted to go to bed. She giggled and mumbled something under her breath and finally left us alone. Quinn had me in his arms and into the bedroom before she had even cleared 3 of the stairs.

He put me down on the bed and we both quickly started shedding our clothes and were soon naked in each others arms. Even though we rushed to get each other undressed, there was nothing hurried about what followed. Facing each other on our sides we kissed ardently and used our hands to slowly explore each other's bodies. There was so much love and passion in Quinn's swirling mind that I was thought my heart would explode from happiness. He actually flinched when my now frozen ankle touched him and I giggled. He growled playfully and lifted my leg over his thigh so my ankle was in the air and that way it wouldn't hurt me or get in the way. This also opened me widely for him and he stroked my leg and up my thigh to my hot moist core. I moaned into his mouth when he touched my folds softly and massaged my clit. He rasped, "I want to taste you. Your taste is so unbelievable." I certainly didn't have any argument with that and his sexy deep voice only excited me more. I arched as Quinn continued to kiss and lick slowly down my body until he made his way to my entrance and he positioned my injured leg up on his shoulder carefully. He kissed my sex gently and licked my juices hungrily as I became increasingly wet from his attentions.

Quinn had complete and utter control over my body with how he was holding me and I threw my head back and reveled in the sensation of it. Before I knew it I was coming on his tongue and moaning in ecstasy. He kissed his way back up my body as I caught my breath, but I still wanted more. I pulled his face to mine and kissed him hungrily. I could taste myself on his tongue and it made me want him even more. I reached down and rubbed his length and decided I wanted to taste him, too. I kissed his hard nipples and down his chiseled abs to his glorious hips that led to the most beautiful cock I'd ever seen. I repaid him in kind, showing him just how much I admired his equipment. Every muscle in his magnificent body was bulging and he grasped at the sheets as he growled my name. But he was far from done. He quickly rolled me on my back supporting my leg and looked me in the eyes and said, "I need to be inside you Sookie. I need you." He pushed against my opening and I arched as he entered me with agonizing slowness. The way he was holding my leg elevated my hips just perfectly so that he immediately hit my sweet spot and I gasped and held on to him tighter. He kissed me deeply as he kept up his slow pace and we rocked together in a loving rhythm for what seemed like an eternity. He brought me to the edge again and this time he came with me and we clutched each other desperately as we climaxed together.

Caught in the moment I felt I needed to apologize again for running scared earlier and I gasped desperately, "Oh Quinn, I do love you and I'm so sorry! I'm such an idiot sometimes...I just…"

He shushed my hysterics and held me tightly while stroking my hair and back lovingly, "Shh…I know, Sookie, I know. It's okay."

I was glad he understood without me having to spell it all out. With everything that's happened, combined with the pregnancy hormones, I felt like I was on a roller coaster lately. I was super happy one minute, then scared shitless the next. I said, "I don't know if it's the hormones or what, but it's insane how fast my moods have been fluctuating lately."

Quinn had noticed, but one thing being in a family of only women taught him is that you don't comment on a woman's moodiness due to her hormones. That was just asking to get chewed out or slapped. He smiled to himself at her words, but didn't say anything, he just kissed her forehead.

I stroked his chest absently and asked, "So, when do you have to go back to work?" I was a little nervous that Quinn was going to have to start traveling again soon and he'd be gone for weeks at a time like he used to be. I suppose I could just go with him, if he'd let me, but not sure how dealing with a pregnancy on the road would work.

Quinn sensed her nervousness when she asked this. His cat-side allowed him to read people extremely well along with any fluctuation in pheromones or hormones. He needed to reassure her and he had no intention of traveling for work any time soon. "Well, considering I'm one of the owners, pretty much whenever I want. I can do most of the management and mundane things remotely, and I think I'm going to take myself off of the traveling rotation and let someone else take over running ceremonies. I'm tired of it all."

I was immediately relieved at his words and inadvertently let out a sigh of relief which he chuckled at. I propped myself up on my elbows so I could look at him, "Sorry, I know your work is important to you and I shouldn't be happy you are blowing it off to be with me….but I still am. Does that make me a bad person?"

He smiled at me, "No, Sookie, not at all. Does it make me a bad person that I'm glad you blew off your work to hang out with me here?"

"Ha! If I even have a job anymore! I kind of bailed on Sam. I wouldn't be surprised if he fired me….I wouldn't care too much either considering how he acted towards both of us. Besides, I don't think he has a maternity uniform and the idea of being on my feet all day while pregnant doesn't sound like much fun."

Quinn had always thought that job was beneath her, but respected her occupation just the same. Sookie could do anything she wanted if she put her mind to it. Quinn wondered how he could get her to consider a position with his company without her feeling like it was charity. It wouldn't be, she would be an asset to any major company, especially one that dealt with supes, considering the were's have come out now. He said, "You could work any where you want Sookie. You have a lot of options. I doubt you need to worry about it."

I scoffed at him, "Yeah, like Applebee's or Red Lobster!"

Quinn frowned, "No, Sookie, I don't mean as a waitress. You have a lot to offer and I don't just mean your telepathy. I would give anything to have someone like you working for our company and I'm sure there are plenty of others that would, too."

"For your company? Doing what?" I was intrigued.

He was absent mindedly playing with a strand of my hair as we lay there together. He said, "Well, just look how valuable you were at the packmaster contest last year. As well as I can read people, I can't catch everything. You'd be surprised the levels of deceit people go to not only in supe contests, but also just in every day business dealings. With the hate mongers like the FOTS running around, were businesses are going to be targeted now like the vamps have been. You would be able to uncover plots like you did in Rhodes that other people could totally miss with regular security measures. Seriously, Sookie, you could write your own ticket."

I thought about the amount of money the vamps had paid me to work for them and I have to admit the idea was tempting. I wasn't freaky-crazy Sookie Stackhouse in the supe world; there I was respected for my ability and paid very well for it. I don't think I wanted to work for vamps again though, and now that the bond with Eric was gone, they couldn't force me to either. I really liked the thought of that even more. Working for were's would still likely be dangerous, but probably not as bad as with the vamps. Plus, the hours would be better and I could work during the day. I had always figured I'd work for Sam the rest of my life, but now I realize how unrealistic that was, especially now that I was pregnant and I was with Quinn. I didn't want to be away from Quinn, but I couldn't expect him to give up everything and live with me in Bon Temps anymore than I would want him to expect that of me.

Quinn stroked my face, "What are you thinking so hard about?"

"What are we going to do Quinn? I mean, about you and me, our lives, jobs?"

He shrugged, "We can figure it out as we go. We can live where ever you want. I can do my job from anywhere. I know you'll never consider it, but you don't have to work Sookie, but you can do whatever you want. You can work, or go to school, there are a ton of options."

Suddenly I was hit with something I certainly didn't want to do, "I don't want to go back to Louisiana." I blurted out.

"Where'd that come from?" he asked.

"Just the thought of going back to it all makes me cringe. My house doesn't even really feel like my home anymore after everything that's happened to me there. Also, with Amelia and Octavia living at my house, it's just awkward. In Bon Temps I will always be viewed as crazy Sookie…add a pregnant belly to that, it will just be worse. I'm too easy to find there, too. I know we can't hide forever, but being off the vamp's radar is kind of nice. I never thought I'd say this, because I love my home, but the idea of just starting over some place new sounds really appealing right now. I don't really care where, as long as I'm with you."

"Really?" Quinn was ecstatic, but he didn't want her to make any rash decisions.

I caught the flash of the thought that Quinn was thrilled that I wanted to be with him.

"Yes, really," I kissed him on the mouth and whispered, "And I'm not making any rash decisions."

He smirked, "Caught that, huh?"

I smiled at him, "You only seem to project thoughts at me on accident when you are really happy, so it's not a bad thing."

"Oh, I'm happy." He said then he was kissing me. He moved slightly and brushed against my ankle and I winced. "Sorry, babe. You want some more Tylenol?"

"Yeah, please, if you don't mind?"

"Not at all." he pecked me once more and jumped up and walked to the bathroom. I definitely enjoyed the view. He came back with some water and the pills and I sat up to take them, definitely noticing again how well loved I felt. I must be dehydrated because I drained the entire glass of water. Quinn got more water and put it on the table next to me and then crawled back in with me. It didn't take long for us to fall asleep in each other's arms.

The next morning when I woke up I felt like I'd been hit by a truck. I couldn't move because if I tried, every muscle screamed at me to stop. Apparently the vigorous sex (and sex with Quinn is definitely vigorous) combined with twisting my ankle and then slipping down several stairs equates to this feeling. Quinn had already gotten up and I could smell coffee and bacon, so he was probably fixing breakfast.

I really had to pee, so I didn't really have any other choice than to get up on my own. I slid to the edge of the bed and went to stand up, but I instinctively put weight on my right ankle first and I went down like a ton of bricks, which promptly alerted Quinn and Frannie that I was awake. Quinn burst in seconds later with Frannie close behind to find me sprawled face down naked on the floor whimpering in pain. God, could I do anything else to embarrass myself?

He quickly knelt next to me and Frannie, bless her, grabbed a sheet off the bed and covered me, "What happened?" he asked.

I said the only thing that I could to explain it, "I feel like I got hit by a truck," and then closed my eyes against the tears that were threatening to come not only from the pain, but also my mortification. "I need to pee, Quinn. Can you help me?"

He scooped me up as gently as he could and helped me to the bathroom. I saw his nose flare and his eyes grew wide. I quickly realized what he was reacting to when I saw that I was spotting lightly. He let me finish up and handed me my robe, "It's real light, Quinn, I think I'm fine. It's my muscles that hurt." He didn't look convinced and helped me stand by the vanity while I washed my face and brushed my teeth.

He helped me back out to the bed where Frannie was waiting, "You probably strained your other muscles when you fell. You went down really hard on the stairs, and if you don't fall properly all your muscles tense up and it's basically like whiplash in your whole body." Nurse Frannie informed me. "That and the pain killers have probably worn off."

"Fall properly?" I asked.

"Yeah, when we know something bad is going to happen, like we see we're about to have a car crash or fall down or something, we tense all the muscles in our body instinctively, when actually we'd be better off if we just stayed loose. When you're all tense and then you have an impact it just strains all your muscles, so they are all spasming right now, that's why it hurts. When you fall you should stay loose or try to roll."

She really needed to go to nursing school or something, I thought. "Ok, well, can I have some Tylenol then?"

"No." Quinn said with authority, "I'm taking you to the emergency room."

"That's unnecessary, Quinn. I can just go see the doctor tomorrow or something."

"Sookie, you've fallen twice now and now you are spotting. You need to go to the ER."

I sighed seeing that this was not negotiable, "Fine."

So Quinn helped me dress and we were quickly off to the ER. Quinn didn't think his rear wheel drive Charger would make it in the snow, so we took Frannie's four wheel drive Land Rover, which of course had a freakin' tiger on the dealership spare tire cover. I laughed and shook my head while she just grinned.

We made it to the hospital quickly despite the snow. Quinn wouldn't let me walk even though I protested I could and I'm sure we made quite the picture. Quinn standing at well over six and a half feet tall, carrying my pathetic self as if I had a bullet wound and not just a twisted ankle and some sore muscles. The nurses and receptionists were certainly alarmed at first by the scene and then it was quickly replaced with dirty thoughts about Quinn. Eww, I threw my shields up before the women's fantasies got too bad. Quinn put me down in a chair and I kind of scowled at him, but he was unaffected as he strode off to see about checking me in. There wasn't any one else in the waiting room, so I guess Quinn was right about this town being abandoned in the winter. I looked around and quickly spotted a display case that had all kinds of lures and fish hooks attached to a bulletin board. The banner just explained that they were all the hooks that had been cut out of various patients. I laughed remembering Jason's similar incident.

Quinn came back over after filling out paperwork and insurance forms for me and said, "Good news, your doctor is on call this weekend, so he's going to come check you out after the ER doc is done."

They took me back pretty quickly I thought for an emergency room, but again, there wasn't much activity. I had to take off my clothes and put on a gown. I was able to convince the nurse that I could take them off myself and they didn't need to cut them off. After taking all my vitals the nurse finally left me alone.

The ER doc came in and we told him about my fall and my soreness and pretty much said the same thing that Frannie had told me earlier, only in a much more medical way. Frannie was beaming. He examined my ankle and said it didn't appear to be broken, but they wouldn't be able to do an X-Ray to be sure since I was pregnant. He suggested putting me in walking cast, so it would heal properly and I would be able to walk better because it would support the ankle. I agreed…heck, I had insurance now! And Quinn seemed pleased that I was actually taking the doctor's advice. The ER doctor wanted to wait to confer with Dr. Schwartz before prescribing any muscle relaxers or pain meds, so we had to wait a bit for him to come look me over, too.

Dr. Schwartz came in around 30 minutes later and I apologized profusely for them calling him in on a Saturday but he said it wasn't a big deal since he had already been here this morning to deliver a baby.

He wanted to examine me since I was spotting and had fallen, so I got to go through that lovely procedure again. He explained that since I was nine weeks, spotting at this time sometimes happened because that would be about when I should have had my second period since conception and it's known as break-through spotting. He didn't seem to be too concerned and once he had explained all of this I could see Quinn visibly relax. The doctors agreed on something I could take for the muscle spasming for a day or so, then just regular Tylenol for any other pain.

The ER tech came in then to cast my leg and I had fun listening to Frannie ask the guy all kinds of medical questions. He was a young guy and he didn't mind the questions because he thought Frannie was hot, but Quinn made him nervous so he was too scared to ask for her number. I let Frannie pick the color of the cast and I immediately regretted it when she picked purple. Not that I don't like purple, purple is fine, but this shade was a horrid bright magenta that was almost neon.

Quinn excused himself while I was being cast because he wanted to talk with Dr. Schwartz and I whispered to Frannie, "Frannie, what's he asking my doctor?"

Frannie smirked and whispered back, "He is having to explain exactly how large he is to the doctor because Quinn said he was worried about hurting you during sex and asked if sex caused you to start spotting."

I immediately blushed and hissed, "What? Are you serious?"

Frannie grinned wider and nodded. I was embarrassed but I wanted to know the doctor's answer so I gave in and whispered, "Well, what did he say?"

She laughed out loud and wouldn't answer me. Well, two could play that game!

I said, "Fine. Then I won't tell you what I'm hearing either," and I shot my eyes quickly to the cute tech that was still working on my ankle. Her eyes got wide and then it was her freaking turn to blush.

She leaned in close and whispered, "Fine. The doctor says it's not a problem as long as it doesn't hurt, so don't worry nympho! Now tell me!"

I about choked at her calling me a nympho, but I answered her quietly, "He wants your number, but he's scared of Quinn."

She sat back and rolled her eyes, "Figures, who isn't."

After the cast was done and they finally they released me so Quinn helped me get dressed and as we were leaving I noticed Frannie lingering off in a corner talking with the tech as Quinn and I checked out. She finally rejoined us and we were able to go home after picking up my prescription at a 24/7 pharmacy. I looked at her in the backseat and asked, "You get his number?"

"Whose number?" Quinn asked.

I said, "Landry, the tech that did my cast."

He scowled, "Why would you want that little punk's number, Frannie?"

She rolled her eyes, "Everyone is little to you, and yes, I got his number." she said proudly.

Quinn made a disgusted face, "What kind of stupid name is Landry?" I laughed out loud.

Frannie said sarcastically, "Well, we can't all be cool enough to just go by our last name, can we, Quinn?"

I couldn't stop laughing at their exchange, "You guys stop, it hurts to laugh!"

We ate at a little road-side diner on the way home as it was well after lunch time by the time we got done at the hospital and pharmacy. Quinn continued to rib Frannie about the 'little punk.'

I found that I actually could walk better with the cast, but I still needed to lean on Quinn a bit. We made it home and all I wanted to do was go to sleep. My meds were definitely kicking in. Quinn helped me downstairs and I opted to lie on the couch so I could watch TV until I fell asleep.

I don't think I even lasted a minute before I was out.

a/n- I won't be detailing every day as much as I want to speed the story up, so don't be alarmed when and if the story jumps forward. Also, yes, you can get a cast on a sprained ankle…I've had one, and it is amazing how fast and how much better it heals that way…also, you can walk better.