Chapter 37: Family

Pam and I were sitting in my office joking back and forth; my feet we up on the desk and we both had a bottle of TrueBlood in our hands.

"So do you expect much of a fight soon?" smiled Pam.

"Within a week. It will be a glorious battle," I chuckled.

"It's a shame that you are going to miss it."

"Sookie chose me. I am honored to have the position of personal protector."

"I think Eric would have been better."

"Please," I scoffed, "After the fight, if there is any, he will take her and the babe will be set aside and ignored till he is satisfied. I, however, will have to wait to satisfy that lust."

"How nervous do you think Eric is right now?"

"Considering this is his first childbirth that he is witnessing," I chuckled. "He probably wants to tear someone apart right now."

"Glad the good Dr. Ludwig kicked us out," smiled Pam as she raised her bottle. I raised my bottle in agreement and we took a drink. "Any idea what it is?"

"A boy," I smiled. "We're going to be sisters."

"We already are sisters."

"Yes, but now we will have a baby brother to pick on."

"If Sookie and Eric will let us."

"Sibling rivalry knows no bounds. Besides, Eric won't let that kid growing up without knowing some sort of fighting techniques."

"Oh, sparring would be fun to pick on our new sibling."

"And what better teachers than those who may hold a small grudge but are unwilling to kill?" I smiled.

Pam giggled in delight and watched as the door open. Eric was there holding a small bundle. Pam and I were instantly standing up and waited for Eric to approach us.

"It's a boy," he smiled as he stepped towards us.

"What did you name him?" I asked softly as I looked down at my new brother.

"Sookie calls him Payton Geir Northman," smiled Eric. Pam chuckled and smiled.

"I like it," she mused. Pam sniffed the air and wrinkled her nose. "What is that smell?"

Eric and I sniffed. Eric wrinkled his nose and looked down at the cause who was starting to squirm. I laughed and gently took Payton from Eric's arms and went to the room where Sookie was in. Dr. Ludwig looked up at me and raised an eyebrow.

"I need a diaper and wet wipes, please," I told the nurse that was standing nearby.

"I can do that for you," she smiled. I raised an eyebrow as she pulled out what I needed.

"No thank you," I smiled as I picked up the items. I turned to Sookie and smiled. "Eric needs to learn what to do. I'll have Pam tape it."

Sookie laughed wearily as I left the room and went back to my office. Eric looked at me questionably as I handed him the diaper and wipes. Pam had the small camera out and was already recording.

"What am I to do with these?" asked Eric.

"You are going to change Payton's diaper."

"I will do no such thing."

"Yes, father, you are. You need to learn how to help out Sookie. She can't do everything."

"That's what a nanny is for," he argued.

"You seriously think that Sookie is going to allow another person to raise any child of hers?" I laughed. "Good luck with that one. Now, come on, you can do this."

I cleared space on my desk earlier just for this and gently laid Payton down. I moved to the side and pulled Eric to stand right in front of Payton. I quickly unwrapped Payton from the blanket and looked at Eric. I watched as his mouth tightened and his resolve dwindling.

"It has become far easier to put a diaper on a kid than it was back when we were human," I said casually. "First thing you do is unsnap the bottom of the onesie."

Eric rolled his eyes and did what I told him to do. "How do you know how to do this?"

"I've had my human help bring in their infants for me to see. I paid attention and even watched the kid for a few hours. You pick it up," I said casually. "Now pull the onesie up so you can see the diaper."

Eric sighed and Payton started to whimper. "It's ok, little one," he soothed. "I am working on it."

I pointed to the tabs. "Pull those and lift the front flap." I leaned back just a little and smirked. Eric carefully peeled back the front flap and looked curiously down and quit breathing. I glanced at Pam and smiled; before Eric could react a small stream of liquid hit him in the face. I laughed and quickly put the flap back to cover the stream. Eric turned to me and glared. I handed him a wet wipe and continued to chuckle, "Happens to us all at least once, Eric."

Eric growled a little and cleaned himself up. "You knew that was going to happen," he accused.

"I knew there was a possibility for that to happen," I shrugged. "You should be safe to continue now."

"I don't trust you."

"Then you can tell Sookie why you refuse to change your son's diaper."

Eric growled and rolled his eyes and turned back to Payton. "Don't you dare try that again young man," he warned as he opened up the diaper. I handed him a wet wipe.

"Remove the poop from the skin with that." Eric followed my instruction and asked for another wipe. I pulled the dirty diaper out from underneath and handed Eric the new one. "Open it up and put the new one on. Then you snap up the onesie and wrap him back up before it is cold. The dirty diaper gets folded up and thrown away, preferably in a semi airtight container."

Eric picked Payton up and took a deep breath. "That wasn't so bad, now was it, Payton?"

"It gets easier with time," I smiled. "You might want to take him back to Sookie now."

"Why?"

"Little man is getting hungry," I said knowingly. Eric raised an eyebrow at me as Payton started to cry. Eric was out the door quickly and I took the diaper to the kitchen to throw it in the trash. Pam followed and watched me curiously.

"How do you know so much about babies?" she asked.

"I had to help raise the ones that my mother had after me," I shrugged. "I had a few humans that had children and they trusted me not to eat them so I watched them for a few hours at a time every now and then."

"How can you stand them?"

"Some are more difficult than others. But I just keep in mind that without babies there would be no food."

"Good point," smiled Pam. "Well, it's probably a good thing that Eric and Sookie's baby doesn't appeal to me."

"It's Eric's mix with Payton that makes us not want to harm him. We are both tied to Eric and his smell isn't appealing to us. It's Sookie's fae blood that makes us want to protect Payton like any older sibling would."

"You've thought about this a lot, haven't you?"

"I discussed my thoughts with Dr. Ludwig and she seems to think that they are very accurate."

"Well, I am just glad that I am not going to miss the battle and you are stuck babysitting," teased Pam.

I laughed and we went back to my office.

A few months later I was sitting in a cabin with Sookie and Payton watching the snow fall down. A fight broke out in the supernatural community when Eric and Sookie announced that they had a son. The Fellowship of the Sun tried extremely hard to break into my home where Sookie was staying. Eric pleaded with Sookie to let me take her and Payton to a safe place where they would be safe from all that was going to happen.

Sookie reluctantly agreed and I packed for all of us before goodbyes were said. Bubba was sitting in the front seat as Eric placed Payton in his car seat. I had the bags in the trunk and Eric was at my side grasping my arm in our old greeting.

"Fight smart and strong, father," I told him.

"Keep safe and I will call when it is safer," he said softly.

"May Odin keep you safe." I turned and sat down in the driver's seat. Eric gave Sookie one more kiss before I pulled out and headed out my back drive. Sookie cried quietly in the back seat as I weaved into traffic and headed to the airport.

"What about my protection during the day?" whispered Sookie.

"Niall has taken care of that for us. Where we are going there will be enough magical wards and fae guard around that the night time will be your only weakness," I said matter of factly.

"And where are we going?"

"Somewhere safe," I sighed. "I can't tell you much because someone might hear and try to head us off."

"Did you say good bye to Yury?"

"I did not. We both know our parts in this and we both believe that if we do not say good bye then we will see each other again." The car went quiet, all except for Bubba humming to himself, till I parked us in a hanger and we transferred to the plane.

A few nights later we were sitting at a cabin. Bubba was outside making rounds and I smiled at Sookie and Payton as she played peek-a-boo with him. I heard a dull thud outside and stood up and quickly checked outside. Sookie looked up at me and waited.

"Sookie, take Payton down to the shelter and wait for either Bubba or I to come and get you. If you don't hear from us in two days, call Niall and tell him what you know," I ordered her. Sookie nodded and picked up Payton and went to the shelter and locked it from the inside. I smiled knowing that Sookie would be safe underground. No one knew which safe house I was using for Sookie and Payton's protection. There was a choice of five and I had Niall put protection around everyone so I didn't have to make my mind up till the very last minute. I was glad to be using Godric's old home in what is now Russia. He left it to me and Julius as an extra safe house and it worked perfectly for this occasion.

I stepped outside and quickly ran to where I heard the thud. I looked down and saw Bubba's form on the ground. I hissed and took in the scent of who was out there. I growled and quickly started my hunt.

A/N: Who is it? I'm not telling... till next chapter! Muwahahaha! It's been a day and I am still not done with the day.