Sawyer rested her head on Eric's chest and ran her fingers long his abdomen. She felt him stroking her hair and neither of them said anything for a few moments. They were both holding on to the high from their lovemaking and Sawyer didn't want to be the one to ruin it; even though she really wanted to know about why Eric was so worried about the queen.
"I stopped selling vampire blood," he finally said running his hand down Sawyer's arm.
"What?" Sawyer asked turning and looking at him.
"I stopped selling V. I knew you were right all those months ago and as the birth of the twins got closer," Eric looked down at her, "I wanted them to have a father they could be proud of."
"Eric, love, you are someone they could be proud of."
Eric watched as Sawyer looked deep into his eyes. He leaned down and kissed her again. He still did not understand how it was that she could still believe that he had good inside of him. She had always been able to look past his faults. He pulled away from the kiss and gave her a soft smile. He watched as she smiled back at him and he knew that he needed her in his life. He needed her to bring in some form of light that he had been missing. He was tired of living in complete darkness.
"The queen wishes to see me and I have no doubt that she will order me to start selling vampire blood again," he told her softly.
"And if you don't?" Sawyer had to ask. She saw the look on Eric's face and knew that he didn't want to do that; she knew that he wanted to be the man that she would be proud to call hers.
"She will probably threaten you and the children. I will not let it get that far. I will do whatever she asks of me."
Sawyer looked at him. She knew that doing whatever the queen asked of him was going against everything he was. Her Eric was a leader; a king you could say. He was use to giving orders, not taking them. She took his hand in hers and kissed it. She ran her thumb over his band and looked back into his eyes. She gave him a soft smile and knew that he needed her to be on his side during this. She pressed her body against his and placed another soft kiss on his chest.
"You do whatever needs to be done to keep this family safe. If that means selling vampire blood, then you sell vampire blood. It won't change how I feel about you and it would never change how our children see you. You will always be their father and they will always be proud of you," she told him softly gently stroking his chest.
"There is no way you can be sure of that," Eric whispered rolling Sawyer on her back.
"I am sure of it because it is how I feel. I am proud of you, Eric and nothing is going to change that. Certainly not some spoiled queen who doesn't even know you or me."
Eric smiled. He kissed Sawyer deeply and pulled the sheets away from her body, "Do you have any idea how much I love you?" he asked kissing down her neck and running his hand along her body.
"Actually, I do. I love you too," Sawyer answered running her hands through Eric's hair. She moaned as his mouth covered her nipple. There was nowhere else she preferred to be at the moment then in Eric's arms with him loving her.
Eric stood by the door and watched as Bill's car pulled up to the house. He walked outside and was beside the car opening the back passenger door before Bill had even come to a complete stop. Eric smiled when he saw Ardith and Aleryck sleeping in their carriers not a care in the world. He stood up and turned to look at Bill when he saw the other vampire standing beside him.
"Thank you for bringing them home," Eric said softly.
"It was no problem. I must say they were actually very good babies. Must be because they carry none of your blood in them," Bill commented watching as Eric took Aleryck's carrier out of the back of the car first.
"You actually think you are funny, don't you William?"
"Sookie laughs at my jokes."
"Sookie is blonde and a hick. I very much doubt she knows what is funny."
"My, you are in such a good mood tonight. I thought spending time with Sawyer would make you a better person. Clearly I was expecting too much from her."
Bill watched as Eric grabbed both carriers in his hands and turned to walk back to the house. Bill sighed and knew that he had to follow Eric. Sookie had asked him to find out what was going on. Her excuse had been that she was worried about Sawyer and she wanted to make sure that whatever was going on with Eric wouldn't affect her friend. Bill wished that he didn't love Sookie so much then he wouldn't have to deal with trying to pry the information from Eric.
"Thank you for bringing my children back. I will remember not to bother you with that task in the future," Eric said walking into the house. He frowned when Bill followed him.
"Something is going on with you. I have known you a long time and I know when you are worried about something."
"I am not worried."
Bill looked at Eric, "You are lying. And for once you are not doing it very well."
Eric placed the baby carriers on the island and turned to look at Bill. He knew that out of everyone Bill was the person he trusted the least but he knew that in this case he needed to trust another vampire. He trusted Pam but if something went wrong he needed her near Sawyer so she could protect her and the children. He sighed knowing that this one time he was going to have to confide in Bill Compton. The thought alone caused a constant pounding in the back of his head and he had a feeling that he was about to have a severe migraine.
"Sophie-Anne summoned me," Eric said reaching out and gently stroking Aleryck's cheek.
Bill frowned, "And what would she want with you? There has been no unrest in Area 5, has there?"
"No, there hasn't but," Eric turned and looked at Bill, "I have done something that has angered the queen."
"And what is that?"
Eric smirked and looked away, "Like I would tell the likes of you."
"Eric, I really don't see anyone else here willing to help you."
"And how are you going to help me, Bill? Be there for Sawyer if the queen decides to stake me? I don't think that is being helpful."
Bill rolled his eyes and really didn't want to stay but the other option was seeing Sookie again and having to tell her that he had failed. He sighed, "I may not like you, and I know that you do not like me," He saw Eric turn and give him a 'no kidding' look, "but I do like Sawyer. I cannot for the life of me see why she loves you but I will trust her judgment. So, I will help you anyway that I can."
Eric looked at Bill and nodded, "I think it would be best if you came with me to see the queen. After all she is going to probably order me to start selling vampire blood again, she may even give me her blood to sell," he explained.
"What? The queen of Louisiana ordered you to sell vampire blood?" Bill asked shocked.
"Yes, she did and now you know so I now have a witness. Hopefully, she will think twice about killing both of us."
Bill gave Eric a hard look, "Thank you for once again putting me in the middle of everything and potentially putting me and Sookie in danger."
"You're welcome, Bill. I know that you do enjoy it so."
Eric watched as Bill left the house. He turned and looked at the twins again. They were still sleeping. He picked up their carriers and carried them up the stairs. He tried to be quiet so that Sawyer wouldn't hear him. He reached the top of the stairs and saw her standing there with his shirt wrapped around her. She smiled at him and he gave her look.
"You should still be sleeping," he told her softly.
"And trust you and Bill alone in a house filled with potential weapons? I think not," Sawyer said taking Ardith's carrier and carrying to the nursery.
"I wouldn't have killed him," Eric said following her, "I would have just maimed him a little."
"Uh huh."
Sawyer walked into the nursery and placed Ardith's carrier on the floor by her daughter's change table. She picked her daughter up and placed her on the change table. She started to pull off the onesy and check to see if Ardith needed her diaper changed before Sawyer finally put her down for the night. She turned and saw Eric standing a couple of feet away from her doing the same thing with Aleryck. She smiled and changed her daughter's diaper. She wished that she could get a picture of Eric changing a diaper. She would have given it to Pam to blow up and place in the club. She smiled slightly to think that she just might do it yet.
Eric did up the diaper and smiled slightly to think that in his one thousand year experience he had cleaned up worst messes then what an infant baby could make in their diaper. He did up the onesy again and picked Aleryck up in his arms. He turned and smiled when he saw Sawyer humming softly to Ardith. She looked up and looked at him and saw the huge smile on her face. He would never forget that smile and how beautiful she looked standing there in their children's room.
"Is she ready for bed?" Eric asked softly.
"Yes, she is. Come on Ardy, let's get you in bed," Sawyer said picking her up and going to carry her over to the cribs. Eric reached out and placed his hand on her arm. She turned and looked at him. "What is it?" she asked softly.
"I would like the twins to sleep with us in bed today," he answered.
"Eric, that would be spoiling them too much. The books say-."
"Min karlek, please. I just," Eric looked down at Aleryck as the little boy snuggled close to his chest. Alreyck didn't seem to mind that Eric wasn't warm and giving off heat, "I want to be like any normal human family in this. Please, let me."
Sawyer looked at Eric and felt tears come to her eyes. He really expected her to turn him down again. She could tell by the look on his face that he didn't think that she trusted him enough to bring the twins to bed with them. She looked down at Ardith and swore knowing that this was going to spoil them beyond belief. She stepped closer to Eric and placed a kiss on his lips.
"Alright, but you get to deal with them tomorrow when they refuse to nap in their cribs," she said taking his hand and pulling him towards the door.
Eric smiled and let her pull him out of the room. He carried Aleryck close to him as he followed Sawyer into the bedroom. She walked over to the bed and climbed on it. She tossed her pillows aside and laid down with Ardith cuddled close to her. She took his pillow and placed it beside Ardith and smiled at him. Eric walked over to the bed and placed Aleryck beside the pillow. He laid down next to his son and looked at Ardith and Aleryck as they kicked their legs and slowly settled down. He turned and looked at Sawyer and caught her watching him.
"What?" he asked.
"Nothing, it's just," Sawyer gave him a soft smile, "when I see you look at them I see a glimpse of what you must have been like as a human. You look so young and carefree and," she looked away, "so full of life and love."
Eric reached out and took her hand, "I wish I could have known you when I was human. Maybe you would have changed me for the better," he brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it, "like you have now."
Sawyer smiled and let a tear fall. She laid her head down on the mattress and looked at Ardith. She smiled as her little girl fell asleep. Sawyer soon followed her feeling Eric still holding her hand. She had all that she would ever need in that bed with her.