Chapter 53 – Crossing the Finish Line
AN: Please don't assume any actual, real-life politician for any politican mentioned in this chapter.
Last time:
I looked at Sookie and Jason, "Godric thinks this calls for a celebration."
Jason added, "bring it on! I'm ready to party."
Sookie asked, "does this mean it's all over?"
I looked at her, and she was so hopeful. I hugged her to me, "I hope so. I certainly hope so."
Now:
When I looked at her, I thought of all the happiness I wanted her to have in conjunction with our wedding. "Sookie, aren't there preliminary celebrations for a wedding… in the days before?"
Sookie tilted her head to the side thinking, "well, yes, there are a few. Sometimes there's a bridal shower, there are bachelor and bachelorette parties, and there's a rehearsal dinner. Sometimes there are others, or there are more than one of the ones I mentioned, but we are so close to the date, I had just assumed that we didn't have time for all that."
I knew what bachelor and bachelorette parties were; we'd had a few at Fangtasia. Those were usually held by brides and grooms who wanted to walk on the edge before getting married. I was able to surmise the activities and rationale for a rehearsal dinner. But there was one that I was unfamiliar with, "what is a bridal shower?"
Sookie chuckled, "well, there are two kinds, which is why I said that sometimes there was more than one. The most common type is where the bride's friends and family, mostly always women, get together and have a party where they bestow the bride with gifts for the home – china patterns, crystal stemware, silverware, pots and pans, decorative items, linens, and the like. Usually a bride will register with a department store for such things, and a lot of the gifts will come from that registry. There are also refreshments and some silly games; basically there's just a lot of laughing and giggling. The other kind of bridal shower is held less often, although more often than it used to be held. It's a lingerie party." I raised my eyebrow at that, imagining Sookie and her friends in lingerie doing gods knew what. She must have interpreted my feelings and my look.
"It's not what you are thinking, you perv. Close friends of the bride gift her with all manner of pretty lingerie and … sexy paraphernalia, so to speak."
Now that still sounded interesting and gave me an idea. I'd have to remember to talk to Pam about it. We really had no need for the first kind of shower, as we already had everything for the house, but I wondered if Sookie would like to pick out her own china, along with other things. "Why aren't you having either of those?" I asked.
She smiled, "most people don't get married as fast as we are. It takes weeks, sometimes months, to do all that. First I'd have to register, which takes considerable time. Then someone would need to host the party, plan it, send invitations, and then prepare for and give it. Again, that takes weeks." She shrugged, "I knew when we set up this short time line for our wedding that I would be foregoing those showers."
I decided right then that I would make it up to Sookie for missing these traditions, "I'm sorry, my Sookie, I didn't know about these things. I'm sorry that you will be missing them."
She shook her head, "don't be sorry, Eric. Our lives have pretty much been in turmoil since the day we met. I'm just hoping that we can have our wedding on Friday." She paused for a moment, "after that, I'm hoping we can just settle into our lives in such a way that we are not constantly preparing for battle."
"I understand, Sookie, but is there any way you could have these… showers after the wedding? I don't want you to miss out on anything; this will be the only time you ever get married, after all," I said. "Wouldn't you like to pick out your own china pattern… and such?"
She smiled, "Eric, if I told you that I had found a china pattern, or crystal pattern, or silverware… whatever, that I liked, would we be able to afford to buy it?"
"Of course, my love, anything you want. You know this," I responded.
"Well, all right then. We'll just get it in the future, and my friends won't feel obligated to pay for it," she beamed. I couldn't help but be happy when she talked about us in the 'we' sense. We would be able to afford it in the future. My brain reeled from the concept of our 'we'. I'd only even known that concept with Godric and Pam. However, those 'we's' felt different from mine and Sookie's. She was my forever, one-and-only 'we'. I would always love and care about Godric and Pam, but Sookie had become the beginning and ending of my existence, as far as I was concerned.
Jason had continued to watch television while Sookie and I were talking. He had probably listened to every word, but he decided to join the conversation, "Hey Sook, Eric, how are we going to celebrate tonight?"
I smiled and looked at him, "I don't know, Jason, what did you have in mind?"
He smirked, "well, I've never been to a vampire club. Do you think we could go to Fangtasia?"
Sookie chuckled, "why, exactly, do you want to go to Fangtasia, Jason?"
He shrugged, "like I said, I never been to a vampire bar before. I know that Eric owns this one, so I thought it might be fun."
Sookie looked at me, and I also shrugged. I said, "Jason, of course you are always welcome there. Why don't we plan to go after dark?"
Jason smiled, "we'll call it a combination Victor victory party and pre-wedding shindig!"
Sookie smiled, "I think that's a good idea. We can also talk all members of the wedding party through the ceremony, and it can also serve as our rehearsal."
I thought about the idea and added, "let's see what is on the news this evening, talk to the agents, and then we can decide if it is safe enough to go out, OK?"
Soon enough the sun set, and Godric, Rasul, Pam, and Thalia joined us on the main floor. We all gathered around the dining table for our evening meal: Royalty Blend for the vampires, and something that Adele and Sookie has spent a large portion of the afternoon making for everyone else. We chatted pleasantly throughout the meal, and we all retired to the den to watch the news on television.
By the time the evening had come, much more of the story had been given to the press. Regular programming was pre-empted for this breaking news about the almost vampire revolution and its leader who was not named. That would've made Victor so mad. Nothing was said about the true leader in Europe, and I had to guess that he hadn't been dealt with yet. We all watched silently as more and more details of the structure of the revolution – vampire cells, plans to take down power and the internet, etc. were revealed in the broadcast. I was impressed with the thoroughness of the report's details. The head of the Department of Homeland Security made a statement from behind an official podium, and standing behind him were the Vice-president of the United States, the head of the FBI, and Roman Zimojic representing the vampire Authority.
Most of all, the gentleman making the speech called for 'cooler heads to prevail' so that there were no attacks against vampires by angered humans. He concluded by telling them that the covert agencies of the US government might have never learned of this terrorist plot without the help of vampires. He was pleased to announce that the assassination of Louisiana Vampire Liaison Officer Rasul al Basir had been a part of the overall plot, but had failed and that Mr. al Basir had merely gone into hiding to try to help find a way to help bring down the terrorists threat. I looked over at Rasul and smiled. He visibly let out a sigh of relief.
The speaker concluded, "Finally, the Department of Homeland Security wants to recognize the vampire who brought this plot to our attention in the first place. Mr. Eric Northman of Shreveport, Louisiana first came to the agents from both Homeland Security and the FBI who were locally investigating the kidnap attempts of Jason and Sookie Stackhouse. Without Mr. Northman's timely intervention, this entire terrorist plot might have turned out quite tragically differently. Due to his actions, often at great personal risk to himself, along with the actions of Godric, the new vampire law enforcement liaison officer, many, many lives were saved, both human and vampire. The United States of America owes a huge debt and gratitude to both Mr. Northman and Godric." He paused, and we all looked at each other with wide incredulous eyes. The speaker continued, "which brings me to an introduction. Ladies and gentlemen, vampires in America are organized under the direction of Roman Zimojic, and he has a few words to add, Mr. Zimojic…"
Roman stepped forward to the podium, and the Director of Homeland Security stepped back. The Guardian began, "ladies and gentlemen, I speak to you today as the leader of all American vampires. First and foremost, I want to assure you that the overwhelming majority of vampires in this country were not involved in this terrorist plot, even as massive as it was. The leader of this plot has been dealt with and no longer poses a threat. All vampires involved under him are in the custody of American law enforcement. The remaining vampires in this country want nothing more than to be peacefully a part of our great American society. Even though this terrorist threat originated with vampires, it was also ended due to vampires. I have spoken with the President of the United States. He understands that even as massive as this subversive action was on a national scale, that it was the actions of a single vampire who brought it down. For that reason, the President will present this country's highest award, the United States National Medal of Freedom, to Mr. Eric Northman in a ceremony in the next week, the first vampire ever to receive such an honor. The vampires of America are proud to have such a brave hero among us. Congratulations to Mr. Northman, Godric, and the American law enforcement community. May we all live together in peace."
Jason whistled, "wow, dude, that is so awesome!"
Sookie looked at me, "do you realize what a big honor this is, Eric? Like he said, it's the highest honor our country bestows on a citizen." She hugged me, "I'm so proud of you…"
Wow indeed. I had no words. I closed my eyes and took stock of how I felt, trying to find the 'hero' in me, but somehow I just felt the same as always. I looked around the den, and all eyes were on me. I smiled and shrugged at them. Pam came over to me and hugged me alongside Sookie. My two beautiful girls. After a moment, I just started to chuckle, "do you think I should tell them that I was just trying to make sure that my fiancé was safe?"
Rasul said, "that may be how it started, but you have done something very brave and … patriotic, Eric. I am proud of you."
Godric smiled, "as am I, min son."
I looked around the room, and everyone was smiling up at me, including Thalia and the Britlingens. I didn't know what to say, "I guess this is a pretty big deal…" and all the heads in the room nodded.
Just at that moment, my phone rang, "Northman," I answered.
"Mr. Northman, this is the president," the other end of the line responded.
My eyebrows shot upward, and I looked around the room. Everyone who was not a vampire was waiting to see who it was. The vampires already knew. "Hello, Mr. President. How are you tonight?" I asked. Sookie's eyes nearly popped.
He chuckled, "I'm just fine, thank you for asking. Have you been watching the news breaking on television?"
"I have. I was a little surprised by some of the announcements, to be honest," I confessed.
He chuckled again, "yes, I imagine that you were." He paused, "Mr. Northman, I owe you a great debt, the American people owe you a great debt, and America owes you a great debt. I called to personally thank you for all that you have done to preserve our way of life."
I didn't know what to say, "thank you, Mr. President, and … you're welcome… I guess." Most of the people in the room were starting to giggle a little, and the president was out-right laughing.
The president continued, "I would like to fly you and your … family to Washington this Friday for the Medal of Freedom ceremony."
Uh oh, I thought. I looked right at Sookie and knew what my answer had to be, "Mr. President, I need to let you know that I am getting married this Friday night. It has been planned for a while, the invitations are all out, and I'm much more afraid of my fiancé than I am of you." Sookie reacted by laughing and pounding her fist into her palm.
The president cackled, "would your fiancé be the lovely Miss Stackhouse?"
I smiled, "yes, Mr. President."
"I see. Do you have a honeymoon planned right after the wedding?" he asked.
"No, Mr. President. Sookie has her Master's orals in about three or four weeks, so we were going to go on our honeymoon after that," I said.
"Excellent. We'll fly you and your bride to Washington Sunday, and we'll hold the ceremony on Monday. Will that work?"
"Can you hold on just a moment?" I asked and he said he could. I put my hand over the phone, "Sookie, the president wants to fly us to Washington on Sunday for the medal ceremony on Monday. Is that OK?"
She laughed, "of course, you big Viking. That will be so great!"
I put the phone back to the ear, "Mr. President, Sookie says it's OK." Sookie swatted my arm, and I chuckled.
The president was laughing, too, "well, we wouldn't want to run on the wrong side of your bride. My office will call with the travel details. And Mr. Northman, on behalf of the people of America, let me repeat how grateful we all are. Take care." And he hung up. I hit the end button on my phone, and it was immediately followed by screams from the people in the room. Even some of the vampires.
"My God, Eric," Rasul said. "This is so huge! You will be forever known as the vampire who saved America!" Everyone laughed.
"Godric, don't you feel you should get this honor as much as I do?"
Godric shook his head, "Eric, you were the one who uncovered the nest with Diane and her cohorts. You were the one who got her a deal which allowed her to share what she knew. No, min son, this is all on you, and I couldn't be happier or prouder." He started walking back to his seat, "besides, I'm much happier in the background, and this government job was already starting to become a little too public for my comfort."
Sookie looked worried, "Eric, I'll need to go shopping for a new dress to wear to the ceremony." She looked around, "and I'll need to get the proper clothes for Clovache as well. Oh my God, I can't believe I'm going to meet the president of the United States," she squealed. She turned to her family, "can Jason and Gran come? What about you Granddaddy, do you want to come?"
Fintan smiled at her, "no, Sookie, but I'm glad that you are so excited. I think it would be nice if Adele and Jason accompanied you, though." I could tell that he knew how much this trip would mean to them.
"I'll make sure they are included. Rasul, Pam do you want to attend?" I asked.
Rasul looked at Pam, "I would like to attend. Pam?"
She shrugged as if it were no big deal, "sounds fun."
I smiled, "well, the president did invite me and my family. That includes all of you, as far as I'm concerned."
Thalia quietly said, "I'd like to come…"
I smiled at her, "of course, Thalia. I meant what I said. All of you are family."
Jason added, "plus Lafayette and Jesus, right?"
And with that statement I could tell that Jason and Lafayette had that 'best friend' relationship that most people wished they had. I remembered that they had been roommates in college. It was an odd pairing, the high school jock and the guy everyone ridiculed/tortured for being gay. Sookie had once told me that Lafayette was also an athlete in football and baseball, but that didn't negate the bad things that must have been tossed his way due to his open lifestyle in a small back-woods high school. I had to admire Jason and Sookie even more for embracing Lafayette so fully, when it would have surely damaged their adolescent popularity standing, which I knew from watching television and movies was very important to teenagers. What brave young people they all must have been in the face of the non-acceptance that would have surely terrified all other adolescents. The one thing that separated them from all their peers was how very comfortable they all were in their own skin. Most adolescents did the awkward 'skin' dance well into adulthood.
I nodded, "of course. Why don't you call them and have them meet us at Fangtasia tonight. Sookie said this would also be our rehearsal for the wedding, so Lafayette should be there." With that, everyone left to get ready to go to the club.
Just after they were gone, my phone rang again, "Northman."
"How does it feel to be a bona fide American hero, Mr. Northman?" Homeland Security asked.
I chuckled, "I'm not quite sure yet. I just spoke to the president."
"Wow, even I have never done that," he confessed.
I thought for a moment, "who decided to lead everything to the press so quickly?"
"I did. Our covert forces had taken down the last of the cells this afternoon. I was worried that there may be some straggler vampires who hadn't been rounded up, and I didn't want to risk any random attacks so I figured that having this on the news would stop that," he answered. "My superiors agreed, and so far that strategy has worked."
"Very good. Are you still coming to the wedding on Friday?" I asked.
I could hear the smile in his voice, "wouldn't miss it for the world. Langford's wife is driving in from Texas to join him for it. Apparently, she's quite the fan of yours."
I chuckled, "what about you? Do you have someone you want to bring in to join you?" I was genuinely curious.
"I'm divorced. Married to my job, actually. So no, no one to bring in," he replied.
"I've heard that weddings are a great place to meet people… I wouldn't know for myself, never having been to a human ceremony… Well as human as this wedding can be," I said, and he laughed.
"I won't be holding my breath. I'm not exactly George Clooney. But I want to be there since the bride and groom have been such a big part of my life… for at least the last few weeks," he added.
"I'll be glad for you to join us. We're heading to Fangtasia in a little while for a combination celebration slash wedding rehearsal. Feel free to join us," I invited.
"I have quite a few things I'm winding up here, but later we may swing by. If we can't, you guys have fun," he said.
"I'm sure we will. Thank you, Agent Pettigrew, for having our back. I hope you get some reward out of this whole scenario."
He laughed, "oh I will, I will. I've already been promised." With that he hung up.
Sookie was just coming from downstairs. She was wearing a pair of tight jeans and a pale blue satin blouse. She was gorgeous. She walked up to me and put her arms around my shoulders, "Hey you," she said. "We're getting married in just a few days. And it looks like all the … villains who would like to prevent that are gone. Are you ready to be a husband?"
"I am so past ready… I can't wait to make you my wife, my love. I can't wait to do all the husbandly duties – taking out the trash, mowing the lawn, fixing things that break… "
She tilted her head to the side, "where did you get this list of husbandly duties? Also, I can't quite picture you actually doing any of those things…"
"Well, I would… or at least I'd hire people to make sure they were done…" I smirked.
Her tinkling laughter warmed my heart, "there's the Eric I know and love. Although, taking out the garbage isn't all that hard."
"OK, I'll give you that one," I paused. "How are you feeling, my love?"
"Never better. I am so happy to have all this bull… corn behind me."
I just laughed, "it must be ten times harder to avoid curse words than actually using them."
She shook her head, "you have no idea." I thought that was very funny. "Really, Eric, sometimes I just want to let the curse words fly. But Gran raised me differently. And I'm determined to find a better way to communicate."
"And I, for one, support that notion," Fintan said as he entered the den. I shook my head when I saw him. His hair was pulled back in a low pony-tail that covered his ears, and he was wearing a pair of blue jeans with a button-down shirt tucked in. He looked almost normal. Almost. He would never really be able to shake the otherworldliness he exuded, but he would fit in fine at Fangtasia. I smirked internally at the thought of a prince of the sky fae in my vampire bar. "By the way, I've tried to prepare Adele for what she might see inside your bar. Otherwise she might be overwhelmed," he said. I knew exactly the people in the bar that he was talking about, and I nodded.
Just then, Adele came down the stairs in a dark blue dress that was belted at the waist and accentuated her slim figure. She was followed by Jason who was clearly excited about visiting a vampire bar. He announced, "Lafayette and Jesus are going to meet us there."
We ended up taking several cars to Fangtasia, and I made sure that whoever was working the door allowed all members of our party access. I had phoned ahead to reserve the large, circular booths on either side of mine. That should give all of us plenty of room. When we arrived, Maxwell Lee was at the door to assure that everyone got in okay. I told him about Lafayette and Jesus, whom he hadn't met.
For about an hour we just talked and drank. Then Sookie got serious, and we all gathered around as she walked us through the wedding, and all of our procedures. Then it occurred to her that we didn't have any ushers. She explained that ushers were a part of the wedding party, and they seated guests. They were usually good friends of the bride and groom, and we needed at least three. She was getting more and more upset trying to think of who to ask, and I told her to hold on. I asked Francois and Maxwell Lee to join us, and asked Sookie to explain the usher situation to them, and she finished by graciously saying, "Eric and I would be most honored if you would accept this role in our wedding."
They both looked taken aback. Maxwell Lee looked at me and I nodded. He said, "No, I am honored that you have asked me. Of course I will be glad to be an usher at your wedding."
Francois added, "I feel the same way. I too am honored, Madamoiselle Sookie."
Sookie breathed a partial sigh of relief, "I really would like to have one more usher…"
Jason was on his phone, "hold on," he said into the phone, and he handed it to Sookie who looked at him questioningly. Jason just smiled at her.
"Hello?" Sookie asked and listened for a moment, "Hoyt? Why, hey there. How are you doing?" Again she listened. "Well, yeah, Jason was right; I do have a favor to ask you. You know I'm getting married Friday night, well of course you do since you got an invitation. Well, anyway, we put this wedding together really quickly, and we forgot to ask any of our really close friends to be ushers. I was hoping that you could be one. I know it's so last minute, but we've… You can?! Awesome. I'll talk to you tomorrow about everything you need to know. Thank you so much!" They chatted for a few more minutes, and then she hung up. "Thanks, Jase," she beamed at him.
After a while, Sookie said she needed to go to the restroom, and she got up followed by Clovache. I was talking to Godric and Fintan when I heard Clovache say my name a little louder than in just conversation. I immediately got up and went to the hallway outside of the restrooms. When I got there I saw a very bizarre sight. Jason was on the far end of the hallway, and Clovache had her arm across the front of Sookie holding her back.
"What's going on?" I asked.
Sookie looked at Clovache and asked, "that's what I'd like to know? I was just talking to Jason and Clovache freaked out and pulled me away from him."
I thought as hard as I could in his direction, thinking "Fintan, we need you." Over and over again. I walked between Clovache and Jason, never taking my eyes off of him. A moment later, Fintan appeared in the hallway.
"Eric, step away from him. Remember your dream," Fintan said very, very softly. Jason materialized a sword and took a swipe at my neck, but I was faster than he was and ducked. Then very quickly, Fintan popped behind Jason and put a knife to his neck. "Hello, Dermott. It's been a long time." The skin on Dermott's neck started sizzling, so I surmised that the knife was made of iron. Dermott dropped his sword in pain and grabbed at Fintan's arm wrapped around his body. Blood started running down Dermott's neck.
"Not long enough for me, you fucker," Dermott rasped in the same accent and speech cadence as Fintan.
"Oh my God," Sookie whispered. "He looks just exactly like Jason. He had just asked me to go outside in the back with him when Clovache stepped in." She turned to Clovache, "I'm so sorry if I snapped at you. How did you know?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Clovache asked. "This person is much, much older than Jason."
Sookie and I looked back at Dermott and then at Clovache. "Uh huh," Sookie muttered. I could understand her confusion, because even I couldn't see the age difference.
Clovache insisted, "he's aged the way that Fintan has…"
Sookie just said, "okay…"
Just then Jason came into the hallway behind Sookie, and he stopped suddenly when he saw us all assembled there. "What's going… What the hell?" he said when he spied Dermott who was even dressed like Jason.
"See!" Clovache insisted in her comparison of the identical men.
Fintan chuckled, "I'm afraid their eyes aren't trained the same way that a Britlingen's are. They can't see Dermott's or my age like you can." While they were talking, I walked into my office, returned with iron chains, and wrapped them around Dermott.
"Just what the hell do you think you are doing," he asked. "You can't keep me here, you vampire scum."
I raised my voice only a little, "Maxwell Lee." I looked at Dermott, "this is my club, my fiancé, my world, my rules. You are going to be a guest of mine for a little while until we get everything sorted out. Then, I'll probably turn you over to Fintan to take back to your father."
Maxwell Lee entered the now crowded hallway, and I said, "Would you please take any help you need and move our two prisoners downstairs into the same cell. I have need of the other cell." He nodded and left to take care of my orders.
Dermott was shaking his head, "everything is ruined. You can't trust vampires. They were supposed to take over this realm so I could take over ours, but they failed. Now everything is ruined." He turned and looked at Fintan, "you were supposed to die, and I was going to dance in your dust."
Fintan said dryly, "I've missed you, too, brother."
Jason added, "Sookie, you couldn't tell that wasn't me? Hell, I'm a lot better lookin' than him."
Everyone in the hall, except Dermott, snickered at that. They really did look just alike. Maxwell Lee returned and nodded to let me know that his task was accomplished. Fintan and I accompanied a shrieking Dermott down to the basement and placed him in the vacated cell. Dermott's shrieking joined Freyda's shrieking about refusing to share a cell, she was after all a queen, joined by Clancy's shouting when he recognized Dermott and wondered what in the hell had gone wrong with Victor's plan. Several times I told them to shut up to no avail as the cacophony of their shrill voices climbed and climbed.
Finally, Fintan had had enough, and he very majestically waved an arm across both cells. Suddenly there was silence. All three of the prisoners were moving their mouths, but no sound was coming out. That was a neat trick. He just looked at me, "they were giving me a headache, and I've never had one before."
I grabbed a couple cold True Bloods from the refrigerator and slid them into the cell holding the vampires. Then I visually double-checked the locks on the fairy's chains. They would hold him just fine, and I would assign a round-the-clock guard detail to the cells.
"Now you all be good boys and girl. I don't want to have to come down here and punish you," I winked as Fintan and I started up the stairs. "How long will that silencing magic work?"
"Until I take it off. They should be very quiet for a while," he grinned. "It's just too bad I can't silence their shrieking thoughts."
We got back to our booths in the club, and we continued celebrating both our recent victory and the upcoming wedding. We had defeated our enemy, I was going to get some high award, and in just a few days I would be marrying the most beautiful woman in this or any other realm. Tonight it was good to be Eric Northman.
AN: Thank all of you who went and listened to that song in the last chapter and had fun with Eric's song and dance.
Many, many thanks to everyone who reviewed since the last chapter was posted, as of 12/14/17: princessspot5, ljhjelm49, 2 Guests (even though I'm not entirely sure one of them was being complimentary), Asami's clown, MsNorthman, fanfictionfan4444, tleel, VampMad50, ericlover69, Perfecta999, Duckbutt, jackie69, bttrflybelle, Medtran, hummingbirdgrrl, ciasteczko, Nicolle1977, dragonfey57
