A/N Better late than never, eh? Thank you to my beta par excellence Wanda W, who got this beast back to me lightning-fast. Also want to give Duckbutt a nod for the hilarious pm'ing session a couple months back that inspired the um, most colorful section of this chapter. And a special thanks to Sonjita, my culinary genius muse; she owns exclusive copyrights to the Plasmapolitan. Our Viking is back at the end, and will be front and foremost for the rest of the story, do not worry, my fellow Norse god addicts. I was going to hold on to this for Monday, but much of the east coast is snowed in and I thought I'd give folks something to read. On with the show …

Chapter 51

Andrea. My heart skipped a beat. I held her hand in mine and I tried to read her, but her brain signature was a little fuzzy and reminded me of someone—my heart skipped again when it came to me. Her mind sounded just like my dad's used to, only a little bit coming through, static-y and muddled.

Andrea and my father both were one-quarter fae, the same ratio to human; that would explain the similar brain waves, as well as the fact that they were blood-related. I knew right then it was that Andrea, Porter's daughter, and Minnie's grandchild. The only emotion I could get from her was of a slight protectiveness, and it seemed oddly directed at me.

"We have a mutual acquaintance, Sookie," she said in a somber tone, those intense green eyes—Porter's eyes—boring into mine. "I do believe you know my aunt on my mother's side, Madelyn, who owns the dress shop in Shreveport?"

I nodded as if in a haze. Andrea is Madelyn's niece? Did my friend Madelyn know what was going on? I swallowed. Has she betrayed me, my dear, dear friend? She'd never mentioned a niece, I realized in dismay. My heart screamed no, no, not another one. Not another betrayal, I can't take it.

"And I know your grandmother on your father's side," I looked her straight in the face. She merely smiled.

"Yes," she returned quietly. "I suppose you do." A tense silence ensued.

"Andrea works with disabled children, and her specialty is neurological disorders," Remy said. "Because of her background she's had some insight in how to help Hunter. She's been a godsend."

"It's not a disorder," I said more sharply than I intended.

"Of course not," Andrea said smoothly. "But because of my knowledge of how the brain works, I have had some success in helping him cope with his—hypersensitivity, shall we say—with meditation and relaxation methods."

I looked at Remy in horror. He told her? What kind of an idiot is he? I knew she was looking for us, but I didn't know that she knew ....

I might not be a mother, and I may very well never be one, but my mommy claws popped out right then and there all the same.

"I'm not letting him go with her," I hissed at Remy, throwing caution to the wind. This situation involved the well-being of a child, and to hell with manners. He looked at me in surprise. "He can stay with me for a while. You don't know who—or what—she is."

Remy frowned, and looked from me to Andrea. "What are you talking about?" She closed the difference between us and reached for my arm. I pulled away.

"You and I need to get together, perhaps sometime this week, and have a long talk. I think you will find an association very beneficial," she smiled.

I stood stonily in silence. Words are just words, they don't mean anything, and I didn't like this development, not one bit.

She squeezed my arm. "I thought I might even come tonight with Madelyn and perhaps you and I could chat for a minute. "

"You might as well," I snapped as I pulled my arm out of her reach. "It's pretty much a free-for-all at this point." I knew it was rude, but the woman had caught me completely off guard. I gestured toward the house. "You all can go on in," I said. "The children are asleep in the living room."

I hung back as they entered the house and dialed Madelyn's number quickly on my cell. She answered on the first ring. "Something you might like to tell me, Madelyn?" I all but snarled.

She gasped audibly. "You met her?" she breathed.

"Yes, she's here, she's ingratiated herself to Hunter's father, the fool has told her about his gift, and now he's leaving with them both, and I'm not a happy camper," I hissed. "She's Porter's daughter, she's been looking for us both …"

"Sookie, it'll be okay," Madelyn soothed. "She means him no harm, I swear it. She only wants to help."

"Why? Why would she? Who are we to her?"

"Sookie, we'll talk tonight, I have a customer, but please just trust me," Madelyn said. "I have to go." The phone clicked.

Well, that's just dandy. I walked to the house, my mind a whirl. I couldn't really stop Remy from taking Hunter, and it was hard to believe Madelyn would lie to me about something so important. Andrea did say she'd be back tonight. I entered the living room, grabbed Andrea from where she was standing with Remy off the dining room and pulled her into the corner.

"If you don't show up tonight and explain all this to me I'm coming after you," I said. "And I'll bring a posse of the scariest supes you've ever met in your life. I know a couple vampires who are just dying to meet you."

"You're over-reacting," she whispered back. "You better be here," I repeated, letting her arm drop.

Remy walked softly over to Hunter and picked him up.

"Come on big guy," he said in a low voice. "I'm gonna take you home now."

Hunter mumbled and rolled back over. My mind was going a mile a minute. How could I let him leave with her? I started to panic, my breath coming in short breaths. Andrea looked at me sympathetically. I wanted to smack her.

"The chocolate leaves," Hunter mumbled. "Oh, right," I said, jumping up to go to the freezer. I put several of the leaves in a Ziploc bag and handed them to Remy. "Just keep these near the air conditioner in your truck and when you get them home put them in the freezer," I said. "He can pull the leaves off and eat the chocolate later." Remy smiled and took the bag.

I didn't want them to leave. "He can stay here," I suggested, trying to sound off-hand. Of course, after the way I'd acted earlier, it was a wasted effort. "He could spend the night. I'll take care of him."

Andrea put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "He'll be fine," she said, looking at me in earnest. I laughed mirthlessly.

I reached around Remy's back and took Hunter's hand. He peered at me through half-open eyes. "I'll see when Jonas is going to be visiting his dad again and you can come back," I promised. "Maybe we'll have a sleepover for you guys, and get Uncle Jason to show you some of his old camping tricks. Would you like that?"

Hunter smiled in a drowsy way, and I ruffled his hair. "I will see you," I whispered. Remy carried him out the door, Andrea behind him. I tried to get in her head again, but only detected even stronger feelings of protectiveness toward Hunter.

I followed them out to the truck and watched them leave. I started pacing up and down the driveway. To occupy myself I did a complete re-con of the property, checking all the last-minute small details. After a few minutes I'd managed to calm myself down. I knew in my heart that Madelyn would not purposefully hurt me or Hunter, and I would get to talk to both her and Andrea tonight.

A flurry of activity to the left caught my eye. Two fae guards were rolling up the portable parquet dance floor.

I approached them warily. "What's going on?"

"I told them to remove that floor," Fintan walked into my line of vision. "They're going to put that one down instead," he pointed to a roll of what appeared to be champagne and black colored tile, a lot like a huge chess board.

"And the difference is … " I tried not to sound snippy.

"Magic," he said with a smile. "That's a magic dance floor. Niall created it years ago. No one can ever stumble or fall on it. Any dance move attempted, no matter how ambitious, will be executed flawlessly."

"Get out!" My mind boggled at the possibilities.

He nodded. "Fairies don't really need it," he replied, only a trace of condescension in his tone. "We are naturally graceful and light on our feet. But we realized it was necessary after we started socializing with humans, as well as some of the other supes."

Well, la-di-dah.

"Niall doesn't like to lend it out," he continued. "I had to talk him into it. Claude wanted a prototype for the club, but Niall refused. He doesn't want it getting in the wrong hands."

"So I if get in there and try to do crazy fancy jumps and twirls it will let me?" He nodded with a smile."That's a heck of a concept," I breathed.

"Now, we don't tell the humans that it's magical," he warned. "We just let them think they're having a really good night."

The guard finished putting up the old floor and rolled out the new one. I'm a good dancer anyway, and on that thing … suddenly I was looking forward to this evening, when I had been dreading it all day long.

"What if the humans figure it out?"

"They won't," he said. "The supes will know, and will take advantage of it. The humans will just think it's a really good band, or that they're drunk. Humans tend to think that they're great dancers anyway; it's just the visual reality," he shuddered here, "that can get pretty ugly."

I harumphed a little bit. "Fintan," I said as realization dawned on me, "You're going to be here tonight?" He nodded. "So you're coming as yourself, not Dermot."

He took a deep breath and stared off into the distance. "Yes, I think it's time, and enough people know already anyway," he said with a shrug.

"You know Andrea is going to be here tonight." His eyes widened. "She is?"

"Yes, she left here a few minutes ago." He looked like he was going to say something, and then thought better of it. "I have some errands to run. I'll see you later, Sookie," he disappeared into the tree line.

A few minutes later Tula gathered up the brownie children and bundled them into the van. The chefs decided to ride into town and get some espresso as it was going to be a long night, after all. Wizno and his brothers busied themselves misting the lawn one last time with chrysanthemum extract to repel mosquitoes and other flying insects.

Octavia disappeared, I supposed to rest, and Amelia went to her room also. I lay back on the couch and had been resting for just a few minutes when a loud wail emanated from the direction of Octavia's room. It sounded like a wounded animal howling. Amelia ran out giggling.

"What's the matter?"

"Octavia dyed her hootchie blue," Amelia gasped, holding onto her stomach and collapsing on the couch beside me. I scooted over as she was practically on top of me. "What?"

"She dyed it bright blue, I kid you not."

"Blue? What the hell for?"

Octavia appeared at the door to her room in a dressing robe. "You need to shut your mouth," she directed at Amelia.

"What's going on?" I demanded. Octavia adjusted the collar of her robe, still glaring at Amelia.

"I got a bikini wax the other day, you know, and all there was left was this strip, but I had a few grays so I saw this stuff in the beauty supply," she said, holding up a box of 'BridalBetty'. I looked closer and read the caption 'the color for the hair down there'. Octavia lowered the box and glowered at me. "I thought I'd try it out," she finished.

"So you wanted a blue cootchie for your wedding night," I surmised. "Looks like you got one, so what's the problem?"

"Well, I didn't think it would dye the dark hair," she said, perplexed, "I just thought it would dye the gray, and you know, I'd kind of like have highlights," she shrugged. "But the whole damn kit and caboodle is the color of a robin's egg, and it looks funny."

"Yeah, you can say that," Amelia snorted. Octavia gave her another withering glance.

I had no idea how to respond. "Highlights, huh," I said, rather lamely. "That's an interesting idea."

"It's not that unusual," Octavia said rather defensively. "They had all kinds of colors, stencils and glue-on Swarovski crystals and such."

I sat back on the couch. "I don't know about all that fancy stuff myself. Gran would say you're gilding the lily."

"Oh I get it," Amelia said, her eyes open wide, "You were trying to knock out 'something old' and 'something blue' at the same time," she slapped her hand over her mouth and rolled backwards, gasping again.

Octavia pointed a manicured finger at her and spoke in a slow, deliberate tone. "Do not think I won't hurt you just because it's my wedding day. You have been warned." She looked at me. "What am I going to do?"

"You could dye it back," I said. "Assuming they have, um, you know, like real colors that actually exist in nature."

"You should just go bald, that's what Samantha in Sex in the City had to do when she dyed her cookie orange by mistake," Amelia said. "Everybody's going bare these days anyway."

Octavia set her shoulders. "I am a woman of age and experience," she said with a certain dignity. "I am not walking down the aisle with a crotch that looks like a shaved possum's ass."

"More like the ass one of those hairless Chinese crested dogs," Amelia interjected thoughtfully. "You know, like the one Molly Shannon had in Superstar."

Octavia whirled on in a fury. "I'll put a spell on you, little rich girl, and I won't turn you into any damn kitty cat, either."

"Speaking of which," I interjected, "Can't you just cast a spell and fix your problem?" I waved in the general direction of her crotch.

"Sookie, if I could perform genitalia transformation spells I'd be in Hollywood making the big bucks," she said sarcastically.

"Well, then, somebody's got to go to Shreveport and get you some dye."

We both looked at Amelia.

"I'm the wedding coordinator, she said huffily. "I can't go."

"Everyone is doing something," I pointed out.

"Why can't one of Wizno's brothers go? They've finished up their work."

"Yes, Amelia, by all means, let's get my future brother-in-law to go buy my cooter dye, there's nothing embarrassing about that," Octavia snipped. Amelia rolled her eyes. Octavia had just about had enough.

"Get your skanky white ass up and on to Shreveport before it gets ugly up in here," she directed Amelia. "It's an hour and a half, if you leave now you'll be back by eight." Amelia grabbed her purse without a word and left, obviously in a snit.

Octavia and I looked at each other. "It's going to be okay," I offered by way of comfort. She threw her hands up in the air and went back to her room. I couldn't think of a thing to do for her, so I made my way up to the cabin to start getting ready.

As I walked I started mulling over all the events of the day. And there sure was a lot to think about. The early morning conversation with Bill, the job and personal offers from Beau Sinclair, my time with Hunter, and then the surprise visit with Andrea. I worried about Hunter most of all. However, I consoled myself again with the thought that Andrea did say she would come back, with Madelyn no less, and talk to me. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and tried to reach Madelyn again, but she didn't answer. I decided to shelve those concerns temporarily until I spoke with both Madelyn and Andrea.

I then focused on my conversation with Beau, particularly the hard questions he asked me about my relationship with Eric. Were we 'serious'? What exactly did that mean? We weren't joking, I didn't think. But I had no real way of expressing exactly where we were on the relationship bell curve. And were we long-term? Three nights ago I poured my out heart to him. Last night and the night before we told each other how we felt about each other physically. Although that meant the world to me, I felt like many things were being left unsaid.

I knew Eric loved me in his way—he'd told me as much on several occasions. I knew through the bond, by his actions, and every now and again by his words. I knew by the way he looked at me sometimes in a tender moment, the way a condemned man looks at the jailer when he tells him that the governor's call came through. And while showing is always better than telling, I needed more. I wanted a cards-on-the-table, no holding back declaration, no matter how selfish that was, considering my significant other wasn't really that type. The woman in me knew what she needed, and she also knew she might not get it.

My old friend doubt came out to play, curling its poison tentacles around my troubled heart. A future, Beau said. Eric had said the same thing with regards to Beau. Was he trying to push me away? Was he telling me that our life together was all well and good for the short term, but for the long term I would need another option?

I washed my hair and shaved my legs slowly as I pondered how much things had changed in six months. After Gran died and I no longer had her social security to depend on to help with the household bills, I'd been so poor. I could barely pay my bills, with no money left over for anything. I lived on employee-discounted chicken baskets from Merlotte's and peanut butter most of the time. Now I could afford a few nice things, and buy groceries without tallying up the total as I placed each item in the cart. I'd even helped Octavia out with the expense of the wedding quite a bit, as so many of my friends and acquaintances were coming and I only felt it fair. I had something special planned for the vampires tonight, and I hoped they liked it. Before I changed careers I could never have made such a gesture.

In so many ways, having a good-paying job changed my life. I'd even managed to put some money back. The nest egg Eric provided after the Andromeda conflict sat in the bank, securely invested for maximum benefit. I was in a better position financially than I'd ever been, and I would be lying if I said I didn't value it. Many things bothered me, kept me up at night, but I had known for a good while that I would be able to buy groceries and gas and pay the light bill on time, and it was very comforting.

If I lost my position with the Weres it would devastate me. It's not like I could go to a head-hunting agency and hand them a job search request for a top-notch public relations/telepath position. My job options would be limited, and turning down Beau in that light would be very unwise. I could never go back to waitressing. That was something I'd left behind, and I'd grown so very accustomed to a nice, steady income. Felipe had Minnie now, and might not even offer me any work. I wanted to support myself and get ahead, not just get by. I didn't want to go backwards, and I loved the life my professional position provided. The little extras, like buying the surprises for Eric, helping with the wedding, and being able to spring for lunch or a pedicure made life more enjoyable. I could purchase a book, not just check one out from the library. I had food in my freezer, good tires, oil in the furnace. I had security, and security did not suck.

A higher-paying job would have some important perks, however. My mind went back to Hunter. Every time I thought of him starting kindergarten at that public elementary school in Red Ditch I shuddered. I'd been to that school to talk to the kids before, and it was overcrowded with droves of kids pushing together like cattle in the halls. Hunter needed a private school, maybe even a private tutor. If I worked with Beau maybe I could provide that. Remy certainly couldn't pay for a private school. I made a mental note to ask Tula where the brownie children attended school. I didn't know how receptive Remy would be to such an idea, and, of course, Hunter would one day need to get used to human kids, but the thoughts of him going through what I had in public schools—no, no, I couldn't let that happen, not when he was so little.

I got out of the tub, dried off, and started getting ready. I curled my hair in big, loose curls and fixed it loosely on top of my head, with tendrils falling down. I carefully applied my makeup, a little heavier on the eyeliner and mascara than I usually do. I did my eye shadow, blush and lipstick in pinky golds to complement my dress.

I pulled on said evening dress, one Madelyn found for me, a 1930's 'goddess gown', in pink and gold satin and silk with a long chiffon overlay skirt. I'd found a pair of gold five inch gladiator-type wedges to match that would be perfect for dancing, and also would not poke holes in the lawn as I would be doing a lot of walking around.

My hair had lightened in the sun and my tan darkened. I wore a pair of pearl drops that belonged to my mother with the pearl necklace Eric gave me, and I looked pretty damn good if I do say so myself. The pearls did set off the dress magnificently, and the added inches of the shoes would put me much closer to Eric's height. Usually he was about a foot taller than me in shoes, but with these heels, maybe only five, six inches. And for dancing on a fairy dance floor … it would be perfect, I thought dreamily as I twirled around in the mirror.

I finished dressing and picked up the cabin, paying extra special attention to the bathroom in case someone needed to come up. After I was finished I walked slowly down the hill. The sun was setting and lights illuminated the path from the cabin down to my house. The whole property was lit up beautifully, hundreds and hundreds soft twinkling lights, all along the path around the pond and also up to the cabin. The lawn sparkled with the bright colors of the tablecloths, topped with the colorful flower arrangements and the bowls of Mardi gras dyed meringues, in honor of Octavia's New Orleans heritage.

I walked around to check on progress. While I was in the shower apparently the crew arrived to set up the vampire bar, compliments of Fangtasia, next to the tents Quinn sent. Sam had agreed to man the bar until Thalia could get there. He was setting up the bottle warmers as I approached.

"Hey Sam," I said shyly. Our relationship had been a little strained since I left Merlotte's and I hadn't seen him too much. He turned around to look at me. He'd removed his jacket and folded up the sleeves of his dark green dress shirt. His strawberry blond hair glinted in the evening sun and his hazel eyes gleamed. Oh, I'd missed my friend Sam.

"Hello Sookie," he said warmly. He held out his arms and wordlessly I glided into them. We shared a meaningful hug. It felt wonderful to feel right with him again and I welled up just a little bit. Silently he let me go and went back to work as I sniffled a little, watching him.

As I'd requested, Wizno and one of his brothers brought out a small electric freezer and refrigerator and hooked it up right next to the bar.

"I have some treats for the vampires," I said, pointing to the table to the right of the bar. "Thalia can serve them right there."

"Treats?" he repeated with a dubious expression. I nodded happily.

"Yes, I ordered a couple of things from a specialty store online, and I made a blood aspic, you know, so they'd have something to put on a plate." The table had been set up with the tiny gold forks and gilt-edged plates I'd also ordered from the rental company, complete with two gold fang emblems in the center. I reached in the refrigerator and took out what appeared to be a large ice cream container.

Sam looked puzzled.

"Cadaviar," I said. "It's made with fresh donated red blood cells in a chilled medium." He looked a curious mixture of grossed out and impressed.

I pulled a pitcher out of the refrigerator and grabbed a martini glass, filling it to the brim.

"What's that?" he looked genuinely interested.

"A Plasmapolitan," I said. "It's blood plasma, served room temperature. We even have plasmolives," I pointed to a jar of sticky-looking yellow spherical objects in the shape of olives. "To be served with plastic toothpicks, of course." I grinned. He just shook his head.

"What else you got?" I pointed to a large plastic container of a dark pink crushed ice in the freezer. "Italian blood ice," I said. Sam removed the container and examined the small type on the bottom. "MADE FROM REAL SICILIANS," he read out loud. He looked at me, one eyebrow lifted.

Holy shit, I didn't notice that when it was delivered.

I showed Sam how to mix my dessert bloods, the ancho pepper and dark chocolate one; I'd also added a synthetic blood soaked with vanilla beans and added glucose for a sweeter flavor. I had vodka shot glasses for the Bloody Bloody Marys, synthetic blood with horseradish and fresh ground pepper.

"You sure went to a lot of trouble," he observed.

"Well, I wanted to do something special," I said. "Plus, if we can keep them occupied with the refreshments perhaps they won't be looking to the human guests … " I raised my eyebrows. "Gotcha," Sam said with a wink.

Octavia wanted to serve wine and synthetics as the guests arrived, and open the service on the cheese and fruit table. The hors d'oeuvres were to be served after the ceremony, with the open bar and dancing to follow.

Guests started to arrive. I stood at the front of the lawn, greeting. I noticed Amelia dressed in a lovely dark aqua and black gown. She waved merrily as she passed out fairy cuffs. We still had an hour to go before the ceremony, but people were arriving in droves.

I felt Eric before I saw him, standing near where the cars were being parked down Hummingbird Lane. He looked gorgeous in a dark gray sharkskin suit with a slate blue shirt and a sapphire blue tie. He'd pulled his hair back and the colors deepened his eyes to dark and bottomless pools. I smiled warmly and approached him as he engaged deeply in conversation with Pam, looking fabulous herself in an orchid and black cocktail dress with a plunging neckline.

Eric looked up at me and I stopped in my tracks for a second. His lips were set in a thin angry line, his eyes flashing. Eric was not pleased. I began walking slowly toward him again. His eyes took me in from head to toe, and they softened a bit when he saw I was wearing the pearls, but hardened again almost instantly. Uh-oh.

"My lover," he murmured as I arrived at his side. He reached for my hand and brought it to his lips ever so softly. "Don't you look beautiful tonight? I hardly see how you had time to get dressed when you have been such a busy, busy girl."

Oh, yeah. Someone's not happy.

***********

Hold on, the evening's just getting started. Dress links on my profile. I need to thank A Dreamt Theme, who saw Sookie's former shoes there last week and pointed out that they would indeed aerate the lawn; she also reminded me that I should deal with the mosquito problem, this is Louisiana in late June, after all. Look for a teaser on my profile also next week. I'd love to hear what you're thinking, take care, misscyn

PS I know the food from my teaser didn't make it in. It will be in the next chapter, I made the editorial decision not to post both human and vampire snack descriptions in the same chapter in deference to my readers, it might be unappetizing ...

Hee hee. I added links for the Chinese crested dog and the cootchie dye to my profile also, all in honor of Octavia.