Chapter 55 – T-Minus 2 Days

Last time:

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.

Now:

After the evening wound down and we all returned to our own homes, Sookie and I had our house to ourselves once more. Well, except for Clovache, who had retired to her room upstairs. So we had a little victory celebration of our own out in the pool, and then in the hot tub, and then in the kitchen, and then in our bedroom. It was a good thing that Sookie didn't require as much sleep as a normal human because she was determined to return to work the next day. For the first time in a while, she and I both slept peacefully. I woke with her in the morning, determined to have one final celebration in the shower before she went to work.

Before she left, we decided that we would go shopping that night so that she could purchase a new dress for the award ceremony. Pam and Rasul would be joining us so that they could replace their wedding clothes that were destroyed in the New Orleans palace. I also had a few other things I wanted to purchase, but I was going to do most of my shopping online for pickup in the store, and then I was going to get Pam to hold on to those particular purchases until tomorrow night, the night before our wedding, for Sookie's Bachelorette Party.

After she left for the day, I continued my online shopping – for the things I wanted my Sookie to have. We may be getting married more quickly than normal, but I was determined to give my bride as much of the normal experience as I could. I looked first at the La Perla website, which I knew that Pam liked for her lingerie. And they were having a sale! I purchased several bras – I knew Sookie's exact size – and matching panties. I was somewhat shocked to discover that a bra could cost $339 on sale. Ah well, my Sookie deserved the best. Then I bought several nightgowns and negligees. Sookie may not have time for the traditional lingerie shower, but she would still get the lingerie. I chuckled and waggled my eyebrows as I thought about how these were almost as much presents for me as they were for her. I shrugged when I surmised that perhaps that was the point of this pre-wedding ritual. I finished at this website with several teddies in different colors. Then I moved on to Victoria's Secret. There I bought dozens of undergarments, which I fully intended to rip off of her in the future (bookmarking the website for future replacement purchases), as well as teddies, nightgowns, and robes. When all was said and done, I'd purchased quite the lingerie wardrobe for my bride. Pam would pick them all up for me tonight.

I had to admit that I felt much better after all of my online shopping. In point of fact, I felt quite horny. That was some mighty fine underwear I had been looking at all morning. And the fact that I imagined my Sookie in each piece didn't help matters much. I picked up my cell phone and dialed her number.

"Hello," she answered.

"Hello, my Sookie," I responded.

She chuckled, "what have you been doing this morning? I've been feeling such a sense of… I don't know… wickedness… from you. What are you up to, you naughty boy?"

I laughed out loud; no one would have dared called me "boy" in a thousand years.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"Nothing, my Sookie, I'm just happy," I responded. "After all, I'm getting married day after tomorrow. I've waited for this event for over a millennium. Don't you think that should make me happy?"

"Uhmm, okay?" she answered. Then there was a pause, "why do you suddenly sound so… goofy?"

That made me laugh even harder, "I'm sorry. I don't know what to say. I'm just deliriously happy, my love."

There was a long pause, and then she was laughing, "you're such a goof, Eric. I love you so much."

I joined her laughter, "I can't wait until you are my wife, Sookie."

"I'm just as anxious to make you my husband, my Eric," she smiled. "I'll be home in just a little while, you know."

"Oh, I know. I just needed to hear your beautiful voice this morning," I shared.

She continued her chuckles, "OK, Eric. I have to get back to work. I love you, too. I'll see you later."

"See you later, my love," I said. She hung up, but I wished we could talk on.

Ah, well… On my own again for the day. I turned on the television to see what was on. Middle of the day broadcasting… The View, interesting… but too much anger. General Hospital, not so much, and there were hours to Judge Judy, so flipping around it is. USA channel, Law and Order, SVU. I've watched it before with Jayne Mansfield's daughter and IceT. Pass. Through the channels, through the channels, BBC America – a Doctor Who marathon. I could enjoy that. I kicked back and put my feet up on my desk, as I watched the Doctor and Rose try to solve another problematic, otherworldly situation.

I was on the second episode of Doctor Who when my phone rang. I answered, "Northman."

There was a rather long pause on the other end before a woman's voice asked, "Is this Eric Northman?"

"It is," I answered.

"Oh…" and then there was another long pause. "I'm sorry, Mr. Northman, I didn't expect you to answer so I was preparing to leave you a message. This is Patti Easton, I'm one of the President's assistants. I was going to leave instructions and information about your upcoming trip to the White House. Can I just give you those now?"

I smiled at her shock, which was understandable since it was the middle of the day, and I shouldn't be able to answer my phone. "Of course. Or you could email them to me, whichever is easier for you," I offered.

"Email would be much better," she confessed, so I gave her my email address. There was another pause after that, "Mr. Northman, the President looks forward to meeting you…" another pause, "and may I add that I'm very glad that a brave American like you has saved so many."

"Thank you, Ms. Easton. I hope to meet you at the ceremony," I answered.

I heard a heavy sigh on the other end of the line. "I hope so, too," she practically whispered, and I couldn't help but smile to myself. She pulled herself together and continued, "call me if you have any questions. All of my contact information will be in the email. And, Mr. Northman, thank you once again for what you've done for all of us."

"You're very welcome, Ms. Easton, and thank you for the information," I said as I hung up and shook my head. The idea that I was not only a hero, but an American hero seemed still just so bizarre.

I continued with the marathon on television while checking my emails. There were several congratulatory ones sent from vampires and humans based on the news broadcasts. There were also some quasi-congratularoty emails that were just short of a little hostile from a few of the former monarchs who had undoubtedly hoped for Victor's success. Ah well… Nothing to be done for that now.

Sookie and I had decided we would write our own vows, so I set about to do just that. I knew exactly what I wanted to say, so it was just a matter of putting all of my thoughts in the right order. I smiled when I thought that Sookie had never asked me who would be officiating at our wedding. I simply told her that I would take care of it, and she trusted me to do so. Hopefully, she was in for a happy surprise.

Once I got all of that squared away, it was finally time for Judge Judy and the atrocious hairstyles of the women on the show. First case up involved a woman who had rented a chair at a beauty salon. Really? Her hair was the most atrocious shade of orange – mostly – except for the few blonde and black streaks and the two or so inches of brown roots, and it was, well, it was just a mess. Who would trust someone whose hair looked like that to do their own hair? Apparently, my observation wasn't just snide. The owner of the shop had decided to boot her out of her shop… due to her hair. Even though I always kind of look forward to the strange hairdos of the women on this show, this was the first time that the wacky hairdo was actual evidence in the case. That irony made me chuckle out loud. So now Judge Judy had to decide if it was fair that the woman got fired due to her unkempt hair. And people wondered why I enjoyed this show…

Ultimately, Judge Judy found some legal reason within the terms of the contract between the salon owner and the hairstylist on which to decide the case – something about the requirement to keep one's workspace and professional demeanor acceptable. However, Judge Judy did have a few juicy comments to make about the tragic hairstyle.

After Judge Judy, I watched Jeopardy, as usual, and looked into my investment portfolio and the management of my businesses. By the time I was finished with all that, I remembered that I didn't have to stay downstairs (I guess it was just habit), so I got dressed and went upstairs to wait for Sookie to come home. I threw some laundry into the washing machine and started it. I walked outside to watch the sun set; it wasn't quite time for it, but the sky was glorious nonetheless. I sat back on one of the poolside chaise loungers and just took in the end of the day. I would never be able to thank my Sookie for this unbelievable gift. I was still staring up into the darkening sky when I heard her voice.

"Hey, Sweetie. What are you doing?" she asked.

I looked back at her, and she was still in her work uniform of black tanktop and olive cargo pants. She was leaning against a post on the patio. How long had she been standing there, and I hadn't even noticed her arrival? "Watching the sunset," I answered with a smile. "It's the second most beautiful thing I've seen today…" She blushed at my words because she understood immediately what I meant.

"Are we still going shopping tonight?" she asked.

"Of course. We have plenty of time, though. Come over and sit with me." She walked over, and I took her hand and pulled her down onto the chaise. She sat between my legs with her back resting against my chest, her fingers intertwining with mine, and together we watched the sun's daily finale. I had never felt so at peace in my long life.

After a long silence, Sookie asked, "did you watch any of the news coverage today?" I shook my head. "Well, apparently, there was a lot more revealed today. If you think you were a big hero last night, you are a gigantic one today." I chuckled at that. "I'm not kidding, Eric. They gave details about how the human government was going to be eliminated, and the human race in America was going to be subjugated. But they were always careful to remind everyone that it was a vampire who brought it all down."

"Any news on the European vampire?" I asked.

"Not that I saw, but I actually did have to work, so I couldn't watch all day," she answered.

"Let's go see what's playing now on the news," I suggested. I grabbed her hand and we walked into the den and turned on the television. I flipped to CNN. They were rebroadcasting all of the things that Sookie had mentioned. They were particularly dramatic in emphasizing how close, how very close to disaster America had been. We watched, cuddled together on the sofa for about half an hour, but there was no mention of Junius Tiberius Ocella or the planned European vampire uprising. I found this worrisome because if he were not caught, then he may well come after me and mine. All of this praise for heroism may have put a huge target on my back. I would have to be on my guard for the foreseeable future. I didn't walk this planet for more than a thousand years to finally, finally find my soulmate and then be killed.

In addition, just because Victor was gone didn't mean that Sookie was finally totally safe. This Roman asshole Ocella was still out there, as well as any other powerful vampire who may take a notion to capture my love. She would have Clovache with her for at least the near-time future, possibly for much longer. That would ultimately cost quite a few dollars, but my Sookie was totally worth it. I don't think she would understand the concept of my nearly inexhaustible wealth. And since I would continue to add to it, there was very little chance of ever running out of money. My Sookie would never want for anything.

Finally it was time to get ready to go shopping. We showered (and more) together, got dressed, and got into the SUV to go pick up Pam and Rasul for our excursion. Together the four of us arrived at the biggest Shreveport mall to shop. We parked and entered through the food court. As we walked through the mall entrance doors Pam looked up at me as if to say, "really?" I knew the smells of the human food would make her testy.

We wandered in and looked around. Pam and Rasul knew where they wanted to go, so they took off in one direction while Sookie and I took off in another direction.

We were walking casually, hand in hand, towards a dress store Sookie wanted to shop. I noticed that there were several people all around us staring. Sookie was blithely chattering away and probably didn't notice, but I did. I was immediately on my guard, though I tried to smile and act normally for her. It was apparent that literally everyone in this mall knew who we were. Finally, we turned into the dress shop Sookie was looking for.

As soon as we were in the store, Sookie turned to me, "did you see that? All those people staring?"

"Yes, I did, my love," I responded.

"It was kind of freaky, don't you think?" she asked.

I smiled and nodded, "Look around, my love, and find several dresses that you like. You can bring more than one to Washington."

She beamed her million watt smile at me, "you don't have to ask me twice. I mean, I'm not going to go crazy or anything, but it would be nice to have a few new dresses to choose from." She began scanning the racks and pulled out several to try on. I looked at other racks and added a few more to her try-on pile. Soon, I noticed that more and more people had started to wander into the store, and most of them didn't appear to be really shopping. I could see that Sookie was watching them as well. I walked to the back counter of the store and found the store manager. Her name tag revealed that she was named Heidi.

"Hello, Heidi, could you help my fiancée and me, please?" I asked her.

She blushed and asked, "what do you need, Mr. Northman?"

I smiled at her, "is there any way that you could lock the door to the dressing rooms so that she can try on her dresses in private? We seem to be drawing quite the crowd."

She looked around at her now nearly full store, "oh my, I see what you mean. Of course, I will be happy to help you."

I could see that Sookie had made all of her selections; we carried them back to the dressing rooms, and true to her word, after telling us to knock when we were ready to come out, Heidi locked the main dressing room door to the rest of the store.

"Wow, how'd you manage that?" Sookie asked.

I shrugged, "I asked…"

She smiled and nodded, "thank you, I was starting to feel a little claustrophobic with so many people in this small dress shop." She started arranging the dresses around the largest dressing room. She turned to me with a wicked smile, "you wanna help me try them on?" Gods Yes, I thought and returned her wicked smile. We were both aware of the people on the other side of the door, so we weren't able to totally enjoy this shopping experience, but we had a lot of fun and laughs while she tried on different dresses. My Sookie's body was so perfect that she did every dress she tried on justice, but she had a real sense of her own style – not to mention impeccable taste, and I was relieved when some of the dresses, though pretty, were put in the discard pile. Ultimately, we ended up with six dresses, all of them gloriously beautiful on Sookie.

"Do you have everything you need to go with them?" I asked. From the slight frown on her face, I could tell that something was wrong. "What is it?" I asked.

"Well, I really need some shoes and purses, a belt or two, and maybe some jewelry… But I don't know how we are going to get all that with the growing crowd. What should we do?"

While she had been trying on her dresses, I had been monitoring the crowd in the store, and it had only grown while we were in the dressing room. "Sookie, the crowd outside has grown. Do you think you could pick out your accessories online, and I can have someone pick them up tomorrow?"

She thought for a minute, "that could work, but Eric, you have to give me the time to do that tonight…"

I looked at her in confusion, and she simply raised a wicked eyebrow. I burst out laughing, "Darling Sookie, love of my life, as much as I always want to ravage your perfect body, I promise I will give you the time you need to order your purses, shoes, and such." I bowed with a flourish at the end of my statement, and she giggled in response. I knocked on the door as instructed, and a moment later I heard the key in the lock. The door opened, and I invited Heidi into the room with us.

"Thank you for your help today," I said. "Sookie has decided that she wants these dresses," I said as I handed the six dresses to her along with my credit card. "Please ring them up and arrange to have them delivered tomorrow morning to this address," I said as I handed her my Bonne Chance card. I would arrange for the dresses to be delivered tomorrow to our house. "Please come get us when you've finished with the transaction." She nodded, walked out with the dresses and my credit card, and locked us in again. I grabbed Sookie and kissed the hell out of her.

When she came up for air, all she could say was "Wow." In just a few moments, Heidi returned with the credit card receipt for me to sign. I handed the receipt back to her along with two one-hundred dollar bills to thank her for her help. She smiled brilliantly when she saw what I had handed her.

Then, she opened the door to the store, with her left arm thrown wide, "please make room," she shouted, as she let us out into the crowd. There were several hundred people in a store designed to accommodate about three dozen at a maximum. I threw my arm over Sookie's shoulder, and I attempted to guide her out of the shop. I managed to get us out of the store, but the crowd in the mall had grown exponentially. And… they'd been joined by paparazzi. As we emerged from the dress shop there were camera flashes that were almost blinding.

We emerged from the store to find not only paparazzi, but also regular news reporters. Together we fought our way through the crowd. We met up with Rasul and Pam just outside of the food court. I could see from Pam's bags that she had picked up the lingerie orders I had placed for Sookie.

We started to make our way through the crowd toward the outside entrance. We were met by news reporters and paparazzi all along the way. Just before we reached the food court someone shouted from the side "Vampire!"

I looked to the side and saw the screamer. Sookie seemed to recognize him. "Garvin," she whispered in my ear, "that's the Fellowship of the Sun guy who came to me that day." I remembered when we had talked on the phone.

I turned to him and said, "Mr. Calhoon, it's so nice to finally meet you in person. Where is your lovely wife, Sue?"

He seemed shocked at my recognition. After a while he spoke, "she was seduced by your evil fiancée. She seems to think you are safe for humans. Somehow, your whore of a fiancée convinced her that you are equal to a human man. But don't worry, I straightened her out; she's at home. I know better. You are evil. You need to be put down…"

The crowd had gotten very, very quiet. If anyone understood the fear of losing your true love, it was me. In addition, I felt pretty sure that Sue had probably met the business ends of Garvin's fists. "Mr. Calhoon,… Garvin… I think I understand what it would feel like to lose the love of your life. Let me help you…" I offered, hoping he would confess something about his wife.

He pulled at his own hair, "shut up, shut up, SHUT UP, you vampire. I don't want to hear you trying to make me feel better, you liar. Somehow my Sue came to believe in you, but I taught her a lesson she won't soon forget. And somehow you've seduced the entire nation. You won't seduce me as well, you evil son-of-a-bitch."

Another silence ensued. Finally a member of the crowd shouted, "shut up you fool. This vampire saved all our lives." There were several other shouts agreeing with that conclusion.

Then one of the mall security guards yelled, "are you stirring up trouble, vampire?" I just looked over at the guard, and he continued, "I won't have you causing trouble in this mall. This here mall is a nice place where humans should feel safe to come together. Why are you causing a scene here?" Seriously? I was the cause of the trouble here? I just looked at him and raised my eyebrows.

However, the reporters present solved my problem as they asked the mall security guard, "are you accusing Mr. Northman of something, Officer? What has he done? As far as we can tell, he was just shopping with his fiancée. Does this mall have an anti-vampire policy?"

Another reporter chimed in, "do the owners of this mall hate vampires?"

And another reporter added, "that man over there," he said, pointing to Garvin Calhoon, "he's the one who started yelling at Mr. Northman."

And another reporter, "are you aware that the President of the United States has declared that this vampire is an American hero? Or does that matter to you and the prejudiced owners of this mall?"

Then there were several shouts out from the crowd, "God bless you Eric Northman!" "You are a good man!" "We won't ever shop here again if they are against you!" I couldn't help but just close my eyes and shake my head. I looked down at Sookie, and she was smiling from ear to ear, as was Rasul, and even Pam had a single eyebrow cocked upward.

And another voice from the crowd, "thank you for saving all of us!" And then there were similar supporting cries and shouts from the crowd.

But Mr. Calhoon wasn't joining in with the crowd. He stood on a table in the food court and shouted, "what's wrong with you people? He's a vampire! Don't fall prey to his lies and tricks." Then he turned to face me, "I don't know how you're doing it, but you won't trick me as well as all of these fools. You are an agent of Satan, and I know it. Open your eyes people."

Several in the crowd were getting angrier and angrier, but not at me. This only made Garvin angrier as well. Before anyone knew what was happening, Garvin reached into his camouflage jacket and pulled out a pistol. At the appearance of a gun, everyone started to scream and run in a panic. I pushed Sookie behind me as Garvin took aim in our direction, but before Garvin could lower the gun to fire, Pam was behind him with one arm around his throat, and the other yanking the weapon from his hands. I almost laughed when I looked down at her feet and saw that she wasn't even standing on the table, but rather was levitating behind the much taller man.

Someone had apparently had the presence of mind to call the police earlier because the blaring of several sirens signaled their approach to the mall. The mall guard shouted out, "nobody move!", and he pulled his gun from its holster. Everyone froze, and that was the sight that greeted the police as they entered the mall. Eight police officers, two in plain clothes, entered through the food court doors.

At first they just froze with their weapons drawn. Most of the people put their hands in the air, and a very long, very awkward silence ensued as the law officers looked all around the area. Finally, one of the plain clothes officers asked, "what the hell is going on here?

I rolled my eyes when the mall guard pointed to me and shouted, "that there vampire was causing trouble. You can see his accomplice up there trying to kill that man. Arrest them."

I thought that Pam and I were about to be put into handcuffs when the crowd started shouting, "no! it wasn't him," and "that guy on the table pulled a gun and tried to kill us," and "No, the vampire's a hero," and "the mall guard is lying," and many, many more random comments regarding the current situation, until their voices rose into a chaotic cacophony of sound.

One of the police officers, one with a very strong voice, shouted, "everybody just SHUT UP!" Dead silence followed. With the silence, the strong voice nodded at the plain clothes officer.

"Now, I want just one person, I repeat one person, to tell me just what the hell is going on here." He looked over at one of the reporters, "You. What is the story?"

The reporter looked over at me and then at Garvin, "Detective, Mr. Northman here, along with his fiancée and friends were shopping. Many people recognized him as the hero who saved us all from the vampire apocalypse. As they approached the food court, that man," he said, pointing to Garvin, "started shouting at him with various accusations and other verbal abuse. Then that man," he said pointing to the mall guard, "jumped in with further accusations. They both apparently hate vampires. The rest of us were witness that Mr. Northman did nothing wrong, and it was that man on the table and the mall guard who drew guns. Those guns scared all the rest of us until the lady vampire disarmed that man."

"Uh huh," the detective said. "Does anyone else have a different story?" The mall guard started to speak, but the detective cut him off, "not you, nimrod." The mall guard huffed at the epithet. The detective waited in silence for a few moments, then asked, "what about you, vampire, what do you have to say?" he asked looking directly at me.

I looked down at Sookie who was giving me an encouraging look, but before I could open my mouth to say anything, someone from the crowd shouted, "he didn't do anything wrong. He was just shopping." There were numerous vocal assents to that statement.

The plain clothes officer who seemed to be in charge asked, "is this true, Mr. Northman? Were you just shopping?"

I nodded, "yes. We've been invited to the capitol, the White House. My fiancée wanted a new dress to wear."

Plain Clothes asked, "did you find a dress?"

Sookie giggled, "actually we found… six?" She looked at me for confirmation, and I nodded. "Six new dresses. They're really pretty."

Plain Clothes looked at both of us, "where are they? These six dresses?"

"I asked the store manager to have them delivered to us tomorrow. Since there was quite the crowd growing and following us, we were heading out," I answered.

Plain Clothes squinted his eyes, and then asked, "do you know this vampire holding this man?" He pointed to Pam.

"I do. She stopped him from opening fire here in the mall." I turned to her, "Pam, please hand the gun to the police officers." She immediately came down from the table and handed the weapon over. "Officer? Detective?" I asked and he nodded his head, "Detective, this man has intimated that he may have beaten his wife. Could you please check on her safety?"

Plain Clothes turned to Garvin, "did you? Beat your wife?"

Garvin sputtered for a few moments, "she… she… she told me she believed this disciple of Satan was actually a good person. Can you believe that? This vampire as a good person?"

Plain Clothes tilted his head to the side, "are you kidding me? This vampire just saved every human in America. Are you stupid or something?"

There was complete silence as everyone in the mall turned and looked at Garvin, still standing on top of a food court table. Soon he was letting out a keening cry, "nooooooooo… How can everyone be so blind? He's a fucking vampire! They only do evil! What's wrong with all you morons?"

Plain Clothes started laughing, "how ironic, then. The only person being arrested tonight is you, you imbecile." Then he turned to the mall guard, "and maybe you as well." The crowd erupted into cheers. Four of the uniformed cops moved forward to take both of them into custody to the continuing cheers of the crowd.

Plain Clothes came up to us, "are you all right?"

Sookie answered, "we're fine, but could you really check on his wife. I'm worried that he may have hurt her." He nodded. "Thank you." Then she looked up at me, "can we go home now?"

I knew that even this innocent shopping trip had turned into yet another circus. I was beginning to believe that nothing with Sookie would ever be simple and uneventful. Ah well, life would never be dull…

AN:Sorry it's been several weeks, but after doing 1.4 chapters per week for eleven months in combination with starting a new job the same day I posted the first chapter and the recent holidays, I just ran out of steam. In addition, I had a major death in my family between Christmas and New Year's. As many of you have guessed, this story is winding down, with only 4 to 5 chapters left, give or take on how creative I get. And since I last posted, my imaginary beaufriend Askars has won a Golden Globe, Critic's Choice, and SAG Award (in which he beat Robert fucking DeNiro) for his performance in Big Little Lies (which I haven't seen! Believe it or not…)

A special thanks to the six who were interested in hearing little Sookie sing in her church choir. Did the link I sent in private messages work? What did you think? Did you find it as flipping hilarious as I did? Let me know. I tried in the Chapter 54 posting to put the link with spaces and words instead of dots and slashes, but fanfic is wise to those tricks, apparently. It's so amazing that a Facebook friend of mine posted this snapshot of a children's choir, long after I had written the chapter on Sookie in her church's children's choir.

As ever, special, special thanks to all who have reviewed since the last chapter posting, as of 1/25/18: SweetPrincess4eva, princessspot5, Casey8686, ncmiss12, fanfictionfan4444, ljhjelm49, VampMad50, Asami's clown, tleel, bttrflybelle, Duckbutt, Nicolle1977, ericlover69, Perfecta999, hummingbirdgrrl, 2 Guests, AmandaKate92, jackie69, ciasteczko, MsNorthman, GeminiEyes, elliebaby33, Medtran, bellislefan, georgiasuzy, Heather. Also thanks to the six who inquired about the video: princessspot5, ljhjelm49, VampMad50, ericlover69, Asami's clown, and jackie69.

Oh, and yes, reviews would be greatly appreciated.