And you ask me what I want this year
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cause I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And designer love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
So take these words
And sing out loud
Cause everyone is forgiven now
Cause tonight's the night the world begins again – Goo Goo Dolls
The Following Christmas
Sookie POV
As usual, I am running around like a crazy person making sure everything is set for dinner and the rest of the evening. Those of us who don't sleep the day away will be gathering earlier but of course the rest of the family won't be here until after sunset.
It better be soon after sunset. We are working on building a light tight space here large enough for more than one so that any of them can stay here when we do gather at this house. Right now, that one small spot under the floor just isn't large enough.
Jason, as usual is playing with all of his gifts, or at least the ones from me. It's what he's done for as long as I can remember. Did I really expect anything to change? No, not really and something tells me I wouldn't like it if it did.
But something tells me I also would not be too against getting a little bit of help. Jason must hear one of my growls as I fight with the oven door and actually asks if he can help with anything. I send him out to do a bit of wood chopping in case someone wants to start a fire later. That leaves me alone to cook, which tends to be my thinking time.
Pam's words that night in the hospital proved to be correct, to no one's real surprise. She does seem to have an uncanny sense of what is going on when it comes to these things. Thalia did not want to be a queen for a variety of reasons. I can selfishly say I would have missed her if she had taken Nevada. I wouldn't have been the only one, I think to myself as I pass the window and see Jason arguing with the axe. Oh I know Jason will eventually win otherwise I'd be a lot more concerned.
Anyway, Thalia turned over Nevada to Sophie-Anne as her Queen. Yes, after putting it off and being allowed to stay here under the guise of assisting state residents, Thalia pledged her fealty to Sophie-Anne and is now an official resident of Louisiana. So Sophie-Anne would have been in charge of three states then. But wait, there's more. There is always more it seems.
It would seem that Sophie-Anne and Freyda learned that they get along fairly well in working together when I was missing and trying to piece together the aftermath. The two were actually married last month. It might not be a love match for the two quite yet but it seems like it will grow into one. There's honest affection there between them, though I heard it did cause some jealousy issues with my cousin Hadley at first. I am told now that there is no more jealousy and Hadley is a firm supporter of the union; I do not want to know any more than that.
So for now, both Sophie-Anne and Freyda benefit from the union and joining of their states. Even without Appius pulling strings it appeared likely Sophie-Anne would be continuing to defend off suitor after suitor; having three states under her she would be a wanted commodity. This marriage would take that off the table.
And through the union, Freyda received the protection for her borders that she wanted. Declaring war on her would declare war on Sophie-Anne. Freyda's troops weren't useless; they were just very untrained. That's where Thalia and Eric came into play.
And the marriage between the two benefits us in a different way as well. We don't have to worry about Freyda trying to marry Eric. That is definitely a relief for me.
The doorbell rings and I hear Jason running towards the door to open it, again acting as he did when we were children. He pulls open the door to find our first set of guests. Sam, Alcide, Amelia, and Tray come walking through the door. Yes, Tray is walking! Though it has been a slow recovery for him, he has regained the use of his left side and is up and walking around. And that is a good thing too, as he soon will have someone new to run around after. His hand is on Amelia's stomach, which is just starting to show what is growing inside of it.
I had invited Cataliades and his niece as well us Niall and Claudine but they couldn't make it today. We were able to meet with them yesterday for a short amount of time to celebrate. Claudine is due any day now and has been taking it easy since she was injured to give her child its best chance of survival. She asked me to be the godmother and I looked at her like she was insane. She is my godmother after all; she knows how trouble seems to find me.
She laughed and told me that her job has been much easier over the last few months. The baby would still have a Fae godparent who would act as a protector but she wanted to be sure her child would always have me in its life. And that is about when I burst into tears. Needless to say, it was a very nice visit, one that everyone involved hopes will continue. Niall even found something to talk about with Jason. Baby steps.
The food eating part of our family is getting together a bit earlier to have dinner before the rest arrives. Dinner is filled with conversation that doesn't have anything to do with planning and plotting. The last few months have been calm and though we have no evidence to support it, most of us have been holding our breath waiting for something else to happen. But with nothing else coming except the New Year, we are all striving to be able to let that breath out.
But old habits can die-hard.
Dessert is just about being served, much to Jason's delight, when the doorbell rings again. This time when it does, and I don't even know why they bother ringing it, it's me that goes running towards the door like a child. I pull it open to find the vampire contingent of our family standing on my porch holding gifts. Or at least Eric was holding gifts but suddenly I am in his arms instead of the wrapped presents and he is wishing me a Merry Christmas. Of course, he is not using any words to do so.
Jason is almost as excited as me and must follow me to the door because I hear him make his usual coughing and gagging noise. Yes, he is still doing that but at least Pam isn't joining in.
This time at least.
We all exchange our greetings, with Karin and Alcide's being a bit longer than usual, which has me thinking a bit. And though dinner with the day group was great, I know that I am not the only one happy that our family is now together.
Eric POV
I look around at those sitting at the table. If someone had told me this is what my life would be, this is what I would want my life to be, even a mere year ago, I doubt that I would have believed them. Much can happen though in a year. It could be filled with heartache and loss. It could be filled with family and love. It could be a bit of both, a bit of a balance, until one side wins out or you choose to focus on one or the other. That is what truly defines us in life, our choices. And I had made some bad ones around this time last year. I have tried to make better ones since then and I can only hope I have succeeded. Looking around the table once more, wrapping my arm around my wife as she eats her pie, I think that I may have.
I never imagined that I would yearn for the easygoing conversation and jokes, some at my own expense, that occurs around this table with these people. I have been finding it hard to believe that this has become my life; for centuries I believed I deserved the mental torture I put myself through. The events that started a little more than a year ago, I was worried they would never come to an end. I was worried that they were my punishment and for some reason I had not only condemned myself, but in doing I had also condemned Sookie.
Lucky for me, she showed me that there was no condemnation to be placed.
Someone, in one of the stories told, mentions the roll thrown at this meal last year. "If we were here for dinner, I could make no promises that rolls would not have flown again," I say jokingly just as I feel something move quickly past my ear and I hear Jason make a sound that lets me know whatever was flying, hit him.
I quickly look at him to see him and Thalia pulling away from each other and then it becomes all too clear who threw what looks like a cookie at Jason's head. Sookie Stackhouse who does not look at all apologetic as she sits right down on my knee.
"Hey!" Jason says looking straight at his sister.
Sookie simply shrugs and let's out a little laugh, telling her brother that he deserves it. Jason looks baffled but can't even defend himself. So instead, he picks up a piece of the shattered cookie, his sister's weapon of choice, and shoves it into his mouth. "Delicious," he says with his mouth full, to which Thalia hits him on his head. I will have to tall her to switch to his arm or something; I am not sure how many more hits to his head Jason can take.
As soon as he swallows, maybe even a little bit before, Jason yells, "Presents," and runs into the living room, leaving us all to just gape at his empty seat.
Sookie is up out of my lap and pulling me with her. "You don't know Jason and gifts," she says continuing to pull me into the living room. "If we aren't in that room in thirty seconds he will have every gift open regardless on if it is his."
At that, Pam is up and out of her seat quicker than you would have thought possible, even for a vampire. Thalia is up soon after just to ensure that Jason manages to make it out unscathed if he has managed to open up gifts that are not for him. Karin follows quickly with a camera, something we have been using more and more often. The rest of us move at a much slower pace into the room.
Jason is holding a shirt up to his chest that is obviously for the baby. Looking Pam right in the eye he says, "Well, I think it brings out my eyes but it may be a tad too small." The rest of us laugh. My youngest child, not so much.
Pam POV
I hear Jason and gifts and I am up into that living room before Sookie has managed to stand up completely. I see by the wrapping on the floor I may be too late and that is when I realize what exactly Jason is holding to his chest.
Let's just say it is a good thing that Thalia has a hold of my arm at the moment, otherwise it may be Jason without an arm and his won't grow back like hers did.
It is then that I hear the laughter from everyone else in the room, except me. Jason tosses me the little blue shirt and all of the wrapping paper to show a pile of neatly wrapped gifts, showing that he in fact did not open all of them.
"I hate you all," I say crossing my arms.
"Aw. We love you too Pam," Sookie says wrapping her arm around my waist. "We love you so much in fact that we are going to let you be the first to open a present."
That is something I can appreciate. I am quick next to Jason and picking through presents looking for one with my name on it. I pause when I see another one meant for the baby. It's not one that Amelia, Tray or I brought with us and I want to know what is in it. I hold the gift up to show them and they nod letting me know I could use my turn to open something for the baby. So far, nothing but the size of Amelia's stomach has changed with our little dynamic and I am hoping that continues.
I open the gift to find an adorable little gray blanket that would work for either a girl or a boy. In one corner it even has the head of an elephant, sort of like a little stuffed animal. I feel them coming to my eyes but to try and avoid anyone else from seeing them, I tell them all to start with their gifts.
And then you would have thought we were all Jason. It felt like every man/woman/vampire/Were/part-faery for himself.
Even with the amount of gifts brought, it does not take time for items such as shoes, clothes, and jewelry to take the place of the neatly wrapped boxes. Somewhere in between a wrapping paper war may have taken place but it was hard to tell if it were purposely started or if it was just the work of a careless gift opener.
I suppose with family, the cause doesn't matter as long as we band together for the consequences. Besides, a little a paper cut never hurt anyone.
We fall into an easy conversation again in front of the fire. This time, the focus is on the New Year and what we hope it brings. We are almost all in agreement on the more important things; the expansion of our family, the health and happiness of our family, and more nights like this one are high op on all of our lists.
After a few hours of joyfully meaningless discussion, Eric starts to look a bit antsy. I know he would like to spend some time alone with Sookie tonight. I imagine we would all like to spend some time alone with our significant other. This time as a family was something we needed, something we all wanted, but we should be taking our leave to get in a few hours of alone time before sunrise.
And though we probably all would have been fine, more than fine really, spending the rest of the evening here, no one argues with me as I start to say that we should get going. We all start to say our goodbyes, lasting much longer than our hellos, take our assorted gifts and start for the front door where we go through our goodbyes again.
No one complains about that though; after all, we are thankful we are all still here to say goodbye to.
As I am walking out the door, Eric gives me a smile in appreciation. I hope he is wearing that smile the next time I see him.
Hello dear readers. I do hope that you have enjoyed this first part of the epilogue and little glance into their future. One more chapter yet – and that I can't believe. Thanks so much for reading and thanks to those leaving their thoughts and input. I much appreciate it.
Jsm88 – Hope you enjoyed this first part. I will sure miss posting this story every week.
To my guest reviewer – Thanks so much. I am so happy you like the little family they have created. It's been fun writing it.
So sorry this wasn't up last night. The file wouldn't upload. Hopefully the last chapter won't have that problem.