I do not own Sookie Stackhouse or any of Charlaine Harris' characters. I just like to play with her babies.

While the adults were reconnecting on lost time Adele had run into the kitchen to grab the phone. She took a deep breath before answering.

"Hello?" she asked cheerfully, not wanting anyone on the other line to suspect anything was amiss.

The caller was quiet for a moment. When they finally did speak it was the cool voice of a woman that flowed across the phone line. "Is this Sookie's daughter?"

"Yes. This is Adele."

"Adele." The woman said the name carefully, trying it out for the first time. Addie noticed that she had a bit of an accent. It sounded British, but it was hard to tell. "Is Eric still there?"

Addie poked her head around the door to peer into the living room. "Yes, he's still here. Would you like to talk to him?" She asked, wondering how this woman knew this number.

"No." she said quickly. "No, don't let him know that I've called. I just wanted to see if he was still there. Are you the one that is being hunted by the vampire?"

Adele hesitated. "How do you know about that?"

The woman just laughed. "I have my ways. I need to talk to you more but this isn't the time or the place. I'll come see you tomorrow night. We'll talk then. Don't tell your mother I called."

She hung up before Adele could ask any more questions.

"Good bye to you too." she muttered as she hung up the phone.

"Who was that?"

Addie jumped, her entire body tensing. "Geez Mom..."

Sookie just laughed a little. "Sorry. Who was on the phone?"

The younger woman opened her mouth to respond but remembered what the mystery woman said. "It was just some woman wanting to take a survey. I lied and told her I was under age." She shrugged. "Where's Eric?"

Her mother sighed softly and ran a hand through her hair. "He left. I'm sure he'll be back tomorrow night though."

Addie could tell that something was weighing heavily on her mother's mind. And, being the loving daughter that she was, she couldn't let that last long.

"So what's the deal with you two anyway? I know you said that you dated Bill once but you've never really talked about this Eric guy before."

"Things were never as clear cut with him a they were with Bill." Sookie explained.

"What do you mean?"

"Things were always complicated with Eric." Sookie began as she took a seat at the kitchen table. She recounted the tale of how she had first met Eric to her daughter, leaving out a few of the minor details (like being able to read his mind). There were a few stories that she retold fondly, like the short time of his memory loss that he had stayed with her, and all the ways that made her smile. But then she explained about the blood bond that had been forced upon them and the Nevada regime that had taken over only a few months before Addie had been conceived.

Adele listened intently and with awe. "It sounds like you really liked him, Mom." She commented softly. "And its pretty obvious how he feels about you."

A small, sad smile spread across Sookie's lips. "Yes. It took me moving to Florida with you to realize it but I do think I really loved him."

"You don't anymore?" Adele asked skeptically.

"Adele its been almost twenty years. I'm almost fifty years old. So much has changed. I got what I wanted when I had you. I'm happy."

Her daughter gave her a doubtful look but didn't say anything. Mother and daughter sat in a questionable silence for a moment before Adele yawned loudly.

"Mmm. Do you think we are going to have any more visitors tonight? I want to go ahead and get a shower."

"No, I think that will be the last we see of anyone for tonight. I think you'll be safe if you go ahead and shower."

"Alrighty. I'll be out in a little bit." Addie gave her mom a little wave before she set off to clean herself off.

Sookie sat in the kitchen for a while, looking at her empty hands, thinking about all of the things that she had left behind.

~*~

"I need to speak to Eliza or Charlotte."

"May I ask who is calling?"

"This is Eric Northman, Sheriff of Area 5."

"One moment please." The young woman on the other end of the line said. At least she was being professional.

"Eric Northman." A perky young woman answered. "Its been a while. What does Area Five's sheriff need with Area Fifteen?"

"Which sister am I talking to?"

"This is Charlotte. Eliza is busy at the moment so you'll just have to deal with me. So, what can I do for you Mr. Northman?"

"A young woman moved into the Area recently and has accused a vampire from your area of stalking her. I need information on said vampire in order to track his whereabouts."

"Ah, you mean the young Stackhouse girl."

"Yes. I just became aware of the situation this evening."

"Well we don't know much. They up and ran before we had a chance to talk to the girl about it. But we talked to Fredrick, who watched after the two women for a few nights prior to their move. Although he didn't know the identity of the guy he was able to describe him well enough for us to track him down. The little girl's stalker is a vamp by the name of Mattox Shelly. He's a young one by our standards, only around thirty or forty years. Am I correct in understanding that the girl has a portion of Fae blood in her system?"

"You are. If my calculations are correct then she is about sixty percent fairy." Eric replied stiffly.

Charlotte whistled. "Wow-ie. No wonder Mattox is so addicted. I was under the impression that she only had a few drops of it in her system. This might be more serious than we realized. But we have been keeping tabs on him to insure that he doesn't turn on anyone else. I'll send someone else over tonight to make sure he is stays in line."

"Has his maker been contacted?"

"Eliza and I have both tried to contact her on several occasions but we have yet to get through. Apparently she's spending some times with some monks in China or something like that. No technology, no modern amenities, nothing. A friend of Eliza's was going to attempt to go find her but we haven't heard back from him yet."

Eric growled into the phone. Charlotte noticed this and her voice instantly grew firm.

"Listen to me Eric, we have done everything we can with the information provided. We do know that Mattox is still in Florida and we will continue to keep an eye on him. If anything comes up you will be the first to know."

"Very well. Good evening." He hung up before the other sheriff had a chance to wish him a good night as well.

Eric placed his cell phone back in his pocket before clasping his hands in front of him. His blue eyes pierced a hole in the wall opposite him. His face was emotionless as he sat in his office in the back of Fangtasia and thought over all of the information that he had gained tonight. There was much to be done.

After a minute of thinking he pulled his cell phone back out of his number and hit a number on speed dial. The phone was answered after the first ring.

"Victor, its me. I need to speak to the King."

~*~

Adele was glad that her mom was right when she predicted that no one else would stop by that night. She spent the rest of the night in her room pondering what her mother had told her as she chatted with her friends back home. One of the things that Amelia had insured was ready for them was the internet. Addie would not be able to survive without an internet connection, that much was certain. Being able to keep in touch with her friends didn't make her feel so isolated and alone. But it did make her extremely homesick.

It was almost four in the morning when she finally fell asleep.

"Wake up! Addie, wake up!"

Addie's dream world was shattered by the tremors of someone shaking her lightly in an attempt to get her to stir. Immediately she swatted the hand away and rolled over onto her other side trying to get away from the disturbance. She wasn't ready to wake up yet.

Her plan worked for all of three seconds.

"Addie its almost noon, you need to get up. We're having company." Sookie spoke gently.

Addie's response was incoherent even to her.

"Alright fine, stay in bed, but me and your uncle are gonna eat lunch without you."

Addie's head snapped up. "Uncle Jay is here?" she asked groggily.

"Yup. So if you want to come see him then I suggest you get up and get dressed." Sookie smiled down at her daughter before leaving her room and shutting the door behind her.

"She'll be out in a second." She said as she walked back into the kitchen, taking a seat across from her brother.

Jason laughed. "Yea, I remember what it was like to be her age. Sleeping late is the best thing in the world."

Jason was fifty now but his fae heritage had been as kind to him as it had been to his sister. His hair was still full and sandy blond with only a few strands of gray sewn through here and there. Just like in his younger years he still bore the tan from a hard days work under the hot Louisiana sun. He didn't look a day over forty.

"Uncle Jay!" Adele cried as she came running into the kitchen. Her uncle stood up to greet her as she raced forward to him with open arms.

"Hey kiddo!" Jason grinned as he wrapped his arms around his niece, hugging her fiercely.

Sookie smiled as she watched the two greet each other. The move had been the best thing that had ever happened between Jason and she. With her so far away she wasn't constantly caught in the middle of her brother and his various flings. She no longer had to deal with her older brother's drama. Leave it for the llama, Addie always said.

And, as cliche as it sounded, the distance from his sister seemed to make him miss her even more. After a few months away from Bon Temps she'd finally called him and let him know what was going on. Never before had her brother been so happy to talk to her. It had shocked her speechless for a few moments. But, after that, Jason would make at least one or two trips a year to come see her and Adele. He had actually flown in so he could be there when Addie was born.

The love that he showed for his niece was enough to make Sookie forgive him for all of the hell that he had put her through years ago.

"How long have you been here?" Adele asked as she fished a Coke from the fridge and sat down between her mom and uncle. She was grinning from ear to ear. She had always loved her Uncle Jay. Jason had always been extremely good with her.

"Only about half an hour. Your mom said you were up kind of late last night so I didn't want to wake you."

"Nah, I needed to get up anyway." Addie yawned a bit and stretched, popping her shoulders as she did. "So what's for lunch?"

"Pizza! Your uncle brought us one from a new pizzeria. It smells pretty good."

"Its delicious! It's the best pizza I've ever had."

The family fixed their plates and sat around the kitchen table talking and catching up. They hadn't seen each other since last Christmas when Jason had flown in. Actually it had been a week before Christmas that he had come to visit. That was the tradition for them around the holidays, Jason would always fly in a week early so he could spend the actual holidays with his family.

Somehow Crystal and he managed to work things out and she actually brought their baby to term. Despite everything that happened she gave birth to a perfectly healthy baby boy. They named him Jacob Tyler but he had been raised as JT.

On occasion Jason brought him with him when he came to visit so he and Adele could bond. After all, they were the last of the Stackhouse's, there was no need for them to be distant. The cousins got along pretty well, although they'd had some memorable fights when they were younger. They laughed about them now.

"So how's JT?" Adele asked as she got up to get another slice of pizza.

"He's doing fine. He's getting ready to attend college in Monroe in the fall." Jason didn't sound too thrilled about that.

"Oh really? Does he have a major in mind?"

"He wants to be a nurse."

Adele started laughing. "JT wants to be a nurse?! HA!"

"I think that's a wonderful idea. He can go just about anywhere with a nursing degree. The pay is good and so are the benefits. But I can't believe Calvin is letting him go."

"He got a student scholarship and TOPS from the state. Everyone else is pitching in to help pay for the rest of his tuition. He's the first that's ever made it this far. Everyone wants him to succeed, even Calvin."

"That's great Jason! JT is a smart kid, I know he'll do fine. Besides he'll just be in Monroe, that's not too far away. He can still come visit on the weekends." Sookie knew her brother's biggest concern would be not seeing his son everyday. Jason was a good father and was really attached to his boy.

"I know. I just don't understand why he wants to be a nurse. They have a great construction school. But no, he wants to be a nurse."

"Maybe he just likes scrubs." Adele shrugged as she took a sip of Coke. There was still the hint of an amused smile on her lips. She was going to enjoy using this information to tease her cousin with.

Jason sighed heavily, looking down at his hands. He had always done manual labor to support himself and his family. He had expected that his son would do the same. Not that he wasn't proud of his son for going onto college and trying to make something of his life but a nurse?!

"You never know Jason, he might get there and find something else he is interested in." Sookie offered, trying to put her brother's mind at ease.

"Maybe."

The three of them sat in silence for a few minutes. Obviously the conversation about JT was over.

"So are you going to go back for graduation or do the cops think that's too dangerous?" Jason asked. Of course he knew the real reason why they had moved back home. It had been him and Amelia that had worked on getting the house ready for them to move into.

"I don't know. I really want to walk but if the principal decides that its too dangerous then he might not let me anyway." Addie said, her voice disheartened.

"Its only about a week away. We still have to decide if we want to go back or not."

"I really want to walk." Addie said again.

"I know honey but it just might not be possible."

"But don't they usually have graduations during the early evening? Surely they could do it while its still light out." Jason asked, genuinely curious as to why they couldn't let his niece attend.

"I don't know. We have to talk to them and see."

"Well let me know when you find out because I'm coming. I'm sure JT would like to come too."

Addie smiled. "That would be nice."

"And if you end up not going then we'll have our own graduation ceremony. You can walk and everything." Jason offered with a determined smile. He succeeded in making Adele laugh.

"That's fine Uncle Jay. I already passed so that's all that matters. I'll get my diploma one way or another."

The adults shared a grim look for a brief moment and then found another subject to talk about. A few minutes later the family was laughing and talking again just like old times.

~*~

"Which flowers? The poppies?"

"No the sunflowers. The poppies would look good in the hallway or the bathroom."

"I'd rather not hang any of my stuff in a bathroom Mom." Adele said as she began rummaging through another box of canvases and various other decorations.

It was an hour past dark when the Stackhouse girls got another visitor. There were three knocks at the door and for a brief moment both of them stiffened; there was no doubt that it was a vampire outside at the door.

"I'll get it. You finish hammering in the nails in." Sookie said, stepping down from the ladder and handing the hammer off to Adele who was quick to take her place.

"Coming!" Sookie called as she worked her way through the maze of boxes and bags to the front door. She was surprised when she opened the front door and the smile she gave wasn't a fake one.

"Good evening Bill. I didn't think we'd be seeing you back here for a while." She said as she stepped aside, leaving room for her ex lover to enter.

"I wanted to apologize to you for the way I acted the night before last. I was just so surprised to see you back that--"

"Its okay Bill, I deserved it. And I had no right to ask you to stay with me under those conditions. If anyone should be apologizing it should be me." Sookie told him, cutting him off before he continue his apology.

The booming of a hammer beating a nail into the kitchen wall interrupted them before they could continue.

"What's that?" Bill asked, looking from the direction of the kitchen back at Sookie.

"Adele's putting a few nails into the wall so we can hang some pictures to brighten up the place. Come on, I'll get you a blood." She said, motioning him to follow her as she walked back into the kitchen.

"You're not hammering your thumb into the wall are you?" Sookie asked speculatively as she watched her daughter work on the nails.

"No!" Adele answered quickly. "I just missed." She said sheepishly. "Oh, hello again Bill." she added when she saw the vampire.

"Hello Adele. Are these you're paintings?" he asked, looking at three small canvases that were sitting on the counter waiting to be hung.

Addie blushed a little. "Yea. Just a few small things I did between projects in art class back home." She said simply as she turned back to the wall to add the third nail on the wall.

"They're very good." Bill told her as he picked up one of the pictures, examining the details closely and running his hand over the visible brush strokes.

"Thank you." Addie answered in a small voice before she went back to driving the nail into the wall. There were a few short bangs followed by a dull thud and a yelp. "Ow!" She hissed, quickly pressing her thumb between the rest of her fingers.

Sookie examined her daughter silently for a moment before she smiled. "Wrong nail, ding dong." She teased when she saw that her daughter wasn't seriously hurt. She laughed even harder when Adele stuck her tongue out at her.

Bill watched the interaction between mother and daughter with an emotionless face but his stone cold demeanor had melted a little. They reminded him of his wife and daughter.

Sookie seemed to notice the tension in his face because as soon as the microwave dinged she handed it to him and gently laid her hand on his arm, pulling him back into the present. "Why don't we go sit in the living room and talk while Adele finishes in here." She asked him gently although she was already moving into the next room.

He followed after her silently after giving Adele one last glance. As he walked he took a very deep gulp of TruBlood. It hadn't been until Adele had hurt her finger that he'd gotten another whiff of her scent again. He hadn't realized it the other night but she smelled very much of magic. Although he wasn't sure of her parentage Bill was now certain that Addie's father was at least more than half fae.

Sookie took a seat on the couch, watching as Bill's eyes lingered in the direction of the kitchen.

"You can tell can't you?" she asked softly, drawing his attention back to the living room.

"Yes." Bill answered roughly a minute later. "She has more fae in her than you do."

"Adele has around sixty percent of fairy blood. I asked Niall, after she was born, if it was possible for him to mask her essence, but he said that would be almost impossible for him to do." Sookie explained softly.

"So her father..."

"He is a fairy." She answered simply, her eyes avoiding Bill's.

"I see. Does he know?"

"I'm not sure. I haven't seen him since that night. I didn't even know who he was until after I found out I was pregnant."

Bill's eyes darkened when she said this. "You didn't know?"

She shook her head and began to explain about the Christmas present her great-grandfather had arranged for her all those years ago.

"Does she know about her father?"

"Yes. We've talked about him several times over the years and I think now that's she older she understands what happened."

"She's a very smart girl."

"Yes she is."

Silence passed between them for a moment.

"Eric called me last night."

"Uh oh." The words left Sookie's mouth before she could stop them.

Bill gave her a scolding look and nodded. "I suppose you already know what he told me."

"Yes. But did he explain to you why I didn't tell you two at first?"

"No but I had a good idea. Eric has already assigned guard duty for the next two weeks."

"I guess you're up first." Sookie said, not really asking a question.

"Actually no, I was beat to tonight's position."

She gave him a quizzical look. "By who?"

Before Bill could reply there was another knock at the door.

"I'll get it!" Adele called as the echos of her footfalls sent little tremors through the house. She peeked through the pep hole before opening the door. A woman a little older than her was standing there, a pleasant smile on her face. She wore a pair of khakis and a light pink sweater with a matching headband in her hair. The woman looked like she had come straight from a Wednesday night church meeting. All that was missing was a plate of cookies or a casserole dish.

"Can I help you?" Adele asked politely.

"You must be Adele." The woman said carefully. "I'm Pam. I'm your new body guard."

Hurrah! Another successful chapter under my belt! Again, I'm sorry that this one has taken so long. There is a lot going on with my family at the moment so I've been helping with that.

A huge thank you to SEOrwin for being my awesome beta! If it weren't for her then I'm sure these chapters would be littered with typos and all sorts of horrid things.

I'd also like to mention again that I've added a few bits of information about the story in general in my profile. So if you have any questions you can look there or feel free to ask me.

Reviews make Pam be even more mischevious.