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Disclaimer: Not mine.

SPOV

Thursday flew by for some reason. Maybe because I was starting to get worried about sending Eric back to Sophie-Anne. At least that's how I thought of it when I thought about him going back to the bank.

Realistically, I knew I couldn't keep him locked away in my house forever. But I remembered how he panicked and started lying to Sophie-Anne last time and we all got caught up in that. He was a grown-up and should be able to look after himself, but I worried about him.

Annoyingly though, Eric looked sort of…pleased to be going back. I tried not feel insulted that he obviously wasn't getting everything he needed hanging out here with us. But then I didn't either, and I suppose he didn't even have the laundry to take care of, so he needed something to do. And we'd tried DIY already.

So Friday morning Eric put on his suit, which of course he looked gorgeous in, and we all headed off into the city. I was going to take the kids and hang around in Downtown for a while, and then Eric could meet us for lunch.

EPOV

The worst bit about having to go in and see Sophie-Anne and Peter was having to get back into my fucking suit. I'd been enjoying not having to get dressed up for work everyday. But I couldn't turn up looking like the 'scruff' Sookie had accused me of being, so I was stuck with it.

Amelia chattered happily all the way in but Sookie was a bit quiet. She seemed a bit fucked off about the whole thing really, but it wasn't like I had much of choice. She'd just have to deal with it. It would be fine. I reached over and patted her leg while she was driving in a gesture which was meant to be reassuring but which made her turn and frown at me. I gave up.

Sookie and the kids left me at the lobby of the building and I headed up to reception in order to get the meeting over with. It was Sophie-Anne and Peter to start with, so after a few pleasantries it was down to business. What they wanted didn't sound that onerous, and should really have been able to have been accomplished by someone who actually worked here fulltime. Reading between the lines it became clear that Andre was too much of a dumb-ass to manage it. It probably interfered with his time on the internet.

When we were mostly done, Peter was called off to another meeting, leaving me alone with Sophie-Anne. I braced myself waiting for what she was going to say. The first thing she did was lean over the table. I guess so I could get a better view of her bony chest. I fucking wish she hadn't bothered. I leaned back, trying to maximise the distance between us.

"So, Eric" she said. "How are you finding Auckland now?"

"Oh, um…OK." I wasn't sure what she was digging for, but I wasn't volunteering anything.

"You know, if you did want to…stay here, I don't think it's that hard to get residency."

"No, doesn't seem like it."

"You probably don't have to…do anything stupid, you know?" OK, now it was clear. She thought I was using Sookie to stay here.

"No, well, I pride myself on not doing anyone stupid." I said looking straight at her. I didn't care enough to try to be nice. It wasn't like Victor could really fire me or anything.

Sophie-Anne looked a bit flustered. "Right, well I think we're done here. So, I'll see you Monday morning then." She stood up and started to leave the room. I followed. Well, it could have gone worse I thought.

SPOV

I was really glad when I saw Eric heading towards us across the foodcourt. Not just because it was Eric and I was always pretty happy to see him, but also because I had just survived a trip to The Warehouse to buy new colouring in books for Amelia and it drove me slightly bananas trying to manage the two of them in there. I was getting addicted to having another pair of hands around.

Eric came over and kissed me. I noticed he'd taken off his tie and stuffed it in his pocket. I think he was over the suit already.

"I got you sushi" I said, pushing it towards him.

"Oh thanks"

I'd had to work hard to get Amelia to accept sushi once she spied the McDonald's, and I'd had to pretty much promise her an ice cream afterwards.

"So how did it go?" I asked Eric.

"Oh, OK. It seems straightforward enough, so I'll start Monday." He took a bite then said "I should probably try and get a car over the weekend then."

"Yeah, probably best." God, I hoped that went better than the previous attempt.

"And I'm sure I'll be fine doing it." I looked up and Eric was looking at me.

"Yeah, yeah, fine. I'm sure you will be." I went back to making sure Amelia wasn't spilling too much soy sauce everywhere.

When I next looked up I realised we were being watched from the other side of the foodcourt. Andre was standing there looking at all of us. I peered at him over Eric's shoulder, and raised my hand to wave, but Andre turned sharply and stalked off.

"Who was that?" Eric asked.

"Andre. But he took off. Odd."

"Yeah, well, he's a complete douche."

"You didn't see him when you were in there?"

"Nope. Just Peter and his bitch."

"Sssh! Eric!" I was laughing though. It would probably annoy the hell out of Sophie-Anne if she knew we were laughing at her.

After we got back through lunch, which included ice creams for Eric and Amelia, we headed back over the overbridge to the carpark. As we reached the lifts near the lobby Sophie-Anne suddenly appeared clutching a sandwich and coffee she'd obviously just bought at the café.

"Oh" she said. "Eric, hello again." Yeah, I thought, thanks for ignoring me. I was about to speak up, but Amelia beat me to it.

"Hello, I'm Amelia, what's your name?"

Sophie-Anne looked at her with the same expression I thought she might wear if her washing machine suddenly came to life and introduced itself to her.

"Oh, Sophie-Anne" she said.

"That's a pretty name. This is my baby Felicia…"

"Oh, um…"

"…and this is Sookie…"

"Yes, I…"

"…and this is Eric, and Mum says we're keeping him like we kept Bob. But Bob is cuter. Although Mum says he's not cute when he brings rats in."

"Right, well…"

"I had sushi for lunch. And an ice cream. Eric bought the ice cream. I wanted chicken nuggets and chips but Mum said no. What's your lunch?"

"A sandwich…"

"I like sandwiches with marmite and butter and cheese. You've got a dress on. I've got a dress on too. Mum wanted me to wear shorts, but I said no. I like dresses…"

I decided I'd better step in. Although it was entertaining to watch Sophie-Anne flounder about, Amelia's hero worship was stepping up. Sophie-Anne was glamorous in a way I just never would be as her mother and if I didn't do something Amelia would probably try to follow her new best friend back to her office.

"Right" I said "we need to get going. Come on guys. See you Sophie-Anne."

I started walking off, pushing Felicia's pushchair in front of me, Eric walking alongside me. I could see he was trying hard to hold the laughter in. "Bye Sophie-Anne! See you soon!" Amelia waved enthusiastically with the hand that Eric wasn't using to drag her along with. I didn't look back to see if Sophie-Anne was waving too. She was probably too stunned at this point.

We got everyone back in the car and headed back home. Amelia chattered for a bit and then it was eerily quiet. Sitting in the car in the heat of the middle of the day had put both kids to sleep.

"Did you see the look on Sophie-Anne's face?" I asked Eric.

"Yup. It was fucking priceless."

"Who knew Amelia had it in her to render Sophie-Anne speechless? Maybe if Sophie-Anne is a pain in the bum when you're working you could just take Amelia in with you and sit her by your desk, like some kind of mini protection charm. Keep everyone away with the constant chatter of a 3 year old."

"Yeah. I always thought you were supposed to use kids to pick up women, not scare them off."

I glanced at Eric. "And where did you get that brilliant idea from?"

He shrugged. "I think that was Victor's strategy. He's divorced and I seem to remember him saying he got more action on the weekends he had his kids than when he didn't."

"Ugh. He sounds delightful. Do guys really talk about that kind of stuff?"

"Sometimes."

"Well don't get any stupid ideas about using my kids to pick up women."

Eric snorted. "I think we've just proven that won't work with Amelia."

"Well there's always Felicia, she's still small and cute."

"Sookie, why would you even think I'd want to pick up random women in the first place? When I have you?"

I shrugged. I didn't really, but the insecure part of me wanted him to say he didn't. "I don't, but you brought it up."

"I brought up Victor's strategy, not mine."

"So what do you use to pick up women?" I regretted that, as soon as I'd asked.

Eric looked at me, and then grinned. "Don't you remember, I just stalk women?"

"Women? So you've stalked more than just me?" I realised I should shut up, but the message hadn't got to my mouth yet.

Eric sighed. "No, I've only ever stalked you. You're special to me in a whole way that is…probably slightly creepy if you look at it objectively. There, are you happy now?"

"Bizarrely, I am."

"Sometimes you're a very odd woman Sookie Stackhouse."

"Yeah, but I think that's what makes us work." I pulled the car into the driveway and Eric leaned over and kissed me. Then he looked at me for a long time before getting out.

EPOV

Watching Sophie-Anne get taken down by a 3 year old made my fucking afternoon. The best bit was that Amelia didn't even realise what she was doing.

Talking about it with Sookie in the car turned into the weirdest fucking conversation I think I'd ever had. I wasn't entirely sure what she was trying to get me to admit to. First she thought I was going to run off with her kids to pick up women, and then she was worried I was a fucking serial stalker. For some reason it cheered her up when she found out that I'd only ever been fucking stupid enough to stalk her. I didn't want to say it was because I'd never needed to stalk a woman before, I wasn't about to sabotage myself that fucking badly.

The kids were both asleep in the car, so I carried Amelia inside while Sookie followed behind with Felicia in her arms. They both looked so peaceful when asleep, you had no idea of the kind of mayhem they were both capable of creating.

We put them into bed and then I went to strip out of my suit, which was a relief. I really wanted to see what I could get Sookie to strip out of, but we heard Amelia start stomping around. I guess as she didn't normally have a nap she wasn't going to stay asleep once the car stopped moving. I tried not to be too disappointed.

As it was a nice afternoon we hung out in the back garden. I wondered how long before I had to mow the lawns again. I wasn't used to having grass to take care of. And then I wondered when I started to think of it as my lawn. Probably around the same time I started thinking of this as my house and my family, which would have been…about five minutes after Sookie said I could stay. I looked over to where she and Amelia were sloshing about in a basin of water pretending to wash Amelia's tea set. Felicia was next to me on the picnic rug, eyeing them jealously as she wasn't prepared to cross the treacherous grass to get to the interesting splashing. "Come on" I said to her "let's go over there and see who ends up the wettest."

SPOV

Amelia got all her Barbies out in the afternoon and brought one of them over to me to dress for her. "Her name's Sophie-Anne" she announced before heading off again. Oh yay, I thought. One of them finally has a name and that's what she picks. I went back to making lasagne for dinner.

After dinner I put Felicia to bed while Eric read Amelia her story. When he came out I was packing the Barbies back into their box.

"How did it go?" I asked.

"Fine, she was happy with just the one story."

"What did you read?"

"The Tiger who Came to Tea. But I have to say I don't get it."

It was an English book written in the late 1960's. Eric was American and much newer. I guessed he didn't get the concept of tea. "Well, it's sort of like a really big afternoon tea, I guess." I said.

"No, I don't get why you'd invite a tiger into your house in the first place."

"Oh. Well I guess a talking tiger would be kind of a novelty, wouldn't you think?"

"I think it would be fucking dangerous."

"Well, chances are we won't ever have the opportunity to have a tiger in the house, so I think we're safe. Besides, I loved that book as a kid. I was always sad at the end when the tiger never comes back."

Eric just snorted and started helping me shove Barbies in a box. After a while he held one up. "I like this one, she kind of looks like you."

"Um, I'm not sure whether to be flattered or insulted that you're comparing me to a Barbie. Or just worried that you think about this stuff."

Eric shrugged and said "Well Amelia makes me play with her."

"Yeah…OK. Mostly I guess I'm glad you didn't pick that one" I pointed to one. "She's apparently called Sophie-Anne. I guess after Amelia's new best friend."

"Oh great, so I have to put up with one at home as well."

"Yeah, guess so." It wasn't until I was putting the lid on the box and tucking it away that I realised that Eric had called this home. I thought about it for a bit. It didn't feel wrong, or presumptive, or anything other than normal. I wondered if he was sliding from boyfriend into something else entirely, but decided that as he didn't know he was my boyfriend yet, maybe I wouldn't even go there myself.

Just then the phone rang and it was Tara. She'd yet to catch up on the full Eric staying story so was a bit surprised when I apologised for being out of contact because he was still here.

"Oh, so he didn't go?"

"No, he's still here. Until Christmas probably."

"Just until then?"

"Well, I don't know, we haven't really discussed it."

"Sookie! You probably should. You can't really move someone in and just live day by day. Don't you want to sit down and figure out the relationship?"

"Um, not really. I'm happy, he seems happy. Let's just…leave it for now. That's what I think."

"Humph. Well don't come crying to me if he suddenly takes off because he thinks you don't like him."

"No, OK. I won't" I said, while thinking crap, I hope that isn't going to happen. Maybe Tara is right?

Tara had been ringing to invite me and the girls over for dinner the next night, assuming she had to cheer me up because I was alone again. So she graciously extended the invitation to Eric as well, seeing as he was doing the job for her.

I found Eric in the bedroom, where he was watching re-runs of Flight of the Conchords.

"We're invited for dinner tomorrow night, to Tara and JB's place." I said, sitting next to him.

"Oh, OK then. That sounds good." I looked at him to see if he was going to say more, like 'oh god, not your friends' but he didn't. He just laughed at the TV.

"You know" he said "I can't decide if this makes more or less sense now that I've lived here for a bit.

"Yeah" I said "well we're not all shepherds for one thing. I actually saw them live, years ago, and thought they were a bit lame." I laughed. "It was probably one of the few times Bill 'got' something more than I did. Maybe you need to be an IT geek to appreciate a binary solo in a song, I don't know." I glanced at Eric to make sure he didn't mind the mention of Bill, but his expression hadn't changed. "And of course they have that Lord of the Rings song. Bill loved those movies."

"Yeah" said Eric "I like those too." Well there you go, they had something in common. Other than me I guess.

"Oh, well the DVDs are around somewhere if you ever want to watch them."

"Oh, cool."

We sat in silence, laughing occasionally, until the episode ended. "So" said Eric, as he switched the TV off, "is this the bit where you demand I get naked really quickly?"

"Oh, I don't know. I wouldn't want to force you into anything against your will."

"No, you can demand anything from me. Anything your little heart desires." Eric leaned over and kissed me.

"Hmmm" I said, pretending to think. "Hmmm, what could I possibly want? You know, I'm not coming up with anything…" Eric started tickling me.

"OK, that doesn't help me think, Eric!"

"I don't see why you have to think in the first place."

"Alright, alright, just hold off for a minute and I'm sure I can come up with something." He pulled back and I looked at him.

"Well, I guess, if you reaaaalllly don't mind, then you can do that thing where you get naked really quickly. But only if you're sure."

Eric already had his t-shirt off and was working on his shorts. "So" he said, kicking them off and pulling his boxers down. "Can I get you naked next?"

"Yeah, alright. Go on then." And he did.

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