A/N Love to you all! The reviews are brilliant!

Disclaimer: Not mine!

SPOV

On the 23rd December I got back from dropping Amelia at her last day at preschool for the year to find a slightly stressed looking Eric standing on the front lawn surrounded by large boxes.

I got Felicia out of the car and went over to him "What's happening?" I asked. I looked at one of the boxes. "Springfree trampoline?"

"Yeah" said Eric, still looking really vague. "It's the trampoline."

"You got a trampoline?"

"Yeah. I told you that."

"No. No, last I heard you thought it was a good idea."

"Well it was a good idea. Except that I thought they'd set it up when they delivered it. And they didn't. Apparently they're just the couriers." Eric was running his hand through his hair and kind of staring into the distance, perhaps in the direction the courier truck had driven off in.

"Yeah, well. That would be standard. You normally have to put this stuff together yourself." Eric turned and looked at me like I was a nutcase. "Welcome to New Zealand" I said, patting him on the arm. "No amount of tipping is going to make a courier put that together for you. But I will help you put the boxes in the garage. Felicia, if I put you on the lawn, can you just sit there for a minute?"

Felicia said "Bub" so I took that as a yes, although she looked a bit put out when I put her down on the grass so she may have regretted her answer.

Eric and I carried the boxes over to the garage. "I always thought this was a shed" he said.

"No, it's a garage. Probably built in 1940-something, and you can't fit any modern cars in it, but it's definitely a garage."

"Oh, OK." Eric still seemed a bit shell-shocked by the whole thing. I felt really sorry for him. I guess he was used to a whole other world where things happened differently.

We collected Felicia who was trying to eat a daisy she'd pulled out of the lawn and went inside, where Eric got out his laptop and looked up the Springfree website. Yep no mention of them putting it together for you. There were some videos posted that showed you how to put the trampolines together. We watched the applicable one. Several times.

I stood up and patted Eric on the shoulder. "I think you might have to ring Calvin" I said.

"Yeah. I think you might be right. Fuck, that looks…complicated."

"Oh, I'm sure you can do it." Yeah, I had my doubts but I didn't want to push him any further over the edge.

Eric rallied slightly. "Yeah. Yeah, I can do it. I'll do it tomorrow night so it's there for Christmas morning. Might call Calvin though…" With that he stood up.

"Well, you might want to mow the lawns today then. Once the tramp is up you'll have to move it each time, so you might as well get them done now before you have that hassle."

Eric looked at me intently. "How do you know this stuff?" he asked.

"Um. How do you not?"

Eric shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I was busy the day they were instructing people in lawn maintenance with a trampoline."

"Doing what?"

Eric started to walk off. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he said enigmatically, over his shoulder.

Well, yeah I thought. I would actually. I had all sorts of questions about Eric's life before he got here, but he was never that keen on talking about it. Oh well. I went off to replenish the Christmas tree's water and vacuum up some pine needles.

EPOV

I probably should have paid more attention to what it said on the website when I ordered the fucking trampoline. It never really occurred to me that someone wouldn't set it up for you. And now I was stuck doing it. Fuck. The only consolation was that once it was up I'd get to see Sookie bouncing. Yeah, that would be worth it.

I sent a text to Calvin to see if he could come and help put the fucking thing together. He probably owed me for nearly killing myself going running with him.

When I found Sookie again she was back in her spot poking under the Christmas tree. Yeah, that was a fucking awesome view.

I noticed that a few presents had started to appear under the tree so I took a closer look. "Oooh, that one's got my name on it!" I said to Sookie.

"Yep, but NO TOUCHING! I mean it." She turned waggled a finger at me.

"I was only looking!" I said, holding my hands up.

"I should hope so too. No present poking is allowed. I've had too many nasty surprises thanks to Jason over the years."

"OK. Do you want me to help?"

"No, it's alright. I think it I got it all." She dragged the vacuum back out of the room and left. I went back to looking at the presents. Oh fuck. There were ones there from Amelia and Felicia to me. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I suddenly realised that if the 'kid's' were buying me gifts, then maybe they should be buying them for Sookie too. Except that they hadn't. Because I hadn't bought any. And fuck again.

I tried to come up with something really fast; preferably something I could get delivered. Nope, there was no way I was getting anything online in this country this close to Christmas.

I was going to have to go out. Shit.

Sookie was sitting on the family room floor with Felicia so I sat down next to them. "Um" I said "I have to go out for a bit, so um, I'll be back soon. And I'll do the lawn later on."

"Oh" said Sookie "OK. Are you going to be back for lunch? It's only a half-day for Amelia so I'll have to go and get her soon."

"Um. Not sure. Don't wait for me. OK?"

"OK. Well have fun, out there, in the mayhem."

"Yeah, thanks for that." It might have been better if I had any fucking clue where I was going.

SPOV

Eric did not seem to be having a good morning. First there was the confusion over the trampoline, now something had happened and he'd raced off out. I wondered if he'd suddenly realised that had to buy me a present. Although he'd made enough trips into the city that surely he'd organised something by now. I hoped to God he wasn't going anywhere near Sophie-Anne.

Although he'd tell me that surely?

I picked up Amelia at midday and was informed that Santa was going to be here soon. I guess they'd been talking about it at pre-school. She wasn't really convinced there were two more sleeps until the big day because surely if the teachers had told her it was happening, it was happening NOW!

It's hard to argue with Amelia sometimes. In the end I resorted to a lot of nodding and going "uh-huh" while I let my mind drift off to what Eric might be up to. I hoped he was OK out there.

EPOV

Oh fuck it was busy at St Luke's. I really really should have thought of this earlier. I knew as soon as I had to join a queue just to get into the parking lot that this was a bad idea. And after I'd spent what felt like days waiting for a spot I realised I might as well have walked here for the time I'd spent in the car.

The mall itself wasn't much better. It was worse than the previous Friday, much much worse. And while I might not have had two kids with me this time I did not have a plan as to what I was getting. And I really fucking hated that. It meant I had to walk around and look in shops in the hope of being struck with inspiration. It was like being Sookie. How did she find this enjoyable? Because it drove me fucking nuts.

I couldn't find anything really suitable and I was getting a bit desperate. It was long past lunchtime. I just wanted go home. I went to Starbuck's and bought coffee. That might help. And it did, somehow. I had an idea. I was going to need Amelia's help later on, but I had an idea at least.

SPOV

Eric turned up about 2 o'clock looking stressed and empty-handed. Shit, I hope he hadn't been off participating in any subterfuge involving Sophie-Anne. "OK?" I asked.

"Yeah" he said sinking down onto the picnic rug where I was sitting with Felicia while Amelia bounced around on her new moonhopper making me feel hot from watching her.

I reached over and rubbed his back and he put his head on my shoulder. Felicia tried to crawl over me to get to Eric, who was obviously far more interesting.

After a minute like that I said "Right, let's do something fun. How about some bubbles?"

Eric looked at me. "Champagne?" he asked.

"No, actual bubbles. I'll go and get the bubble maker."

"Bubbles?" Amelia asked as she bounced over. "I love bubbles!"

EPOV

The shopping trip drained me a bit, but bizarrely the bubbles were quite fun. Amelia went nuts for them, chasing them all around the garden. Felicia was a bit quiet at first, but then laughed and squealed and looked confused when they broke on her head. Bob hid under a bush by the fence after some landed near him and he thought they were out to get him. Yeah, that part was fucking funny.

Living with Amelia and Felicia I'd discovered that most of the time they were fucking loud, but you did appreciate the times when they were at least laughing. The good mood was infectious.

Sookie got the paddling pool out for them next and I'd mustered enough energy to carry warm water from the house for her to fill it with. She tipped in most of Amelia's tea set with them and we refereed to make sure everyone got something to play with, and no one got accidentally drowned. There was a lot of giggling and splashing and the occasional shout of "No! Felicia!" from Amelia.

I fucking loved my family.

I looked over to where Sookie was stationed on the other side of the paddling pool. The front of her t-shirt had been splashed which was quite a good look on her. "Sookie" I said over the heads of the kids, who were squealing and giggling like there was no tomorrow.

"Yeah?" she answered, a bit distracted by trying to stop Felicia climbing out of the pool and onto her lap.

"Sookie, can we get married? I mean, do you want to get married?" Fuck, please say yes, I thought.

Sookie looked at me and frowned, while using one hand to hold Felicia back. "Um. Yeah, alright then" she said, and then she looked down at Felicia again.

That was it. That was the final stage after 'we'll see', 'possibly' and 'maybe'. 'Alright then' always meant that Amelia had finally worn her mother down and would get what she wanted. And so, it appeared, would I.

I moved around to the other side of the pool so I could sit next to Sookie. "Really?" I asked, "It's not just because I've worn you down?"

"Well, your persistence has probably helped your cause. But yeah. OK. We will. Sometime."

"Fanfuckingtastic" I said, and I leaned over and kissed her. I tried to push her over so she was lying on the grass, but she kept hitting me in the back and wouldn't bend. "I have to watch Felicia" she said.

"Oh, OK" I let go of her. Well most of her. I kept a hand on her thigh. I was fairly sure she wasn't going to run away but maybe I wasn't going to take any chances.

"What's happening?" Amelia asked frowning, realising that something was up.

"Um. Eric wants to marry me" Sookie said.

"Oh" said Amelia. "Does that mean you get to be a princess again?"

"Something like that."

"What do I get to be?"

"Um. A princess too."

"Will I get a dress?"

"I guess so."

"Well that's OK then. Can I have a tiara?"

"If you really have to."

"Well if I'm a princess I do." Amelia stopped and thought for a bit. "Will Sophie-Anne be there?"

"Absolutely not" I said.

"She's not nice."

"No" said Sookie "She's not. And we don't like people who aren't nice."

Amelia looked thoughtful again, but then obviously lost interest in the conversation as the next thing she said was "Felicia! The pink cup is mine! You have the green one!"

"Bub!"

"Can you share nicely please Amelia?" asked Sookie.

"I was sharing. I'm sharing the green cup!" Amelia said indignantly, before going back to pretending to cook or at least hording the toys down her end of the pool.

I pulled Sookie back so she was leaning against my chest and I kissed the top of her head. "I love you" I said.

"I love you too."

Well the afternoon had certainly made up for the morning.

When the kids got out of the pool Sookie took them inside so I could mow the lawn. That was hot, sweaty work. I could have done with a swim afterwards, but there was no way I could fit in the paddling pool. I had to make do with a lonely shower instead.

After that I took Amelia and Felicia off to put my plan for Sookie's present into action. Sookie watched curiously as I took them off to the bedroom one at a time, but she didn't say anything.

We got through dinner without Amelia spilling the beans on what we'd been up to. How she was going to keep her mouth shut for another whole day I didn't know. Perhaps she'd get distracted by something else? I wondered if I could get Felicia to start walking or something, as the effort involved in guarding her toys might keep her occupied.

Sookie kept looking at me and smiling. I was probably grinning at her like an idiot. I probably should have asked the night before when we had our date. I guess that would have been more romantic. Then we could have eaten in peace without having Felicia throwing things on the floor and Amelia arguing with Sookie over whether she liked carrots or not.

But this was life I guess. And it was really only my afternoon in the sun with them all that pushed me to actually ask Sookie again. They were mine. All of them. Even fucking Bob and his disgusting offerings.

And I wasn't even really scared by that thought.

By the time the kids were tucked in for the night, though, I was very keen on having Sookie all to myself so we could celebrate. She was trying to clean up the kitchen so I just stood behind her and whispered in her ear "We're getting married."

"Yep, we've established that."

"Try and sound happy about it!"

She turned around to face me. "Oh Eric. I am, I really am. But it's so quick. I think…I think we'll just keep it between us for a while, OK? And get used to it. And we don't have to rush and do it tomorrow or anything. So let's play it cool."

"But…but I thought women were supposed to be happy when you asked them to marry them?" I blurted out.

"Eric! I am happy. I'm very, very happy. But I just want time to get used to it. Can you give me that? Please?" She looked up at me with her big blue eyes and I probably would have given her anything she'd asked for.

"Yeah. I can give you that. But we can celebrate, can't we?"

"Yep, we can celebrate."

"Excellent" I kissed her and then I put my hands underneath her butt and lifted her onto the counter. We stayed like for a while, kissing and slowly becoming more and more breathless until Sookie finally pulled back.

"Remember the whole no curtains thing?"

"Vaguely. I'm not thinking about much at the moment…" I wasn't, I was a little distracted. Mostly I was just thinking about getting Sookie naked and whether or not there were curtains around didn't really factor into that.

"Yeah. So we need to move this party into the bedroom."

"OK." I picked her up and carried her off to bed.

"I guess the deck is out of the question?" I asked, pulling Sookie's t-shirt over her head.

"Well yeah. It's like the longest day or something. So it'll be light out for a while."

"Maybe later then."

"Possibly."

I could have tried pushing that forward to a maybe, but I got distracted again by Sookie's boobs, and I was busy with her nipple in my mouth. The problem with that was that I kind of missed the view of her boobs I'd had from further back. It didn't seem fair really.

Then I had an idea. One of the advantages of it being light out was that there were no lights on in the house for Sookie to try to turn off. So everything in the bedroom was pretty visible.

"Sookie?" I said, looking up at her. "Do you trust me?"

"Yeah. Yeah I do."

"So…want to try something new?"

"What a new place?"

"Kind of. But not too far away. Over there." I nodded to the corner of the bed.

"What the bathroom? It's far too small really. And you said I was too short for sex in the shower."

"No, just…look don't worry I'll show you. First, let's get you naked." I helped her off with her bra and then she lifted her hips so I could pull her shorts and panties off. She pulled off my t-shirt and I took off my own shorts and boxers. I leaned over Sookie again and kissed her and then I put my hands under her back and her butt and slid her along the bed.

"What are you doing?" she asked, as I pulled her further down the bed so her legs were dangling over the edge.

"Just trust me." I said kneeling on the floor beside the bed. I kissed up one thigh and Sookie watched me, and then she looked over my head and she realised where I'd put her.

"In front of the mirror, Eric?"

"Mmm-hmm. It will be great."

"OK, but I'm keeping my eyes closed."

"It will be better if you open them."

"Yeah, we'll see."

I left her to it and just hoped she'd see it my way, and bent my head to lick her folds. Fuck, she was wet. I heard a groan come from the bed and I just hoped that Sookie would have the sense to open her eyes and watch because I thought she might be surprised.

I licked again, and then sucked her clit before using my tongue on it. I inserted two fingers into her and moved them back and forth, slowly, until Sookie started to press her hips into me and then I moved a bit quicker until I felt her spasm around my fingers.

I looked up and she was staring at the mirror intently. "I told you you'd like it."

"Yeah" she said a bit dreamily. "So…do we switch now for a bit?"

"If you like."

I sat on the bed and Sookie knelt on the floor, after getting a pillow for herself and muttering something about sore knees. I was really fucking hard at this point and when she licked across my balls and up my cock before taking it into her mouth and sucking, I just about came. But I really wanted to hold off and come inside Sookie, so I held off as best as I could and looked at the ceiling for a while before I dared to look at the mirror. Yeah mirrors were great.

I let Sookie carry on as long as I dared and then I tapped her on the shoulder. "Sookie, stop."

"Oh, OK" she said looking up.

I leaned back and reached over so I could get a condom out and I put it on. Sookie was still kneeling watching me. "OK" I said "Climb on."

Sookie stood up and put a knee on the bed on either side of my thighs, which did put her boobs at just the right height, so I licked one of her nipples. She kissed me and started to lower herself down. "Uh-uh" I said. "Turn around."

I saw her eyes widen and she bit her lip. I tried not to smile knowing this was the bit where she tried to tell me she couldn't possibly do it, or it was a silly idea and then she'd do it anyway.

"Um…Eric. I don't know if I can…you know, in front of the mirror. Seeing everything." Her voice had dropped down to a whisper, as though she was afraid of being overheard.

"It'll be fantastic Sookie. You're so hot. I just want to watch you when I make you come."

"But you see me anyway."

"Yeah, but I want to see all of you. It'll be fantastic." I leaned over to whisper in her ear. I'd worked out that was the key to getting her to agree, she loved the whispering. "We'll be able to see everything. Don't you want to see my cock as it slides in and out of your pussy Sookie? It will be so hot."

I looked at her face. She bit her lip and looked at me then looked down. "OK, but I'm keeping my eyes closed" she said. I think that's Sookie's code for she's going to pretend she didn't really want to do this as much as she actually does.

"OK. Well turn around then" I said. No point commenting on the eyes closed bit. She'd open them. She always does.

She got off the bed, turned around and then positioned herself in reverse. I kissed her shoulder, hoping that would relax her. And then lowered herself onto me. Fuck that felt great. I looked over her shoulder. And it looked fucking hot. Really fucking hot.

"See, isn't that a fucking awesome sight, Sookie?" She didn't say anything but just nodded. She was mesmerised. Fuck, I wondered if she'd ever seen herself like this before. I guessed not given her reaction to the suggestion.

I reached around squeezed one of her boobs and pinched a nipple. "Oh, God. Eric" she moaned, as she leaned back against my chest. Then she turned her head and kissed me.

I moved my hand down across her stomach and found her clit and started rubbing. I watched her eyes following my hand. "Oh" she said "Oh, that's…oh."

"Yeah" I said. "Yeah, it's…oh fuck…" I was so close. Sookie was getting very close too judging by the movements and the sounds she was making. I kept my hand on Sookie's clit and felt her walls clamping down on my cock. She leaned back even further, putting her arms behind her head and around my neck. Fuck her boobs were fucking awesome with that view. I put my hands on her hips and started thrusting even harder. It was so much hotter watching what was happening. And then I came as well, with a rather strangled cry of "Sookie!"

We sat there for a moment and I dropped my head to Sookie's shoulder. I helped her sit up and climb off then I went to dispose of the condom. When I got back to bed Sookie had moved so she was lying against the pillows, but she was still naked and not under the covers. Fuck me, I thought, who is this woman and where did Sookie and her need to cover herself up go?

Sookie must have caught me staring at her and she looked at me and said "Well, you know, after that I might as well throw modesty out the window. I can't decide if you're really good for my self-esteem, or bad for my inhibitions."

I lay down next to her. "Neither of those sound like a bad thing" I said, kissing her shoulder.

"No. They're not bad things. You're just very persuasive." She giggled and reached over to stroke my face.

"Is that why you said yes to marrying me? Just because I'm persuasive?" Fuck, why do I always ask these questions I don't want to know the answer to?

Sookie frowned. "God, no. No amount of persuasion could make me say yes if I didn't want to. I do want to marry you, I really do. I'm sorry if it doesn't sound like it."

"As long as you're sure, then that's all that matters." I lay back and Sookie put her head on my chest and traced patterns on my stomach with her hand.

"Completely, utterly sure. More sure than I've ever been."

"Because you're mine."

"Yeah. Yeah I am."

"And I'm yours."

"Yeah."

"And that's all that matters."

"Yes it does."

We were silent for a bit, lying together. I looked at the light coming through the doors. It was still a while until the sun set. Longest day or not, I wished it would never end. This was the best I'd ever felt. Fuck, Sookie Stackhouse was going to marry me.

"I love you, Sookie."

"I love you too. And Amelia and Felicia will love you loads after you build them that trampoline tomorrow night."

"Fuck."

Thanks for reading!