Chapter 2
"What have you done to her?" Eric said, his face turned right at Jason, seeing the wet face of Sookie looking at him. Making a beeline for the uniformed deputy, he grabbed him by the throat and held him several feet off the ground. "I had thought you and I were getting along fine and then I see her in tears? I overheard your conversation and would like to know what business this is of yours?"
"She's my dang sister and you can rough me up all you want but it ain't gonna change the fact that I want what's best for her and I am not so sure its you any more. I had started to think you were the answer, she hasn't been as happy in a long time but since you two got back together…" Jason was turning red in the face and as Sookie touched Eric gently on the shoulder, he relented and let Jason down firmly, his eyes glaring at the deputy.
"Are you alright?" she asked, coming to her brother and using her light, made the slight pain and redness around his throat go away.
"Yeah." he said, looking past her to the Viking. And it was then he addressed him. "Look, you and I have a past and most if it wasn't the most friendly and I would prefer to be friends. But if you are gonna keep Sookie from being as happy as she can be, well, maybe you should think of what she wants, what she needs rather than what you want. I am leaving now Sook, but if you need me back here, well, you got my cell number. And if I don't hear back from you in a hour, I am coming back here anyway."
Nodding, she was unable to speak, her throat filled with a lump she couldn't swallow. A night of such promise and pleasure that had began with her brother arriving with flowers and a meal for them to share had turned into yet another emotional disaster. And she blamed no one, she knew that they both cared for her and truly wanted her to be happy. But the timing? Surely it couldn't have possibly been worse. She walked past Eric and sat down on her couch in the living room, ignoring her cooling cup of coffee in the kitchen. Awkward silence fell in the old farmhouse as he took a seat beside her on the couch, Sookie staring into her hands.
"So this is what has troubled you? That we can't have a family….I suspected as much last night when you left, I couldn't think of anything else that would have led you to become so melancholy. I suppose with being able to commune with my loved ones perhaps made me more attuned to family….." the Viking said, leaning back into the couch and staring at the ceiling, turning his head slightly to glance at her. "You know I would give you anything in the world if I could but the one thing I cant-" he was stopped with a hand to his own.
"I don't blame you and am not angry…I shouldn't have left you last night. It was just…..after everything with seeing your family, it was like something switched on in me, I mean I had thought I wanted kids before and I do love my nieces and nephew I got from Jason….but I have to be honest, I want kids….even one would do. And Jason is right, there is no one in their right mind who would adopt to…..well….look at us. Freaks. Nothing but freaks. And its not as I am ashamed of being what I am or what you are. But facts are facts. I don't want you taking it out on Jason because he worried about me." her temper was being tested and with everything they had just gone through, the last thing she wanted was to get into another heated exchange. "I think maybe you should go…..this isn't a good time and-" she had headed for the front door and had swung it open to let him out. But he had grabbed her by the arm, more forcefully than he had intended to do, but his temper had been aroused and he flinched as he saw the way she looked at him as he grabbed her. "Sorry….but I didn't come here for any trouble, to cause any trouble." for a few moments, he saw her rubbing the spot he had grabbed her and saw a bruise had appeared, but with her rapid fairy-vamp healing power, it didn't last long. Still, he felt aggrieved. "I didn't mean to do that, I am sorry."
She said nothing but the look in her eyes pained him even further, even as he fingered the object in his jeans pocket he bad come here to give her. But just as he went to speak again, she spoke, in a voice cracking with emotion. "I…..need you to leave. Please. We can talk later."
The stubborn pride within the Viking kept him from moving and instead took her by the hands and sped her out into the gardens in the back of her house she had only just recently finished. "Look, hear me out, I know this isn't the ideal evening thus far and I promise you I will make amends with your brother. I know you prefer it when we are getting along….but I came here….with this." he took out a box from the inside of his jacket pocket and opened it, revealing a ornate rose colored band in a tribal knotted patter, a immaculate teardrop shaped diamond set in the center. Truly, it was the most beautiful ring she had ever seen. "I had Pam get shavings from my fathers sword and a dagger that belonged to my mother. It Didn't ruin the weapons but it was enough to make the band. Then she had it made into a ring, dipped in rose gold and given a diamond I feel pales in comparison to you but I can only hope that I can see it upon your hand?" he said the last part questioningly, knowing she was still a little miffed. But he knew how charming he could be and so put it all out there, offering a baleful gaze and a gentle, almost apprehensive smile.
But she could only stare at the ring/ touched as she was by how it was forged, she still was full of emotion and though she did want to be only with him, the fact remained that there would always be a missing piece and she never would wish him to feel badly at what he couldn't provide her. "Oh, it's lovely." she said, managing a smile and meeting his expectant face. She had seen him look at her like this once before-full of hope- when he had thought she may actually choose him over Bill when he had said Bill had blown his chance to have her. And once again, she would have to strike a painful blow.
Pushing his outstretched hand with the ring box in it gently back towards him, she shook her head. "I can't….not yet…..there's so much to think about and-" she stopped as he shot to his feet, turning his back on her and pacing, raking a hand through his hair.
"Things were going well….and I thought this was what you wanted. I can give you almost everything you could ever want…if this is all because we can't have-"
"This isn't just because I want a kid." she said, starting the raise her voice, tears running down her face. "I….don't want something else coming between us because I don't think you would ever want-"
"If you knew me, really knew me then you would truly know what I want, Sookie." he replied and she could hear the anger and hurt in his voice, the rejection stinging even more this time and she knew it was. He made to fly away but she was desperate, unleashing her magic that brought him crashing to the ground. A little dazed, he found himself surprisingly winded as she strode up to him, hands aglow.
"I am not going to lose you over this….I have had more than my share of heartache in my life too and I….I just wish there was a way to have it all. I just want me, us, to be happy." she reached up and looked embarrassed. "Sorry for that little, um, light display. Are you okay?"
"I have always loved a tough woman and especially fairy Sookie coming out to play…" he replied. She had her hands on his temples and something strange happened, at first the sounds was a humming sound. And then she heard it, clear as day. His thoughts. He was amused and what she had also heard was his desperate wish to give her what she wanted more than anything. That it pained him so he couldn't made her step back and look at him in a new light. "You….you want kids? I never thought you really wanted, I mean…." she trailed off. "I know family means a lot to you and that you have made yourself a new family….but…god, how did I just do that?"
He too, was puzzled at her reading his thoughts. "You…..read my thoughts, an impossibility. You can't-"
"Actually, should one become as powerful as she has, she will find herself being able to do the impossible." a familiar voice called from the side of the house. And the two turned to see Niall was there, smoking a pipe and looking at them with a twinkle in his eyes. Something was up, and both of them suspected that he would soon play some part in the next stage of their lives.
To Be Continued
