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Sookie

And all sitting on Max's bed, were him, Stel, Ceci, Lily and Eric.

Wonderful, perfect, in the flesh Eric. I rubbed my eyes, unable to control the huge grin on my face. "What are you doing here?"

He stood up, and I was engulfed in a big, giant, amazing Eric hug. I'd almost forgotten how tall he was. And handsome. So handsome. "I passed off my marking on my teaching assistant and switched my flight. I didn't want to be there if I could be here."

He felt so good in person. Beyond good. I felt tears well up behind my eyes. "I don't know what to say. It's just, well, you're here."

He pulled away, his eyes meeting mine. God, he was handsome. It wasn't that I'd forgotten since I'd been seeing him over Skype, but nothing compared to real life Eric. "I was going to call, but I thought this might be more fun. I just figured out I could do it yesterday and switched my ticket to standby."

"And he brought presents!" Ce squealed, holding up some sort of weird purple stuffed animal. "And treats for tomorrow."

Max was quiet, but had a perfectly content look on his face. "I got an Eiffel Tower puzzle. It's taller than me."

I wrapped my arms around Eric's waist, unwilling to deny myself physical contact, even for a second. "Very cool. You guys still need to go to bed though. It's really late. Dad'll still be here tomorrow."

We heard Johan arrive, and Stella got up and went downstairs, while we finished tucking our rather stoked kids into bed. They didn't go easy, but eventually they couldn't keep their eyes open, and we used that to our full advantage, sneaking out quietly after flicking on their nightlights.

I felt my heart practically jump out of my chest as Eric slammed me against the wall just before the stairs, and placed this amazing, toe curling kiss on me, his hands stuck to either side of my face. "Let's get rid of one more kid, and then it's just you and I," he whispered.

I realized that my face hurt from grinning so much. "I can't wait. I love you."

His eyes lit up at my words, as he reached for my hand. "I love you too. I've missed you so much.

Stella and Johan hung around for a half hour or so after the kids went to bed, and I cracked a bottle of wine, not wanting to rush them out, since they hadn't seen Eric in two and a half months either. I hadn't really thought about it, but I was going to have to share him. A lot.

They both chatted for a bit about their school work, and Eric told them about the project he had started as well. Unfortunately, the conversation eventually shifted to Thanksgiving.

"So he's coming for dinner." Eric raised an eyebrow.

I groaned, at least somewhat happy that we were discussing this in person. "He doesn't know anyone, and then Bill and Selah invited themselves, and Pam and Alcide were coming anyway. I figured what was one more. That's it. And I thought you wouldn't be so weird if you met him."

He grinned. "Or it might be weirder. You know how I am."

Stella rolled her eyes. "He's nice Dad. And very posh. That accent," she giggled. "I bet it's a real panty dropper."

Johan shot her a look. "It's an accent. So what?"

I wanted to tell him that I'd probably made it as weird as it could get with my overactive imagination, but I felt like going there wasn't the best thing I could do when I hadn't seen my husband in a couple of months. "I've missed you like you wouldn't believe."

Eric pulled me into his lap, and buried his face in my hair. "I would believe it."

Stella cleared her throat. "On that note, it's time to go. Johan?"

He grinned, before standing up. "I guess you don't need our help tomorrow Sookie?"

I shook my head, revelling in the feeling of Eric wrapped around me. "I think we have it under control."

Stella shrugged. "Then we'll see you for Thanksgiving."

They kind of rushed out the door, and I turned around so I was straddling Eric's lap. "I can't believe you're really here. It didn't seem like you were coming back some days."

He pulled his arms around me tighter. "Tell me about it. Are you working late tomorrow?"

I laughed, because what else could I do, but laugh. "No, I was going to get waxed. Listen, I'm really, really happy to see you, but I'm probably going to hop in the shower before I show you just how happy I am. I'm disgusted with myself, really, I am."

He rolled his eyes at me."Wait till you see me without a shirt on. You're disgusted? I've been eating cheese and bread for almost three months straight. And you know what? After not seeing you for two and a half months, there's no way in hell I'm leaving you alone to shower."

I kissed him again, quite reluctant to break contact. "Can you turn your back while I shave my legs at least?"

He gave me a somewhat sleepy smile. "Sure. What time is it?"

I peered at the clock on the DVD player. "It's got to be after eleven. Work is going to be terrible tomorrow. I wish I'd known to take the day off. And Claudine will be here in the morning. Shoot."

Eric shrugged. "We'll pay her for the day anyway. I can handle Ce without backup. Sook, she's so grown up."

I sighed. "I can't even talk about it. She's going to be teetering around on heels before we know it and then she'll get engaged, and I'll be old."

Eric chuckled, a huge smile on his face. "Speaking of old, we need to get this show on the road. It's like four in the morning Paris time."

I hopped off his lap and pulled him up. "Come on old man. Show me what you've got."

He looked at me for a minute, before giving me this wonderfully goofy grin, seconds before he threw me over his shoulder. I squealed, as he shoved a hand up my pantleg. "You weren't kidding."

I beat on his back, as he carried me into the bathroom. "It's been cold, and I've been wearing tights and pants. I swear, it was on the schedule. You're screwing up my waxing schedule with this unexpected visit. Now I'll have to wait weeks before it grows back again."

He patted my bum. "Oh, what a shame. You've lost weight as well. What's up with that?"

I snorted as he dropped me to my feet. "I've been running my ass off for three months. It was not intentional, I assure you." I'd worked hard all summer to have a booty bootcamp ass, and now it was practically gone. "I'll probably gain it back over Thanksgiving."

He unzipped my fly, and pushed my dress pants around my hips."Well I have a bit you can have. We can make the exchange later."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Shut up and take your clothes off."

He shrugged and pulled his sweater off, followed by his pants, as I did the same thing, practically racing him to the shower, hoping to distract him from my incredibly hairy lower half.

We were good in the shower. Fantastic even. It was one of our best places. "Now, let me get my legs first, and then I'm all yours."

"I don't really care about your legs. I probably wouldn't have even noticed."

"Lies." I giggled, trying to quickly run a razor over my legs as his hands made their way from my neck to my shoulders, and eventually around to my chest.

"I don't know why anyone thought I'd be distracted with another set of breasts when I have these ones at my disposal," he mumbled into my neck. "Fuck, I missed you."

I quickly finished up, dropping the razor when his hand snaked between my legs, almost causing me to lose my balance. "Let's go to bed. Then we can go to sleep after."

He chuckled at me, turning the shower off. "Not the most romantic thing you've ever said, but certainly the most practical tonight."

We towelled off, quickly making the streak from the bathroom to our room, hoping and praying that we wouldn't have any little visitors in our bed. Luckily, we didn't, besides Lily anyway, who looked kind of annoyed at Eric taking his spot in the bed back. She groaned and curled up at the end of the bed, as Eric and I collapsed in a naked heap, him on top, which was exactly where I wanted him.

I liked the little bit of extra stuff to grab. It just made him a little softer in areas, which was actually a nice surprise. But he certainly wasn't soft where it counted. I shifted my hips, as he held one of my legs up with his arm. We both groaned in unison as he entered me.

"Fuck Sook, you're so tight. I'm going to last like three minutes," he whispered, a smirk on his face. "And that was the least most romantic thing I've ever said."

I laughed, pulling his weight down on me. "You wanted reality, and you've got it. I don't care how long you last, as long as you get me off too."

I didn't even remember falling asleep.

It must have been about six in the morning, when I felt Eric watching me, intensely enough to wake me up. I slowly opened my eyes, smiling at him, here, in our bed. "Hi," I said, stretching, and then curling back into a ball, my head on his chest.

There was something else in his eyes though, something slightly troubled. "I have to tell you something."

I sat up against the headboard, and pulled the blankets around me, really unsure of what he was going to say. I felt a little sick though, simply from the look in his eyes. "Okay?"

"Three nights ago, a little while after I got off the phone with you, this grad student that does my marking, the one I dumped my work on to leave early shows up at my door. It was late, around eleven, and she said she had a few things she needed to talk to me about. I was my usual asshole self, told her I was extremely irritated that she'd come to my home, and said she had five minutes, or she could book an appointment with me. So she comes in, sits on the couch, I sit at the kitchen table, and she starts talking about my work, and how much respect she has for what I do and all of that. The usual grad student dribble. After about two minutes, I tell her to cut to the chase, and she breaks down sobbing, bawling her eyes out crying about how she's going to get kicked out of school because she hasn't done what she was supposed to do."

I crossed my arms, and looked at him curiously."Which was?"

"She was supposed to keep me entertained, she said. I asked her to elaborate, and she just said that she'd been having financial problems and had been made an offer she couldn't refuse. And then she asked me if there was anything she could 'do' for me."

"And?"

He leered at me. "I told her she could do the rest of the grading for the semester, and get the fuck out of my apartment. What do you think I told her?"

I leered right back. "I wasn't thinking you told her anything. I'm not sure why you let her in in the first place though, given the past experience you've had with young, pretty grad students. I'm assuming she was young and pretty?"

He sighed. "Of course. So I'm not sure what kind of game I'm a pawn in. That's what I'm concerned about."

I shrugged. "Like I said, you didn't help your case letting her in, but I trust you. I hope you won't put yourself in a position like that again. It's really a your word against hers situation." I believed him. Absolutely.

He sighed, scratching his head. "I know. I've been thinking about that for three days. I think I let her in because she reminded me of Stel. She's the same age, and smart, and ambitious, and I've been a real asshole to her, for no real reason. Just because I was pissed about being in Paris." He shrugged. "I don't know, Lover. I've gotten a bit soft lately, and not just around the middle."

I patted his stomach. "Don't be silly about your middle. And that's why you came back early? To tell me that?"

"I didn't want you getting an email or a letter from Appius, or whatever else he has cooked up. And I just didn't want to be there, I mean not that I've ever wanted to be there, but I just needed to get out of there, and be here. Everything there is like some fucked up head game. I just needed some reality."

"Well when Ceci beats the door down in twenty minutes, it's about to get really real in here, so I hope you're prepared for that after a few months away." I gave him a half smile. "I don't really know what to say. Like I said, I trust you, and you've not given me reason not to for a long time. Also, I do appreciate you not trying to protect me by keeping things from me like you used to."

He shrugged. "I just don't want this to cause any problems, but I feel like the odds are against that. Someone paid her to try and get her to fuck me. How messed up is that?"

"You academics sure like your dramatics." I scooted over a little closer to him, draping my leg over his. "How are you going to oust Appius?"

"I don't know yet." He raised an eyebrow. "I might have to kill him."

I rolled my eyes. "And then you'll get to spend lots of time with us. I'll really look forward to those conjugal visits. Wait, do you get those if you kill someone?"

He shook his head. "I think they did away with those in most states. No wonder inmates get so riled up about everything."

We lay there for a while, and I listened to his heart beat until the alarm clock went off. I really didn't need any shit from his work. It was enough to manage my own, and no one at my work was quite so set on destroying my personal life as it seemed Appius was. I pried myself away from him, and he pulled on some sweats and an old t-shirt to get the kids going while I enjoyed a most leisurely shower, the most leisurely I'd had in months. I fixed the parts I'd missed during my impromptu shave, and used some deep conditioner Pam had been bugging me about for weeks. It was heavenly.

I got dressed and wandered out to the kitchen to find Eric feeding both happy kids, and a bowl of oatmeal for me, complete with some maple syrup we'd picked up upstate in the summer. "I feel like I'm dreaming, and I'm going to wake up, you'll be gone, Ce will be screaming and Max will be all angsty," I whispered in his ear.

He smiled, pouring us both a cup of coffee. "No tears, no angst. Just oatmeal."

I raised my cup to him. "Marry me, again?"

Eric winked. "Absolutely."

I made it to work while it was still quiet. I loved the office when it was like this, before the drama and the problems began. Before people expected things of me in person. It was the perfect time to see what people expected of me via email.

First email, from the mysterious Annette De Witt. Subject – Bones is mine.

Whoa. I raised my eyebrows, considered deleting it, but curiosity got the best of me.

Listen, Bitch. He's mine, and he'll come back to me when he's tired of you. Bones needs a woman with experience, and we love each other. Stay the fuck away from him.

Annette.

I didn't know if I should laugh or cry. I opted to laugh, hysterically, until tears poured out of my eyes. Eventually Lafayette popped his head into my office, a concerned look on his face.

"Sookie, are you alright?"

I shook my head, wiping the tears out of my eyes. "I'm great. Really great. Sit down for a sec."

He smiled, sitting down in front of me. "What's up?"

I'd been meaning to ask for weeks, but I didn't want to get upset at work if things weren't going well with that. "How's Eric's book coming?"

Lafayette shrugged. "He's wordy, but brilliant, but I think you knew that already. Other than that, he's done what he was asked to do by the reviewers. It's a good update."

I smiled, pleased that I'd be able to tell him that. "Great. Everything else okay?"

"Oh yea. Same shit. Nothing you don't know about." He stood up. "I'd tell you if there was a problem. I know you care about that one."

"Thanks, Laf." He was getting a promotion, as soon as we got our new budgets.

About twenty minutes later, Bones came in, and sat down blinking. I smiled at his posh British outfit, consisting of a pair of fitted trousers and a sweater vest over a plaid dress shirt. He was always slightly better dressed than the other editors. I appreciated that. He sighed, propping his head up on his arm. "I am so sorry."

I chuckled. "She is mad. You were right. I just blocked her. Somehow, she's the least of my problems. You'll tell me if she crosses the pond?"

He nodded. "Of course. I don't know what the hell is her problem, emailing you like that. It's not like we're together, or you're available."

I snorted, twisting my wedding band. "No, I think my husband would certainly have a problem with that. I was surprised I even got out the door this morning."

Bones raised an eyebrow. "Oh, he's back early then?"

I nodded, smiling. "Yea, he got in last night. We weren't expecting him for a few days."

He looked at me, in a way that told me that he knew something was wrong. It was kind of weird how well we knew each other after after a few months. "All on the up and up?"

I shook my head. "Oh, Eric's just had some problems with a grad student in Paris. Nothing major. I'm glad to have him for a couple of extra days."

Bones nodded. "Alright then. Again, I'm so sorry. I got a crazy email from her this morning, so I figured you got one too."

We seemed to be okay after my weird outburst yesterday. I'd spent a bit of thinking about my dream yesterday and decided that it was likely caused a few things. Bones and I spent a lot of time together, I was sexually deprived, and I'd been spending a lot of energy worrying about how he and Eric would get along. I really hoped Eric liked Bones. He'd become an important part of my work life, and things would be far easier if they liked, or even tolerated each other. Neither of them were going anywhere. "Want to get lunch today? Sushi?"

He grinned with all his teeth. "Of course Luv. I'll come by around noon."

Of course, around eleven, I got a call from Ceci. "Mom, Dad and me are going to take you for lunch. We're going to come to your office."

Shit. "Baby, can I talk to Daddy for a minute?"

Two seconds later, Eric came on. "Hi Lover. We'll meet you a little before noon? Check out your new office, and my cover?"

Shit shit shit. Eric always hated the covers we picked out. He knew nothing about covers. "I made lunch plans already. With Crispin. Bones."

Eric was quiet for a minute. "Oh."

"Why don't you two come too? You can meet him before Thanksgiving. Maybe you'll be friends by then."

He laughed. "Unlikely. But we'll come anyway."

"We're going for sushi." I don't know why I said that. "So Ce will be happy. We'll get her some California rolls." She just ate the avocado and the rice, but she liked stabbing them with the chopsticks. "See you soon?"

"Oh, Ce is chasing Lil. In a bit." And then he hung up.

I wasn't ready for this today. I needed time to mentally prepare for the weirdness that was about to fuck up my entire afternoon. To give Bones equal warning, I emailed him to tell him that Eric was coming. He responded simply with, 'wonderful'.

Reception called me to meet Eric and Ceci around eleven-thirty. I walked out, taking a deep breath and grateful that the two of them would behave themselves around Ceci. He grinned at me as I popped around the corner, looking incredible in a pair of jeans, boots, his wool coat and Ce's tiny hand in his.

It was moments like these that made me really regret that vasectomy.

"Mommy!" Ce squealed, running up and launching herself into my legs. Yep, wanted about seven more of these.

And then she blew her nose on my skirt. On second thought, two were plenty. "Hi baby. You taking care of Dad?"

She nodded. "We played Candyland this morning. I won."

Eric raised an eyebrow. "She plays games like Pam." Which meant she cheated. "It was great."

I scooped Ceci up and we made our way to my new office. "So this is where the magic happens." I grinned, before getting a flashback to my dream of two months ago. "I mean, it's where I do a lot of work."

Eric nodded, looking at me playfully. "I'll have to come by and look at the proofs with you again when they come in."

We'd done it on a Saturday last time, and fucked in my chair. My chair, that Bones now sat in, in my old office. I raised an eyebrow. "I'll look forward to hearing your feedback."

"And I'll look forward to giving it to you," he smirked.

We passed my old office on the way to the design department, and Ce squealed when she spotted Bones. She tugged at Eric's hand until he followed her into my old office. "Dad, this is Bones," she said, a huge grin on her face.

Bones looked at me, and then at Eric. "Right then, you must be Eric."

"And you must be Crispin." Eric extended his hand. "I've heard a lot about you."

Bones locked eyes with him, firmly taking his hand, and the testosterone flood in the room threatened to wash Ce and I away. "You as well."

Eric smiled at me and squeezed my hand. "All good I hope."

Bones ignored his comment and grabbed his coat. "I guess we're off to lunch then."

Eric looked unimpressed. "We're going to see the cover to my book first."

Bones winked at me. "Boy, he's a demanding bugger, isn't he."

I sighed, and scooped Ceci up, hoping for some female camaraderie, as my work husband and my real husband sized each other up. They were certainly not going to be friends by Thanksgiving.