A/N: Wow! I've gotten so many new story favorites and followers. I'm truly humbled. Thank you for reading my little ditty and thanks for leaving me reviews (even though I'm shit at review replies).

I had a review asking if this was a E/S. I honestly don't think I have it in me to write any other pairing. ;) Frankly, I don't think there is any other pairing.

Hopefully this chapter answers some of your questions and sets up the E/S romance. There will be a slow burn for a bit, so be patient with me.

Chapter 13: Home

SPOV

Sometime after the Northmans had left, Rasul stopped by to give me an update on the case. "Do you know who Niall Brigant is?" He asked me.

"No. I've never heard of him before all of this." I told him. My life was turning out to be quite ridiculous. I was trying to come to grips with the fact that there were entire branches of my family that I had no idea about.

"What about Fintan Brigant?" He asked.

I shook my head, "I don't know any Brigants." I replied.

"Niall is claiming relation to you through his son Fintan. It's unclear how Fintan fits into all of this, though Niall claims it's through your paternal grandmother." Rasul explained.

My immediate response was that I thought it was a lie. Someone was lying, whether it was this Fintan person, or Niall, but there was no way Fintan was my grandfather. I knew my grandfather, at least for a short while. He died shortly after Jason and I came to live with gran. But there was no doubt that he was my grandpa.

"It's not true." I told him firmly. "We can't confirm that Sookie, but I'm looking into it." He said, then thought for a minute and added, "You know, all families have secrets. It's possible that." He said, but I cut him off. I knew where he was going with that.

"No." I said firmly. "No. My gran wouldn't do that. She loved my grandpa and believed firmly in the Ten Commandments. It's just not her. I refuse to believe that. "

He shook his head in affirmation. I suppose he just wanted to placate me. "I promise you, I'll get to the bottom of it." He said and squeezed my hand. He left shortly after that.

I trusted Rasul as much as I could and I didn't believe he would tell me something that wasn't true. But, at the same time, I just couldn't reconcile the information he presented me. An affair, which obviously resulted in a pregnancy, would've been an incredibly salacious scandal in Bon Temps. The gossip mongers would've had a field day with that. The biggest gossiper in town was Maxine Fortenberry, who just so happened to be gran's best friend. If what Rasul alluded to was true, I just don't believe it could've remained a secret in my nosy little town.

More than that though, if it were true, how could she keep that information from granddaddy? Though I suppose that after Bill's betrayal, it shouldn't surprise me how easy it is for people to keep deep dark secrets or hide malicious hidden agendas. So was it possible that gran had an affair? I suppose so. Anything is possible. Was it likely? Well, I guess I didn't really think so.

It had been two days since I had last seen Pam and Eric, which meant that I had been in the hospital for seven days. I had gone through four rounds of physical therapy and was getting steadier on my feet, though I still needed to use a cane. My ribs were healing, though I still had to tape them and my lungs were doing well.

I was beyond ready to leave, but also nervous to stay with the Northmans. I called Jason to let him know what my plans were and he agreed that it was for the best. He told me that he'd been by my house and threw away some of the perishable food items in my fridge and pantry, mowed my grass and aired out my house a bit.

My brother was a selfish guy, who never really cared about much more than himself, but after this ordeal I had to give Jason a lot of credit. He really stepped up to the plate when it counted the most.

I had also talked to Eric yesterday and told him I was being discharged today. He assured me that he and Pam would be here to pick me up. I didn't say it, but I was really happy that he was bringing Pam. Not just because I missed her, but also because she could act as a buffer. Admittedly, Eric made me nervous and I still wasn't entirely comfortable being myself around him. It would be awkward driving all that way with just the two of us in the car. What would we talk about? I really did want to get to know him better and I wanted him to like me, if only for the fact that I love his daughter.

EPOV

"Are you ready to go pick up Sookie?" I asked my daughter, even though I already knew the answer to that. She had talked about Sookie non-stop, telling me about how pretty Sookie's hair was, or that she wanted her to play Cinderella to her Snow White. It became beyond obvious to me that Pam loved her. Sookie hung the moon, in her eyes.

At first, I was leery about their relationship. Okay, I was more like an asshole about it. I realized that after discussing things with Pam's therapist, Dr. Ludwig. I voiced all of my concerns about Sookie being too close to my daughter, and Dr. Ludwig quickly called me on my bullshit. "Are you concerned about the mental well-being of your daughter, or are you worried that Sookie is going to replace you?" Dr. Ludwig had asked me. I became defensive at first, but when she stood her ground, I finally admitted to her that I felt jealousy towards the Sookie, who was more or less, still a stranger in my eyes.

Sookie had ultimately succeeded in saving Pam, where I had failed. Sookie was the one that Pam talked about and asked for, not me. Those facts, along with my own guilt, were the reasons that I agreed to see a counselor. I'm a father, and there is absolutely no room for pride where Pam's concerned, so yes, I agreed to talk to someone about the things I was feeling.

"Let's go, I'm ready daddy!" Pam said pulling my arm. I chuckled at her enthusiasm. We had a bit of a drive ahead of us, so I made sure to grab Pammy's little pink backpack, which was filled to the brim with dolls and coloring books..

"Did you make sure to put your drawings in Sookie's room for her?" I asked Pam, as I buckled her into the booster seat in the Tahoe. "Uh huh. I put the pretty blue dolphin one on her mirror and I put the one I drawed of us on her bed." Pam replied.

Pam had been drawing with Dr. Ludwig in their sessions together. From those drawings, we were able to see the events from her perspective. It was disturbing to say the least, but Pam mostly drew her and Sookie huddled together on a bed. There was a lot of red, which Pam told us was Sookie's booboo's. It seemed, at least to Dr. Ludwig and I, that Pam had been shielded from seeing a lot of the horrors that occurred in that house. I could only thank Sookie for that.

When I thought about the events as a whole, I realized just how much I owed Sookie. I was an asshole to her in the beginning, and I promised myself that I would make it up to her. So offering her a room in my home was a no brainer. Pam loved her, I owed her and she needed a safe place to stay until this all died down.

The drive back to Magnolia took a bit longer than I had hoped, only because it started to rain and people tend to forget how to drive when rain is involved. "Don't run." I told Pam as I lifted her from the booster seat and set her on the ground. "Hold my hand." I told her as we made our way into the hospital. If I live to be a hundred years old, I never want to see this hospital again. I don't know if it's the smell or the memories this place holds, perhaps both, but that hospital affected me in a physical way.

"Sookie!" Pam hollered and ran towards her. Sookie was wearing a pair of oversized grey sweat pants and a blue T-shirt with the hospital logo. I felt like a fuck up already. I should've offered to bring her some clothes.

"Pam!" Sookie yelled back with equal enthusiasm. They hugged each other and Sookie kissed her. With a fresh set of eyes and a new perspective, the image of those two girls embracing was beautiful.

"Are you all set?" I asked Sookie.

"Yeah, let me just grab my bag." Sookie said and got up from the bed to get the plastic hospital issued bag. I noticed that she had to use a cane to walk, so I immediately stepped forward to try and help her.

"Let me get it for you." I said and picked up the bag. "Thanks." She replied bashfully.

"You have to go easy on me Pam. I'm still a little banged up." Sookie told Pam as she held her hand. We began to walk back to the car, when I occurred to me that Sookie might've racked up a huge hospital bill. I didn't want to insult her and ask about it, but I also didn't think it was right that she be burdened with such a large debt. I'm not a rich man by any means, but I make a good living.

"So, um, did you get all the hospital paperwork squared away?" I asked her nonchalantly.

"Yeah, I think so. The doctor gave me follow up instructions and some medicine which is all in the bag. I was worried about the bill though, since Merlotte's doesn't offer insurance, but Rasul told me not to worry about it." She replied. I hadn't noticed before, but she had a slight southern drawl that I really liked. What I didn't like, and this surprised even myself, was that I didn't care for the way she spoke Rasul's name. Rasul was my best friend and I would do anything for him, as he would (and had) for me, but the way she spoke of him reminded me of how you speak of a king. Like he was her hero or something. And I guess he was, but the green monster was rearing its ugly head and I didn't like it.

"Why would he say that, I wonder?" I replied almost to myself.

"I'm not sure and he didn't elaborate." She said softly. We all piled into the SUV and we began the hour plus ride back to Shreveport.

"Thanks again for letting me stay with you guys. " She muttered softly. She was nervous, and I wasn't sure if I was the one making her feel that way, but I didn't like it. I wanted her to feel comfortable around me, but I didn't know what to do to make that happen.

"You're welcome Sookie." I said sincerely and glanced over and gave her a genuine smile. I guess the only way to make her feel okay around me was to just be easy going and sincere.

"I know this is a little awkward for you." I said and looked in the rear view mirror. Pam was out cold, so I could speak freely. "If I'm being honest with myself, it's awkward for me too. I feel like I know you because Pam talks about you all the time. But at the same time, I don't know you at all." I admitted.

She fidgeted some more, but shook her head in understanding. A few moments of silence passed before Sookie spoke again. "I just hope that someday you'll forgive me." She agonized.

I was slightly bewildered. Had I really given her the impression that I was that angry with her? I had done that. I had made her feel that way.

I was an asshole.

"Sookie. There isn't anything to forgive." I said resolutely. "I can't even passably express my gratitude to you. I couldn't even begin to tell you what your actions have meant to both me and Pam. Believe me when I say that I am the one who needs to be forgiven. I am the one who failed. You. God, Sookie, you're Pam's savior and mine too." I probably wasn't expressing myself well, but I felt shitty that she felt that way.

"I did the best I could, Eric. It's just that at the end of the day, I harbor all this guilt inside me. I never wanted Pam to see any of the things the saw or experience the things she did." She lamented, hanging her head. I could see how much this ate at her and I hated that.

"We'll figure it out." Together. I wanted to say, but didn't. She nodded looked out the window contemplatively.

The stroppy feeling I had was slowly dissipating and I couldn't help but feel contented to have Sookie in our lives in a more permanent way. In time, we'd work out the residual guilt we both felt, but for now I wanted to focus on making her and Pam smile again. Because their smiles were all that mattered to me.