Hey Everyone!

I'm back again from long hiatus, hope I can keep the mojo in a continuous flow this time and again, don't worry... I will finish this story if its the death of me. The ending is all done and in my head ;) I will try my best not to keep everybody waiting anymore.

Just a reminder that this is the sequel to Dead Wrong which is based off of the ninth book Dead and Gone.

Anger I could deal with.

Shock and disbelief, I was prepared for. I was even hoping in the tiniest of hopes that there would have been a happy excitement in the mix, but indifference is just cruel.

After Pam made that tactless announcement, all Eric did was to take a long pause. Then he just announced that he needed to be in Shreveport for the night and left with Pam.

To Pam's credit she did seem to realize that that was NOT the way women tell their husbands about a pregnancy and gave me a hug on her way out. "I'm glad that you're fertile Sookie" was what she managed to say in my ear before she walked out the door. I guess Pam was trying to counter a tactless outburst with a well meant PC good-bye.

If only things were that simple.

When Eric left with Pam, I wanted to shake him scream and yell at him, just to get a reaction. I was indignant at the fact that not only could he NOT react to such news but to leave me alone for God knows what reason, but my Gran raised me better than some trailer trash chasing after her baby's daddy. As his back turned to follow Pam to her car, with every ounce of self control that I (and the baby) could muster was. "Not only vampires need permission to enter a house." There. Ice. Cold. Calm.

Eric stopped at the foot of my porch, his body hunched as he let out a long deep sigh. "This changes everything. Your news. I am needed in Shreveport now because of it. Can you wait until we go to the Red Ladies tomorrow evening to make up your mind?"

I know it's childish but I didn't want to give him an answer, give him the peace of mind that things will turn out the way he planned. All I did was close the door.

That night after I had showered and lay in my bed, I couldn't shake an anxiousness that I didn't know the origins of. As my mind waved in and out of consciousness, the question came floating into my head.

Make my mind up about what?

After a full night of essentially not sleeping and waking up like I've eaten plastic, I usually wouldn't have much of an appetite, but being pregnant means that my body isn't just mine anymore. So even if I wasn't hungry, the little person inside me demanded sustenance. Reaching out for the empty coffee pot in the kitchen, I realized I hadn't had my morning coffee since I found out I was pregnant. To me, that spoke volumes about what my heart desired.

Opting for a healthy breakfast of toast and orange juice instead, I heard the toilet flush in the hallway bathroom. Did Eric come back in the middle of the night without me knowing? That's really not his style.

"Tsk tsk tsk cousin. You've been up to a lot of mischief since we last caught up."

There was Claude, zipping up his fly as he strolled into my kitchen, acting like he didn't just commit a felony and sat himself down at my dining table. I'm not sure if I could prove the breaking part but the trespassing part he sure did.

"What the hell are you doing here Claude?"

"I asked you first." He pouted as he rested his chin on his hand, the perfect picture of endearment. If only I didn't know he was an a-hole then I wouldn't have so much trouble believing him. Let alone have him in my house. Most importantly, I don't really know where Claude stands. To be honest, I was really wary about Claude since his last surviving sibling died protecting me, I didn't know if he held a grudge about that at all. I hadn't heard a peep from him until that phone call I got the day he was on the news and now here he is, barging in my house like we're old friends. Having learnt my lessons in the supernatural world, friendly means jack shit.

"What do you want to know?" I said as I opened the fridge door and reached for my lemon juice filled water guns. I know better than to trust other people with my safety now and at this point, just touching the guns made me feel better. I discreetly tucked the water gun in the pocket of my robe while Claude answered my question.

"First of all-"

I didn't even have time to pull the gun out and he was on me. I only had enough time to reach for the gun but not pull it out. Lucky for me, it was only a hug. I shifted my robe so that Claude couldn't feel the gun in my pocket, if he did. Things would definitely turn nasty if he found the lemon juice.

"Congratulations! I can feel another one of us joining our clan, she's only small but her light is shining clear and bright!" He withdrew from our embrace and touched my stomach, like the Pope blessing my pregnancy. Sheesh.

"And you have been amongst our kin! I can feel the energy radiating off of you! How did you know that that would be what you needed for a healthy pregnancy? You know, Claudine was around-"

A slight shadow crossed Claude's face, it was only for a moment, but it was a grey cloud of sadness and loneliness. It was that instant that I knew that despite himself, Claude had loved Claudine more than anything and he missed her terribly. But that moment was just a glimpse into Claude's heart and he returned to our conversation.

"So tell me, how did you find others after grandfather closed the porthole?"

There was no point in denying Claude about Hunter, as it seems that Claude could sense his presence. I could lie all I want, but with Claude's current resources, all he had to do was hire a private investigator and the cat's out of the bag. So I gave a brief version of events about Hadley, her death, finding out about Hunter and how I have come to be involved in his life. Claude sat and listened while sipping at the coffee he brewed for himself while I talked.

"Well that counts for one." Claude mused when I finished. "What about the others?"

"What others?"

"I feel the light of more than one of our kin on you, just a dim little glow but I feel it there."

More than one fairy? How would I know if they're from Niall or Breandan's side? Claude must have seen the worry in my reaction and quickly added. "I don't think it's a full Fae though, the light is too dim, would you have come across someone else that seemed like us to you?"

'Like us' I can only assume as the fade of fairy I sense from their thoughts. Would it have anything to do with Eric? Could Amelia's magic have crossed boundaries to emulate that of the Fae? I can't share any of that with Claude.

Holy Sheppard of Judea, with all the secrets I'm keeping from the different supernatural factions, I think it's just a matter of time I'm going to lose track and let something slip!

"No I haven't," I said trying to keep things as close to the truth as possible. "But you never know, who's part Fae these days, and you and Claudine told me that telepathy is not a fairy trait, right?"

That dark cloud appeared again across Claude's face and if I got a clearer read off fairies or if my disability wasn't on the blink, I could bet I knew what he was thinking right then, but then again I didn't need to. I could kick myself for mentioning Claudine when Claude was so obviously hurting.

"I miss her too Claude," was all I could say without making myself an even bigger jackass.

"She misses you too, cuz. She told me to make sure to look out for you, since she obviously can't anymore. She said this new man in your life is heading into a shitload of trouble."

"Rewind a minute here Claude, what do you mean by she told you?"

"Claudine's last message to us, her breuddwydionyndymuno. She comes to us in our dreams to let us know, she told me to take care of you. Amongst other things..."

"Claudine talks to you guys in your dreams?" Kind of made me wonder why she hadn't come and talked to me.

Claude let out a snort. "Dreams are an important way to communicate between the realms Sookie, it's been our way since the first Faeries weaved the magical lineage." He gave me an "I don't know how you don't know this" look.

I'd about had enough of Claude, I don't understand most of the fairy shit that comes out of his or other fairies mouths and I don't care. Claudine must've had her reasons not to come to me in my dreams, which is a kind of relief since I usually have a lot of people in my head. She must've known that. However, this did lead to something interesting I could discuss with Claude about dreams in general.

"I saw one of Hunter's dreams and he was just replaying a scary part of a movie he saw. Can that have a meaning, like your fairy dreams?"

"I don't know, was it exactly the same as the movie?" Claude said as he clasped his hands behind his head and stretched his long legs under my kitchen my table, with a smirk on his face that I would just slap away if I didn't find the conversation was going somewhere interesting.

"Hunter's dream was a little different from the movie..."

"And was he having this dream during a significant event or just as a reaction to the movie?"

"It was just a Harry Potter movie Claude..."

"Don't underestimate the message here Sookie, a child like Hunter can only use what images are in his mind to process it, doesn't mean the message is not important. Like when Claudine came to me in my dreams, we were at a stream where she, Claudette and I used to play in when we were young. The three of us had a lot of good memories there. But does that mean there is a stream just like that in the Summerlands? It just means that she's at a place where she and Claudette and eventually I will also be happy."

"So let me get this straight, to fairies, dreams are what are used to communicate between the planes, like an ethereal telephone?"

"So to speak, but it's not as easy as picking up the telephone and not everybody is a receiver." Claude nodded as he drained the last dregs of coffee in his mug.

"But how the message gets across would be what's already in the mind of the receiver, like if the message was that someone I don't know wanted to harm me, then I wouldn't be able to see his or her face, because I've never met them before?"

"The mind is yours; nobody can put new thoughts in your head."

"If the person who meant me harm looked like George Clooney, then will I see George Clooney trying to kill me?"

"Maybe," Claude said as the corner of his lips curled upwards, "If the resemblance is that strong, or anything about that person is closest to what you have in your mind. Like if it's someone that is dangerous and intimidating then..."

"I would see the scariest person I know...," or the scariest something if I'm Hunter. This gave me a whole lot to ponder about.

"More or less, it's your mind, not a laptop."

The back door creaked open and a gorgeous man in a pinstriped tailored suit walked in. Now I'm not someone fussed with high fashion but I did know that this suit was tailored from the fine silk wool blend that fitted the curvature of his heiney so well, it had Claude written all over it.

"Mr. Crane, will you need me to call the office to push back the board meeting?"

Claude let out a sigh and rolled his eyes, "I'd have you cancel this meeting and any meetings I have until never if I could." He stood up to leave. "Duty awaits cousin, I must leave you to listen to a bunch of wispy old men talk about markets and share holders. Do you feel like you are heading into any imminent danger?"

Actually I did, but I didn't think that my fairy cousin is the best person to get involved with assassinating vampires considering what happened to Claudine. I also somehow got the feeling that Claude would only get involved in any business of mine if it was convenient for him first anyway. Not exactly someone you want batting for your team.

"No I'm fine, I'd let you know if there's anything you can help me with." And I would.

"Ok then, we'll chat later. You have to tell me about this new human you're with. Judging by your track record, he might give my bodyguards a run for their money." Claude gave me a sly look that let me know that he saw me checking out his man's butt. I'm not ashamed; I didn't need my telepathy working to know that that was his intention for the uniforms anyway.

I let Claude go his merry way feeling that he had fulfilled his obligations to Claudine to look out for me. Though it was nice to have a fairy godmother and it seemed she wanted to replace herself with a fairy godfather, I didn't want anyone else putting themselves in danger for me anymore. I like being alive more than dead, but I would rather achieve it without anyone else around me dying.

Funny thing is, with all that was going on at the moment, I seemed to be heading in the exact opposite direction of what I wanted.