I hadn't planned on continuing this story quite so soon, but I decided last week to take a break from my other story, One Year Later. I've since decided not to take the break so I don't know when I'll have chapter 3 up, but I do hope you all enjoy chapter 2! Sorry, it's a little shorter than I would have liked it to be.

For this chapter I did not use a beta. I'm still undecided as to whether I will use a beta for subsequent chapters. It is always nice to have a little help and it definitely improves the work, but for me I'm all about speed when it comes to getting chapters posted so I really never use one. With that being said, I really hope you all can overlook my mistakes.

These characters belong to Charlaine Harris.

Sookie's POV

It was the first Friday in October and I was in my kitchen cleaning up the mess from breakfast. I looked at the clock and realized I was running very late. I took one last drink of my coffee, poured it down the sink, and rinsed the cup. I hated leaving dirty dishes in the sink all day, but I was running late so I sat the cup in the sink and yelled, "Hunter sweetie, hurry up and get your teeth brushed and get your shoes on. We are going to be late," as I put my own shoes on and gathered my keys and my purse.

Motherhood was definitely way harder than I ever thought it would be. Three months ago I was single and living alone in my old, broken down farmhouse in Bon Temps without a care in the world, but then the unthinkable happened. My cousin Hadley and Hadley's husband Remy had been killed by a drunk driver. The driver hit them head-on driving down the wrong side of Interstate 20 going nearly one hundred miles per hour. I had always been close to Hadley, so naturally when I found out that I had been named guardian of their six year old son, Hunter, it was no big surprise.

Hunter was adjusting well to the death of his parents, his new living arrangement, and his new school; Bon Temps Elementary. Deep down I wished I was adjusting as well as he was. I was constantly tired and although I was receiving Social Security death benefits from Hadley and Remy for Hunter and had received a substantial life insurance policy I was finding it hard to support myself and a six year old boy. I worked at the local bar, Merlotte's waiting tables, but once Hunter came to live with me I had no choice but to work more daytime shifts, while he was in school, and I had to drastically cut back my hours which meant less money.

My best friends Amelia and Tara were very supportive of my new status as a parent. Tara was married to my brother Jason, so as family, they were always offering to help me, but unfortunately I'm very proud and often refused their help. Amelia was always willing to babysit when needed as well, but I hated leaving Hunter after all he'd been through so I did my best to spend all the time with him I could.

Hunter came running into the kitchen with a huge smile on his face and said, "Sookie, I'm ready to go. Today is going to be so much fun!"

I smiled right back at him and said, "Yeah, it is going to be fun. Let's go sweetie," as I poked the end of his nose with my finger.

It was the big Fall Festival at Hunter's school and I had volunteered to work at one of the refreshment stands for the day. This was my first big activity as a parent and my first time going to Hunter's school for anything more than to get him registered and to meet his teacher. I was both nervous and excited. I handed him his jacket and grabbed my own, as well as the cupcakes I'd made for the kids and we both headed out the door.

Once we arrived at the school I made sure that Hunter was safely in his classroom and headed out to the courtyard where the festivities would take place. Right away I saw Holly, one of the other waitresses from Merlotte's, setting up a table with baked goods, Rice Krispy Treats, and popcorn balls, among many other delicious goodies. I quickly figured out that was where I was supposed to be. I walked over to Holly with the cupcakes in hand and said, "Hey Holly, sorry I'm late."

"No problem Sookie. I know how it is being a single mom. I've almost got everything set up. The kids will be out in about ten minutes."

I started unloading the cupcakes on the table. I was proud of my cupcakes. They were chocolate cake and were all iced with icing in different fall colors. Each cupcake had a candy corn carefully placed right in the center. I had stayed up until nearly four in the morning making sure each one was perfect. Holly looked at me as I was unloading the cupcakes onto the table and said, "Those are beautiful. Where'd you buy them?"

I looked at Holly, yawned, and said, "I stayed up all night last night making them."

"Oh yeah, that's right, you aren't used to being a mom yet. You'll learn. Next time just go to the grocery store and buy them. The kids will never know the difference," Holly said laughing.

I was slightly offended, but decided to keep that to myself. I mean, if I was going to be a mom, I was going to be a damn good one.

A few minutes later our table was all set up and the kids started filing out of the classrooms into the courtyard where there were several other stands with food, activities, and games for them to enjoy for the day. I caught a glimpse of Hunter a few times running around playing games with his friends. I couldn't help but smile seeing how happy and adjusted he was.

All in all the first few hours were uneventful. Holly and I basically sat there talking about motherhood and work and watched as all the kids ran around, ate, and played, but when afternoon came things changed. The sun came out from behind the clouds and the day was actually beginning to warm up quite a bit.

At noon Holly had to leave. She had to get ready and get to Merlotte's for her shift. As she was getting up she said, "I'll see you later Sookie. I'm sorry I'm leaving you here all alone."

I said, "I'll be fine. Have a good day at work. I'll see you tomorrow."

As I sat in a chair at the table watching all the children play the most beautiful man I had ever seen took the seat beside of me, which had earlier been occupied by Holly. I noticed that he was eating one of my cupcakes and if the quiet moans that would escape his lips with each bite he took were any indication, he really liked my baking. Between his beauty, sexy smirks, and the moans my panties were quickly soaking through, but I tried to act casual when he finally spoke to me. I didn't want to make anything of it. He was probably married anyway.

Eric's POV

Around noon I finally made it out of the confines of my office to the Fall Festival which was taking place outside. I had been trapped in my office all morning doing paperwork and was very happy to finally be able to enjoy the beautiful afternoon in the fresh air. I was scanning the courtyard watching all my kids playing when I spotted some very nice looking cupcakes at one of the refreshment stands. I also noticed an empty chair so I walked over, grabbed a cupcake and took a seat. I could not help but notice that seated in the chair next to me was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She has got to taste as delectable as this cupcake, I thought to myself. I quickly scolded myself at that thought. She was most likely married and was obviously a parent and I had no business thinking about any of my student's parents that way. That had been my number one rule since I started my career in education; never become involved with the parent of a student. It will always turn out badly.

I decided since I did not know her that I should at the very least introduce myself. If she was a parent of one of my students then we would be running into each other again sometime so as I sat down I said, "It's a beautiful day today. I'm glad it warmed up a bit. I was worried that it would be too cold out for the kids today."

She smiled and said, "Yeah, it is turning out to be a very nice day."

I smiled back at her said, "I haven't seen you at any of these functions before. I'm Eric Northman. So, which one is yours?"

"Oh, that one," she said pointing to a boy with dark hair who looked to be about five or six. "How about you? Which is yours?"

"All of them actually," I said laughing. She looked at me like I had a horn growing out of my head until I said, "I'm the principal here. If I'm not mistaken, that is Hunter Savoy. I take it that makes you Mrs. Savoy," I said as I extended my hand to her to shake it. Please God, do not let her be Mrs. Savoy, I thought. Let her be a babysitter or some shit like that. Please.

She took my hand and as she did I felt what felt like electricity shooting throughout my body. What the fuck was that? Did she feel that too? I was taken aback by the feeling, but I was definitely not comfortable enough with what happened to mention it.

She was quiet for a moment which made me think she had felt it too. Finally as she let go of my hand she said, "No actually, I'm Sookie Stackhouse. Hunter is my cousin. I'm his guardian."

I couldn't help but smile when she corrected me. I had never been made to feel that way by any parent at my school before and couldn't believe the relief that washed over me as she told me that she was not Hunter's mother, but his guardian. Quickly I realized that a legal guardian was no different than a parent in my book so I don't know why I was so relieved.

"So, Mrs. Stackhouse, if you don't mind me asking, how long has Hunter been in your care?" I added the Mrs. part on purpose to find out if she was actually married or not; not that it made a difference.

She smiled and corrected me again. "It's Miss Stackhouse, but you can call me Sookie. I've had custody of Hunter for three months since his parents died." Her smile quickly turned into a frown.

My question had obviously upset her so I said, "I'm sorry for asking. I see that my question has upset you." I was trying desperately to stifle the smile that I felt building within me. She had just told me she wasn't married. I didn't understand why I was so happy about that fact. She was a striking woman. Although, I had always made it a point to stay away from the single moms of my students there was something about Sookie that made me want to talk to her, to get to know her better.

"Oh, it's okay. It's just all so new. His mother and I were very close and sometimes it's just hard to think that she's gone."

"He seems to be adjusting well. I have found that often children act out when something like that happens, but Hunter has not been sent to my office once since school started and in my dealings with him he is a joy to be around."

She began to smile again and said, "Well, I'm glad to hear that. He seems fine when he's with me, but when he's not I worry that he's not as fine as he seems. I know firsthand that losing your parents at a young age is really hard to go through."

The sound of the bell rang out in the distance. All of the teachers were gathering up their students and shuffling them back into the classrooms to gather their belongings to leave for the day. I suddenly realized that meant I had to go too. "Miss Stackhouse, I mean Sookie, it was very nice meeting you, but I have to go. I need to get out front; bus duty," I said smiling.

"I guess I'd better get all of this cleaned up and get Hunter home myself. It was very nice getting to talk to you Principal Northman."

I grabbed one more of those delicious cupcakes and as I walked away, could not help but think about how incredibly beautiful Sookie was.

Oh, you may have noticed that the first chapter is written in the 3rd person and this isn't. I decided that the remaining chapters will be done in the 1st person from both Eric and Sookie's POV's. I just decided that the story would be told better that way!