I realize I'm a little late on this, but I finally finished. Hope you like it! As with my last chapter of New Beginnings, this is a bit transitional, but a lot of big things come from it!
I made an announcement on my blog today about this, but for those of you who don't check it or aren't subscribed, I'll make it again ....
My schedule has changed a lot and I've began to realize that Wednesday being the day for my updates is not working. It's pretty obvious because I'm late all the time! With that said, I'm going to now post my updates on Fridays.
As always, special thanks to Northwoman! She rocks! She fixes all my mistakes and is darn good at it!
These characters belong to Charlaine Harris.
Eric's POV
It was finally Friday, and last day of school, before Christmas break. I was going to stay with Sookie for at least a week, probably two, but I hoped that it would turn into something much, much longer. I was ecstatic when I arrived at her house, bright and early, to drop off my bags and Killer.
Thoughtfully, I showed up with a little more than just Killer and my bags. I surprised Sookie and Hunter with breakfast from Burger King. For Sookie and I, Croissan'wiches and for Hunter, French Toast Sticks. Sookie had mentioned, the day before, she'd been craving a sausage, egg, and cheese Croissan'wich with tomato and mayonnaise, all day, so I decided I'd surprise her with one. Better late than never, I figured.
After breakfast, we let Killer out of his crate to get acquainted with Hunter. Luckily, they got along great. I had been very worried that Killer would be his normal, unruly self around Hunter, but he surprised me, just as he had with Sookie.
Finally, I left for work, giving Hunter a ride to school, then after school, I drove him home and we hung out until Sookie got home from work a little after five. When she got home, she looked exhausted and although she tried to insist on cooking dinner, I insisted that we go out.
I prevailed in the clash that ensued, and Sookie later thanked me for it because I took them to a place that was apparently every pregnant woman with a craving's dream; Golden Corral. I'd never seen any woman's eyes light up over food the way hers did when she saw all of the different dishes they offered on their buffet.
It was absolutely adorable, the way she just kept going back for more and more. I swear, she must have tried every single thing they offered, but her favorite seemed to be the crab salad.
"Hey Sookie," I said pulling her aside, then quietly asked, "Are you sure all that crab salad is okay? Isn't seafood supposed to be bad for you right now?" I asked concerned.
"It's fine, Eric," she assured. "For the most part, as long as it's been cooked it's okay and crab doesn't have high mercury levels, so it isn't that bad, besides this is Golden Corral; I'm sure it's artificial crab anyway."
"Oh, okay," I said. I trusted her and knew she wouldn't do anything that could harm the baby.
As we were leaving, for the umpteenth time, she said, "Thanks so much for dinner. It was great," then made a sour face and giggled, "I'm so stuffed, I'm miserable. I'm all bloated and fat now, but it was worth it."
"I'm glad you enjoyed it," I laughed, then added, "When we get home, you can just sit back and relax. I'll take care of anything you or Hunter might need," I said smiling. It felt good calling her place home, even if it wasn't permanent ... yet.
Later, I lay in bed thinking that the day couldn't have gone more perfectly. Hunter and Killer were curled up together across the hall, sleeping and Sookie was curled up with me, watching TV.
"I'm glad you're here," Sookie said as she snuggled against my side.
I tightened my arm around her, kissed the top of her head, and said, "Me too. I just hope you decide to let me stay past New Year's Day."
Like I said, everything was perfect, but then I had to go and open my big mouth.
"Eric," she chided, "it's been a good night. Let's not talk about that right now. I just want us to enjoy being together for the next week or two with no pressure."
"Sookie, I can't help it."
We'd been over it a dozen times over the past couple of days. If she let me move in with them, not only could I be there for her throughout every step of her pregnancy, but I could also sell my house in Shreveport and with the extra money I'd have each month from having no mortgage, I would be able to support all of us. Money would be tighter than I was used to, but she wouldn't have to work, at all.
"You could stay home, Sookie. Don't you think it would be beneficial to be home with Hunter, and with the baby, when it comes?"
"Eric, you know how I feel about this," she huffed.
"I know. I know," I said rolling my eyes, then I groaned, "You refuse to be a kept woman."
She leaned up on her elbow and smacked my chest with her free hand.
"Ow! What was that for?" I asked. She only glared at me because she knew I already knew the answer to my question. "I know. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that, at least not the way I said it. I get that you're independent and you are capable of taking care of yourself. You don't need me to take care of you, but that doesn't change the fact that I want to take care of you," I said as I leaned up and kissed her, then added, "and you can't deny that it would be good for Hunter and the baby to have you at home. At least tell me you'll think about it," I begged giving her my best puppy dog eyes.
She shook her head and rolled her eyes, then snuggled back into my side. "I'll think about it, but don't get too ahead of yourself, Eric; we haven't even decided to make your staying here a permanent situation," she said seriously.
"You may not have, but I have," I proclaimed just as seriously as I tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Sookie, I have no intention of leaving. If I leave, it will be your decision, not mine. I don't want to pressure you, but this is what I want. It's what's best and right. I want to live here. I want us to all be a family."
"Eric, please! Not now!" she urged, frustrated.
"Okay. Okay. I'll stop," I assured her.
"Thanks," she smiled. "Now, why don't you tell me what happened at your appointment this morning, instead?" she questioned. I could tell she was concerned.
My appointment with Dr. Lee had originally been scheduled for Wednesday. I called this past Wednesday, two days ago, to reschedule it, due to the time conflicting with Sookie's appointment, but unfortunately, the only open appointment available was in two weeks. I really didn't want to wait that long with all that had been going on, but I didn't want to miss Sookie's appointment either.
In my frustration, I let the reasons for my wanting to reschedule and for not wanting to wait two weeks slip, which actually ended up working to my advantage. Dr. Lee's secretary was very sympathetic to my situation and the fact that I really wanted to be at Sookie's appointment, so she offered to call if any openings came up before then.
This morning, about an hour after I'd dropped Hunter off at his classroom, I got a call from her, letting me know that Dr. Lee's ten o'clock appointment had just cancelled. I had time to make it and be back just in time to have lunch with Hunter, so told her to mark me down and to cancel my appointment for Wednesday and then I immediately called Sookie to tell her the good news.
"It went well, I suppose," I said as my thoughts drifted back to the conversation with Dr. Lee.
"Eric, your anxiety seems to be becoming more of a problem for you, from what you've told me; more of an everyday type of thing, which considering all the life changing events you're going through right now, is actually normal, but right now, we have you on Xanax for anxiety and I don't like my patients taking narcotics every day."
I nodded in agreement. The last thing I wanted was to become a pill-head who couldn't make it through the day without a fix.
"I know we just switched you from Klonopin to Xanax, which is stronger, but if your anxiety is flaring up more often, then I believe we should think about switching all of your medication entirely," he said seriously, then added, "There are many antidepressants available, that not only treat depression, but work really well for anxiety. Prozac, Lexapro, and Zoloft are just a few of them. I'm going to talk to Dr. Leclerq about switching you to one of those. Then you shouldn't need the Xanax at all."
Sookie's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. "Well, what did he say? You don't have to go into detail, if you don't you don't want to. I just want to make sure things are okay," she said smiling.
"Things are okay, Sookie," I assured as I lazily ran my fingertips up and down her arm. "Dr. Lee agreed that my more frequent anxiety attacks are probably normal seeing as how I'm going through a lot of big changes right now. He's going to talk to Dr. Leclerq about switching my medication."
"I'm glad things are okay," she yawned, then added, "and I'm glad you can go to my appointment with me, now."
I leaned down and kissed the top of her head and said, "I'm really glad I can go, too," then I yawned. "Hey, do you think we'll get to see the baby? I mean, will they do an ultrasound?" I asked smiling.
"That's actually the whole reason for this appointment. Dr. Ludwig was going to do an ultrasound the day I found out I was pregnant since I was already four weeks along, but I asked if we could wait," she said, then added, "partially because it was all just too much, I mean, I'd gone in that morning to get birth control; I had no clue I was pregnant," then she smiled up at me and continued, "but also, I really wanted you to be with me, when I saw the baby for the first time." She paused for a moment, then said, "Thanks, for making that happen, by the way," smiling.
"Sookie, you don't have to thank me. I want to be there with you and I want to see our baby. I should be thanking you for considering me, in all of this," I said surprised.
It really surprised me that I was part of the reason she waited. I mean, she'd just found out she was pregnant by me, a man she hardly knew, and she had no clue at the time how I'd react to the news, yet she still wanted to wait for the ultrasound, so I could be there. She really was the most perfect woman on the planet and I really was the luckiest man, because she was mine.
"You really are amazing, Sookie," I said as I lifted her chin with the tips of my fingers, lowered my head, and brushed my lips against hers. "I ...," I stammered. .
I guessed I wasn't as ready as I had thought to say that sentence. I wanted to say it. I knew that just two days before, I couldn't have said it because I wouldn't have meant it, but I also knew then that I was falling hard and fast and now, those words were the only way I could describe the way I was feeling about her, but they just wouldn't come out. "I ...," I stammered again, trying once more, to get those three little words to come out of my mouth.
"What is it Eric?" she questioned.
"I ... love ... it; that you're so thoughtful, Sookie," I stammered with a smile. I had just officially pussed out. I mean, I felt it. Why couldn't I say it?
She smiled and stole another kiss from me, but this time her lips lingered, as they gently pressed against my own. As our kiss deepened, she wrapped her arms around me, pulling me on top of her and breathed, "Eric, make love to me."
She meant way too much to me to ever deny her anything she wanted and if I wasn't man enough to tell her how I felt, I figured I could at least show her, so I did as she requested. As I made love to her, I took my time, making sure to worship each and every inch of her, just as she deserved.
Sookie's POV
When I woke up on Saturday morning in Eric's arms, it felt so perfect. I realized then, that waking up in his arms was something I wanted to do every single day and my realization was only reaffirmed, throughout the next few days.
The closer it got to Christmas, the more like a family the three of us, well, four including Killer, became and the more it hurt to think of Eric ever going back to Shreveport. He'd told me he didn't want to leave. He'd told me that on the first night. Now that I was sure, all I had to do was tell him I wanted him to stay, but I wanted it to be perfect when I told him.
We realized after the first few days he stayed with me, that with so many consecutive bouts of puking that we weren't going to be able to hide the fact that I was pregnant from Hunter much longer.
My morning sickness, for the most part, had finally started sticking to the morning time, but without Eric around, to run interference with Hunter, there would have been no way to hide the fact that something was off and running interference was getting harder and harder. We were going to have to tell him very soon and once we told him, we'd have to tell everyone because we couldn't expect a six year old boy to keep a secret.
The morning of my appointment, Tara came over to watch Hunter. Eric didn't know it, but I had told her I was pregnant already, so when she came over, she knew exactly why she was there.
I'd had no intention of telling her before Eric and I decided it was time to make the announcement to everyone, but when I asked her to babysit, I accidentally let it slip that I had a doctor's appointment and of course, with her being my sister-in-law and one of my best friends, she wondered why.
Although she'd promised to keep the information to herself and to not even tell Jason, I knew that I had to fill Eric in on the fact that I'd let it slip and I really hoped he wasn't upset that I'd told her.
On our way to my appointment, I decided it was time to break the news. Nervously, I said, "Eric, there's something I need to tell you."
He must have sensed my trepidation because the tone of his voice emoted concern as he questioned, "Baby, what is it? Is something wrong?"
"Tara knows," I said tensely. "I let it slip when I asked her to babysit," I said quickly, hoping that Eric wouldn't be mad that I'd spilled the beans, but bracing myself for the worst.
The worst never came. In fact, Eric started laughing hysterically, to my surprise. After a few moments of me doing nothing but staring at him, wondering what the fuck was going on, and if it was even safe for him to be driving, as hard as he was laughing, he took a breath and gathered himself enough to speak.
"Sookie, I'm so sorry," then he started laughing again, uncontrollably.
"Eric," I squeaked, "you're laughing, so that means you're not angry, right?" I questioned timidly.
Again, he took a deep breath to gather himself and said, "Oh, Sookie, of course I'm not angry. I couldn't be angry with you for that," he said as he took my hand in his. "Actually, I wouldn't have any right to be angry with you because I kind of told Pam," he said with a goofy smile on his face.
Once we'd both came clean, we shared a laugh together. We'd both let it slip and apparently, he'd been just as nervous about telling me he'd told Pam as I was to tell him that I'd told Tara. Our laughing didn't last long, though because Eric asked, "Sookie, when do you want to tell everyone?"
I thought about that for a moment, shook my head, and said, "I don't know, Eric. I'd like to wait at least another month, but once we tell Hunter, we have to tell everyone, and like you said yesterday, we probably won't be able to hide it from him much longer because once he realizes I'm puking all the time, he'll know that it's not normal and get worried."
"Yeah, I guess we'll just have to play it by ear," he said, then added, "but we'll shoot for another month."
My doctor's appointment was amazing and was over entirely too fast. I don't think I'd ever seen Eric smile the way he smiled we saw our baby for the first time and we both could have just sat and watched the little monitor on the ultrasound machine all day. I knew it was just a teeny blob we were looking at and to most, it probably wouldn't have been that spectacular, but it was our teeny blob. We'd made it and it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen.
"Hey Eric," I asked smiling, "Can we show Tara the ultrasound when we get home?"
Smirking, he replied, "Only if we can scan it and send it to Pam."
"Deal," I laughed.
Eric's POV
For the sixth night in a row, I was going to sleep, holding Sookie in my arms and I was beginning to think that nothing could feel more right. Her doctor's appointment, earlier, was at the forefront of my mind as I gently rubbed her stomach with my hand.
Seeing our baby for the first time was absolutely mind-blowing. Not that it wasn't before, but when I saw it, it all became so real and I don't think I'd ever felt happier. I may have even cried a little, but I'm really not sure because it all went by so fast. I could tell Sookie felt the same way. I swear, I never wanted that appointment to end.
"Seeing the baby today was amazing," I said smiling.
Her head was resting on my shoulder and her fingers were lazily playing with my chest hair as she dreamily said, "Yeah, it was."
All of the sudden she sat up, opened her nightstand, and pulled out the image Dr. Ludwig had given us. She looked at it and said "Eric, I know it's just a blob right now, but we made it and it's growing inside me," as she snuggled against me so I could see the image, as well. "It really is incredibly amazing," she added smiling as a tear dripped down her cheek.
I wiped her tear away with my thumb, kissed her forehead, and said, "It is amazing, Sookie. I couldn't even begin to imagine how it feels to be you, knowing that our baby is growing inside you, but it's ... it's beyond words for me. I mean, it's so miraculous and extraordinary to know that we made something so special that there are just no words to describe it."
She sat up again, put the tiny picture back into her nightstand, then snuggled back into my side. "Eric," she said quietly, "thank you."
"For what Sookie?" I questioned.
"For everything, all of this, being with me," she said. "I know this isn't what was supposed to happen, but I'm glad it did because for the first time in a really long time, I'm truly happy. You make me really happy, Eric," she said as tears began spilling from her eyes.
Despite the fact that my chest was getting soaked, I held her tight and said, "Sookie, you make me happy, too. I'm glad things happened the way they did," and then with no thought, it just came out, "I love you, Sookie."
Tears were still flowing from her eyes when she lifted her head, scooted up, and touched her lips to mine. She didn't say the words back, but she didn't have to. I could feel exactly how she felt. She'd say the words when she was ready, just as I had.
Sookie's POV
I was so overcome with emotion when Eric told me he loved me that all I could do was kiss him. I wanted to say it back, but I couldn't. It wasn't that I didn't feel the same, I did, but I was so overwhelmed emotionally, that I physically couldn't speak.
I wanted him to know I loved him, too, so I tried to convey every bit of emotion I was feeling through our kiss, which quickly caused me to get caught up in a whirlwind of intense passion, letting my body and feelings take over completely.
Never breaking our kiss, I climbed on top of him, straddling him and gently ground my center into the erection that was straining to break through the thin cotton of his boxer briefs. He groaned as his hands slid down my back and to my hips, sending chills down my spine and throughout my entire body.
His lips lingered down my jaw and onto my neck while his hands slowly inched my shirt up over my breasts, and then over my head; only then did his lips leave my body. They promptly returned once he'd tossed my shirt aside, but I pulled away.
Slowly, I removed his underwear, then I removed my own before crawling back on top of him. On my hands and knees, I leaned down, touching my lips to his, then slowly leaned back, allowing his hardened length to impale me as I resumed my seated position.
Once filled completely, I languidly began moving my hips, but in no time, my slow and gentle movements became almost frantic and rough as the head of his penis grazed my sweet spot over and again.
Groans and grunts filled the room and I knew it wouldn't take much more to send me flying over the edge, so I trailed my hand down my body until it came to the spot it was searching for. As I continued moving my hips, rocking back and forth, side to side and up and down, fervently, I rubbed circles over my clit.
I noticed Eric's blue eyes, filled with desire and locked on mine as I rode my own hand and his cock bringing myself even closer to my impending release. I threw my head back, moaning in pleasure, breaking our eye contact as his hands snaked up my sides and onto my chest. He roughly palmed my breasts and then as he twisted and squeezed my pebbled nipples, I lost it completely.
Eric's POV
Watching Sookie bring herself to release, while writhing on top of me was too much. As she moaned and cried out my name, I sat up and flipped us, in one fluid motion, ensuring that I remained inside of her the entire time.
Once she was on her back, she wrapped her legs around my waist and I peppered her face with kisses and cooed, "I love you; I love you so much," over and over as I thrust my hips hard, in and out, to find my own release and to claim her as my own.
She dug her nails into my back as one of my hands fondled her breast and the other, gently squeezed her perfect round ass, all the while, I continued moving my hips fluidly, building a rhythm that would soon send me riding on waves of pure ecstasy.
Only adding to the immense bubble of pleasure building inside of me, she met me thrust for thrust, and soon the bubble burst and the pleasure erupted, sending my entire body into a complete state of bliss as I emptied my load inside her.
Afterwards, as we lay spent, facing each other, nothing but a pile of sweaty, sated limbs. I brushed my lips against hers and said, "I love you." I had to say it one last time before I succumbed to the sleep that was about to overtake me.
She snuggled closer to me, took my hand in both of hers, which had been gently rubbing her side, and placed a kiss on my knuckles.
The last thing I heard before sleep finally claimed me was her sweet voice as she whispered, "Eric, I love you, too."
Oh, They both said it! What did you think!