I would have uploaded sooner but I was having issues with the site but I hope it gave everyone time to cool off.

While Eric and Sookie have gotten past a big hurdle the real vampire shenanigans can begin.

A great big Thank you to all those who took the time to review. It means a lot and I love hearing how my work is received. Sometimes it gives a better direction to go with the writing.

While I was trolling the city looking for a venue to spend my Friday night I stumbled across a Chippendale's. I had a fabulous time. It made me decide on my next chapter dedication with blissful ease. Chipndalegal, chapter thirteen is all yours! Be kind enough to share. It's more fun!

Sookie

Chapter Thirteen

A Rude Awakening

In my head I never saw the double standard I subjected Eric to. I complained about mine continuously. He was my husband. I still fought him on things I felt were too much, which was pretty much everything. If he was human or poor or both I would have accepted us easier. I had wronged him in so many ways before and I almost did it in the worst way. Last night I saw Eric like I had never seen him before. He was the vampire that I had forgotten he could be. He was out of control and it scared the shit out of me. I didn't know what I was holding onto but Eric's fit shook it loose and blew it right out the window. My little farm house was the only casualty. By the time Eric was finished the inner walls on either side of the front door were absent. When he slammed the door on his way out the backing around the front door fell. There were chunks of plaster and cement and wood blocking the front door. The door was standing but barely. I knew I would be paying for the damages.

I really can't put into words how seeing him turn his back to me felt. The worst emotional pain I have ever experienced goes back to that night in the New Orleans; hearing Bill confess how he was sent for me and not to me. Seeing him walk out on me was worse than that. It left me unable to breathe. Dermot found me on the floor. He had to slap me a little. (It was his preferred to bring someone around) He held me but didn't say anything except:

"Sia avell, for the last time go home" So home I went I didn't know if I was still welcomed there but I went anyways. It was where I wanted to be and it was where I belonged.

For over two hours all I felt from my husband was pure rage. It gave me a headache and formed a knot in my stomach but I waited it out. I wore a path in the living room and tried to gather what to say. I panicked and it would have cost a lot more than I would have ever imagined. Running away would have killed Eric and me and a lot of other people. While I knew I would be causing him emotional pain I never for one second thought that. I thought by leaving I would be avoiding those exact circumstances.

Anthony was right. At least partly because while no one died I had done something I couldn't take back. I lost something Eric had given me. I had never felt so much anger and hurt coming from him and I was the cause. Long after those emotions passed; long after I explained the impossible which he took surprisingly well, even long after I apologized and I felt I was forgiven his disappointment in me still remained. That was more painful than his fleeting feelings of resentment; It cut more than his accusations of me not caring about him. I hated it more than him yelling and ignoring me. I never wanted to give him a reason to doubt me. It made me feel small and guilt was heavy on my shoulders. The vows we took didn't just apply to me despite what I thought. Eric was bossy and highhanded but he had never made me doubt he loved or cared about me. In his mind I had been his to protect and love longer than he had been mine. It was something I had always been able to count on and so could our children.

I woke up this morning thinking about how big a mess I had made. With all the emotions of the last few days I felt sapped. I needed a full days rest. David canceled any appointments. Tomorrow I would play catch up. I must be living wrong because there no rest for the wicked. I flipped on the news and my plans for a peaceful day soon disappeared. On the screen was a very familiar place and it had been blasted to smithereens. My mouth hung open as I watched a reporter speak in front of what was left of Merlottes. A petite woman with big hair was wearing a somber face but you could tell she wasn't use to being in that neck of the woods. I turned the volume up. "This tragic site is the result of hate. The establishment belonged to Sam Merlotte. He has been a valued member of his society and an outstanding citizen. Sam was also one of the two natured humans" Her face vanished and I saw footage of the night the two natured came out to the world. There was footage of the protest that was taking place outside the bar soon after. I had no idea anyone was taping that nonsense. From the angle it was one of the protestors. They weren't going to do anything good with the recordings. The footage cut to what had been the night of the fire. I saw the parking lot of Merlottes crowded with a fire truck and an ambulance and people being plain nosy. My heart leapt into my throat when I saw a body bag being loaded into the coroners van.

The reporter kept talking but I was only listening for any news about casualties. I didn't need her explaining to me that this was an atrocity I could figure that out all on my own. "Officials do suspect the target was indeed Sam Merlotte because the venue had been closed. Sam remains in critical condition. A companion of his, another of the two natured Miss. Jennalynn Hopper had been inside his home during the attack. She was pronounced dead at the scene." My mouth fell open with an audible gasp. I disliked Jennalynn but I couldn't help the tears that fell for her loss. Sam loved her and no one deserved to die like that. "Extremists are calling a victory in the fight for humanity" I turned the television off when they let people like Steve Newlin spew their hate for all to hear.

While I got dressed I was calling around to find out where Sam was. My brother was at work. I couldn't reach Alcide. I tried Hot Shot and got lucky. I called Calvin at the number that had been stored under Crystal's name. Tanya picked up. I trampled all over the manners that gran had spent years instilling in me. I skipped the pleasantries and asked my question. It did not serve my cause well.

"Where have you been?" It was an accusation if I ever heard one in some many words. There was no secret that Sam and I were really good friends. I should have been one of the first people there when he was hurt. I couldn't hardly explain to her that I was at a vampire wedding and full scale battle thereafter in the next state over. Or that last night I made a mess of my personal life and found out that I was going to have twins that were fathered by my vampire husband. I took a deep breath instead.

"I have been out of town on business" That was best I could do and it was all she was going to get.

"It isn't pretty. He suffered second degree burns and damages to his insides from smoke inhalation" I made a little noise like I was gagging. "He is in Renard Parish Hospital room E403" I fought the urge to throw my phone in my purse and run out the door.

"Thank you Tanya"

She went "Uh-huh" I took it as an okay to get off the phone. Before I left I scribbled a note and left it on the bed. Then Rob, Ty and I made the drive to the hospital. Thankfully I have never been sickly but in the past two years I have been in hospitals very often. I disliked it. It wasn't that I was always in them because someone tried to kill me or someone I knew. It was the smell. With all the antiseptics and cleaning agents there was nothing natural about the odor. It smelled too clean. Even the temperature in a hospital was unappealing. It was cold. Misery and pain was magnified in the always cool temperature. All in all my time spent here was always unpleasant.

I knew we were in the right place when I began hearing weres and shifters of all varieties. The collective glare I received was unmistakable an inexplicable. Two of them I recognized as members of long tooth pack the last of the three was a stranger and rather strange. He had hair that was dyed green but it was jet black at the tip of his Mohawk. Both arms were sleeved in tattoos. He was a thin little man; very young but he couldn't be mistaken for easy going on any day of the week.

I didn't think it wise to just reach for the door. Ty spoke. Out of the two he seemed to be the mouth piece. Rob spoke only when he absolutely had to. "You can search us, but no one touches her" There was nowhere for me to hide any kind of weapon in my dress. Rob and Ty were patted down. It looked like it killed Rob to do it but they willingly turned over their guns and all their knives. One of the guards went in ahead of us to announce our presence.

There was hardly any space in Sam's room. All available surfaces were covered with flowers, balloons and cards. There was a woman in a chair next to the bed. I had never met her before but I could tell she was a shifter. From the hair I knew she was also Sam's mom. She was older but her body was aging with grace. There was a natural warm tan that gave her aged skin a sun kissed glow. Her hair had the same strawberry tint that Sam's did. Whether it was her natural look or from laying her head on the side of the bed I couldn't tell you. Her hair was tousled around her face like a messy halo only it was much longer and peppered with slivers of grey. Her eyes were green they were blood shot and teary.

I wanted to sound polite but not overly friendly. "Good afternoon, I'm Sookie Sta…Northman, Sookie Northman" I just wasn't used to being Mrs. Northman. It has only been five weeks since I got married. The name that I had used all my life was gone. I knew that but it was an automatic thing that came from being a Stackhouse for the last twenty-seven years. At the end of my introduction I wound up sounding confused about who the hell I was. Nothing was funny but I looked like I was trying not to smile which in truth I was, my panicked smile was threating at the corners of my lips. With the circumstances I would have been tossed out of the room. I was sure she already thought I was a nut. I wasn't going to hold it against her.

There was a worn smile on her face. "What took you so long?" She asked. She had a pleasant twinge of Texan drawl. When she smiled her eyes crinkled and the chocolate brown of her eyes almost disappeared. It eased all my tension and I returned her smile with something just as worn but genuine. Since I entered the room I had been using a lot of mental power to avoid looking at Sam. Now there was no excuse not to look at my friend.

Sam was lying on his left side. His bandages began at his right elbow. It covered the entire way up his arm as well as his shoulder and some of his upper back. There was a mask on his face that it was hooked up to a large machine. There was all kind of wires and tubes going in and coming out of him. As if that wasn't enough there was a traction apparatus holding up his broken leg. I began crying. I barely felt like I had any right with his poor mama in the room but I couldn't help it.

Sam was a great boss. He was good person and he was my friend. He didn't deserve this. Rob pulled a chair from the hall and placed on the other side of the bed. I sat and took a few minutes to get a hold of myself. It felt like all I had been lately was crying. Frankly I was ashamed of myself pregnant or not.

"I'm Samantha" I smiled and fought the knee jerk reaction to say nice to meet you. I simply nodded and introduced her Ty and Rob. They gave her civil greetings that were smiles from friendly-Rob especially. He just didn't like having to talk if it wasn't necessary. The room was quite for a few minutes. The beeping of multiple hospital equipment was all that could be heard. I was glad when Samantha broke silence so I wouldn't have to listen as Sam clung onto his life.

"Things looked pretty bad the night they brought him here" She didn't have to say anything for me to know she didn't think this hospital wasn't worth its weight in bandages. Bon Temps was small and close to nothing, nothing, and more nothing. We were lucky to even have this hospital so close by. It was on the outskirts of town and it was only twenty minutes away. "His throat as well as most of his esophagus was scorched and so were his lungs. He just about cooked on the inside" That delightful little phrase made me flinched. She didn't seem to notice. She was stretching all the way back in her chair. Her joints popped in protest of the sudden change from her stagnant positioning. She ended the exercise by running her hands through her hair. "He needed that to keep him alive" She pointed to the mask over her son's face. "He can breathe on his own but it puts too much strain on him" I tried to absorb the good news. Sam was going to be okay that was the important thing that was what I kept telling myself. "There was a little demon in here working on him off the books. There was a lot of infection that the doctors didn't know what to do with. She made his burns better but he is too much pain so they are keeping him under" My eyes pricked with tears. I swallowed them back.

"I'm so sorry" She shrugged.

"Wasn't your doing" Her eyes tightened I didn't know her well enough to know what it meant. Her eyes were fixed on the ring on my finger. Wouldn't it be rich if after getting shot for being a shifter she would have the audacity to discriminate against me for who I married? I pretended not to notice even after her eyes moved to Ty and Rob. They were behind me I couldn't tell what look they gave her in return.

Her cagey expression didn't much agree with her next words. "Sam loves you" Color me confused "He has good sense that boy so I know you don't have anything to do with this but mind yourself around the dead darling their interest in the world of the living aien't the same as ours" Her eyes suddenly looked more alert they had five minutes. It was a warning obviously but it had no place in what happened to her child or so I thought.

I cut right to the chase. There was no way I was going to argue with her over the wounded body of her son but I wanted to know what she was talking about. "Are you saying a vampire had something to with what happened to him?" She nodded. That explained a lot of the hostility I was receiving.

"He was conscious for all of thirty seconds when they found him. He said, 'It was a vampire. Tell Sookie'. He kept repeating it over and over. It actually what made the damages to his insides so bad. He wouldn't shut the hell up" There was an affectionate smile on her face. Sam probably didn't think he would make it. He knew I would do everything I could for him. The night this all happened I was In Arkansas. I was willing to bet money that Eric already knew this. If there a vampire running around doing the dirty work of the fellowship and the like in his he wouldn't tolerate it. Not that he gave a shit about shifters or the two natured as a whole it simply marred the authority of his area and the rule of his state.

I stayed at the hospital. Sam never came around. A few times a nurse came in to top off his dose of pain killers. I talked to his mom. She had a very disturbing sense of humor that was very unlike Sam. She laughed at being shot and said, "Well if that wasn't a way to end a marriage then I don't know what is" Against my protest she showed me the bullet wound. Every few minutes her eyes would flicker over to Sam. As she told me trivial things I saw she just didn't want to think of the state of her child. So we ate hospital food and passed the time together. I was happy to be a distraction for her especially because I couldn't do anything for Sam at the moment.

The sun was setting. I felt Eric hum into my consciousness. It was like having a different part of mind wake up. I felt a quick flare of uncertainty that was almost anxious. The guilt that I had managed to stow away for the majority of the day was back on my shoulders. I couldn't be a hundred percent sure but I thought he was worried because he could feel I wasn't home. The one thing I knew about Eric was that you couldn't tell him anything. He had to see and feel it for himself. He knew how sincere I was when I swore never to put him through anything like that ever again but he was wounded all the same. I wanted to fix this right away but I knew he needed time. I had to let him be.

It felt wrong to leave Samantha all alone in her thoughts. "I have to be going now but I'll come back soon" She nodded. I wrote my number and took hers. "If you need anything call"

"Thanks sugar. Good night" I smiled and left.

Outside the guards had changed. I recognized only members of the pack. Sid gave me smile but that was all the warm greeting I received. The other person he was with was scowling in my direction. He handed Rob and Ty their weapons back. It made me angrier than it should that members of the pack thought I would do something to kill one of them or hurt Sam for that matter. I had helped them out on numerous occasions. Now because I was married to a vampire I just start sanctioning attacks on my friends. The assumption was degrading. No vampire under Eric's command would do something like this without his say so at least that's what I thought. I knew Eric wouldn't. He didn't care enough to.

"Sookie" Rob was addressing me without being asked anything. "You are a friend to the pack" I nodded. "I think you should consider surrendering your title officially. They are no friends to you" No kidding. It was something I had considered several times but I never followed through on because I needed the extra protection. I no longer needed it but if I did it now it would look like I was abandoning them. It wouldn't help with the accusations any. Also Eric was going to be working with them in some capacity to find who this vampire was. We'll just say my honey bunny needed to brush up on his two natured relations as well his human relations. For the time being it was best to just leave this as they are.

Dr. Ludwig was at the house when I arrived. She seemed surprised that I was in one piece or not bleeding. I supposed it was to be expected given all the times she had seen my mangled body. I smiled. She gave me a curt nod. Eric was seated on the arm of a chair I joined him.

"What is the problem?"

"She is with child" Eric delivered it a lot smoother than I could have ever done. His voice was calm and cool and you wouldn't even know that this didn't happen every day for couples like us. Dr. Ludwig looked at me. She seemed scared for my wellbeing. Eric put his arm around me and she relaxed a little.

"The father" She was fishing in her little bag of tricks.

"I am" I could tell he felt otherwise but it never surprised me how vampires could sound so blasé about anything.

Dr. Ludwig's eyes widened. Instead of shock she appeared angry. I suppose she thought we had nothing better than to drag out here to play a practical joke. Let me tell you she wasn't cheap the visit she paid Crystal cost me an arm and a leg. There was a tense second of silence. I kept quiet because I wasn't getting in the middle of their supe staring contest. Eric looked blandly at her and she remained tight lipped.

"I suppose you will be making some examinations" Eric said. He stood up and moved to a chaise lounge. Having nothing else to do the demon nodded. I moved to where Eric was. I rested my head on his lap. The doctor rolled up my dress. She rubbed something on her hands that smelled like incense. She placed both her hands flat on my stomach and her little face was bewildered. Eric was wearing a smile that could be mildly described as smug.

"I can feel two heart beats the beating is irregular it is about a hundred beats too slow"

"Are they well?" Eric asked. He was stroking my hair as he spoke. He sounded strangely anxious. I took his hand and nodded before Ludwig answered. Claude already told me as much. I liked to believe I would be able to feel it if they weren't.

"When was your last menstrual cycle" Her hands still hadn't left my stomach. I had been doing the math over and over. I knew she was trying to calculate how far along I was. Claude said I was about two months. That wasn't possible two months ago I was sleeping with anyone.

"Eight weeks ago"

"Can you recall the first time you were intimate there after?"

"Three weeks" She nodded.

"They are growing at twice the speed of a regular fetus" Eric was brimming with pride. Having a baby was not something I ever thought I would get to experience. I wanted it to last. While they were in my body I could take them everywhere I went; I knew they were safe. I was thrilled and scared stiff at the thought of meeting my children so soon.

"Obviously I have never dealt with this before" She sounded as excited as I thought possible "We will have to learn as we go. I suspect later on you will need blood because they aren't entirely compatible with your body. For the time being just keep up what you have been doing. I should see you every week" She jotted down a long list of all the places she could be reached if she didn't answer her usual number. We worked out a schedule for her visits. Eric insisted on evening appointments. Dr. Ludwig left soon after. When she was gone Gideon came we usually trained on nights whe he and Eric were home. He greeted Eric with a nod then he turned to me.

"Your majesty" Those two words said a whole bunch. I sighed.

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So there you have it another chapter. There was a lot of reflective thinking going on so is anyone convinced that Sookie has learned her lesson or is she waiting for motive an opportunity to ditch? How's about Gideon I think he is nursing his grudge much like a lot of you all are...LOOOOL. Let's all hope he doesn't tell his big sister!

Chipndalegal. I hope you enjoyed lucky number thirteen!