I got a bouquet of flowers that helped me decide on my next chapter dedication! And so this chapter goes out to you IRIS! By the way your review had me thinking…

It made me curious to see if any any of you out there had the same thoughts. Check out her review and let me know. It is a very interesting point if I do say so myself.

Eric

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Earning A New Title

It was not only an erroneous assumption but an outright delusion of my own design. The fact that my children grew so swiftly in the womb led me to believe that when it was time for them to enter the word their pace would be just as expeditious; an idea they proved so very wrong. Later when Sookie calculated the total time spent during child birth the end number was twenty-five and a half hours. By her estimation only twelve hours of that time was active labor. During those hours our children made her work for the title of mother. Unbeknownst to her as she took a bath last night her water broke signaling the first stage of the end of her pregnancy.

I woke early tonight. It was a heavily over casted day. At my age it served to give me an hour or two before first dark. It took me exactly one second to register my wife's emotions; exit my day chamber; the house and bound to the home of the Koválls where Sookie was. She was in pain.

Demetrius opened the door and I blew past him without as much as a nod. Sookie was in a bedroom Eráh was seated next to her on the bed. She was applying a damp cloth of her head. Cohan was seated next to her on the other side in a chair. I could see that Sookie had a very firm (if not painful) grip on his hand but he appeared to be the pillar of calm. He stepped aside and I took her hand. She held onto me tightly but she was focused intently on evening out breathing.

"Have you called Ludwig" I asked my wife rather tactlessly but I wanted to assess the situation right away.

"Do I look like I can answer your questions right now?" she hissed. Her breathing was contrived and the worse of the pain had not yet subsided.

When her pain subsided Cohan indicated for me to follow him.

"I will be right back" I kissed Sookie's head and followed him out.

"How long?" I asked. It was still early for her to give birth and I worried for both the safety of my wife and our children. According to the doctors calculations there was a little under three weeks left. I was anxious but did not let it show. It was not going to help Sookie now.

"She woke very early and came here to spend the day with Rin and I" Though I long had the suspicion I did not spare the time to register that he was telling me he was indeed a day walker. I was only glad that Sookie had not been suffering alone while I rested Nor was she with the fairies whom I did not trust "Around noon the pain began and she called the doctor. When she did not respond she called on the aide of her fairy cousin: Claude" Again I should have noted the faint traces of fairy in the air but I was trying to absorb many more important details. "He informed her that the children were healthy" Claude was gifted in that aspect so I would have to trust his analysis. They were healthy that was the most important thing. "Her pain has slowly been increasing in intensity and frequency"

It was expected. Her snapping at me just then was just the beginning as I would soon find out. In my human days men had no place in a birthing room. That did not keep many of us from hearing our wives screaming in agony as they brought our children into the world. No matter how it pained me to watch Sookie in pain there was nothing I could do to help with that part. All I could do now was help her be strong.

"I will go in search of this demon doctor" Cohan said. I described Ludwig to him in great detail.

"Thank you" I said to him. He smiled and placed his hand on my shoulder. Surprisingly it eased some of my worries.

"Think young king Eric your children will arrive this night" The prospect had him beaming brightly and he seemed thrilled on my behalf. I nodded and he left me.

Eráh handed me the cold cloth when I returned to the room. Before she left she came to the other side of the bed and laid one of her hands on Sookie's chest. The other went to her head and pushed it back gently. I wanted to tear her hands from her shoulders. The only other person I have seen do that was Cohan and the subject had been Victor Madden. No one who witnessed that occurrence could say exactly what he did to him. Till this day I do not understand it. All I knew was Cohan dismantled Victor from the inside out with the same placement of his hands. My jaw clenched and my fangs were straining to extend against the hold. Noticing my very murderous expression Eráh withdrew her hands.

"I am sorry I should have explained" She appeared embarrassed instead of afraid. I calmed myself. I knew she meant Sookie no harm. They have had many chances to hurt her if that had been their intent. "There is a network of energy that controls and connects all things alive and dead. It is not a knife that kills but the disturbance it causes in the flow of one's energy and when you die the energy you put into the world changes it never disappears. My father sees this network in the body and he showed me how."

"Like the Buddhist palm?" Sookie said thoughtfully. Eráh smiled and nodded vigorously.

"Yes the Buddhist palm is one concentrated blow that sends a wave of…static into the body. It can only be used to destroy. It is a thousand times less complex than this. This technique can return life into an empty shell or take it away. It can bring pleasure or pain." Sookie nodded.

"Sounds very Yoda and Zen-master-esque" my wife surmised. I smiled her interpretation of things was nothing short of precise and comical at times.

Eráh laughed blithely. Her red curly hair danced across her face and she appeared to be no more than a happy child. "Demetri will love that" She said with a shake of her head. "With that Yoda and Zen mater I can help alleviate your pain" Ludwig did not want to use any of the pain medicine that most women used during birth. It was the plan to avoid that if it was possible. The doctor could not say with absolute certainty that the foreign substances would not cause harm to the children. I was grateful that I would not have to watch helplessly as Sookie suffered.

I nodded and Eráh returned her hands where they had been. I fully opened the bond to feel what Sookie was feeling. She was felling a small amount of anxiety. There was still slight discomfort in the background. Nothing happened for several seconds then I felt a slight tingle course through her body. It was airy and light and registered cool in temperature. I could not say if that sensation was purely physical for her but I felt it clearly through our bond.

"Take a deep breath" Eráh called in lulling voice. Sookie complied and when she let out the breath all the remnants of her physical pain evaporated and with it went her anxiety.

"Thank you" Sookie said. Her tone was one of immense gratitude.

"You are most welcome but unfortunately in your condition it can only be done once more or it will cause interference" Sookie nodded. That was quite the drawback but it was still better than anything either of us could have hoped for. Eráh smiled down at her and left.

I kicked my shoes and lay with Sookie tucked next to me. She no longer had need for the cold compress. She asked me to braid her hair and I did. She had to be feeling exceptionally well for her to be worrying about her appearance. Naturally I couldn't resist teasing her.

"So I take it I no longer have to fear for my safety" I asked calmly. Sookie laughed.

"Sorry" She said.

"Quite all right" I kissed her head.

I looked out at the grey sky as a light drizzle began to fall. Sookie informed me that the overcast of the day was not natural. Atéyo was away influencing the weather they knew I would wake and they knew she needed me. She told me about her day. When Claude came to make his examination the fairies insisted that all those of the Kováll that were awake be outside in their line of sight. Cohan obliged them.

Dermot had come to see her but he did not make the same reasonable but overdone request. The only children of Kováll that were old enough to be awake during the day were Eráh, Atéyo and Negy. Demetrius was still building his immunity to sunlight but he could be lucid during the day. Anthony was too young for either. I wondered if that ability came with age of was it central only to Cohan's blood like my ability to fly.

There was a low knock on the door. We both knew it was the only other human in the house.

"Come in" Sookie called there was a smile in her voice. Aríndia entered with a small tray in her hands. There was a newly warmed bottle of blood and a bottle of water. I got up to help her but she shook her head. She set the tray on the night stand and brought me my blood with a napkin under it.

"Thank you" I said. She smiled displaying perfect dimples and nodded in acknowledgement. She was a beautiful child. I knew when she got older her father would have trouble not killing men that would chase after her. I looked at her wondering what twist of events had brought her to this particular clan of vampires. Atéyo did not steal her or acquire her through force or even manipulation. From the way he looked and fawned over her he loved her too much to do any such thing.

Fate had smiled on Aríndia. There were some humans that would disagree with that fact regardless of how good her life was. Even if she was not a princess she was still loved and provided for. Most humans weren't practical that way. All they saw were vampires. I heard talks of that nature at the wedding. None of them knew that she was the most well protected child there was. She had a house of day walkers that would bend to her will and die in her defense. I looked into her electric blue eyes and wondered if my children would grow up in France with her or with me.

Suddenly Sookie laughed but turned it into coughing to disguise the fact. I would guess something in the child's mind was amusing. As young as she was Aríndia exuded a kind of grace and poise that some vampires could not in centuries of living. Like an aged vampire she maintained eye contact simultaneous eye contact with us. Clearly she had something to say.

"If you have a son. He will be a prince and I wish court him then wed him" My eyes widened; both at her very calm expression and her bold declaration. I was too shocked to laugh and too amused to form another type of response. Sookie having seen the question had more time to prepare a response.

"I can't tell anyone who to court or marry" she began gently. "Even my own son" Aríndia nodded.

"Yes, my Atan says so" Atan was a term that meant father or grandfather or uncle or aunt Anthony explained this to me. In this instance I thought it meant father. "but he says if your son is willing then I may but he has to keep it in his pants" Sookie's face turned a bright shade of scarlet both at the child's words and the effort from not laughing. My lips were pressed into a hard line. Aríndia, completely oblivious to our reactions continued in a musing tone "What could be in his pants?" She looked at us expectantly.

I spoke and diverted the subject from the male anatomy "He has to be older and he has to be willing we will not force him" Aríndia was thrilled with that small allowance. She beamed at me and left the room. Sookie threw her hand over her mouth and giggled. I could not help but laugh. I had respect for that child. She did not send her father or anyone else. She knew what she wanted and stepped up to get it. It was an admirable quality in one so small.

"I'm glad you didn't take her up on her offer" Sookie said.

"I would never" I replied evenly. There was no longer any trace of humor in my voice.

I could not find a better match for any child of mine than a child of Kováll but I would never rob someone I loved that way.

Finding a mate for one's offspring was a part of parenting as feeding or clothing your child. Even in my human time it was not forced if either potential mate contested vehemently. Ocella didn't give a shit about any of that. I assumed he only wanted to take me with him just to care for Alexei but it was much worse.

"We came by way of Oklahoma" He had said. I did not know in passing that state he had promised my hand to the vampire queen that ruled it. This was unknown to me until I received a letter from Freyda herself the day before my coronation.

There is no doubt that if I had been thinking in a more reasonable manner I would have welcomed the opportunity to wed a beautiful and powerful queen. Even if I was not with Sookie I no longer wanted to be a slave. My maker's final death was supposed to bring me freedom. It was confusing to hate him but want to honor him but Ocella had forced things on me for too long.

Having suffered the final death it seemed he was intent on forcing demeaning acts on me from beyond the veil. He had signed promissory letters offering my hand to the queen of Oklahoma; a document I could fight but in a court of vampire law it would hold.

It was amusing how close I had come to losing my freedom again. It was actually Victor's hasty actions the night he captured me that gave me a way out. Becoming king nulled the documents. Unions between two royals had to be decided upon strictly between the two. In her desperation to get me to come to her Freyda offered me some of her kingdom. Still I refused and in the end her invitation to my coronation and wedding were rescinded. I wanted her as an ally but not at that cost. It was much too high.

I looked at what that would have cost me and I was happy Sookie made as irrational as she did. She was slowly drifting into sleep. Her hands were under her head like a small child. Her breathing was deep but every twelve minutes or so her body would tense with a contraction but she slept through it. While she slept I called Ludwig several times but I got no response. I checked the news for attacks that may have happened during the day but got no word of any. I did not know what was keeping her.

The rain was heavy now and I wondered if that was playing a part in the doctors absence. It was almost first dark when Cohan arrived. I left the room to seek him out and found him in the kitchen.

"She cannot come" He said while blotting his hair dry.

"Why?"

"She sends her apologies. There was an attack directed at the two natured in Nebraska earlier today." He said to me. I wanted to be angry but it was not justified. In a way we made Nebraska a target when Thalia went there for help from Alex. Sophie-Anne's had incurred losses and a great fighter like Eliza and got nothing during their interrogation. Ludwig had warned me that she had to save lives first. The next choice was the fairies. Then his words fully registered and I became confused. He had travelled almost sixteen hundred miles in less than two and a half hours.

"Did you fly?" I asked out of sheer curiosity. That distance was impossible unless he moved at the speed of light. He wrung his damp hair and pulled it into a small bun high atop his head.

"No. Teleported" He said absently frowning at the weather through the window. I gave him the same look people gave me when I told them I could fly. "Excuse me" he said. I nodded.

"Rin" He called. I heard the child clamoring from the other side of the house towards us.

"Atan" She said running into his waiting arms. He picked her up and kissed her head. He spoke to her in their language. She laughed and nodded. Then she ran out into the accelerating rains through the back door.

He turned to me after she had gone. "Do not worry Eric. All will be well" I wanted to believe that but I had to make plans to make sure that was indeed the end result.

"I have to have words with the fairies" I told him. He shook his head.

"No your place is by her side. I will go" He turned before I could protest. I felt like he and his family had done so much for Sookie already. I did not want to ask for more. Cohan walked back out into the rain only this time he stopped to take a hooded jacket with him.

I watched him as he went and a realization came to me. He was a king in the noblest right because he lived to serve. It was backwards for almost all vampires. Sookie said he cooked her and Aríndia a meal today. She gushed over the way he took extra care in selecting her clothes and fixing her hair. Existing for as long as he has life should have lost meaning eons ago. The world should have been nothing but a blurring redundant wasteland from which there was no end. It was not that way for Cohan. He lived for his children now; to serve them; to provide for them; and to protect them. To harm his children was to take away his reason to continue living; and that deserved the scale of wrath he was known to unleash. If I survived all of this, that would be my life. The mere thought of it filled me with emotions too profound for words.

That was how Anthony found me; staring off into the distance, enveloped in a joy so prodigious it was almost painful.

"Hi" He said. I blinked and turned to face him. Of course he was wearing a smile and of course it annoyed me. "Sorry I couldn't give you any warning but I saw it right before dawn and it wasn't enough time" I nodded. I did not expect him to be omnipotent "How are you doing?" He asked. I was going to roll my eyes at his ridiculous question but then for some bizarre reason I took a second to really process his question. It had been an emotional few days.

"I am eager I think" I concluded. He smiled and nodded. He heated a blood for himself but did not offer me one knowing I would decline.

"Have you ever wondered about my attachment to Sookie" He said after his drink had warmed.

"No"

"I have and I finally have an answer" His hands went to further dishevel his already messy hair. "I was not myself when we initially met" He looked at me to see if he had to explain the details or not. He did. Sookie never talked to me about him because I did not care. "I suffered injuries as a child that causes me to become disoriented if I am pulled abruptly from a vision. I am often lost between the now and the future when that happens. It was in that state that I first saw her face" He said. I tried not to frown. It is very like Sookie to take in a seemingly crazed vampire and harbor him in her home. That woman was prone to life threatening acts of compassion. "In that vision she was my best friend" He saw the less than happy expression on my face and smiled. "It is not so yet but in the centuries to come we will become inseparable" Before I could even begin to formulate a reaction or response I felt Sookie begin to stir. I disappeared from the table and appeared by the bed.

She was not fully awake yet but her pain was already registering with me. Her eyes snapped open like a spring and she cursed. I crawled in next to her and offered my hand. Instead of panting like most humans did when they were in pain. Her breaths were deep and measured. When it was over I rearranged the pillows and propped her up so she was comfortable. She had a sip of water and her face was flushed. She was looking around the room and I knew she was looking for the doctor that would not come.

"Where is Ludwig?" She asked.

"She cannot be here. There was an emergency in Nebraska" I explained calmly. The grip she had on my hand tightened as she absorbed the news. Then she became very irate very quickly.

"Bullshit! Eric she needs to be here. What am I supposed to do?" She fumed "So help me god I will send Dermot after her if I have to do this alone" I smiled if I were Ludwig I would not come back around here for some time. Sookie meant every word.

"Easy lover" I kissed her "You will not be alone. I am here" She gave me a look that said my medical abilities were questionable. "I had cattle in my day" I added calmly. "It can't be all that different"

"Eric!" She released my hand and shoved at me "That's not funny" I laughed not being able to help myself she tried not to smile but lost.

"Cohan went to have a word with the fairies they are the next best thing that is readily available" She nodded and seemed reassured.

There was a knock at the door. I knew it was Cohan but there were two people with heart beats with him but I couldn't identify them by scent.

"Enter" I said. Cohan had brought with him Lyra and Claude. The were beautiful as fairies normally were. The scent of fairy was absent. Pulling in their scents gave me nothing. There was nothing delicious about them they smelled…bland. I stared at them dubiously waiting for someone to explain.

"As promised" Cohan said cheerfully "Some helping hands" He waved at Sookie then he left. For several seconds Claude and Lyra stood where they were; keeping their eyes focused intently on my every twitch.

"What did he do you, you smell…"

"Bad" Lyra interrupted with a hopeful air to her voice.

I shook my head. "Dull" I said. They did not smell unappealing as most inedible things did but if I had choices I would not feed from them. Their scent did not call to my senses in any way. Claude took offense to my description.

"Well you still stink to the high heavens like a gallon of cheap cologne" I rolled my eyes. He had a very difficult time not being desired by that which should want him most, idiot.

"If it will appease your vanity I can drain you" I said showing a faint glimpse of fang. "Or you can tend to my wife" Sookie grabbed my hand not sure if my threat was serious. I was joking-mostly.

"They are fine" Claude said after briefly touching her. Lyra's examination was painful and Sookie whimpered and cried. I was on the bed facing her and forcing her to focus on me and not the pain.

"Your body still has work to do but soon I think" she said it with something that resembled a smile. I was sure it was a first.

By "work" Lyra meant Sookie would have to writhe in agony and by soon she meant five hours. In the beginning there were interludes between the contractions and pain. Towards the end she was barely able to catch her breath between each one. Her emotional strength was waning and so was her physical.

"Eric" She sobbed clinging to me.

"I am here" I was using the cold compress to wipe away the thing film of sweat that was on her head and neck.

"I can't…" Her words were cut off as her body seized with another contraction. She clutched at my hand and let out a strangled scream. I brushed her hair back. In a rushed voice I murmured words of comfort and reassurances to her. She was now panting unable to control her breathing.

"You need to breath" I reminded gently.

"I'm trying" She ground out through clenched teeth. "I'm trying" she repeated with a sob. "Please get Eráh to come back. Please" She had been calling for Eráh to repeat the procedure that would alleviate the pain but Lyra examined her several times. She was not as far long as she needed to be. If Eráh took the pain away and the effects faded before she had to actually deliver Sookie would be in hell. She knew this but every time the pain tore through her body she would beg for Eráh. For the past hour I had been refusing her pleas.

"It is too soon" I said to her. "Just a little bit longer lover"

She shook her head and cried. "I can't Eric. I can't" I wiped her tears and held her face in my hands.

She was wasting much needed energy on tears. "Enough, stop crying" My voice was firm. I have never used this tone with her before and it gave her no alternative but to do as I said. Her bottom lip quivered and she sniffled in an attempt to comply. I waited for to draw in a shaky breath. When I continued my voice was softer. "You have done extraordinary things. This is no different. It does not matter if you can, you must" She nodded and I kissed her. "Be strong"

The night wore on I gained new respect and admiration for my wife. Her body continued the birthing process. There were no breaks from the pain and contractions. She screamed and cursed but she did not cry. She broke the little finger on my right hand more than once. Lyra had been coming to examine her every half hour and finally close to midnight she declared Sookie was ready.

Sookie barked it. Lyra sang it. I almost shouted it. "Eráh!" we said in unison.

0o0o0o0

So did that bring back some memories for you mommies out there? If you ask me it shouldn't be mother's day it should be mother's month. My labor was so painful I think I repressed it. Seriously I had to ask a friend to describe hers because I couldn't remember mine!

So are we taking bets on the sex of the children?