Author's Note: We want to thank everyone that has stuck with us as we journey through this story. There are still more chapters to come. For those of you that have wondered about Sookie's pregnancy, trust me she is dying to pop that kid out and Bill feels the same way as her hormonal swings are even driving the poor vampire batty (no pun intended). As with other chapters, this latest chapter helps set up future events. Some of those events will be happy ones and others will be extremely heartbreaking ones; but there will always be a purpose for all of them in A Love Beyond Death. Again Thank you for reading and for your kind words.
Bill never told me about his meeting in Monroe but during the following nights there were more urgent secret meetings at the house, at Merlotte's and at gran's house with Octavious, Bill and other's I'd never met before.
To anyone concerned or who dared notice Bill and I were fast becoming entertainers of the undead as one of us was always present at these meetings and the bottles of blood flowed freely; but nothing could be further from the truth.
A week later, Eric and the other vampires from Shreveport left for California and a week after that I received a perplexing call from Sherry. Sherry had been one of my wedding consultants along with her twin sister Christine (a vampire).
Sherry called to tell me she had found the extra wedding pictures I'd requested from her and would bring them over the next day.
I found it strange as I'd not spoken to her in months, much less requested any pictures but agreed to meet her at Merlotte's the next evening instead.
I told Bill about Sherry's call immediately as it had left me quite unnerved. Bill immediately went into insvestigator mode asking me a million and one questions that rattled me further.
"Honey I don't know why she'd be calling me I haven't spoken to her in days, well more like months."
"Sweetheart, did she say anything else? How did she sound?" Bill asked concerned.
"Baby that was all she said but she did sound a little…, I don't know but not like herself."
"Sookie I do not like this at all. Why call now? I must think about this as you and the baby need to be protected."
"Bill I think that meeting her at Merlotte's would help me cover the baby if I stay sitting in one of the booths or behind the bar." I said.
"What do you think?" I asked him hoping my shrewd decision to meet at Merlottes would receive his approval.
"Sookie, Merlottes was an excellent choice. I also think that I am going to be there when you two meet, remember she is part of De Castro's regime as is her boyfriend and her sister." Bill's face held no emotion and that scared me more than if he had been worried.
"I don't want you to worry darling but I think we should be ready for anything just to be on the safe side." Bill rose from his seat, shared a quiet conversation with Octavious and then turned to kiss me before they made their way out the door.
The next night with my nerves were getting the best of me; I changed my clothes three times before I finally decided on a light yellow sun dress. We left the house and made our way to Merlottes to wait for Sherry and the pictures she'd said she found.
Finally at Merlottes and after much staging we decided that the best location to cover my pregnancy was with me sitting behind the bar. The stool was low enough and the bar high enough to cover me completely up to my chest. I doubted Sherry would notice my engorged boobs.
Octavious, Bill, and Sam were with me when Sherry arrived looking all flustered.
Her hair was disheveled, her normal pristine and expensive attire looked as if it was something she picked out of a dirty second hand store rack and she seemed nervously rattled. This did nothing to settle my nervousness, Bill tried to send me calm feelings through our bond but it did little to steady me.
Right away I knew there were no pictures she had to show me but something else she wanted to share. She looked like she'd been crying and would fall down any second from exhaustion.
I wanted to run to her and hug her, Bill immediately sensed my impulse and shook his head no reminding me that we had a secret to keep. I closed my eyes, accepted the calm Bill was sending me, stomped out my impulses and finally spoke.
"Sherry, sweetie, what's going on? Why did you call me about some pictures?" I asked as Bill led her to a stool at the bar.
"Sookie, Michael is dead." Michael was her vampire boyfriend and they truly seemed to be in love. Her tears started to flow and again I had to control my desire to walk around the bar and hug her as the full effect of her sorrow spilled from her brain to mine.
Bill stepped closer to her once he heard what she had said but didn't say a word. I nodded to Bill to indicate that she was indeed being truthful.
"They sent him to California with Christine, the King set him up. I came to tell you because I heard Sandy talking to the demon Stephan and I had to come to warn you." Sam handed Sherry a shot of scotch and she quickly gulped a long sip.
"What did you hear Sherry?" Bill asked concerned.
"Bill, De Castro wants California. They wanted to send you and the vampires from Bon Temps thinking Sookie would go with you," her heart was pounding so fast even I heard it with my normal human hearing.
"They know that if anything happens to Sookie the Kings sworn to protect her would have to join the fight," she said, her hands shaking around the shot glass.
"They also think she's held in favor by some fairy prince or something like that and think California will give up to avoid a war because they'll be afraid of him." She took another sip of her drink, her hands still shaking as she brought the glass to her lips.
"But when you didn't go they sent Michael and Christine. Michael was supposed to say he was from Bon Temps and Christine was his mate." Tears started to stream down her face.
Sherry turned to Bill, "Bill they know that the vampires from Bon Temps are going to be attacked soon but they aren't doing anything about it."
Bill flipped his phone trying to reach Eric but got no answer.
"They want California to attack them so De Castro's group can fight them while they're busy. They want to corral the vampires from California at the expense of the vampires from here." She let out an exhaustion sigh.
"They don't care who dies like Michael." As the words left her mouth she slumped onto the bar stool and began to cry uncontrollably over her finally-dead vampire boyfriend.
"Where's Christine now" I asked still sitting (hiding)behind the bar as Bill continued trying to reach any vampire from Bon Temps on their cell phone; still no answer.
"I don't know, I thought the vampires from California had her but Stephan said she was at some hospital for vampires somewhere. I didn't hear any more as someone was coming and I had to almost run out of there and that's why I called you. I figured the best way was to tell you I had pictures from the wedding in case someone heard the conversation."
I turned to Bill who had just tried reaching Eric again. He shook his head to let me know there was no reply.
"Honey how do we warn them?" I asked quietly as Alcide, Trey and Calvin walked through the door. Unbeknownst to me, Bill had asked Sam to contact them just in case Sherry's visit was part of a trap.
"We must go and warn them," Octavious said.
"Bill they're going to need all the hands they can get," Octavious said. Bill nodded knowingly as my eyes widened.
"OH HELL NO!" I screamed realizing what they meant.
"You're not going Bill Compton do you hear me!" I stepped out from behind the bar and poked him in the chest as I repeated the words.
"You're not going you hear me!"
Everyone gasped as they saw my belly and Sherry dropped the glass she'd been holding. The sound of the glass hitting the floor bringing me back to my senses and I realized that I'd just given away our big secret.
Trey, Alcide and Calvin all stared at me as Bill pulled me behind him; Octavious at his side both showing fangs and growling.
"Bill wait!" Sam shouted.
"Look, everyone calm down! Listen sooner or later this was going to come out and now is not the time for this especially if you're gonna' go Bill." Sam said as he placed himself between the vampires and the shifters.
"Sam, Bill is not going anywhere. He knows he has to be here; he has a family that needs him here," I said.
"Sookie, what do you think is going to happen if Eric is no longer the sheriff of Area 5? They'll send someone else who will be worse, someone who won't protect you and our son." Bill let out an unnecessary sigh.
"I have to protect you and if that means going to help Eric in California then that is what I have to do. He is still my sheriff." He held my hands and placed them by his dead heart.
"He's your sheriff but I'm your wife Bill, did you stop to think of that!" I seethed.
"What if they come here while you're gone?" My tears already streaming down my face as I realized that no matter what I said, Bill was going to go because he was right; if anything happened to Eric whoever they sent would not be so kind to our son and me.
"We will be here for you Sookie, for you and your child. You are still a friend of both packs." Alcide said and Calvin and Trey nodded in agreement.
"I'll be here too cher. I can stay with you until Bill comes back," Sam said.
Octavious stepped forward, "My Lady, I know this is hard for you but you must understand; William is just trying to protect you."
"He knows what we vampires are like. He knows that a new sheriff would believe that you can freely procreate with vampires and would want to claim you and your child for his own."
"I give you my word My Lady I will not let anything happen to him." He bowed to me and smiled as he took my hands in his.
"So it's your baby? The fairy is really related to you?" Sherry asked addressing both Bill and I.
"Yes, Sherry it's Bill's baby and the fairy you speak of is my great-grandfather," in for a penny in for a pound as I inform everyone present.
"Alcide if can you send someone trustworthy to stay with her during the day I can have one of my kind with her during the night." Bill stated.
"I can stay with her," Trey said.
"So can I," said Sam as Calvin nodded.
"Then it can be all four of us," said Alcide.
"Sam, what about Merlotte's you have to work?" Trey asked.
"Yes Sam, we can't ask you to leave your bar unattended if we can be there," said Alcide.
I couldn't believe what was happening around me as I sat on a bar stool, it was as if my opinion did not matter and I was invisible. After more planning for my protection, everyone left the bar and headed home.
Sherry would be staying with Amelia and Trey until she figured out what she was going to do next after all of this was settled.
Bill and I went home and I cried all the way there; afraid that this may be the last night I saw my husband. I was so upset that I didn't even want to take his hand as he offered it to me to help me out of the car. I pulled myself up awkwardly holding on to the door as he held my elbows to help steady me to my feet.
"Let go Bill, I'm going to have to learn how to do things for myself, might as well start doing it now," I said pulling myself from him as he tried to help me up the front porch stairs; still he didn't say anything just bowed to me and stood behind me just in case.
He knew I was just as right as he was about him leaving.
Finally, as I tried to go up the stairs (unaided) to our bedroom, his frustration took him over and he picked me up and took me to our bedroom (though I complained that he put me down) as I continued crying into his chest not really wanting to let go of him.
After setting me on the bed he went to close the safe-room door and I threw my shoes at him which he caught before flying to my side on the bed.
"How could you be doing this to me, get away from me, I hate you. Don't touch you me," I seethed crying.
"Let go of me William Thomas Compton! Let go of me now!"
"Sweetheart, I love you, I love you, I love you." He kept repeating as he held me to him.
"So why do you want to go?"
"Did you forget we have a fae bond, if anything happens to you it'll happen to me too? And then what of the baby? If he survives who'll take care of him?" I was crying uncontrollably now.
"Sweetheart, nothing is going to happen to you or the baby I promise."
"Don't Bill…" he interrupted me.
"Sweetheart I spoke to Niall to make sure of that."
"What are you talking about Bill? Niall said fae bonds can't be broken. And when did you speak to him anyway?"
"Darling I spoke to Niall when I went to Monroe. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you but I needed to find out what he meant by gifting us with fae life." I was crying, confused and upset as Bill spoke on.
"If ever I should meet my final death, your human life will end but you can go on as fae." I could read the pain in his eyes but it mattered little as I felt my anger bubbling inside of me.
"Bill I don't want to be fae! Why didn't you tell me; shouldn't it be my choice?" My anger was coming to a head.
"I'm so tired of everyone making decisions for me Bill!" I screamed.
"Sookie, I know you don't want to be fae but we have a son now, would you rather leave our son without parents because something happened to one of us? Bill was trying to control his anger but I could see it in his face that he just didn't understand why to me this wasn't the logical solution to our problem.
"No Bill of course not but you should have told me," I said as I let out a sigh and tried to control myself.
"Why did you need to go ask him this and then not discuss it with me?" I was crying uncontrollably as now even Bill was making decisions for my life; was I such a terrible person that no one could trust me to make my own decisions. I was starting to feel like that "crazy Sookie" all over again.
"Bill I feel like if I'm so terrible at making decisions that even you are making decisions for me now; what kind of mother do you think I'm going to be?"
"You're going to be a wonderful mother darling and I needed to know because there is nothing more important to me than the two of you."
"Sweetheart don't cry. I just needed to be sure my family would be safe if anything should ever happen to me, please forgive me but I needed to know." His eyes begged for understanding.
I shook my head at him my heart breaking. "Bill, I just can't believe you still want to go. Why do you want to leave us and possibly make me a widow?" I buried my face in his chest as the tears kept flowing.
"Oh sweetheart…, nothing is going to happen to me. You know I have to do this to protect you and the baby. As long as you two are safe nothing else is important but nothing is going to happen to me." He rubbed circles on my back trying to soothe me.
"You promise?"
"You know I can't promise that but what I can promise is that I know fate would not give us all we have and then take it away from us like this."
"Sweetheart, I'm going to be here to see my son being born, I want to be here for his birthdays and watch him grow old with you."
"I have to believe that and you have to believe it also. I just got you back in my life and I am not going to lose you again…, not like this." Bill brushed his lips against mine as he held me to him.
"Bill, I know you're right but I'm scared. Even if you find Eric what stops California from attacking anyway?"
"What if something else happens and I can't reach you? We only have three weeks to go." I said placing his hands on the baby who had the hiccups, probably from all my crying.
"I'm taking two cell phones and I'll call Sam if I can't reach you plus, I'll make sure you get messages from me and I'll call you with the number to someone that will be able to reach me if you can't." Bill brushed hair out of my face and tried to continue sending me loving and calming feelings through our bond.
"Who?" I asked while wiping my nose with my hand as he handed me a tissue.
"I know some in California I can trust. Do you remember everything we discussed about the data base and who to reach out to, they'll be in there. Do you remember?"
"Uhum, I remember," I said already feeling calmer.
"Do you still hate me, Mrs. Compton?" he asked as he licked the tears on my face.
"Maybe a little bit…, you made me cry, you kept things from me and hurt my feelings and now the baby has the hiccups," I said rubbing my belly to calm the baby.
"I'm sorry sweetheart and little one." He kissed my forehead and rubbed the belly.
"You know we haven't decided on a name yet, I think he might be getting tired of being referred to as little one." He said while kissing the baby bump and looking up at me.
"William?" I said through whimpers and sniffles.
"Yes darling?"
"Not YOU…, for the baby, William."
"If the baby was a girl I would say Adele but Will should be his name, just like his dad," I said.
"What do you think baby, do you want to be called Will or Bill?" he asked smiling up at me, but I could see the fear and sadness in his eyes.
"Bill, just be careful and come back to me, I can't make it without you," I said pulling his face to mine.
"I will my darling; I have too much to lose if I'm not careful, especially you loving me." It is the last he says before taking my lips in his.
"Honey please make love to me," I said into his mouth.
We made love that night as if it was the first and last night we would have together both knowing that it possibly could be.
Both fearing not being able to hold each other again; both crying throughout our joining and both wishing for more time.
I love you whispered and repeated never it having more significance than on this night. Each of us sending prayers into the heavens that tonight wasn't our last together.
Before Bill and Octavious left early the next evening for their flight to California Bill and I prayed.
It was the first time we'd ever prayed together and as he cried sending his prayers to heaven I could see his love for his son and me pouring out of him.
He glowed like an angel and the peace I felt from him was only intensified by the love he felt for me and I for him; the baby adding his love as well.
Before he walked out I offered him my neck, though at first he refused I told him I wanted to be with him, be on his lips and be in his veins as he made his way into the unknown.
He bit down on his wrist and we exchange blood; our love for each other flowing into one another and then I watched as my love drove away from our home.
I felt myself want to fall on the floor crying but Bill spoke to me until they were too far for us to continue speaking silently; his blood giving me the strength and courage I knew I lacked at that moment as Amelia, Octavia, Sherry and Trey doted on me.
The next day Calvin sent Jason to see me and after his initial shock my big brother finally acted like a big brother; trying to soothe me and telling me my husband was a good man and would be back soon.
I never wished more that Jason was right in my entire life.