I woke up early the next morning, the sun just starting to rise over the horizon. 7am, far earlier than I usually got up. I lay in bed for close to half an hour, just allowing my mind to relax and enjoy the quiet of the house. I could sense the familiar brain patterns of Claude and Dermot upstairs asleep. I wondered when they had gotten in. I almost never heard them come in at night, no matter what the time. Eventually, my bladder deemed it time to get out of bed. After a quick trip to the bathroom, I threw a light, worn bathrobe on and headed for the kitchen. After checking the coffee maker and flipping it on, I looked out the back window. Seeing Claude's car parked next to mine was a comforting sight, regardless of the fact that I could tell he was in the house already.
A few minutes later the coffee pot was done brewing. I poured myself a large mug of the liquid gold and let myself out the front door to sit on the porch swing. As I stepped outside, I stumbled slightly on a small rectangular velvet box sitting just outside the door. I bent down to pick it up and sat down on the swing. I opened the box that was covered in soft black velvet. Inside was a Post-It that simply read E. I smiled a small smile and put it aside. Underneath the note was a breathtaking white gold tennis bracelet with tiny rubies dotting the delicate metal. I slipped the note back in and closed the box, unsure of what to do. Did I really want to return such a beautiful gift? And there really wasn't any reason to not accept it, so long as it wasn't Eric trying to simply win me back with gifts. I decided to sit on it for the day and make a decision on what to do by nightfall. I placed the box carefully on the arm of the swing and sipped my coffee until I'd finished the mug.
I headed back into the house, taking the gift with me. I placed the box next to the coffee maker and pour myself another cup. Then I got to working on my breakfast. I made myself a simple omelette with red and green peppers, a little bit of ham and some cheese. After finishing up my food and coffee, I did a quick tidy of the kitchen and headed for a refreshing shower. I had to be at work for the lunch shift today so I washed and dressed into my uniform fast, deciding to let my hair air dry. I put on a touch of make-up, now ready to face the day. It was after 9:30 by the time I was done everything, so I decided to return my phone calls from the previous night. First I called Amelia, hoping I wasn't waking her.
Her phone rang four times, and I was thinking about hanging up, when Amelia's voice answered the phone.
"Hello?" she said sounding slightly out of breath.
"Amelia? It's Sookie," I told her.
"Sookie! I've missed you! How have you been? You should come down for a visit," she said quickly.
"I've missed you too! I've been good, and I'd love to come for a visit, but not right now. I've got some things to handle here. I think they'd go to hell if I left even for a weekend," I explained.
"Oh, you must be referring to Eric," she cut to the chase.
"I'm assuming he called you?" I asked her.
"Yeah, he wanted me to come visit you. Said he'd pay my way and even pay me to come see you. It sounded like a bad idea and I also didn't want to even think of coming to see you until I'd spoken to you. What's up with him anyways? He sounded so, well, lost."
"He is, I guess," I said. Then I explained the whole situation to her. She was quiet while I spoke, only interjecting when she had to answer a question I'd asked or to say the occasional 'Oh no!'.
"That's it! I'm coming to visit! And no, I'm not mentioning this to Eric. I was never interested in his money," she told me when I'd finished my story. I assured her she didn't have to, but she insisted. Eventually, we worked out the travel plans and she and I said our goodbyes, happy to see each other in a few days. That call over with, I decided I should call Tara back as well. She picked up on the second ring.
"Tara, you sound miserable," I told her after we'd said our hellos.
"My doctor put me on bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy," she explained. My heart went out to her. Tara was an active person normally. I wondered what was going to happen with her clothing store she owned while she was on maternity leave. The line must have been quiet between us for a couple minutes, because Tara sounded a little annoyed when she asked why I was calling. I chalked up the mood swings to her pregnancy before I explained the situation again, a shorter version than Amelia's. I told her there was no need to check up on me just because Eric asked her to. She told me she was concerned for me and I didn't blame her. A couple years ago she had been in a bad spot regarding a vampire that had nearly cost Tara her life. Since then, thankfully, she had settled down with our childhood friend JB and she was now expecting their twins.
"I'd still love to spend some time with you Tara, but not because Eric asked you," I explained.
"Of course, Sookie! Why don't you come by tonight and JB can grill us some steaks?" she suggested. I told her I was working the afternoon shift, so I could be at her place just in time for dinner. After our plans were settled, we chatted just a little bit, to kill some time. I learned through Tara that Eric had called her, Amelia, Jason, Alcide, Sam, Calvin and Tanya Norris, Holly and Hoyt, Halleigh Robinson-Bellefleur and Vampire Bill. I thanked her, told her that if anyone contacted her about me that I would call them later, and said my goodbyes. It was time to head to work.
I grabbed my purse and keys from my bedroom, locked the front door and let myself out the back, double checking the lock behind me. The drive to work was quick and easy. Most people were already at work and wouldn't be heading out for lunch for almost an hour. I pulled into the employees parking lot behind the bar and got out of the car. I headed straight for the backdoor of the building, slowing when I saw Sam walking from his trailer.
"Hey Sookie!" he called. "I was just waiting for you to show up."
"Hiya Sam, how are you today?" I asked him. He told me he was ok, asking me if I'd noticed the new lemon trees he'd planted in front of his trailer. He explained that maybe we'd eventually be able to serve fresh, home grown lemons with our iced tea. He seemed very excited by the idea. He let us into the back hallway and we both headed into his office. I dropped my purse into the empty desk drawer and headed to the front to start setting up for opening. In less than an hour I had all of the chairs and bar stools sitting back on the ground (Terry Bellefleur came in very early every morning to sweep and mop the floors), the first couple of batches of coffee and iced teas ready, restocked the couple of tables that hadn't been done the night before and had all the lemons and limes cut up ready for all the afternoon drinks. I went to tell Sam and then opened up the bar. The lunch rush was busier than it had been lately, though not as busy as it used to be. I was the only waitress on because Sam was so short staffed lately, so I ran my tail off. But that made the shift go faster it and before I realized it, Tanya (who filled in whenever Sam needed an extra pair of hands at the bar) and Holly were signalling to me that it was shift change time. I ran them both through what was going on with each of my tables, the few I had, and waved goodbye to the girls and Sam. As I was driving home, I realized I had been busy enough all afternoon that I hadn't even had time to talk to Sam about Eric. It would have to wait until tomorrow night when I had to be back to work.
When I got home, I ran inside to change quickly. I left a short note for Claude, in case he happened to wonder where I was. When I had arrived home, his car was still in the driveway but I saw no lights on upstairs and I couldn't sense any movement at all in the house, brain or otherwise. I relocked the back door and drove somewhat hurriedly to Tara's. As I got out of my car at Tara and JB's, I could already smell the grill on in their backyard. I knocked on the door and after a minute of shuffling sounds, JB du Rone opened the door, his gorgeous face glowing with a huge grin.
"Sookie!" he cried, gathering me in his arms for a friendly hug. I returned the hug and stepped into the house.
"Where's Tara?" I asked. He pointed towards the backdoor.
"I managed to carefully get her onto the porch. She'll stay out there as long as she can, considering she can barely move now. She'll be happy when these babies are born," he explained. I patted him on the arm and followed him out to the back porch. I bent to give my friend a hug and sat down in the chair next to her. Tara really had gotten big. She wasn't even eight months pregnant and she was bigger than a house. I asked JB what I could do to help out with dinner, considering he was short on help, but he insisted he was fine. Dinner was to be a simple affair of steaks on the grill with baked potatoes and grilled red peppers. There was also a fresh green salad if anyone was interested. Dinner was delicious and simple, the perfect way to have it. Clean up was also easy, though I insisted I help with that. While JB and I were inside rinsing off the dishes and throwing away the garbage, we heard Tara scream from outside. We threw down what we'd been doing and ran for the door. Tara was curled in a ball on her lounge chair, clutching her stomach. She screamed again.
"Tara!" I shouted, lunging towards her, JB right on my heels. She was crying and I noticed her shorts were wet. Her water had broken. I instructed JB to hold Tara's hand and that they work on the breathing exercises they had learned in Lamaze classes while I ran inside. I grabbed their portable phone and was on the line with an operator before I'd gotten back outside. While we waited for the ambulance, the operator had JB time Tara's contractions. Relief flooded through me when I heard the sirens. I was sure it hadn't taken them very long to get to the house, but it had felt like years to me. While the paramedics loaded Tara into the back of the ambulance, I made JB promise to call me whenever something happened. He gave me a quick hug and told me where I could find the spare keys so I could lock up the house after they'd left.
I watched the ambulance until it was out of sight then went back into the house and finished cleaning the dinner mess. After that was done, I made sure all the windows and doors were locked before letting myself out, locking the front door behind me. I drove home, feeling extremely happy for the first time in a long time.