I pulled my car up behind the house in my usual spot, surprised to see Claude's car still parked there. Usually he was gone by now. I unlocked the back door and let myself into the kitchen. I was surprised again, this time to see the kitchen spotless and dishes I hadn't dirtied sitting on the drying rack next to the sink. I made my way through the house and found Claude and Dermot sitting in the living room watching some movie I didn't recognize.

"Hi guys. Not working tonight?" I asked. Dermot shook his head while Claude twisted around to look at me.

"Not working tonight. We get a night off once in a while somehow. A young man called looking for you earlier. He insisted on talking to you and when I explained you weren't here, he asked if he could call back and leave you a message. He didn't trust me to take it down myself he said. It's on the machine. And some guy named JB called, saying they made it to the hospital and he'll call again later," Claude told me before turning back to his movie. I thanked him and headed back to the kitchen to listen to my message. I hit the play button on the answering machine.

"Hello? Aunt Sookie? I guess you really aren't there. The man said you weren't but I really wanted to talk to you. I asked daddy if I could sleep at your house again even if he stays home and he said only if you said yes and then I called you to ask! So you have to call me back and say yes, ok? Oh! And this is Hunter!" I smiled to myself, revelling in the simplicity of a child's phone message and happy I'd be seeing Hunter soon. I heard a rustle on the extension after Hunter gave me his name and then Remy, Hunter's dad, came into the call.

"Hi Sookie! Sorry about this. Hunter has been talking about you non-stop lately, wondering when he can see his Aunt Sookie again, and he got the idea of spending the night. He insisted on calling you right away and asking if it was ok. So if you don't get back too late, give me a call so we can discuss." I glanced at the clock on the microwave and saw it was just before 9pm. Not too late to call, though I was a little worried the ringing of the phone could wake Hunter up. I figured I'd chance it.

"Hello?" Remy answered.

"Hi Remy, it's Sookie."

"Oh Sookie! How are you? Again, I'm really sorry about the call earlier. Hunter was really excited," he explained. I gave a little laugh.

"There's nothing to be sorry about. I'd love to have Hunter over again. He was a delight last time and I'm sure we'll have a great time. Maybe I can take him for two nights?" I knew it might be a bit much suggesting the two nights, but I knew Hunter would love it, if his father was okay with the idea, and Remy might welcome the little break.

After a minute of silence, Remy answered, "Yeah, I don't see the problem in two nights. It'll give me time to get things done around here I can't do with him around. And he'll love it." I gave a little cheer.

"I know Hunter will love it. I'll plan us a nice busy weekend. It'll give us a chance to talk some more too, if he has any questions," I explained. We ironed out some specifics and decided this upcoming weekend would be fine, because I wasn't working at all. Remy would be dropping him off after dinner on Friday, probably just before Amelia was due to arrive. We said our goodbyes, both deciding to keep this visit a secret for as long as possible, and as I was hanging up, I realized just how many people would be in the house this weekend. It was going to be the most crowded I've ever known it to be.

I headed back through the living room to my bedroom, calling goodnight as I went. I changed into some pyjamas and curled up in bed with a good book. I read for what seemed like ten minutes, but was really around 4 hours. I was almost finished my book, but I was really thirsty so crawled out of bed and went to grab a glass of juice in the kitchen. As I was filling my glass, I saw a flicker of movement outside out of the corner of my eye. I put the juice back in the fridge and placed my glass on the counter, sneaking to a window to investigate. I saw a familiar face roaming my yard, so I went to greet him.

"Bubba!" I called from the front porch. You'd know Bubba if you saw him, but no one ever calls him by his old name anymore. He gets very upset if you do. Bubba climbed the stairs to stand next to me, giving me a great big hug.

"Miss Sookie! It's so nice to finally see you again." He let me go and took a small step back.

"What brings you to my neck of the woods?" I asked.

"Master Eric asked me to keep an eye on you at night if he couldn't make it. He said he might be by tonight, but I have to stick by you, just in case," he told me simply. I patted Bubba on the arm.

"Have you been around long?"

"No, Master Eric only asked me the night before last. I've been staying over at Mister Bill's house during the day." I invited Bubba in while I grabbed him a couple of bottles of True Blood I always stocked in the fridge now. He declined the invitation but accepted my offer of the blood. After handing over the bottles he thanked me and then headed for his favourite spot in the woods where he could see almost my entire property. I waved good night to him and closed the door, sliding all the locks into place and hoping no cats wandered onto my property tonight. I turned to head back to the kitchen for my glass and saw Claude slinking down the stairs, half asleep.

"I heard voices, I was concerned," he explained.

"Oh, it was Bubba. Eric asked him to keep an eye on me while he and I are on our break I guess. No harm done so long as Bubba is fed and has a place to stay during the day," I said, shrugging my shoulders. I really liked having Bubba around and I was too tired to care why Eric had asked him to come by in the first place.

"Listen, Sookie…" Claude began, seeming nervous. It was a bit strange to see this.

"I wanted to tell you earlier, but it kind of slipped my mind, and then you went to bed and I didn't want to bother you," he said. I made a motion with my hands that he should carry on.

"Dermot and I were talking and we don't really need to stay here anymore. We have the bars in Monroe, and the fairy link I was missing will be back with him staying with me. I'm sorry Sookie," he explained. I shook my head.

"Don't be sorry. It's no problem. I was happy to help in the first place when it came to the fairy thing. I know it's been a little hard living all the way out here anyways. So when are you guys moving back to Monroe?" He looked a little nervous again when I asked my question.

"Um, we took Friday off to do any packing and we were going to do the move on Saturday. I hope that's not too soon," he said.

"No no, just let me know if there's anything I can do to help. Oh, and by the way, the young man calling earlier was Hunter, my nephew. He's coming out for the weekend and he'll be here Friday night so you can visit with him a bit before the move," I said. He seemed to perk up at the thought as we parted ways and went back to bed. Claude had met Hunter the last time he'd spent a night here and they'd gotten along extremely well.

As I entered my bedroom I jumped and gave a small shriek when I saw Eric sitting in the chair in the corner of the room.

"Eric! You need to stop doing that! I'm going to have to get you a bell or something!" He crossed the room and stood beside me, bending down to kiss me on the cheek in a very tender and un-Eric like way.

"I apologize my love. I was simply coming to say good night to you. I'm going to go join Bubba in the woods now," he said, heading for the door. I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards me, hugging him so tightly that if he had been human, I might have broken a bone. We stayed like that for a few moments before he broke the hug and helped me into bed. He pulled the covers up to my chin and I realized just how tired I was. As I was drifting off to sleep, I felt Eric's cool lips brush my forehead and then felt him slide into bed next to me just before my dreams invaded my brain.