EPOV:

I had a crick in my neck from folding myself onto the couch, but something smelled amazing and the aroma wafting by brought me into consciousness. I hadn't meant to sleep, but somehow I got pulled down by my exhaustion—the previous day's stresses finally catching up to me. I followed my nose to the kitchen. I was half awake and thanks to the view I encountered in the kitchen, I was also half hard.

Damn.

Bent over the dishwasher in the shortest pair of denim cut-offs I'd seen since Daisy Duke, was Sookie, loading the dishes. And did I mention she was wearing a bikini top? She was definitely on the VIP list for the party in my pants.

I tried to shake myself out of it however, knowing if she realized I was leering at her, she'd more than likely just get pissed off again. I wanted to see if we could go ten minutes without biting each other's heads off.

She offered me dinner and I was shocked—not that I thought she cooked and left me anything—that she was being civil. I'd woken up with a blanket draped around me, and I was pretty sure Jessica wasn't the one to put it there. Sookie was a polite southern girl underneath her sass. Her breakdown in the backyard, despite not wanting to kick people out, showed me that. So I knew hospitality was in her bones.

The food was amazing. Whoever these people were that felt the need to give us food, I thanked them. I was chomping on my amazing soul food dinner when I did something stupid, and not for the first time where she was concerned. You see, it seemed when Sookie walked into a room, my brain filter just shut itself right off and took a break, like a Kit-Kat. Because while I was thinking 'Man, what a nice ass,' I didn't mean to say it out loud.

Honestly, what the hell, Northman?

She looked offended at first, then pissed, then… a little disappointed. I noticed the subtle change in her stance when I told her that I hadn't in fact called her hot, just a piece of her. I wasn't blind. The woman was beautiful, sexual and had these breasts that just … But that wasn't the point. My point was that she cared—she cared what I thought of her, and not just bitchy Sookie—but she wanted me to like what I saw.

Interesting, no? For a woman who I thought was repulsed by the sight of me, suddenly getting stomp happy because I didn't say I found her attractive. She cared; she so totally cared. And it gave me a tiny bit of leverage.

As I sauntered off to find the other female in the house—the one that didn't care one way or the other what I thought of her as long as I had shit for her to chew on or bounce on—I found her crawling under a coffee table, somehow finding a fallen penny.

"Ah-ah, no… dirty!" I threw it away before I spun her up in my arms above my head. She seemed to like that.

"No, Eric don't!" came the screeching from the doorway, right before I heard the burp and felt it.

It.

Throw up. All over my neck and t-shirt. Gross. God, that shit smelled foul.

"I tried to warn you. She's just ate."

"Well, shit."

I tried to wipe it off but it was just too much. Sookie took Jessica from me before she handed me a pack of wet wipes.

"You need to shower buddy. Because that…" she laughed "… is disgusting."

Jessica just hiccupped and looked at me like, "Hey, what did you expect, idiot? I'm a kid and you bounced me up like seven feet."

I'd have to keep that in mind.

Hitting the shower was more welcome than I expected. Other than thoughts of Sookie in and out of that bikini all day, and the need to calm down, it actually gave me time to reflect. As unbelievable as that sounds. We'd survived the funeral, we'd survived the wake, and our first evening together in the house really. I'd noticed my thought process had changed quicker than I'd have liked it too. Instead of 'me' and 'I' it was 'us' and 'we'. I'd be the first to admit that I'd been a fairly selfish bastard most of my life. Not where my friends were concerned, or my employees or things like that, but with the women in my life—the lovers in my life. I'd given very little in terms of myself to any of them.

By the time I'd gotten out of the shower and managed to find some underwear, I heard voices downstairs—Sookie's voice in a light, airy, almost flirtatious tone and a guy.

How long was I in the damn shower?

I quickly pulled on my jeans and a black tank before heading downstairs.

What I saw when I got down to the bottom of the stairs and looked into the living room was Sookie, some guy, and Jessica. Jess was crawling all over the place like someone had slipped her some batteries, while Sookie looked deep in conversation, and in flirtation mode with this squinty-eyed motherf–, I mean guy, sitting in the living room.

"So is there anything else I should know now or can it wait until tomorrow?" She asked, her hands clasped together on her knee, her legs folded, leaning towards squinty.

"Uh, hi?" I butted in.

"Oh, Eric! This is Sam, Sam this is Eric." Squinty stood up, or at least I assumed he stood—he was so short it was hard to tell—and attempted to shake my hand.

I indulged him.

"Sam Merlotte. Nice to meet 'ya," went the twang.

"Sam is actually Jessica's pediatrician. He came over tonight to offer his condolences because he was out of town for the weekend. Look, he brought pie!"

"Oh, I see. Well, hi." I offered.

"I was talking to him about Jessica, you know, anything we should know right away, and I made an appointment for tomorrow to go and discuss her medical history. I mean, there's just so much we don't know!" Sookie smiled at Doctor Squints and then looked up at me. "Right?"

"Right, yes, of course."

"I really am sorry for your loss. They were a great couple, so happy together, and they really loved that little one." He gazed at Jessica.

"Yeah, they were."

"So, Sookie tells me you two are taking over her guardianship. I think that's just amazing. It's such a commitment but here you both are. As a couple, that can't have been an easy decision."

"Oh no." Sookie giggled, like she GIGGLED at this fool. "No, no. Eric and I…" she motioned between us, "we're not a couple. We're just two single people… you know, trying to do the right thing."

"Oh." He smiled at Sookie. I knew that smile, I used that smile. That bastard. "Well, that's interesting."

Interesting? Yeah, I bet it was. Know what else might be interesting… me punching the squints out of his squinty little eyes.

Sookie was still smiling—full on smiling. I'd not seen that smile.

I hated him instantly.

"So, what do you want, Sam?"

"Eric! Don't be so rude! Goodness! I'm sorry about him he's just grumpy because Jessica thre–"

"Sookie, do we need to give him my life story?" I asked giving her the stink eye. I didn't need Patch Adams here knowing that I couldn't handle the kid.

"Well like I said, Eric I'm here to offer y'all my condolences and to … I guess welcome you both to the area. Sookie says she's originally from Bon Temps, where are you from?"

The land of not wanting to have a conversation with you.

"Originally Sweden, but we moved here when I was twelve."

"Oh, that's a tough age. It must have been hard on you."

Thank you, Doctor Phil.

I saw Sookie looking at us, her big doe eyes just waiting for me to agree it was hard and sympathize.

"No, it was awesome actually."

"Really?"

"Yep. Whole levels of awesome." I snapped. I scooped Jessica off the floor.

"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to get Jessica ready for bed." With that I walked back upstairs just in time to hear Sookie apologize for my "rudeness." What the hell? Just because I didn't want to talk to Doc Brown about shit he didn't know shit about? No thanks, Sookie.

Plus, I think if I had to listen to her flirt with him anymore, I might have thrown up.

"Okay, little girl. What exactly do I do to get you to sleep?"

She latched onto my mouth again with her hands.

"Okay, let's check the basics—diaper? You need changed?"

I turned her around sniffing her butt—it was dry and still smelling of baby powder, which meant Sookie had changed her recently.

Huh.

Baby pajamas. I think that's what Sookie put her in the night before. I rooted through her little wardrobe and found a thing that looked like it would be cozy for bed. It was an all in one soft suit that zipped up in the front. I figured that would keep her secure and warm.

"Okay so here's the deal, it's the caregiver thing again. I'm going to undress you now but then we're going to get you all snugly for bed, so don't freak out or anything okay?"

She just raised her little blonde eyebrows at me like, 'get on with it fool.'

Okay then.

I sat down on the overstuffed chair in her nursery trying to get her into the sleepwear, when I heard Sookie's hard footfalls marching up the stairs.

"Uh oh, we're for it now." I whispered to the baby.

And sure enough she rounded the corner with a scowl that could freeze the sun.

"What the hell is your problem?" She demanded in a harsh whisper.

"I don't have a problem."

"Oh, really? So what the hell was that downstairs? He was a nice guy, just being NICE and you were so rude to him!"

"Right. Look, just because I didn't feel like having some fake conversation with some random stranger that I don't know or care about, that's rude?"

"It is rude because he came here to talk to us."

"Well, it seemed like you were doing a good enough job for both of us all on your own."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh don't play dumb, Sookie. It doesn't suit you."

Her eyes bulged.

"I was just being polite, and just because you're a whore doesn't mean you have to assume everyone else is!"

"Oh! I'm a whore, huh?"

"Well, what would you call it? Sexually non-discriminate?"

Bitch.

"Hey, I don't care what you do, or who you flirt with or what you do with Doctor Spock down there."

"He's gone. I was so embarrassed after you were SO rude to him I didn't think he'd be comfortable staying."

"Oh, I'm sure if you tried hard enough you'd make him plenty comfortable."

Her mouth was agape.

"You're a bastard, you know that?"

"I thought I was a whore?"

She stamped her foot and walked out, leaving Jessica staring up at me.

"Don't look at me kid, you women are all nuts." She blew a spit bubble with her lips. I took that as an agreement.

SPOV:

I'd just heard the shower come to life upstairs when the doorbell rang.

"Let's see who that is Jess, huh? Will we see who that is?"

I opened the door to find a guy standing on the other side.

"Hi. Can I help you?"

"Hi, are you Sookie?"

"I am, and you are?"

He smiled and offered me the huge apple pie he held in his hands.

"It's nothing fancy. In fact, I bought it in the store but I figured it's the thought that counts right?"

"It definitely counts. I'm sorry, who are–"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Sam, Sam Merlotte. I'm Jessica's pediatrician." He offered me his hand.

"Oh! Yes! I've been looking through Hadley's planner and saw your name. I'd been meaning to call you. Please, come in."

I showed him into the living room, like the good hostess I was.

"Would you like some tea?"

"No, I have office hours starting early tomorrow, so I better not."

"Of course."

"Sookie, I'm so sorry about your cousin. She and Alcide… well they were just … it's so tragic."

It really was.

"Thank you. Right now things are so up in the air it's ridiculous. I'm on leave from work for a week to see if can get my head around this whole thing; it's a lot to take in."

"I'm sure it is. You'll be moving here full-time, I assume?"

"Looks that way. This is only day two, but I think it would be best for Jess if we moved in here."

"Ah, yes. You and Eric, right?"

I raised my brow at him and he smiled.

"The neighbors like to talk. Sorry."

Of course they did. Nosy bitches.

"Dr. Merlotte–"

"No… Sam. Please."

"Sam, is there anything I should know right away about Jessica? I mean, is she allergic to anything or does she have a history of anything I should be worried about?"

He smiled again and I noticed he did that a lot. He was a kind looking man, a little older than Eric I'd say, maybe late thirties? He had dirty blonde hair that was showing signs of grey around his hairline; he had a pleasant face which was tan and a little rough around the edges; he wasn't as tall as Eric or Bill even, but he was sweet.

"No. Unless the doctors from the hospital—"

"No. They said she managed to escape the crash, without a scratch, if you can believe it."

"That's amazing. How is she holding up emotionally?" He shook her little hand as she slid off my lap to go explore on the floor.

"She seems fine at times, but I think it's too soon to tell really. I mean, she misses them, that much is obvious. But I hope we'll be enough for her."

He nodded.

"So do you live in the area, Sam?"

"I do. I live a few blocks from here on the other side of the development. Truth be told, I think it's why Hadley chose me as their doctor. She was a bit of a worrier."

I laughed, leaning forward a little. "Yes, she really was. Every little thing was a huge deal. I'm gonna try and not drive you crazy with questions." I smiled again, he just had that effect on me. "So is there anything else I should know now or can it wait until tomorrow?"

I heard his footsteps on the stairs before I saw him and he interrupted ever so… Eric like.

I tried to make conversation with both of them, but something crawled up Eric's ass and he'd changed from playful one minute to downright rude to Sam for no reason that I could see.

How dare he? After all, Sam was a basic stranger who'd never done anything to him! What gives! When he scooped Jessica off the floor I was secretly hoping she'd throw up on him again, just to teach him a lesson.

But no, instead he and his tight tank top wearing self walked up the stairs with her humming some song I didn't know, while Sam looked at me awkwardly.

"He's … Well he's…"

A fucking jerk who is about to get a piece of my pissed off mind, that's what he is.

"It's fine, Sookie. I'm clearly interrupting. I should have come during the day like a normal person. It's just with the conference, and then working all week I wasn't sure when I'd get the chance to say hello."

"Thank you Sam, it was very sweet of you, and thank you for the pie. I'll call the office to set up a proper time tomorrow, if that's okay?"

"Of course. It was lovely to meet you, Sookie."

I marched, hard-heeled up the stairs to find him in the nursery getting Jess dressed for bed. It annoyed me that she wasn't jiggling around and squirming and crying for him like she was for me the night before.

Little traitor.

I yelled at him, but without really yelling. I'd learned the day before that screaming only led to more screaming and that was no fun for anyone.

He bitched me out, I bitched him out. God, he made my blood boil, I swear. I called him a bastard and marched myself back downstairs again. I started the load in the dish washer and began tidying around the kitchen. Cleaning, it was something I did in times of high stress. It was a boring monotonous task that kept my mind busy on the subject at hand, and my hands busy so I didn't lash out or do something stupid.

I'd heard the baby monitor creak, and I'd forgotten I'd left it on her dresser on one of my many trips to her room that evening. The twin of it was in the kitchen with me. It crackled on the other end and I heard shuffling.

"Okay, Jess you need to sleep okay? Just close your eyes and sleep for me."

Yeah, because it's just that easy.

I heard her fussing as I began to put together her bottle.

I heard him sigh, when she started to cry. "Okay you win."

I'd just finished sterilizing the bottle and heating the milk when I heard him start to hum.

And it wasn't a lullaby.

Was he humming Aerosmith?

In that moment it struck me as incredibly sweet. He couldn't hum a lullaby because he was Eric; why would Eric know any lullabies? So, by the second verse of what sounded like Crazy, I tiptoed up the stairs to find him lying in the chair with his feet up on the footstool. Jessica was laying on his chest, her eyes slowly closing and opening.

He put his finger to his mouth to shush me, and I nodded as he kept on humming.

Asleep in fifteen minutes. Well, that sure beat my three and a half hours of sobbing the night before. I left her bottle on the dresser, hoping he'd know to put it in the crib with her, just in case. I decided that then was as good a time as any to shower. I needed to wash the day away more than anything.

I was confused by Eric's rudeness, not that him being a total jackass was a surprise, but it was confusing. Usually to total strangers he was polite, reserved and intimidating. The wake showed me that. But with Sam he was just downright hostile, and it made no sense. I assumed he had never met Sam before, so what was the big deal? It annoyed me if this was a taste of his behavior whenever someone new called to the house. Well, I'd be damned if I'd let him carry on like that, it just wasn't right! My Gran would turn in her grave if she knew I'd let anyone be rude to any guest like that.

Maybe that's how things rolled in Sweden, but certainly not here.

Sweden; it was nice to place his accent—not that he had much of one left. It was very much Americanized, but I had noticed that there was a slight lilt when he was tired or when he just woke up. A Swedish lilt it turns out.

It reminded me that there was so much I didn't know about Eric; so much that I hadn't even thought of asking him or caring to get to know. Had he any siblings or was he an only child? I hadn't even thought of his parents. Forgive me, but I assumed someone that douche-tastic just landed here from planet Jerk. He knew plenty about me, or I thought so anyway. I was sure my friends had let slip more than a few secrets about me when I put Jess down for her nap, but perhaps not.

Either way, the shower had cleared my head and it made me decide that if this living together thing was going to work long-term, I had to watch my temper around him, and he had to make his effort too.

But, of course, neither of us got anywhere because all we did was piss each other off. For whatever reason. I still wasn't totally sure. I wrapped my towel around my head and around my chest, pulling the longer towel up slightly so I didn't trip and made my way out of the bathroom. Walking past Eric's room, I noticed his door was slightly ajar. I tiptoed into my room and threw on my night tank and pink bed shorts. I quickly brushed out my hair and checked the mirror, then I walked to his room, door still ajar.

I knocked.

"Yeah?" came the voice inside. I stuck my head around the door, not expecting to find him sitting very topless, on his very big bed.

God help me.

The light from his two lamps provided ample illumination of his extremely sculpted abs. They really were quiet distracting.

"Oh, uh. Hi. Listen can I …come in?"

He looked me up and down and I tried my best not to shiver.

What the hell was that about, Stackhouse?

"Look, I just… I wanted to apologize."

His raised brow was enough, but he asked anyway. "For what?"

Take the first step, Sookie. Be the better person here.

"Bitching you out before. Yes, you were rude, and yes I didn't see a reason for it, but you're not my boyfriend, or my husband, or my anything like that. You're my …housemate? I guess?" I laughed awkwardly messing with my curling wet hair. "But this whole thing is going to be hard enough as it is on both of us without me jumping down your throat because you weren't brainwashed with the same degree of good ole southern manners like I was."

He bit his lower lip, and I might have zoned out.

"I'm sorry too." He rolled his eyes, more at himself I gathered, as he continued. "I just, Jesus this is hard you know? And then there's this guy and he's all kinds of weirdly friendly and has that whole creepy doctor vibe that doctors have. Those bastards can get you to tell them anything!"

He didn't like doctors then.

"And it's just… What are we doing?"

"Huh?"

"What are we doing? We've been coasting for a few days now, but I mean what about next week, next month, next year? I mean, do we keep our places? Sell them, what? And our jobs, how do we work our jobs around Jessica? Our lives? It's just…"

"Overwhelming," we both said in unison, then laughed at how ridiculous it sounded.

I tentatively walked closer to him and sat at the bottom of his bed.

"I don't know. I mean, I get a few more days off for personal reasons and then I have to go back to work. My schedule changes sometimes from week to week, but I mostly do days and one or two evenings. You said you do nights?"

"Yeah, it's when we're busiest so I kind of have to be around."

I nodded.

"So, how about you cover the day shift and I cover the night shift?" I cringed inwardly; Jessica and I already had a rocky history at night.

"Sounds good. And I'm the boss so I can take as much time off as needed really. Pam is a great manager, but that sounds good for now."

"About the whole … dating thing," he began, "Are you … I mean, that Bill guy, are you two?"

"What? Oh, no, no. We're done. We should have been done the second we started, but … Well, no he's not an issue."

I caught him staring at my boobs. Not hot my ass, Northman. The fact that I wasn't wearing a bra was totally accidental.

"What about you? How many dozen women have you on hold?" I smiled and he just rolled his eyes at me.

"None."

"Riiight."

"No really, I haven't been "dating" in awhile, I've just been—"

"Casually fucking anything with a pussy?"

"Ms. Stackhouse, how crude."

I stuck my tongue out at him.

"If you must know, yes. To be honest, I have been seeing people … Casually. I didn't think I was ready for a commitment."

I laughed.

"And yet you got stuck with it anyway."

"Yeah, thanks Alcide." He chuckled.

"But right now, I think I need to just get my head straight, and maybe just chill."

"Look I don't care about the dating thing, this isn't a prison. But just … we should respect that this is each other's place, too."

"So, no wild monkey sex on the kitchen counters then?" He wriggled his eyebrows at me.

"Not during waking hours, and not if you don't bleach it afterward."

Not the answer he was expecting by the slight blush in his cheeks. What the heck?

"And everything else…" I added.

"Well, I like to work out," No, really Eric? Your twelve pack and distracting arms didn't tell me that. "I go running for an hour or so like … well, everyday if I can. I have my own gym in my place. I figured I can just bring the stuff here and use the garage or … the den?"

"Yeah, sure. I go to the gym when I can or when I get the time really. It's mostly been twice a week I fit it in, but I do like to run too. It helps me think."

He smirked and I was waiting for the sarcastic comment.

"Weird, seems like we have something in common after all. Has hell frozen over?"

"Maybe it has. My feet are a little cold, but maybe that's just my inner Ice Queen coming to the surface again."

"Mmmm, well it has been a whole hour since you last bitched me out. She's due a reappearance." He smirked as I made my way out the room.

"Good night, Eric."

"G'night, Queenie."

I was woken up by the screaming. I didn't take a second to adjust. I made my way to her room, and so did Eric it seems. Both of us ran smack into each other outside the door of her room.

"OW!"

"Shit."

I walked into his chest, almost knocking myself on my ass only to be caught by his arms.

"You okay?"

Groggily I muttered, "You have a hard chest…"

"Well, you have a hard head."

Glancing at the little clock in her room, it told me it was just after six.

"I'll see to her, you should go back to bed." I offered.

"Nah, it's fine. I wasn't really sleeping anyway. You can go back if you want? Looks like you're still asleep."

I was sure my bed hair gave that away. Eric picked her up and started to hush her.

I yawned. "No, it's fine."

"Sookie, go back to bed. For real, it's too early to argue with me, so just go. Jess and I will sort out her little mood and see if she'll go back to sleep. Honestly, go."

He attempted to give her the bottle, and shockingly she took it. Quieting her down ever so slightly, her little tears kept coming from her reddened eyes. Poor thing was so confused.

"If you're sure?"

"I am, I've got this." He went to sit in the rocking chair beside her crib as I wandered off to bed.

It seemed like I was asleep maybe a minute when my cell phone started to shrill. I looked at my alarm clock. It was in fact three hours later and almost nine thirty.

Damn, I did need to sleep.

"Hello?"

"Sook, its Ames. Listen, I have a crisis. Sophie has just called and she's coming to see the place today and wants you to give her a—and I quote—"thorough update" on all things that she needs to know."

"Shit! What is she doing back? She's supposed to be in Europe for another three weeks!"

"I know. She didn't say, but Sook, she didn't sound too happy. Lover-boy must have finally saw sense and dumped her ass."

"Shit. Just what I needed today. Fine, give me twenty minutes, I'll be there. Do me a favor? Pull the files for the last three months, and the money books. They're in the safe. I'll need to have them ready for her."

"No problem, see you soon."

"Yeah."

I'd hauled my ass out of bed, and showered in five minutes, leaving my hair dry. I slapped on some makeup—a little eyeliner never killed anyone—squeezed into my black pencil skirt, tucked in my sleeveless blouse and made my way downstairs holding my shoes.

"Eric?"

I speedily checked the house. No sign of him or Jess in either of their rooms or the living room.

"Er–" I found them both passed out on the couch in the den. Apparently, Eric's chest was Jessica's favorite place to doze off. Not that I blame her, it looked pretty awesome even from where I was standing.

I tapped his arm.

"Hey…" I whispered gently hoping I'd not wake the little madam.

"Hey." He squinted at me.

"Can I talk to you for a sec?"

He nodded before he scooped her sleeping self up and put her down on the couch surrounding her with cushions, and following me out to the kitchen.

"Listen, I'm really sorry about this, but I just got called into work. My bitch of a boss has decided that she wants to check things out, this week of all weeks, and the guys just can't handle her and her … quirks."

"Quirks? Is that hidden slang for crazy?"

"Lil' bit. I'm so sorry to do this, but really I hope to not be long; like maybe a couple of hours, if I can get rid of her. I know I said I'd be around, and I will be. We do have that appointment with Sam, Dr. Merlotte, today after three, and I really have to be there for that. I mean if you want I can—"

"Sookie, stop. It's fine, really. I can handle one little kid for a few hours."

"You're sure it's okay?"

"Sookie, it's fine. Go. We'll survive."

"But, ugh… this is annoying. I'm on leave for crying out loud. But Sophie … she's just…" I fussed with my hair. "She's incompetent."

"Your boss?"

"Mmm, honestly she has no right owning that place. She has no clue what it takes to run it every day. And then she swans in every few months and demands left right and centre for things to be done and shown a certain way."

"Damn."

"Exactly."

I pulled at my blouse straightening it as I slipped on my heels. Grabbed my cell, keys and purse.

"Okay, thank you thank you thank you." I rushed. "I won't be long, call me if you need anything."

I was out the door in seconds, still fussing with my hair.

EPOV:

For the second time in two days I'd wakened to the sight of Sookie stepping out of one of my fantasies. First, it was her Daisy Duke hotness, and then it was this cross between a sexy secretary or librarian or whatever it was she was going for. Either way, I wasn't complaining about the tight black skirt that encased her ass; I had to fight all my caveman urges to just take her over a desk somewhere. It seemed unreasonable that her boss was calling her in, particularly a few days after her cousin had just died. It was a shitty move, and one I as a boss, would never have pulled if something happened to Pam's family.

But as she rushed out the front door, I took the opportunity that was given me to watch that ass sway.

Good morning to me.

Despite being sleep deprived, something that was becoming too common an occurrence over the last few days, I dragged myself to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. I opened a few windows because even at nine a.m., it was already shaping up to be a hot southern day.

How was I going to entertain a one-year old on my own, with no source of back up? Hmm.

As I thought about what I could achieve in a few hours, I checked my phone—six missed calls from Ginger, two from Tiffany, three from Rachel… who was Rachel…? Oh, right. The girl from the bank that I'd gotten friendly with while opening a new account for the bar. She had a nice rack. I might call her back.

One call I couldn't ignore though, was from the only woman in my life that had lasted more than three days. Jessica was blubbering on the couch. Shit, I didn't meant to leave her there that long, I should have moved her to her crib. Damn.

"Hey… hey, little girl. Hey, it's okay." I scooped her up, and yep there was a diaper that just wasn't going to wait any longer. Three broken diapers later, I managed to secure one on her without the aid of duct tape. I was rather proud.

Back in the kitchen I decided scrambled eggs were the best bet, since I wasn't too sure on the rules for kids and actual food.

I stuck my pinkie finger in her mouth, and she did seem to have most of her teeth. Maybe a little sausage would be good? She had tiny bits of some at the wake and it didn't kill her. Ooh, maybe some toast, too. Man, I was starving so she had to have been ravenous.

"Okay, Jess. Let's get you fed, huh?" I cut her toast and spooned her eggs onto one of the plastic plates in the cupboard that had weird fish on them. Seriously? People were weird. Like she gave a shit what was on her plate underneath the food.

She gripped the little bits of egg and started to put them in her mouth as I spooned some to her while I fed myself.

"You want juice? Do you drink juice?"

I poured some apple juice into the cup with the two handles and the sippy top. Those things were handy. I might think of introducing them for the more clumsy customers at the bar. It would certainly save on the floor waxing bills.

After breakfast—most of which ended up on the floor rather than in her mouth—I decided that maybe a run would do us both a world of good. It would get the kid some air and I could work off some of my issues on the pavement.

Stroller. Where would you be if you were a stroller?

I searched the house, all the cupboards and the garage and even Hadley's car too, but no stroller.

Then it dawned on me, the car, in the accident. The stroller was probably in it, and probably totaled.

Shit.

"Well Jessica, it looks like we have to go shopping. You want to go shopping?"

Something came out that sounded like 'blooterbloo' but I couldn't be totally sure.

"Okay then!"

I decided to take Hadley's jeep since it was more accommodating for a kid, although Sookie was gone with the car seat in her car. I figured if just belted the kid in, no foul right? Just to be on the safe side I used all three belts, stretching them as far as I could so that she was really, really belted in.

Then I called Pam.

"Where would I buy a kids stroller?"

"A stro–" she sighed "Have you lost your balls too, want to go find them?"

"Pam, shut up. Now where would I buy one?"

"You're going shopping?"

"What gave it away?" I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration as Jessica and I sat in the parked car in the garage waiting for Pam to answer me.

"I'll meet you at the mall in twenty."

"No, Pam!" But she'd hung up. Really, any excuse to shop and she'd find it. This was no exception for her.

"Great Jessica, I guess we're spending the morning with Auntie Pam. God help us all."

She just sucked her sucky thing while holding the house keys.

We'd gone through six kid shops before we found a stroller that Pam deemed "appropriate." She also had me buy Jessica six outfits, four pairs of shoes, three hair things—why? I had no idea. The kid barely had hair!

We also had to stop in four more shops since, "We were already there and we may as well," which put a fine sum on my credit for more shoes. They were for Pam who informed me, "If I loved her I'd give her things," and since I did love her, I did. She really had me wrapped around her little finger.

It was after eleven when Pam and I stopped for coffee in Starbucks, when I got the text from Sookie.

Going 2 be a couple more hours

Hopefully she'll be done with her form of sadistic abuse soon.

I'm sorry

Sook

Jessica sat in the big comfy seat chewing her cookie happily, bouncing her newly shoed feet against the arm of the chair. Neiman Marcus and their staff now had a new customer, apparently.

"She's a cute kid. Being related to Alcide, there was always a chance she'd get the fugly nose, but thankfully she must have gotten the mother's instead."

"Mmm."

"She looks like Sookie." Pam mused.

She did a little. The eyes the nose, but I just assumed it was Hadley and Sookie looking so similar that did it.

"Well, she and Hadley looked kind of alike, so it's not really surprising."

"With those blue eyes she could pass for your kid, too. You had to have seen all that attention she got you in those stores."

"Pam, we got attention because you waved my Amex card around and because… I'm hot."

"Bastard."

"Bitch."

Jessica laughed. She actually laughed.

"Oh sure, take her side!" I tickled her.

"You're really into this whole kid idea then?"

"Pam. I've had to adjust."

"And in three days you've taken to the kid like a duck to water. It's really unsettling. I never saw you as the type to have kids."

"I parent you, don't I?"

"Ha." She deadpanned. "I got you a present."

"Did I pay for it?"

"No, jackass, I did." She reached for one of her many, many bags at her feet and handed me a Neiman Marcus bag. Inside that bag there was another bag. A diaper bag?

The hell?

"Huh?"

"Well." She sighed "I figured since you're like Mr. Mom now or whatever, you'd need one of those. Plus, it needs to be more manly than that." She pointed to the multicolored pixel bag that was for all of Jessica's stuff.

"Aw, well thanks, it's nice. I like it." It was brown and suede and very manly. It was actually useful too.

She nodded.

"So, what are you doing about your place? Are you and the Ice Queen gonna make it official and move in together or what?"

"It's not like we're 'moving in together'. We're not a couple. She has her life, I have mine, and we just … you know, co-parent, I guess."

"Uh huh… and how's that working out so far?"

"Fine."

"Fine?"

"Yeah, well I mean we argue and shit, but I don't know. I think things might get better."

"How?"

"She sort of told me that she's totally okay with me being me—whatever that means—and that we could totally do this if we just learned to respect each other's space."

"And is that something you think you can do?"

I nodded and looked at Jessica—bits of cookie all over her face, chocolate up her nose and around her chin.

"You know, I never wanted kids? Like, I never thought I was cut out for them, but I don't know… these last few days… It hasn't been easy or anything but it's a challenge. And—"

"Eric Northman doesn't back down from a challenge."

"No, he does not."

She raised her eyebrow at me. "So, is Sookie a challenge you'd be wanting to explore too, Eric?"

I smirked, not saying anything. That was enough for Pam.

"Oh, God help us all."

A/N : Hi guys! So what did we think of chapter six? Big thank you for all my new readers, and my readers who followed me over from Rise By Sin - for reading and reviewing this baby! It really means so much and makes me grin like a fool!