SOV:

Getting to the restaurant in record time, and without coffee in my system was nothing short of a miracle. I pulled into the lot to find Sophie's Benz was already situated in my spot.

Bitch.

I hauled myself out of the car, fixing my skirt on the way in.

I was greeted by the solemn faces of Amelia, Tara, and the new girl, Sarah.

"The witch is in the office; she's fired Tommy."

"What?"

"Yep." Amelia chided in. "Said he was—and I quote—'too ugly to work here'. The poor kid was in silent tears by the time he left."

"Jesus."

I huffed a breath as I made my way to the office. "Sophie."

"Oh, Sookie! Good, you're here. How are you darling?" She sauntered over to air kiss both my cheeks.

"Not so good, Sophie. My cousin Hadley died a few days ago. And her husband."

"Oh dear. Oh that's not good news at all, is it." She pouted. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm dealing with it, but as you should have been notified I'm on personal leave for five more days. I cleared it with your father—"

"Oh, let's not talk about him. I'm so sick of him and his demands."

"Yes, but Sophie I have personal things I need to be dealing with. I left Tara in charge; was there a specific reason you asked for me this morning?"

She leaned farther back in the leather desk chair, putting her Louboutin adorned feet up on my desk.

"Yes, there was actually. I wanted you to hear it from me firsthand that I'm moving back to Louisiana. Full time."

Jesus Christ, no.

"What? I mean, why? I mean… What? But you hate it here. You hate this place; it's why you hired me as manager and left, remember?"

"Yes, I remember. It's just, well, daddy says I have to start taking an interest in all my investments, and this one being closest to home, I decided to focus on it. It's really time I learned what it takes to run this place by myself. I really do have wonderful leadership skills you know?"

Unless it was leading us all into a shopping mall. Yeah, I doubt it.

"And that's great Sophie, but I have to ask, do I still have a job?"

She giggled "Oh little, Sookie, of course you do! Who else am I going to learn from?"

Sweet mercy help me.

"I see."

"Daddy said that you'd been doing such a great job with this place, and I mean you really have. I've seen the profits, and for the climate I have to admit, I'm impressed with all your hard work, Sookie."

"Well, thank you. Sophie, I feel like I need to be completely honest with you here. When my cousin died, my circumstances changed."

"How so?" She tapped my pen to her ruby red lips, raising her perfectly waxed brow in my direction.

"I've been left guardianship of her daughter."

"Oh. Oh, I see. You have a … a… child now." She squinted as if the very thought of a baby sickened her.

"Yes I do. Eric and I are—"

"Eric?"

"Northman."

She paused.

"Not the Northman's Tavern, Northman, no?"

"One in the same." I agreed, taking the seat that wasn't my usual across from my desk.

"Are you two dating?"

"No. It was stipulated in their will that we both get legal custody of Jessica, so we'll be co-parenting. Which is why I'll be needing to make a few changes in my schedule."

"How many changes?"

"A few. Honestly, just making sure I work days not nights, and weekends off."

"Sookie…" she sounded doubtful.

"No, Sophie. You know I love this place as if it were my own, but I have a bigger responsibility now. One that I can't just ignore. I've trained Tara well, and she's more than capable of acting as a second pair of hands when I'm preoccupied."

"I'm sure, but she lacks your sunny demeanour that I adore so much." She smiled at me.

The thing about Sophie was, she could be as sweet as sugar one minute, and put the itch in bitch the next.

"I can give you nights, but not weekends."

"Saturdays off then."

"No."

"Yes."

"Sookie, no."

"Sophie, yes or it's a deal breaker. Saturdays off or you'll have to find yourself a new manager."

I held my ground. I knew how to handle her most of the time, but her showing up out of the blue and basically ruining how things were going here—my own little clockwork system—really pissed me off.

She rolled her eyes at me, "God Stackhouse, you drive a hard bargain."

That I did.

"It's why your dad hired me."

"Well that, and you can argue with me like no one else." She laughed.

She looked over the books, the menu, the staff, and the bookings, asking more than a few mundane and unnecessary questions before she deemed it okay for me to leave. But not before telling me that she was going to look over the roster of the staff for awhile.

I took my leave gracefully, reminding her I still had four days off and that if she needed anything to lose my number and use Tara's. She requested I not go all 'soccer mom' on her and just go home.

Before I did though, I stopped by the kitchen and got three lunches to go. Sure it was after two, but I was starving and food was food. Food by Lafayette was even better.

By the time I got back to the house, it was a little before three. There was no sound from anywhere except the loud obnoxious music coming from the den.

What I saw was unforgettable.

Jessica was standing on Eric's feet facing the TV; he held her hands up and he was bent over so he could reach was essentially dancing on his feet.

Dancing with his moves to "Single Ladies." Back and forth, side to side, in time with the music. I had to put my hand over my mouth to stop them from hearing my giggles. I couldn't help but pull out my Blackberry and press record as Eric sang out of tune telling us how if we liked it, we should have put a ring on it, while Jessica just giggled and bopped along.

It was by far the funniest thing I'd seen in a long while. No one Eric's size should be doing the Single Ladies dance, no matter how much he wanted us to 'put your hands up, oh oh, oh.'

I accidentally let a giggle slip, causing a shocked Eric to whip around facing me.

"SOOKIE! How long have you been standing there?"

Thankfully, I'd managed to hide my phone behind my back before he saw it.

"Not long at all, I just got here. Whatcha doing?"

He was blushing—that or he'd worked up quite a rosy glow from putting a ring on it. He scooped Jessica up into his arms and I noticed she was covered in chocolate.

"She been eating her way out of a chocolate factory?"

He looked at her as she then tried to bite his cheek.

"Yeah, I forgot the wipes. We've only been home about twenty minutes."

"Oh, you went out?"

"Yeah we went shopping. With Auntie Pam." He rolled his eyes. "But we needed a new stroller and a second car seat, both of which picked up."

"Shit! Right, I drove off with it in my car."

He nodded.

"It's fine, Pam helped. I mean she basically shops for a living. She's a pro."

I smiled.

"She also got me this."

He showed me his manly looking bag.

"It's a man bag." I pointed out the rather obvious.

"No, it's a satchel."

"Uh huh, and how does that differ from man bag?"

He looked confused, staring at it. "I … I don't know? But Indiana Jones has one." He smiled, proudly.

"Ah, I see... and because Indie has one, it's perfectly okay for you to have one." I nodded taking Jessica from him. She needed a bath.

"Hey, he's Harrison Ford. He makes man bags okay."

I just rolled my eyes. Guys... their logic failed me.

"You ever give a kid a bath before?"

He shook his head 'no'. "I hate baths. I mean, really when you think about it, it's kind of gross. Sitting in your own dirt, ugh."

"What do you think, people go play in mud beforehand? It's not dirty; it's nice, it's relaxing."

He sighed crossing his arms. "Sure. Oh, how'd you escape the boss?"

It was my turn to sigh as I told him all about her little surprise visit and just how she plans on ruining my perfectly set schedule, as we ran Jessica a bath.

"So, you don't have free run of the place anymore ?"

"No. I mean, it's not that I ever really considered it mine, you know? Of course, one day I'd have liked to have bought out Sophie's share. Her dad isn't a bad guy and he's a good businessman. He just has a seriously spoiled daughter who knows nothing about … well, most things."

I checked the water to make sure it was the right temperature before I threw in some toys and her bath seat—sliding her in—letting her slash up a storm while I tried to rid her of her coating of chocolate.

"Seriously, what was she eating?"

"A cookie. I don't know how she got pieces of it in her diaper; it wasn't even that big, or crumby." He looked confused as we found pieces of it everywhere, including in her ears. Seriously, what the hell?

"Okay, well I called the doctor's office on the way over. Sam can fit us in at four. That's good right?"

"Oh, Sam. Great."

"Eric, why are you being so sarcastic. He's just her doctor."

He mumbled something about 'flirting bastard' before leaving the room and coming back with a new shirt on, buttoning it up. "Yes fine, he's her doctor, and that's great, but does it mean I have to like the guy? No, it doesn't."

"Why don't you like him? You've spent like a second in the room with him. I don't get it."

"It's a guy thing."

"A guy… Okay, that's ridiculous. He seems lovely, and he's been nothing but polite and accommodating, and I think we owe him the same courtesy."

"Fine... I'll try, but I'm not promising anything." He scowled, leaning on the door frame.

I finally got the little miss clean. Wrapping her in one of the bigger towels, I took her to her room, closely followed by Eric.

"Okay Jess, what do you want to wear, huh? Dress or jeans? Or… shirt and top?"

She just looked at me.

"One day kid, these questions will make you late for work, trust me." Eric scoffed.

"Unlike men, who just roll out of bed and throw on the first thing they see and then expect us to swoon." I gave him a dirty look, even if his crisp white shirt on black jeans was rather attractive.

He slid up beside me to talk to the baby. "And one day Jessica, you'll understand that a guy cares very little for what you've got on, because..." and he looked at me, "We mostly just care about taking it off."

"You're a pervert."

"Hey, I'm just telling it like it is. You women worry so much about how you look and dress which, okay I get, and to a point it's understandable, but really? We don't care what label you wear; if it makes you look good—it could be a thousand dollars or it could be twenty. Either way, you're still naked underneath and that's free."

I rolled my eyes. "Jessica, please be a lesbian."

"Ha, they think the same thing, ask Pam. No wait... don't ask Pam, she's obsessed with labels. Ask someone… you know… Normal."

"Pam isn't normal?" I laughed.

"She's as normal as she can be, but I wouldn't change her."

"That's good to know. She doesn't strike me as the type of person to put up with that bullshit."

"Pam doesn't put up with any kind of bullshit, it makes her awesome … and a little scary," he mumbled.

After getting Jessica dressed and ready, I found the biggest bib I could and draped it around her to get her to eat.

Of course, that was easier said that done. She refused to eat.

"She just had a cookie?" I asked as Eric and I tucked into our late lunches.

"Yeah, and a few sips of juice. She should be hungry."

But she wouldn't take the spoon for me, no matter what noises I made or what flying object I imitated.

"Here, let me try." Eric said taking the spoon from me, and the little madam took it on the first try.

I tried my best not to pout.

Eric beamed, of course. "Huh, I guess she likes me better."

He must have seen the hurt in my face.

"No, no, no, I was kidding. Sookie, come on. She's a kid; she doesn't know any better!"

"But you do!" I all but screeched.

"True, but come on, I was being sarcastic."

"Well, stop. I already think she doesn't like me very much, and this just proves it."

"Just because she was being a fussy eater? Sookie, really?"

"Yes, I know it's petty, but I've had a really bad day. I don't need this too."

He looked at me with innocent eyes as he fed Jessica her chicken. "Sorry."

I could have made a big deal out of the fact that he actually apologized for something, but I let it slide. I was too tired to argue with him.

By the time we were pulling into the parking lot of the doctor's office, I was a nervous wreck and Jessica was a sleepy mess.

I took her out of her new car seat that took both Eric and I at least ten minutes to figure out how to use. Seriously, why where they so complicated?

We walked into the waiting room mostly full of mother's with their sick kids, and not surprisingly, they all one after another, gave Eric flirty looks. Had I been his girlfriend or wife, I might have been pissed. As it was, I was just amused. He pretended not to notice, but of course he was smirking to himself.

Dr. Merlotte saw us not long after we arrived, thank God. I, of course, shook his hand and made small talk before we sat down. Eric just shook his hand and went into silent mode.

"Well, Hadley had her checked out over a week before the accident, so I wasn't expecting to find anything out of the ordinary. That, and if the doctors at the hospital didn't find anything, I can safely say she's as healthy as she's ever been. Aren't you sweetheart?" He took the light and the stick from her throat gently when he'd finished looking. Which made her cry, of course. "Honestly, Sookie … Eric you both have nothing to worry about."

I was fussing with trying to get her to calm down, and finish the conversation since Eric had decided that now was the time to become mute.

"I know, Sam but honestly it's just to put my mind at ease—both our minds at ease—that there are no allergies or anything that we might have been on the verge of setting off. It's a relief. And I know I must sound so nuts nitpicking. I never thought that I'd be one of those people!" I rambled. I was nervous, but Sam just nodded and smiled like he'd heard it all before.

"Well, it's what I'm here for. If you have any questions or concerns at all, don't hesitate to call, really."

Honestly, I could almost feel Eric roll his eyes. When I failed to placate the baby he took her from me, and wouldn't you know, she just hushed right up. I swore they were in this together.

"I'll take Jessica to get settled in the car." He finally spoke. "Sam." He nodded before taking his leave.

Sam smiled raising his brows in Eric's direction. "I see he's as pleasant and talkative as ever."

"Yeah, I'm not sure what his deal is to be honest."

"Jessica seems to like him." He pointed out.

"She's one. She also likes to try and eat her feet, so I don't trust her judgement just yet."

He laughed. He had such a gentle and easy laugh, it was almost comforting.

"Really Sookie, you need to give yourself a break. You're doing a great job with her so far, so just try and relax. No one's perfect."

"I know, it's just... I'm …we. Eric and I, we're all she's got, you know? It's a little … a lot frightening."

He nodded.

"Most first time parents feel the exact same way, but it does get easier. It might not seem like it, but you'll find your feet soon, I promise. And when you do, you'll wonder what life was like before she fell into your lap."

"Life before was a lot less chaotic, I'll tell you that."

"Jessica aside, how are you holding up?"

"I'm running on coffee. I think that if I take a second to think what this all means I'll just lose it, and I can't do that right now. She needs me."

"She has Eric too, and as … hostile as he is to me, he seems to have a way with her. You should lean on him, you'll need each other."

"True. But Eric and I, well, we have a rather complicated history."

"Ex?"

"No. We didn't get that far."

"Really? Because I was sensing some serious sexual tension." He laughed.

"No. Seething hatred and sexual tension are two very different things."

"Is it that bad?"

I thought about it, and really, it could have been a lot worse. Then again, we were only a few days into forever.

"I'll get back to you on that." I made my way to the door. "Thanks again, Dr. Merlotte."

"Sam." He said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Thank you, Sam."

EPOV:

It wasn't that he was that bad, and it wasn't that he was necessarily a douche—even if he looked like one. It was watching her sway into his office on those heels, in that skirt, with that ass, and be sweet and light and flirty with Dr. Love. I mean, really, he was a kids doctor. Did he make it a habit of flirting with and eye fucking ALL the mothers? Or just the ones living in their cousin's house with a guy she wasn't dating, raising a kid that wasn't hers?

No, I didn't think so.

Of course, I got an eyeful of some of the mothers in the waiting room, or rather, they got an eyeful of me. I'd always been equal rights on ones sexual freedom. If a girl had sex with a dozen guys, it doesn't make her a slut any more than it makes a guy who's had the same number of partners. Sex was sex and I didn't begrudge anyone anything sexual as long as both, or all parties were agreeable. What was there to lose? These women though, they were like, obsessed, and not in a good way. They looked me up and down to the point where I was getting dizzy, and then there was the whispering. I hated whispering. If you had something to say, just say it.

Thankfully, Doctor Spock saw us before I could get any more uncomfortable.

That's when the hell began. It started off friendly enough, but then she started to ramble and ask all kinds of questions, I for one, would never have thought of. But it was her bouncing her crossed legs, making her boobs jiggle that got to me, and the hair touching was another flirty sign that I didn't like. Especially since it wasn't aimed at me at all. Doctor Who was basically salivating, being all smiley and charming and disgustingly flirtatious with this woman who was just asking for his medical opinion while he yanked Jess around with his light pen and thermometer. She was about as impressed with this mess as I was.

I took my leave and got her settled in the car again, mastering the car seat in under five minutes this time.

I rolled down the windows of the jeep, hopefully letting as much air in as possible. I had hoped the evening setting in would cool the temp a bit, but I was wrong. It was hot as hell.

Speaking of hot as hell, out she walked from the building, tight black pencil skirt working for it's money, heels that made me want the feel of them digging into me as I fuc—

"Seriously Eric, be more rude next time. I don't think he's got message."

"What? You had all the questions. I was just there to find out anything important, which I'm sure he would have brought up, which, by the way, he didn't."

"Yes, but really would it kill you to be pleasant?"

"It might..." I said as we drove off in the direction of home.

Home.

Was it home? It didn't feel like home, not to me. It felt like a guest house, or a hotel; it felt like we were house sitting, waiting for Alcide and Hadley to come home from vacation or something. Nothing in it was my own, except my clothes, and even they were sparse since I'd packed light.

It was all very odd, and something I felt in that moment that I'd ever get used to.

Over the next couple of weeks, Sookie, Jessica and I fell into a weird routine. We got up together; had breakfast; I went for a run then came back to watch the kid while Sookie ran some errands; checked in with Pam a few times a day just in case she burnt my business to the ground; played with the kid till she needed a nap; ignored some calls and texts from my various 'dates' over the last six months—I just didn't have the time, or if I'm honest, the energy to deal with them… Then, I'd pretend not to watch Sookie do her Yoga or Pilates or whatever the hell she was calling her daily stretching in the backyard.

I wasn't being a pervert about it, but really, when there was a hot ass woman in tight stretchy pants and a sports bra stretching herself all over the yard, it was hard - ahem - not to take notice.

A few people stopped by the house every now and then, mostly to introduce themselves, or be nosy, or both.

They brought food, as seems to be the custom, so neither I nor Jessica was complaining about the copious amounts of pie and homemade ice-cream that kept appearing in the fridge. Of course, it kept reminding me that I'd need to bring my gym equipment over sooner rather than later if I kept up these eating habits. Normally when it was just me, I lived on microwaved food, pop tarts and beer. Now it was three square meals a day; it was a shock the system.

Mid-morning, after her usual hour of bending around to some fruity music on her iPod, Sookie came in from the yard, a healthy sheen of sweat and a smile on her face as she bounced in search of some water.

"God, it's so hot outside. It's insane for this time of year. Usually we don't get the heat waves till June."

"Global warming." I offered finishing off my apple and dumping it in the trash.

"Huh, I guess. I never thought about it really. I mean, I know at the restaurant we do the whole changing the bulbs, recycling everything, but I can't say I keep it up at home. I might have to do something about that."

Just as she was about to muse on something else, her cell phone rang—Beyonce's "Single Ladies" ringing out—and since she'd been hinting at and teasing me about putting rings on things and having a man on her hips for over a week, it was clear she lied when she said she wasn't standing in the doorway all that long.

Now what can I say, I work in a bar where popular music is played. The kid, she likes it, and I'm man enough to admit that if it stops her crying, I'd dance with her to anything she wanted.

As long as Sookie wasn't watching again, that shit was just asking for trouble.

Her face lit up when she answered her phone. I almost choked on air when I heard that it was Sam. Seriously, he's taking to calling her now? Does this guy ever work?

"Hi. No, yeah I know. Well, no things have been quiet—some neighbours stopped by with their condolences and of course, a whole array of food again. Yeah, I know. No, no it was nice of them, even if all the ladies wanted to do was flirt with Eric." She smiled at me before she turned around again. She was playing with her hair; she was flirting and he couldn't even see it.

Not that I cared, she could flirt and make doe eyes at whoever she wanted—and so could I.

Question was, why wasn't I?

I mean, I'd ignored calls for various hot and willing women so I could sit in, nursing a one-year old and watching old movies with Sookie? Really?

"This Friday? Like, four days from now? Oh, uh. No I'd love to, but I usually cover nights with Jessica since I'm back to work and all now. Eric has her during the day …"

She looked at me again, probably hinting that maybe I'd step in and cover for her so she could more than likely date Doctor Spock.

Erm, no. I pretended to read the paper.

"Uh, Sam can I maybe get back to you? Yeah of course, it does sound nice. Of course, I'll call you soon… Okay. Bye."

By the time she hung up, she was all blushing and bashful.

"So, you're dating the Doctor now?" I said without looking up from my paper.

"If you must know, he asked me out on a date, but I told him I wasn't sure."

She knew I'd heard the conversation, right?

"Uh huh."

"I mean, he wants us to go to dinner; maybe a movie or something."

"And the big doe eyes and hopeful smile is to convince me to say 'Hey Sook, how about I take over and give you that night off so you can have free time—to date Doctor Douche."

"Eric. He's not a douche. He's actually really nice."

"Nice? That's so hot." I rolled my eyes.

"Not every girl wants to date an asshole, and not every girl is attracted to the 'bad boy' no matter how many notches you have in that bedpost of yours."

"You're right, some girls want the boring, tiny, dull—probably as dull in bed as he is in conversation—guy. I can totally see the appeal in that."

She rolled her eyes at me.

"So will you?"

"Will I what?"

"You're really going to make me ask?"

I grinned at her. Yes, yes I was.

"Fine. Eric, would you do me this one favor so I can have the possibility of pleasant adult conversation and a good meal with the nice man?"

"While he tries to feel you up under the table…"

"Eric!"

I smiled, she was too easy to rile up. Besides, Dr. Boring would be too dull to even try and feel her up in public. Mores the pity, Sookie needed to be felt up, everywhere, all the time.

"Fine yes, I'll take the shift."

She beamed.

"Thank you. See, you can be sweet when you put your mind to it." She hopped out of her chair and over to me. My agreement earned me a kiss on the cheek before she all but bounced into the other room, her cell glued to her ear.

Man, I hated that guy.

A/N: Hey peeps! Sorry for the slight delay, work, life, and the flu have gotten in the way. So it's why I've been slower than usual! Plus I'd been working on my other story, Rise by Sin which is angsty goodness so check it out if you haven't already! : D

Thank you again for all the reviews, alerts and pms they're too awesome, and it really makes me beam to know you guys are enjoying this as much as I am! x