Perfect Valentine chapter 17

EPOV

When I came down the stairs and saw Sookie and Dad sitting at the table, my gut clenched. Things ended well last night, but who knew what a new day might bring? Hearing laughter, I relaxed, and joined them on the patio. When Mom came out a few minutes later, I knew everything would be fine. We laughed and talked as we enjoyed another of Maria's fabulous meals. Well, when I say we, I mean some of us did. Mom asked about a million questions of Sookie, who answered them cheerfully, although I'm sure she wanted to tell her to shut up. Dad and I were pretty much relegated to listening and nodding occasionally. Apparently our input wasn't really needed. When breakfast was finished, Dad suggested he and I go hit a few balls on the putting green while "the girls" continued to chat.

As he drove the Gator down the road to the manicured course, Dad suddenly pulled over, looking me squarely in the face, and announced, "Eric, I should have trusted you more. I do believe you have found the perfect girl. She is intelligent, beautiful, and so down-to-earth, it's almost unbelievable. Well done, son."

I couldn't help smirking as I answered, "Thanks, Dad, but you're not telling me anything I didn't know months ago. I am very lucky to have found Sookie, and I intend to spend my life making her happy."

"See that you do, boy. And you'll answer to me if you ever do anything to hurt her," he replied as he started back on our way.

Laughing, I said, "Whose father are you, anyway, mine or hers?" He laughed with me and reached over to slap my shoulder. It had been ages since Dad and I had been so easy with each other. Hell, I couldn't remember a time since I'd hit puberty. Our encounters were always on the serious side, about school, business, or his reminding me not to screw up my life. I guess I finally got it right. I smiled with pride and a little bit of self-satisfaction.

To my surprise, the ease continued as we practiced our putts, and hit a few balls off tees. That was really strange, because I wasn't as good at golf as Dad thought I should be. I was pretty athletic, but I didn't play much, so my skills didn't really improve. He usually couldn't refrain from criticizing my lack of commitment to the game. A businessman to the core, Lars Northman thought any officer in a large company worth his salt should play a good round of golf. Maybe we'd play more often, now that I was in his favor again.

When we returned to the house, I was surprised to see Mom and Sookie still enjoying animated conversation on the patio. They had moved to the more comfortable padded furniture, and had taken time to change clothes, but as far as I could tell, they'd been gabbing all morning. A warm feeling settled over me as I joined Sookie on the love seat. "Well, you two have been at it for awhile. Anything earth shattering come out of this talk fest?"

"We're just bonding," Sookie answered, taking my hand in hers, as Mom nodded her assent.

"I'm glad," I said, bringing her hand to my lips, "but we probably should go pack before lunch. If we want to go home before going to your parents' house tonight, we'll need to leave about two."

"You two do whatever you need to do," Mom said, "we've got years to talk!"

"And I'll just bet you do, too!" Dad teased as he placed his hands on Mom's shoulders. She patted one of them lovingly. Not that I'd ever had any doubts, but it felt good to know how enduring their love has been. With Sookie's parents also still in love all these years later, I guess we had good role models for making our marriage stand the test of time.

When we got upstairs I took Sookie in my arms, "Have I told you how much I love you today?"

"You have now," she said, reaching up to kiss me. "Eric, this has been such a lovely weekend. I hate to see it end."

"I know, I do too," I said between kisses, "but we'll have a lifetime of them, Sookie. I promise. Now, I think we need to go back to bed for awhile before we pack. What do you say?"

"You have a one track mind, you know that?" she smiled up at me. "At least I like the track it's on." With that she turned and led me to the unmade bed. I followed eagerly.

Pulling her to me, I gently caressed her face as I looked into her blue eyes, "Sookie, I knew Mom and Dad would love you, but, I didn't know they'd fall so deeply in love so easily. You have some kind of magic over us Northmans, don't you?"

"Ehh, you're just all so easy," she said, batting her eyelashes. "It was kinda like you were the first domino, once I pushed you over, the others fell right behind."

"Witch, we're all under your spell," I laughed, removing her blouse and moving closer to her. In no time we'd shed our clothes and were enjoying each other again. I wanted our lovemaking to be slow and romantic, and it started out that way. At one point I pulled away to look into Sookie's eyes. What I saw there was pure lust, which immediately stoked my own, which had begun to build. She reached up and grabbed the back of my head, pulling me back to her. From that moment, there was nothing slow about it. We were quickly, savagely, thoroughly taking the experience to another level. As we lay spent, still entangled, I whispered, "I am completely bewitched by you, and I love it!"

After a few minutes of recovery, Sookie reluctantly moved from my arms and sighed, "I think I'd better shower and get packed. Even though, I'd rather just spend the rest of the day here like this." Her wicked smile made me laugh out loud. I grabbed her hand and kissed it before she pulled it away and got up. As she showered, I pulled out her luggage, readying it to be packed. She'd brought way more clothes than she'd needed, but that's my girl. When she came back into the bedroom, wrapped in a towel, she was surprised to see me standing over her open suitcase. "Are you packing for me? I can't decide if that's sweet or just high handed."

I laughed at her again, "Neither, actually I was just trying to save time. Your packing shouldn't take long, though. You don't need to repack your rugged clothes. Leave them here. You aren't going to wear them at home anyway, are you?"

"Guess not," she said, pulling on a t-shirt and jeans. "You going to shower before we go back down?"

"Yeah, you pack while I do. Then we'll go downstairs. Lunch will probably be ready soon." I kissed her cheek and went to the bathroom. When I came out, Sookie was seated on the bed next to her packed bags. "Well, that went faster than I thought."

"I was thinking about what you said about leaving things here, so I'm leaving some of my toiletries and such as well as the clothes. I guess we'll be coming back often. At least, I hope so," she beamed.

"We'll be back soon and often, I assure you. I'm glad you feel at home here." I dressed quickly and picked up her bags to head downstairs. Mom and Dad were in the den reading the newspaper. Mom smiled up at us and went to the kitchen. I assumed she told Maria Sookie and I had finally come back. I smiled over at Sookie, and her cheeks flushed as she stifled a giggle. It couldn't have been more than five minutes later that lunch was served.

SPOV

After a delicious light lunch, we sat on the patio visiting with Inge and Lars some more. I was feeling so at home, so accepted here. When Inge asked about our planned trip to my parents' home tonight, I explained, "Oh, no, not a special occasion. We try to have dinner every Sunday evening. Just a tradition left over from my grandparents. Of course, we can't always swing it, but we try."

"I think that sounds lovely, my dear. I hope we can all get together soon. I look forward to meeting them. How about next weekend? Ask tonight, and let me know. We could have dinner at our house in town and start making wedding plans!" she gushed.

Eric and Lars simultaneously rolled their eyes, but I thought it was sweet, "I'll check. It sounds like fun to me." On that note, the trip was over. Eric stood up and announced that it was time for us to hit the road.

We went to the kitchen to thank Maria and say good-bye. She handed me a large box, packed with goodies left over from the weekend, and some she'd prepared just for this occasion. "Eric never leaves without a 'care package' from me!" she teased, winking at him. We'd have enough food to eat most of the week from the looks of things. Pedro had placed the bags in the car as we ate, so we were ready to leave.

After hugs and promises to call soon, Lars walked us to the car. "I'll be in about noon tomorrow, Eric. Your mother and I are staying over tonight. Be careful driving home, son."

When Eric climbed behind the wheel, he gave me a peculiar smile, "Remember what I said about you casting a spell? Well, you really got Dad good. Other than the first time I took his expensive sports car for a spin, he's never told me to drive carefully. He's just worried something will happen to you!"

"Oh, Eric, don't be ridiculous. I'll bet he's said that lots of times. You just didn't notice, weren't listening, or something," I answered, although I was thinking there seemed to be a change in the relationship between the two, for the better.

We didn't talk much on the ride home. Eric seemed to be lost in thought, about his father's reaction to our news, I assumed. I was busy reliving every moment of the trip. I know Eric says we'll be going often, but there's only one first time, and I want to remember it forever.

When we got back into town, I directed Eric to the pharmacy so I could replace a few of the things I'd left at the house. While I was there I found a funny greeting card and got it to send to Inge and Lars. I was still on cloud nine, and hoped the high was going to last. Finally we got home and unpacked. As promised, the house was immaculate. Lupita had done a fantastic job, and I was so relieved not to come home and start cleaning up, doing laundry, all that crap. And with the goodies Maria sent, it would be an easy week for me. I was looking forward to visiting my parents tonight and letting them know how great the Northmans are. Life is ...Holy Shit! I almost thought the "g" word. I know better than to let that sentence even come into my mind! I've had too many bad things happen any time I've thought it before. Eric must have noticed my shiver, because he offered to adjust the air conditioning. "I'm fine, it was just a momentary chill," I assured him with a peck on the cheek.

By the time we arrived at Mama and Daddy's house, I was still happy, but keeping it at bay. I didn't want to gush, but I was really exciting about the ways things were progressing. By the end of the year, Eric and I would be married! Squeals and hugs ensued when I shared the news. They were both happy about the timeline, and anxious to get started planning with the Northmans next weekend. Well, Mama was ready to plan. Daddy's eye roll matched Eric's and Lars' perfectly, which made me laugh. Eric and Daddy headed to the garage again, while Mama and I finished dinner.

"Sookie, I'm so pleased to see how happy you are. I've never seen you so content, but if you have any anxiety, you will talk to me about it, won't you, dear?" Mama said as we worked.

"Of course, Mama, but I am happy, happier than I've ever been. I have no doubts that Eric and I were meant to be together. Don't worry so much." I replied patting her shoulder and going to the dining room to set the table, hoping I wasn't giving off some vibe signaling my reluctance to trust this utter happiness. "Mama, is Jason coming?" I called to her.

"No, he called and said he had some big deal he'd gotten involved in and couldn't get away," she said, walking to the door. "I hope that boy knows what he'd doing. He wouldn't tell me anything."

"Oh, you know Jason. It's probably nothing at all. Might have just had some girl he picked up last night and wasn't ready to discard yet," I laughed.

"Sookie! Don't say such things about your own brother!" she chastised.

"Just calling like I see it, Mama. You are too protective of Jason, you know." She opened her mouth to answer me, but just then Eric and Daddy entered from the garage, laughing and talking a mile a minute. I was reminded of his relationship with his own father, and thought how lucky we were to be at ease with our parents, both sets.

Over dinner I shared stories of our weekend in the country. Eric had to promise to take Daddy fishing soon. Mama was interested in seeing the house. When we left, I said, "I'll call you with details about next weekend. I am anxious for you to meet Eric's parents. I think we are all going to be one big happy family!"

When we got in the car, Eric reached for my hand. Squeezing it, he said, "We are, you know. Going to be a happy family. I love you, Sookie, more every day."