Hi! First of all, let me just answer some reviews that didn't allow the "reply" feature: yes, this Sookie has been kind of selfish and immature. But the thing is: when I started this fanfic, I got many reviews "against Eric" because he was moving on too fast (having sex with all those European girls, and so on). And so, I tried to "level the field" by showing that Sookie was not perfect either. And I guess that I might have exaggerated a bit... Oops! :)

Anyway, I love-love-love Eric and Sookie too, and I wouldn't dream of keeping them apart. But I'm an angst lover as well, and so I'm creating just a few problems for them before they get to have their HEA... But you just hang in there for a little while. They'll meet again in 2 or 3 chapters' time...

And now, without further ado, here's chapter 15. I hope you will like it and drop me a line. Célia

Sookie "Father Time"

Seeing Eric again, and knowing that he had fought for me, wondering about all those who had been in the war and their well-being, and still trying to recover from my attack was too much and I was dead tired that day. But, at the same time, I feared that I wouldn't be able to sleep because I was in fact very afraid to close my eyes and relax. I wondered if I'd ever really pull through from my assault.

But Pam's blood helped me a lot and I even managed to get some sleep that night. The next day, Dr Ludwig did some more exams and gave me good news regarding my baby, which was that the child was fine. Claudine stayed with me the whole time.

That same evening, David called me and we both cried on the phone for over an hour. He didn't ask anything about my fairy ancestry or my captivity. David just wanted to know that I was okay and that our baby was healthy too and he promised me that he would be cleared from the hospital on the next day. "I'll be there right next to you tomorrow at lunch. We'll be all right. The three of us will be alright honey." Awww. He said "the three of us". I almost felt my heart stopping at his words. And soon, we were talking about the future, baby names, schools, piano lessons, and either ballet or soccer as a sport, Disney movies, finger painting, and silly things like that. I couldn't wait to be with my husband again.

Pam came to visit again later that night and offered me more blood. After Dr Ludwig's approval, I accepted. Claudine and the doctor left and I drank from my friend again. She then sat by my bed as asked how I was. But Pam was the one looking awful. Well, I mean: she was still perfectly tailored, her hair and make-up flawlessly arranged, but there was something else… Her back was curved and her face was as if she hadn't slept for a week.

I told her that I was recovering and that the baby looked healthy and strong.

"Did you want it? A baby?"

"We were talking about it. But not right now. This was a surprise. I… well, David really wants kids but I… I want them as well, but I'm just afraid of all these supernatural problems. I mean, the poor thing hasn't been born yet and has already been kidnapped and tortured…" I couldn't continue. I was a mess. I started crying like there was no tomorrow.

Pam waited for me to calm down and then she said: "You'll be alright. Niall is now as powerful as you can get. And you know we will always cover your back Sookie. You'll be all right. Both of you." There was a sad smile in her lips.

"But what if my child is telepath just like I am?"

"Then you'll worry about it when the time comes."

"But what if someone tries to take him or her away from me?" I was almost crying again.

"Nobody will. Like I said, Niall's pretty powerful now and you are his kin. And Eric has De Castro under control. He got him a new telepath last year in exchange for your freedom."

Hah? What was she talking about?

"He did?"

"Yeah."

"But…" I didn't add anything after the 'but'. However, there was definitively a question-mark tone about it and Pam felt it too because she said: "There was an opportunity and he took it."

Okay, I guess. Although, were there other telepaths? I knew we were as rare as you could be. My whole life, hell, Eric's whole life, we had only known about another one and… Wait. "It isn't Barry, is it?"

"Barry is Stan's telepath. Eric got De Castro a new one."

Eric got De Castro a new one? I wondered… "Why would he go to all that trouble?"

"He… It wasn't that much trouble. Eric has this friend and she knew about a telepath in Canada. She mentioned it to him. And Eric just had to pay to the guy. He wished to leave Canada. De Castro wanted a telepath. Eric just made it happen." My former tears had stopped by then. I was completely speechless. Why would Eric do all that for me? Well, he had fought for me. But… To give money to this person, to bring him from Canada, so De Castro wouldn't ask for me again… And I'd bet that my face transmitted my thoughts again because Pam felt the need to add: "Well, actually, it's kind of his job as De Castro's sheriff."

I just stayed there. Quiet. And looking at her as if saying: "Come on, do you expect me to believe that?" She read my face and answered it.

"I'm serious Sookie. Eric's friend Natércia knew about a telepath in Vancouver. She mentioned it to him when they were spending their vacations there. So, when Eric discovered a new telepath, he brought him to his king. There's nothing strange about that. He just used the opportunity to get you free, because if De Castro ever wanted you again, Eric would have to be the one retrieving you for the king. And Eric didn't even want to hear your name, let alone, be with you personally."

Yes. That made sense. Kind of. Somehow.

Pam continued talking: "So you see, you will be safe. And your baby will be safe. If he or she turns out to be telepath, then you'll be concerned about it when the kid is older. No need to lose sleep over it now."

I thanked her but then we didn't talk for a couple of minutes after that.

Suddenly, Pam took my hand and said: "I told him tonight." She didn't say who "him" was, or what she had told him about, but I knew it was Eric and my pregnancy.

I had never had a true relationship with Eric, just a few days with amnesiac Eric. But even if, by some strange reason, God had given us a break, and we had managed to stay together, a baby would be completely out of the picture. I'd never get pregnant with Eric. I knew he had had children when he was alive. I wondered if he would have wished he could have kids with me too. I was sure that I would have wanted to have Eric's son or daughter. And, for the millionth time, and for just a second, I wished Eric was just a human. Maybe if we had met on a sunny day, in a mall in Shreveport, we could have gone out to eat an ice-cream and… No. That would never happen. Not now and not ever. I had to come back to the present. And in the present Eric was a vampire and I was carrying David's child. And I was a happily married woman. But I was still concerned about Eric. I'd always worry about him. About his reactions. And I wished, with all my heart, that he wouldn't be mad at me.

"And how…?" I asked.

"He said it was wonderful news. He's sure you will be a great mom."

Okay. As if… "You're kidding right?"

"No. He told me that himself."

Hah? He said what? Wonderful news? Was the today-Eric that different from the Eric I knew? "And… how is he?"

"Happy for you… I guess."

I knew that it wasn't just that. No. Eric wouldn't feel happy because I was pregnant by another man. He was Mr. Possessive. And Pam's voice sounded strange as well. There was something else and I had to know what. "Pam?"

"He left again. He said he wanted to be alone but… Sookie, I'm afraid. He looked so…" Pam paused for a few seconds, as if she wasn't sure if she should add her next words. But then she decided to speak them: "He still loves you, you know?"

My heart ached. I breathed deeply and then I said to Pam what maybe I should have told to Eric more than four years before: "And I still love him Pam. I'll always love him. I married David and I love him as well, but Eric will always be Eric. I'll never love anyone else the way I love Eric. He's my soul mate."

"So what the fuck Sookie? What gives?"

I smiled at her remark and then I answered: "I love him too much Pam. Emphasis on the "too much", okay? And sooner or later there would be something between us – he would drink and have sex with a fangbanger, or I would be angry because of some high-handed posture of his or eventually I would get old and he would lose his interest in me… And then Pam, I would die from a broken heart. That would kill me. I wouldn't move, eat or drink until death took me."

"Fuck. You guys are so stupid!"

"Well… Thanks for your insightful observation Pam." What did she want from me? I had lost too much: my parents, my Gran, my first love had been a scam... I didn't have it in me to gamble to lose Eric too. I had chosen to break free from him before things got more serious and I couldn't any more.

"Yes you are Sookie. You guys are fucking stupid. Fucking stupid! You're afraid you'll die if he loses interest in you? Well, I'm afraid he'll die tomorrow morning."

Eric dying? "What are you talking about?"

"He lost all hope of being with you ever again. Before he left… He sounded defeated and it was like he was saying goodbye Sookie."

"Call him." I said in a loud voice. There was urgency in my voice.

"What?" She looked lost. She hadn't intend to tell me all that and now she wasn't sure how to react. But Pam always knew what to do… So this uncertainty was totally not Pam-like.

"Call him now and then give me the phone." I insisted.

"Okay," she said immediately, "that might work". She took her cell phone and rang him. As soon as he picked the phone she handed it to me.

"Eric?" I asked into the phone.

"Sookie. I was told of your gracious state. Congratulations are in order. How are you?" His voice was sweet and calm. He didn't sound like the might do something… well, bad to himself. He didn't sound defeated. But it didn't matter how the sounded. I was still concerned about him.

"I'm worried." He didn't reply me and so I continued: "I'm really worried about you. I don't want you to do... any mistake. Okay Eric? Do you understand me? I need to know that you are alright, and that you are safe."

"I see." Eric's typical answer.

"Will you be okay Eric? Will you be safe?"

"I will," he answered me. But I needed more assurance of him.

"Promise me."

"Lover, I promise." And then he hung up. Hearing him calling me "lover" again reminded me of Pam's words. He sounded like he was saying goodbye. But then I remembered that Eric might not always tell me everything, but he always told me the truth. I knew Pam had heard both my and Eric's voice. I asked her what she thought about our talk.

"He did promise you…"

"And will that be enough?"

"Yes Sookie," her face was already lighting up a little, "I believe it will".

I couldn't keep talking about Eric and so I just asked her about the bars. It was a current talking point between us because I had worked at Merlotte's and my husband had a restaurant too. And so she talked about it for a while. She was really excited about this franchising project and she kept saying how much trouble and work it meant, but that they were earning good money. And besides, according to Pam, "Fangtasia" was now a recognizable brand and they were making even more money with merchandising its products than before. It felt good talking to Pam. Especially about "regular" subjects such as her bars and professional projects.

After a little more than an hour, Claudine entered my room. It was my meds time and Pam decided to leave then with a much better air than before: "Hey, you keep in touch, human! Call me!"

"You call me too vampire". And she left. I then took my medicines, kind of showered (I didn't want to break my stitches) and tried to sleep.

-x-

The next day I felt much better. I was still in pain but it was manageable now. And, obviously, I was excited I'd be with my husband again. David arrived at noon. He laid down next to me in my bed and hugged me without a word being spoken between us.

A couple of hours later, I had to go to the bathroom and he helped me. When we were back to the bed we started to talk. I tried to make sure that he was really recovering while he did the same with me. Dr Ludwig then entered the room and told us that we were all recovering from our injuries. And, more important, she gave us a picture of my sonogram. There was a tiny dark spot in the middle of clouds of grey and Dr Ludwig was pointing at it.

"That's the baby? That's our baby?" David's voice was trembling.

"That's it!" The doctor answered.

"Oh my God!" It was so thrilling that I didn't know what else to say. Looking at that picture, I felt directly blessed by God. I started crying again. Oh boy! My hormones were already working in overtime.

"Calm down girl. You should rest now. And eat! Have you had lunch already?"

I said no and she immediately started lecturing me that I needed all my strength now. "I'll send someone in with food for you. And then I'll leave. I have other patients, you know? I'll be back tomorrow morning. I'll examine you again and then you'll probably be able to go home."

"Tomorrow?" I wanted to make sure that I had heard correctly.

"Yes. Tomorrow morning. Now eat and rest. And you bear, don't you tire her!" And then she left even before we could answer or thank her.

"What is she?" David asked me as soon as the door closed.

"I don't know. But she has treated me before and I absolutely trust her. The first time I saw her, I asked what kind of doctor she was, and she just said she was of the healing kind."

David kissed me silently. "I'm glad she healed you."

"Listen David…" I started saying. We needed to talk. We'd been speaking for a while now but we hadn't really talked. Not the important stuff. But he interrupted me:

"Not now honey. Later. Next week. Next month. I don't care. Just… not now. I'm still processing everything. It's too much to think about. I'm a were but I was never really into this crazy world. I… Now I just want to hold you and be happy that the little black dot is healthy and all right."

"Little black dot?"

He just smiled and kissed me again.

-x-

When we got home everything was clean and organized. There was a note in the mirror of our hall: "You're welcome. Pam". David then carried me to our room murmuring something like "autocratic vamps" but I knew he was glad our home was habitable. Our fight with the fairies that created a huge confusion there and not having to deal with it was great.

We both spend the next few weeks taking it easy, recovering and just hugging and kissing. It was like our honeymoon all over again. Well, minus the sex. I really didn't feel up for it and David did not even try.

Almost a month later we started to go to Brown's again. The staff had dealt with everything without major problems and I felt good to be back in my routine.

I kept being observed by Dr Ludwig and a little latter, when I entered my second trimester, we told everyone at Brown's we were expecting a baby. There were lots of "congratulations" and I loved it. And so I started making a few phone calls. I called Amelia, who said she was glad for me (Amelia was no longer living with Tray, but with another witch… or was it a warlock? Or male-witch?). Bill was still staying at Shreveport recovering from the silver poisoning, and so I called him too. He sounded somewhat better and he said he was drinking lots of blood from other vampires and he was recuperating. He didn't comment on my baby-news though.

Later that month, David and I traveled to Bon Temps, where I told my other friends about my good news. Jason and Tara, and Sam and everyone else at Merlotte's said they were really happy for us and wished us the best. The day after that, I also met Claude in the mall at Monroe (Claudine was in New York because of her work for the week and couldn't make it) and he was actually nice to me (for the first time ever).

When Claude left, David and I stayed there and we even bought a baby bodysuit (our first!). At 9 pm, Pam arrived and David somewhat politely excused himself. "So? How are you? And how's the little bundle of joy?" Pam asked.

"We're both healthy. How are you?"

"Same old. Same old. They want to franchise Bloodbath now. I got the call today. And Deadliest will be the next, I'm sure."

"Well. That's great Pam."

"Yeah. It is great." She said but without a single emotion in her voice. "But first things first: Eric's okay Sookie. He reacted in a good way. He's working, meeting friends, drinking fangbangers as always… He's alright. Actually, he's super. I had clearly overreacted before. He's… dealing with your condition. He's being the old Eric again."

"I'm glad for him. I was really worried."

"I know. And I have to thank you. Even thought I had obviously dramatized the situation without any reason for it, I also believe that your phone call helped him. So… thanks."

I smiled inside. Pam was thanking me.

She then asked again about my baby and I started telling her about my pregnancy and how it was to be carrying a child. I could tell Pam was a little uncomfortable with our topic, but she kept listening to me. And then she talked about her babies: the bars and the franchising and I listened to her just like she had listened to me. More than an hour later, she left.

The next day, we traveled back to Tennessee. That night David asked me about my great grandfather, about my work for the vampires both in Dallas and Rhodes and about Eric. I told him the absolute truth and I told him everything.

"Will I ever meet this Eric? Your husband?"

"You are my husband. And no. I don't think so."

"But you bonded with him… Can we… Is it okay that we married?"

I had wondered about it too before we had married, but Pam had explained it to me that it didn't matter. Vampire law just recognized vampire marriages. So my marriage to David "didn't count" on their books. Well, it was Eric's right to kill David because he had slept with me (yeah, I know… Vampires!), but other than that, I wasn't bigamous because for them I was only married to Eric.

"Yes. The bond just means that I can't belong to any other vampire other than him."

"But would you rather be with him?"

"I love you. I love our home. And I love our child that's in my tummy."

He kissed and hugged me. But he didn't smile.

"Are you mad that I kept these things from you?" I asked.

"Do you have any other secrets?" He asked. And those were the same words. Exactly the same words. It felt like déjà-vu. Last time I had lied to him. Now I didn't need to. "No. Not anymore."

"Then I'm not mad. I just hope that you won't keep anything else from me."

"I won't. I promise."

"I love you honey."

'Winnie the Pooh' again. Damn'it. I hated when he called me honey. But that wasn't considered a secret. It wasn't. Right?

"I love you too."

That night, for the first time since my kidnap, we made love again. But later when I was sleeping with David's arms around me, I dreamt of Eric showering with me at Gran's.

What did you think about the chapter? I know that Sookie didn't deserve such an understanding husband, but she is pregnant with his child, and I think that most men would forgive their wife. Next chapter will be an Eric's POV and it will have another small "time-jump". Now tell me: how do you see Eric dealing this all this? Should he get depressed? Or angry and dark? Should he stay in Louisiana? Or visit Ocella in Europe? Or Natércia in Canada?

"Father Time" is a song written by Jon Bon Jovi and his long-time lead guitarist Richie Sambora.