Hi! First of all, I want to remeber you that Eric wanted Sookie to leave that same night to Louisiana. But she obviously couldn't – and no matter how rotten a husband David is, he's a good father to their daughter (he calls every night and tries to be with her frequently). That said, this is a Sookie and Eric story and they truly, deeply and unconditionally LOVE each other. And they will have their HEA.

Secondly, I want to thank Charhamblin for her wonderful help beta-ing this story. The mistakes, though, are all mine. The characters, unfortunately, are not! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please feel free to drop me a line. Thank you! Célia

Sookie "Real Life"

It had been two weeks since I met Eric again and everything had been pretty calm. Like Eric had told me to do, I called David first thing the next morning and told him I needed to speak to him. I knew he had been working late on the previous night, but Lizzie's safety was more important than David's rest. And I had promised him over and over again, that I'd trust him with our safety. And that was what I was going to do. Because I did trust him. He'd do the best thing for us. After all, David was and would always be Lizzie's dad. And like I had told Eric, he was a good father (even though he was a lousy husband).

When David arrived we both took Lizzie to pre-school (she was absolutely gleeful that mommy and daddy were both with her) and then we went back home to talk. I told him about the visit of a "acquaintance from Louisiana that I used to work with" (but not who it had been, obviously) and all that awful Fairy business.

Back when I was pregnant, I had told David everything about Niall and my Fae heritage. And he had even met Niall at Lizzie's baptism. But that was the evening when Niall and I argued over Liz's essential spark. Niall kept saying how bright it was (even though he was sure it wasn't as pure as ours) and that he wanted to test it to make it official. After my previous contact with fairies, I thought it was rather evident that I wouldn't want to have anything to do with Fairy. Niall insisted, of course. But I resisted all his arguments and he got really angry with me. We had only spoken twice ever since (both times, Niall called just to "check" how we were).

David had also met Claude and Claudine on our wedding day. But soon after Liz's baptism, Claude also disappeared from our lives because in the meantime he had moved to Holland, to a town near Amsterdam, with a guy from Belgium. Not that he was a frequent visit before, but since then, Claude was just a "couple of phone-calls a year" kind of relative. Well, even less than that because he had changed his cell-phone number and hadn't bothered to tell us his new contact. From Claude, I now only had an e-mail address, but I wasn't even sure if he still checked his messages or not. But Claudine, on the other hand, had kept visiting us, a couple of times a year. And we always met her when we were in Louisiana. Until the previous summer, that is. Because that was when she moved permanently to Faery, with her recent husband Coleman. She told me that she wanted to be a mother, and our dimension's excessive iron-composed equipments would prevent her from getting pregnant. But I knew that other than that, the true reason was the fact that Coleman wouldn't ever live here.

And so, the only Fairy that David had actually met a few times was Claudine. Hardly a danger… At least, to us. But he still remembered how injured we both had been almost six years before and he believed me right away when I told him that dangerous Fae were after me and Liz again. When he asked how I had known that, and who was the "acquaintance", I told him that the "Louisiana Vampires" had heard about it and told me. He probably thought that it had been Pam who had warned me and dropped the subject.

And as expected, David started making phone calls and it was decided that there would always be two weres with us, all the time: one with me and one with Elizabeth. Besides, David moved in again to the sofa-bed in the office room. He didn't try anything with me and I was grateful for that. But then again, we hadn't been living as a proper husband and wife for a while, even before he had moved out. And he still had his "girlfriend", I guess. Lizzie, however, didn't understand why her father was sleeping in the couch, but was happy to have more "daddy time".

And so, for two weeks, it was like we were living in a state of "calm before the storm"; we were all waiting for something to happen. Even Eric, who was back in Louisiana.

The first night after he left, I called him right after sun set to thank him again for warning me. And I also said that I was missing him already and... Well, I also told him that I loved him. Yes, it's true. I actually pronounced the L-word. And why did I say it? I don't know. It just felt natural to do it. He didn't answer my "I love you" but he sounded happy that I had called him. After the way I had left ten years before, I couldn't condemn him for taking everything slow. But that pregnant silence after my sentence was really painful for me, so I quickly changed the subject and ten or fifteen minutes later, we ended the phone call.

I still remember that back then, when we ended the phone call, I thought that it would probably be a while until we talked again because of my "love-admittance" over the phone. But on the following night, he called me. And ever since that evening, and during those two weeks, he had called me every night as soon as he woke up. We would talk about my day, my daughter, Pam or his bars but nothing more. No "fairy talk". No "sex talk". No "future talk". No "feelings talk". No "David talk". And especially no "I love you" talk. From either of us.

When I thought about it, it sounded really odd, to talk to Eric so often again, and without a special reason for each phone call. But whenever he would call (first thing every night), we would talk as if we'd been friends since childhood and grown up together. Do you know that kind of friendship? The one when you never are without a subject to talk about? Well, we were just like that. And the best part was that because David was usually at the restaurant at night (whereas I was during the day) and Eric usually called in the middle of "Toys' City" (Lizzie's favorite TV show), we were able to talk freely without major interruptions.

Two weeks later though, David was starting to wonder if this threat was really true or if nothing would ever happen. I was absolutely sure that the danger was there, but without a sign, David was being pressured by the pack-leaders that had been helping to keep us safe. And so, he pressured me.

"Sook, it's not that I don't worry about you or Liz," David was saying, "and I believe your friend heard something", the way he said friend, meaning Eric, was spiteful (I had finally specified to him what Louisiana vampire had told me about the fairies' danger the week before), "but you've got to understand that the guys are getting restless. Three 8-hours shifts a day and two weres per shift is too much. There are other problems the packs must attend."

"Okay. So drop my bodyguard, I don't care," and I didn't, "but please keep someone with Lizzie. She's your daughter too David."

"Oh, don't you even go there Sook. I know Liz is my daughter and I love her. And you know I do. But that's not the issue here. I think that maybe your vamp's intel was wrong, that nothing's going to happen. We've been trying to get more information about the fairies but there's nothing. I don't think you are in any danger. I really don't."

Hah! "Get more information about the fairies"! They wouldn't even know where to begin said search for information. You couldn't find a more secluded and private race than the Fairies. Of course the pack wouldn't get any information about them. Let alone know if they were planning an attack or not. And besides, I trusted Eric's words. If he said that there was danger, then there was danger.

"But I do. And I won't risk Elizabeth. Never. I will ask for Eric's help. He'll send someone to be with us." I answered him. I wouldn't jeopardize anything this time. Not with Liz on the line. I'd do whatever I had to protect my child.

But apparently, David didn't agree with me. "I don't like you asking favors from vamps Sook. Especially that guy."

Okay. That was expected. But I didn't care. All I worried about was Liz's safety. "You don't have to like or dislike it David. I thank you for your help for the last weeks but if you can't help me anymore you have got to let me get help somewhere else. And Eric is… he is my friend." David looked at me as if he thought I was telling a joke by saying that I had a vampire friend. But that was so not the point. Lizzie's protection was. And I wouldn't gamble with it. And so, I was really starting to lose my patience with my husband. Didn't David understand how important it was to keep Liz safe? Had he forgotten what had happened when I was pregnant?

"Vampires don't have friends Sookie. They just want to have sex and drink regular people. Fucking bloodsuckers." He said with a spiteful tone. And he was talking as if he was one of these "regular people".

"Okay. Thank you for sharing that." I said with sarcasm. David didn't know a thing about vampires. He didn't know a thing about Pam, Eric or Bill. And hell… even Dahlia and Clancy had helped in my rescue almost six years before. So they couldn't be just vampires. There was something human still inside them. And my past with all of them had to mean something too… How we'd all had survived a bomb explosion and a Fellowship's attack, and so much more... Pam, Eric and Bill were my friends. They were. And David… well, he just didn't understand it.

"You know I'm right Sook. They are all fucking bloodsuckers."

I wanted to end this conversation. I'd never convince David that vampires were like everyone else: some of them were good, while others were bad. Just like humans. And fairies. And weres for that matter. And David would also never talk me into believing that I didn't mean anything to them. Yes, I really wanted to end this conversation. But there was something else bothering me. And I talked about it. In for a penny, in for a pound. Right?

"I also think you should stay at your place from now on." I said.

"Why?" He immediately asked. His spiteful tone from before was even more spiteful now. "Do you want him here? Do you want a fucking dead guy in my place Sookie? In my fucking bed?"

Hah? This was definitively not David-like. I breathed in and then I breathed out and I bit my tongue so I wouldn't answer him that it wasn't his bed anymore. Instead, I just tried to calm down, so I could calm David too. And then I said: "That's not the issue at hand here. At all. It's Lizzie. She's getting confused as to why you are here and it would be better if you left. She doesn't understand that you're here just for a while. And she wonders why you are sleeping in the office room. She's asked me about it already. It's confusing for a 5-year old and I don't want to mess with her head."

"Okay. I'll leave. I'll leave right now. But don't you dare Sook," he said pointing his finger at me. There was this menacing tone in his words now. And for a second, I almost felt scared of my husband. But then I came back to my senses, and I knew that there was no need. David was just stressed out.

"What? Don't I dare what?" I asked.

"Don't you dare having a fucking dead guy in my place with my daughter and my wife."

The way he said the "my's" in the sentence bothered me to my core. I had always been bothered by all the "mine" situations. First there had been Bill, then Eric to an extent. And now there was David. What the hell? Why did men always behave this way? It was as if Liz and I were David's property just like his snooker table, his motorcycle or his griller. Damn all men and their possessiveness. Besides, I knew that I could truthfully answer him that I was Eric's wife before I was his wife. But again, I just shut up. As I had been doing during the whole time of our marriage.

And let me tell you: shutting up to avoid an argument was so not me. But I actually had been doing it more times than I wanted for Lizzie's sake. Seeing your parents argue has to be traumatic to a child and I had always tried to prevent it. Besides, I knew that this was a delicate subject to David and so I decided that the better thing to do was to calm him down. Besides, he was too nervous and edgy. The way he was talking to me… He had never been that way before. Never. Yeah, I had to calm him down.

"David, our divorce isn't official yet. You know we're still in the statutory minimum waiting period. And I'm definitively not looking for anyone else. I'm not. I don't want anyone else. Especially a vampire. Eric is my friend. That's just it."

"Friend," he mumbled.

"Yes, my friend. I saved his life once in Rhodes and he wants to reciprocate the favor, that's all". Okay, not completely true, but not a lie either. I had become pretty good at contouring the inconvenient truths in the last few years.

"You said the guy was married to you Sookie. He'll probably want to do … things to you… Drink and stuff." I could tell his problem wasn't the "drink" part. It was the "stuff" part. And I knew that by "stuff", he meant sex. What was it with men and sex? Was it the only thing they could think of?

"David, that marriage is ancient history and it was just a political move. There was no honeymoon or wedding night or anything like that. I left to Tennessee just a couple of weeks after that. I just handed him a knife for Christ's sake. And that was it. That same night, I left alone to my house. I slept alone in my house. Alone, David. I just saw Eric once after that and just for ten minutes to tell him I was leaving Louisiana. Trust me: the marriage was just a political move."

Still: no lie there. We hadn't had any honeymoon. We hadn't had any wedding night. We really hadn't consummated our so-called marriage. Well, not until two weeks ago. But you can hardly call a wedding night to a couple having sex, almost a decade after their supposed marriage. Besides, just the whole "marriage" concept… I had handed him a knife, for crying out loud. It was just ornamented (and somewhat symbolic) silverware. Nothing more. Jesus! Damn the whole knife itself.

"I trust you. It's him I don't trust." Thankfully, David seemed to be calming down again.

"David, listen to me. I'll just ask for his help. I want to keep our daughter safe and he can help me with that. And I don't even know if he's the one who is coming here. He might send some weres. Or he'll probably send some other vamp. Maybe a woman. Hey, maybe Pam."

"You sure?"

"No. It's like I said: I don't know. I'm asking the guy's help. I won't be picky. But even if he's the one to come to Tennessee, he won't sleep here. Our house isn't light proof."

Yes, David definitively seemed to calm down. Especially after this new piece of information. The "he won't sleep here" part of the sentence.

"And can you trust him? Won't he bite Elizabeth?"

"Oh, for crying out loud David. Do you think I would let him? And I do trust him. Let's…" I sighed, "Let's just ask his help for a few more weeks. In a month or so, if nothing happens, then he or his people can leave. You know I've been trying to contact Claudine and Claude. As soon as either of them calls back, they'll be able to help us figure this all out. Meanwhile, Eric or his people will keep us safe."

He nodded, grabbed some clothes and other items that he had brought back and left. I saw him talking to one guy from the window and they both left. My bodyguard was being dismissed. I changed and went to the restaurant.

Since our separation, David and I had almost completely opposite working schedules. We hardly ever saw each other at Brown's. It was hard to work that way, but it was better for us. Besides, we trusted our staff.

Later that day, I went to pick Lizzie after her swimming lesson. When we got home, I sat with her and started to explain her that her daddy wasn't staying with us anymore, but that we would meet someone new to keep us company.

"Will daddy stay away forever?"

"No sweetie. That's not it. Daddy will come have dinner with us every Wednesday and you will be staying at daddy's two weekends a month like before. He just won't be sleeping here, that's all."

"Why?"

"You know why Liz. We've talked about it. Daddy has his own house now. You remember the apartment, right? The one with the all-pink bedroom for you."

"Yes," her voice was sad. It broke my heart.

"You okay baby?" I hated to see my daughter suffer.

But she didn't answer me. Instead, she just asked: "Can we have pizza tonight?" So yes, she was okay. Better than okay actually. She was already using my worries against me.

"You know you can only eat pizza on your daddy's weekends Elizabeth. Didn't you have pizza last saturday with your father?"

"But please mom, please." I couldn't resist her. She owed me.

"Alright. But that's an exception."

"Thank you mom, thank you mom, thank you mom." She said starting jumping up and down on the couch.

"Lizzie: how many times do I have to tell you? No jumping on beds or couches."

"Sorry mom," she answered me and left running up the stairs.

I called the pizza place and then started ironing. I was half way through some sheets when my phone rang. Eric. He always called at the same time. Right after sun set.

"Hi."

"Hello Sookie. How was your day?" Every time he called me Sookie and not "lover" or "dear one" I felt sad. But I knew it was better this way. Way better this way. I couldn't imagine David hearing Eric calling me lover. Not anymore. Especially not after our last conversation. We sure were far away from the "I trust you" in our beginning, when I had said Eric's name in my sleep and David just didn't care because he trusted and loved me. Yes, it was way better that Eric just called me Sookie. But, even thought I knew that, I couldn't help feeling sad.

"Just like every other. And yours?"

"I spent my day sleeping. And my night yesterday was uneventful too." Oh, right. Dah!

"Yeah. Sorry. I always forget." Somehow I always thought of Eric as a person rather than a vampire, because for me he was 'Eric, the vampire' and not 'the vampire Eric'. You can see the difference, right?

"You always do," he answered.

"Listen Eric, I'm very glad you called..."

"I'm glad too," he said cutting short my sentence, "but I always call." That was Eric alright. He had always taken things literally. Too literally.

"Yes, I know, I meant: I have something to tell you. Well, to ask you. Actually, it's a favor."

"Yes?"

"Well, David's friends are starting to feel that maybe this threat isn't as dangerous as we are thinking and…"

"But it is," he interrupted me.

"I know. And this time I don't want to risk anything. So I was wondering if you could send someone to spend the night with us. I think that Lizzie's all right at school and so am I at the restaurant but at night I feel that…"

"No. That's not happening."

"Oh." Okay. Huge mistake here. When I had told David that he should stay at his home it had never crossed my mind that Eric wouldn't send someone. He was always offering his help on the phone whenever he called me. And that was every night. I had thought he was worried about me. Oh my…

I was already imagining in my mind how I'd ever ask David to come to the office room's sofa bed again when Eric continued talking: "Both you and your daughter will have someone with you during the day too, starting tomorrow. I'll see to it." I immediately felt better and safer. Eric was seeing to it. All would be alright. "And I will stay with you at night."

He would? I thought about the last time he had been at my house and how we had ended making love in my living room. And now… he was coming back? I both loved and dreaded the idea. I loved it because Eric would come back and I loved him. And I dreaded the idea for exactly the same reason.

Besides, I didn't know if I deserved this kind of help from him. Well, actually, I knew that I didn't deserve all this. And so, without even knowing what I was saying, I mumbled: "Eric, thank you, but you don't have to come here yourself if you are needed in Louisiana or if you don't want to. I'll understa…"

"Sookie, enough," he interrupted me, "there is no more talk about it. And you do not get to say anything else on this matter. I have decided already. I am leaving to Tennessee tonight."

So? What do you think about all this? Sookie saying that she loves him and him shutting up was pretty hard, right? And what about David? Anyway, Eric's going to Tennessee again! How will Sookie and Eric behave when they see each other again? And how will David react to Eric (and vice-versa)? :-) Oh, and what about Lizzie? I don't have kids but I tried to have her behaving/speaking like a 5-yrs old would... I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Célia

"Real Life" is a single by American Rock band Bon Jovi, released in 1999. It is taken from the soundtrack of the film EDtv with Matthew McConaughey.