"Oh shit!" I howl, jumping out of bed at 11:00. I haven't slept like that in a long time. But I'm due at work in 15 minutes, and I didn't call Sam yesterday. He's gonna be madder than a one-eared alley cat.
I'm amazed E.J. didn't wake me up, but he's still sawing logs in his crib. This is what happens when you keep a small child up all night. I grab my black shorts and tshirt and run into the bathroom. Emerging five minutes later, I get E.J. up. He likes to put on his own shirts, so it takes a frustrating minute. On the bed, there's a note.
I put E.J. down and walk over and grab it off Eric's pillow. I don't like notes anymore.
I'm in the cubby. I'll wake up as early as I can. I can't wait to see you and E.J. again. If I could have stayed up all day, I would have. I love you so much. See you this evening.
Eric
Now that's my kind of note. I carry E.J. down the stairs.
He stops cold. "Daddy?"
It seems like a dream to me too. "Daddy sleeps during the day, but he'll be up when we get home."
"That's silly." We're all silly I guess.
"Where's Daddy?"
I point to the armoire.
E.J. immediately starts banging on it.
"No! No, baby, Daddy gets very sick if he doesn't sleep during the day."
He gives me a look like I must be lying, and starts to whine. At least he wants to see Eric, that's good news.
I run into the kitchen, grab some snacks for him, and we're out the door.
I ring Arlene and Terry's door. "Sam's gonna kill you", Arlene announces, opening the door, and taking E.J. from me. "Maybe not, he always let you get away with murder."
Terry takes E.J. from her. "Bad night", he whispers, "Hormones, I think she may be pregnant again, honestly."
"Oh my God, another one?" I frown.
Terry's eyes glaze over. "You'd best get to work, Sookie."
I'm about to say I'm sorry when he closes the door.
That was unchristian of me, and downright ugly. It was born from pure jealousy. I'll never be pregnant again. I'll never give Eric another baby. I need to stop whining, I have a beautiful child, and a husband returned from the dead. My life is perfect.
"Nice of you to come to work", Sam yells when I come through the door.
"I'm sorry, Sam, I have a really good excuse."
"And what's your excuse for not coming in, and not calling yesterday?"
"Eric is back."
Dead silence.
"Cher, he's dead", Sam says, in that voice everyone has used around me for years. That "don't shock her, she could go off her rocker" tone.
"He is, Sam, Lafayette put me back in the dream, and I saved him. That's what we've been working on all this time! Didn't he tell you?" I ask.
"Lafayette will be in tonight at 9. And I fully intend on askin him. And if he gives me the answer I expect, you're getting help, Sook. I'll pay for it myself."
"You can't make me mad today, Sam Merlotte. Nothing can."
I put on my apron fast, and run out to take an order.
Holly motions me over. "I did your side work for you, Sookie."
"I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you", I tell her.
"Tell me what you're talking about", she whispers, "Did you and Lafayette really…raise the dead?"
"Yes", I say, beaming, "Eric is just fine."
She mouths "wow." I get to work. I have something to look forward to, for the first time in years.
I make it up to Holly by doing her sidework for her, so I'm a little late leaving. I'm out the door by 6:30, which Sam knows used to be the schedule I kept him to.
He frowns and throws his dishtowel on the bar as I head out the door.
I drive too fast over to Arlene and Terry's. I can't wait to get home.
Terry opens the door, looking concerned. He hands me a bawling E.J. "I'm sorry, Sookie, he's been talking about his Daddy, that his Daddy is home. I didn't know what to do. I don't want to indulge his fantasies, Sookie, I did it with the men I lost in battle for years. I just tried to nicely explain his Daddy died and isn't coming back. I wondered if everything is okay over there…"
"Oh Terry, you didn't! Eric is back! You'll see him later, I promise." I grab E.J. from his arms.
"Sookie!" Terry shouts as I run from his doorstep to my car. I can't wait to get home.
"I promise, baby, your Daddy is okay. We'll see him in a minute", I whisper against his hair, but he's not havin it and is sobbing. I tuck him into his seat. "Momma is making you a promise. A promise that Daddy is home waiting for us." He nods, but I can tell he's not sure if he believes me.
Filled with joy and expectation, I walk up the stairs, unlock the door, and carry E.J. inside.
"Eric, you up?" It's full dark outside, he should be.
He's in the kitchen, pacing. He looks up with a combination of anger and relief.
"Where have you been?" he growls.
E.J. isn't sure he likes his tone, and buries his face in my shoulder. I'm not sure I like it either.
"Picking up E.J. What's wrong?"
"I expected to wake up and find you and E.J. here. I was worried sick, do you understand that!"
"I'm sorry", I say. "We're here now. Have you been up long?"
"Half an hour", he says, "Thirty terrified minutes."
"Baby, I'm sorry…" I move toward him, but he won't let me touch him.
"You didn't even leave a note!" Eric yells. "I have enemies, Sookie. Enemies who aren't going to be happy to find out I'm back. I don't even know who the new sheriff of area 5 is. If I lost you…"
"You're not going to lose us. I'm sorry, E.J. was at Terry and Arlene's."
"What's he doing at Terry and Arlene's?"
"I was at work of course! Sometimes they watch him, sometimes Jason…"
"You should not be working. We're talking about this, and soon."
I'm about to shout, but E.J. buries his head in my chest and wails.
"It's okay, baby, look, Daddy is awake, and he's just fine, see?"
"Why would he think I wasn't fine?"
Shit. "Because…Terry told him you were dead."
He growls, "Something is going on here and I want to know what, we're going to talk about this."
"Dammit…"
"Shhhh, later." Eric walks over to me and takes us both in his arms. He kisses my cheek. "I love you. We'll talk about it later."
"I love you too." God, I ached to say that for so long.
He kisses my forehead, then my lips. "Sookie…" He pulls me into a deeper kiss, then steps back and holds out his arms for E.J.
E.J. thinks about it a second, and then reaches for Eric.
Eric takes him, tucks his son under his chin, and sways him back and forth, kissing the top of his head, and inhaling.
"Our son smells delectable", he says.
"Eric!"
"He does. I meant to mention it last night. He smells like baby, which is yummy by itself, but then…"
"Don't say it, please don't say it", I beg.
"I can't say for certain", he says. "All I know is he smells like every dessert a vampire could ever want rolled into one."
"Oh my God."
"It's true." He goes back to sniffing the top of E.J.'s head, then takes his little hand, and plants a kiss on it.
"It can't be." I say, "If he was like me, I'd know. He's old enough that we could communicate with thoughts by now, and I've never heard a peep."
"I don't know what it is. I don't recognize it." Eric continues to sway him back and forth, cuddling him. "l will protect you and your Momma with my life. You're everything that ever mattered or ever will."
"Everytin?"
"Everything. I love you, buddy."
"Loves you", E.J. answers.
"You wanna play with Taffy?"
E.J. squirms to get down, and I open the back porch door and let the kitty in.
E.J. runs after him.
"That accent", Eric wrinkles up his nose in disgust. "My son sounds like redneck."
"No joking, Eric, do you think he's in danger? If someone…smelled him?"
"I don't know", he says. "If the wrong person came across him, yes, he might be. But there's no reason to believe anyone will."
"Do you know why he smells that way?"
"I don't", he says, pulling me into his arms. "For now, he's only around humans. Unless Bill is a more regular visitor than I think?" he quips.
"Dammit! No!"
"Just asking." With a wink, he follows E.J. into the living room. "I want you both to stick close until I know what's happening."
E.J. chases Taffy through the living room, I hear a ball thrown against the wall, Eric's rare laughter, and then E.J. runs back into the kitchen. "Can we not break things please?" I ask.
"Daddy say I smell de-wi-cious", he informs me.
"What the f…Eriiiccc!"
Eric comes into the kitchen, smoothing his hair back, and just looking at me.
"Yes?"
"Did you tell our son he smells delicious?"
Holding a straight face isn't working, so he throws back his head and laughs.
This is not happening. I am not discussing how my son would taste with my vampire husband.
"I did", Eric says, "And I'm the luckiest man in the world. I get to protect the two most delicious people in the world." He pulls me into a kiss. "I wouldn't mind a sip of his Momma."
"Eric, you are so awful."
"I can't change everything about myself in a day." Eric is, well, what my Gran would call a stinker.
I stick my tongue out at him.
"Come here, the two of you."
We go into the living room and E.J. howls with laughter as Eric tosses him in the air. He sits down, cuddling E.J. and holds out his hand to me. He pulls me onto his lap.
"Do you have any idea how much I love you?" Eric asks.
"Luvs you", E.J. says.
"Can I have a kiss?" Eric asks.
E.J. leans in "mmwauh."
"And one from you, madam, if you don't mind."
I give him a chaste peck like E.J. did.
"Grrr, later", Eric swears.
I'm relaxed and snuggling, when I see Eric holding onto E.J's shirt with an iron fist.
"You're more worried about this than you're saying."
"No, don't jump at shadows, Sookie", he answers.
"Can you protect him?"
"If I can't, no one can", he says.
I'm about to say how little that reassures me, but I know it's the simple truth.
"What do you want to do before bed time?" I ask E.J.
"Ice Cweam!"
"Ice cream. I'll go…"
"No, no, I got him", Eric says. A thousand years has turned Eric from a playboy Viking prince with no moral center, to the perfect husband, to the perfect father.
A part of my son still doesn't trust Eric, and is skittish. It will take a while. But he'll look in Eric's eyes, the same brilliant blue, and just stare. Stare and stare. Like there's something there that he can't look away from. I would swear some part of him knows, understands on a level beyond the language capabilities of his age.
Eric picks him up and carries him into the kitchen. Eric cuddles E.J. against him, completely entranced, a sanguine smile on his face as he presses a cool cheek against his warm child.
E.J. looks his father right in the eyes….and sneezes. Then he rubs his nose on Eric's Diesel t-shirt, the gray one with a black graphic print he had on the day he tried to intimidate me into letting him in when Russell's wolves were stalking me. I remember it quite well. Nothing makes me happier than a $300 t-shirt with snot on it.
"Ba ha!" I laugh. I get up to get a Kleenex. "Sorry. What do we say, we say, we need a Kleenex right? We don't wipe our noses on shirts?"
"Need keenix, Momma", E.J.
"Late, but you got it right." I can only imagine the look on Old Eric's face if a kid, a "teacup human", sneezed on him. Instead, he takes the tissue from me, holds it to E.J.'s nose and says, "blow", which E.J. does. He doesn't even seem to mind the wet tissue, throwing it away, and getting another. "One more time." E.J. blows his nose again.
"He's not getting sick is he? Does he get sick? He's healthy isn't he? Sookie answer me!" He's a bit frantic.
"Eric, for goodness sakes, calm down. He's very healthy. Even if he got a cold, it's not the Dark Ages,he'll be fine. But I suspect it's the freezer irritating his nose", I say, get the ice cream and close the freezer door.
"Oh."
"It's okay. I did the same thing at first. He's fine."
"Stwabewwy", E.J. says, reaching for the ice cream.
"Now that he got from me", I say, grinning, putting it down on the counter, and getting out two bowls. "Strawberry for two."
"Daddy?"
Eric pulls him close. "Daddy doesn't eat ice cream", he says. "I'll explain it when you're older."
I scoop two bowls of ice cream, and Eric snuggles us both on the sofa. This is heaven. Things like this don't happen to me.
E.J. insists on trying to eat it by himself, and of course, winds up wearing half of it.
Eric tries to help. "No, Daddy."
"Did you get any in your belly?" Eric asks, poking E.J. in the belly.
E.J. erupts in laughter. "You're funny, Daddy."
Eric turns to me. "Wow, I'm funny now. I've never been funny before."
"Oh you've been funny, you just didn't know it."
"Oh really?" he asks, and starts tickling me mercilessly. I'm so happy. Please, please…let it be.
E.J. teeters, then crawls onto Eric's lap and curls up.
"Someone is sleepy", I say.
"Nooo", E.J. whines. He doesn't want to miss anything.
Eric picks him up in strong arms like my son weighs as much as a dollar bill. "Just rest your eyes", Eric says, carrying him up the stairs.
"Nooo. Momma!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming." I kiss him mid-stair. I follow them up.
"Ducks or clouds?" I ask.
"Ducks", E.J. says, a little tear rolling down his cheek. He wipes it away himself.
"Oh my sweet baby, don't cry please, you're not going to be alone, Momma and Daddy are going to bed soon."
Eric looks perplexed, then makes an "ohh" motion with his mouth, as I pull out little flannel pajamas with ducks on them.
I dress him quickly, hand him Bunny, and stand over the crib, stroking his arm. "No, Momma", he insists, but seconds later, his eyes droop.
"He loves you, Sookie, he…worships you. I feel how much he loves you pouring off him. It's beautiful", Eric says.
I put my arm around him.
"I also get a sense of loneliness", Eric adds, concerned, "Desperation for you, like he misses you terribly."
"Eric, Eric!" I grab his arm and shake him.
"What? What's wrong with you?"
"Just like I said, I haven't heard a peep. I can't read his mind. I can't read his mind! I never tried, it didn't occur to me until right now. I can't read his mind! What the hell does this mean?"
"I don't know. Can fae read the minds of their offspring?"
"I don't know! I can't imagine why not." I sigh. "Please Jesus, watch over my baby." I'm trying not to cry.
"His earthly father is more dangerous", Eric says pulling me into his arms. True. "I swear on my life, nothing will happen to him."
"Eric." I cuddle closer and try to disappear in his arms.
He takes a deep breath. "There's something I haven't addressed since yesterday", he says.
I look up. "I'm starving." His fangs snap out. "And it's not ice cream I want."