Unspoken Feelings
A/N: Thanks for your amazing response to this new story, guys! I really appreciate it, and can't wait to read your future reviews as you watch the characters grow! I'm planning on updating every Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. It mostly depends on my work schedule, but I'll do my best to stick to Tuesday nights so you aren't checking your emails too often.
Also, please keep in mind that I'm back to self-editing. Anyone that followed me from Catalyst has seen the results of doing my own editing. It's not terrible, but it could always be better. Anyway, with all that out of the way- please enjoy!
-Andi
Chapter Two: First Steps Toward Forgiveness
"You made a friend!" Adele crowed excitedly all through the night. "And you are going to be riding with her to school in the morning? That's fantastic, Sookie! Jason, maybe they can give you a ride too?"
Jason paused before smiling, "Actually, I got a raise at work, so I'll be able to start driving Bill and me to school again."
"Why don't you drop your sister off at Rosenfont in the morning then? Save her that walk-"
Sookie shook her head violently at the suggestion and scrambled for her notebook. "I like to walk," she insisted by underlining the words three times.
"Alright, alright," Adele sighed. How she wished Sookie and Jason could get along.
{†}
Sookie turned several times in front of her mirror the next morning. Pam had looked so beautiful yesterday, and Sookie didn't want to embarrass her when they got out of the car at school. It must be hard being the new kid, and she didn't want to handicap Pam on her first day of making friends. Maybe if she didn't get in the way, Pam would still talk to her every so often after she met everyone else and made real friends.
"You look lovely, Dear," Adele smiled as she peeked into Sookie's room. "Are you going to wear those shoes?" She pointed at Sookie's white Keds. "It gives you a very youthful look."
Youthful, Sookie faltered. She'd be seeing Eric today too. What if he saw the way she was dressed and thought she looked childish? What does it matter? He just sees me as the girl who is helping his sister, Sookie reminded herself and didn't bother trying to search for a different pair of shoes.
Picking up her book bag, Sookie kissed her gran goodbye and began her six-minute walk up the road. Halfway there, the impulse to run the rest of the way got to be too much, and she clung to her shoulder straps as she sprinted up the road.
"Morning, Sookie!" Pam called as Sookie caught her breath walking up the drive. "Jeez, did you run here? You're all red!" she teased. "I'll be ready in a couple of minutes!" With that, Pam darted back up the stairs. Sookie thought for a moment and realized that Pam's window overlooked the driveway. She had seen Sookie coming and ran downstairs to greet her. Wow. Sookie wasn't sure what sort of emotion that realization brought. All she knew was that she liked it.
"Morning, Sookie," Eric waved as he came from the kitchen to the front entryway. "Pam will only be another two hours." Sookie's eyes widened, but Eric laughed, "I'm exaggerating. She takes a lot of pride in her looks. I'd call her vain, but I know her too well." No, it was far more than mere vanity that glued his sister in front of the mirror.
There was a pause in his dialogue as Eric looked Sookie up and down. Sookie squirmed at the attention, turning her toes in subconsciously out of shame for her plain white Keds.
"You look cute today," Eric smiled. Sookie wasn't sure how to take that statement, but she chose to accept it as a compliment. Another first, she thought in bewilderment. A boy called me cute!
An upstairs door slammed shut, and Eric sighed. "Pam, on the other hand, will probably show up in stilettos and a mini skirt. I'll be bashing the guys away from her with a baseball bat all day."
That moment, Pam appeared at the top of the stairs, and Sookie's jaw slung open. In a tight, black skirt just long enough that she wouldn't get thrown out of school, Pam struck the heel of her shoe into each step as if it had offended her on a personal level. Sookie had never seen a woman walk with such conviction. Every stride, every wave of her hips seemed to be a shout of confidence.
"How do I look?" Pam spun for the pair of them once she reached the main floor. Sookie stared in continued disbelief.
"You look like I'll have my hands full keeping the boys off you," Eric grumbled.
"What do you think, Sookie?" Pam asked gently, her eyes bright and beautiful. All Sookie could offer was a nod in agreement with Eric. Did Pam just blush? Sookie wondered.
Everyone grabbed their bags and headed to the car once Pam was satisfied with the reactions she had earned. Pam chose to sit in back with Sookie, telling Eric he was now, officially, their chauffeur. Eric had told her he wanted a special hat if that were the case.
As Eric pulled to the edge of the driveway, Sookie saw Jason's Ranger zip past them, kicking up rocks as an, "AAHHH-OOOOO," howled from the driver's side window.
"Rednecks," Eric grumbled as he worried over his new car's paint job. He hadn't heard any stones ping against his car's finish, but he was determined to check it when they got to school.
Pam looked over Sookie's shoulder as she scribbled in her notebook and snorted, "Apparently that red neck is Sookie's brother, Jason."
Eric grimaced before uttering an apology. Sookie gave him a thumbs up in the rearview mirror, and he smiled. "Why didn't he drive you yesterday?"
Sookie hesitated to reply. Finally, she offered, "He only used it to get to and from work up until yesterday to save on gas."
"So, he took the bus so that he wouldn't have to drive his little sister around?" Eric guessed accurately.
"Rude," Pam grumbled. Sookie gently smiled at her new acquaintance as if she were assuring Pam that she didn't mind her own brother's avoidance of her.
It was a short drive to school, but Pam and Eric's joking nature made Sookie wish that school was further away. She wanted to listen to them poking fun at each other a while longer. The quiet girl wanted to catch Eric's eye in the rearview mirror a few more times. If these memories would have to tide her over until graduation, she wanted a few more of them. In just fifteen short minutes, Eric and Pam would start meeting the other students, and this brief but beautiful experience would have to end.
"Would you like to have afternoon tea with us again, Sookie?" Pam offered. "We could do our homework together afterward." Sookie nodded enthusiastically but was already preparing herself for a cancellation. "If you want… We could do this every day after school."
Eric glanced in the mirror at his sister and noted the soft pink on her cheeks. Sookie grinned and nodded again, but the brother felt a pang in his heart. He wished Pam could read his mind. He would have warned her that her crush was straight. Eric would have tried to explain that Sookie had no idea that Pam was flirting with her.
The rest of the car ride, Pam pressed close to Sookie to read her responses. When they arrived at school, Sookie hopped out first, and then Pam climbed out behind her.
"I hope we have a lot of classes together. Will you show us to the office so we can get all our papers?" Pam gushed, not seeming to notice that the students climbing off the bus were looking at them all in surprise. Though many of them had been made aware that new students would be starting that day, no one had expected them to show up in an expensive car with Crazy Sookie of all people!
Sookie led her new friends to the front office and patiently waited for them to finish up with the vice principal and receive their schedules. Eric was grateful when Sookie pointed out where several of his classes were on their walk to homeroom. She and Pam waved goodbye to Eric before heading to Mrs. Fleure's room.
Pam and Sookie's homeroom teacher paused when she saw the pair walk into her class. The new girl greeted the teacher and specifically asked if she could sit next to Sookie.
Katherine Fleure gawked openly at the new student's request. A realization struck her, and Katherine couldn't help but chuckle. It made complete sense that the new girl would try and warm up to the social outcast. That way, it would be easier to convince Sookie to help her with homework, or perhaps do it for her. This realization eased some of Katherine's concern. After all, what sort of teacher would she be if she had misjudged Sookie Stackhouse?
When the bell rang to begin homeroom announcements, Katherine called Pam up to introduce herself.
"I'm Pam Northman," Pam stated in a rather professionally cold way as if she were used to these sorts of presentations and didn't think much of them. "I've just moved here from New York City with my older brothers." Pam looked at the teacher for some prompting. Every teacher always wanted to know something different, and Pam didn't have the interest to guess or overshare.
"What are some things you enjoy doing?" Katherine asked nicely.
"I enjoy sewing replicas of designer dresses since my allowance prevents me from purchasing the real thing. I like getting my hair and nails done. I hate small talk," Pam finished.
"She's sitting next to the right person, then," a kid in the third row snorted.
"I also like the new friend I made yesterday," Pam gestured to Sookie, making the normally unnoticed girl blush. "After moving around a lot and ending up in a large city the past two years, it was refreshing to make a friend who listens and doesn't just politely smile until it's her turn to talk."
"You'd get better responses from a wall!" Mark Thompson shouted, making the fellow students laugh openly.
"Sookie says plenty!" Pam snapped icily, making the class go silent. The silence only lasted a minute because several students started to giggle at Pam's unconfirmed declaration.
Without bothering to say another word, Pam gracefully swept through the aisle back to her desk. The smile she gave Sookie as she sat down surprised her. Sookie had expected Pam to deflate or feel embarrassed or uncertain. Instead, a cocky smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth as if she had just alienated herself from the rest of the class on purpose.
When homeroom ended, Sookie rose to show Pam to her next class. As they walked out the door, Sookie held out her notebook with a prewritten question, "Why did you do that?"
Pam smiled at her friend, "Because anyone who can't see how awesome you are will never be a friend of mine."
Sookie's eyes widened at Pam's statement, but before she could scribble some weak form of thanks, Pam disappeared into her math class.
"Sookie!" Eric waved from down the hall, and Sookie was not surprised to see a flock of the prettiest teens in all of Bon Temps following him. Even Dawn Green, a girl who frequently chased after Jason, was staggering behind Eric like a lovesick calf. Sookie returned his wave politely as she headed to her class. It wouldn't be good for Eric's newly forming reputation to be seen acting more than courteous toward her. She felt bad enough that Pam had just sabotaged herself. She would hate if Eric did so inadvertently.
At lunchtime, Sookie was excited to have someone sit with her finally. Pam told her about her first four classes, and they went over the second half of the new student's schedule. They were both happy to see they had Short Stories together as well as their Anatomy/Physiology class, but most of Sookie's classes were for Juniors, so she rarely crossed paths with Pam.
Sookie showed Pam the drawings she had done throughout the first half of school, and Pam fawned over them. It was exciting to have someone other than Gran with whom to share her art. Mrs. Talbit, the art teacher, always complimented Sookie's work, but Sookie had a sinking suspicion that the teacher hated all of it. Sookie understood though. There was a giant gap between passion and talent, but drawing was only a hobby for Sookie. There was little passion or talent with which to begin in her case.
For the first time in eight years, Sookie got to know someone. She listened to Pam talk about the different places she and her brothers had grown up. She got to answer questions about the things she liked, and Pam didn't get impatient with having to wait for Sookie to write out the answers. Pam didn't seem annoyed at having to read Sookie's responses.
That funny feeling was building in Sookie's chest again. It was stronger than when Pam had greeted her that morning. This time, she could discern the emotion that made her heart swell and her throat ache. It was affection.
Before Sookie knew it, lunch had ended without her usual trip to the library, and she was walking to English class with Pam.
"Does this school only have one lunch period?" Pam asked curiously. Sookie nodded which made Pam frown. "Huh, I wonder where Eric was?"
{†}
Eric's first day at school was panning out as expected. Girls were practically throwing their underwear at him, and he had to admit it was nothing new. Ever since he had shot up to 6'3" and his proportions evened out, Eric had no issues getting dates. His brother had warned him about leaving a trail of broken hearts across the world, but it was so hard to choose! It was like going to a candy store and being told he could only have one type of candy. Besides, with the constant uprooting his father's career caused, Eric hadn't seen the point of making any commitments to a single girl. They would be separated eventually and would move on with their lives. He figured if there were a girl worth pining for, he would know her when he met her.
"You must be one of the people fixing up Rosenfont, right?" A guy from his Economics class smiled politely. He had a darker blond hair than his own but was a full head shorter than Eric. He didn't seem intimidated by Eric's looks or height which was refreshing. "I'm Jason. I live up the street from you."
Eric's mood transformed upon learning he was talking to Sookie's brother, losing his previous relief at meeting a man that wasn't threatened by him. Managing to keep a pleasant smile on his mouth, Eric accused, "Ah, the one who sped down the road this morning and shot rocks up at my new car. I remember."
Jason flinched before giving an embarrassed laugh, "Sorry about that. I was excited to be driving to school again."
"Now that you have an alternate excuse not to drive your sister?" Eric asked in a no-nonsense drawl. Jason's body tightened slightly, but no outward movement was visible. This relaxed manner of scolding was far too reminiscent of his gran's method, but Jason was not rattled by it coming from a stranger.
Eric was surprised when Jason smirked rather than recoiled at the accusation. "You'll understand after a while spending time with her. You've known her less than a day. I've known Sook her whole life."
"Sisters are a pain in the ass," Eric replied lazily, unaffected by Jason's warning. "There's no getting past that, but I haven't seen a single boy here with a messed up face, or even with his tail tucked between his legs from a brother's fury."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jason demanded.
"It means," Eric sighed, "that even though my sister drives me up the wall, I'd never let someone smash her face into the ground. I might ignore Pam from time to time. I might refuse to drive her around like a chauffeur. Hell, I might shove her into a wall every so often when she gets particularly annoying, but that's my god damned right as her big brother. No one else's." With that, Eric turned toward his next class and left Jason standing in the hallway with students pushing to get past his frozen figure.
Jason's face reddened the more he thought about Eric's accusations, and finally, he began to head to his class. He didn't like the idea an outsider was telling him how to treat his sister. He didn't appreciate that said stranger was also accusing him of being a terrible brother. After all, if the new kid had any idea that Sookie was the reason they were orphans, then he might not be so quick to judge.
Still all through his morning classes, Jason couldn't help but think about the less obvious points of Eric's scolding. Eric picked on his sister. Jason flat out refused to acknowledge Sookie existed. Eric might give his sister a shove from time to time. Jason allowed others to push at Sookie. Jason wondered if he could find some peace if he just let out his frustration from time to time instead of trying to find satisfaction in others doing it. It was possible all his hatred toward Sookie was the result of never letting his feelings out. After all, why couldn't she be annoying and lovable? Why did he find it impossible to accept that she lost her parents too? Why was he determined to believe it was her fault?
The remainder of the morning felt like mud around him. It was slow and unpleasant to sit around wading through the murk. When the lunch bell sounded, Jason went to find Bill as he usually did before heading to the cafeteria. Only, he wasn't alone.
"I've been looking for you all morning," Eric was grinning down at Bill.
"What for?" Bill asked, annoyed to be stopped by the new kid even if he was so much bigger than him.
"I heard you're the one who messed with Sookie Stackhouse yesterday. Scratched and bruised her face."
"She told you that?" Bill snorted.
"No," Eric shook his head, "my sister mentioned it, and it wasn't difficult finding out who gets off the bus with the Stackhouses."
"Everyone messes with Sookie," Bill replied dismissively. "Her brother doesn't even care that we do." Jason felt a jolt of guilt hearing the truth so plainly spoken.
"Then you can be the one to tell everyone that if her brother's not going to do anything about it, I will. Let them know anything they do to her; I'll do to them twice as bad," Eric informed.
"Yeah right-"
Eric grabbed the side of Bill's head and smashed his face into a nearby locker. "Yeah. Right," Eric told him as the younger teen looked up in stunned disbelief. "I'll take it easy on you today because you had no prior warning. That was your warning."
"Eric Northman!" Mrs. Davies, the physics teacher, howled. "Are you fighting!? On your first day!?"
"Yes, M'am," Eric nodded. Mrs. Davies blinked back in surprise.
"Well then… Go to the principal's office!" She pointed down the hall, still astounded by her new student's unrepentant response.
"Yes, M'am," Eric readily agreed. He spent his lunch period writing lines and a formal letter of apology to Bill Compton. The message read like this:
~Dear Bill Compton,
My sincerest apologies for taking it upon myself to settle a personal matter on school property. Please, forgive my abrupt actions here at school, and be assured that it will never happen here again. I would have rather disputed over the treatment of others privately. I guarantee that I will never try to debate with you so publicly ever again.
Sincerely,
Eric Northman~
{†}
Sookie squeezed into the back of Eric's car with Pam and smiled as their driver waited to exit his parking space.
"Where were you during lunch? We didn't see you," Pam commented as she pulled her seatbelt across his chest.
"Principal's office," Eric casually replied as he weaved his way through the parking lot.
"On the first day?" Pam demanded sharply. "Godric's going to kill you."
Eric snorted, "Yeah, sure. I didn't get suspended or anything. It wasn't even really a fight. I just smashed that Compton kid's head against a locker."
"Ooooh," Pam leaned forward excitedly, "did he cry?"
"I'm concerned about how badly you want to hear that he cried," Eric laughed as they started for home.
Pam let loose a cackle that had Sookie thinking she wasn't quite sure what sort of friend she had made. When Pam finished laughing at Bill's expense, she flopped back into her seat and looked at Sookie. "So," she smiled, "want to show us some of your haunts when we finish afternoon tea?" Sookie gave her friend a tentative nod.
Afternoon tea was just as lively today. Godric told them about some of the renovation work he had completed that day. Apparently, he wouldn't be starting his next semester of college until January because he had wanted time to get everyone settled into their new home before getting distracted with school. Sookie had used her notebook to ask what he was studying. When he told her he was studying psychology, he did not miss the way Sookie's body tightened.
"I'm only in my sophomore year of college, Sookie," Godric laughed as they began cleaning up the tea set. "I'm nowhere near being able to analyze anyone."
"Even veterans of the field can't figure me out," Sookie scrawled out and held up for her new friends to see. They all chuckled, and it made Sookie smile. No one else tried making light of her circumstances. Mostly they treated her like a ghost rather than acknowledge it.
"Have you always been unable to talk?" Pam asked curiously.
Sookie shook her head and wrote, "I lost my voice when I was eight. I was in a car accident and then a coma for two weeks following it. When I woke up, I couldn't speak."
"Was there damage to your throat?" Eric asked curiously.
Sookie shook her head again, "They think the brain swelling might have something to do with it. Once the swelling went down, I should have been able to talk again, but I couldn't. Now the psychiatrists think I might have some mental block? They said I should be able to start talking eventually, but don't know when. One said it would happen when I was ready for it to happen."
"What does it feel like when you try to speak?" Pam inquired.
Sookie paused to think a moment. Finally, she decided to give her best shot at describing the feeling. "On a few occasions, I've gotten some sound out, but it's always involuntary. I wasn't trying to talk. When it happens, though, my throat tightens like it's seized up. When I truly try to force out a word, it feels uncomfortable, like what I guess an asthma attack would feel like, and sometimes my face starts to go numb. If I just move my mouth like I'm talking, I don't get that seized up feeling, but if I try and put sound with it, everything goes crazy."
Her new friends read her explanation at different speeds. Godric took the longest, seeming to interpret her description more deeply than his siblings.
"Is there any reason you haven't bothered to learn how to sign?" Pam asks. "Eric knows sign language."
"No one around here uses sign language. It's easier just to write. Besides, I don't usually have so much to say," Sookie confessed, beginning to feel uncomfortable, but also grateful at the same time. They weren't trying to fix her voice. They weren't telling her to fight something she couldn't comprehend.
Sookie remembered how one of her doctors had told Gran not to give into her writing rather than speaking; to not even read a single one of her messages. They had said that maybe if she wanted something badly enough, she'd be able to muscle through the block between her brain and her mouth.
After only two days, Gran had sobbingly read every little note Sookie had made. She said that even though she missed hearing her granddaughter's voice, she couldn't bear to ignore her.
Sookie didn't tell her new friends about that, and the questions about her muteness ebbed into a natural silence as they finished cleaning up from afternoon tea. Finally, all three of them looked excitedly to Sookie, wondering what hidden spot she would show them.
Together, the four of them piled into Godric's jeep, and Sookie would tap Godric's right or left shoulder if he needed to make a turn. It was a simple way to give directions, and soon they were bouncing along back country roads that weren't roads, but places where the grass had been worn down into two dirt lines. It only took about eight minutes to arrive at a small lake whose glossy surface was gently caressed by drooping willow branches. Sookie looked shyly at her new friends and pantomimed casting a line. All three understood that she liked to come here to fish.
"It's very picturesque," Eric commented as they wandered closer to the water. "Wow, that water is a lot clearer than I thought it would be. You can almost see down to the bottom!"
Sookie nodded with a grin, pointing at the fish coasting beneath the water's surface.
"Do you fish often, Sookie?" Godric asked. Sookie nodded brightly. "Maybe the three of us could come here this weekend?" Sookie held up three fingers curiously. "You, me and Eric. Pam would want nothing to do with fishing."
"I could come and just read a magazine or do my nails," Pam pouted, not wanting to be excluded from hanging out with her new friend.
Sookie scrambled to open her notebook, "If we catch anything, we can bring it home to my Gran. She makes amazing fried catfish!"
"That sounds wonderful, but what if we don't catch anything?" Godric laughed.
"She'd still be happy to cook for all of us. Is Sunday okay? We could go after I get home from church," Sookie offered.
"I'm in," Eric agreed.
"Me too," said Godric.
"Me three," Pam raised her hand.
Sookie smiled as they wandered around the old fishing hole, already wishing for the weekend.
{†}
She's sixteen! She's sixteen! She's- Oh, God, look anywhere but her legs! Eric frantically thought as Sookie jogged ahead of him with her fishing pole slung over one shoulder and a tackle box and five-gallon bucket bouncing in her other hand. He and Godric trailed behind with a cooler full of ice, and Eric was appreciative to see her body in motion.
Sookie Stackhouse had legs like a runner. Thick, toned, tan and tempting. In her Daisy Dukes and the flannel shirt that was tied off just above her bellybutton, she looked like she could give Catherine Bach a run for her money. She's sixteen! Eric reminded himself again as she bent down to fill her bucket with some of the lake's water. He and Godric set down the large cooler of ice that Sookie had insisted they needed. Eric immediately stole an ice cube and pressed it against the back of his neck. How am I supposed to stay composed looking at that? He wondered as Sookie's backside tensed with the effort of drawing the full bucket of water back out of the lake.
Mercifully, they were soon all sitting around the edge of the lake, and casting their lines into the water. Pam had brought a folding chair and a recently assigned book they were expected to read for Short Stories. The new student had been disappointed to find it was a story she had already read but decided it was worth a second go.
Sookie noted the giant splash and short distance from the shore that both Godric and Eric had cast. She looked at both men on either side of her and gave her wrist a little flick. Both men flicked their wrists, much sharper than was necessary, and their bobbers skipped over the top of the lake. She smiled to herself as she realized they had little or no experience fishing.
Turning to Godric, Sookie cinched her pole into an old rod anchor a previous fisherman had left intact. She took the oldest brother's fishing pole and quickly reeled it in. Taking his hand in hers, she put the reel back in his hands and helped him recast his line. She demonstrated the proper way to flick the string for slack and then moved on to Eric.
The height difference between herself and Eric made the demonstration far more difficult, and even with Eric crouching down, Sookie still had to press her body flush against his own to fix his cast. As the lesson kept their bodies squeezed together, Eric felt Sookie's breath quicken. He felt her body grow hotter than before. Contemplating their position, Eric was surprised by a sharp tug on the pole that brought him back to reality. He started to crank the reel and began spinning it in. Just as he was about to give a yank, Sookie's hand was there, guiding his speed and strength. In no time, a thick, slippery bluegill broke the surface of the water.
"You caught the first fish!" Eric exclaimed happily.
Sookie smiled brightly and shook her head. "No, you did," she mouthed at him.
Eric's face reddened, before he uttered, "I've never actually caught a fish before."
"I know," Sookie smirked. Taking his catch into her hand, she showed him how to release the hook from the fish's mouth. Eric and Godric both observed her technique. With practiced grace, Sookie held down the bluegill's dorsal fin, pushed the hook back into its throat and with a gentle tilt, the hook released.
"You made that look so easy," Eric commented in awe as she chucked the bluegill into the bucket.
Sookie looked up at Eric with one of her sweet smiles before handing the pole back to him and taking up her own. Quickly, she reeled hers in, changed out her hook to a much larger and intimidating one and speared the bluegill onto her line. Eric watched in admiration and a little disgust as she showed no mercy to the small fish.
In no time, Sookie was reeling in catfish and chucking them into the cooler. Both Godric and Eric could only stand and marvel at her. Their fishing lines managed to pull in nothing other than bluegill, and Sookie took from their catches to bait their actual goal. When Godric finally caught a catfish of his own, he was disappointed when Sookie sympathetically expressed that it was too small to keep.
After a few hours, Pam looked up from her book to stare longingly at Sookie. She was having so much fun with Eric, and it seemed like the only time anyone talked was when they tugged in a fish. For the first time since they met each other, Pam felt like a tag-along. Still, she had no interest in fishing. She'd eat what they caught without any outward complaint, but she'd be damned if she had to put her hands around the disgusting thing while it was still alive!
By the time the afternoon sun began to sink, the group had walked away with five good-sized catfish. The cooler was hoisted proudly into the jeep, and the Northmans along with Sookie climbed in as well. They headed straight to the Stackhouse farm, prepared to meet the matron of Sookie's family.
"Hello!" Adele greeted the Northmans warmly on the porch. "Oh, bless you all, look at all those catfish!" she said as she flipped the lid of the cooler open. "Sookie, be a dear. I had Jason set up the table in the backyard. Why don't you go ahead and clean these."
Sookie nodded as she led Eric and Godric around the house to show them how to clean and filet the catches.
"Why don't you come in here with me, Dear," Adele crooned at Pam. "I think it was sweet of you to go fishing even though it's not your cup of tea. How about you help me in the kitchen instead of watching Sookie gut a bunch of fish!"
Pam felt faint, "No wonder Sookie agreed to dissect my frog for me. She must be knuckle deep in guts all the time!"
Adele chuckled, "Sookie's not faint of heart. She's just…"
"Burdened," Jason finished for his grandmother as he came into the kitchen.
"Burdened?" Pam frowned as Adele looked at her grandson in surprise. For the past eight years, Adele had heard nothing but blame spouting from Jason's lips at Sookie.
"Sook was in the same car crash that killed our parents," Jason told her as he headed toward the back door. "She thinks it was her fault. I helped her keep believing it," he announced without breaking stride.
Adele watched Jason exit the house and practically ran to the kitchen window to watch as her grandson took the knife from Sookie and began precisely explaining what she was doing to prepare the fish. Sookie was looking at her brother with the same astonishment.
"Are you alright, Mrs. Stackhouse?" Pam asked as Adele touched her lips to absorb a sob.
"Excuse me," Adele cleared her throat. "I'm sorry, I've been… praying for the day, he would finally forgive her!" An unbidden tear leaked from the older woman's eye and she quickly brushed it away. "It's not that I blame him for being upset, but I don't know if Sookie can heal without his forgiveness."
Pam paused a moment, "I'm happy for you… and Sookie. I don't know where I'd be if my brothers hated me."
Adele sighed, "Brothers can be difficult. They can make life easier, or they can make life hell."
Pam looked at Adele curiously, but when the older woman didn't explain any further, Pam didn't press on the topic. Instead, the two women got started heating oil and blending seasonings with their breading. The egg wash had a light dusting of salt and pepper, but most of the spices mixed into the flour.
"Here ya go, Gran," Jason called as he came in with a tray of prepared fish. He set it on the counter while grabbing a bar of soap. Bringing the soap bar outside, he, Eric, Godric and Sookie all washed their hands under the outdoor spigot.
Soon the house smelled of frying catfish, and once all the pieces were cooked and cooling on some paper plates, Gran cranked the stove flame to raise the oil temperature further and threw in some freshly cut potatoes.
When Sunday dinner was ready, and they placed each dish on the small dining table, Gran put out the salt and pepper before joining the teens. Gran, Sookie, and Jason all took hands, and the Northman siblings quickly joined in as Adele began to say grace.
"Lord, thank you for the blessings of this table's bounty. Thank you for bringing those who have joined us today to share in your gifts. May our hearts and stomachs always remain full. Amen."
"Amen," Jason and the Northmans chorused. At last, it was time for conversations and delicious food.
"When Sookie asked me about having you over for Sunday dinner, I realized something," Adele addressed Godric.
"What's that, M'am?" Godric asked.
"Do you three have anywhere to go for Thanksgiving?" Adele asked.
Godric shrugged, "I figured we'd just have a small dinner with just the three of us."
"Well, if you'd like, you are all welcome to come here for Thanksgiving dinner," Adele offered. "It's a real pleasure having everyone gathered around the table. My daughter and granddaughter will be here as well."
"Aunt Linda and her daughter Hadley," Jason whispered to Pam who sat next to him. "Hadley's a junkie-"
"Jason Stackhouse!" Adele interrupted him sternly.
"Hey, I'm just preparing them," Jason said unrepentantly. "Last Christmas she shot up in your bathroom and passed out on your bed. I don't think that's something you should avoid telling your guests."
"Even still, it is not appropriate dinner conversation," Adele chastised, a bit more subdued this time.
There was a small silence after the exchange, but Eric broke the elevating tension, "Sookie can really fish! I think our father took us once when Godric and I were kids."
"I've only gone twice with our father, but I remember Grandpa took me a couple of times when we visited for the holidays," Godric thoughtfully said as he tried to remember back to when Grandpa Beauchéne was still alive. "He passed away when Eric was three, so they never went together. Our father came with me once with Grandpa. I think Eric was about seven when the three of us went together."
"It doesn't sound like you ever spent much time with your father's side of the family," Adele commented carefully.
"Our father's mother abandoned him when he was a small child," Pam explained. "We have an aunt, but she ran away from her foster family, and they never saw each other again. As soon as our father turned eighteen, he joined the United States Air Force and never looked back. When they stationed him at Barksdale, he met our mom while she was at University. They knew each other two months before his transfer overseas. Mom dropped out of college, they got married, and she went with him all over the world."
"Sounds like a love story," Gran sighed.
"They loved each other very much," Godric agreed, but there was a definite bitterness behind his eyes.
Sookie saw that bitter sadness and wished that she could somehow ease it. For all of them.
TBC
A/N: PLEASE REMEMBER TO REVIEW!