I made my way into the kitchen having heard Sookie and Amelia long before even entering. Sookie kept telling Amelia to be quiet, even as she herself burst into giggles. She was also repeating the word 'surprise.' It sounded as if Amelia may have been trying to attempt to work on whispering with Sookie although it appeared that the lesson was not taking. Regardless of their whispering, I still would have been able to hear them.

I made my way into the kitchen with Pam on my heels and Sookie had, indeed, been correct. It was quite the surprise! I had grown accustomed to seeing Sookie eat when I arose from my day rest, be it a snack or a full meal depending on the time of day she awakened. Seeing her plate on the table was no surprise. The shock was seeing the two glasses of blood that also sat on the table!

"Surprise!" Sookie yelled the moment she saw us. She had probably practiced the shout as well though she had already proven that was unnecessary.

"What do you have there?" I asked as I walked further into the kitchen.

"Well, I knew you didn't eat food, but you still needed to eat," she said, excitement clear in her voice. "So I made you dinner, or breakfast, or whatever you call it," she added, sounding confused. She did not let her confusion over the term 'meal' she had prepared for us to slow her down though.

"But you drink blood, and I was scared about what I might have to do to get it," She did not allow the little shiver she let out at her own words slow her down either. "Then Amelia said we could buy you some blood so we went out and got some." I took the information that Amelia had taken her out and bought blood to file away for dealing with later. At that moment, Sookie had my full attention.

"And I even helped make it," she said excitedly while she jumped up and down. "Well, 'Melia let me push the buttons on the microwave, but she did the upside down, round and round mixing. I really hope you like it!" she finished, and then started to catch her breath. She had probably taken only one breath throughout her entire monologue.

The excitement that had filled her voice, her face, and her body had slowly begun dissipating. Unfortunately, it took me a few seconds to understand when the answer itself was quite simple. I had not yet thanked her. In fact, I had yet to say anything. I was worried how she had taken my silence as I crossed the kitchen and knelt in front of her. I took her into my arms and whispered a simple, "Thank you," into her ear.

"You haven't even tasted it yet," she told me while she giggled and pulled away.

"No one ever made me breakfast once I became a vampire," I told her. "You have been the first and I thank you."

"No one?" Sookie asked, sounding appalled by the idea.

"No one," I repeated. No one had made me breakfast ever since I was turned. It was not exactly a foreign thought in the world of a vampire, but Sookie seemed to not comprehend it.

"Well, then you really need to try some," she said while she skipped over to the side of the table. She grabbed the bottle meant for me with one hand and had begun to pull it off, but just the word "Careful," from Amelia kept me from having to dive across the table saving Sookie from impending danger. She slowly added a second hand to the bottle and carefully, watching every step, walked it over.

She made it over to me with only having spilled two small drops. My concern was her getting hurt on sharp glass if the bottle dropped and shattered, fortunately that did not happen, at least not until she tried to hold the bottle as I took a drink. That was what I assumed she had tried to do when she shoved the bottle into my face. The glass hit my teeth and I had to open my mouth very wide and swallow very quickly, but I managed to finish the bottle in fewer than ten seconds, which was a record, even for me.

"Did you like it? Did you like it?" she asked when she removed the bottle from my mouth and started to jump up and down again.

"I loved it," I told her while I took the bottle out of her hands and returned it to the table. I would certainly not tell her the truth. The bottled blood tasted like sludge, worse than sludge, or it usually did anyway. Do not be mistaken; I would never choose to drink blood from a bottle, but I would drink down every last drop out of any bottle that Sookie 'made' me.

The bright smile on Sookie's face was a great reward for the tiny lie I told her. Although if I loved it simply because she made it, was it actually a lie? Sure, it tasted like garbage, but I did not lie from the viewpoint that I loved anything Sookie did for me.

I found myself in quite the conundrum.

It was enough that Sookie took her focus off of me and pointed it at Pam, the ecstatic look never having left her face.

"Delicious," Pam told her, managing her own small smile and keeping the disdain out of her voice. "Thank you, Sookie," Pam said while she slowly sipped the sludge disguised as sustenance for vampires.

"I made you breakfast!" she said excitedly.

"That you did," I told her. "Have you eaten your dinner?" She nodded. "Would you like to play with Pam then for a few minutes?" I did not have to ask twice when Sookie took Pam's hand and pulled her from the kitchen.

Amelia left through the other exit while I followed behind her and said, "You removed her from the protection of my house."

"I knew you would have a problem with that," she said as she sighed and turned around.

"Yet you still did it."

"What would you have me do, Eric?" she said while she spun around and faced me. Her anger was something unexpected. "Did you think I would just stay here like a trapped prisoner?"

"I wanted you to take care of Sookie during the day when I could not," I told her while I rethought my entire plan. I could have had some of the waitresses from Fangtasia come over to watch Sookie during the day. My thoughts then went to Ginger on babysitting duty and I realized that would not have been the best plan either.

That was when Amelia said, "So it was just her you wanted to keep trapped here as a prisoner."

That was the absolute last thing I wanted! What I wanted was to keep her safe, but in doing so, or trying to do so, I had hurt her before. Was I repeating my previous mistake? Was my paranoia of keeping her here in order to keep her safe making her feel as if she was a prisoner?

"I would not want either of you to feel as if that was true."

Amelia's face softened at my words or perhaps it was the tone I used, "I want her safe too, Eric. I thought we could work together to make sure she was safe outside the walls of the house."

"She will not be this way forever," I said.

"We all hope that the spell ends, but what if it doesn't? When will we let her out? When she's been this way for six months? A year? Two? None of us would like to believe that this will last more than a few more days, but what if it lasts longer? We have to start working on that possibility as well."

I stayed quiet, not having much to add to the conversation at that moment. Everything Amelia said was true, but how could I protect Sookie from the world? If anyone learned of her current form it would be a disaster, but what if we could not find a way to reverse the curse?

"I met Tray and another wolf from his pack, and we told him that Sookie was my sister. We had protection when we went out, and Tray even bought a child's seat to make Sookie safer in the car. We were safe, Eric, as safe as we could be, and Sookie had a great time. We made it back all safe and sound."

As much as I wanted to, I did not know if I could fault her. If she had asked me whether or not she could take Sookie out beforehand, my answer would have been unequivocally no! I would have never even considered it. I would have ensured that Sookie was safe behind the walls of this house.

However, was that the correct thing to do?

I had witnessed the results of the last time that I had taken it upon myself to ensure Sookie's safety. It left her hurt, me miserable, and honestly, none of us that much safer. That was not something I could repeat. Victor had already commented on the fact that she had not been to Fangtasia recently. That was something I would have to rectify, and the only way that could be done was if Sookie took a trip to Fangtasia. There was no way in hell I would take her there at night. The person whom I would have to depend on to get her there and back safely stared at me, intelligently waiting for me to design the entire plan.

I could not keep Sookie a prisoner. It would break her. Nevertheless, I would do all that I could, and that meant more than two Weres and a witch to ensure she was safe if Amelia took her out. "You will not take her out again until I have arranged more security," I told her as I tried to show as much restraint as I could in my words. The added fact that I had not thrown anything and there were no holes anywhere the room was a testament to my control.

Amelia smiled, but it was a sad one. It was as if she knew that though this might have been in Sookie's best interest, it was not easy for me.

"She will be okay, Eric," she told me, but at that point I was not sure if it was her or me she was truly trying to convince.

"She better be," I told her, and just as with Amelia's last comment, I was not sure if I was talking more to her or me.

I unfortunately had to say good night to Sookie after my conversation with Amelia. I would be gone until past the time she would be asleep and though I would have loved it if she were, indeed, awake when I returned home, I knew that she needed the sleep.

I found her in Pam's room and I was shocked with what I found there. Pam had allowed Sookie to wear a pair of her shoes! They were only a few sizes too big, of course. "Look, Eric," Sookie said when she saw me. "I'm playing dress-up."

"Could we play dress-up in some flatter shoes?" I asked, catching her before she could fall.

"Where would be the fun in that?" my troublemaking child asked.

"Yeah! That's no fun!" Sookie said even as she tripped again in the high heels.

"It would be safer," I explained, or I tried to anyway.

"Safer, schmwafer," Sookie said as her hand rose and she waved it quickly in a sarcastic motion. I was not sure what she meant by the term 'schmwafer,' but I could not keep the smile off my face. I also knew that I would not be able to talk her out of those high heels. My child might have just created a monster with her influence.

"I hope you have a good time while continuing to play," I told her.

"You have to leave," she said, and she no longer smiled.

"Yes," I replied, not giving her one of the reasons that I had to leave. I did not want to raise her hopes if things did not work out.

"Will you check on me again when you get back?" she asked.

"I will, but if you have fallen asleep, I will not wake you," She looked as if she was about to argue but I told her, "You need sleep to grow big and strong," I mentally added that having the curse reversed would accomplish the same thing.

I was surprised when that seemed to appease her. She came over, gave me a hug, and then gave me a kiss on my cheek.

"Be careful," she told me, and shook her finger in my face.

"Nothing will ever prevent me from coming home to you."

"Not even your bosses?"

"Not even them."

She nodded at that and wished me another goodnight. Pam would be staying home as well and as long as nothing else occurred that needed her attention. She wanted the time with Sookie, but I knew she also wanted the time with Amelia, which was something that I did not understand, but I would not begrudge my child that.

Not yet anyway.

Once I left my house, I called Thalia whom I knew would be at Fangtasia that night. She made a point to be there when Pam and I were not, knowing that we needed to ensure any information there was safe and that Victor was never alone there. Having said that, it was a large sacrifice for the female vampire who usually preferred to be alone. It said a great deal that she was spending so much more time at Fangtasia with other vampires. And humans. And she was not killing them. That might have been the most surprising fact of all.

"When Victor shows," I said when knowing it would not be a question of if, "let him know that I will be completing Area business and I will be at the club in a few hours."

"Should I wait until he comes in to tell him or make sure he knows before?" she asked and I knew what her words meant.

"She is there?" I asked, speaking of the spy I knew was reporting to Victor. She had applied to move to Area Five mere days before the takeover.

"Ensure that he knows beforehand, but be certain to tell him once he arrives." It would do us little good if Victor realized that we knew he had a spy amongst us. He would stop accepting the information we fed him and would send another. With all the new vampires coming into the Area, it would have been difficult to determine the new spy.

"Done," Thalia said, and I knew telling her would ensure that. She asked if there was anything else I needed. When I told her there was not, she hung up having reached her word limit. That left me to take care of my Area business.

I was on my way to speak with Jason Stackhouse.

I did not know how to accurately describe what I felt at the instinct. I might have said fear, but it was not the fear of actually discussing something with Jason. If there was fear at all, it was fear for the situation, the fear of speaking with Jason meant that I believed there was a chance that this could not be resolved quickly, the fear of what meeting her adult brother could do to the child Sookie whom I had been with over the past few days. The situation had been going well within the circumstances, but this might be exactly what could cause an implosion.

I went to Stackhouse's house first, but it would be a lie if I said that I expected him to actually be there. Part of me was most likely trying to delay the conversation, yet when I saw his car in the driveway and only heard one heartbeat coming from the house, I knew that there would be no delay.

There would be no delay as soon as I walked up to the door and knocked, which was what I did after I spent a few minutes considering what I would tell him.

To say he was shocked when he answered the door and saw me standing there would be quite the understatement. After a few seconds, his confusion turned to worry when he looked around and discovered that his sister had not accompanied me. He responded to that finding much as Merlotte had. "What've you done with my sister?"

I ignored his words, well, at best; I tried. I could not fault where his thoughts had gone and that was something that damn near killed me.

"She is unhurt," I told him. That would be the first thing that I would want to know if I was concerned with anyone in my family. That included Sookie.

"Really?" he said with concern in his voice. That did not last when he then said, "I wouldn't say she wasn't hurt the last time I seen her." His eyes held the bite he could not get in his voice, not with the concern that was still present.

I was done with the blame everyone had been placing on me, however well-deserved. I could only change the future; the past was not something that I could touch. "She was so hurt that you left your laundry at her house?" I asked, and he had enough decency to look ashamed at my words. I just hoped the look on my face did not match the look upon his.

"She ain't ever said not to," he told me while his hand came up and rubbed the back of his head. He had a sheepish look on his face, but that started to fade as anger replaced it. I needed to end this. The two of us tearing into each other would not accomplish anything, nothing that would have benefitted Sookie. It would have made both of us feel better, but, in the end, that would not have been enough to sustain us through the situation.

Hell, Jason did not even know what was happening.

"Perhaps we should discuss this inside?" I asked. "Please?" I added, hoping to make sure he understood I was not simply asking for comfort. He nodded and simply walked in through the house, not turning around until he heard me say, "I have to be invited." Even then, he turned briefly just to say, "C'mon in," while he continued to walk into his house.

"Sookie would like to see you," I started.

"Well, then, where's she at?" he asked.

"My house."

"If she wanted to see me, how she come she's not with you?"

"She cannot," I answered him.

"You just said she was fine!"

"She is unhurt, but she was left unable to come and visit you. I needed to ask if you would come and visit her. It would be more than a visit, in fact." I explained to him that I would take him to my house, but that he would have to stay there with his sister for the foreseeable future. "You could be captured, glamoured, or used against Sookie. That would be something that Sookie would not want. If you agree, tomorrow I will come and take you to your sister, but you must remain there until all can be settled."

"Why tomorrow?" he asked. I was not surprised that was his focus of the conversation. It was the easiest information to grasp. "I wanna see Sook tonight."

"To ensure that you have time to think things over and make sure that this, staying at my house indefinitely, would be something with which you feel secure. I also have every intention of being positive in having a way to transport you to my house that will not endanger your sister."

"I would never put my sister in danger!" he yelled, thinking that I was accusing him of having done just that.

"So do you not want to make certain that every precaution has been met before you reunite with her?" The look on his face demonstrated that he did not understand my words. I gave an internal sigh and said, "We need to take every precaution to make certain your sister stays safe. I needed tonight to ensure that."

"But tomorrow you'll take me to my sister?"

"I will, but you cannot tell anyone that you have met with me or will be seeing your sister," I was placing a great deal of faith in Jason Stackhouse. I was relying on the fact that I knew he loved his sister and would want to keep her safe. Those were only things we would ever have in common.

"An' I'll see Sookie tomorrow?" That was where he had chosen to place his focus. I just hoped that everything else was understood. I nodded and he told me, "Then we got us a deal."

"I will see you tomorrow night then," I told him, and then I made my way out of his house.

That discussion had been the easiest part of my evening, excluding any part that dealt with Sookie. I was about to leave for Fangtasia when my phone rang. Looking at the number, I recognized it as one of the many that Cataliades used. I quickly answered the call, relieved that he had been finally able to reach me.

At his words, the relief left me just as quickly when he said, "We have a problem."

Hello dear readers. I do hope you are having a good weekend. I also hope you have enjoyed this chapter. I wonder what information Cataliades may have ;) Many thanks to MsBuffy for her help with this one!