Thyra Dane

A/N:

*Sniff* This is the final chapter to the tale of Scandinavian Eric and American Sookie. I`m so very grateful to all of you for reading and for all the amazing reviews this story has received.

I`m also very grateful to Suki59 for going through this with her fine tooth comb. She is a great beta!

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SPOV

I was exhausted when I finally picked my suitcases from the conveyor belt. It had been a long flight, I was pregnant – and very much so – but what really made me want to crawl into a stall at the airport bathroom and stay there, was the big decision I`d made.

I`d packed everything in my apartment and either stuffed it into one of the three suitcases I was carrying or shipped. Well, I wasn`t carrying my suitcases as much as laying all my – now considerable – weight behind the cart I`d retrieved and pushing them forward.

Forward to meet Eric.

I knew I was doing the right thing. I loved Eric and love conquers all, right?

But I`d loved Bill too – that was what that nagging little voice kept saying. I`d loved Bill and he`d ended up betraying me and then beating me up.

I stroked my stomach.

And now I was having a child and moving to a strange country and into the life of a new man. A man I loved, yes, but also a man I hardly knew.

I took a deep breath and rolled all my suitcases and knick knacks out through customs and to the man waiting outside.

Eric practically jumped me when he saw me. He lifted me up and hugged me so close I was afraid my water would break. And then he lifted me even higher and said “Hi,” to the baby.

He let me slide a little down in his arms and gave me a deep kiss. After the kiss he snuggled into my neck.

“I`ve missed you so much, Sookie.”

He didn`t let me down on my own two feet until someone coughed behind me. We`d created a huge line of people who wanted to get out of customs to their own lives, their own lovers, their own … decisions.

We had an awkward moment where Eric didn`t take over the cart and I certainly wasn`t expecting to push it – Scandinavian men in a nutshell, I presumed – and then I was walking next to him and my three suitcases to my new home country.

“I only packed my clothes, some personal belongings and a few books,” I said, nodding at the suitcases. “The rest will come later.”

I wondered how I was going to cram everything into Eric`s tiny apartment but hoped we`d managed to buy a larger one before the baby arrived. Our housing situation was something we hadn`t discussed. Actually we hadn`t discussed much of our future apart from when I was going to come and at what time Eric would pick me up.

“Great,” Eric said but I could probably have told him I`d burned everything and he would have given me the same reply. His mind was elsewhere.

We got in the car and I may have dozed off because when the car stopped we weren`t at Eric`s apartment but outside a red brick house. I wiped off the drool from my chin (yes, I may have been in deep sleep – I was pregnant, sue me) and looked at Eric.

First I didn`t understand the Cheshire cat smile on his face but then it dawned on me.

“Why are we here, Eric?” My voice was a bit angrier than I`d intended.

“Come in and see it,” he said.

“You arranged for us to look at houses the day I landed?” I asked though I knew this was not the case.

“No, Sookie,” Eric grinned. Eric was 13 years younger than I but right now he looked like a little kid. And I probably looked like his angry old aunt.

He pulled me out of the car and inside the house. It was a lovely house but I could not see it. I was tired and I was mad. How could he have bought a house without me? Decided on such an important part of our future without involving me?

He opened the door and I could smell the paint and see all the new furniture. It looked amazing and would probably be a perfect home for us.

“What the hell did you do, Eric?” I asked.

I felt like a wet blanket, a spoil sport and a really mean person because Eric was so happy and that made me even angrier. How dare he spring this house on me and make me feel like I was wrong for wanting to have a say in where we were going to live?

I could see the hurt in his eyes and that made me feel even crueler.

“I bought this house for us. I spent all my time …. ” he started.

“Without me?” I asked.

“Well, of course. You were …,” and then his face turned from hurt to angry. “You`re pregnant, Sookie. I wanted to surprise you. To make it perfect for you.”

We stared at each other, neither of us wanting to back down. Then he turned on his heels and left.

He left me all alone in a strange country, in a house I`d never been in before, tired and miserable and regretting everything.

I opened my suitcase, pulled out my toothbrush, brushed my teeth and went to bed. I did not have the energy to deal with Eric`s anger. Or my own.

It was dark when I woke up. I went to the bathroom – one has to go every two hours when one has a baby pressing on the bladder – and then I located the kitchen. It was a very beautiful, and clearly new, kitchen. But I didn`t want to admire it too much. I just wanted a cup of coffee. Strong coffee.

I brought my cup into the living room, found myself a nice chair and sat down. Just as I`d had my first sip of coffee, I heard the door opening. Eric came into the living room.

He sat down on the couch.

“There`s coffee in the kitchen,” I said.

Eric smiled a little and got up. He came back with a mug in his hand.

We sat for a very long time, the only sounds were us blowing on our coffee and sipping it.

“Are you hungry?” Eric asked.

I looked at him. “I am, actually.”

“I`ve prepared dinner, believe it or not. I just need to heat it up.”

Half an hour later Eric had set the table and brought in a lovely lasagna and some salad. He poured me a glass of milk.

I laughed. “Milk?”

Eric blushed a little. “Well, yes. You can`t have wine and … I like milk.”

“So that`s how you grew so tall?” I teased.

“Yes, that`s me. A poster boy for milk.”

We were quiet for a little while. Then I took a deep breath.

“Eric,” I said. “You can`t make big decisions like that without including me.”

Eric looked down. Actually he seemed to take it much harder than I`d expected him to.

“It`s a lovely house, Eric,” I continued when he didn’t say anything. “But I wanted to have picked it with you. And paid for half of it.”

Eric looked up.

“You`ve had a lot of things happening to you lately, Sookie,” he said. “You`ve had to adapt to so much. I just wanted to ….” He stopped talking.

I glanced at him and then I nodded for him to continue.

“I will include you in important decisions in the future,” he said after awhile. “I promise.”

I smiled. Eric would not say he was sorry. I knew him too well for that. But this was close enough.

“Thank you.” I leaned back in my chair. The baby took up a lot of space. “It is a lovely house.”

That made Eric grin. “I think so.”

“Maybe we should christen this house properly?” I batted my eyes exaggeratedly.

Eric had to heat up the lasagna again before we`d christened the whole house. And afterwards, when I was in his arms that night, having whispered how much I loved him and had “I love yous” whispered back at me, I knew I had made the right choice.

If people had asked me if I wanted to have a baby with a man who lived across the ocean, who was so much younger than I was and – most importantly – a man I hardly knew, I would have laughed at them.

But I figured I hadn`t made that bad a choice when I`d married Eric. I was expecting a child I had never thought I would have and since Eric was so young, it would only be fair that he got up every night when the baby cried, wouldn`t it?

I fell asleep with a smile on my lips.

The End

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A/N:

I hope you enjoyed this tale. I`m a bit sad to let it go but all things must come to an end.

That doesn`t mean that I`ve stopped posting stories. Dead without a Work Permit is still active and I`ve just finished writing a one-shot called Eric the Viking. Sookie reads one of her favorite romance novels and suddenly her hero – the sexy Viking she is reading about – jumps out of her book and into her living room. Is everything like in the romance novels? This story will be more humor than romance and I will hopefully post it in the near future.

I`m also working on a multi-chapter story about Sookie the Shieldmaiden – a fierce Viking warrior – and how she sets sail on Sam Dogbreath`s ship, only to meet another blond warrior – Eric the Northman.

Does anyone see a pattern here? *blushes* Yes, I have a thing for the Viking age.

A/N:

Thank you so much for your reviews. I really appreciate you taking the time to write them.

I also want to thank Suki59 for betaing this on top of betaing both Dead without a Work Permit and a new multi-chapter story I`ve just started out (about my favorite topic: Vikings :-D). She is busybusybusy. Hopefully I`m not keeping her away from writing her own stories because I love them very much!

***

EPOV

I am no romantic but I did get Sookie quite a nice bouquet of flowers for our wedding. She looked stunning as usual. No, she looked even more amazing that usual. She`d put on a nice summer dress that wasn`t alltogether white, since it had little flowers all over, but it was white and long enough to be a very beautiful wedding gown. She made a twirl on the floor of her living room.

I was wearing a suit. It wasn`t just any suit but a smart suit I`d bought especially for the occasion. I`d brought it with me just as I`d brought rings, hoping that Sookie would say yes to me. Well, expecting it, really.

Not that Sookie was a doormat who would do anything I told her to. But I supposed she loved me enough to accept my proposal. And of course the child she was carrying helped sway her.

I knew it wasn`t easy for Sookie to say yes to me. I wasn`t an entire brute who neglected her emotions. She`d recently come out of a very bad marriage that had ended in the worst way possible. Saying yes to me was quite a step.

If I could have given Sookie some more time, I would have. She didn`t deserve to be rushed like this. Not so soon after her divorce from Bill. But I was afraid of losing Sookie if I hadn`t tied her to me with the baby and now the marriage. I would make her happy. And when we were married and she`d moved in with me, I would never manipulate her again.

Because that was what I`d done to her. Manipulated her. She should have had a choice. I was just so afraid of giving it to her.

And now we were getting married.

I was thrilled to see her look so radiant and … happy. Yes, she looked happy. But I knew I was pushing her. Pushing her too much, possibly.

It was just … how could I not? How could I let her walk out of my life? Which she could have – would have, maybe – if she hadn`t been pregnant.

Looking at her, though, I couldn`t regret what I`d done. She was to be my wife, the mother of my child and I would be a very happy man with her – I was sure of it.

“You look amazing, Mrs. Northman,” I said and gave her a kiss.

She pulled back. “Umm, I hadn`t planned on changing my name.” Her voice was stern.

I laughed. “It was only a manner of speaking. Most women don`t change their last names when they marry. Not where I come from at least. Actually it`s become quite fashionable for the man to take his wife`s last name.” I bent down and whispered. “How does Eric Stackhouse sound?”

Sookie laughed and I loved hearing that laughter.

“I like it.”

“Well, if you want me to change my name, I`ll do it.” I took her hand and we walked towards the door.

“Really?” she asked with a smile on her lips. She clearly didn`t believe me.

“Of course.” It would be a small price to pay if it made her feel that I was sacrificing something too. Maybe it would make her agree to move.

“And our child would be a Stackhouse too?”

“Sure.”

The smile on Sookie`s lips went from disbelieving to – well, I would say loving. Now, Sookie would never be one to stare at me with admiration every time I burped or farted – which was a good thing because I`d had way too many women in my life who did just that. But it was nice to see that I could do something she appreciated.

And I found that I wanted to do stuff she appreciated. Not to be appreciated but because I wanted her happy.

She checked her watch. “We`ll need to go if we want to make it in time.”

I smiled. “I love you, Sookie,” I said.

She gave my hand a squeeze. “I love you too, Mr. Stackhouse.”

And with that we were out the door.

I didn`t end up changing my name but I did get Sookie to move across the Atlantic.

She wasn`t on the plane right now because of stupid visa laws but she`d ended up applying for a permanent visa at the consulate right after we got married. She would have to wait for the answer from Immigration before she could join me, which had seriously pissed me off, but at least she was coming.

I was a married man, a soon-to-be father and sporting a grin larger than the one I`d worn on my way over to visit Sookie. I knew I should try and sleep on my way back to avoid jetlag but I was so pleased with what had happened in New York, there was no way I could go off to visit Dreamland. Why would one want to dream when real life was so much better?

I picked up the paper the flight attendant had offered me. The great thing about flying SAS – Scandinavian Airline System – was getting papers from home. There was something I needed to check out. Now. I barely read the news about prime ministers making promises and the opposition claiming promises would never be held. Or was it the other way around?

It was the “Houses for Sale” pages I needed. Because I was buying a house. I did a quick scan and then I read the four adds that had seemed interesting, more thoroughly. They were all a bit more expensive than what I had inherited from my parents, but I would do what everyone else did – take a loan. And I expected that my apartment would bring in a few kroner too.

But I would get Sookie and our kid the best house money could buy. Well, the best house my money could buy, at least.

It took almost three months before Sookie was on a plane going east. Three nerve-wracking months where I wanted to go down to Immigration each and every day and punch someone. Or at least to ask them to hurry up.

I`d been so nervous that Sookie wouldn`t get the visa before our child was born. And when I found out that the airlines wouldn`t let anyone who was more than seven months pregnant on their planes, I`d practically bitten my nails all the way down to my knuckles.

Sookie and I had talked almost every day and I`d seen her stomach grow and had been shown the ultrasounds. We`d even done our special skype-thing but though I`d gotten off on it, it had been way too long since I`d felt her skin on mine and her breath on my neck.

Today waiting was over – Sookie would land at the airport around noon and I would be picking her up. And the best thing was – I would be able to show her our new home. A home I hadn`t told her about.

I was exhausted from spackling and painting and buying and moving furniture but I wanted everything to be perfect for her arrival. I`d had some help from a couple of friends but mainly I`d done everything myself. That included installing a brand new kitchen. A kitchen where Sookie and I could cook together.

Yeah, I`d tried to learn how to cook too. Not that I had cooked that much – it`s no fun when you`re alone. But I had ditched that frozen pizza for good.

I`d also started cleaning my house. Sookie would not find any dust bunnies. Or dirty laundry on the floor. I was so fucking proud of how I`d changed and I was looking forward to her seeing it.

I`d dragged her into motherhood and marriage but I was dead set on her never regretting it.

I checked the schedule for arriving planes again. “Bags on belt,” it said about Sookie`s plane. It should have said, “Wife arriving.”

A/N:

The next chapter will actually be the last one which is a bit sad for me. I like writing this story because it`s been interesting trying to combine how I see Eric and Sookie with things happening to me or to people around me in real life. Yes, I have friends who`ve tricked their lovers into having children with them. It`s horrible and for some it didn`t end well. But for some, and that would be the ones where the lover never found out they`d been tricked, it ended with happy marriages. That still doesn`t excuse what they did and I`m not trying to excuse it by making Eric do it and actually end up marrying Sookie. But I don`t believe in karma or the world being a just place. Sometimes people win by cheating.

On changing names when marrying: It`s become fairly common here for men to take their wives` names. I read somewhere that the most important reason for people to change their last names when marrying is wanting to get rid of “boring” last names. Olsen, Hansen, Jensen, Johansen etc – or –sen names as we call them – are not very popular so people will often give up a –sen name if they marry someone with a last name that doesn`t end with –sen. So if Hanne Hansen marries Jens Østgård, she will be more likely to change her name than if she married Jens Jensen. The same goes if Jens Jensen is marrying Hanne Østgård. He will be more likely to take her name than if she was called Hanne Hansen.

Of course, most couples don`t change their last names at all here. Mainly because they don`t get married at all but even married couples usually keep their own names.

A/N:

Thank you so much for your reviews. I really wish I`d replied to all of them but I`ve been away most of the week and figured I would much rather just post the next chapter.

This chapter is a shorty, but the one after this will be up shortly too.

I want to thank Suki59 for betaing this chapter. And for those of you waiting for Dead without a Work Permit – she just started betaing that one too!

***

SPOV

I had not expected that reaction from Eric and truth be told – it unnerved me a bit. I told myself it was everything Bill had done to me that made me suspicious towards men in general and that Eric shouldn`t suffer from that, but I had all kinds of alarm bells going off inside me.

It might be all the changes to my life. A year ago I was happily (well, happy-ish-ly) married to Bill and now I was a recovering victim, pregnant with Eric`s child and on my way to getting married too.

No wonder I kept asking myself, “When did this happen?”

“What are the rules on marriage here in New York? Can we do it right away?” Eric asked. I got an instant case of cold feet.

Not that I didn`t want to marry Eric. But things were going too fast.

I wished I could press a button on my stomach and stop the baby from growing – and then have it start growing again a year from now. Of course, then I would have to stop aging too. I felt old already.

Since I hadn`t been able to give Eric any good answers on his marriage related questions, he was now hunched over my computer, googling rules and regulations.

“We could go to Las Vegas,” he said with a grin.

I shook my head. “We have time, Eric. There`s no rush.”

“It`s just … I want us to be married right away.”

Most women would find it cute and adorable that their husband-to-be was in a hurry to tie the knot. I was apparently not “most women.” I sighed.

“I`m not going to run out on you, Eric.” I meant it as a joke but it didn`t come out that way.

Eric got up and came over to me. Soon I was engulfed in his long arms and pressed into his chest.

“I hope not,” he whispered into my hair.

“We should go to City Hall today,” Eric said the next morning when we were lying next to each other in my bed.

City Hall meant marriage license.

“We should,” I said, though I was in no hurry. When we`d obtained the marriage license we had to get married within 60 days. And we could get married after 24 hours. I kept the sigh to myself and smiled instead.

Eric gave me a kiss and the kiss soon turned into more. My morning sickness wasn`t so bad when Eric was around. He had his very special way of making me think of things other than throwing up.

Afterwards he pulled me close and let his hand rest on my stomach. Moments like this made me wonder why I was stalling. Why I wasn`t just marrying Eric and moving back home with him. It would be for the best what with Eric getting that paternity leave he wanted so badly. And after all, I could write my books anywhere.

It was just … I didn`t want to.

“We could get married at your consulate,” I said feeling bad about being the one dragging my feet so much.

Eric pulled me closer. “I like the idea, Sookie.” The way he said it made me realize that he`d already thought of it.

“Yeah, that way both you and I could get married in our home country. Well, sort of, at least.”

Eric`s lips were on mine.

“I love the way you are thinking, Sookie. If we pick up the marriage license today we could get married tomorrow.”

I pulled back. “Can you just go there and get married? Don`t you have to book a time or …?”

“Umm,” Eric said. “It`ll be fine.”

Eric and I got out of bed and went to take a shower. Showering with Eric was definitely in my top 10 of things to do with him. Probably in my top 3 too. Eric made sure I was thoroughly clean and I did the same for him. He also massaged out some knots in my shoulders which made me soften both physically and mentally.

I almost told him I would move back home him but held back at the last moment. I`d just accepted I was getting married the next day. I suppose that was all the yielding I could muster for one morning.

“Are you ready to become a married woman?” Eric asked when we were walking out the door. His lips were smiling but his eyes looked more serious.

“No,” I said with a smile. “But I`m not sure I ever will be.”

“I could persuade you some more,” Eric said with a wink.

“How? Torture?” I let my hand glide over his butt.

“Hmmm, maybe I should try that.” He grabbed my hand and we walked out the door. “I haf my vayz. I vill torture you until you say `I do.`”

I laughed at the Germanic accent and the face he made.

If I were looking for a man with humor, Eric was certainly the right choice. So was he if I were looking for someone sweet and gentle, someone sexy and someone clever. My problem was that I hadn`t been looking for anyone.

I loved Eric – I knew that – and I was going to marry him. I tried to tell myself that it was a good choice – the right choice – and I knew it was. But it would have been an even better choice if I could have postponed it a bit. Like five years or so.

I pinched Eric`s behind. “Let`s get those papers that will make that butt mine until death do us part.”

“My ass is yours already, Sookie.”

And with that we went to City Hall.

A/N:

A shorty, but that was how it fit the story. Next chapter will be just around the corner.

A/N:

First of all – thank you for all your great comments and reviews. I really appreciate them!

I also want to thank Suki59 for betaing this, but all mistakes (linguistic and/or medical and/or metrological and/or … yeah, well all mistakes) are mine. Writing this story has taught me why I usually situate my stories in Scandinavia. Even going to the doctor in the USA is entirely different from here. It`s a sure case of “write what you know”. Luckily Suki59 asks me all the right questions.

***

EPOV

I was one lucky bastard. I was a bastard too, but right now, sitting on the plane to New York, I couldn`t stop grinning.

Yes, I knew I should feel bad about Sookie`s thinking she`d messed up with her pills and about her being nervous wondering whether I wanted the child or not … and deep down I probably did. But I didn`t want to focus on it.

Sookie and I were going to be parents. I wanted to do cartwheels up and down the aisle but instead I just sat there grinning like a fool.

Was I going to tell Sookie the truth? No fucking way! What good would that do? Sookie would know that she hadn`t forgotten to take her pills, that her memory was not as bad as she thought, but she would also know that ….

No, I was never going to tell her. And if I didn`t tell her – how would she know? The burden of my deception was one I needed to carry all alone.

I`d already booked the ticket to New York when Sookie told me I was going to be a father. To be truthful – I`d done it because I was afraid of what Sookie would do if she found out she was pregnant after she`d gone home. She`d spent almost three months with me. I had messed up with her pills quite a lot towards the end of her stay and it wasn`t until she`d left that I`d given it a second thought. And a third.

What if she didn`t want a child? What if she didn`t want … me?

I was thrilled she`d told me as soon as she`d found out she was pregnant. I`d been so worried that she might be pregnant and decided to bring up the child alone. Or that she ….

I definitely was a bastard and I`d felt bad when Sookie had blamed herself for her pregnancy. But now I was on my way to see her and I couldn`t stop myself from smiling. Sookie had that special spark that I couldn`t get enough of. Even Bill`s beating her up hadn`t killed it. She`d become a little sadder, perhaps, and she`d held back at first, but that was part of her too.

For the first time in my life I`d liked a woman for what she was, not just for what she could do for me or for how great she was in bed. During our summer together I`d come to realize that Sookie was the woman I wanted to spend my life with. My entire life.

And now she was going to be the mother of my child. Could life be any more perfect? I scratched my head. There was the little detail concerning where we were going to live, of course.

To be honest – I wanted Sookie to come live with me. She was an author and could live anywhere. She didn`t have much family and seemed to have few friends. If she moved in with me I would get paternity leave. I wouldn`t get that if I moved to New York.

I would play my cards safely, though. The most important thing would be for us to be together and if that meant I had to move to New York ….

No, I didn`t like the thought. From the moment Sookie told me about the pregnancy, I began visualizing my kid having the same upbringing I`d had. Not a kid growing up in a New York apartment and my walking around with a stroller in Central Park.

So after having manipulated a pregnancy on Sookie I knew I now had to manipulate her into accepting a move back home with me. It was all for the greater good – or so I told myself. I knew it was for my greater good but since I couldn`t see any harm for Sookie, apart from the fact that she would have to learn a new language, then why not?

I tapped my fingers lightly on the little box in my jeans pocket and looked forward to seeing Sookie again.

I saw her before she noticed me – which is incredible with my almost two meters towering over all the other passengers making their way through customs.

My heart did a little flip-flop at the sight of her and though I knew she wasn`t pregnant enough for anyone to notice, my heart did another flip-flop at the sight of her stomach. In there was Sookie`s and my future.

She turned her attention in my direction and her face lit up in a smile. I threw my bag on the floor and opened my arms and was thrilled when she jumped into them. Lifting her up and sniffing deeply into her hair – it was like coming home.

Sookie was my family. The little kid was my family. Since my parents had died I`d felt rootless. I was like a ship with no sails and now that was gone. I`d dropped my anchor when I met Sookie. I shook my head at my own mental metaphors.

I let Sookie get back down on her feet and knelt down. I`d planned on asking her at some fancy restaurant, making it all romantic. But I knew I couldn`t wait. This was why my very first words to her were:

“Will you marry me?”

Belatedly I pulled out the little box I`d carried all the way from home and opened it for her. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed people staring but I couldn`t care less. I wanted my grandmother`s ring on Sookie`s finger and I wanted it there now.

I wasn`t sure what I had expected. For her to throw herself into my arms. Tears of joy. That she would faint into my arms. Some romantic stuff. And I knew that I had expected her to say yes – even if it was only with a whisper or a nod because she couldn`t speak.

“Eric ….” she started.

It took me several seconds to realize that she wasn`t saying, “Eric, I love you so much,” or, “Eric – of course, I`ll marry you.”

She was rejecting me.

I got up very quickly, grabbed my backpack and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. The people staring at me were suddenly something I wanted to get away from.

“Eric … ” Sookie said again, her voice softer. Soothing. She came up behind me.

“Let`s get out of here,” I said and grabbed her hand.

“Eric!” Now her voice was hard, in command.

If I hadn`t been one huge chaotic mess inside I would probably have smiled at the three very different ways she had said my name.

“Yes,” I said without looking at her or slowing down. “That`s my name.”

“Stop!” She pulled hard on my hand. “I`m not saying that I don`t want you. It`s just … marriage. Is that necessary?”

I swallowed. Necessary? Of course marriage wasn`t necessary. Half my countrymen had kids without getting married and most of my male friends would avoid marriage talk like the bubonic plague. Hell, some of my female friends would too. I was being romantic and got shut down.

“No, of course it isn`t necessary,” I said between gritted teeth. “We can just fuck around as we please.”

Now it was Sookie`s turn to walk past me and she did not grab my hand to pull me with her. She stalked towards the taxis and if my legs hadn`t been twice as long as hers, she would probably have driven off without me.

I got into the taxi Sookie had picked and looked straight ahead when she gave her address to the driver. This wasn`t the way I had pictured our reunion. This wasn`t the way I had pictured anything.

We didn`t speak until after she closed the door to her apartment. With me inside, luckily.

“Stop this, Eric,” she said. “Remember what happened when you were here at Easter time?”

I deflated like a balloon. I remembered Easter.

“So why are you so against our marrying?” I asked, trying to keep my anger and disappointment out of my voice.

“I just had a nasty divorce, Eric.”

She almost rolled her eyes at me and I certainly rolled my eyes at myself. Inwardly, at least. It wasn`t that she didn`t want me. It was the mental scars Bill had given her that had made her act the way she did.

I took her hand and pulled her towards the couch and beckoned her to sit down. Then I sat down next to her.

“I`m not Bill,” I said.

A tiny smile curled her lips. “I know.”

“I love you,” I continued.

“I know that too.” She looked at our hands – together, the way they were supposed to be.

“There`s also the practical side to it,” I said when she just kept looking at our hands. “One of us needs a permanent visa to the other one`s country and marriage seems to be the way to get it.”

Her gaze moved slowly from our hands to my face.

“Yeah, there`s that,” she said.

“I want to be close to the kid,” I explained. “And you, of course. I don`t want the two of you to live in a different country from me.”

“So you want us to move in together?”

I grinned. “That`s usually what a proposal means.”

“But where? Would you want to move to New York?” she asked and I nodded.

“If you want us to live here, I`ll live here. It`s not important. As long as we`re together.”

I was a lying bastard but I was not going to tip the boat by saying I wanted us to live in my country.

“What would you do here?”

“I`m sure they need nurses in New York as well. I`ll find a job and if I need to take courses to be approved as a nurse here, I`ll take those courses. If I can`t be a nurse, I could always drive a taxi or work at a store.”

“But you love being a nurse.”

“I love you more.” Now that was the truth but I said it because I hoped it would soften her towards moving back with me. After all, that would be easier. Well, maybe not for her, but it would be better for the kid. And me.

The kiss she gave me told me she was considering the option I wanted all along. The kiss also told me it had been way too long since we`d had sex and soon it went from romantic to needy and hungry. I wanted Sookie in all the meanings of the word.

“I want to stay at home with the kid,” I said out of the blue when we were eating breakfast in bed the next morning. Sookie was morningsick and I`d made us the breakfast – after having promised her not to make anything that had any strong smells. Well, apart from coffee. Apparently she couldn`t live without her morning cup.

We ate toast with butter and drank coffee and though it was a fairly boring breakfast, I loved every bite of it.

She turned to look at me. “For how long?”

I smiled. Now I could tell her about the fantastic paternity leave rules back home. “As long as I can. If we have the baby in my country, I could be home for almost a year.” I pretended to be shocked at my own statement. “Not that I was suggesting that we move, of course. It`s just that it`s a pretty good deal. The state actively encourages fathers to stay at home and I would have 80% of my wages all those months.” I smiled. “You could write and I could look after the kid. Then you could nurse it when needed and go back to writing.”

Sookie took a big bite of her toast, chewed it and swallowed it.

“You could still be home with the kid here.”

“Oh, sure, but I wouldn`t have any money.”

“I have money.” Sookie took another bite of her toast.

I nodded. “You do.”

“But you don`t want to live off me.” It was not a question.

“I would prefer not to.” Especially if the alternative was living back home and earning my own money – or rather, getting paternity leave money. “I could sell my apartment, of course, and live off the money.”

“You could.” Sookie`s voice didn`t sound too sure – to my utter delight.

We ate the rest of our breakfast in silence and took a stroll out into the sun. It was a hot day so we only took a short walk but it was a nice feeling to walk hand in hand with her, knowing that I would soon be bringing my future wife and child home with me.

Later that afternoon Sookie was scheduled to see her physician and I was going to accompany her. We took the subway there and once again, I enjoyed the feeling of walking next to Sookie, knowing this was not just some temporary thing.

“So this is the father?” It was the first thing the doctor said when he saw me.

I shook his hand. “The proud father – that`s me.”

“Pleased to meet you,” the doctor said in a neutral voice but I felt his scrutinizing eyes on me. I almost started feeling guilty about Sookie`s pills but how would he know about them? I gave him a smile.

Not that I cared what he thought of me. I did care what Sookie thought of me, though – and I wanted her home with me as quickly as possible. The doctor might just be the person to help me out there.

“It came as a surprise,” I started. “The pregnancy,” I explained when he gave me a questioning look. “But I couldn`t be happier. I mean, I love Sookie and I would love nothing more than to start a family with her.”

Sookie`s doctor gave me one of those professional smiles.

“It seems you`ve started the family already,” he said in a dry voice.

I laughed a little at his silly joke. “Indeed we have. And we don`t even live together.” I paused. “Yet.” I squeezed Sookie`s hand.

“It`s hard to be a family with an ocean between you,” the doctor said while directing Sookie to lie back on the examining table.

“We`ll figure it out,” Sookie said.

I moved closer to Sookie and held on to her hand.

“You wouldn`t happen to know whether nurses with diplomas from other countries can work here?” I asked, hoping he would give me a discouraging answer.

“You`re a nurse?” he asked. I nodded. “It all depends on whether your education is classified as “registered nurse”. I know there are special rules for nurses from Canada, but I`m not sure how the rules are for nurses from your country. You may have to take some additional courses or redo some of your exams. Of course, some hospitals might have a problem with your education anyway. Most of them prefer people with educations from schools they are familiar with.”

“Oh. I tried to sound disappointed and then glossed over it. “But I`m sure it`ll work out somehow.” I gave Sookie a smile.

Sookie`s doctor looked at her. “But you`re an author, aren`t you?” he asked. “You could work anywhere.”

I wanted to kiss the doctor right then and there but chose to kiss Sookie`s hand instead. I noticed her lips getting tight, but then she nodded. She freaking nodded. Not much but enough for me to notice.

“I could,” she said. Then she let the hand I wasn`t holding glide over her stomach. “I was hoping Eric could hear the heartbeat.”

“You know that it`s still early,” the doctor said. “I can`t guarantee anything so I don`t want you to worry if we aren`t able to hear the baby.”

I was still smiling from Sookie`s nod and wasn`t paying much attention to the white instrument the doctor pulled out. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed him set a few buttons on a computer. Then he let the instrument glide over Sookie`s stomach and I began to hear strange sounds.

First it sounded like a microphone being stuck into deep water but then suddenly I heard it. A heartbeat. I heard the heart of my kid. My little baby inside Sookie`s stomach.

A tear ran down my cheek and I wasn`t ashamed of it. That sound was the most amazing sound I`d ever heard and I couldn`t get enough of it.

I heard Sookie laughing and saw her beautiful blue eyes looking at me. I just had to bend over and give her a kiss. My entire future was in those eyes. And in that stomach.

“I`ll marry you,” she whispered when I broke the kiss.

That made me kiss her even harder. Now I only needed Sookie to come home with me and everything would be perfect.

A/N:

I feel the need to stress two things here:

1, I still don`t condone what Eric has done even if I have him manipulating Sookie some more. I write him as I see him in this story – a man with flaws. Yes, it`s inexcusable to trick someone you love like Eric has tricked Sookie but that doesn`t mean that it doesn`t happen every day. I wanted to keep this story “real” by describing a relationship with no perfect heroes but where there is still love.

2, I like Eric very much even if I choose to write him with flaws. There`s a fine line here between excusing what he`s done (which I won`t) and hating him for it (which I don`t).

On paternity leave: We`re having a very interesting debate here in Norway. The rules are that the parents get almost a year off from work (a little less if it`s on full pay and a little more if they choose to get 80%). 9 weeks are for the mother just after she`s given birth and 10 weeks are for the father and can be used whenever he wants to. The rest is to be divided between the two as they see fit. Usually the mother takes most of it but lately there`s been a huge call from fathers who want more time with their babies and suggestions have been made that they should have at least 1/3 of the time home and not just the 10 weeks. I know there have been similar debates in Sweden. So Eric is not so far off wanting a long paternity leave – he`s Scandinavian, after all.

On a personal note: My husband and I shared our time at home by having me home full time the first six months. The rest of the time at home with the baby we shared by staying at home every second day and going to work the other days. It was perfect, really, because then you got the best of both worlds. Both of us got to be with our little baby and both of us got to be at work. Perfect, really

I hope you enjoyed the chapter in spite of Eric`s manipulations (or I will send him home to manipulate you into loving it!)

A/N:

Wow, I was so pleased to see that this story hadn`t been forgotten while hibernating. Thank you so much for all your great reviews. I even learned things from them – like the Jewish rules for having sex during your period and a Dutch saying on the same subject :-D.

I also want to thank Suki59 for doing such a great job at betaing this chapter.

---

SPOV

Being with Eric all summer – and it had been all summer – had been amazing. He was so sweet and gentle but also funny, smart and so very, very hot. I`d had the best sex of my life when I was there and it had felt like I was filling up a bottle of strength and happiness every time we`d made love.

But – and there was a very big but here – the difference in our ages showed. Eric was in a different stage in his life than I was. Yes, he`d casually mentioned children and formalizing our relationship but he was still fresh out of nursing school and had the future ahead of him.

It wasn`t as if I had one foot in the grave with my big four-O closing in on me but I did find myself checking out the shelves of “restoring your youth” creams in the tax-free shop at the airport when I was going home. I felt old.

Not to mention the after effects of the attack from Bill. I still needed to rest a bit every day which had been fine the days Eric worked but was harder to hide when he was having his days off. My concentration wasn`t as good as it had been. It was getting better, though. I had started writing on my new book and I managed to get into some kind of writing flow.

What really worried me was my bad memory. I kept finding myself surprised that I`d already taken my birth control pill, for instance. And I would put them in the weirdest places. Behind the soap or even dropped on the floor. It was as if my subconscious wanted me to become pregnant. Or rather, that my subconscious managed to make me take the pills without my realizing it.

It scared me, to be truthful, but I never told Eric. My bad memory was not something I wanted to discuss with anyone except possibly a doctor.

I made a mental note of bringing it up at my next medical checkup.

Back at my apartment I was overwhelmed with a loneliness I`d never felt before. I missed Eric so much and the stomach flu I had apparently caught in my last days in Scandinavia didn`t help my well-being.

I threw up every morning and was tired all day because of it.

Eric and I were back to our online chats, e-mails and skyping each other whenever we could manage. I mentally chastised myself for acting like a teenager with her first crush because I couldn`t help smiling whenever I saw an e-mail from him in my inbox or whenever his face turned up on my computer screen.

His smile made me forget my worries over my bad memory, my stomach flu and even the difference in age between Eric and me. When I saw him, when I wrote to him or read what he`d written to me, we were just Eric and Sookie with no worries in the world.

Just like we`d been all summer.

I`d been home for three weeks when I felt I`d been sick for too long and made an appointment with my doctor. Even Eric had asked me if I was fine though I`d never shown him how sick I was or told him how often I threw up.

I suppose he just knew me well enough to wonder if I was sick though I`d never given him reason to think I was.

It was a hot day when I took the subway to the doctor`s office. It seemed every smell, every stench, was amplified by the heat and it was a close call that I didn`t throw up in the subway car.

I did the moment I entered the doctor`s office, though. Before I could state my name, I had to make a run for the bathroom. It was highly embarrassing but I figured a doctor`s office was used to seeing sick people so I tried to smile when I came out again – only to find all the other patients looking at me as if I had the bubonic plague.

I managed to state my name, chewing hard on the gum I carried with me for emergencies like this, and went to sit down in a corner, far away from everyone else and said a silent prayer that my doctor was not too delayed with other patients.

It`s strange. When you`re sick you can sort of forget about it when you`re at home – pretend that nothing serious is wrong with you. But as soon as you`re waiting for the nurse to call out your name, you start thinking about all the deadly diseases you might have. I know I began to wonder if Ebola had a Scandinavian sister or if I`d eaten something with salmonella and was rotting inside. Or – and that was the thought that gnawed at me the most – I began thinking about cancer.

I drew a breath of relief when my doctor finally came to examine me in but had to wonder about his state of sanity when the first words he said to me were:

“You look amazing, Sookie. Did you find the fountain of youth on your vacation?”

“Excuse me?” I asked, feeling my stomach turning once more and hoping there wasn`t anything left to vomit.

“You look radiant. A bit pale, perhaps, but very … happy.”

I couldn`t help laughing. My doctor had been a pillar of strength and optimism after Bill attacked me but this was beyond his usual You`ll be back at your normal self in no time.

“I throw up every day,” I said when I managed to stop laughing.

“Oh,” he said, looking almost disappointed. “Well, we can`t have that. I`ll run some tests but first I need to ask you a few questions.”

“Sure.”

“First of all I need to ask you if you`re sexually active.” He checked his computer screen. “I prescribed birth control pills for you earlier this summer so I assume the answer is yes?”

“Well,” I started. “I was this summer.” I`m not sure why I blushed. My doctor had probably also read the gossip magazines and knew all about Eric.

“Yes, you told me you were going to Scandinavia to visit someone. Did you take your pills as prescribed?” he asked and looked at me.

That was when it hit me why this sudden interest in my sex life. Pregnant women throw up – I knew that. But I couldn`t be … no, that wasn`t possible.

“I did,” I replied. Then after a moment`s thought, “At least I think I did.” I looked at him. “I`m still struggling with some memory problems after ….” I took a deep breath. “A few times I looked at the pills and saw that I`d already taken one and I couldn`t remember taking it.”

“You never forgot to take a pill?”

“No, not that I know of. It was always a missing pill. Towards the end of my vacation it was as if I`d taken half my pills without remembering it afterwards.”

“Could you have taken the pill a day too early?” he asked and I had to think.

“I … I don`t know. I can`t remember.”

It was terrible, absolutely horrible to have to admit that one`s memory was like Swiss cheese. I sat there almost wishing I could have told my doctor I just hadn`t cared enough about the pills. That I`d been one of those girls who would look at her pills and see that there was one too many and just go whoops. But I was not a whoops-girl. I had always been very sensible and reliable.

“Let`s run the tests first, shall we? For all we know it`s just some stomach bug or something you ate.” He smiled at me and I could see that he didn`t believe what he was saying. Some people claim to be able to spot a pregnant woman from some “magical glow” or something. I bet my doctor was one of those people.

Later, when I sat in the waiting room, with an empty bladder and a urine sample being tested, I knew what they would say. I was just surprised that I hadn`t thought of it myself.

But then I`d lived with Bill for so long and pregnancy had never been anything to worry about. I`d wanted children at first but Bill never did. He`d had an awful childhood and felt he had too many monsters inside he didn`t want to inflict on his children.

As sad as I`d been about never having children, I also felt that Bill was very mature in recognizing that he would be a bad father and drawing his conclusions from that. I`d had friends (Tara mostly) who would suggest, usually after a few glasses of wine, that I could “forget” my contraceptives and that Bill would be thrilled with becoming a father.

Suggestions like that had always made me both sad and angry. How could anyone suggest that I would betray Bill – and our relationship – by doing something like that? Having a child was something both parties decided on. Not something one forced through against the other`s wishes.

I sighed to myself. Very soon I might be doing the very thing I`d never wanted to do to Bill, to Eric. If I really were pregnant – and it would be because of my not being able to handle something as simple as taking a few pills – I would be telling Eric he was going to be a father without our planning it.

Yes, plenty of pregnancies weren`t pre-planned but that didn`t make me feel any better.

When my doctor came out, sporting a huge grin, I told myself that it would be all right. That a pregnancy would be better than … I wasn`t sure what a pregnancy would be better than. Cancer, of course. But having eaten bad shrimp and paying the price now had started to sound like a much better alternative.

I walked behind my doctor back to his office and sat down in the chair I had occupied just half an hour earlier. I took a deep breath.

“Sooo,” he started out. “It`s customary to say one`s congratulations in these cases. You`re pregnant.”

I nodded. Pregnancy had never crossed my mind before my previous conversation with my doctor but while waiting for the results, it had seemed like the only logical answer to my throwing up all the time.

“Are you in a relationship?” he asked in a neutral voice – especially considering I had only hours earlier revealed that I had boinked like a bunny all summer.

I shrugged. Was I in a relationship? “He lives in Scandinavia,” I said as a kind of a reply.

“Are you going to move there? Or maybe he`ll move here?”

I could feel tears starting to form and let my tongue glide over my teeth. “I`m not sure. We haven`t talked about it.”

“But you`re still … you didn`t end the relationship?”

“No, we didn`t. It`s just ….”

Suddenly I felt his hand on mine. In all the times I`d visited him after I`d been beaten up by Bill, he`d never touched me like that but it was exactly what I needed from him now. His hand on mine, just for a few seconds, told me it would be fine. That I would find a way to get through this.

“You`ve been through a lot and I`m sure you`ll handle this well too. It may not be what you planned for now and it will be very tough for you, especially if you end up being alone with the child, but you`ll see. In a few years you may look back at it and see it as a blessing in disguise.”

I sniffed and nodded. I`d never been one to let anything break me. I`d never not wanted children. Now was the time to start actively wanting this one.

It was when I was back at my apartment reality hit me. How was I ever going to bring up a child on my own? I wasn`t entirely well myself and I didn`t have much of a network to help me out. I had money and I had a place to live but children needed more than that.

And then there was Eric. How could I ever tell him he was going to be a father? That I had messed up like that? We`d only barely touched the subject of children and that had been at the beginning of my vacation. We`d never discussed it – let alone planned this pregnancy.

Would he be angry? Happy? Would he blame me for being so careless with my birth control pills?

Would I even tell him?

I felt a sudden pain in my knuckles and realized I`d been biting them. What a mess I was in. I thought about all the different ways this could go down. Me as a single mother, me and Eric as parents, me choosing not to have the baby.

I shivered at the last thought. No, that was clearly not an option. Though I`d given up on having children long ago, I wanted the baby now. I was close to 40 and this could very well be my only chance at motherhood. How could I say no?

But both the other options seemed impossible. How could I ask Eric to move to New York? And how could I ever pack up my life and move to Scandinavia? Eric and I had enjoyed some very fine months together but what did we really know about each other?

Being a single mother didn`t seem very appealing either. I knew I would be able to handle it. I was not one to whine or give up. But it wouldn`t be easy. I knew that.

I sat down in front of my computer, realizing that this wasn`t even my decision. Eric needed to be told. My conscience was clear on that, and there was no point in debating whether Eric and I would be living together here or there if he didn’t want to play house with me.

I checked my watch and figured he would be home, late at night as it was in Scandinavia. I sent him an e-mail, asking him to go on skype and then I went to fetch myself a cup of coffee.

He was there, smiling at me, when I came back. His smile faltered a bit when he saw me. I`d always been a master of keeping my emotions away from my face if needed, but apparently having to tell someone he is going to be a father was too much to keep hidden.

“What`s up, Sookie?” he asked.

I took a deep breath. I`d planned to just say it and then wait for his reactions but now I found my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth.

“You know you can tell me anything,” he continued.

“Oh, you may regret saying that when you know what I`m going to say,” I said.

He gave me a tiny smile. “I doubt that. Unless you`re telling me you never want to see me again, I can`t imagine there`s anything you could say that I don`t want to hear.”

I couldn`t help smiling at his naivety. After all, I could be severely sick or I could be going to prison. Or I could be telling him I was pregnant.

“I do want to see you again,” I started. “But you may not want to see me.” I paused. “And that would be … understandable.”

“Stop it, Sookie. Just tell me what it is.”

I looked at Eric`s blue eyes, drowned myself in them even though he was looking at the screen and not the camera.

“I`m pregnant.”

I had expected Eric to ask me questions or to be dumbfounded but I had not expected the immediate and very loud expression of pure joy I witnessed on my computer screen.

“Oh, Sookie. I want to hug you and kiss you and dance around with you right now,” he yelled when he`d stopped his yahoos and yipees.

I smiled and felt relieved too though there were still a couple of hundred unsolved problems. But at least Eric`s being angry with me wasn`t one of them.

“I must have mixed up my pills,” I said as an answer to the question I`d expected Eric to ask me. I felt I owed him an explanation. Or maybe I wanted to tell him that I hadn`t planned on getting pregnant.

“It happens all the time, Sookie. Don`t worry about it. You know I asked you about having children and though we never talked it through, it was definitely something I wanted … some day.” He added the last two words almost as an afterthought.

“There are a lot of issues to work out, Eric. It`s not like we`ve been living together for ten years and having a child is the next logical step.”

“So we`re special and we do things our way.” Eric grinned and I loved hearing the happiness in his voice. It almost took away my worries. Almost. “And we`ll work out the issues too. I have a profession that I`m sure can be used in your country and you can basically write anywhere. We`re lucky that way, Sookie.”

I nodded though I couldn`t imagine either him or me moving. “I guess we are.”

“We are. Neither of us have to give up doing what we love doing but we`ll have each other and soon we`ll have our own little bundle of joy.”

I laughed. “Clearly your nursing school failed to teach you about colic, sleepless nights and kids being sick all the time.”

Eric smiled. “You know what? I`d planned on a surprise visit to New York and the timing couldn`t be better.” He turned around and looked through some papers on his desk and then turned back to me with a paper in his hands. It was a print-out of a document and I recognized the airline logo in the upper left corner of the paper. “I have tickets for a week in your bed 12 days from now.”

“Really?” I asked.

“Yes. I spoiled the surprise now, but I just wanted to see you again.”

“That`s amazing!”

“I`m very glad you think so,” he said with a grin.

---

A/N:

I hope you liked this chapter.

I feel bad for Sookie even though I was the one who wrote this. And I want to kick Eric for not telling Sookie what he`d done. But then book-Eric may be telling book-Sookie the truth, but he certainly doesn`t tell her the whole truth. I tried to stick with that.

A/N:

First of all I want to apologize for having you wait this long for and update. But I`ve written all of Dust Bunnies and Christmas Presents so updates should be regular now.

I want to thank Suki59 very much for betaing the rest of Dust Bunnies. She is an amazing beta and I`m so pleased she wanted to do this for me.

Finally – a word of warning. Towards the ending of this chapter there is a scene that might me disturbing for some. To me and a lot of people it`s a very normal practice, but to some it`s disgusting. Not going to say what it is or I will spoil you, but you`ve been warned. Well, sort of, at least.

***

EPOV

“She`s coming, she`s coming!”

I knew I was behaving like a little child seeing Santa, but when I had read Sookie`s e-mail, I called Pam immediately.

“If you are calling me to tell me that whatever girl you have in bed with you is coming, then you`re even more immature than I thought you were,” she dead-panned.

“Shut up, Pam. Sookie`s coming to visit. In July, actually.”

I could almost hear Pam`s smile over the phone. “Oh, that`s great. How long is she staying?”

“I have no idea. But I`m excited even if it`s for just a day.”

Pam laughed. “Oh, you have it bad, brother.”

I nodded though Pam couldn`t see it. “I like her, Pam. Nothing wrong with liking someone.”

We talked for a few minutes about what I could show Sookie – which sites to take her out to see and then we hung up. I went back to my computer and wrote Sookie a reply, telling her that I was looking forward to seeing her again. I may even have been cheesy in my e-mail to the woman I was about to hold in my arms again soon.

I was way too excited to have breakfast so when I noticed someone had put up a YouTube clip with “Sookie Stackhouse” in the topic, I clicked on it and began watching.

I`d never watched that show before and had to crank up the volume to catch what they were saying. All five hostesses seemed to want to talk at the same time. But when Sookie was asked if she loved that 13 year younger man she`d met, I didn`t need to hear her answer to feel the butterflies in my stomach grow. Her blush was enough.

I felt bad for Sookie that the fact that she`d met me had been used against her in the court case against her ex-husband but my ego grew a mile by the fact that Sookie had acknowledged me on that show.

I wasn`t just some casual thing for her.

Or so I hoped.

I looked at my watch and realized I was late for work so I ran out the door, a huge smile planted on my face.

Later that evening I was exhausted, as I usually was when I came home from work but for some reason I felt the need to clean my apartment. That need did not come over me very often – yet now it was imperative for me to clean out all the dust bunnies and wash the bed linens.

I knew why I wanted to clean my small apartment and I tried to tell myself I would have all the time in the world since Sookie wouldn`t be here until July, but when I went to bed that night, my apartment was shining.

Time crawled in turtle-speed while I waited for Sookie to arrive. I went to my new job as a nurse at the Radiumhospital every day – a job I had been so proud to get and now I found it meant so much less than the fact that I would soon see the woman I had come to find that I … loved – and I did all the things I usually did. But really, I spent my time waiting for Sookie.

Yes, it was pathetic. I wasn`t usually the sort of guy who pined for a woman. I was the sort of guy who would screw around, who would fuck anyone batting her eyes, the sort of guy who would sing, drink and be merry.

It was ironic, really, that I turned out to be the pining sort of guy. That I was a one-woman-guy deep inside. Especially since that one woman was complicated as few and living on the other side of the globe.

But even if time moved slowly, the day Sookie was supposed to step her beautiful feet – yeah, I was up to my neck talking about her fairly ordinary feet like that – in my country again. I got up early that morning, cleaned the apartment one more time, took a long shower and went to pick her up at the airport.

I recalled the ups and downs of our relationship. The hot start, the misunderstandings and now her visiting me. Not to mention Sookie blushing at that television show. That was what really threw me into my cleaning spree. And my pining for her. I wanted to be perfect. I wanted to deserve that blush.

I`d come off enough airplanes and never thought twice about the people waiting for their loved ones. I`d seen some of them carrying flags and some flowers, but I`d never really seen them. They`d just been there and never for me.

And now I was there. I didn`t have any flowers or flags and kept second guessing myself on both. I only had my nerves and I had them in abundance.

But when Sookie came out through customs I couldn`t help smiling. Or running towards her and lifting her up. She was my woman and damn if I didn`t want everyone to see it.

I gave her a deep kiss and it wasn`t until someone coughed, I realized that we were blocking the doorway.

I put Sookie down again, grabbed the luggage cart in one hand and her in the other. It was so amazing to have her hand in mine again.

“How was your flight?” I couldn`t care less about her flight, really, but that`s what you`re supposed to ask people you pick up at the airport, right?

“It was fine, Eric. And it`s good to see you again.”

I let go of her hand and grabbed her around the waist instead and hugged her into my side while walking. “I`m looking so much forward to having you here again.”

She giggled and I adored the sound of it. With all the stuff Sookie had been put through, she deserved a few giggles. And I was going to give it all to her.

Yes, I felt all male and protective and strong, walking through the airport to the parking lot, with my arm around Sookie. Which was silly because Sookie was strong herself and didn`t need my protection. But I still had this basic feeling of wanting to make sure nothing bad would ever hurt her again. To make her life a dance on roses – no thorns included.

I could see her surprise when I opened the door to my apartment.

“What? No dust bunnies?” she teased.

“I had a bit better warning than the last time you stayed at my place,” I said, trying to hide my pride.

When did I become one of those guys who was proud because his woman noticed that he`d cleaned his apartment? Probably when I started referring to a woman as my woman.

“Are you tired? Do you want to rest awhile?” I asked.

“That depends on the alternative,” she said with a smirk and it didn`t take me many seconds to realize what she was saying and to plant my lips on hers and my hands all over her body.

Had I been a less selfish man, I would have paid attention to the dark shadows under her eyes and the fact that she had lost a whole night of sleep due to the time difference. But I was selfish. I wanted her and since she wanted me as well, I did not press the issue of her taking a nap.

Sookie was a grown up, right? If she wanted sleep, she both could and would tell me so. After all, she`d managed to tell me that I wouldn`t have any use for that huge supply of condoms I`d stocked up in my drawer. She was using birth control pills.

So we ended up making use of my bed for other activities than Sookie napping after a long flight. Activities that felt so good that I was a mixture of emotions when we were lying in each other`s arms afterwards.

I was so incredibly happy, I didn`t have words to express it. I felt a companionship – no, a bond – to Sookie. She was my family. But those feelings were also mixed up with fear of losing her again. And that was what prompted me to ask her when she was leaving.

“Why?” she asked laughing. “You want me to go already?”

I tickled her and may have pinched her gorgeous butt because of that response.

“No, I want you to stay forever but I wanted to know when I will be deprived of your lovely company,” I said when we had settled down again.

“My return ticket is in three months but I could travel around a bit if you get tired of having me here. After all, I didn`t see much of Scandinavia the last time I was here.”

“Tired of having you here? Are you crazy? If I`d had a basement, I would have locked you up there just to make sure you never left me again.” I gave her a kiss just to make sure she didn`t think I meant the part with the basement – though I wasn`t so sure I didn`t. Now that Sookie was here, I knew I wouldn`t want her to go. I just didn`t know how to make her stay.

“Good thing you don`t have a basement, then,” she said, grinning.

I rolled over on my back and pulled her to lie on my chest. I loved having her there, listening to my heart. And it was also a perfect position if you have to ask someone embarrassing questions. No eye contact.

“You`re welcome to stay longer, Sookie.”

She kissed my nipple. “I would love to but I have a life back in New York too.”

I took a deep breath. It was make or break.

“We could … have you ever considered having children?”

Sookie raised her head and looked at me and I wanted to hide under my pillow. It wasn`t that I wanted to un-ask the question. It was one I had wanted to ask her for a long time. She was pushing 40 and I knew time was an issue. And though I`d never wanted children before, I had started to picture the little blond brats she and I could produce.

If she wanted children, that is. And if she could have them.

So I held my breath and tried to keep my face neutral.

“I`m a bit old now, Eric,” she said.

“You`re only 39,” I said, happy that she hadn`t dismissed it entirely. Or was that only my interpretation?

“I`ll be 40 next month.”

“So? Plenty of women have children when they`re 40. Or 45. A colleague of mine just announced that she was pregnant and she`s 46.” It was an exaggeration. Gry had been 42, but that was still older than 40.

“What are you saying, Eric? That you want us to start a family? We`ve only known each other since Christmas and only seen each other for two weeks – one at Christmas and one at Easter. We live on different continents.” She paused. “And I`m almost 40.”

“Sure, but I`m only 26 so the kid would have a young dad. And we both have professions that make us movable.”

“Which is not without complications. And it still leaves the fact that we hardly know each other.” Sookie kissed my nipple again.

I wanted to say that I knew she was the one for me but I realized they would just be words. I wanted to ask her why she and Bill hadn`t had any children but I figured it was none of my business. Plus, she hadn`t told me she hated children or had made an early decision never to have them. And she hadn`t mentioned not being able to have children. She was on the pill, after all.

So I assumed it was that Bill was either infertile or hadn`t wanted children. Or that she hadn`t wanted hischildren.

“Then I suggest we get to know each other better pretty damned fast,” I said and let my hands glide down her back to her butt.

There are some advantages to being young. Short recuperating time, for one.

We got into a routine pretty quickly. We got up in the morning, had breakfast and when I was at work, Sookie worked or rested or went out on trips to see the city.

When I came home we had dinner or went out to eat. Sometimes we watched a movie and sometimes we went for a long walk.

When I had a day off, I would show her my town and my country.

We talked and we were quiet. We enjoyed life and we had plenty of sex.

This was the kind of family life I`d always wanted. Well, I had never consciously wanted it until I had it now with Sookie. But now that I had it, I didn`t want to let it go. I didn`t want to let Sookie go home.

I`m not sure when the idea of messing with Sookie`s birth control pills surfaced. It might have been that first night when she had unpacked her things and that little package of pills lay there on my bathroom sink. It might have been later when I saw babies all over the place. When had people started having so many kids?

So one morning, when Sookie had already been to the bathroom but hadn`t taken the pill she took every morning, I pressed one out of the package and threw it in the toilet. It was one of those spur of the moment kinds of things and I immediately felt bad about doing it.

But did I regret it? No.

I told myself that I wasn`t forcing a pregnancy on her. I was just helping fate. The lies we tell ourselves.

Knowing that Sookie wasn`t 100% protected was like an aphrodisiac to me. If we`d had sex every night up until then, I made sure we also made love in the morning or the afternoon. And when Sookie went down on me, I never finished in her mouth. I told her I wanted to come inside her and that was the naked truth.

Sookie didn`t seem to complain. Actually she was one of those women who wanted more when there was more to be had and often initiated sex even if we`d already made love that day. Or the night before.

Sookie`s being in my apartment was one big humping party and I enjoyed every moment of it. Every mans`s dream, right?

Though I doubted every man looked for pregnancy signs in the woman with whom he had sex daily.

I did, though. Was she a little bit sick in the morning? Were her breasts a little heavier? Was she more tired than usual?

I knew those signs wouldn`t come immediately, but I still looked for them.

And I made sure she ate well. We had beans, asparagus, spinach and even turnips for dinner. Anything to make sure she got enough folic acid.

I was so on edge because of the possible pregnancy that I hadn`t prepared myself for Sookie getting her period. When she rejected me one night because of it, I was devastated.

“Aaw, sweetheart. There are other things we can do,” she comforted me.

I felt like an ass because I should have been the one comforting her. She was in pain and now she thought I was whining over not getting my daily sex dose. I forced myself to give her one of my winning smiles.

“Maybe there`s something I can do for you?” I said, letting my hand snake down her stomach. “I hear orgasms are great pain relievers.”

“You want to … ? Don`t you find it gross?” she asked.

“I`m a nurse. Since when do I find blood gross?”

My hand crept under the waistband of her panties and I pushed them and the pad she was wearing slightly down to give me room to maneuver. Sookie accommodated me by spreading her legs a bit more. Soon my fingers found their favorite playground and I relished the advantages of Sookie`s being so very well lubricated. It made it possible to be a little more daring, a little rougher – something she seemed to enjoy very much.

Soon I had her panting and moaning and when I kissed and sucked on her breast – who says men can`t multitask? – as well, I felt the familiar signs of an impending orgasm.

I captured her mouth with mine just as she moaned out her pleasure and I kept kissing her while her body tensed and then became still.

When I pulled back and looked at her, my fingers having moved up to carress the lovely curls she had between her legs, I enjoyed the deep sigh that came out of her half open mouth.

After a few moments she looked at me.

“It actually did help with the pain,” she said as if she were surprised.

“You mean that you`ve never tried this specific brand of pain medication before?” I asked.

She laughed. “No, I haven`t. Bil … most men find it gross.”

I noticed how she`d almost said the name of her ex-husband and was glad she changed the sentence. I didn`t want Bill present in our bed.

“Well, I don`t. As a matter of fact, if you`re up for it, I could do it again,” I offered. “Just to make sure you make it through the night.”

“You`re such a philanthropist, Eric,” she said, laughing. “Would your offer include getting other body parts of yours bloody?”

I grinned. “It would.”

And with that I went into the bathroom, washed my bloody fingers and retrieved a towel. When I came back I spread the towel underneath Sookie`s butt and pulled off her panties, pad and all.

I`d never understood why people didn`t have sex just because the woman menstruated. After all, most women bleed 20% of the time up until they are in their fifties. That`s a lot of potential sex-time to miss out on. Yes, I was being entirely selfish in my calculations.

I kissed Sookie deeply and entered her carefully – not wanting to bump her cervix or cause her discomfort.

I liked the different paces Sookie and I made love in and taking it slowly, looking into her eyes when she came – it was a beautiful thing.

So what if she hadn`t conceived the first chance she`d gotten? Sookie was 39 and took most of her birth control pills this past month.

The Goddess of Fate hadn`t had a real chance. She would need more help next month.

A/N:

First of all: I feel the need to stress that I do not condone Eric`s practice. Kids should be the result of a united decision (or a united mistake as it happens for most of us) – not one tricking the other. But I figured it would be “typical” Eric who tricked Sookie into marrying him in the books.

Second of all: I hope you survived the sex scene. I personally agree with Eric on this subject and never meant to disgust anyone. I`m so sorry if I did.