A/N There are a few things I need to point out about this story so that I’m not accused of misleading anyone. First of all this is an AH story and definitely OOC, so while Mrs. Harris’s or Mr. Ball’s Sam or Eric may not do certain things, mine probably will. And lastly, this story is going to simmer awhile before it boils, so…patience! =)
Oh yeah, and Mrs. Harris owns these guys, I’m just messin’ with ‘em.
Chapter 4
EPOV
This had to be what heaven smelled like. I walked into the house and immediately my senses were assaulted with the glorious smell of food. HOME COOKED FOOD! I could smell oregano, basil and even bread baking with a hint of garlic. Yep, I had died and gone to heaven.
I sat my brief case down and placed my keys in the small bowl on the table in the entrance way. I was surprised and maybe a little hurt that Holly had not greeted me at the door. We had spent virtually every moment of the last two years together and I grossly underestimated the impact of her being elsewhere would have on me.
“Hello.” I called from the foyer.
“Daddy!” Came the return call from the kitchen, seconds later I heard the rapid
footsteps of her tiny feet coming toward me. I opened my arms just as she launched herself at me and I spun her around in a big hug.
“Hello pumpkin, how was your day.” I asked as I gave her a kiss.
“Good daddy. We went to the grocery store and got all sorts of healthy things and me and Sookie made dinner.”
“Sookie and I made dinner.” I corrected her while planting another kiss on her cheek before setting her back down on the floor.
“Sookie and I made dinner.” She dutifully repeated.
“Well something smells wonderful, what are we having?” I said as she grabbed my hand and we made our way to the kitchen.
“Chicken parma…parmesan and some vegetables and salad and bread with garlic on it.” She said stumbling on the “parmesan” for second before continuing; I doubt she could have been more excited if it were cake and ice cream we were discussing.
We walked into the kitchen and noticed the table in the dining room had been set for two places and Sookie was by the stove pulling a couple of dishes out of the oven.
“Hey…welcome home.” Sookie said with a smile and I was again struck by how at ease she seemed to be already.
“Thanks. It smells wonderful in here by the way.” I offered.
“Well you can thank Ms. Holly here; she’s done as much work as I have on this meal.”
“Oh really?” I said turning my attention to my daughter who was smiling as big as Christmas morning. “And what part did you help with exactly?” I asked as I sat down on the barstool and pulled her into my lap.
“Well…I got to dip the chicken in the egg stuff and then the bread crumbs. Then Sookie let me paint the butter on the bread and then I helped cut up the stuff for the salad.” My face must have relayed my concern at the idea of my four year old “cutting” anything.
“Relax Eric,” Sookie said. “I did the cutting; she tore the lettuce and broke green peppers. Did you really believe I would hand your child a knife?” She slightly chuckled and I knew she was just trying to point out the absurdity of what I was thinking, but you could also see the hint of hurt in her eyes at my distrust.
“I’m sorry Sookie; of course you wouldn’t give a knife to my daughter, it’s just…well…this is all very new for me.”
“It’s ok, trust isn’t given, it’s earned.” She said with a small smile. “Now dinner will be ready in two minutes so why don’t the two of you go wash up?”
A few minutes later Holly and I were taking our seats at the table when Sookie came in to say good night.
“You’re not joining us?” I asked.
“No, no…this is time for you to spend with Holly. I’ll see you guys in the morning.” She said as she grabbed her keys and purse.
Sookie had agreed to start work right away but still had a few things at home to take care of before she moved in so it was decided that she would come over every morning before I left for work and then leave after I got home. Provided she got everything taken care of at home, she planned to move in the next weekend. Once moved in, unless I was out of town, she would have every weekend off starting Friday when I got home until Monday morning when I was ready to leave for work. Depending on her schedule when classes began again in the fall, most of her evenings would be hers to do whatever she wanted unless I was working late. Fortunately most of her remaining classes would be while Holly was in pre-school.
The arrangement was worked out with little or no compromise by either party making this an advantageous situation for both of us but I had strong suspicions that her fiancé was a little less than thrilled with Sookie’s new employment from a few comments that she had made. Frankly since the whole thing had worked out so well I had gotten a little selfish about the arrangement and couldn’t have cared less what he thought as long as Sookie was happy with her decision and their drama wasn’t brought in to my home.
The rest of the week was pretty much the same; Sookie and Holly would have another wonderful meal waiting when I got home each evening and after a brief recap of their day, Sookie would say her goodbyes. Little by little, each day my fears and concerns about leaving my daughter with a stranger were dissipating, not to mention my stress level. Small seemingly insignificant things like not having to worry about what she was going to eat or what to dress her in was having an enormous impact on my psyche; I felt like such a huge burden had been lifted from me already so that when I was home I could really enjoy spending time with my daughter. Hell yes I was getting selfish about this arrangement!
It was probably around 10:00 Sunday morning when Sookie arrived with her things. I offered to help but she insisted she had everything under control so I tried to keep Holly occupied and out of her hair while she unpacked but was having little success.
“Holly, where are you going?” I tried to give her my stern father voice as she tried to sneak out of the den for the third time.
“Daddy, what if she needs me to show her where something is?” Holly argued trying to prove she was being helpful rather than nosey.
“You just stay put. If she needs us, she’ll call us ok?” I told her earning a pout. “Look, why don’t you work on a picture for Sookie’s room.”
Holly pulled all her markers and crayons out and began working on her masterpiece until several minutes later when Sookie came in to the den with a man following close behind.
“Eric I would like to introduce you to someone.” She said sounding more uncomfortable than she did the day she came in for her interview; I stood up and walked over to where they were.
“Sam, this is Eric Northman. Eric, this is Sam Merlotte, my fiancé.” I offered my hand and Sam and he seemed to take it somewhat reluctantly.
“Nice to meet you.” I said. I wanted to make a comment about the Kung Fu grip he was
putting on my hand but I decided that if I were in his shoes, I probably wouldn’t be very happy about my fiancée moving in with a single man and his daughter either.
“You too.” He said without much conviction.
“And this little jewel,” Sookie said as she picked up my daughter, “is Holly.”
Holly laid her head on Sookie’s shoulder and whispered to her. “What’s a fiancé?”
“That means I’m going to marry him one day.” Sookie answered and Holly thought for a moment and then leaned forward and stuck her hand out to Sam.
“Nice to meet you.” She mimicked.
“Why thank you, it’s a pleasure to meet you as well.” Sam shook her hand and seemed to warm a little bit. I felt confident that once he realized I was not a threat to their relationship things would be ok.
We chatted for a little while and then Sookie and Sam left to enjoy the rest of their day while I took Holly to the park to play.
Holly had been a chatter box the entire day. If I heard “Sookie and I did…” or “Sookie says…” once then I heard it 1000 times. In such a short time, Sookie had definitely won my daughter over and while I was happy she had there was a small part of me that silently ached that I was missing out on her day today activities and new experiences.
Damn it somebody’s got to pay the bills.
o~O~o
I was sitting in the den enjoying a glass of wine after finally getting a keyed up Holly to sleep when I heard Sookie come in.
“Hey, did you have a nice evening?” I asked hoping I didn’t sound lame. Small talk outside of the legal profession was…well let’s just say that was one social skill my overachieving ass just could just not master.
“Yeah, we just hung out and then went to dinner…just the usual.” She sounded more like a frustrated middle aged wife rather than a young woman engaged to the love of her life. I felt kind of sorry for her but then again I had only known her a week, who was I to judge?
“Sookie, I couldn’t help but notice that Sam doesn’t particularly seem to be a fan of your current employment. Is that going to be a problem? If so I would like to know now. Holly’s already getting attached to you and I don’t want to see her hurt.”
Her face looked as though I had struck a nerve, and while I hoped I was not letting my tainted experience with marriage cloud my opinion, I would not allow Holly’s wellbeing to be jeopardized while Sookie and Sam worked through their relationship issues.
“Mr. Northman,” Oh hell, “you don’t know this about me, but I don’t take my commitments lightly. I accepted this job, and I plan to do this job and do it well.” She paused for a moment and took a deep breath. “Look, I’m not going to lie to you, Sam is not happy about me taking this job, but this is what’s right for me right now and he is just going to have to deal with it. I know you’re worried about Holly, you’re her father, I would expect no less; but I’ve grown quite attached to her as well and I would never do anything to hurt her.” She turned slightly and I notice one solitary tear sliding down her cheek which she refused to acknowledge.
“Fair enough.” That’s all I had. We had reached an agreement and the case was closed.
“Well, I have a few more things to unpack so I think I will turn in now. Goodnight Eric.” I was satisfied by her use of my first name again that we were back on amicable terms.
“Goodnight Sookie.”
SPOV
I had hoped Sam meeting Eric and Holly would help put some of his concerns to rest but if anything, it did just the opposite.
We had just left Eric’s house after a disastrous introduction to my new boss and had pulled in to the parking lot of the store so that I could pick up shampoo and other toiletries when Sam got started.
“I think there are a few things you failed to mention about this job, isn’t there Sookie?” God I hated when he took that condescending tone with me.
“Like what?” I sure as hell had no intention of making this easy on him.
“Like for instance that the family you are working for consists of a SINGLE man and his daughter.” I was grateful we were still in the car as his voice began to get louder.
“And that this SINGLE man is just a few years older than yourself.” He was almost yelling now and I was quickly reaching my limit.
“I don’t see how that changes anything. I was hired to take care of a little girl, why does it matter who her parents are?” My own voice was raising now.
“You’ve just moved in with a single man and you don’t see that as a problem?” I had had enough of that tone.
“No I don’t!” I yelled.
“Well, I’m not going to allow it! We’re going back over there and you are going to get your things and quit that job.” He yelled back.
“I’m what? Have you lost your damn mind? I’m not quitting anything!”
People walking by the car in the parking lot were starting to stare, some looked concerned that I may need help; others just looked at us like we had gone completely snap bean.
“Fine then you don’t have to quit, but you are not living there. You can just go over there every morning and come home at night.” I was beyond livid at this point. Did this man know me at all? I took a minute and calmed myself before responding.
“Sam, I want you to listen carefully to what I am saying to you because this is the last time we will have this conversation.” I paused making sure I had his attention. “I have signed a two year contract to work for Mr. Northman which includes living on site, so unless he changes his mind or makes other arrangements, I WILL BE working for him for the next two years. So you do whatever you need to do to adjust to that because it is not up for discussion any longer.”
I didn’t bother waiting for a response; I got out of the car and proceeded to the store grabbed a cart and began my shopping.
We spent the rest of the day without either of us saying much. I knew he needed time to process what I had told him so I didn’t bother forcing conversation on him, I’m sure people passing our table at dinner thought we had taken a vow of silence.
We rode in silence back to the house and he gave me a chaste kiss before I got out of the car and promised to call later that evening.
I quietly walked in to the house knowing Holly was probably fast asleep by now; walked by the den and found Eric sitting there with a glass of wine.
“Hey, did you have a nice evening?” I knew living in the same house was going to make things a little awkward at first but I was glad he was at least trying to make conversation.
“Yeah, we just hung out and then went to dinner…just the usual.” I didn’t see the need to tell him about the fight.
“Sookie, I couldn’t help but notice that Sam doesn’t particularly seem to be a fan of your current employment. Is that going to be a problem? If so I would like to know now. Holly’s already getting attached to you and I don’t want to see her hurt.” Shit! I knew Sam’s behavior was not going to go unnoticed, but I was not willing to let him screw this up for me.
“Mr. Northman,” I used his surname because this wasn’t personal, this was business, “you don’t know this about me, but I don’t take my commitments lightly. I accepted this job, and I plan to do this job and do it well.” I paused for a moment fighting the emotions still raw from my quarrel with Sam earlier. “Look, I’m not going to lie to you, Sam is not happy about me taking this job, but this is what’s right for me right now and he is just going to have to deal with it. I know you’re worried about Holly, you’re her father, I would expect no less; but I’ve grown quite attached to her as well and I would never do anything to hurt her.” I felt a traitorous tear slip down my cheek but I refused to draw attention to it by wiping it away.
I stood there for several seconds waiting before Eric responded.
“Fair enough.” I felt the relief wash over me at our mutual understanding.
I said goodnight and retired to my room hoping tomorrow would be the beginning of better days.
TBC
