Chapter 15: April Fool’s Day

…previous

 

I laughed. Hard. I’d been pranked three other times that day.

 

“That’s a good one, pretty girl. Happy April fool’s day to you too,” I smiled and gave her another kiss. She was cute.

 

“Babe, this isn’t a prank,” she said. For a terrible actress she was doing a pretty good job of keeping a straight face.

 

“Come on, Alcide tried telling me it was going to cost me another twenty-seven grand to replace some beams, which he was fucking with me about. There’s no way you’re pregnant,” I chuckled. “You’re cute, though.”

 

“You think I’m lying? Check the test in the bathroom,” she said, folding her arms over her chest.

 

I shook my head and moved past her to go into the bathroom to look. Sure enough, there was a pregnancy test sitting on the counter. When I picked it up, there was no mistaking the positive result.

 

Sookie was pregnant…

 

It was mine…

 

Holy fuck…

 

I stood there staring at it for lord knows how long before I walked out. Sookie was standing there with her adorable little smirk on her face.

 

“You’re seriously pregnant?” I said quietly.

 

“You know I’m a shitty liar,” she pointed out. “You know I’ve been feeling crappy and tired lately but I don’t really have any symptoms of a cold or the flu… Yeah, I’m seriously pregnant.”

 

“Wow…” I didn’t know how I felt. I wasn’t mad, or even upset, just shocked. “Come here.” I held out my arms to her.

 

“Are you okay?” she asked as she came closer. Sookie wrapped her arms around my ribs in a tight hug.

 

“I’m just a little surprised, that’s all,” I answered. I didn’t have any other words for how I was feeling. Every emotion I could think of was running through my body. Shock, definitely shock…

 

“You and me both,” she replied. Sookie rubbed my back soothingly. “I’m happy, though. I know it’s not planned, at least not right now, but I’m not disappointed.”

 

“Disappointment isn’t one of the things going through my mind. I’m not upset; it’s just a little scary. Yeah, that’s a good word for it.” I kissed her forehead as I hugged her back. “How long ago did you find out?”

 

“About ten minutes ago.”

 

“So does this mean you’re moving in?” I asked. If I already said something about that I didn’t remember.

 

Sookie laughed and tilted her head up to kiss my chin.

 

“It makes a lot more sense than carting Baby Northman back and forth, doesn’t it?”

 

“Yep,” I smiled. Her laugh did something to me every time. It didn’t matter what was going on, if she smiled at me or laughed I was all better. “You know we’re going to be parents together, right? That’s… did you think this would ever happen three years ago?”

 

“Honestly? I thought I might get knocked up but I didn’t think we’d be parents together,” Sookie admitted.

 

“If you were at all worried about it, I’m mad or disappointed. As soon as it fully sinks in I’m going to be very excited,” I said. It hadn’t quite hit.

 

“I’m not really worried about it,” she said sincerely. “Things are different now. We’re more prepared for it.”

 

“We are,” I agreed. “So… what should we do now?” I asked. I was still in a state of shock.

 

“Well, celebratory shooters are out of the question,” she laughed.

 

“For you they are,” I winked. “I think I go back to the snuggling plan. I missed you today.”

 

“Can I drink my milkshake while you do it?”

 

“You can drink your milkshake before. I might have to go tell Tara,” I chuckled.

 

“That’s fair,” she nodded. “We could just invite her over. No goat, though.”

 

“She can leave Herbert in his little hut,” I chuckled. We were both shocked Tara decided to keep him.

 

I pulled my phone out and sent her a message.

 

Me: Get your ass over here. We have to talk to you.

 

Tara: Magic word, bitch?

 

Me: New baby smell.

 

Tara: WTF does that even mean?

 

Me: It means get over here and you’ll find out.

 

Tara: Bossy.

 

Sookie stabbed her straw into the milkshake and moaned when she got a mouthful of it. Ripley came over and got up on her hind paws to try to get my attention.

 

“Is that what you wanted or the ginormous baby you’re growing?” It was going to be big. All of the Northman children were.

 

“I have no idea but goddamn, this is tasty,” she said before sucking down some more.

 

“Good.” I kissed her forehead before I walked over to the door. Tara was just walking up the steps. “Hey.”

 

“Hey. What’s going on that I had to rush over here for?” Tara asked as she let herself in. Ripley ran straight to her and growled.

 

“Rip, cool it,” Sookie said. The dog kept sniffing but the growling stopped.

 

“We have news,” I smiled. “We just found out Sookie is pregnant.” That was nice to say. I liked it.

 

“Nuh uh,” Tara said in disbelief. “Good one, though.”

 

“Tara, I don’t fuck around when it comes to baby news. She took a test right before I got here. We’re having a baby. You’re going to get to be an aunt and have all the baby cuddles you can handle.”

 

“For real?” She looked to Sookie.

 

“Uh huh.” Sookie still had a mouth full of milkshake.

 

“That’s… Congratulations!” Tara threw her arms around me.

 

“Thanks.” I hugged her back. “You’re losing your neighbor. I’m stealing her.”

 

“Just leave the baby and you can have her,” Tara shrugged.

 

“I don’t think that’s going to work,” I snorted. “The baby comes with us. You’ll have to bring your ass out to our place.”

 

“Boo,” Tara pouted. “So much for all the baby cuddles I can handle.”

 

“You’re welcome at the house. I don’t know why you never come over.” That was kinda baffling.

 

“Because my house doesn’t smell like a sweat sock,” Tara answered.

 

“It smells like a goat pen,” Sookie said, earning her the stink eye from Tara. “Well it does. Herbert’s a smelly bastard.”

 

“Plus, I’m going to have Sookie there. She makes it smell pretty,” I shrugged. My house did not smell like a sweat sock. At least I didn’t think it did.

 

“It’s true. I already have plans for wax tart melters,” she said. I had no idea what that was.

 

“That sounds kinky,” I chuckled. I knew it wasn’t. I learned quickly that the kinkiest Sookie got was spanking, and a little anal play. She laughed in my face when I talked about seeing her with another chick. I didn’t even want to join, just watch.

 

“It’s not,” Tara informed me.

 

“Damn,” I pouted. “We do want you over more.” Shit, we were having a baby. That was… wow. Every time it hit me again I was going to be re-shocked until I got used to it.

 

“You better put a ring on it or Mama’ll whoop you,” Tara told me.

 

“Do you want a ring?” I asked Sookie. It wasn’t a proposal, just a question.

 

Her eyes went wide and she said, “Uhh… I don’t know. Can we talk about it later?”

 

“Of course,” I smiled. “I promise, when it comes to be a proposal I’m going to have a ring and Tara won’t be standing here.”

 

“Good call,” Sookie replied.

 

“I’ll be in the bushes tapin’ the shit,” Tara snickered.

 

“That’s creepy,” I snorted.

 

“Pffffft… You know Mama’s gonna wanna see how it all went down,” Tara shrugged.

 

“I’m sure she will, but it’s our business unless I decide to make it a public proposal. Hell, Sookie may not even want to marry me,” I said.

 

“Probably not,” Tara said. Asshole.

 

“She likes me enough to get knocked up by me,” I shrugged. “She’s already stuck with me forever.”

 

“Poor girl.”

 

“You’re an asshole.”

 

“Takes one to know one,” Tara replied. “So, you got morning sickness yet?”

 

“Nah, just tired as hell,” Sookie told her.

 

“You girls have fun. I’m going to go take a quick shower,” I told them. I didn’t intend for Tara to stay, I just wanted to tell her about the baby.

 

“Don’t worry; I won’t be here when you get out. I’m sure you have celebrating to do,” Tara said with a few hip thrusts.

 

“Depends on how good Mama Bear is feeling,” I smiled. I kissed Sookie’s head as she took another slurp of her milkshake.

 

“Mama Bear needs a nap,” Sookie said after she swallowed. “All that peeing on a stick and then convincing you the baby isn’t a prank was hard work.”

 

“You should spend a day with me at the office some time.”

 

“I already have a job,” Sookie reminded me.

 

“Oh, I know. I’m just sayin’ if you want to know what tired is, spend the day working on a house with me. Not that what you do isn’t taxing.”

 

“You’ll find out when the baby comes,” Sookie said. “And that’s just one. You should try dealing with a room full of them all at once.”

 

“Alright, you got me beat on the mental exhaustion. I’ll take physical, how’s that?”

 

“Like I said, just wait,” Sookie shrugged.

 

I gave her another quick kiss, said goodbye to Tara and then went into Sookie’s bathroom so I could take a shower. I probably did smell like a sweat sock.

 

Once I was in the shower I started thinking about what it meant for Sookie to be pregnant. I knew I wanted kids, but I didn’t know I wanted them so soon. It was kinda scary knowing I was going to have one in just a few months. Sookie and I were solid, though. I knew it was going to be okay.

 

The only thing that really bugged me was that my brother wasn’t around to give me shit about it. He loved Sookie when we dated the first time. He was probably in heaven smiling like a goddamn lunatic. That made me feel good. I knew Nik was in a better place, even though I still missed the shit out of him.

 

I finished my shower and dried off. I grabbed my sweats to put on after I brushed my teeth and then went back into the room to find Sookie. She was done with her milkshake and sitting up against her headboard.

 

“I was thinking, Nik is probably throwing a party wherever he is,” I smiled as I climbed into bed next to Sookie.

 

“Probably,” she agreed. “I know it’s early to be talking about but if it’s a boy…”

 

“I was already thinking it,” I agreed as I rested my head on her thigh.

 

“I think the world needs another Nik Northman,” she said quietly, running her fingers through my hair.

 

“I agree. I think the world kinda blows without him. But I have you, and our new little Northman.” I tilted my head to kiss her belly. “Things are only getting better.”

 

“I hope so.”

 

“What do you think about getting married?” We hadn’t really talked about it. I turned so I could look up at her.

 

“I don’t want to do it just because we’re having a baby,” she said. “You don’t have to propose to me just to appease your mother.”

 

“I won’t. When I propose it’s going to be because I’m ready to ask. I’ve been thinking about it a lot more lately,” I admitted. “Sure we haven’t been together that long, but it’s not like we just met. I figured out a while ago that I want you to be my forever.”

 

Sookie smiled down at me and said, “I think we should walk before we run. Let’s try living together for a while. That’s going to be an adjustment and the baby’s going to be an even bigger adjustment. When the time is right, we’ll do it.”

 

“Yeah, Tara just got me thinking a little more about it. I agree though, living together is a good start. I like that the house is big enough that we’ll each have our own space if we start to get tired of each other.”

 

“I’m not too worried about that,” she said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with this place, though. What about making it a rental property? Do you like being a landlord?”

 

“Yeah, I’ve had pretty good tenants so far. It’s also a good source of income. You can probably get a lot more than what your mortgage is per month here,” I told her.

 

“You think? I don’t really know anything about that kind of stuff.”

 

“I did a ton of research before I rented my first place out. I can help you. The house is in great condition and the location is amazing. You’re going to get good people willing to pay.”

 

“I’m a little worried about the idea of having to deal with property damage or something, but I guess if something does get ruined it’s good to be shacked up with someone who fixes up houses for a living.”

 

“Yep,” I smiled. “I can get good deals on materials and I’ll do the work because I think you’re cute.”

 

“Awwww look at you sucking up,” she giggled.

 

“It’s not sucking up. You’re my favorite person and you’re making me a new little person. I do what I do and say what I say because I love you.”

 

“You’re pretty cute too,” Sookie replied. She kissed her fingertips and pressed them to my lips.

 

I nuzzled into Sookie’s thigh before I tilted to kiss her belly again. We had come a long way. We still had our arguments, but that was what healthy couples did. We were two very different people, that seemed to fit together. With the new baby on the way I knew we had a lot of bumps to get over, but I knew it would be alright.

 

The spiritual part of me felt like Nik put his stamp of approval on us. Making all the wheels turn in the right direction to put us back together again. He didn’t know her well, but he knew what I told him. Even when I didn’t know if I loved her I knew there was the potential. She was the first girl I got all jealous about, or had me giving that goofy smile when I talked about her. My brother had a feeling and it turned out to be right. Sookie Stackhouse was going to be my heart’s forever home, and I was just fine with that.

…End…