Epilogue

She went back to her childhood home that night. The first of many that she would be returning from romps with her Viking, trips abroad, visiting friends in other states.

It was many years before Godric consented but finally, finally he allowed Eric to ask her to pledge to him.

As a pledging gift he released her as his child, confident in her abilities as a vampire and in her mate’s abilities to protect what was theirs-his youngest vampire child.

She had spent the years between bonding and pledging with learning both of the Supernatural world and her place in it and book learning. She was finally able to go to college.

She earned degrees in business management first. She wanted to be able to help her bonded, HER Eric, with his business ventures. She also wished to be able to run her own business, a child company under the parent of Northman Enterprises, to the best of her abilities.

That company was her vampire bed and breakfast, which she named The Haven. She decided not to get involved with the CoffinSurfing, deeming it too dangerous to any who hosted the travelling vampire and to the travelling vampire as well since vampires were not known for being courteous or opening their homes to others.

With the death of William Compton his physical property became hers. With the guidance of both her Maker and her bonded she got his house cleaned and renovated, turning it back into the plantation house it had started out as.

The bed and breakfast became quite popular very quickly. The prices were cheaper than the hotels, therefore appealing to the newer vampires who weren’t old enough yet to have made their mark in the world and earn their millions.

The B&B had branched out within five years of its Grand Opening and now, two centuries later, they were all over the Southern States with a select few in other states including one on the Big Island in Hawaii and one in Alaska. They were also world wide now but the home office would always be in Bon Temps, Louisiana where the owner with such an original concept was born and raised as a human and lived as a vampire.

She even managed to teach most of the residents of her little Parish tolerance. She felt the difference between what they had begrudgingly given Bill and what they gave her was the human’s own innate sense of what is right and self preservation. Bill had never really done anything to earn their trust, had, in fact taken one of their own and very nearly broken her. They were leery of her in the beginning but the longer she stayed, the more she showed them that she was still Sookie Stackhouse, only enhanced, the more they came to accept her and vampires in general.

She had never mended the fences with Sam and Tara. This hurt her for quite some time until she realized that it was their decision to make, they had to live with that. She had to live with it too but she knew she had done nothing wrong. She had only been doing what came to her naturally.

When Sam died at the age of 80, with no living descendants, she bought the bar and kept it going, leaving the name the same. More Supes came in now but they were accepted as part of the norm now instead of the exception. There were still problems sometimes but what business didn’t have its share of problems?

When Tara died at the age of 65 from a cocktail of too many drugs and too much alcohol she bought the clothing store Tara had owned and gifted it to Pam who, despite being the epitome of the vamp you want to dress most like, hugged her ‘step-mom’ and gave her a rare true smile as thanks.

Soon after opening the bed and breakfast she had discovered the one thing it lacked: a cook for the humans who accompanied the vampires so she hired Lafayette on an as needed basis to cook nutritious meals for the companions so they could have a little holiday along with their vampires. She took him with her when hiring cooks for the other locations.

When Lala started feeling his age they had a long talk and he decided that he would like to become a vampire as well. Together they talked to Godric and Eric to find a Maker who would be most suitable for her best human friend.

Godric decided he would turn him himself. He found he enjoyed Lafayette’s flamboyant way, his straightforward demeanour and his sense of fun.

Jason was still the tom-cat for quite a few years but he did eventually settle down and give her a niece and nephew. He did the home maintenance on her house and the B&B until he got too old to do so, then his son took over, turning it into quite an enterprise across the state.

Jason died peacefully in his sleep, with his sister by his side, at the age of 90. His funeral was held at night so his sister could attend.

The End

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