Aftermath

Sam groaned as he turned on his side. He was still sore from the beating Martha's lackeys had delivered. The gunshot wound in his leg was healing well and the bleeding was finally beginning to stop. He leaned over sleeping Luna and smiled as he brushed a strand of hair from her face. He remembered her telling him she loved him last night. He couldn't be more happier with her. He gently laid a kiss on her lips and eased himself slowly out of the bed. He was able to put more pressure on his hurt leg, which was a good thing. He was thankful he'd left clean clothes here since his last visit. He slipped the white t-shirt over his head and pulled his jeans on one leg at a time. The bandage would need to be changed today. He looked back at Luna and shook his head at how black her eye was, and her cheek swollen. He grabbed his cell and flipped it open to check his missed calls and made his way out of the room closing the door quietly. He called Terry back and let him know he was okay, just wouldn't be in today due to being sick. Terry agreed to watch over the bar for him. He sighed in relief as he opened the fridge door and began to make breakfast for his girls.

A small smile came to her face as she rolled over; she had expected to feel Sam beside her, so when she didn't worry immediately surface. She shot out of bed, pulling the comforter around her as she frantically looked around the room. "Oh God, no.... SAM?!" she called as she bolted out the bedroom door; she stopped when the smell of bacon sizzling wafted to her nostrils. She laughed softly and shook her head; no reason to be freaking out.

Walking by Emma's door, she stuck her head in and checked on her little girl; she was still there, still asleep. "Emma, baby, it's time to get up. Sam is cooking breakfast." She knew that Emma was probably still fighting off the effects of whatever medication it was that Martha had forced her to take. She pulled the door to and made her way to the kitchen, the blanket still tightly wrapped around her. Seeing Sam at the stove made her smile, and made her realize how much she wanted a steady, sturdy family.

"Good morning," she said softly as she walked behind him and wrapped her arms (and blanket) around him, laying her head on his back and pressing her lips to it. "Did you sleep okay?"

He was listening to his voicemails as he cooked the bacon on the skillet and flipped the eggs. {Message Wednesday at 7:40 p.m.---""Sam? Sam, I'm starting to get worried. You aren't at Merlotte's and you aren't answering your cell. What's going on? You should have been here hours ago. If you didn't want to see me for some reason, that's fine. But hurting Emma? What's going on with you? I'm just freaking out. Please call me and at least let me know that you're alive. Okay? Bye."} He grinned a little at her worry and deleted the message. At that point he was being shot. {New message Wednesday at 8:13 p.m.---"Sam.... Sam, we need you....."} He listened to her weakened voice and heard her groan in pain before the phone disconnected. He turned with horror on his face to see Luna stand there before him. He swallowed the lump in his throat and rushed to her. -I'm so sorry I wasn't here for you. I just....I just got the message. Oh baby, I'm so sorry.- He said into her hair as he held her to his body. Hearing her voice in his head drove him insane with guilt.

She had heard the messages as he listened to them, her heart starting to race slightly; she didn't realize just HOW frantic she sounded when she had called. When he grabbed her, she wrapped her arms around him tight and kissed his neck over and over. "It's okay, Sam. We're okay. We are all safe, everything is fine. Don't worry about it, okay?" She let go of him and cupped his cheeks with her hands, looking into his eyes and smiling, "You couldn't have done anything different. So just stop worrying."

She kissed him then, a gentle kiss full of her love and thanks for how wonderful he treated her and Emma. She leaned up so she could whisper in his ear, "The bacon's burning."

He held her in his embrace in his arms and sighed. She was right, there was nothing he could do to change what had happened. Not being able to be there for them killed him. It made him feel helpless. He wasn't sure how long he could protect them and that worried him and scared him to death. He grinned as she said the bacon was burning then looked into her eyes and kissed her lips. What she said finally sank in and his eyes popped open and he quickly turned to the stove. Smoke was beginning to rise from the bacon. -Shit! Damn...- He turned the stove off and turned around smiling a crooked smile. -hah..uh. Breakfast is ready.- He said as he held out his hands to the side to show the humor.

She laughed, then laughed harder when the smoke detector started screeching. "No, NOW it's done!" She pinched his butt and laughed a little before walking over to grab a chair; she dropped the blanket, now standing there completely naked. She looked over his shoulder and winked at him before stepping onto the chair and opening the smoke detector so she could take the batteries out of it.

"If that doesn't wake up Emma, I don't know what will!" She turned to look at him, grinning as she saw his face. "What?"

Low and behold the holy grail of luck he was having today. The smoke detector located right above where he stood, was being operated and turned off by a totally nude woman who had to stand on a chair to reach. He was now eye level with....he grinned and shook his head. -Nothing...Nothing at all.- He helped her down from the chair. -Making me hungry for more than breakfast woman. And I wouldn't want Emma to wake to an eyeful of Sam Merlotte that she didn't need to see.- He slid his arms in between her arms around her waist and sighed. His hands roamed down the small of her back and onto her perfectly rounded ass cheeks. -You...are temptation.- He smiled as he leaned down and kissed her lips, parting them with his tongue.

She grinned as she traced his bottom lip with her tongue, her hands moving down to cup his ass and pull him towards her. "Mmmmmm. You're right, though. Emma doesn't need to see that. That's all mine," she said quietly as she moved one hand around to cup him in his already tight jeans. With her other hand, she entwined her fingers in his hair and pulled his face closer to her, her tongue dancing against his before she pulled away and kissed his jaw, down his neck where she stopped and nibbled on his collarbone a little. "Too bad," she whispered. Pulling away, she bent over (maybe a bit more for show than she should have, but hey!) and picked up the blanket, wrapping it back around her before heading back to the bedroom to change. "I'm gonna put some clothes on. Wanna try again with the bacon? Which you STILL haven't turned off?" She winked and pointed at the now shriveled, smoldering black pieces of meat on the stove, laughed and headed to her room.

He sighed and shook his head as he watched her bend slowly to pick up the blanket. -Damn, Luna you're killing me.- He rubbed his neck and turned to look at the stove. -Aw, Hell!- He said as he turned the right burner off and sighed shaking his head with a chuckle. He grabbed the handle and dumped the shriveled mess in the trash. He grabbed the bacon from the fridge and went to try again, as he thought of ways to get rid of his growing problem. He wanted nothing more than to rush after her and have his way with her. But her ribs were still sore, possibly broken and he was hurt as well. He grinned as he thought of things he could do to her, which didn't help his problem....at all. He jumped a little when he heard a small voice behind him. "Mornin' Sam...SAM!!!" Suddenly he felt little arms wrap around his leg. His eyes widened as he chuckled nervously. He still had a minor....major problem going on in his nether regions. -Emma! Mornin' darlin'. Why don't you go sit and I'll bring you some breakfast?- She squealed and went to the table. He sighed and looked up thinking of the most disgusting things, to get rid of his problem.

She slipped on a t-shirt and a pair of black pants before going to brush her teeth, the the tangles out of her hair and head back into the kitchen. She smiled when She saw Emma, and rushed over to give her a hug. "Baby-girl!!" Luna said softly as she wrapped her arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

"MOMMMMY!!" She wrapped her arms around her and held onto her tight, making my heart warm. "I missed you so much, Mommy! Gramma was nice, but I didn't like it that she wouldn't let me call you." She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest before giving Luna a "look." "And you know what else? She gave me milk that tasted funny!" Luna laughed and hugged her again before walking back over to Sam and grinning as she wrapped her arms around his waist, her thumb rubbing gently on the bulge that was still there.

She growled in his ear after licking his earlobe, "Save that for later."

He dropped the whole egg in the skillet and it cracked as she rubbed her thumb over his problem that was STARTING to go away. -Trying...- He said as he shook his head at the temptress that she was. He picked the egg up and finished opening it so the liquid could be put into the skillet. He listened to their conversation and was right about Emma being drugged. His anger was enough to make his problem go away. He finished up the eggs just as the timer for the biscuits went off. -Breakfast is ready.- He fixed two plates, one for Emma and one for Luna as he turned to bring the ladies their breakfast. He set a plate in front of each of them. -Here you are, enjoy.- He gave Luna a playful wink as he headed to fix his plate, still limping a little from his leg.

Emma hungrily dug into her plate, scarfing down her eggs so fast that Luna was almost amazed. "Hungry?" When Emma just nodded with a mouthful of bacon, she couldn't help but laugh. She picked up a piece of bacon and ripped it in half, popping it in her mouth with a sigh. She looked between Sam and Emma, still shaking her head as her daughter scarfed down the food as though she hadn't eaten in a week. Frowning, she leaned over closer to her; her skin was slightly pale, her eyes sunken in and dark circles under them. "You feeling okay, Boo?"

Emma nodded, "Yes, mommy. I'm just tired. And really, really hungry!" Luna nodded her head and went back to her own breakfast, cutting open the biscuit and adding butter then some blackberry preserves. "Sam, this is amazing." she said as she took a bite of the biscuit, melting butter rolling down her chin.

He watched and smiled as Emma scarfed food down. She had been asleep for a while now, so he could only imagine how hungry she was. He grinned at Luna. -Thank you, beautiful. The bacon...took longer than expected.- He said with a half smile and wink to Luna. He watched Luna feel Emma's forehead and a look of concern rose in her face. -She okay?-

She moved her hand from Emma's forehead, rubbed it on her jeans, and then put it back. "She's running a pretty high fever." Her mind started racing as she looked at Sam.

Emma, who had scarfed down all of her food and stolen the bacon off of Luna's plate, yawned and stood up. She walked over to Sam and wrapped her arms around his legs, hugging him as tight as she could with that cast on her arm, then smiling up at him before yawning again. "I'm gonna go lay back down," she said as she walked over and hugged Luna around the neck then slowly headed to her room.

Luna looked at Sam again and shook her head, "It's too early, isn't it? For.... for that?"

He stopped chewing and gave Emma a great hug and kissed her forehead which was burning up. He watched as she trailed with sleepy eyes back to her bedroom in her green pajamas. He grabbed some eggs on his fork and put it in his mouth. Luna looked back at him with questions in her eyes. He swallowed and took a sip of his orange juice, looking towards Emma's direction and back to Luna. -Way to early...can't be that. Could be just a virus going around.- He said as he tried to reassure her that everything was okay. He wasn't 100% sure himself, but from what he knew the "change" didn't occur until puberty. He placed his hand over hers. -She'll be okay. She just needs rest and lots of fluids. Maybe give her some medicine?-