Hey Bartender

10: Compass

SOOKIE

It feels surreal when that tiny, squirming body is placed on my chest. For thirty-three weeks, four days and nineteen hours I have been wondering what her little face is going to look like and now she's here. All seven pounds, four ounces of her is lying on my chest, looking up at me with a pissed off expression on her face. She's definitely my daughter.

"Hi, gorgeous," I whisper and kiss her head. She's perfect. She's got a ton of fluffy hair and her father's nose. It's going to take some time for Kara Michelle Northman to grow into that nose.

"She's so beautiful, Sookie," Eric whispers as he tugs the little pink blanket down to get a better look at her.

"She looks like you. I guess I'm going to have to stop calling you ugly," I chuckle.

"Yes you are," he smiles and kisses my head. "She looks like my mom actually. Karin was bound and determined to get back apparently."

"Looks like," I say. Kara seems so tiny now that I'm not pushing her out. I think she's going to be my only baby, but that's okay. One is enough. My arms are full.

"The grandpas are dying to get in here," he chuckles. "I told them we want a little bit more time with her before they try to steal our little angel."

"They can wait a few more minutes. At least Dad has Elyse to keep him occupied." Elyse is my niece. Jessica was three months pregnant at the wedding. The baby was born three days before Thanksgiving. She's just starting to walk now.

"They're going to have the rest of their lives with her. We have every right to be selfish," he agrees.

"You know Jess thinks she's pregnant again?" I look up at him and wonder if Eric will be okay if this is it. It's true we have EJ too, but he's not always with us. His mom had a new baby last year too, another boy.

"That's going to be interesting if she is. Elyse isn't going to be too happy with that," he chuckles.

"I told Jessica to tread lightly with that attachment parenting stuff. It's actually impressive that Elyse is walking considering how much she's carried around." Different strokes for different folks, but it's made Elyse extremely spoiled and demanding. At least she's not an asshole like Tara's twins.

"Well, now you've seen it enough times to know what not to do. Can I hold her?"

"Sure." I pass him his daughter. It surprised me how not scared I was when I found out I was pregnant. I bawled my eyes out, but I was... elated. I was excited and nervous in the best way. I heard her heartbeat and that was it; I was hooked. I talked to her every day and as soon as I found out she was a girl I knew her name. Kara is a play on Karin and Michelle was my mom's name. There was no debate from Eric and our dads were elated when we told them they were going to be grandpas... even though Eric and I aren't married yet.

We've talked about it but decided we aren't ready yet. We're committed to each other and to our daughter. Eric's name will be on the birth certificate and she'll have his name. No matter what, Eric will always have access to Kara.

"Hey, beautiful," Eric whispers as he looks down at her. He kisses her little head, making her squirm and snort. I don't think I've ever seen him so happy. "I'm so in love with her," he tells me without looking away.

"She is pretty cute," I agree. The damn hormones get the better of me and their cuteness has me crying. I've been a hot mess for the last five weeks. Eric came home from the bar three weeks ago to find me sobbing in EJ's room because his closet was messy.

Eric doesn't even bat an eyelash at my crying. He sits on the bed next me and leans over to kiss me.

"I'm so in love with you too," he whispers. "Thank you for making me another tiny human."