Prompt:

Pairing: Sookie Stackhouse/Stefan Salvatore

Fandom: Crossover. True Blood/The Vampire Diaries

Rating: G

Summary: Centuries have passed for Sookie, Eric, Stefan and the rest. Have they been good? Bad? A mixture?

Beta:

Disclaimer: I do not own Sookie (Thank God! Although I do like her in this story). Nor do I own anyone else who belongs to Southern Vampire Mysteries, True Blood or The Vampire Diaries although if either Alexander Skarsgard or Ian Somerhalder were to pay a visit…well, I don’t think they would be leaving anytime soon since I own handcuffs and rope and know how to use them :D.

A/N:  American Thanksgiving 2009 fell on November 26 and Christmas was on a Friday.

She sat staring into the fire on Christmas Eve, wrapped in an old natty afghan her Gran had once crocheted; that was many centuries ago, though. A tear slipped down her cheek as she thought of all that had happened since Adele had slipped into the great beyond.

So much had happened that first year; some of it good but most of it was beyond human comprehension. Sookie still, after all these years, had a hard time comprehending some of the things that had happened during those first months after Adele had died.

Sookie shook herself out of her grim thoughts and looked around the room at all the pictures and mementos of the people who had flitted in and out of her life and special moments with those she held most dear.

Above the mantle were the pictures of her human family: One of the few pictures of herself, her brother and their parents which had been taken just a few weeks before their car had skidded off the bridge and Corbett and Michelle had drowned. Pictures of her and Jason through the years as they grew up, mostly for Trunk or Treat. She laughed when she remembered them running through the Maize Maze trying to scare each other and beat the other to the exit.

She smiled when she saw the picture of Gran down by the pond. Jason was acting like a doofus in the water and she had used her first camera to take a picture of her Gran that first summer after their parents died. They didn’t have a lot of money for vacations and other little extras so they managed to find ways to make those special moments matter.

On that occasion, they had taken the picnic basket, a blanket and towels to the pond instead of going to a beach where there would be a lot of people. It had been a scorching hot day in late August and Jason had been complaining about being hot and wanting to do things like his friends did so Gran had pulled out the basket, made some sandwiches, tea and potato salad and they had walked to the pond.

She sighed when she saw the next picture. Bill Compton. He had been a bump in the road to her happiness. By the time he had entered the picture, she had been in love with Stefan for a long while. That hadn’t mattered to him though, what mattered was getting her away from Bon Temps and to the queen.

Her gaze next landed on the snow globe in the center of the mantle and she actually laughed out loud. It was the first present Eric had ever given her. Actually, according to Pam, it was the first Christmas present he had ever given of his own accord without her hounding about the holiday and demanding he buy her something.

Sookie got up and walked over to the mantle, already seeing that Christmas in her mind’s eye. She shook it and watched as the snow settled on the roof of the little farmhouse as she thought back to that first Christmas after they had recovered Godric.

Stefan had brought her home at Thanksgiving and they had stayed through the New Year’s celebration at Fangtasia, leaving the next day for where they now called home: Fort Payne, Alabama. It was still southern enough for Sookie and there wasn’t anything Supernatural in the area. There was no Cross Road for Supernaturals, no Fae portal, nothing which could cause either of them any grief or drama. If they wanted to go for drama they went back home for a time; there was always something happening in either Bon Temps or Mystic Falls.

They had worked for nearly a month, from the day after Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve getting everything ready for their first Christmas together, her first since Gran had died.

Stefan had worked hard replacing broken and creaking boards and painting the house while Sookie cleaned top to bottom, inside and out, to get everything ready for what turned out to be one of the best Christmases she could remember.

By the time Christmas Day rolled around, there wasn’t a surface that didn’t have some sort of decoration on it. Someone had even managed to surprise her. Sookie had never had a white Christmas, but someone managed to rent a snowmaking machine and cover her property with snow. It had all melted by sundown, but she had been beside herself with joy at the sight from her bedroom window when she had gotten up. She still had the pictures of it, too. They had even managed to have a short snowball fight by the time Jason had arrived, his eyes full of wonder at the unexpected sight of snow.

Stefan had brought her breakfast in bed just as the sun was peaking over the horizon and they had shared an unhurried breakfast, lazing around on her bed for more than an hour before she forced herself to get up and put the turkey on to cook.

She had been in a baking frenzy for the last week so the cakes and pies and cookies were all sitting on their plates on the screened in back porch, just waiting for her family and friends to come and gobble them down.

The first present she had opened that morning had been a photo album with only one picture in it: her and Stefan standing in front of the house once all the decorations were up. “For all the memories we’ll make together,” he had told her. And they had made a lot of memories over the years; she had filled many albums before she had switched to digital so she could carry her memories with her wherever she went.

The first present she had opened that night had been the snowglobe. She still remembered how Eric’s face had lit up when she told him how much she liked it and had given him a hug and a peck on the cheek for being so thoughtful AND staying within the price limit.

Little did she suspect that he had had it made specially for her from pictures he’d managed to acquire over the months they had known each other. He knew from her own words that something that looked extravagant would not be appreciated so he’d contacted someone who had been able to make what he wanted. They had received an extra little bonus in the New Year since she had liked it to so much.

Stefan had been wrong about one thing, although she suspected he knew that at the time. The albums didn’t have just the memories of the two of them together. When her other present from him had been a camera she had gotten shutter happy and gone through many rolls of film that day but she had gotten all of them developed and put them in that first album, filling it.

As she had filled each photo album another, empty one, would mysteriously appear on the shelf next to the full one.

They had spent a happy morning preparing the dinner feast and when the time came, the table was full of not just food but friends and family, and those who would become family over the course of the years ahead of her. There was more than enough food for all the chewers to take home leftovers so she knew people like her brother wouldn’t be living on pizza and beer for a few days.

Stefan’s brother and his girlfriend had shared that first Christmas with them as had Pam and Eric and Godric, Tara and Lafayette, Jason and his date, Arlene and her kids, Terry and Andy, Holly and her boys, Sam, Godric, Caroline and Tyler, Bonnie and Jeremy. They had had to break out the lawn chairs and card tables to fit everyone which had been just fine with her!

Over the years the people who shared Holidays and Holy Days with her had changed but there were constants. Stefan was forever there, loving her and supporting her in whatever she chose to do and through the hardships life always threw her way. Eric had always supported her too. He had been disappointed, at first, that she hadn’t chosen to be with him but once he saw that she was happy he was simply happy for her. He may not always be able to be physically present, but he always made sure she knew he was thinking of her.

She sighed when she thought of Sam Merlotte. She truly had enjoyed working for him, but he simply could not be happy for her. In his eyes if she wasn’t with him, she shouldn’t be with anybody so she had quite Merlotte’s and gone to work for Eric in Shreveport.

With his tutoring help and online courses she had gotten her business degree and had helped him with Fangtasia, taking over the bookkeeping and managerial chores, leaving him free to do his Sheriff duties unhindered by anything other than sitting on the throne, signing paychecks and making sure invoices were paid on time.

Her Gran would have been on cloud nine with so many people around a full to bursting dinner table and she would have been so proud to see Sookie having fun with her friends and family. Friends had been hard to come by growing up. Her telepathy had made it nearly impossible for her to have close friends and relationships because she didn’t have any control of it until after she graduated high school.

Sookie looked over at the Christmas tree, sparkling with lights and dripping with glitter and icicles and smiled. Pam, of all people, had sent her a Christmas tree ornament from wherever she had traveled over the years. She was rarely at any of the get togethers, as she had gotten the traveling bug about the time they had finally shut Fangtasia’s doors for the final time.

Sookie had been exhausted by the end of dinner, but everyone helped with the clean-up and once the Night Walkers had shown up the music started, the booze began to flow and the furniture was pushed back to the walls for dancing, Twister and anything else they could think of.

She had danced with absolutely everyone, including Pam, Arlene, and Holly. The most special dances though were with Stefan. Being in his arms was more than she ever thought she’d have in her life although she had wanted what she had more than anything when she was a girl. She felt safe and loved and special. She didn’t feel special because she was a freak among the normal, it was because she knew that to him she was special; she held a special place within his heart.

Sookie went over to the bookshelf and removed that first photo album, placing a finger kiss on the picture of the two of them together before she opened it.

Right there, on the first page was a picture of her and Stefan dancing together that night. Then a picture of the groaning table with everyone sitting around it.

She leafed through the pages, stopping when one of them brought on a precious memory.

Jason with his goofy grin.

Dancing with Tara. They had done the same dance they had done for their high school talent show and received both applause and growls of approval when they finished. They hadn’t realized it at the time but Pat Benatar’s Love Is A Battlefield was extremely evocative and they had been disqualified once the judges had gotten over their shock.

Sookie blushed deep crimson when she remembered just what that dance had meant once everyone had gone home. Stefan had chased her up the stairs to bed, but they hadn’t gone to sleep. Oh no, they had found their second wind and celebrated in a completely couples kind of way. In fact, that had been the night she had conceived the first of their three children together.

Being pregnant had certainly been a surprise given the fact he was a vampire and she a mostly human-fairy hybrid.

Dr. Ludwig had done her research, but it still took three years before she learned that it was a combination of Fae magic and Doppelganger magic which made the pregnancies possible.

She sighed when she saw the picture of Damon and Elena. They’d had their share of ups and downs, but they had faith in each other. That faith had pulled them through some tough times and even now they were still going strong.

Sookie laughed when she saw the next picture: It was Kayla, their daughter and first born, on her first Hallowe’en. They had dressed her as a sunflower and she had put up a huge fuss, but she had charmed absolutely everybody they came across as they walked around the mall, pushing her stroller.

She saw the lights of a vehicle coming up the driveway and soon heard the sound of tires on gravel. Stefan was home!

She ran to the door and threw it open and screamed when she was enveloped by a large pair of arms and was lifted into the air! And then another pair and another and another!

Just as she was set back on her feet, before she had a chance to see who all was there, “Surprise!”

Eric was the one who had lifted her off the ground, but she saw all her friends and family standing around them and there was Stefan, standing off in the background smiling, happy that he had been able to give her this gift.

She ran to him and threw herself into his arms, knowing he would catch her. And he did. “Thank you,” she whispered into his ear. “How did you ever manage it?”

He laughed, “We’ve been planning this since last Christmas.”

“We?” She rounded on everybody, still encased in her love’s arms, “You all knew about this? None of you said a damn thing this whole entire year?”

Kayla giggled, “He,” she indicated her father with her chin, “had Auntie Bekah compel us to not even think about it around you!”

She looked around at all the familiar faces, and even the newest whom she hadn’t had the chance to meet yet, turned in Stefan’s arms and gave him a long hard kiss thank you.