SPOV

From there, we started planning the wedding in earnest. I spent a lot of time at Eric's loft – eating breakfast, studying on the couch, brushing my teeth… One night after the bar closed we were sitting around talking and Pam admitted that naming me as Eric's girlfriend and setting up the photo shoot had been her attempt at matchmaking. I hoped she didn't ever intend to start WWIII or set the apocalypse into motion.

One Sunday Eric invited me over for dinner. He seemed kind of nervous. He had already asked me to marry him, what else did he have to be nervous about? I began to wonder if he had done something he knew would upset me.

"Eric, what's wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've been kind of jumpy all night," I answered.

"I don't know what you are talking about," he said. Just great. I excused myself to use the restroom. While I was washing my hands and muttering to myself about Eric, I noticed a pink post it on the mirror. In Eric's scrawl it said:

Come live with me and be my love

And we will all the pleasures prove

Christopher Marlowe

Was this Eric's romantic (though indirect) way of asking me to move in with him? So that was what he was so nervous about. I decided to have a little fun with him.

"Eric?" I asked, "Why is Christopher Marlowe leaving you notes on your bathroom mirror?"

Eric just looked at me for a moment. I could tell he thought I was teasing him, but he didn't want to risk laughing if I was serious. "It is a quote by Christopher Marlowe. I left it for you."

I held out the post it and began to read, "Come love with me and be my live...that doesn't make any sense."

"Let me see it," he said, yanking it out of my hand. "Come live with me and be my love." Eric frowned at me. "Can't you read?"

"This handwriting? Barely! Do you remember the grocery list you left for me?"

"The list that clearly said 5 pounds bacon, not spuds & beans," Eric grumbled. Then he ran his hands through his hair. "I don't want to get into an argument about handwriting right now."

"Yes," I said simply, my lips twitching into a grin.

"Yes what?"

"Yes, I would like to move in with you."

"You are a frustrating woman!"Eric sighed and wrapped me into a hug.

"Thank you for leaving me poetry," I said in a small voice.

"Limericks are usually more my style," he replied with a grin. "If you tell anyone, I will deny it."

"You are very sweet." I placed a tender kiss on his lips.

"I should have written: Damn it Sookie, move in with me already!" Eric said laughing. He started tickling me and we ended up naked in bed. Poetry is a wonderful thing!

I moved in shortly after that. I know there is the whole free milk and buying cows thing, but we were engaged, weren't we?

I graduated in December and found a job at a small accounting firm in Shreveport. We kept our wedding close to the original plans I'd shared with Sophie Anne. Pam volunteered to do the flowers and decorations as her wedding present to us. She frowned a bit when I told her that my favorite flowers were daisies. Of course, she worked her magic and everything was beautiful. She used a variety of daisies – yellow, white, purple, pink, and orange. The church was lovely and the VFW hall looked like a completely different place when she was finished with it. One of the Auxiliary ladies – complete with blue curls and red lipstick – took pictures for her grandson to post on the VFW website. She wasn't missing a marketing opportunity like that! We had a delicious meal of fried chicken, roast beef, mashed potatoes, green beans… and Caroline Bellefluer's wonderful chocolate cake. Jason walked me down the aisle. Lief came from Sweden to be Eric's best man. The flight was too much for his young family, but Eric's Aunt Cilla and Uncle Gustave braved the long flight. They arrived a few days early so they could visit and rest up for the wedding. Sophie Anne didn't add anyone to our guest list, although she and Andre did attend. They left right after we cut the cake – and I had such high hopes for the chicken dance!

Then Eric and I headed off for our honeymoon. (We planned the wedding for May, after tax season, so I could take some time off.) We stopped in London for a week before heading on to Sweden. In Sweden we honeymooned in Grythyttan and stayed at the Grythyttan Inn, which is really a collection of 22 buildings. The original inn was built in 1640 by order of Queen Kristina. (1640! Wow! Do you think Holiday Inn will still be around in 2052?) Our particular room was in the Ekmansgarden, a building that had once housed a bank and the village shop. Our suite was decorated in flowers and bird patterned wallpaper, contained a library of Scandinavian Literature, and a bathroom with at claw foot tub. We made good use out of that bathtub. Eric and I took walks in the forest and along the lake front. I even treated myself to a hot chocolate full body massage and a Cinderella facial.

From there we went to visit Eric's family. They had a wedding reception for us at Uncle Gustave's pub (I wonder why Eric owns a bar?). All of Eric's family came, plus a large number of friends and neighbors. Those Swedes know how to throw a party! We stayed with them for a week and promised to return again for Christmas. Then we stopped in Amsterdam for a few days before traveling back to Louisiana.

"How do you feel about doing some pretend house hunting?"Eric asked a few months later.

"With a big yard for our pretend children?" I countered. He scooped me up and carried me off to bed.

"I have a favor to ask you," Eric said in a husky voice.

"What kind of favor?" I asked, playing along- as long as it didn't involve photos. He told me what he had in mind. Yum!

"What's in it for me?" I asked. Then he let me know that too. Our clothing disappeared very quickly after that.

A big thank you to all of my readers! No surprise endings this time :)