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Eric had picked Immy up like he was supposed to on the Friday after Sookie’s birthday. The plan was to take her to the park to play, which he’d learned took a massive edge off of her energy. Then they were going to go out for dinner before he dropped her off at Sookie’s mom’s house. He was thankful for the time alone with his daughter, but still a little peeved that she wouldn’t let him keep her overnight.

He was also bitter over the fact that Sookie was full on with Alcide now, and he wasn’t stupid enough not to realize that Alcide was perfect for her. It made him want to get his shit together and win her back, but it also made him want to lash out.

This time Immy wanted to go play on the big set of equipment with all the other kids after she’d come down the slide a couple times. Eric took a seat on a bench in the grass that encircled the wood-chip covered ground that all the equipment was on. It wasn’t particularly hard to sit there and watch as she played, but he found it very boring.

Immy would crawl through the bright yellow tunnel and then up a very short ladder, then there was a wooden bridge that made her laugh when she crossed it because it wiggled. She would go down the purple slide and then run back around to do it again, but not before waving and making sure he was looking.

It had only been about ten minutes of watching her when someone sat down next to him on the bench. He probably wouldn’t have reacted, but she sat a little closer than most strangers would. When he looked at her he saw that she was young and gorgeous, and probably a nanny instead of a mom. Her dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her yoga pants fit very nicely.

“Hey,” he smiled at her.

“Hello,” she said with an accent of some kind. Russian, maybe Ukrainian.

“Which one is yours?” he asked.

“The boy in the blue shirt with the dinosaurs, but he’s not mine.”

“Oh, are you his aunt or something?”

“I am his… how do you say… caregiver,” she smiled. She had one tooth that was a little crooked but it suited her. “Are you caregiver, too? You’re too young to be a father.”

“The little girl in the pink shirt,” he said, pointing her out. She was on her way across the bridge again. “She’s mine.”

He smiled with pride. Eric loved his daughter, and she did look an awful lot like him.

“She’s very pretty,” the girl said. “She has pretty smile.”

“Thank you,” he said. “So where are you from? I noticed your accent.”

“I am from tiny village in Ukraine,” she replied.

“What brought you to America?”

“Freedom.”

Eric nodded. He didn’t really care why she was in America. Mostly he wondered how hard it would be to get in her well-fitting pants.

“Are you here permanently?” he asked. “Louisiana that is.”

“Perhaps,” she said coyly.

“Maybe you should give me your number. I’d be happy to show you around,” he said.

He thought he heard Immy calling for him to watch her, but he didn’t pay much attention to it. There were lots of kids there now.

“Maybe you start with bedroom,” she suggested.

Eric grinned and pulled out his phone.

“Give me your number and I’ll be happy to give you a tour,” he said.

She had to pull out her phone to get the number; he assumed because she hadn’t memorized it yet. While he waited he looked over at the equipment but didn’t see Immy right away. He looked at the tunnel, the bridge, and the slide, but she wasn’t on any of them. Eric felt a brief moment of panic, and then he heard a bunch of gasps and the blood-curdling scream that came from his kid.

All thoughts of the hot foreign chick were out of his head instantly as he jumped up and ran over to the crowd of kids and concerned moms that had built up around the monkey bars. Under them, laying on the ground with an arm that wasn’t bent at a natural angle, was Imogen.

Eric’s heart jumped into his throat and his stomach dropped. She was screaming and crying, and it was like he went into instinct mode. He didn’t ask if she was okay, because he knew she wasn’t.

“I’m going to pick you up,” he told her when he knelt next to her, but when he started to she screamed that she wanted Mommy. His heart ached, but he had to get her to the hospital. Even though he knew it might hurt, he carefully and gently scooped her up and started carrying her to his truck.

“Baby, it’s okay,” he said as calmly as he could even though his feet were moving pretty fast. “You’re going to be okay.”

“I… Want… Mommy…” Immy’s words were punctuated by ragged breaths and then she was wailing again, fat tears streaming down her bright red cheeks.

“I know,” he said, but he wasn’t going to be able to call Sookie yet. “Daddy has to put you in your seat, but I’ll put the seat belt behind you so it doesn’t touch your arm.”

She was cradling her arm against her body, which was shaking with the strength of her sobs. He had never seen a kid this upset, especially not his. He’d seen her throw fits, but she had to be in pain. Eric got her in her seat as carefully as he could and then jumped in the driver’s side and peeled out of there.

He didn’t speed too much because he was aware that he had a kid in the car and needed to be careful, but he had them at the hospital in just ten minutes. Immy was still wailing and asking for Sookie as he carried her into the emergency room. Since she was a kid and they didn’t seem to have any other patients, they took her right back.

Eric didn’t let go of her as the nurses took her vitals and asked him questions. He was surprised that he remembered so much of her medical information. Sookie had written him a list and he looked at it a lot because he wanted to impress her if she ever quizzed him again.

They were taken to an exam area after that and by then Immy had calmed into the hiccuping after-tears thing.

“How are you feeling?” Eric asked her while they waited for the doctor.

“It hurts so bad,” Immy said between hiccups and coughs. Her nose was running and her neat ponytail was ruined.

Eric looked around for some tissues and grabbed a box he saw on a counter. She didn’t like it much, but he had her blow her nose, and then wet down some paper towels from a dispenser next to the sink to clean her face with.

“There,” he said. “Does that feel a little better?”

He was hoping it distracted her a little.

“No. Where’s Mommy? I want her.”

“I’ll call her soon, but I can’t right now,” he said, and just then the doctor came in and Eric felt relieved. He just wanted someone to fix his baby.

Of course Immy started sobbing again and screaming for Sookie.

“It’s okay, Immy. The doctor is going to make you feel better,” Eric said, giving the doc a pleading look and hoping the man had some experience dealing with kids.

“We’ll get some x-rays and I’ll call orthopedics down for a consult. She’ll probably be in a cast for the rest of the summer.” Doc was full of nothing but good news.

“When is someone going to get her to do the x-rays?”

“Soon. I’ll have a nurse give her something for the pain,” the doc said and shuffled out of the room.

“Did you hear that, Immy? That nice nurse will come in and make the pain go away,” he said. “And when they take pictures of your arm I can go call Mommy.”

“No now!”

“I can’t right now,” he said.

The door opened again and thankfully it was the nice nurse that brought them into the room.

“Hi, Imogen,” she smiled and produced a little stuffed bear. “My friend here is lonely. How about you give him hugs?”

Immy nodded and held the bear with her good arm while the nurse checked the dosage on the pain medication. Immy hated needles but she was so distracted by the bear that she didn’t seem to notice the shot the nurse gave her.

“There we go. That’ll make her relax. If she falls asleep, that’s okay too.”

“Okay. Thank you so much,” Eric said.

The nurse nodded and left the room, and Eric stood next to Immy and gently rubbed her back. After about ten minutes she started to breathe more normally.

“Is your arm still hurting?” he asked her.

“Uh huh,” she yawned. “I want my mommy. She makes the boo boos go away.”

“As soon as they come get you to take pictures of your arm I’ll call her,” he said.

The nurse came back with an orderly to take Immy to x-ray.

“You can come with us but you can’t be in the room,” the nurse said.

“Will she be brought back here?” he asked her. “I have to go call her mom.”

The nurse confirmed that she would, so Eric gave Immy a kiss on the forehead and told her he would go call Mommy now if it was okay with her. He was almost surprised when she didn’t roll her eyes at him. Once he saw her go willingly he headed outside and finally took a deep breath.

All of this was like a punch in the gut. For the first time since Immy was born Eric felt like his heart wasn’t in his body. It may have been the first time in his life that he was thinking one hundred percent about someone other than himself. He knew then and there that he need to really focus on being the father Imogen deserved. She fell from monkey bars because she was trying to get his attention and he was too focused on trying to get laid to give it to her.

Who the fuck cared if it was boring to watch kids run around on playground equipment? Immy was more important than anything else.

Eric pulled out his phone and took another deep breath before dialing Sookie’s number. This was going to be brutal, and he knew it.

♥ ♥ ♥

The hotel room in Dallas was fancier than any room she’d ever been in before. There was a fantastic view of the city and Alcide had arranged to have sunflowers put all over the room. They had always been Sookie’s favorite flower. The man had done his research and Alcide was great at showing her all the things she had been missing by staying with Eric for so long while he was out fucking around and having fun.

The plan was to take it easy that night and then the following night they were going to dinner and a jazz concert afterward. Sookie didn’t know much about jazz but she was excited to do something different and experience something new. Alcide was in the shower, washing the road off of himself when her phone rang. It was probably Eric calling with some kind of question or so Immy could talk to her.

She dug her phone out of her purse and saw that it was Eric. Sookie smiled and answered the call.

“Is she driving you nuts?” Sookie asked.

“Hey. No. No, she’s been real good,” he said, and he sounded really, really nervous. “Sookie… I need you to come back.”

What?

“What? Eric, if you can’t handle her then take her to my dad’s house,” Sookie huffed. Un-fucking-believable. She knew this was going to happen eventually but his timing really sucked.

“It’s not that,” he said. “There was an accident. She’s okay, but she keeps asking for you.”

Sookie’s stomach dropped into her ass before sling-shotting up to her throat.

“What kind of accident?” Her pulse pounded in her ears and oxygen wasn’t registering in her lungs. If he was calling it wasn’t just a bumped head or scraped knee.

Eric took a deep breath and said, “She got on the big kid monkey bars at the park and fell. Her arm is broken.”

“Her arm is broken?!” Sookie shot up off the bed.

“They’re doing an x-ray now, and the nurse gave her pain medication. She’s calmer, but she wants you.”

“How did this… I can’t believe you… I’ll be there as fast as I can,” she said and hung up on him.

So much for her romantic weekend in Dallas.

Sookie immediately called her dad. If she couldn’t be there she wanted him there in her place.

“Hey Pumpkin,” Corbett answered. “You make it to Dallas yet?”

“Yeah but I’m coming back. Immy’s in the hospital. She broke her arm,” she said and then realized she hadn’t asked which one before hanging up on Eric and she burst into tears. How could she not ask that?

“Shit,” he cursed. “I’ll get myself there right after I put on my shoes. Which hospital?”

Sookie cried harder when she realized she didn’t know that either.

“I don’t know. I was so furious with Eric that I hung up on him,” she said as Alcide came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his hips. Sookie should have been relieving him of said towel instead of tossing his clothes at him. “I’ll call him back and text you when I know.”

“Don’t worry, baby,” Corbett said. “I’ll call him right now and text you. You just get back on the road. I’ll have Immy on the phone with you as soon as I can.”

“Thank you, Daddy,” she sniffled. After hanging up she looked at a confused Alcide and began to explain. “Immy fell off the monkey bars and broke her arm. I have to go back. I’ll rent a car if you want to stay here.”

It sucked that the weekend was ruined but she wouldn’t be offended if he wanted to stay.

“Are you kidding? I’m not staying here,” he said without a hint of annoyance, though she was sure he felt it. “I’m coming with you.”

“Are you sure? I know you were looking forward to this weekend and–”

“It doesn’t matter,” he cut her off. “We can always have another weekend. Immy matters more than this.”

He had no idea what it meant to her for him to say that and mean it. Sookie crossed the room and hugged him tightly while she cried.

“She must be so scared,” Sookie said through her tears.

For Sookie, the worst part of being a mom was feeling helpless when her baby was sick or hurt and she couldn’t make it better. At the moment she wasn’t even there to cuddle her baby and she felt like a terrible mother because of it. Eric tried to soothe Immy but it wasn’t the same.

“I’m so sorry, Alcide,” she sniffled as she pulled back.

“Don’t be,” he said and gently rubbed her back. “Immy will be just fine. I broke my arm when I was a little older than her and I barely remember it now. She’s got her dad and her grandpa there until you can get there.”

Sookie nodded but she still felt terrible. Immy was hurt, her weekend was ruined… It was a fucking mess.

Alcide got dressed and a little over an hour after they checked in, they were checking out again. Normally Sookie tried to look for the bright side, but she was having trouble finding it at the moment.

“Will you please let me pay you back for the room charges?” Sookie asked once they were back on the road.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “Honestly.”

Sookie was going to argue but then her phone chimed with a text from her dad. Immy was at the parish hospital on the outskirts of Ruston. It was going to take at least another three hours to get back home.

The ride was mostly quiet and Sookie sat stewing in her anger. How could Eric let this happen? Why was Immy playing on the big kid equipment? What was the name of the girl who distracted him? She had a million questions and a whole lot of rage rolling off of her the whole way home.

It was just like Eric to let her down just when she was starting to trust him again. Some things truly never changed.

They were just getting off the highway when Corbett called again to tell Sookie that Immy had been released from the hospital and was in a hot pink cast up to her right elbow. At least it was her right arm. There was the silver lining.

“Tell Eric to bring her home. We just got off the highway,” Sookie said.

“He’s already on his way there. Said she’d be most comfortable in her own space,” Corbett said.

“Thank you for being with her.” Sookie teared up again. She hated that she wasn’t there when Immy needed her.

“It’s no problem, Pumpkin,” he said. “Don’t you worry, she’s being a trooper. She didn’t even cry when they put on the cast.”

Sookie wiped her tears off her face and sniffled.

“My poor baby. I’ll call you tomorrow. Thanks again, Dad. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

They hung up and a few minutes later Alcide pulled up to Sookie’s house. The truck was barely stopped before Sookie jumped out and ran to Eric’s truck. She completely ignored him as she opened the cab door and climbed up to check on Immy. She was asleep in her car seat, clutching a stuffed animal and sucking her thumb.

Sookie gently took off the harness and lifted Immy from the seat. She hugged her baby and rubbed her back. That bulky cast was between them and Immy must have been exhausted because she didn’t even stir. Sookie climbed down and walked to the front door.

She couldn’t think of anything to say to Eric at the moment that wouldn’t have the neighbors calling the sheriff so she just nailed him with a furious look and went inside.

♥ ♥ ♥

“Fuck,” Eric muttered as he stood there and watched Sookie carry Immy inside.

Alcide was still outside, but he wasn’t saying anything to Eric.

“She wants me to go, doesn’t she?” Eric asked him.

“She’s been quiet the whole way back so I have no idea, but I’d tread lightly if I was you,” Alcide advised.

“I feel like she’s never going to let me see Immy again.”

“I don’t know,” Alcide shrugged a little.

“I’m just going to sit out here and wait,” he said.

“Okay.” Alcide took Sookie’s bags into the house.

Eric went to the porch and sat down. He knew he needed to tell her what the doctor said, and she’d went in without Immy’s medicine. He also knew she probably wanted to yell at him… a lot. And he deserved it.

So he waited, and waited, and finally close to two hours later Sookie came outside. Eric jumped up from his spot and waited for her to speak.

“How did this happen?” Sookie was creepy calm.

Eric knew he had to tell her the truth; she’d know he was lying and he knew she deserved the truth.

“I was sitting on a bench watching her play. She kept doing the same thing over and over. Tunnel, bridge, slide. And this… nanny sat down next to me and we started talking…” he trailed off. “I hadn’t looked at her for maybe two minutes and I think she was trying to get my attention when she tried the big kid monkey bars, but she fell.”

Sookie closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“You have no idea how badly I want to hit you right now,” she said through a clenched jaw. “I can’t even begin to… I hope she was worth it. Was chatting up a nanny more important to you than your daughter? You really need to get your goddamn priorities in order. I thought you changed, that you learned your lesson but you haven’t learned anything! It’s still all about you! I don’t want you near her.”

Eric felt like he couldn’t breathe.

“Sookie, please don’t take her away from me. It was just an accident, and I feel horrible about it. She’d done the same thing twenty times, and I only looked away for a couple of minutes. I didn’t know she’d try the bars,” he said.

“And it’s your job to make sure this doesn’t happen! If you could stop thinking with your dick– You know what? Never mind. It’s all going in one ear and out the other anyway, just like it always has. Maybe you were right. Maybe we should go to court and I can officially have sole custody of Immy. I don’t trust you with her. I don’t trust you to get her a glass of water,” Sookie seethed.

He knew she was just angry, but her words cut through him.

“I don’t want that. I want you to be able to trust me with her. I’ve been working so damn hard to see her often. It was just an accident, Sookie. Don’t think I didn’t learn my lesson here.”

“It wasn’t an accident. This happened because you were too busy trying to get laid to pay attention to your daughter. You are a selfish, pathetic excuse for a father and it sickens me that Immy is stuck with you,” Sookie said.

Eric took a deep breath and even though everything in him was telling him to argue with her, he knew it wouldn’t do any good. More than that, those words hurt. Mostly because they were true. He could argue all day that Immy could have fallen even with him watching, but it wouldn’t matter. The fact was that he was trying to get a number from a good looking woman when he should have been paying attention to his kid.

He turned and went to his truck to get Immy’s pain meds when he felt the angry tears come. He was pissed at himself, and he was pissed at the situation. Sookie was still standing there when he turned around and he wouldn’t meet her eyes when he went up and handed her the medicine.

“The doc said to give her that as needed. And the papers in the bag show how to cover a cast for baths. She hadn’t had dinner yet before all this happened, so she’ll probably be hungry when she wakes up,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

“You should be. I’ll have to tell her tomorrow no more swimming for the rest of the summer. You know I hope this makes you realize that your choices don’t just effect you. It makes me incredibly angry that my baby has to suffer because of your stupidity and selfishness.”

Eric nodded and wiped his eyes with the palms of his hands.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Me too.”

“Go inside and say goodbye to your daughter,” she said.

He was surprised she was allowing him even that, so he didn’t question it. He walked past Sookie and found Immy in the living room with Alcide. Sookie stood in the doorway watching like a hawk.

Eric knelt in front of the couch and carefully pulled Immy into a hug.

“I love you, Imogen,” he told her.

“Love you too, Daddy,” she mumbled quietly.

“Daddy is sorry he let you get hurt today,” he said. “I won’t ever do it again.”

“Papa said I’ll be better before I’m married.”

Eric chuckled and pulled back to wipe away the fresh tears. The idea of being forced to stay away from her was tearing him up.

“Papa’s a smart man. You should have him draw you a funny picture on your cast.”

“Will you draw one too?”

“Absolutely,” he smiled. “I’ll bring a marker with me when I see you again.”

“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Eric looked up at Sookie and saw that she was still pissed. He didn’t want to use Immy against her in that way, so he said, “I’m not sure if I can see you tomorrow, baby. But I will call you. And I’ll call every day until I can see you again.”

Immy looked disappointed, but nodded.

“I promise I’ll see you soon. I still have to take you to see that movie you wanted to watch, remember?”

“Tomorrow?” Immy wasn’t giving up.

“Maybe this coming weekend,” he said. “I’ll work it out with Mommy.”

“Okay. Mommy, I’m hungry,” Immy said.

“I know, baby. We’re going to have pizza,” Sookie said. “How about you go find a spot for your new bear and then we’ll wash up?”

“Okay.” Immy gave Eric another hug and a loud kiss on his lips before sliding off the couch to put away her toy.

Eric stood up and started for the door.

“Please let me talk to her when I call tomorrow,” he said when he walked past Sookie.

“We’ll see.” She slammed and locked the door behind him.

Eric resisted the urge to punch something. He knew he’d fucked up, but Sookie would be in the wrong too for not letting him keep his promises to his daughter. But there was nothing he could do about it. He went out to his truck and headed home alone to beat himself up some more.

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