Note: Once again, I'm playing in the Scribe's universe, so unless they came from the show, they belong to her. Oh! But, Eric's mine.
Note II: This is a series, but there is no real timeline, so they can be read in any order.
To Linda for letting me play in her universe and to Karen for her betaing.
"Are you ready, Eric?" Sarah Larabee's gentle voice floated over the young man and he grinned.
"Ready as I'll ever be," the dark haired man said, finishing the last knot on his tie. He turned, presenting himself to the love of his life. "How do I look? Good enough to be buried in?"
Sarah rolled her eyes, not at all amused. "Don't make jokes like that, Eric."
"Relax, sweetheart." Eric wrapped his arms around the blonde woman. "Everything will be fine. Your father will like me, and if he doesn't, what's he going to do? Kill me? I don't think so."
Sarah scowled at the mirror, directing it at her beau. "You don't know Chris Larabee."
Eric was stunned. When Sarah said a family gathering, he had expected her parents and maybe her brothers. But the ranch was teaming with people, of all ages, and it seemed—races. Eric spotted several blacks, a Hispanic looking woman, and another exotic looking woman he couldn't place. In all, he had counted nearly thirty people! "Sarah, I thought you said this was a family picnic."
"It is," Sarah said, too busy taking in the sight of everyone at home to notice the slightly panicked expression on his face.
"Sarah!" Rebecca Jackson was the first to spot her best friend, running forward with arms wide open.
Greetings were loud and loving as Sarah was embraced by person after person. Eric stood to the side, taking it all in with astonishment. All these people truly were her family.
"Sarah." The authoritative voice cut through all the chatter and a path parted. Eric nearly swallowed his tongue at his first glimpse of the imposing blonde figure in black. He once saw a painting depicting Lucifer surveying his hellish domain. Eric now knew what the real life version looked like.
"Daddy!"
"Daddy?" Eric whispered in horror as Sarah flew from her mother's arms and into the fallen angel's arms. He watched as father and daughter exchanged greetings, then he felt eyes spearing though his soul.
"Sarah? Who's your friend?" The slight emphasis on the last word had Eric swallowing nervously.
The said friend scrambled forward, not wanting to keep Sarah's father waiting. "Eric Maxwell, sir. It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." He held out his hand, which stayed suspended in the air for a second too long before it was enveloped in a strong, callused hand.
"You're the one that wants to marry my daughter." The words were said in a soft husky growl.
Eric swallowed again, clearing his throat. "Yes, sir. I love Sarah very much, sir. It would be an honor, sir."
Eric could literally feel Chris Larabee's eyes boring into his soul, searching for his worthiness. His heart raced as the silence stretched. Then Eric felt, rather than saw, the movement to his left. He turned, nearly flinching as a younger version of Sarah's father moved closer. Movement from his right, spun Eric in that direction. Another young man, also of the same stock, moved about him. Eric then felt eyes from behind him. Another man, older than the other two, silently stood behind him. He felt like prey as the first two predators circled around him, stalking him. And he could still feel Larabee's eyes on him.
"So you're the one that wants to marry our baby sister," one of them stated, still circling.
"Mike, do you think he's good enough for her?" the other taunted.
"Don't know, Kyle. He hasn't pissed in his pants yet, and Dad's been glarin' at him for a good five minutes now. What do you think, Billy?"
"I think," Sarah declared, pushing her brothers away from Eric. "That you two bullies, should leave him alone." She stood akimbo, giving them her own 'Larabee glare'.
"Sarah's right," a blond woman declared, looping her arm through Larabee's. "The food's ready." His guardian angel subtly steered her husband and the other members of Sarah's large, unconventional family away.
Eric and Sarah watched in silence as the entire group moved farther and farther away.
Sarah whirled around, smiling and hugging Eric. "You passed!" Not receiving any response, she frowned. "Eric, are you all right?"
"That's your father?" Eric whispered.
Sarah nodded.
"And those three men?"
"My big brothers."
"And all those other men?"
"My uncles and cousins."
"Oh," Eric nodded. "They all gone, yet? Can they still see us?"
Sarah's frown deepened and she turned to look over his shoulder. "No, they can't see us from here. Why?"
"Good, because I'm going to faint now."
Finis
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