Story Notes:
Disclaimer: True Blood and its characters, settings, etc. are the property of Alan Ball and Charlaine Harris. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Tara
Tara Thornton smiled at her four month old daughter as they stood on the front porch of her cousin Lafayette’s home. She had accomplished quite a lot during her thirteen months away: getting her own apartment, completing a certificate in computer technology, beefing up her savings account, and just generally standing on her own two feet. But of all these things, her daughter Maya Adele (named in honor of Sookie’s and Jason’s grandmother Adele Stackhouse) was by far the one that she took the most pride in. From the first moment she’d held her baby girl in her arms she had resolved to be the best mother she could, and that was a resolution that she had no intention of ever breaking.
Her decision to take off from Bon Temps in the middle of night hadn’t exactly been planned. She had gone through a lot of fucked up shit in the previous weeks: Eggs’ death, the whole nightmare with Franklin, discovering the existence of werewolves, the revelation that her dear friend Jason was the one who’d shot Eggs. Sam Merlotte’s bombshell that he was a shape shifter had been the last straw. She needed to get away. Sam’s last words to her that morning were that she should go someplace new and reboot her life, so she had driven the nearly one hundred miles to Shreveport with only the money in her wallet and the clothes on her back. Lafayette brought her things two days later.
She’d quickly found work tending bar at one of the casinos in Bossier City, saving her tips and going to school part time. When she realized she was pregnant, she decided that working in a bar wasn’t the best environment for an expectant mother so she applied for and received a job in the library of the community college where she attended night classes. Not long after Maya’s birth, she had seen the posting for a full time library assistant at the Renard Parish branch of the community college and requested a transfer. She didn’t want to get anybody’s hopes up, so she had kept her plans for moving back under wraps until she knew the job was hers. Her transfer had been approved, so here she was back in Bon Temps, waiting to surprise Lafayette.
Lafayette
Lafayette was indeed surprised when he answered the door and saw Tara and Maya standing there.
“Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in. Good to see you, hooka.”
Lafayette was dressed in jeans and a gold lamé t-shirt with one of his ubiquitous du-rags. He pulled Tara inside, enveloping her in a bear hug before holding her at arms length. She looked good: she had cut off her trademark micro-braids and now wore her hair in a fashionable chin length bob.
“New baby, new ‘do. You done good for yourself cuz, but I still ain’t forgave your ass for trading in my fabulous ride for that POS,” he said, referring to the used Ford Escape that she’d purchased when she realized that she something more practical than the convertible Lafayette had given her. He kissed her cheek and took Maya from her arms. “Now let me get a good look at Miss Thang here.”
Maya was a beautiful baby. Her skin was the color of light caramel and she had inherited her mother’s large brown eyes. Tara had combed her curly dark hair into two pony-puffs fastened with red and white barrettes. She was dressed in a matching red onesie with the words “Soul Sistah” emblazoned across the front in a wild 1970s-style rainbow font, a gift from Lafayette of course.
“Hey gorgeous,” he cooed at the infant as they settled on the couch. “I see you’ve embraced your Uncle LaLa’s sense of style.” He turned his attention back to Tara.
“You’re all packed up out there,” he said, referring to the U-Haul trailer hitched to Tara’s SUV. You moving back, or just passing through on your way to someplace else?”
“No, we’re here to stay” Tara said, taking Maya back and laying her across her lap. “I’ve transferred my job to the community college here in Bon Temps. Full time circulation clerk. Benefits and decent pay. I start in two weeks.”