Free When Life Turned Purple by Eva Adar

visitors and was given heavy-duty earmuffs by the mayor, which enabled him to finally sink into a peaceful sleep. “Something that big and furry couldn’t possibly lie down on the point of a needle. I mean, the diameter just doesn’t work out.”
    Russ thought it over as he chugged down some black coffee. “He carried clouds with him,” he said. “Remember? He had that big bag of clouds. I think he stretched out on those.”
    Lia leaned forward on her elbows, resting her chin in her hands. “You know what’s cool about being married? I don’t have to worry about the usual stuff. Like, who cares if I get pregnant?”
    Russ gagged on his omelet, but tried to cover it up by swigging more coffee.
    Lia frowned in concern. “Are you okay?”
    Russ nodded and gave her reassuring smile.
    She smiled back, gazing at him like he was a terraformed Saturn.
    Oh, shoot…if she would get pregnant now....
    But he didn’t want to say anything to dim the adoring light in her eyes. Babies and kids never sounded like much fun to him, but he knew that for a lot of girls, part of falling in love was imagining having a baby together. He supposed he’d want it someday, but definitely not now. He decided to talk some sense into her later.
    Maybe she’s already pregnant?
    Well, if she was, then she was. And he’d deal with each thing as it came.
    Lia opened her mouth to say something, but Russ stood up and pointed toward the restrooms. He figured she was about to start talking about what the baby would look like, and ask him the usual lovey-dovey questions, like if he wanted a boy or a girl, or who he wanted the baby to look like, and so on—when he didn’t want a baby at all.
    He went and leaned against the window, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He felt his phone there and remembered that he hadn’t checked it since they got married two days ago.
    One message was an email from Emma sent on their wedding night.
    Russ rolled his lips between his teeth, mulling over whether to delete it without reading it. On one hand, he’d offered her help. And maybe she was taking him up on it, like asking for him to cover what her insurance wouldn’t. On the other hand, why would she send a request like that right on his wedding night? That kind of behavior seemed more like a crazy girl who just can’t let go.
    Maybe he shouldn’t have taken her home that time when she came to his store. Maybe he should have just called a taxi and then called her sorority sisters and told them to contact him if there was something he could do for Emma. Yeah, that would’ve been better. Lots of girls have had abortions. The sorority sisters would be able to talk to Emma and help her get her act together. He realized now that he probably made things harder for her by being so accommodating at that time.
    He pressed Delete knowing that it would just go into the Trash, where he could retrieve for the next thirty days if he wanted.
    Russ stuffed the phone back into his pocket and strode back to where Lia was. “If you’re done, we can swing past home and get ready to go to our next stop on the list,” he called out.
    Smiling, Lia sat up and put her purse strap over her shoulder. “Home,” she said. “It’s not your place’ or ‘my place’ anymore. It’s ‘home.’ For both of us.”
    Russ smiled back. He liked the sound of that, too.
     
    ***
    After finally getting everything packed up, Lia sat on the bed in a room he’d painted light peach for her, posting a Surprise—we’ve eloped! announcement on Facebook and sending out tweets and a few emails. They’d chosen to move into Russ’s place because Lia’s lease was almost up and anyway, Lia couldn’t stand her landlord. It was cramped, but they decided it was worth it. Besides, they’d save up to buy a home and invest in decent furnishings then.
    Russ got everything organized into the car on his own, which he did quite skillfully, if he did say so himself.
    When he came back, Lia was staring at