Free Eternal Love by Cerys du Lys, Jessika Fevrier Page A

knew that, but it reminded her of a hairless,
overgrown rat.  She laughed, wondering if anyone had thought this before.
    "It's a
boy," the doctor said, triumphantly.  "Do you have a name for
him?"
    Dalton had
hidden in a corner after she'd screamed at him too many times for his
incompetence, but he hurried back now.  "What do you think, babe?"
    She smiled. 
"You liked Nathan, didn't you?"
    "Yeah, but
you wanted to name him after your granddad?"
    "No,"
she said.  She had wanted to do that, but not now.  "Nathan suits
him."
    ...
    Robert phoned to
tell her he'd be home from work late.  She'd been reluctant to pick up the
phone, but the display showed his work number so it couldn't be too bad.  He
agreed wholeheartedly with her plan to go on a dinner date.  She'd dress up,
she said.  He chuckled and asked if she might dress down later.  Through the
phone she imagined his silly smirk.
    Maybe, she said,
if he was good.  Oh, he'd be good, he told her.  Very good.
    Maybe he would,
maybe he wouldn't?  They would have to see.
    He drove her in
his sedan to their favorite Thai restaurant.  It scared her to drive because
she'd never properly learned how and everything seemed unfamiliar and
daunting.  She knew to stop at red lights, but she also knew some people didn't
bother to do the same.  Robert drove with confidence, though.  He made her feel
safe.
    She waited after
they parked while he hustled over to open her door.
    "M'lady,"
he said, extending his hand.
    She took his
hand in hers, enjoying the difference between her petite fingers and his large
palm.  "M'lord Thorns, you're such a gentleman."
    It was a game
they played sometimes, acting out parts from times far past while living in the
advanced present.  Computers and technology and politics might suit others, but
sometimes it was nice to forget all that and contemplate art and castles and
chivalry.
    Robert helped
her from the car and brought her hand to his arm, tucking it around his elbow. 
"Shall we?" he asked.
    "Let's."
    The restaurant's
concierge greeted them with a smile.  "Hello, sir and madame.  Do you have
a reservation?"
    Robert nodded,
reciting his information.  He'd called on his way home and made sure of the
restaurant's availability.  She liked that about him; his foresight.
    "This
way," the concierge said.  "We've kept your table waiting."
    Seating them,
the man left to inquire about their waiter and get them drinks.  She smiled,
glancing around the room and taking it all in.  A string quartet played songs
on a small stage, and a handful of couples danced to a slow tune.  Robert would
ask her to dance later, she knew, and of course she'd say yes.
    "Misa,
look.  They've gotten new fish since last time."  Robert pointed to the
extravagant fish tank built into the wall.
    Like a child,
she jumped to peek and look.  They did, they had new fish.  Only a few—a
bright one with purple fins and one with orange stripes—but they were new. 
They swam back and forth, making the checkered glass of the fish tank look like
an ever-changing multicolored stained glass mosaic.
    "Do you
know what you want to eat?" Robert asked.
    She thought
about it for a moment.  "I'd like that mango with sticky rice they
serve."
    "I meant
for dinner!"  He laughed.  "We'll definitely get that for dessert,
though."
    ...
    Dalton left
after high school.  He said he wasn't ready.  He couldn't handle it.  Of course
he would pay child support, though, and he'd like to visit Nathan sometimes.
    He paid child
support; sixty dollars a week.  He never visited.
    He went to
college somewhere, she didn't know where.  She didn't care much, either.  He'd
left her and she had her hands full with Nathan.  Her parents helped and they
weren't as critical about her life as they'd been during her pregnancy.  She
met an older man in his late twenties, too.
    Gaige was
something alright.  That's what her father said.  He dressed in fashionable
leathers, and with his black hair