The night air rests heavily upon the space surrounding our home. The low rumbling of an 18-wheeler traveling down the highway a few blocks away echoes across the neighborhood. After it passes, the steady thrum of electricity from a nearby power pole fills the muted soundscape. Somewhere in a grove of trees, an owl hoots contentedly, having successfully secured its breakfast.

Within our sedan, inside the closed doors and sealed windows, the only sound I can hear is that of my own heartbeat. Lucy’s eyes are still locked with my own, filled with a gaze that is equal parts loving and pleading. We are both holding our breath. The stone that had been appearing in my stomach, caused by my own longing to have children, has now tripled in size and density, making me feel as though I could keel over. I’m too dull to realize that Lucy is waiting for my acceptance of her words, being imprisoned in my own dumb caveman skull. Two thoughts keep interchanging with one another, wrestling about in my brain as they both vie for control. One nanosecond my inner dialogue screams, “I can’t believe it, I get to be a dad!”, the next, “Unga bunga, making babies means SEX!” Sometimes being a man is frustrating.

I’m snapped out of the infinite loop in my head by Lucy’s expression. For the briefest of moments, a look of panic crosses her face as the thought that I might not be ecstatic about this news crosses her mind. I have no earthly clue what my appearance looked like at that time; for all I know, I may have been staring past her as though she didn’t exist as my stomach did somersaults. However, I know that her fears are about to be dispelled in the most tactful, elegant and professional manner possible:

“BWAHOLYSHIT I LOVE YOU THIS IS INCREDIBLE YES I WANNA BE DAD PLEASE THANK YOU!!!”

My string of gibberish lacks any pause or punctuation as it pours out of my mouth at mach speed, far louder than I intended to speak it. The windows vibrate slightly at my pitch and Lucy gasps, startled by my sudden outburst. Before I finish the “sentence”, I throw my arms around her and pull her as close to me as I can, the center console jabbing painfully into my stomach. Despite my clumsy and rambunctious exclamation, Lucy rapidly returns the hug, letting out a choked cry of happiness. We sway back and forth in the minimal space provided in the interior of the car, both of us expressing our exuberance in whatever brief words we can utter between our joyful sobs.

As we finally loosen our hug, we kiss deeply. The gesture seals our decision in a declaration of love and unity, the two of us holding a mutual understanding that the road ahead will not be an easy one, but one that we will travel together. We part and gaze deeply into one another’s eyes, smiling and wiping our tears away.

One of us finally musters a coherent thought: “Geez, Anon. You’d think I just told you I was pregnant with how we reacted. I only said I want to have a baby, not that I’ve got one cooking already!”

No matter how hard I try, I can’t wipe the goofy smile off my face. “If you were in my shoes for the past few weeks, you’d understand. Every time I’ve seen or interacted with a little kid, I’ve gotten this feeling in my gut… some sort of primal urge to have one of my own.”

Lucy excitedly interjects. “Me, too! Oh my God, you have no idea how hard it’s been working with my preschoolers every day. But today, ohh, it was so much more intense. When I saw all those darling little costumes and cute smiles… and how well you handled that boy in the cowboy hat…” Her cheeks brighten. “I can’t even begin to explain how much I want to be a mommy, and how much I want you to be a dad.” She giggles uncontrollably, squeezing my hands in hers and tapping her feet on the car floor. After a moment, her giggling ceases and she looks up at me with longing and desperation in her eyes. “Are… are you sure you want to… with me?”

I gaze lovingly at her. “Lucy, nothing would make me happier than to become a parent alongside you. You are the most beautiful woman on God’s earth, and somehow I’m the lucky man you chose to be by your side. It would be an honor beyond words to have a child with you.”

At this, Lucy’s face flushes a shade of bright red. She lowers her head a bit, looking up at me with her amber-colored eyes. Her diamond-shaped pupils sparkle. “Anon…”

Uh, yes, I would like to begin working on that baby this instant, please. 

I lean forward and kiss Lucy again, more passionately than before. I slide my hand behind the back of her neck, running my fingers through the silver hair flowing over her shoulders. Her hands find purchase on my back, claws tugging at the fabric of my shirt. The heat levels inside the car begin rising. Our lips separate and we gaze at one another for a moment. We come to the mutual realization that it’d be a bit too daring to attempt this in our car, parked in front of our home, on a street where neighbors do occasionally go for evening walks. Lucy and I wordlessly agree that our adventure should continue indoors.

We exit the car and hustle up to the house. Lucy manages to take the lead and reaches behind herself to grab my hand, ensuring I’m keeping pace towards our destination. Of course, I’m not about to slow either of us down as I jog along. The two of us giggle like high schoolers planning how they’ll be exploring one another while their parents aren’t home. Lucy gets to the door first, but quickly realizes she doesn’t have the keys. She steps aside as I slide past her and try to unlock the door. Her hands make this a difficult endeavor, snaking around my waist. She pulls herself even closer to me and peppers my neck in kisses. Damnit, woman, give me ten seconds here!

I finally manage to get the key into the lock and rotate it. The door swings open suddenly, having both Lucy and I’s weight on it as she fiendishly assaults me with her snout. We stumble through the portal but manage to keep our feet beneath us. The momentary look of shock on her face is quickly replaced with one of lust as she looks up at me again and continues her romantic onslaught, colliding her lips with my own in voracious desire. I swipe my hand at the door several times before my fingers find purchase, swinging the barrier back to its closed position. You’d be surprised how difficult very minor tasks such as closing the front door become when a baby-crazed pterodactyl is bearing down on you.

Of course, I’m more than willing to oblige her demands. Several articles of clothing don’t make it all the way to the bedroom, littering the entryway and hallway as we perform our tandem dance routine through the house. By the time we arrive at the foot of the bed, little is left to the imagination. Our encircling movements conclude with Lucy’s back facing towards the bed; she lets out a yelp and a giggle as I quickly lift her up and toss her backwards. Her wings flutter unconsciously while she is momentarily airborne; now that she has come to a stop in the center of the mattress, the plumes rest in unfolded splendor, feathered tips overhanging each side of the bed. She is an angel. Without hesitation, I move forward and take up my position above her. 

For a brief moment, we merely look into one another’s eyes. I gaze down at the form of my soulmate, the woman who I have vowed to cherish and protect through good and bad. She gazes back at me, the man she married, the man with whom she wants to have a child, the man who will never abandon her.

With every kiss, we renew our vows, promising ourselves to the other in perpetuity. With every breath, we take in the aroma of our spouse, basking in ambrosial unity. With every movement, we entwine ourselves, body and soul, forever interconnected. With every sound, we proclaim our love for one another in our own effervescent songs. We are joined as one with singular purpose; we remain as one until the enraptured moment inevitably reaches its passionate conclusion.

In this moment, there is no one except for Lucy and I.

We bathe in the afterglow of our act for several minutes. Lucy’s wings encircle us both as we cling tightly to one another. My forehead rests against hers as our breathing steadies, punctuated by whispered reaffirmations of our love for one another. Though we have expended a tremendous amount of energy with our love-making, sleep does not overtake either of us. We continue holding one another and simply enjoying each other’s presence.

Finally regaining a little bit of blood flow to the brain inside my skull, I blink at Lucy and ask, “Uh… can you… well, can you even get pregnant right now?”

She smiles at me and nuzzles her snout into my chest. “Maybe?”

I scrunch my face slightly as I search the filing cabinets of my memory. “But… you have- well, pterodactyls have an estrus season around… April?”

She giggles. “Yes, we do.”

“So, can you get pregnant outside of that estrus season?”

She opens her mouth to begin genuinely answering the question, but stops herself as she shoots me an inquisitive and accusatory look. “Wait. Didn’t you pay any attention in biology class?”

I shrug. “Not to the dinosaur-specific parts.” I gesture down at my own nude body, highlighting the fact that I am, in fact, not a dinosaur.

She balks at me. “And you didn’t think that information might be useful later in your life, when you, you know… marry a pterodactyl?”

“I didn’t even know you until halfway through senior year! And I certainly didn’t expect I’d be in a relationship with you until I got in that fight with a bollard and you said you liked me when you were nursing me back to health.”

She winces at the memory of my tumble down the school stairs. “I’m still amazed to this day that you survived that. I thought you were fully impaled by that metal post.”

“I was. My healing factor is off the charts. Best mutant power.”

“Okay, sure, it definitely wasn’t me administering first aid and my insistence that you get bed rest and not overdo things. I… we’re getting off topic. If you were interested in me, why didn’t you do any of your own homework as to… well, what would happen between the two of us?”

I bite my lip. Truth be told, I understood fully well what sort of acts would be possible between a human and a dinosaur. I was once a lonely teenage boy with an internet connection, and it turns out that “human+dino” videos, while not exactly common, were a thing. Kissing was somewhat infrequent in said videos; I’ll blame this fact and not my own awkwardness for the bungled first attempts at mashing face with Lucy back in high school. She told me she thought I was a good kisser, but I had no clue what the hell I was doing. We have long since perfected the technique and found ways to compensate for our anatomical differences, but it took some practice.

As far as the… ahem, other acts that occur when a human and a dinosaur love each other very much… well, I equally had no clue what the hell I was doing the first time we gave that a shot. Turns out those porno vids were not very educational. I guess they taught me that such things were possible, but I have a feeling some aspects of those performances were heavily exaggerated.

I furtively glance to the side. “When you say ‘homework’...”

Lucy flicks me in the chest with the back of her hand. “Seriously, Anon? Ugh. Fine. Let me explain everything to you.” She takes a sharp breath and closes her eyes as she gathers her thoughts. Her cheeks begin reddening slightly. It’s adorable to watch. She opens her eyes, looks down her snout at me with composure, and begins reciting her prepared speech. “Yes. It is possible for a dinosaur or pterosaur woman to get pregnant outside of their estrus season. It is not common, but it is possible. We have similar ovulation cycles to humans, with the addition of our estrus season when things get… intensified.” Her cheeks glow a shade brighter. “If you’re aiming for pregnancy during estrus season, it’s almost a guarantee that you’ll achieve it. Outside of that, it can happen but it’s not as much of a sure thing. After all, if pterodactyls could only get pregnant during their estrus season, virtually every pterodactyl child’s birthday would be in December or January.”

I nod my head as I take in this information. With her last sentence, I stop nodding and widen my eyes slightly towards her as a grin of realization spreads across my face. She flares her own eyes at me and smacks me in the chest again, speaking before I can tease her. “YES my birthday is in January, don’t you dare say something about my mom and dad!” I can’t help but begin laughing as she groans and covers her face with her hands.

As my bout of giggling dies down, I take her hands in my own and reveal her face. She pouts at me. I go in to give her a kiss but she abruptly twists her snout away from me, making a “Hmph!” sound as she does so. I opt to nuzzle my nose into her cheek as I remark, “I still love you, my beautiful estrus baby.” Lucy can’t keep up the charade of being offended as she begins giggling. She turns to me and accepts the kiss I originally offered her. As we part, I look up towards the headrest as I do a little mental math. “Okay, so that actually makes sense. Naser is less than a year younger than you; in fact, he’s only nine months younger, right?”

Lucy nods. “Mm-hmm, his birthday is in September. He was a tiny bit early, but not enough to cause any alarm.”

I arch my eyebrows. “Boy, your folks sure-”

She abruptly cuts me off. “Anon, I swear to God, if one more word comes out of your mouth about when my parents conceived me or my brother…”

I raise my hands in surrender. “Okay, okay! I’m just trying to get caught up on the biology classes I slept through!” She stares at me suspiciously, but softens her look as I don’t press the subject of when Ripley and Samantha got their freak on. “So, you can get pregnant outside of estrus season. This means we don’t necessarily have to wait around. But we still have some other things we need to figure out. I think the most pressing matter is… well, is it possible for… us?”

Lucy blinks at me, unsure what I’m saying at first, then realizes my implication. She opens her mouth to answer but stops herself, squinting her eyes as she searches her own memory warehouse. Reluctantly, she responds, “... Honestly, I… don’t know. I think so? I…” She looks down, sadness beginning to overtake her. “... hope so. God, I hope so.”

I wrap my arms around her and bring her form to mine in a tight embrace. She returns the gesture, squeezing her arms around me as she buries her head in my chest. I feel the moisture of her tears as they escape her eyes and run down my skin. I gently stroke the back of her head to comfort her. As I do so, I think about the question rationally. I don’t personally know any humans who are in a relationship with a dinosaur, so I can’t speak from second-hand experience. I’ve certainly seen a human and dinosaur holding hands in public on rare occasion, but I can’t say I’ve ever caught sight of a small child with a human face and a dinosaur tail running around beside them. Huh… I wonder-

I slap my forehead. The sudden noise makes Lucy flinch and look up at me. I shake my head and sigh. “What the hell are we getting all worked up for? We literally have the internet at our disposal. We just have to ask Dr. Gruugle; he’ll clear this mystery up for us in a heartbeat!” I unwrap my arms from around Lucy and attempt to slide out of bed, but she doesn’t release her grasp on me. Noticing this, I turn back to her. Her head points downwards. She is trembling.

“Anon… but… but what if…”

I gently place my hands on the sides of her head and turn her gaze up to meet mine. Her eyes are beginning to well up again. I slide my thumb across her cheek to collect the remnants of the previous tears and smile warmly at her. “No matter what, I will never stop loving you. We can find out the answer now, or we can find out the answer later, but no matter what that answer is, you will always be my wife and I will always love you.” At these words, she shudders. A muffled sound escapes her quivering mouth; she quickly presses her lips to mine and kisses me as deeply and passionately as the day we married. More tears stream down her face as she squeezes me tightly. It devastates me to see how badly this woman wants this to be possible… I want it, too, but we won’t know until we know.

After several moments she slowly withdraws from the kiss and looks up at me with pleading eyes. She wordlessly begs me to find the answer to this question, and for the answer to be the one she wants to hear. I stroke her hair and give her one last kiss on the forehead before I slowly slide out of her grasp. She reluctantly relinquishes her hold, gazing up at me as I sit up in the bed and rotate towards the night stand.

I look down upon the spot where my phone should rest. It is absent. “... Where’s my phone?”

Lucy’s voice is timid. “… Probably in your pants pocket.”

I peer over my shoulder at her; she’s still wiping some tears from her eyes as she glances sheepishly down the hallway. I turn my attention to the path beyond the open bedroom door.

… Oh yeah. We were in such a hurry to get to the good part that we made a mess of our clothes all throughout the house. See, there’s a shoe, there’s some socks, there’s my belt, there’s… a bra… and some panties… I feel my ears start to heat up. Exactly why I’m getting hot and bothered by my wife’s undergarments when she’s literally lying naked right next to me is a complete mystery. I shake off the once-again rising heat within, stand from the side of the bed and make my way down the hall.

Pants: located. They are… well, they’re right next to the front door. Did I still have these things on by the time I got the door closed? I shrug as I pick up the garments and begin making my way back to the bedroom, fishing in the pocket for my mobile device as I go. I pause for just a moment in the hall and look down once more at my belt. How exactly my belt made its way here when my pants were at the door is yet another mystery. We really were a dervish of lust. As I reenter the bedroom, Lucy has pulled the sheets up over all but the tips of her fingers and her eyes. The fear of the unknown is painted across her gaze. I give her a comforting smile as I toss the pants aside and climb under the sheet with her, phone in hand.

Immediately she wraps herself around me, staring at the device as though it’s about to tell her whether she’s going to live or die. I wrap my free arm around her, stroking her hair to calm her trembling. I kiss her forehead, whisper once more that I love her, and turn to the harbinger of our fate. I press and hold the side button for a moment until a spinning, multicolor wheel appears on the screen with a symbol of a microphone within it. Lucy holds her breath.

I speak clearly. “OK Gruugle, can a human and a pterosaur conceive together?”

A small ping indicates the device has accepted my voice request. The colored wheel oscillates and turns as it processes the question and submits it to the heavens for an appropriate answer. The room is deathly silent for a few moments. An inverse to our moment in the car, the only sound I can hear now is Lucy’s heartbeat. After a brief but agonizing wait, a tinny voice speaks up from my device:

 

“According to WebbedMD, a human and a pterosaur can feasibly conceive.”

 

Lucy yelps in relief and delight; I similarly gasp in exhilaration. We both immediately cut our celebration short and strain to listen as the tinny voice continues:

 

“However, such a conception comes with increased risk of complications. It is advised that those seeking cross-species conception consult a physician and have viability tests performed.”

 

The device concludes its answer by displaying the website in question. Viability tests… Reed mentioned something about that. I half-knew that they were a thing prior to him mentioning it, but based on his added context I figured they were primarily intended for two differing species of dinosaurs that were attempting to have children. As far as I know, humans don’t need to get tests like that performed; we basically have a single species, homo sapien, with a few remnants of our neanderthal ancestors banging around by way of retained musculature and brow size. But with how many varieties of dinosaur and pterosaur there are, with varying body structure, types of food they can eat, and a whole laundry list of other differences… I guess it makes sense that they’d need some medical guidance when they try to inter-conceive. Now, as we begin this journey of attempting to create a child between a human and a pterodactyl… we’re going to need the same help, if not more.

I turn to Lucy who gazes at me with a mix of solace and apprehension. I set the phone back on the nightstand and scoop my wife into my arms, holding her tightly to my chest. “That’s a ‘yes’.”

She takes in a sharp breath, releasing it in a shudder as she speaks into my chest with a quivering voice. “It… it said there could be complications…”

I stroke her hair and place my head against the top of hers. “There are risks with literally any pregnancy. We will do everything in our power to ensure a healthy baby.”

She pulls away from me slightly, looking down at her stomach. She places her hands around her navel. “But what if I’m already…”

I place my hands on the sides of her hips, gently sliding across her wrists as I do so, and she looks back up at me. I reassure her, “If you are already pregnant, then you’ll have made me the happiest man in the world.” She lets out a trembling sigh and I bring my lips to hers. I want this woman to have everything she desires. I want us to have a healthy baby. I want Lucy to be happy.

As we withdraw from one another, she looks much more calm but still wears a thoughtful expression. “I wonder if those viability tests advise couples like us to do anything prior to… well…” Her cheeks flush once more as she glances down.

I smirk. “What, you mean besides me chilling my balls with an ice pack every morning? I’ve been at that for a few weeks now, not sure what else I can preemptively do.”

Lucy looks up at me with a terribly confused expression, but quickly notices my grin and clues in on the fact that I’m bullshitting. She clicks her tongue and lightly smacks my arm as a smile grows on her own face. “Anon, you dweeb. I’m being serious!”

“So am I! Oh, and by the way, we need more frozen peas, too. Those have been thoroughly expended.”

She fakes a retching sound and we both can’t help but laugh. I continue cradling her in my arms, and as our laughter dies down she snuggles up in the crook of my shoulder. We’ve been conversing for a while, and the topics at hand have proved to be an emotional roller coaster… but there’s one more major point I need to bring up before we close this topic for the night.

“Lucy. I need to ask one more thing of you.”

She gives a muffled sound to acknowledge she’s listening as she nuzzles further into my chest.

“... It’s about what we discussed the other night. About you reconnecting with our old friends.”

She shifts back slightly, removing her snout from my body, but does not look up at me.

I continue, “I won’t twist your arm over who you become friends with. As much as I’d love to mend some of our bridges from high school, I understand that it’s a difficult topic for you and I won’t force you into something you’re not ready for. However… and I hate to be blunt about this, Lucy, but… you and I don’t really have any other friends. We have your parents, and Naser who’s ten hours away at med school. If we are serious about having a child, we’re going to need to make some friends, preferably ones who have children, too, so our little boy or girl can have someone to play with and socialize as they grow up.”

Lucy remains still. She isn’t reaching for her feathers, which is a good sign. After a few moments, I gently stroke her shoulder. At the cue, she looks up to me.

“What about school? There will be lots of kids there that they can play with.”

I shake my head. “You know how public schools are these days. They’re an absolute mess of apathetic teachers and moronic social justice politics. I don’t want to subject our child to that.”

Lucy ponders further. “What about private school?”

I inhale through my nose as I consider it, then reply, “I don’t think we can afford it. Not as we are right now, at least. We’re making enough to afford the mortgage and bills, but we don’t exactly have a massive savings account building up.”

“I’m sure that mom and dad would-”

I cut her off. “No. Ripley and Samantha have already done so much for us. They paid for our wedding and fronted the entire down payment for this house. We can’t ask them to also send our children to private school, that’s too much.”

Lucy cocks her head and looks at me with a confused expression for a moment, but releases it when she realizes that I’m being serious. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Lucy was a spoiled child, but she certainly didn’t want for much as she grew up. However, she knows that my childhood was a different story. I didn’t come from a wealthy household or loving parents. I was always viewed as a burden. The few nice things I owned as a teenager - my computer, my TV, my video game consoles - were all purchased with my own money I scraped together working over the summer at fast food restaurants and gas stations. Hell, I had to basically beg my father to cover the small amount I came up short when I priced out moving to Volcaldera Bluffs to escape the torment of my previous high school. His “ultimatum” of college or the military was imposed because I had the audacity to ask him for a couple hundred bucks.

These days, my relationship with my parents is minimal at best. They attended my wedding, begrudgingly, and didn’t bother offering any sort of assistance with organizing the event. I’m sure they thought their willingness to be present was enough of a gift. Remembering the day I told them that I was going to marry Lucy still makes my blood boil. We normally only exchanged phone calls on birthdays or when a relative died, so my call to them was somewhat unexpected on their end. I invited the two of them to dinner and even offered to pay for a hotel since they lived a few hours away. I did not tell them over the phone that I was engaged, simply that I wanted to share some news with them. Though they were suspicious of my intent with this sudden gesture, they accepted.

I prepared Lucy for the inevitable the best I could. She kept a positive attitude, insisting that my parents probably weren’t as bad as I was chalking them up to be. We arrived for dinner ten minutes before our reservations; my folks were a half hour late. Typical. As they walked into the restaurant and approached our table, my mother stopped and gasped, looking from Lucy to me with shock and a hint of disgust on her face. My father simply shook his head as he took his seat. I greeted my parents as cordially as I could muster, giving my mother a hug as she regained her composure. I then returned the half-hearted handshake my father offered with the same amount of effort he put in.

Dinner was an incredibly awkward affair. My mother retained as polite of a facade as she could muster, occasionally letting slip her clear disapproval of my decision to marry a “meteor dodger.” Thankfully, neither of them went so far as to use the term at the table, but there was a reason I knew those words growing up. My father remained mostly silent, focusing more intently on his several beers and steak than his son who was discussing his plans to spend the rest of life with the woman he loves. I knew the entire gesture would prove to be a futile one in the bottom of my heart, but I had hoped that maybe they did a little growing up in the time I was away in the military. That was simply too much to ask.

To her credit, Lucy was perfect. She was as cordial and kind as she could be while staring down the barrel of her future in-laws who clearly didn’t like her or her son’s decision. She offered up her own contributions the few times they were called for, such as when my mother asked if she worked. When Lucy mentioned that she taught preschoolers with a local church, my father shot me a particularly nasty look from behind his beer glass. I could see his judgmental gaze, belittling me for getting myself tied down to a “Bible-thumper.” I would have never called myself religious, and still wouldn’t go that far today, but his disdain for the faithful was always clear. As had been the trend, he said nothing, merely gulping down more of his liquid escape from the hell that was a paid dinner and hotel room provided by his only child.

As the table was cleared and the check arrived, my father rose without a word and moved towards the exit of the restaurant. My mother waved her hand, excusing his behavior by lying about him having a bad day at work. She gave me a lackadaisical hug, nodded at Lucy while muttering something about it being a “pleasure,” and followed my father out. I paid for the food and made my way to my own car with Lucy close behind.

The two of us sat wordlessly in the parked car for a few moments. I simply stared out the windshield, my mind awash with fury and hatred towards the people who raised me and their flippant disregard of my decision to marry Lucy. My blood finally boiled over and I was unable to maintain the fragile composure I had kept to that point. I brought both of my fists down on top of the steering wheel and screamed. My teeth clenched together so hard that I thought they would break, and tears started streaming down my face.

In an instant, Lucy dove over the center console and wrapped her arms around me. I could do nothing but sob and curse my parents as she cradled my head and comforted me. She whispered that she didn’t care if my parents accepted her or not; she only cared that I accepted her. She repeated that she loved me as my breathing grew less labored and my rage subsided. A sudden pang of guilt and terror overtook me, realizing that I just had a violent outburst in front of the woman I intend to marry. All at once, my mind was flooded with a horrifying scenario of her flinching in fear around me, unsure if I would fly off the handle and damage something or, worse, hurt her. I began trembling uncontrollably and spewing forth apologies for my actions, but she only tightened her hug around me and shushed me. Her fingers gently stroked the back of my head and neck as she continued reassuring me of her love. Finally, I was able to bring my hands to her back to return the gesture. She did not flinch or retreat. She only hugged me tighter and repeated those words: “I love you.”

“Your parents have been better parents to me than mine ever were. I love Ripley and Samantha dearly, and their generosity is always graciously accepted. I just can’t ask them to do this for us, too.” My sentiment resonates with Lucy. She looks down, considering my words and my decision before nodding acceptance and looking back up to me.

“I suppose that means home school is the best option.”

I smile gently at her. “Thankfully, we’ve got plenty of time to make that decision, but it might not be a bad idea. If that’s the road we go down, however, friends for our little one are going to be more important than ever. I’ve known some guys who were homeschooled and they were almost always socially retarded.”

Lucy considers this for a moment. “Wasn’t Sage homeschooled up until high school?”

“My point exactly.”

She clicks her tongue and smiles, not willing to verbally agree with my statement but acknowledging the truth it holds with her reaction. She finally returns to the topic at hand, considering her words as she says them. “If I… if the two of us can make some friends around our age who have kids, we’ll give our child a better shot at making friends.”

I take her hands in mine once more. “Of course, they may make some friends with other kids in our neighborhood, but that means we’d need to get to know that kid’s parents, too. Either way… we need to be able to meet people and build out our social relationships.”

She nods at this. After a few moments of silence, she speaks up. “I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said. How you bumped into Reed at the pharmacy. I… I still don’t know if I’m ready to meet him yet. I’m trying, I really am. But I’m just not ready yet.”

Shit. I still haven’t told her about Trish, or Rosa for that matter. If she’s trying to mentally prepare herself to meet Reed, she’ll need to triple that effort to get to a point where she can meet Trish. This has already been a big night for us, but it’s now or never. I’ve got her here in my arms. God willing, maybe we can do this without a panic attack.

I look deep into Lucy’s eyes. She returns the look, curious as to my sudden intensity. “Lucy. I have something else I have to tell you. I didn’t last time because… I wasn’t able to. But I need to tell you now.” A twinge of panic crosses her face, but she steels her resolve as she squeezes my hands. I take a deep breath and give her the news. “... Reed married Trish.”

The room falls silent. I intently listen to Lucy’s breathing, praying that she doesn’t begin hyperventilating. I caress the tops of her hands with my thumbs as I continue holding them. I look deeply into her eyes, assuring her of my presence and my protection. She processes the information, her eyes glazing over for a moment as she becomes lost in her own head. She does not uncontrollably squeeze my hands, nor does she reach for her own feathers. Instead, she merely takes a minute to think, then returns to me here in the bedroom.

“... They got married?”

I’m amazed that we got this far without an episode, but I’m not about to complain. I nod my head. “Not to stack too many shocking revelations on at once, but they have a baby, too. Her name’s Patty. Reed showed me a photo of her on his phone.” I stick in the last sentence as I’m still keeping my visit with Reed, Trish and Patty under wraps for the time being.

Lucy inhales sharply through her nose, and… smiles. It’s faint, but she actually smiles. She replies, “They named their daughter ‘Patty’? As in ‘Patricia’? That’s Trish’s name, too.”

I pause. Huh. I hadn’t actually considered that. I never knew Trish as anything but “Trish”, but now that Lucy says this out loud…

“Well, I feel stupid for not having realized that before now.”

Lucy lets out a small giggle. “We’re not naming our daughter Lucy.”

“I happen to like that name. Besides, who says we’re having a daughter? If we have a son, I’m calling him Anon Jr.”

“Absolutely not.”

I fake pout. She smiles at me, then turns away slightly as her gaze becomes distant again. I gently run a hand across her shoulder and through her hair. After a moment, she turns back to me and speaks with a level of authority and composure I did not expect. “... I will do it.”

I cock my head, unsure what she means. She continues, “For our child. For the person I want to bring into this world with your help, I will do it. I’ll get over this and become a better person.”

My breath catches in my throat and I feel tears forming in my eyes. Without hesitation, I pull her into a tight embrace. “I know you can do it, Lucy. I know you can do it. I love you so much.”

She returns the embrace, trembling slightly. “I still need time.”

“I know, sweetie. I’ll be here to help you in any way I can. I know you can do this.”

We stay like this for several minutes. Occasionally she quivers as though a chill ran through her body. She is frightened. I reassure her and stroke her hair, whispering that I will be there for her and that I love her. Just as she comforted me through my fury and pain on the night she met my parents, I comfort her now as she faces her inner demons. We are two halves of a whole. Though we must live our own lives and come to terms with our own personal struggles, we never have to do it alone. We will have one another for as long as we live.

In this moment, there is no one except for Lucy and I.