Dark Choices - I. T. Lucas Page 0,19
artist was allowed his idiosyncrasies.
Dalhu snorted. Calling himself an artist still made him feel like a fraud. He was just a guy who drew and painted. He wasn’t an artist.
A glance at his watch reassured him that it was indeed Wednesday, not Saturday, and that he hadn’t lost track of time.
Going into the master bedroom, he felt the charge in the air intensify, and as he opened the bathroom door, he felt like he was entering a very localized storm.
Except, Amanda looked serene as an angel. Most of her gorgeous body was submerged under a mountain of bubbles, her head was resting on an inflatable pillow, and her eyes were closed.
But she wasn’t sleeping.
That seemed like an invitation.
Whipping his shirt over his head, he kicked his shoes off, and then dropped his pants and boxer shorts.
“Would you mind if I join you?” He slid behind Amanda and then pulled her against his chest. “What’s the occasion? You usually take a bath before bed.”
“How do you feel about living in the sanctuary?”
That was an odd question. “What would I do there? Paint the snow?”
“It can be quite beautiful.”
“I like vibrant colors. White is boring.” He smoothed his hands over her arms and dipped his head to kiss her neck. “Why do you ask?”
Even if Amanda wanted to visit her mother in the sanctuary, she would have to wait for Annani to return from visiting Sari in Scotland. Except, she’d said living, not visiting. What was this all about?
“I’m pregnant.”
His hands on her arms stilled, but his heart leaped. “What?”
“You heard me. We are going to have a baby.”
A child would make him the happiest man on earth, but he was well aware of how terrified Amanda was of becoming a mother once again.
Suddenly, Alaska made perfect sense. Amanda wanted to ensure their child's safety, and the safest place she could think of was the sanctuary.
He would do anything to make it easier on her, but the problem was that she would hate it there even more than he would. Amanda loved her work at the university, and she loved the village community. It wasn’t big, but it was much bigger than the one in the sanctuary.
“Nothing would make me happier, but are you okay with that?”
“I’m not sure. I talked with my mother, and we both agreed that her place is the safest. If we have a girl, our stay there will not be long, a year or two at the most But if it’s a boy, it will mean thirteen years of snowy vistas for you.” As she turned around in his arms and looked up at him, her eyes were wide with fear. “I can’t do it any other way, Dalhu. I’m sorry.”
He cupped her cheeks and planted a soft kiss on her lips. “Don’t be. A child is a miracle, and any sacrifice we have to make in order for her or him to be safe is worth it. Thirteen years is not a long time in an immortal’s life. We will find a way to make it work up there. I can paint from photographs, like I did in the beginning, and you can continue your research remotely. You don’t need to be in the lab for the tests to continue. Teaching would be the only thing you’d be giving up. On second thought, you could even do that. You could create an online neuroscience course.”
As tears slid down Amanda’s cheeks, she closed her eyes and rested her forehead against his chest. “I love you so much. Thank you for being so supportive.”
He sighed. “I’m the one who needs to thank you. I love you more than life itself, and I’m going to love our child just as much. You must know that I’d walk to the ends of the earth and back for both of you.”
“I know. And that’s why I love you.” She lifted her head and smiled. “Well, I also love your magnificent body, and a thousand and one other things. But your love for me tops it all.”
12
Roberts
As the house phone rang for the third time during his dinner, Roberts wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I’ll get that.” He pushed away from the table.
“Thank you.” His wife’s smile was grateful. “I don’t know how to activate that do not call feature to stop these telemarketers. But maybe it’s one of the kids this time, so before you bark at whoever is calling, check who it is.”
Fat chance. Their children only called on