“Papa, did you grow up here?” Ian asks, munching away. “No,” Victor says, “I grew up in a big house. I’ll show it to you some day soon. But we came here a lot to learn about the animals, to ride the horses.” “I want to ride the horses!” Alvin says, excited. “Soon,” Victor promises. “Today, though
“That’s your dog,” I say, my fingers pressed against my temple as the puppy whines in the back seat. The boys fuss over him, fighting over names. “We are going to call him Lucky,” says Alvin. “No. Slug!,” says Ian, laughing. “You are not naming him Slug,” I say, angry, twisting to glare at the
Ty sends me back a thumbs-up emoji and I hurry into the kitchen. “All right, Victor?” I ask, stowing my phone away in my purse. “Yeah,” he says, running a worried hand through his hair. “Are the boys in there with the dog?” I nod and smile. “Please don’t let Ian name it Lizard.” Victor quirk
Victor laughs lightly, considering the truth of this. “Look,” I say, continuing, “I’m not saying that you shouldn’t keep trying to talk to her about your mutual goals. But I am saying that punishing her for taking some time and space isn’t going to have the desired effect.” “I see,” says Victor. “
“Wow, this new office is…really nice…” Susan says, looking around at former dining room in the cottage which I have transformed into my office. It has all the old furniture – desk, velvet couch, my armchair – but Susan is right, the environment is a definite upgrade. The window looks out on my littl
“But if we’re mated…will I ever be attracted to someone else?” “Well, clearly Adrian was,” I say blutly, but hopefully as gently as I can. Susan huffs a laugh and nods, understanding my point. “But, while they are rare, there are examples of people who have chosen to defy their mating bonds and ma
I twirl my fork in my linguini, sorry to see that it’s the last bite. It was delicious. “So, did you like your meal?” Edgar asks. “Yes,” I say, emphatically, scraping the plate with the side of my fork to get the last of the sauce. “It was ama-“ As I raise the fork to my mouth I look at Edgar,
Mark was like that. Our connection was instant and fully carnal. We met at a children’s birthday party, of all the inappropriate things, when the twins were invited to tour a fire house and have cake. It was all fine – a little boring, honestly – until I saw Mark in the corner, staring at me, practi