Tiffani quietly approached AJ, who was engrossed in a book and did not hear her walk over, a worried look on her face. She sat beside him and silently observed him, rehearsing in her mind the words she’d been turning over in her head all day long.

“AJ,” she said softly, touching his arm. Slowly, AJ lowered his book to his lap and looked up at her. At first, he looked quite annoyed to have been interrupted, but when he saw her face, he realized that this was no minor matter.

“What’s wrong?” AJ asked. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah, I’m fine,” Tiffani replied. “I want to talk to you about Eva.”

AJ set his book aside. “What about Eva?” he asked. “Is she sick?”

“AJ, she’s being beaten up at school by bullies,” Tiffani blurted out. Oh, damn it, that’s not how I was going to tell him, she mentally scolded herself. Way to go, Tiff.

“Beaten up?” AJ echoed, his eyes wide. “Are you serious?”

“Extremely.”

“I didn’t think that sort of thing happened to girls.”

“Well, apparently, it does,” Tiffani replied wryly. “I’m really worried about her. I mean, isn’t there something we can do about this? I tried to talk to the principal at her school, but that woman just wouldn’t listen to me. I really wish I knew what to do, but you know I have no experience with this sort of thing.”

AJ sighed and responded, “Yeah, same here. Come on, there’s got to be someone we know who can help us.”

“Who do we know who’s pretty much an expert on bullying and can give us insight into this?”


AJ chewed at a fingernail and said slowly, “…Well, how about my sister?”

“Emily?”

“That’s the only sister I have. Come on, Tiff, she’s studied bullying for years and released books on it. I’m sure she can help us.”

“I don’t know. I feel kind of weird about asking her to help us parent our children.”

“But we can’t just sit here and do nothing. We owe it to Eva to at least try to find a way of solving this problem.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Tiffani said, nodding. “Okay, then. We’ll ask Emily for help.”

“Great. I’ll call her right now, if you want.”

“Good idea,” Tiffani replied. She watched as AJ strode over to the phone. Hesitantly, she added, “Thanks for listening to me, AJ. I love you.”

AJ looked over at her and smiled. “Well, of course I listened to you. I wouldn’t be much of a father or husband if I just ignored you. And I love you, too.”


Cy stared at herself in the mirror. Success… fame… and what has it really brought? she thought. Am I really happy? Is Lia happy? I can’t even give the woman I love what she wants most. She deserves someone who can give her children. I was selfish when I had that surgery done. I didn’t think about what Lia wanted, only what I did. I’m a failure, as far as I’m concerned.

She turned, startled, when Ophelia shut the door.


“Hey,” Ophelia greeted her, kissing Cy’s cheek. “I missed you today.”

“I missed you, too,” Cy responded. She sighed and gave Ophelia’s hands a brief squeeze. “Sweetie, do you ever regret being with me? I mean…” She swallowed hard, trying to collect her thoughts. “…I mean, wouldn’t you rather be with someone who can give you kids? You really want them, and obviously, I… I mean, I can’t…”

“Don’t be silly,” Ophelia replied, embracing Cy. “Even if I found a guy who could get me pregnant with about twenty kids, that doesn’t matter to me. You’re the one I love, not some hypothetical guy. Kids aren’t a necessity for me.”

“But… but you do want them. And I can’t even give you that. Christ, at least back when we were younger, I could have tried--”

“--Stop that,” Ophelia said firmly. “It’s pointless to talk about what could have been done. I’m with you, and I’m happy with how things are. Now, maybe we can look into adoption or donors or something along those lines one day. But don’t worry about whether or not you can give me kids. That’s not why I’m with you. I’m with you because you’re my best friend and I love you and you mean everything to me. Any guy could get me knocked up. But I’m not going to fall in love with just anyone. Now, calm down, and let’s have some dinner, okay?”

Cy nodded, humbled by these words, proof of just how much Ophelia truly loved Cy. “Okay.”