“Uh huh. That’s the same thing.”
“I asked Tommy what it was like to have two mothers.”
“Ah. He would know. What is it like?”
“He said that it was like that for many children after the war. He thought his father died during the Great War.”
“That’s true.”
“Tommy asked me why I wanted to know and I told him we wanted to have children. I hope that was all right. I wasn’t going to say anything, but I was curious.”
“That’s alright. I like Tommy.”
“One question led to another and Tommy asked if we would like him to be the father.”
Zoe’s eyebrows rose and a smile slowly creased her face. “Hmm. Would I want sperm from a man who looks like you, is your cousin, and has volunteered? That’s difficult.” She chuckled. “I hope you said yes.”
“I wouldn’t say yes without talking to you first. That wouldn’t be right.”
“So how did that become a marriage proposal?”
“Zoe, we’ve discussed this before…”
“Oh, no, not again.” Zoe got up from the bed and paced. “I don’t want to be married. I can have a child without being married.”
“You know how society views unmarried mothers. I’ve told you about the poor ladies that come—”
Zoe went over to the chair and put her arms on the handles, and leaned over inches away from Eva’s face. “I don’t want to get married because I already am married.”
Eva smiled at Zoe’s very aggressive posture. “If anyone else did that to me, it would be confronting, but I just find you so adorable. I love your passion.” She cupped Zoe’s face and kissed her.
Zoe sighed and sat back down on the bed. “I don’t want to get married.”
“Then we won’t have children.”
“That’s not fair.”
“I’m not trying to guilt you into doing this. I’m not willing to have you in the crosshairs of some government agency. I’ve seen it too many times and that’s not what I want for you.”
“But we want children.”
“Yes, but not at the expense of our happiness.” Eva took Zoe’s hand. “I won’t sacrifice you so we can have children.”
“That sounds like a really bad plot in a romance novel.”
“Like the ones you read?” Eva gently teased.
Zoe stuck her tongue out at her. “Why?”
“He said he loves me and he wants to give me what I can’t do for myself.”
“Wow, well, I’ll give him full marks for that. Won’t that be hard to do with him being in Thessalonica and us being in Sydney? Is he going to send us his sperm by mail?”
“About that…”
“About what? Are you serious? Is that how he is going to do it?”
“No, love, I don’t think you can do it that way. We talked about how your father got the animals pregnant and he doesn’t think it will work for you.”
“He doesn’t? Why? He’s a nurse, not a doctor, and what does he know, anyway?” Zoe crossed her arms across her chest.
“He knows a lot.”
“So what does that mean? I have to have sex?”
Eva nodded. “Yes.”
“I think we should ask Aunty Stella. She’s a doctor and, as much as I like Thomas, I think Aunty Stella will know more about this.”
“Has she impregnated a lot of women with turkey basters?”
“No, but she is a doctor.”
“What if she says we can’t do it that way?”
“We will then talk about it.” Zoe took Eva’s hand and they fell silent. “If we can’t do it the turkey baster way, how does Tommy think he can do it the other way? Sending sperm to the other side of the world is a messy problem.”
Eva couldn’t help but smile at Zoe’s sense of humor. They smiled at each other. “You make me happy.”
“I know,” Zoe quipped before she leaned over and kissed Eva lightly on the lips. “Back to Tommy, how does he intend to give me his sperm? I mean if we are in Australia…”
“Tommy and Theo have decided they want to go to Australia with Aunt Tessa and Stella.”
Zoe shook her head. “So that’s why Theo was all cryptic with me when you went on your walk. He said he had a secret but he would tell me when you got back.”
“Yes, that’s probably it.”
“There is another problem with this plan. If Tommy wants to marry me, what happens when he finds a girl and wants to get married?” Zoe asked.
Eva looked down at their interlocked fingers. “He’s not into girls.”
“Well, the former Mrs. Lambros hurt him by running off with her new man, but that’s no reason not to want—”
“Zoe, slow down.” Eva playfully put her fingers over Zoe’s lips. “He doesn’t like girls like we don’t like boys.”
“Oh! He’s like Earl? Why didn’t you just say that?”
“He told me on the way back, after I kept asking why he didn’t want to get married.”
“Wait.” Zoe put her hand up. “You were asking questions about someone’s private life? You? The woman who never wants to intrude on anyone’s privacy?”
“Yes, me. You’re rubbing off on me.” Eva stroked Zoe’s hand, making her giggle.
“Oh, my god, do his mothers know?”
“He said he suspects Tessa knows and Stella doesn’t. That's why his wife left him—he couldn't lie to her.”
“Oh, my goodness,” Zoe exclaimed as her hand flew to her mouth. “Why hasn’t he told his mothers?”
Eva sighed. “He said he disappointed Stella by going ahead with the wedding even though she didn’t like the girl. She told him she wasn’t good enough for him, but it was his choice to do it and she would support him. When Kaila left him, he was expecting his mother to tell him he had made the wrong choice, but she didn’t.”
“Is that her name? I want to call her Jezebel, since no one has called her anything but that. Aunty Stella or Tessa wouldn’t hurt Tommy by doing that.”
“He did make the wrong choice. He thought that getting married to Kaila would put an end to his urges.”
“Oh, the poor man.”
“I don’t think we will have the problem of him wanting to marry someone else.”
“Yes.” Zoe nodded. “How do you feel about this?”
“How do I feel about his being a homosexual? It doesn’t matter to me. I hate the idea of you having sex with a man, but we want children. Let’s see what Aunty Stella says first, alright?”
“So what do we do now?”
“I told Tommy he would have to ask Theo, since he is your older brother,” Eva said with a straight face only to have Zoe gently slapped her hand. “Ow, don’t hit the infirm.”
“Theo is going to find this very strange. Back to Thomas. How would he be involved in the children’s lives?”
“He doesn’t want to be involved other than doing…um…his duty.”
“So we are the children’s parents and he has nothing to do with the decisions we make? I don’t want anyone else other than you and me involved in that.”
“He assured me he will not interfere.”
“Hmm.” Zoe looked down to the floor, lost in thought for a few minutes. “We might have a problem if he changes his mind. He will be the father...”
“He doesn’t want to, Zo. Anyway, that’s putting the cart before the horse, isn’t it?”
“Maybe, but normally you are the cautious one. You’re rubbing off on me.” Zoe grinned and stroked Eva’s cheek. “I want that in writing, that he relinquishes all parental control.”
“You sound like Friedrich.”
Zoe clucked her tongue. “You just insulted me and called me a lawyer.”
“You and I will have full parental control. Tommy won’t be involved. One of the benefits of Tommy giving his sperm is that I’m related to the children by blood.”
“Second cousins.” Zoe grinned. “They will be fully ours.”
“I love you,” Eva
whispered, and she captured Zoe’s mouth for a passionate kiss. They parted and gazed at each other. “I can’t wait for our children and I hope they look like you—red, curly hair, and green eyes.”
“That’s something I hope you never get. Black hair, blue eyes, and a dimpled chin is my order,” Zoe said, and tweaked Eva’s chin. “Aunty Stella and Tessa are going to be grandmothers.”
“Tommy is talking to them now.”
“Do you think they knew?”
“I don’t know, but I guess we will find out.”
“Eva.” Zoe got up from the bed and went down on her knees to finish removing Eva’s other stocking. She looked up with a mischievous look in her eye. “Would you be my matron of honor?”
Eva stared at Zoe for a moment and they laughed.
Chapter Eleven
Zoe closed the door to the bedroom after she had settled Eva in bed for a nap with Jasper sitting quietly on the edge of the bed. She kept her hand on the doorknob as she went over the life-changing events that were going to occur. Having sex with a man. She involuntarily shuddered at the thought. She shook her head as if to remove the mental image that had lodged in her mind as she made her way down the corridor and into the living room. No one was there, so she poked her head into the kitchen.
No one was in the kitchen either, so she decided to go outside, hoping to find Tommy.
“Hmm, where has everyone disappeared to?” Zoe said.
“I’m here.”
Zoe followed the sound of Theo’s voice to the side of the house, where he was sitting and sipping a cup of coffee. A cigarette was in a makeshift ashtray at his feet.
“I see you still drink that sludge.” Zoe patted Theo on the shoulder and sat down on an upended drum.
“This is real coffee.”
“If you say so. Where has everyone gone?”
“Tommy took his parents for a walk. Is Eva taking a nap? She looked exhausted when she came back.”
“Yes, the walk drained her, so she’s in bed having a bit of a rest.”
Theo turned to Zoe. “Tommy had a word with me earlier.”
“Oh?”
“He said something very strange, and at first I thought he was drunk.”
“What did he say?” Zoe picked up a twig and started to draw in the dirt in front of her.
“He asked me for your hand in marriage.” Theo watched Zoe, who was busy with her ground drawing. “Can you stop that and look at me?”
Zoe looked at Theo, who had a very serious look on his face. “What’s wrong, Theodore?”
“Did you hear what I said?”
“Yes. Tommy has asked you for my hand in marriage. I heard you.”
Theo scowled.
“Don’t scowl.” Zoe smoothed the furrowed groove between Theo’s eyes. “What did you say?”
“I said no,” Theo exclaimed angrily.
Zoe suppressed a smile. He is just so adorable. “Why did you do that?”
“You don’t love him, Zoe. You just met the man.”
“Hmm. He’s very handsome and looks very much like Evy. Don’t you want him as your brother-in-law?”
“He’s already my brother. I don’t need a brother-in-law. I have a sister-in-law that does a stellar job at it.” Theo picked up several pebbles and chose one. He looked at Zoe with a puzzled expression. He threw the pebble and hit the chicken shed with a dull thud.
“What did you say?”
“Are you deaf? I said I have a sister-in-law that does a stellar job. I thought this thing you have with Eva is real. You told me it was. Eva loves you and you said you loved her. I don’t understand it, but you said this is what you wanted. Why would you hurt her like that?” Theo threw another pebble. “She loves you.”
“You are just so…” Zoe stopped and sighed happily at Theo’s words. She realized her brother’s feelings were very genuine, and at that very second she loved him more than ever. She took a hold of his bicep. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him. She smiled and she almost got up and raced into the house to cuddle up to Eva with the news of Theo’s reaction.
“Yes, but Zoe—”
“Stop. I’m going to explain. Eva and I are not breaking up.”
“You’re not?”
“No.” Zoe shook her head. “Tommy asked you for my hand because Eva and I want to have children.”
Theo dropped the pebbles and turned to Zoe. “You want to have children?”
“Yes.”
“You want to marry Thomas because you just want to have children? You don’t love him or anything like that?”
“I just met him.” Zoe grinned. “I’m not leaving Eva for a man.”
Theo exhaled and leaned back against the house. He swore under his breath. “I thought you were going to leave Eva for Tommy.”
“I know.” Zoe giggled. “Sorry. I was going to play along but you are seriously upset by it.”
“Sweet Jesus.” Theo shook his head. “That’s not nice.”
“Sorry, brother.” Zoe rested her head against his shoulder.
“What’s the story?”
“Eva and Tommy went for a walk and they talked about how we want to have children. Eva doesn’t want me to be unmarried because—”
“It’s immoral.”
“If you say so. I don’t see what the fuss is about, but Eva thinks it makes a big difference. She doesn’t want to have children if it means putting me in what she calls the government crosshairs.”
“She’s right. If you are going to have children then you need to be married. That’s just the way it is. Eva wants to have children but you are carrying them? Is that because you are younger?”
“Eva can’t have children,” Zoe quietly said. “She had some woman thing and they had to operate.”
“What’s this ‘woman thing’?”
“You wouldn’t know it. Uterine fibroids.”
“I know what that is. Mama had them just after you were born. They had to operate and she couldn’t have any more children after that.”
“Oh.” Zoe gazed at Theo. “I didn’t know that.”
“Hmm. We nearly lost Mama. So Eva can’t have children but you can.”
“Yes. Tommy said he wanted to be the father of those babies and he asked Eva if he could marry me.”
“So why did he ask me?”
“Because you are my brother and that’s the traditional way of doing things, isn’t it?” Zoe wanted to laugh at Theo’s confused look.
“Yes, it would be, but Aunty Stella told me that you and Eva are a couple and it’s like you are married. She’s your head.”
Zoe suppressed the urge to smile. “We don’t have that kind of relationship. It’s not like a man and a woman, where the man is the head. She’s not my head. We do things together.”
“So who makes the decisions?”
“We both do.”
“Isn’t that confusing? Someone has to decide.”
“Sometimes when Eva knows more about something than I do, she does, and if I know something Eva doesn’t, then it’s me. We both decide on things. Remember how Mama and Papa used to sit and talk about everything?”
“Yes, I remember.”
“Well, it’s like that.”
“Oh.” Theo nodded and picked up his cigarette. He took a drag and exhaled. “So do you want to marry Tommy?”
“No, I don’t, but that’s the only way to have children.”
“Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”
“No.” Zoe shook her head. “No, I’m not sure. It would mean marrying a man and…”
“Sex.”
Zoe sighed heavily as she picked up a pebble and threw it. “I have a plan. Remember how Papa used to impregnate the animals?”
“I remember, but you’re not a cow.”
“This is very true, but the same idea—”
“You’re not a cow, Zoe. I don’t think that works with women.”
Zoe glanced at her brother. “Tommy doesn’t think so eithe
r, but I’m going to ask Aunty Stella. If it can be done, she will know how.”
“What if Aunty Stella says the only way you can have these babies is by having sex?”
Zoe stayed silent and stared down at the ring on her finger. “We want to have children. You know how much I wanted to have children, and Evy wants them as well.”
“I haven’t known Eva for a long time, but I can see she loves you. However, sharing you… How does she feel about that?”
Zoe stayed silent for a long moment. “It will hurt her deeply and she will more than likely cry a lot.”
“So why do it if it’s going to hurt her?”
“A lot of horrible things have been done to her, Theo. Things that would make your hair stand on end. I want to give her something that she’s always wanted. I want to have that as well,” Zoe replied softly. “Something she can’t do herself and I can.”
“How do you feel about having sex with a man?”
“I don’t believe we are having this conversation.” Zoe half smiled and bumped her shoulder against Theo’s. “I don’t want to have sex with a man, but if I don’t, we won’t get what we want.”
“Is that what you really want?”
“Yes, I want the children, but not the sex. Aunty Stella may know of a way so that I don’t have to have sex. I don’t want to think about it now.”
“I can accept you wanting to live with Eva, but as your older brother and head of this family, I don’t approve you having children without being married.”
“Even if my marriage is a sham?”
“Does Tommy know that it’s a sham?”
“Yes.”
“Right then. I don’t know where it says in the Bible that a marriage can’t be a marriage of convenience. Tommy can’t love you because he’s not into…” Theo stopped and looked away. “Well, he’s not in love with you.”
“Do you know what I love about you, Teedore?”
“What?”
“You are the second finest man I have ever met,” Zoe said fondly, and kissed Theo on the cheek.
“Who is the first?” Theo grinned.
“Papa beats you to that honor. He was the finest man ever.”
“He was. He loved us all so much. He would be so proud of you, of the way you kept yourself alive and battled against the war criminals. You were his little girl. Imagine him as a grandfather?”
Awakenings (Intertwined Souls Series Book 4) Page 9
