"So, she's an actress."

Stephen jumped when he heard the voice from behind him. He turned around and saw Evanora standing there, looking almost the same except for her hair which had presumably become a little messy while she slept. 

"Yes. Actually, she just won the most prestigious award for what she does." Stephen puffed out his chest proudly.

"A Tony." Evanora nodded. "It's at the front of that cabinet, is it not? I could tell it was the most recent because it had less dust compared to the older ones."

"You're like the female Sherlock Holmes," Stephen joked. Evanora gave him a blank stare. Stephen cleared his throat. "But, yeah, that's the award. I couldn't be more proud of her."

"How long have you two been married?" Evanora asked.

"Just a few months," Stephen said. "We've known each other for twenty-five years, though. Since I was ten and she was four."

"And you only just got married a few months ago?" Evanora tilted her head. "It seems like you would have done it a long time before."

"We were busy." Stephen shrugged. "I had my career and she had her's. And then after the crash I got angry at her even though it wasn't her fault and no matter what, it would have happened anyway. We had a huge fight and I left, and here we are now."

"How... quaint," Evanora said with a smile. "I never really saw myself getting married in my dimension. It was a goal, but it wasn't the thing I wanted more than anything else in the world."

"I was the same way," Stephen said. "But that might have been because I couldn't keep a girlfriend because either I was a huge jerk who was too arrogant for my own good or they took me living with Rachael the wrong way, which I can understand. I'll go with the former." 

Evanora chuckled. "You don't seem arrogant to me."

"That's because you've only just met me," Stephen said.

"Does she tell you that you're arrogant?" Evanora tilted her head. 

"Well, yes," Stephen said. "But only when I'm getting too big for my britches."

"Odd. I thought spouses were supposed to raise each other up and not bring each other down," Evanora said. "I guess I must have been wrong."

"Well, you don't just tear each other down for no reason," Stephen said. "That would be her telling me I'm arrogant just to get her own way."

"I'll never understand humans." Evanora shook her head. "You're so complicated."

"Well, at least we're not all the same. That'd be pretty boring," Stephen joked. Evanora huffed a laugh.

"Yes, I suppose it would," she admitted. "So, when will your wife be back?"

"I don't know," Stephen said. "She said she'd try to be back by one in the afternoon."

"That's a long time to be away from you." Evanora frowned as she spoke. "Don't you feel neglected?"

"Sometimes, but it's her job. If she didn't do her interviews and be in shows, we wouldn't have a roof over our heads," Stephen said. 

A silence fell upon the two. Stephen was getting a little uneasy with all of the personal questions that Evanora was asking. Maybe people in her culture just didn't have a filter. He'd seen that in some species across the many dimensions. But now that Evanora mentioned it, he was feeling a bit neglected by Rachael lately. She'd just finished Anastasia and she had already signed on for at least two more musicals. And they'd just had their talk about starting a family together. Neither of them were getting any younger, and Stephen hated to admit it but he was starting to yearn for kids. Of course, it was Rachael's body and she was the one who would be carrying the child for nine months, but wasn't there the option of adoption? 

"You're restless for something."

Stephen nearly jumped a foot in the air when Evanora spoke. He turned around and tilted his head at her, prompting her to explain what she meant.

"I can sense your emotions through your magic," she explained. "You want something, and you want whatever it is badly."

"Yes, I do," Stephen admitted.

"What is it?" Evanora asked.

"It's somewhat personal," Stephen confessed. "I'm not sure that it would be appropriate to share it with someone I've just met."

"Well, I can sense it anyway," Evanora pointed out. "You might as well just get it off of your chest." 

"Very well." Stephen fought the urge to roll his eyes at her. She really was pushy, but he did need a listening ear that wouldn't shut down the conversation. "I want a family with Rachael. The problem is that she doesn't want it as much as I do, and she never really has."

"But surely you have some say? It's your marriage, life, and happiness at stake as well," Evanora said.

"But Rachael would be the one to carry the child for nine months and then we'd have them in our home for at least eighteen years--possibly longer," Stephen said. "She doesn't feel like she could be a good mother to them because she'd be absent from them for so long with her shows and rehearsals."

"Couldn't she drop them?" Evanora questioned.

"She could, but she hates the idea of it," Stephen explained. "Her shows are her children. They're everything to her. She loves her work and I understand completely. I loved my work as well and I was devastated beyond belief when I had to give it up. I can't imagine her having to go through the same thing."

"But it wouldn't be forever," Evanora spoke gently, "it would only be for a little while."

"That's what I've tried to tell her," Stephen grumbled. "She feels that the child needs a mother when they're young, which I agree with. I don't know how long that would be and I don't want to hold her back from doing what she loves for that long. It would be unfair."

"Well, I say that it's unfair of her to not let you have something that you want," Evanora said. "Like I said before, it's your life as well as her's." 

"I just hate to pressure her into something that she's uncomfortable about," Stephen said. "She'd resent me for it." 

"But if you love each other, surely she'd be willing to at least try?" Evanora cocked her head to the side. "Marriage is about making sacrifices for the one you love, isn't it?"

"It's a big sacrifice, though," Stephen said. "I've known Rachael almost her whole life, and she's never expressed interest in having a family. It's not appealing to her. I married her with that in mind, and now I must face the consequences."

"What about a surrogate?" Evanora asked. 

"Rachael definitely wouldn't like that," Stephen chuckled. "It probably won't happen, but that's fine. We have each other and that's enough."

Evanora hummed and looked away. Stephen didn't understand why she had needed to carry on the conversation as long as she had and give as many suggestions as she had. He gulped as he thought of what Rachael would say if she found out about this. She wouldn't be happy about it, that was for sure. He hoped that Evanora didn't say anything, lest Stephen become good friends with the couch. 

Stephen occupied himself with practicing a few spells while Evanora watched. It was a little odd, but he didn't let it distract him. His magic worked fine, which was good. He didn't want to screw up in front of someone he had just met. 

The way Evanora watched unnerved Stephen a little. While Rachael just watched lazily as if she was mesmerized, Evanora watched carefully like she was studying Stephen's every move. It made him feel like how Rachael sounded on the phone when she would call him while walking home late at night: wary and jumpy. 

"You're very good," she said. 

"Thank you," Stephen murmured. "I don't mean to be rude, but could you be quiet while I do this? I need to concentrate."

"Oh, yes, sorry," Evanora said. 

Stephen practiced several harder spells and fighting moves until Rachael walked through the door. Stephen practically bounded up to her like an excited puppy. Rachael stood on her toes to give him a kiss and ruffled his hair. 

"How was work?" Stephen asked.

"Fine," Rachael said. "I love having to talk carefully so no one takes my words out of context."

"I don't understand why you give interviews," Stephen said. "I stopped giving them a long time ago."

"Well, that's because you lost your hands," Rachael said.

"Touche," Stephen said.

"I'm gonna get dinner started," Rachael said. "Do you mind getting the shredded chicken breast out of the fridge?"

"No." Stephen shook his head and went to get it.

Evanora leaned on the counter with her arms crossed and watched the couple. It was as if they were communicating telepathically. Rachael didn't even need to ask Stephen for anything. He simply knew what she needed when she needed it.

"Do you two do this often?" Evanora asked.

"Yep." Rachael didn't turn around. "Every night, unless we decide to order out."

"I don't understand why he has to help." Evanora pointed to Stephen.

"Because he lives here," Rachael deadpanned.

"But it's your job, or am I remembering Earth's culture wrong?" Evanora tilted her head, not for the first time that day.

Rachael's movements stopped completely and she turned around before giving her 'guest' a sweet smile. "You're remembering the culture wrong, I think. Stephen and I are equal."

"In my dimension, you would have to be extremely lucky to find a husband like that," Evanora said. "I still don't understand why he has to help you all the time."

"Like I said, he lives here." Rachael went back to slicing some carrots, a little harder than before. "It was like this even before we were married, and it will continue to be like this."

"Down, girl." Stephen put a gentle hand on Rachael's back. "As a good husband, it's my job."

Evanora opened her mouth to say something else, but a quick look and shake of the head from Stephen told her it would be a good idea for her to stay quiet. Rachael was already on edge from having someone she didn't know or trust in her house. This would just make it a thousand times worse.

Once dinner had been made and eaten, Rachael went to sit on the couch on her laptop. She checked her Facebook, which wasn't used so much for entertainment purposes as it was for keeping in contact with old friends and family. She actually hated the site, since all she seemed to see lately were pictures of babies and toddlers that she didn't even care about. She seemed to be the only one who didn't post about children. She saw that she had a few comments on her latest status about being exhausted but signing up for another musical, one from Christine, one from her cousin, and one from her aunt specifically. While Christine and her cousin had been encouraging and said that Rachael would still be great, her aunt had told her to wait until she became a parent and saw how tiring that was. 

"Can my aunt just get off her parental high horse?" Rachael muttered. 

"What did she do?" Stephen asked.

"I posted on Facebook about how tired I am from rehearsals and crap and she just came in and told me to wait until I became a mother." Rachael angrily blew her hair out of her face. "Am I allowed to say something rude?"

"I mean, it's not my problem if you do so go for it," Stephen said. "What are you gonna say?"

"I'm telling her to get off her parental high horse." Rachael had already hit send. "Wait for her to say that I'm just jealous because I don't have children and don't understand the great love you have for them when you do have them. God forbid I ever become like this."

"What do you mean by that?" Stephen asked.

"If we do have kids, I never want to be the mom who gushes about their kid on Facebook. It's so annoying and literally no one cares at all," Rachael ranted. "I don't care that you got stopped twenty times in the store because your baby is so beautiful, I don't care that your kid stopped using diapers today, I don't care that you got puked on but it's worth it, I just...ugh. I still can't believe that people were angry when I requested a child-free wedding." 

"That's just how some people will be, sweetheart." Stephen pulled Rachael to him and kissed her head. He started snickering. "Do you remember how my cousin actually did bring her kid to the wedding and then got angry at us that there wasn't any child friendly food for the guests, but we had pizza that we wouldn't share?"

Rachael started to laugh as well. "Oh, there was child friendly food for the guests. I just gave everyone salads as a starter as a plan to get her and the kid to leave." 

"You're devious." Stephen kissed Rachael's forehead. "I love you."

"I love you too," Rachael murmured.

------------------------------------

I'm not even gonna apologize for this taking so long. 

So yesterday I cracked open a cold one with the boys.

They came because I had a milkshake