“I’ve been told that you are going to take me for a walk?” Eva shielded her eyes from the sun’s glare.
“I am. My mother says you should go for a little exercise and Zoe thinks you might like to go down by the river.”
“Which mother?”
“Stella.” Tommy grinned.
Eva rose from her seat with Zoe’s help.
“Well, I won’t argue with my doctor.” Eva put her hand on her back and winced. “Sitting down doesn’t seem to be a good idea.” She blew Zoe a kiss.
“Make sure she’s home by midnight and have a great time playing near the river. Try not to get muddy,” Zoe joked.
Eva looped her arm around Tommy’s elbow and they walked off, the sound of her cane tapping lightly on the ground.
“Ah, the young’uns.” Zoe chuckled. “They grow up so quickly.”
Tommy slowed his pace as he and Eva walked quietly along the dirt track leading to the river. He held back the overgrown brush so Eva could pass.
They came to a well-hidden clearing. Large overhanging trees surrounded the river as it bubbled quietly. A makeshift tree house sat in the branches high above the clearing, and a swing, with a plank for a seat, hung down from a sturdy branch.
“I can see Zoe playing here,” Eva said. “She probably got her brothers to build the tree house.”
“Zoe is—”
“A lioness.” Eva grinned. “If you are ever in trouble, she’s the woman to have in your corner. She will fight for you no matter the odds. If you’re not in trouble, she’s the woman to have by your side.”
“She protects you and you protect her.”
“Yes.” Eva leaned against the tree and smiled. “Your mother didn’t say anything about me not leaning against trees, did she?”
“No, she didn’t say anything like that.”
“Good. I’m not moving.” Eva played with her cane.
They stayed quiet for a while.
Eva looked at Tommy. “Thank you for trying to get me out of Aiden.”
Tommy looked down a little shyly. “I didn’t succeed, but you needed me, and I was there for you. When Mama told me who you were, well, I had to do something.”
“You must have been scared.”
“Not as scared as you were.”
“My grandmother owns that place.”
“The hospital?”
“Aiden Hospital and the research facility are owned by AEMullerStahl, my grandmother’s company,” Eva said. “I wonder if she really knew the inhuman acts that were being done under that roof.”
“That would be hideous.”
“She did allow my stepfather and my uncle to do that to me.”
“Maybe she didn’t know. I do remember reading your chart, and it did say you were there because of a traffic accident and severe melancholy. There was no doubt about it, Eva, you had severe melancholy.”
“A traffic accident? Is that what they called being beaten half to death by your father? They falsified records. How shocking.” Eva looked at Tommy with a sad smile. “Tommy,” she said.
“Hmm?”
“Why did they give me a hysterectomy?”
Tommy gazed at Eva for a moment, his brows furrowed. “You had uterine fibroids, which causes massive amounts of blood loss. Your uncle chose to give you a hysterectomy after they grew too big.”
“Uterine fibroids? Not because my stepfather didn’t want me to have children?”
“Goodness, no, who told you that?”
“My stepfather.”
“That man was a sadistic evil bastard.” Tommy put his arm around Eva. “Dr. Muller said you had them before you came to Aiden and they continued to grow, so he had no choice. In this instance he was right.”
“Oh.”
“You believed all this time that Muller had ordered that to happen?”
“Yes.” Eva nodded. “He knew I had always wanted children. I kept telling him that when I grew up I would have a dozen children.”
Tommy smiled. “A dozen? What were you going to be? A baby factory?”
“Hadn’t thought that far ahead. I was an only child, so I thought having brothers and sisters was special.”
“Hmm, yes, so did I.”
“I remember coming home one day and I felt so alone being the only child, like you, and saying to Mutti that I was going to get married and have a dozen children with my prince.” Eva laughed.
Tommy smiled. “I like hearing your laugh.”
“Better than my crying.”
“That’s true.” Tommy brushed the hair from Eva’s eyes. “It’s a good thing you won’t be going to the wedding. There will be lots of crying there.”
“I am going.”
“I thought you said you weren’t before you…”
“Before you scared years off my life?” Eva teased. “I’m going because of Zoe.”
“When did you change your mind?”
“When Theo came over and told us that the church altar had part of the roof collapse onto it and they are moving the wedding to the plaza.”
“Why is that a problem for Zoe?”
“The plaza is on the edge of a field,” Eva said as she tapped the cane against an overhanging branch. “That’s Maragos Field.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It’s where her mother was murdered.” Eva struck the branch with the cane in anger. She watched it swing. “I can’t let Zoe face that alone.”
“You have trouble standing. She will have—”
“I would crawl on all fours if I had to,” Eva said, and gave the branch another whack. “Zoe is going to need me.”
“Alright,” Tommy said quietly.
They fell silent for a few moments.
“I’m sorry,” Tommy said. “I should have realized that you would want to be there for her.”
“I would eat porridge for her.” Eva glanced at Tommy and smiled.
“That is love.” Tommy chuckled. “My god, I remember I had to do choo-choo noises for you to eat it.”
“I only ate it because you were so silly and you made me laugh.”
“Ah, Cousin Eva, but you ended up eating the pile of goo.” Tommy wagged his finger and they both chuckled.
“Tommy, what does it feel like having two mothers?”
“There were a lot of children that didn’t have fathers because of the war. If anyone asked about my father, I would tell them that he died in the Great War. For a long time that’s what I thought as well. Why do you ask?”
Eva tapped the cane against her foot. “Zoe and I want to have children.”
“Ah.” Tommy nodded.
“What do you think?”
“Children who are wanted? It’s pure love. ”
“Oh.” Eva looked at the leaf-strewn ground.
“Do you have a man?” Tommy shook his head. “I mean, do you have someone who wants to help... Now, that didn’t sound right either.”
Eva chuckled. “We were thinking that one of our friends in Australia, Earl, might help us out.”
“Ah. Is that so? Hm. Won’t that cause more problems?” Tommy played with the leaves on the ground with his foot. “What if I volunteered?”
“You’re a Catholic, Tommy. Doesn’t that…”
“I’m a Catholic during Christmas and Easter and that’s about it. I don’t have a great love for the Church. Is this important to you? You’re a Catholic girl, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I’m Catholic. Zoe doesn’t have a religion. Faith is important to me, but not the Church, if you know what I mean. Zoe doesn’t care about God or the Church.”
“Of course. You’re lesbians and that’s a gross sin in the eyes of the Greek Orthodox and Catholic Churches. Is that why Zoe doesn’t believe?”
“No. She hates everything about the Greek Orthodox Church and God. She feels that God abandoned her when she needed Him the most. Don’t get Zoe started on faith, the Church, or God. I have faith because He was the only thing I could hold on to. I would rat
her commit the gross sin of loving Zoe than condemning someone like me to hell. I don’t believe in the Church’s version of God.”
“Me either,” Tommy replied.
They stayed silent for a moment before Eva looked up. “Why do you want to volunteer?”
“You are my cousin and I love you. Earl? What does his wife think of that?”
“He’s not married,” Eva said as she tapped the cane against the tree stump.
“He will be and when that day arrives he will have to tell his wife about his child. Forget this Earl. I want to do it.”
“A little hard to do if you are in Greece and we are in Australia.”
Tommy scratched his chin. “Yes, it would be difficult if I were going to be living in Greece.”
“You’re not?”
“Mama told me that they are going to Australia to stay,” Tommy replied, smiling broadly. “Theo and I have been chatting and he doesn’t want to be away from his sister now that she’s back, and I don’t want to be the one left behind.”
“Wow.”
“Yes. Who is going to cook for me and where do I take my laundry?” Tommy joked.
Eva smiled at the realization that her family was coming to Australia.
“To be serious for a moment, I want to be with my family,” Tommy said.
“That is just amazing.”
“Well.” Tommy dragged a tree stump over and sat on it, facing Eva. “As I said, I want to help. Is it so hard to believe?”
“No, I know you. I trust you, but I’m curious why you are so quick to volunteer when you haven’t had time to think about it. This is a life-changing decision.”
“I love you. You’re my cousin. Do I need any other reason?”
“Can I ask you a personal question?”
“Of course.”
“How involved would you want to be?”
“Eva, I don’t want to be the child’s father.” Tommy smiled. “You and Zoe are going to be the parents and I know having two mothers does work. You don’t need a third wheel. I want to give you what you are not able to do yourself.”
“That’s very generous of you. I would give you a kiss if I was able to bend over, but since I’m not…”
Tommy rose and kissed her on the cheek.
“Or you can give me a kiss.”
Tommy doffed his imaginary top hat and smiled. “It’s a good thing you want to do it in Australia and not here.”
“Why?”
“Unwed mothers are pariahs. You know what happened to your own mother when she was pregnant with you.”
“Yes. She was sent away in the middle of the night so as not to scandalize the sensibilities of the good Christian souls,” Eva said. “My mother was pregnant; she didn’t have the bubonic plague.”
“Is it like that in Australia?”
“Yes. We get women coming to the Interpreter Service seeking our help because the state deemed they were unfit mothers. There isn’t anything we can do because once the state decides they are unfit, they have an uphill battle to try and prove they do love their children.”
“Have you thought about what this will do to Zoe?”
“I have thought about this and it worries me.” Eva nodded. “Zoe says she doesn’t care—it’s her life, her choice, and it doesn’t have anything to do with the government.”
“What if I found a solution to that problem as well?”
“What’s the solution, marry Zoe?” Eva chuckled.
“Yes, I get to marry Zoe,” Tommy suggested.
Eva stopped smiling.
“What do you think?”
“You just asked me if you could marry my wife.”
“Yes.”
Eva closed her eyes and laughed. “Tommy, you are asking for my wife’s hand in marriage.”
“Should I have asked Theo instead?” Tommy teased.
Eva tapped his arm lightly with her cane.
“Ow.” He grabbed his arm. “Think about it. The child or children will not be born out of wedlock, thus avoiding Zoe being immoral or the state wanting to take the child away. It does make sense. The other factor to consider is that the children will be legally your next of kin.”
Eva smiled. “My second cousins.”
“Exactly.” Tommy nodded.
“Hmm.”
“Is that a good hmm or a bad hmm?”
“There’s another reason to go with your plan.”
“What’s that?”
“Zoe wants children that look like me.” Eva waved her hand in front of Tommy. “You look like me.”
“Actually, you are wrong. You look like me. I’m older than you.” Tommy chuckled and moved out of the way of Eva’s cane.
“I’ll have to talk to Zoe about this.”
“When?”
“When do I talk to Zoe?” Eva asked, and tried not to laugh at the look of expectation on Tommy’s face. “When we get back.”
“What do you think she will say?”
“I don’t know. It’s not every day I ask my beloved spouse to marry my cousin so we can have children.”
“That is a little odd.”
“Just a little odd.” Eva laughed and shook her head. “We have another issue to deal with.”
“What’s that?”
Eva scratched her ear. She wasn’t sure how to broach the subject. “Sex.”
“Hmm. Do you want to know how babies are made?” Tommy teased.
Eva whacked him again with the cane. “I’m serious. Zoe wants to try doing it the way her father did it with the animals.”
“Pardon?”
Eva smiled. “That’s what Zoe said. She said that her father used some method to impregnate the cows.”
“And you want to use that method on Zoe?”
Eva shrugged. “It’s what she wants.”
“That’s not going to work, Eva.”
“We were going to ask Stella how we could do that. She will know the best way to do it.”
“I’m afraid to say that my mother will tell you the best way to do it would be to have sex.”
Eva leaned back against the tree trunk and shut her eyes. “Oh, god.”
“But you knew that, didn’t you?”
“I knew it but hoped Zoe was right that it would work.”
“It might work but…”
“I know. Sex is the only way.”
They fell silent for a long moment before Eva turned to Tommy and stared at him. “Zoe has never been with a man. She’s never…um…”
“Are you sure you want this to happen?”
“We want children. Do I want you to have sex with Zoe? No but we want the children.” Eva took a deep breath and released it slowly.
“Ask her. Ask her if she wants this, and then if you both agree, I’ll will help you if you want me to. You can use the cow method, it just won’t work. Let’s go back so you can talk to her.” Tommy scrambled to his feet and reached out to steady Eva as she pushed herself off the tree.
Eva threaded her arm around his elbow as they made their way back to the farmhouse. “If we can use the cow method, it solve the sex problem.”
“For the animals it’s a great idea.”
“If the cow method didn’t work, we were going to ask Earl.”
“You won’t have to ask him now. Problem solved. Can you walk a little faster?” Tommy asked.
“No.”
“Just a little?”
“No.”
Chapter Ten
Eva went into the bedroom, thankful that her little walk was over. Her body ached and she just wanted to lie down. When they returned from their walk, Zoe took one look at her and suggested she needed a nap. Tommy’s proposal could wait.
Eva sat down on the wicker chair in the bedroom and sighed in relief. Zoe came into the room and shut the door behind her. Eva gazed at her as she sat on her haunches and started to remove Eva’s shoes. They were used to the routine when Eva wasn’t able to bend over and do it herself.
“I don’t k
now why you wear these things. Going without stockings is not going to be in the Larissian Fashion News, not that we have one of those here,” Zoe chatted while she unhooked the stockings from Eva’s garter belt. Zoe looked up and smiled. “What’s on your mind, Miss Lambros?”
“I’ve been asked for your hand in marriage.”
Zoe’s eyes widened and she fell to the floor with one stocking in her hand. She looked up to find Eva quietly chuckling.
“You did that on purpose.”
Eva shook her head. “No, but your reaction is funny.”
Zoe sat cross-legged and motioned for Eva to continue. “Did you find a husband for me on the riverbed?”
“Yes.”
“How nice. I hope it wasn’t old man Yiannis.”
“Before I tell you about the marriage proposal...”
“Yes, that’s not very important.”
“I asked Thomas why I was given a hysterectomy,” Eva said quietly.
Zoe got off the floor and sat on the bed. “Don’t we already know why?”
“No. I was wrong.”
“You were wrong? How were you wrong?”
“I had uterine fibroids and they grew too large, so my uncle chose to operate.”
“Is Tommy sure?”
“Yes.” Eva nodded. “He said it wasn’t my stepfather who ordered it.”
“But the bastard said he did. He was playing some vicious mind games with you?”
“Yes.”
Zoe ran her hand through her hair and looked up at the ceiling. “I know this man was a bastard, but this just proves what kind of sadistic son of a bitch he was.”
“It does,” Eva replied.
“I don’t know a lot about what uterine fibroids are, but it sounds pretty serious if the solution is to have a hysterectomy.”
“It is very serious, but with everything else going on, it was just one more thing to deal with. If there is a positive here, a lot of women get them and they have this operation.”
“Isn’t it strange that we find comfort in you having a disease that wasn’t the dummkopf twins’ fault?”
Eva chuckled and Zoe smiled. “You like saying that word, don’t you?”
“Yes. And boofhead. I like the sound of both words.” Zoe tapped Eva’s knee. “Now tell me who proposed.”
“He didn’t propose to me; he just asked me for your hand in marriage.”
Awakenings (Intertwined Souls Series Book 4) Page 8