“Did you have a good rest?” Evan asked, nodding to signal his approval. “I remained worried for you last night after you had gone to sleep.”
“If anything, you should have been the opposite of worried,” she nodded. “I am grateful for forgetting to eat as it led to a moment so beautiful between the two of us. Heaven knows how long it would have taken for the both of us to confess our feelings without it.”
Evan regarded her for a moment. “That is certainly one way of putting it.”
“Don’t you agree?” Isadora got up from her seat and took one that was right beside him. She wanted to be closer to him. “Does it not feel different this morning between us?”
Evan stared down at the table and then reached over to grab her hands softly. “I suppose you’re right.”
“See?” Isadora said, excitedly. “We are evenagreeingwith one another. How often does that happen?”
Evan hummed in agreement. “Remarkable, truly. But we’re beyond that point now, I believe.”
Isadora knitted her eyebrows together in confusion. “Beyond that point? What are you trying to suggest by that?”
“Nothing bad,” Evan smiled. “I would advise you to not worry unnecessarily again. I am only saying that it is remarkable what you’ve managed to achieve. Not only did you make me concede to my feelings, but you managed to make me accept them, too. That I have not run away this morning isremarkable.”
“Oh.” Isadora considered his words, and then her face lit up with a smile. “I have to say that it is quite new for me as well. This… feeling.”
Love.She did not say that out loud yet but considered it as an unspoken truth between the two of them.
Evan gazed into her eyes, his expression softening. “Maybe we need to bask in it a moment longer.”
Isadora shook her head. The time forbaskingwas long past. What she wanted now wasmore.
She straightened her back in order to instill the confidence within her that she needed.
“I was thinking…” she started, fidgeting slightly with the edge of her napkin.
“You know I am always interested in knowing what you think,” Evan replied, “for better or for worse.”
“Yes well…” She continued to fidget with the napkin. “I was thinking that it might be a good idea—well, perhaps you could visit my chambers tonight.”
“Visit?” Evan seemed to perk up immediately. “Is that something you want me to do?”
“It’s been some time since our wedding,” Isadora nodded. “I believe that this is the next step forward.”
Something darkened in her husband’s expression, and he nodded. “Very well, then. You shall have avisitfrom me in your chambers tonight.”
At that, Isadora found herself growing so excited that she clapped her hands together, the nervousness from earlier dissipating.
“It took us a while to reach this milestone,” she noted, smiling, “but I am glad that we are here. Now, we can look to expand our little family.”
Evan froze at the words, his expression shifting into one of dread.
“Isadora,” he said calmly, but she could see the panic in his eyes, “what are you trying to imply here?”
“Well, I thought it was rather obvious,” she explained, feeling the nervousness return.Had she misread the signs?“When I say that we have reached the next milestone, it means that we are both ready now to start a family. In fact, I dreamt about this last night—of giving you an heir and making our?—”
“Enough,” Evan stopped her halfway, startling her. “I am not sure what has given youthatidea, but I have not suggested such a thing to you even once.”
Isadora blinked, utterly confused now. “Evan, you are my husband. I understand that we began our journey in rather cold and practical terms, but now, that has changed. It would only add to our relationship if we bring a child into the world.”
“I told you that I have no interest in an heir, Isadora.” Evan sounded beatdown suddenly. “I told you this on the first day. Both of us can be perfectly happy without children.”
Isadora felt a knife twist inside of her. Her hands shook as she set down the fork in her hands.
“Besides, I believed that we were on the same footing about this,” he continued, a hint of desperation now lacing his voice. “You did not have an issue with this before.”
