2°: Chapter 10

She looked at James quizzically. There wasn't much light in the room, but she could make out his face perfectly. She opened her mouth to say something, but her nervousness got the better of her. She closed it quickly. James looked at her, quizzical, waiting for an answer. She opened her mouth to speak.

- ...someday. - She clarified.

-What?- Luna asked.

-Yes...if you want to have a child, I wondered. - He answered in a whisper.

Luna had heard him perfectly.

-I...

-Don't be nervous, no...I'm not pressuring you.

-James....

-No, I, actually, I did a lot of thinking today. -He said, sitting down on the bed. He turned on the candlestick to his left. He looked at Luna.

-What have you been thinking about? -She answered almost trembling.

-I don't know, I just remembered how nice it is to hold your son or daughter in your arms, and how happy you feel when you hear their first cry.

Luna looked at him intently. James had a slight smile of happiness on his face.

-Do you want to have a child, James? -She asked looking at him as she rested her hand on his.

James looked up quickly.

-Yes, when you are ready. It can be in a year, or two, whenever you want.

James expected a resounding "No, it's not time." And if that's what Luna said, he'd take it.

-We practically have all the time in the world. I don't plan on walking away from you again.

-James, I...

-It doesn't matter if you don't want to, Luna, I'm not going to force you into anything, rest assured.

-I trust you won't, James, and... -I...

-I won't. I just thought it was time, I...I love you and I sure as hell want to spend the rest of my life by your side. You're the one I want to be with and the one I want to start a family with. -She said quickly in whispers.

Luna started to blow her fingers. What James had said had not pleased her. She had loved it. He wanted to spend his life with her, she...would be willing to die for him.

-My...

-I don't want you to think anything because I tell you to, it's just, I don't want to make you nervous about it either, Luna, I....

-James...

-I'll try to be as little...

-James, yes I do.

James kept talking for 2 seconds, then, stopped dead in his tracks. He looked up at Luna. She had her eyes firmly on him.

-Really, Luna? -he asked.

Luna nodded.

James let out a sigh.

-

Luna rushed down the stairs when she heard Portia. James quickly went after her.

As they came down, they noticed how the little girl was holding her finger up. A small drop of blood was trickling down to her wrist.

-Oh Portia," Luna said and walked over to her.

Portia squealed when Luna touched her finger to examine it.

-How did you get it? -James asked.

-I was cutting off a g....

-Cutting? Portia, you know better than to use knives. -James scolded her.

Portia lowered her head.

Luna took Portia to the kitchen and put a band-aid on it. Then she poured her some chocolate milk.

She sat down in front of her while James was preparing something to eat.

-It's 7:00 a.m. Why do you wake up at this hour, Portia?

-I always do...I just stay in bed, this time I was hungry. -She smiled.

-Well, don't do it anymore, okay? Rose isn't here right now.

-She'll be back?

-Of course, but not as much as before. -She said, smiling.

Portia giggled and got down from her chair.

At 11AM, James went straight to the kitchen. He was in the mood for some good coffee. Luna appeared through the door, smiled.

-What are you doing? -I asked.

-A coffee. -Do you want one?

-Of course. --He answered.

Luna picked up a magazine that was on the table. She looked at the cover.

-Who bought it?

-I don't know, it just appeared.

The doorbell rang.

-It must be my mother. -James said.

-Nana came?

-Yes, she's taking Portia home. For the rest of the day," he said and went straight to open the door.

After a few minutes, James came in with his mother. She asked the same questions as always and shared a cup of coffee. After a few minutes, Portia appeared through the door with her backpack on her shoulders. She had taken to calling her Nana, and had demanded that everyone in the house call her that. It wasn't long before they left.

James sat across from Luna, analyzing her for a few moments without her noticing.

She was reading a magazine while holding her coffee cup in her left hand. Her eyelashes fluttered rapidly until she brought her hand to her eye and rubbed a little. She sighed. Then he set the mug down on the table and continued to look at the magazine. He made an amused face when he saw an article for The Most Bizarre Artists of the Month. James let out a low chuckle.

She continued to look at the magazine. She bit her lip as she tried to turn the page. Then she sighed. She slowly looked up until she met James's gaze. He smiled.

-How long have you been looking at me, Yorke? -He said in almost a whisper. James snorted.

-I wasn't looking at you, I was watching you. -He said funny. Luna became serious as a joke.

-It's the same thing.

-Of course not. -She said and stood up. He put his plate on the counter and sat down next to Luna.

-Do you think we're doing well?

-Why? -she asked, puzzled.

-Because of the...baby.

- Of course we are. I didn't realize it, but I'm very intrigued by the whole thing. I always wondered what a son of mine would look like. Do you think he'd be handsome?

- He'll have me for a father, what do you think?

She laughed. Two months had passed since the conversation. They had been trying, but hadn't received any positives yet. They were holding out hope. They hadn't mentioned the issue to Portia.

- It scares me a little, too.

-I hear you. It happened to me with Portia. I had no idea what I was going to do, how I was going to act. I was really nervous. -She smiled.

Luna smiled.

-Did she cry a lot?

-Sometimes, but rarely. Although there was one month when he wouldn't let me sleep at all. Seriously, practically, I only slept for like 2 hours a night. And then I'd go straight to work.

Luna looked at him and made a shocked face. James hadn't had any rest at all.

-Would you like a girl or a boy? -Luna asked.

James smiled.

-Boy, or girl, I don't know. I'd like anything.

-Also. It would be nice anyway. -He replied. She looked at James who was smiling crestfallen.

-Are you sure you want to do it, Luna? -he asked in a whisper.

Luna turned and looked at him tenderly.

-Of course.

-When?

-Right now. -She said and looked at James. He opened his mouth slightly and felt his stomach tingle. James slowly got down from his chair and waved his hands a little nervously.

He walked over to Luna. She looked at him tenderly. Without expecting it, James captured her mouth in a wild way. She dug her fingers into his hair, and felt his heart pounding a mile a minute.

-

Luna stirred in the sheets. She turned to see if anyone was with her. James was on his back as he breathed softly. His chest was rising and falling in time with his breathing.

She remembered what had happened hours before: what if nothing happened? I mean, she was totally nervous and had even come to wonder if what they had done had been too hasty. But then she thought...they had been talking and...it would be nice to have a child. She was sure of her feelings for James.

She got out of bed, and walked over to the chair in the corner. She took the robe, put it on and slowly walked out of the room. She went straight to the bathroom, opened the small cabinet she had with a couple of clothes, and took out a pair of black jeans, and a basic t-shirt with the Ramones logo on it. He left his underwear on the small table and went into the shower. It didn't take him long, there were times when he could spend up to an hour in the shower, but this time he had only been in the shower for about 12 minutes.

She got out and got dressed after drying herself completely. She pulled her hair into a ponytail and put on some mascara. She looked at the clock, 2PM. She walked downstairs while humming an old Judas Priest song. What a band. Ever since she was a little girl she had grown up listening to rock bands. Such as Judas Priest, Motley Crue, Rolling Stone, etc. Her father had had a big influence on him as well. In high school, Luna used to wear headphones, although they weren't as current as they are now. She wasn't that old either. Luna remembered James getting out of his red 99 Mustang, while a Nirvana song played in the background. After leaving, he would turn off the music, put on his sweatshirt and walk crestfallen into the school. He was shy.

He went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, took out a slice of strawberry shortcake and sat down in the chair in front of the counter. He picked up the magazine he had been reading a few hours ago and I started reading it again. What celebrities. They had a life of luxury. -he thought. Then he remembered how James lived, well, he had a life of luxury too. -he laughed.

She heard a gasp behind the door.

-Hello Luna," James said, walking into the kitchen. He was wearing a grimace of pain.

-Hi, is something wrong? -She asked as the boy sat down in front of her and touched his forehead.

-My head hurts. -He said and smiled.

Luna got up from her chair and went to the shelf on the side, took out a small jar and from there she took a pill, filled a glass of water a little more than halfway and gave it to James.

He thanked her and took the pill.

-Do you feel pregnant? -James asked.

Luna guffawed.

-James, what? -she said laughing. James's eyes widened as if he was offended. Luna laughed harder.

-I thought you were sorry.

-Of course, but not now. -She said laughing.

-Well, then let me know when you feel it. -She smiled. James stood up from his seat and went to the fridge, pulled out a piece of cake from the same place Luna had taken it earlier and took a big bite.

-You know....I'm a great pie maker. -He said smiling as he winked, his mouth full.

- You know James, the first time I saw you again in that fancy suit, I never imagined I saw you talking with a mouth full of chocolate, while making those gestures.

-The suit is just a part of me, a part of James. The rest, I'm still the same. Although I must tell you, Luna, I used to be stressed out and totally grumpy. -He replied.

Luna raised her hands in agreement with James.

-No kidding! You lived screaming.

-You were getting on my nerves.

-Because you didn't understand me, now it's different, now you play along.

James smiled and then looked at her. He bit the cake again.

-I feel submissive.

-I remember you used to think you were right about everything. Well, I still do, but not that much.

James looked at her menacingly but tenderly.

-I do.

-You don't.

-Yes, I do.

- No, James. You don't.

-Yes, I'm right.

-Well, you're right. -He said to finally shut her up.

James walked into the living room but not before motioning Luna to join him. He sat down on the couch and patted the left side for her to sit down.

-Luna, do you want to do something today?

She smiled.

-Sure, what do you want to do?

- Do you want to go camping? -I asked, looking at her animatedly.

She opened her eyes.

-Camping? -She smiled.

-Yes, I just thought of it and honey, it's going to be great. -He said smiling openly.

Luna nodded and hugged him.