Diana and Jesse awoke together, still entangled on the couch. They blinked their eyes and looked at each other, then glanced around. They were in Diana's house, her dog, Lolita, asking to be let outside. She arose and opened the door for her aging pup and returned to her lover's side.
"I had the strangest dream."
"I did too. We were almost ten years younger, just married, and you were pregnant with our first child." Jesse didn't consider it strange. He had quite enjoyed it.
"And we were moving to your house, and you were a management professor with a consulting business on the side?" Diana was almost frightened. To have had the same dream meant they had a connection stronger than what she was willing to admit.
"That was it. What does it mean that we had the same dream?" Jesse knew the answer to his own question. He was pushing Diana to admit the depth of her feelings for him.
"Let's clean up and go get something to eat. I'm hungry." Diana was hungry, but mostly she wanted some time to think. She loved her man. She just needed time to come to grips with the risk involved in admitting her feelings. She loved how he took over and took care of her. And she had never been rocked sexually the way he now did.
They quickly showered and went to La Posada to get what amounted to an early dinner. They ate in silence, not sure how to broach the topic of their shared dream. Both had thoughts racing through their minds, what-if scenarios both good and bad. It was Sunday afternoon. They weren't sure how they had gotten back to her house from the island, or when. Jesse checked his phone, and his calendar reminded him that he was flying to Baton Rouge early Tuesday morning out of San Antonio. He would need to leave early enough tomorrow to pack his bag, and he wondered if he needed to do any prep.
Once back from dinner, Jesse announced that he needed to log in and make sure he was ready for the trip. Diana turned on an episode of Game of Thrones and sat on the couch next to him. She was scared, yet drawn to him. She wanted to run, she wanted distance, but she yearned to be close to him. And when he dove into work, it made her both grateful and mindful of the fact that he is a good man, the kind of man she wanted. And while the television glared at her, she paid no mind to what was there. She was thinking about the feelings she experienced in her dream preparing to have a child with her man. The dream was the life she had wanted, but her choices, no their choices individually earlier in life had cost them that opportunity. But she could choose now whether to fight for what she wanted or push him away again. Why did she struggle with this? Why could she not simply accept what was and be grateful for it?
Jesse had quickly realized that he had already completed any necessary preparation for the site visit that was thrust upon him. He was asking himself the same questions Diana was. Why did he second-guess himself at every turn? Why could he not simply accept her love at face value and move forward? She responded well when he took charge. He mentally analyzed the circumstances present when Diana responded to him. And he began to see that pattern emerge. When he pursued her and made it clear that she belonged to him, she responded well. It was when he was timid that she did started to back away emotionally. And the reality is that a confident approach was what led to the best results in all of his relationships, except for his two marriages. So now he wondered what he wanted. Did he want something long-term, or did he want to be a player. Jesse was not the "player" type. He wanted a committed, long-term relationship. But he did not want to get married again. Diana wanted the same thing.
Before he could change his mind, he reached over and grabbed the remote control from Diana. He turned off the TV and began to remove her yoga pants.
