I dreamed about Nina last night. I still wonder whether my "real" visits with her are much more than dreams. But in my heart I believe them. And they have actual consequences in my everyday world. I look at the grass stain on the pants I wore yesterday. This is real. I sniff the stain. It still has the unique aroma of Miralea.
I decide to replace the pants rather than having them cleaned. I managed to bring back a trace of Miralea with them. If anything happens, I will retain that as more than just a memory. A proof to myself that something did happen, that Nina is real.
And I am going to be a father. I do not understand how, but Nina told me that I would be able to raise my son. With her. My heart is filled with joy as I consider the thought. And somehow I know she is right.
I have another tennis match with Eric after work today. I know he will laugh at me, but I have to tell someone Nina's news. My news. And no one else would even vaguely believe me. The work day is a blur.
Eric is a little late for our tennis and insists on starting the first game immediately when he arrives. My tennis is awful. I can't really stay focused. Finally, Eric says, "Are we going to play tennis, or are you just going to moon over your maiden? I take it you saw her again last night."
I nod.
"Well, I guess you need to tell me about it. Maybe that will let you get your mind here. It's too easy to even enjoy taking points off you like this. And I am certainly not getting a work out."
"She's pregnant."
"Yours? So soon?"
"It was more than two months later for her. And yes, it's mine. She says it's our son. And she says I will be able to raise him with her."
"So you are talking yourself into being there permanently."
"No, I don't think that is the plan. And this feels very planned. I just don't know by whom. But I asked her and Charles about staying, and they both strongly said no."
"Who is Charles?"
"The butler guy who lets us in."
"You know his name?"
"Yeah, I asked. I am getting to like him."
"So if you are not staying, how are you going to raise a kid there."
"I don't know. I don't think she knew either. But she said we would be together all the time. I don't understand, but I do believe that it is true."
"You certainly want to believe it, at least. Do you think you are ready to play tennis now or are you still dreaming about raising an imaginary child with an imaginary woman?"
"I think I can give you a little more of a game at least."
She is not imaginary, I think. I do not know what she is, but I did not imagine her. And I do give him a better game. Not my best, but I at least made him break a sweat.
I grab a light dinner on my way to Wisteria Lane. Momentarily, I wonder if Miralea would feed me immediately if I went there hungry. But I don't want to use up any of my favor on something so mundane, so I eat now.
"Good evening, sir," Charles says as the door opens for me. "If you will follow me."
We stop briefly to allow me to pay and then I head in what might have been the same door as yesterday.
I peer through the lone keyhole, seeing Nina sitting under the tree as usual. I notice the cherry tree is full of ripe fruit today. For the first time in my visits to Miralea, The sky is overcast. I quickly open the door, ignoring all signs of my world disappearing as soon as I step into hers.
I run to her and she gets up a little slowly, to hug me. If I did not know Nina so well, I would not have noticed her slight bulge. To me, knowing her body as intimately as I do, the pregnancy is starting to show. She takes my hand and places it on her belly.
"You can feel Alexander move if you hold your hand here," she says in her lyrical language that I can mysteriously understand.
I leave my hand long enough to feel our son move.
"So he is to be called Alexander?"
"Of course, because that is his name."
Her certainty of knowledge of things I would consider unknowable in the present always amazes me. And she almost never gives this awareness a second thought. I don't know whether she is born of magic or simply entwined with it, but her foresight and my magical access to her seem likely linked.
She now throws her arms around my neck and kisses me passionately. Her love for me is as unquestioned as her divined knowledge. I feel blessed to be the recipient. I do not question my passion for her, my desire for her. I do have questions about who she is. What she is. If she is. Whoever she is, even if this is all an illusion, I love her.
I return her kisses with equal passion.
She stops kissing me just long enough to say, "I need you inside of me."
"I want to watch you as we do."
I pull my arms from around her and pull up on her blouse. She releases my neck and holds her hands over her head as a pull it the rest of the way off. I kiss each nipple before turning my attention to her skirt, which I push down over her hips, allowing it to fall to the ground. She steps back out of the skirt and I admire the naked beauty before me.