#Chapter 223 – Brothers

Evelyn sits in a comfortable, slightly musty old armchair pulled close to the fire with one arm wrapped around Alvin. With her other hand, she idly breaks one of those delicious muffins into pieces, occasionally raising a chunk to her mouth to chew. Alvin naps peacefully against her chest and Evelyn stares into the fire, thinking about Victor, about their life together, about what she wants. She knows, deep down, the answer to the question. She dreams, passively, of her stomach swelling with something besides food. Imagines the tense expression on Victor’s face as he waits the agonizing two minutes for a pregnancy test to develop – something they’d do together, this time. Of the way a baby feels inside of you, the little flutter of first movement. The wonderful secret of something coming to life. She smiles, a little, idly, and allows herself, in the safety of this little cottage – where she feels warm, and fed, and lovely – to hope. But suddenly, a sound breaks the stillness of t