The next day, they were on the road. Their first stop was at the tailor’s boutique. As usual, they were treated as king and queen. They even had placed a super comfortable reclining chair and provided her with water, vegetable and fruit trays and a choice of herbal teas. Sky tried on his suit first as took care of the dress. They were used to having to adjust all his suits. His body varied so much from one movie to another. They indeed had to open-up the seems at his biceps and buttocks. They started working on his suit immediately while another team took care of the dress fitting. They helped Maeva into it. Checking all the different places where the dress had to fit perfectly. Maeva’s curves had changed in only two areas. They had already guessed where those would be as Maeva told them how many weeks of pregnancy, she was at and, gave them some measurements. Brigitte was the tailor in charge of most of her clothes since Sky thought the shape of a certain collection Maeva had bought fit her shape better. Brigitte was the new designer at the shop and she designed specifically for her client’s body shape.

 

“There you go, Mrs. Hawthorne. The measurements you provided were perfect. As you will see here (she was showing Maeva’s chest area), the material will provide for an increase in volume, if needed. Your waist has thickened slightly but you seem to be carrying this baby in front and when we look at you front the front or back, with this type of waist I designed, you do not look pregnant at all. However, it is more difficult to hide that beautiful bump when looking at you sideways. Turn around a little for me Mrs. Hawthorne?”, She adjusted some of the front pleats to see if there would be a way to give more cover.

 

“I like it showing a little, but as this his Sky’s event, I would rather we continue this in front of him.”, she said to Brigitte.

 

“Yes, yes, for sure. Let me just make sure all is perfect. Do need some high heeled shoes?”, Brigitte asked seeing she was barefoot.

 

“Oh, no. Sorry. The type of heels I want are in my bag, but I need to shop for some that will fit this dress.”, Maeva knew the way, so she started to walk toward the modeling platform. Sky was sitting in one of the recliners and typing on his phone with a cup of tea on the side. When he heard the curtains opening, he looked up.

 

“Oh, Maeva. How beautiful you are.”, His eyes were wide open and when she turned sideways his eyebrows jumped up. He said nothing, just kept his eyes on her. She kept on moving, walking and twirling just feeling good and comfortable. She saw Sky pick up his phone and he started to film her. Took some pictures. She was having fun showing of his belly, making poses, some ingenue, some quite alluring and sensual. He felt himself swell and decided to look for her shoes in her tote bag.

 

“Will you be going barefoot?”, he asked trying to change his thoughts to stay flaccid. He saw the Maeva was a little flustered.

 

“No, I just didn’t have my shoes. I won’t be wearing these, but I want to get some with the same type of heel.”, she said while taking the shoes from him, and leaning on him to put them on. She noticed that Brigitte had gone out of the room. “Are you OK? You don’t like the dress?”, she whispered to him, worried.

 

“I like it a little too much.”, he said moving the tote away from where he had it, covering his front. The bulge was still impressive.

 

“Oh gees!”, said Maeva, impressed. “Go sit down, quickly before she reappears.”, she was right as Brigitte came in with a few boxes. Maeva guessed they were shoes. Sky was back in his seat but still had the tote on him looking about innocently.

 

“ I have a few pair of shoes that I think would be very nice with this dress.”, Brigitte took out a shoe from one of the boxes so Maeva could look at it. The heel was perfect, but it was open in the toe area and she disliked that style of shoe. She nodded “no” and pointed to the open toe. Brigitte put it back in its box and looked for a pair without an opening. She took out a shoe from the last box. It was a charming ballerina style shoe with laces to be strapped around the ankles and lower leg.

 

“I think those would be perfect. Can I try them on?”, Brigitte offered her a chair to sit on while changing her shoes. Sky was watching. Her dress was style quite different from what she normally wore and liked. It was bright red, flowy although the material seemed to be some kind of satin, it was bordered by a lace-like ribon. The dress was a high-low, meaning the front had a shorter hem than the back that was down to the floor. The top was pleated over the breasts. Its style was a halter neck ruched high waisted empire midi-maxi dress, sleeveless and still offering a deep “décolleté”. It reminded him of the famous Marilyn Monroe dress. The white one that lifted with the air coming out from the underground subway vent. With the shoes on, the dress took on a whole different look. The shoes were silver, plain with a square 8-centimeter heel, with the ribbon that Maeva tied low on her ankle. With her white hair that took on a silverier hue with the red dress, it was just amazing. Maeva was now waiting for his opinion.

 

“Definitely amazing. It is a completely different style, but …amazing. Is there a way to show more of her belly?”, he asked. Maeva was surprised. Brigitte was pleased as she foresaw it.

 

“Yes, Mr. Hawthorne. The dress can easily be adapted. We simply push back the front pleats to the sides. They are made for this.”, she was adjusting it as she was speaking.

 

“Do you like it my love?”, Maeva asked.

 

“It is perfect! We will take it as is. The shoes also, right?”, he preferred to ask her rather than assume. She was wearing them, not him.

 

“Yes. There are adding to the look. Brigitte, how about some fingerless gloves? Would you have them in silver?”, Maeva was thinking aloud. She saw Sky’s expression. He thought that was a great idea.

 

‘I will check Mrs. Hawthorne.”, and she left.

 

“Really Babe, I think you want everybody to know you are carrying our baby!”, he said, laughing. “No one will say they didn’t see you, right. I never thought you would wear bright red. We will look stunning together. “, he was happy and it showed. Maeva smiled, so relieved that she had chosen well. She was also happy that this place knew their customers well. Brigitte came in with some boxes.

 

“Mrs. Hawthorne, I have one pair of silver gloves, but they are beaded in glass silvery beads. The others I have are black or white. But I do have regular lace gloves in silver.”, Brigitte was showing them as she spoke. Maeva tried the silver beads ones. She moved her hands around. Sky made a scrunchy face. She went for the regular silver lace gloves. They went up to her mid forearms.

 

“Those are perfect my love. It completes everything else. The fingerless ones are a bit too blingy for the dress.”, he went to her, took her hand to come down the steps and brought her to the multi mirrors. Still holding her hand, he made her twirl so they could see the full circumference of the dress. Her bump was accentuated as it kept sticking out from the open front pleats. They both laughed.

 

“Thank you so much Brigitte. You did it again. If the suit is ready, we would take them with us today. Is that possible?”, he asked.

 

“I am sure it is Mr. Hawthorne. I will ask for them to be neatly folded ready for travel. Thank you for the kind words. I just love designing for Mrs. Hawthorne.”, she led Maeva back to the changing room.

 

“Sky sat back down and breathing in and out loudly still thinking about his lack of control over his body. It didn’t happen often when at work, but he could not control it with his wife. He was certainly glad she was his wife.

 

Once they were back in the car, Maeva put her seat a little more in a reclining position. Skie had taken the Bentley to assure her comfort, and it was comfortable. Her back was a little sore from the bending up and down. Sky gave her a bottle of water he got from the shop. She smiled in gratitude. He could see that she got tired easily and decided on going to a few rural areas along the way so they could simply go on straight home whenever she was too tired.

 

“Are you ready to do some sightseeing my Love?”, he asked observing her body language more than the response.

 

“Yes, I am!”, she said joyfully. “I am so happy to have some alone time with you, we could be on a rollercoaster and I would be fine.”

 

“Well, Ok. But I dislike rollercoasters. I don’t ever go on rides.”, he revealed.

 

“But you make your own stunts.”, Maeva exclaimed.

 

“I never told anyone this.”, he laughed mischievously. “I get nauseous on rides. Stunts are fine, if not on rides.”, he smiled and looked at her briefly. Put his eyes back on the road.

 

“It sure is nice to find out things about my husband.”, she said. “How about heights? Are you good for rock climbing?”, she looked at him. He kept his eyes on the road.

 

“Yes, no problem with heights. It is just the rides.”, he answered. “I had a bad experience at a fair when I was a wee child. I almost fell of. I must have been traumatized.

 

“What else do I not know about you? It is a good time to ask. You cannot run away, can you?”, she teased.

 

“I have nothing to hide from you, my Love. Ask away.”, he kept his eyes on the road but put his hand on her thigh.

 

“Which girl did you love the most before me?”, she asked. She always wanted to know about that part of his life.

 

“That is a tough one. I think I have had mostly crushes. I fancied girls, but I never fell in love as people say. Well, at least, I never felt like I do with you. I was attracted to many girls, and I always had a lack of impulse control. That didn’t help. But, the older I get, the better I can control myself. Well, not with you, I don’t.”, he smiled his naïve smile.

 

“Really? This problem has always been there? I thought it was only with me!”, Maeva said remembering what Joe had said.

 

“It is very different with you. I have no self control whatsoever. I am helpless when with you. I love you, Maeva. Nothing will change that. And I will be honest with you. Many actors have trouble with sex scenes. Most of the time, it is completely unnatural, so it doesn’t feel good. It also happens, that while dry humping, a good feeling set in and that is even more uncomfortable. You know the actor you are close to feels it, you feel ashamed. There is also all the filming team that can see something is off and everything must be stopped. But, usually, the lack of comfort and intimacy is enough to stop all bodily functions.”, he stopped talking, changed the subject. “Now this is a great area. More to the east of where we live now.”

 

Maeva looked around and saw mostly farms and hills. They circled around, looking at nice spots, trying to find pieces of land large enough for them. Sky had explained that he dreamed of having a shire type domain, where there would be barns, stables, a guest house and a huge multi room house. He dream was a country-style with modern adjustments made in term of appliances, décor and lay-out. He wished for animals and helpers to take care of them while he was away. Maeva had listened to him and knew she could understand his dream. She loved animals herself and had lived on her grandparents’ farm during her summer holidays. She had been riding since her childhood years and loved horses. She listened to him, smiling and thinking she would love to have a larger place, but she didn’t what a place like the LA mansion. It was beautiful, but soulless. But her first preoccupation was Yvonne and Victor. Would they move with them? She then saw that Sky had not even considered they wouldn’t. He was certain they would follow him anywhere and that is why he wanted a guest house for them. The only request she had was for herself; she wanted a studio for her art, jewelry making, painting, sculpting, and more. She also wanted a place within the house, only to write, like an office. She got used to his attic office and was inspired by the huge windows right in the front of the desk where she saw the sky, the trees, the birds and bugs. This place they were scouting, was beautiful. The scenery was like an oil painting. The different colors of the perfectly outlined land parcels running up and down the soft hills, like a quilt pattern. Some parcels were outlined by a line of poplars. Some parcels lined with rows of fruit and cultivated trees.  Dispersed though them were the farms, usually composed of a main farmhouse, a barn, a stable, and a few outer buildings, for wood, hay, animal feeds. She wanted somewhere with bigger hills or even, mountains. Sje also want a wilder type of environment, like agricultural.

 

“Are there any areas with mountains in England?”, Maeva remembered the huge mountain at the end of the lane near her grand-parents cottage.

 

‘Yes, mostly the Penennies, I believe. It is way up North. There is the Costwold National Lands that have huge hills. It is too out of our way to go today. I should have thought about that region before. I t a charming and offer less cultivated lands and, is interspersed with wee little medieval looking villages.

 

“I don’t see us here. It is too ‘farmy’, not shire enough. Medieval sounds nice though.”, she said hoping he felt the same.

 

“Yea, you’re right. I don’t feel it either here. It doesn’t have that ‘sorta’ thing that I am looking for.”, he said. He took a road to get closer to home and drove along following the shore. The views were striking. This time, as the passenger, she had the best view from the car.

 

“I will have to go into land soon. Take a good look at the sea.”, he tenderly rubbed her thigh and got back to the road.

 

“I know it might be out of context but, do you have anymore to say about your previous girlfriends? Is now a good time?”, she asked softly. She looked at him, he was waiting for the traffic light to turn towards London. He did the turn and looked at her briefly.

 

“Yea, OK. You have time for a couple stories, I believe.”, he looked at the car’s watch. “We still have about an hour’s drive.”, he took a minute to decide how he would start. “After my stupid experiences with the gay guys, I got a part in my first movie. My pay was menial but enough to get myself a nice enough place in LA. I went to a lot of auditions. Some that needed sexual favors for me to be retained. Many people knew which crowd I had been hanging out with so, you can guess where the offers came from. I got lucky once, only once. In Hollywood, that can be all it takes to get your career going. There was this girl on the set, not an actress but part of the crew. She wasn’t the most beautiful, but she was Irish and had beautiful wavy red hair. I am a sucker for hair, you that, right?”, he stole a look at her. Maeva smiled. “We started hanging out in between filming, at mealtime and, we ended up together for awhile. It was no great passion, but she was nice, patient. Never asked for more time with me. Never complained. I got busy in out of country shoot and the relationship ended without either of us noticing it.”, he lifted his thumbs from the car wheel and his shoulders in a “I don’t know” type sign. “Her name was Isabelle. Next were a couple of girls that I have trouble putting a timeline on. Some were girls I met in bars, and some were my co-stars. It is a common thing in Hollywood, falling for your co-stars.”.

 

“I heard rumors to that effect. I didn’t know if they were true.”, said Maeva, matter-of-factly.

 

“On certain productions, you stay so close to each other to develop a certain “je ne sais quoi”[1], to have this chemistry for the camera. This is frequently mistaken for attraction of love, although it is not that at all. When you are living alone and then go on the be alone for months on a production, you easily look for companionship and get a crush on someone you wouldn’t even consider had you a very full life. Apart from Dogo, I had no one. I was also enthralled with a girl once who was a stable girl. It is with her that I learned to ride and take care of horses. I got linked with her for a movie, in which I had to be a stable boy.”, he ended. Maeva looked at the car watch.

 

“You should be home soon, right?”

 

“Yea, yea. I have one last story. You know the name of that one.”

 

“Caroline.”, she said.

 

“Yes, Caroline, mischievous Caroline.”, he said with a sarcastic laugh. “No one liked her except my mother. Well, my mother didn’t really like her but thought she was the type of girl I should marry. Elegant, the perfect age, the perfect lineage, the perfect everything, except for a lack of kindness, no empathy and I am sure she was a narcissist. She said she loved me, but I always felt she loved my fame and money. And you know the rest, right? The harassment, and all that. I haven’t heard of her in a good while. So happy about that.”, he said laughing.

 

“Sky, do you have any other children?”, Maeva asked, hesitantly.

 

“Where is this coming from?”, he said, frowning. And he remembered the girl.

 

“Rumors, I heard.”, Maeva almost said the truth.

 

“No. But there is one thing I did forget. One girl said I had gotten her pregnant. Joe took care of her. I did shag her once. Couldn’t help myself. She had been after me the whole time we were filming. She was young. Too young. I almost ended my career with that lack of control. I didn’t love her. It was lust after many months of absenteeism as we were on the location for a long time. Strange that I forgot about her.”, he said and he seemed honestly perplexed about this omission.

 

“Thank you for being honest with me. I appreciate that.”, said Maeva, obviously relieved  that he hadn’t tried to hide anything.

 

‘But you were not completely honest with me my Love.”, he said. I fell that Joe has something to do with you asking about the girls getting pregnant. Did you want to check up on me? Was this a test?”, he asked suspiciously. They were going up there driveway so she thought she would answer that once they were home. He helped her to get out of the car. Victor was already taking out the rest of their luggage from the car. He helped her up the steps and went to give the car keys to Victor to take care of the car. He opened to door for her. The smell of a homemade meals overpowered her as she came in.

 

“Good evening, Yvonne!”, Sky yelled from the porch.

 

“Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Hawthorne. Welcome home.”, said Yvonne appearing from the kitchen.

 

“We need to change and we will be right there.”, he waited for Maeva to take off her shoes and gently pulled her to the bedroom. She went to the bathroom, took off her leggings as the waist band was uncomfortable. She went back to the room Sky was still standing near the bed. She went to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, put her head on his chest. It took him a few seconds before he brought his arms around her and pressed her close to him. She knew he was upset. Was he right?, she wondered. Yes, he was. She felt him unwrap his arms and push her away a little to look at her. She met her eyes, dark blue, right now but still looking at her tenderly. She took his face in between her hands and drew his face to hers. She met his lips, softly kissing him, feeling her heart ache for him.

 

“What do you think about me now?” he said, sadly. Maeva suddenly understood that he was not upset because she didn’t talk about Joe, but because he knew she had heard all that from somebody else and that he knew his brother would not embellish what happened in his past. Joe was the fixer. Joe was upset when he knew he had some fixing to do. She let go of him and sat down on the bed.

 

“I don’t mean to draw back. I am just tired, my back hurts and my legs feel swollen. Will you sit with me?”, she asked gently. Sky smiled and knelt in front of her. She opened her knees to let him get closer. It was his turn to hold her face with his hands. He stared at her, without speaking, just looking at her. He saw bluish hues under her eyes, a little puffiness around her cheeks. Her eyes were just as bright as ever, but the eyelids were heavier. Being pregnant was taking a toll on her, he thought.

 

“How selfish of me to have gone away leaving you alone with this baby we made together. And how could I think that you could live through this time when you couldn’t get hold of me.  I apologize my love. I am so sad I had you go through this. What can I do now to help? If you still want me.”, he said all this seriously and she could see his eyes filling up with tears.

 

“Didn’t we talk about this before Sky? Do you remember I said that your past was in the past and that I would not resent any of it? Do you recall our wedding vows?”, she said putting both arms around his neck and drawing him as close to her as she could. “I love you and will always love you. Don’t think that what Joe told me and might later tell me will make any difference in my love for you. I didn’t think he lied, but I could feel that he was not considering you side of the story. He should not have said that, as the stories weren’t his to tell. Still, do not get upset at him. He did what he thought was best and he was worried for you.”, she pushed away and laid down. Sorry my Love but I need to lay down, ok?”, Sky passed over her and laid down with her, taking her in his arms.

 

“I am so so sorry. Please forgive me.”, he repeated.

 

“Please my Love. No more apologizing. We are both ok.”, she said closing her eyes, feeling so at peace in his arms.

 

“You mean, we are all OK…”, he said putting his hand on her belly. They stayed tightly holding each other until they both slept.

 

[1] A French expression meaning “a little something”, often used to express a feeling.