“Is that like baby fever?”
“Yeah, but when you can give the baby back to the parents.”
“I like that idea. I can’t imagine being a parent. Can you? We don’t have any time to ourselves now. It would be hellish to have to split the little bit we do have with another living, breathing, needy thing.”
“Wow.” I shook my head. “Let’s hope you don’t knock anyone up any time soon.”
“Let’s hope I don’t knock anyone up ever.” He shook his head. “I honestly can’t imagine passing all of this baggage on to someone else.”
I sat there stunned for a minute. Sure, I had thought about having children before, but hadn’t really thought about the fact that they would have to go through what I had. Then again, they would be further removed from the crown than Max and I. It wouldn’t be quite so bad.
“It’s what you make of it.” I shrugged. “If you do have kids, it doesn’t mean they have to be in the spotlight. The world is changing. You could make sure they had a normal childhood.”
“Our children will never have a normal childhood.” He looked at me with pity.
“Well, no one is really normal, now are they?” I picked up the remote and flipped through the channels. I didn’t want to continue that conversation. Having a child was a part of a normal life I wanted for myself. “Oh! Zombies.”
“Great. Phone calls, babies, and now zombies. My own personal horror movie.” Max leaned back on the couch.
I threw a grape at him. “It’s your fault I like them.”
“I’ll always regret that.” He picked up the grape and ate it.
“Ew. You don’t know whose butt has been on that couch.” My nose wrinkled in horror.
“And I don’t care.” He smiled. “Good grape.”
Shaking my head, I turned back to the TV and watched as the hero used a bow and arrows to take out a stampede of the undead. Now this was a good way to relax after a long day.
FOURTEEN
THE SCHOOL I attended the next day was a miracle of good feelings. The children were excited, the staff was kind, and best of all, everyone seemed genuinely interested in my art program.
Tabitha was great about updating me on Selene’s condition and making sure I had the papers I needed for the pitch I was giving to the school administrators. After accepting the different drawings that the children presented to me and seeing the classroom with the new supplies that I had funded, I was escorted back to my car and on my way to the hospital.
“That went really well!” I smiled at Tabitha, relieved. “It’s nice to see why I’m doing this, not just fighting with investors.”
“I can only imagine how frustrating it is to deal with people that just don’t get something you’re passionate about.” Tabitha typed a few things on her phone as she talked. “And the kids love you. When you sat down and painted at that one table with the kids, I thought they were going to go crazy.”
“They were really well behaved.” I smiled. “And it was fun. I haven’t taken the time to paint a rainbow in forever.” I laughed at the thought.
“I think they’re going to auction off the painting at their next school fund-raiser for the program.”
“Oh Lord. No one’s going to want to buy that.” I shook my head. “But I guess every bit counts.”
“That was the prettiest rainbow I’ve ever seen.” Tabitha looked up at me with a straight face.
Laughter burst out of my mouth, which made her do her weird chuckle-snort.
“There is a reason I went into art history and not studio art the way Max did.” I shrugged. “Alex is good too, but I’m the weakest link when it comes to that talent.”
“Well, it was a beautiful rainbow. And a nice daisy to boot.” She smiled before turning back to her phone. “I’m sure someone will want to hang it on their refrigerator.”
I snorted. “Only because I signed my name at the bottom.”
“Would you mind making one more stop before we get to the hospital? There is an event taking place a couple of blocks away.”
“What is it?” I didn’t want to stay away from Selene any longer than I needed to.
“You were scheduled to reveal a plaque at a local animal hospital, but I originally told them you might not make it.”
“What is it for?” I asked.
“They have donated over two hundred thousand man-hours to animal care.”
“I suppose we could stop by briefly.” I frowned. That certainly deserved recognition; I just hated not being with Selene. “I want to get back to Selene quickly.”
“Excellent. I will give them a call and let them know.” Tabitha dialed a number quickly and explained we would be making it after all. I shoved my frustration out of the way and put on my “princess face.”
When we pulled up, there was a large crowd of people waiting outside and a ton of reporters.
“I thought we had originally canceled?”
“I’m betting they thought you might show up since you did the school event.” Tabitha shrugged.
Jameson opened the car door and helped me out before lending a hand to Tabitha. I smiled for the cameras briefly before letting Tabitha lead me up the stairs. I noticed that she was smiling for the cameras as well and thought that was odd, but dismissed it. She was probably not used to being around all of these cameras. Her job had mainly kept her in offices until now.