Sally's Secret

Chapter 26

"You actually like borscht?" she asked, not hiding her surprise.

"Eh. Can't be any worse than Grandma's 'Meatloaf Surprise'. But I can't really eat in this suit, nor would they let that bowl out of here without decontamination spray and a trip to the autoclave."

"So you brought this just for me?" She unwrapped it and took a large bite, savouring the decidedly un-Russian deliciousness and not hiding how much she enjoyed it.

He nodded. "Last one in the freezer. No one's looking forward to bagels and cold cereal again, but Grandma said everyone will just appreciate your cooking more when you get home."

She swallowed before answering. "I hope you're not letting Sally cook again. It's too much standing for her, even if she says otherwise."

"You get no argument from me. Grandma Tracy, however... you're the only one she listens to when it comes to telling her to take it easy."

"Then I need to get out of here."

"Yes, you do." He sat in his recliner and opened his arms in invitation to join him.

She couldn't resist. She stuffed the last bit of breakfast burrito in her mouth, adjusted the sheet that protected her from direct contact with his plastic suit, and sat on his lap. "It's a good thing you put yourself on call. Maybe I would try to stay sick to monopolise you."

"No you wouldn't. You were willing to let me go when you were still coughing so hard you were bleeding from your lungs. Besides, coughing isn't the metric they use to decide when you're good to go. It's the viral counts. You can't fake those even if you try."

She sighed contentedly and leaned her head against his chest.

"So, are you up for talking about us now?"

WHAT? Wasn't that the code phrase for ending a relationship? Wasn't this what all those voices in her head kept warning: once you get better he'll take it all back and dump you. Panic rushed in and took over before she had a chance to think it through. The EKG monitor beeped a warning alarm about her elevated heart rate. She bolted upright. "Are you breaking up with me?" She braced herself for the inevitable broken heart, wondering how that would read on an EKG.

"What? No! I thought we were past that. I love you. Why would you even think that?"

She inhaled several deep breaths. The EKG beeps started to slow down and the alarm quieted. "I'm sorry. Bad reflexes. What did you mean 'talking about us' then?"

"I wanted to ask how you felt about children. Like the prospect of us someday having some of our own—hypothetically, of course. No pressure."

Children of our own? That notion gave her a cosy feel that banished the fear of breakup. She laid her head back on his chest. "Really? You want to...? With me?"

"Of course with you! It takes two, you know."

"Well, single parenting is okay for some, but I'm old-fashioned and think that should be the contingency, not Plan A." She'd actually been wanting to revisit this subject ever since Sally said she should have told him before. "So...you want at least seven boys, right?"

"S-seven? Where did you get that...?"

"You and your brothers are named after the Mercury Seven, right? That suggests seven boys were intended."

"Mom died after Alan," Virgil said quietly.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"

"It's okay. Are you saying you're okay with seven kids?" He sounded incredulous. Large families were a rarity these days.