Bill turned to Matty and hugged her tight. Tears were falling from his eyes.
"Are you okay, sweetie? You were yelling and you are soaked with sweat."
Bill let go of Matty and quickly got out of bed. He went to the ensuite and Matty could hear the sound of running water. A few minutes later, Bill walked back into the bedroom.
"I had a dream."
"Must have been one hell of a dream."
Bill looked at the clock on his nightstand.
"Its after 12."
Matty nodded.
"You must have been really tired."
Bill put on a fresh t-shirt.
"I was up until after four, talking to Nanny Dove."
"Shit," Matty sighed.
"I was afraid that what it might have been."
Bill walked to the bedroom door.
"I need a coffee."
By the time Matty was in the living room, Bill was already in the kitchen.
"You okay, Bill."
Bill walked into the living room.
"How come you never told me about Cameron?"
"Well it never really came up. Its not like we have really talked about our past love lives."
Matty lit a cigarette and sat on the couch.
"And, in all honesty, I really didn't want to talk about him. It was a part of my life that I wanted to forget about."
Bill sat in an armchair.
"But now?"
"The last person I ever expected to see was Cameron. He took me completely by surprise and now, he is setting up a practise in Corner Brook."
"How does that make you feel?"
Matty shook her head.
"I don't know, Bill. It did bring back some feelings, seeing him."
"Feelings I have to worry about?"
"No. Never. It was not that kind of feelings."
Bill got up from the chair and walked back into the kitchen.
"You want a coffee?"
"No, hun. I'm gonna pour myself a drink."
Matty was pouring a scotch when Bill walked back into the living room.
"How much did Nanny Dove tell you?"
"I have a feeling that she told me everything. She told me that you were in love with this man and that the two of you planned to start a law practice together, as soon as you both graduated. She told me that you were engaged, kind of and that for a time, you lived together."
Matty sat back down on the couch.
"We didn't really live together. Cameron would stay over. He was still living with his parents. They lived in St. John's."
"But you did sleep with him," Bill commented, as he sat down in the armchair once again and lit a cigarette.
Matty took a deep breath.
"We did sleep together, that is true, but not in the sense that you might think."
Matty drank her drink quickly and stood up.
"We did sleep in the same bed and we did fool around somewhat, but there was never sex."
Matty spoke as she walked to the bar and pored another drink. She turned to Bill and leaned against the bar.
"I never had sex with Cameron. I made it very clear to him that I was saving myself for marriage. He kept reminding me of our plans for the future and that, as far as he was concerned, we were already connected because of the promise ring he gave me."
Matty wiped a tear from her eye.
"I did love Cameron, but I honestly don't think I was ever in love with him."
"Why?"
"I don't know," Matty whispered.
"I will be honest with you, Bill. Cameron is a very handsome man. Tall and well built. But there was always something about him. He was a flirt and the women certainly responded to him."
"Then why did you stay with him?"
Matty shook her head.
"I was a young woman from Tuckamore Bay, living in the big city. I was a nobody. A wildflower. The boys weren't interested in me. I didn't dress sexy or cover myself in makeup or party hearty. I just stayed in my dorm room and studied.
Cameron was the first guy who paid me any attention and I guess I fell for him."
Matty took some napkins from the bar and wiped her face.
"You want me to get you a facecloth?"
Matty shook her head.
"No. I want to finish this."
She took a mouthful of scotch and stared for a moment into her glass.
"I fell hard for Cameron. I thought he was the real thing. But he wasn't.
As time went by, I could see a change in him. He spent less time with me and made excuses, so he did not have to spend time with me and then there was the night I caught him fucking my roommate."
"I'm sorry."
"No."
Matty forced a smile.
"What do you have to be sorry for, Bill?"
"I just don't like seeing you hurt."
"He did hurt me. He tore my fucking heart out. And then, he tried to blame the whole fucking thing on me, with that old fucking guy thing about how he had needs and he had to fulfill them and he wanted me to be the one to do so, but ..."
Matty wiped her eyes again and took another deep breath.
"But instead, he decided to let my slut of a roommate fulfill his needs. And that was that. I moved out of the dorm and stayed with a cousin, until I finished my course. I then took my Provincial bar Exam and aced it and set up my practice in Corner Brook. Last I heard of Cameron, he failed his bar exam."
Matty finished her drink.
"That was over four years ago and in all honesty, Bill, I have never thought of him since."
Bill got up from the armchair and walked into the kitchen. He poured a fresh coffee and walked to the bar. He poured some Irish Creme into the coffee.
"Are you going to say anything?"
"I just need to know one thing."
"What?"
"Has Cameron's sudden appearance, on the scene, changed the way you feel about me."
Tears filled Matty's eyes.
"No. My God no."
Matty put her glass on the bar and took the mug from Bill's hand. She then took Bill's hands in hers.
"I love you more than life itself. You are the only man I want to be with and you are the man I will spend my life with.
No one will ever come between you and me. Everything I told you is the truth, as I am sure Nanny Dove told you."
Bill smiled slightly.
"In greater detail than you did."
Matty let go Bill's hands briefly to wipe her eyes quickly and took them again.
"I kinda expected that. Those dream conversations get rather graphic."
She put her hands on Bill's cheeks.
"But I just want you to know that it is a part of my past. You are my now and forever and I hope that you can forgive me for not telling you about all of this."
Bill put both arms around Matty's waist.
"There is nothing to forgive. We both have a past, Matty, but that is just what it is ...
the past. As long as I have you now, that is all that matters."
Matty pulled Bill's head to her and kissed him long and gentle on the lips, tears flowing down her cheeks.
"I love you so very much."
She buried her face in Bill's chest.
"So very much."
Bill held her tight.
"I love you too, Matty. I never thought I would find someone like you.
You are my forever."
Matty stepped back from Bill and stared at him.
"What's wrong?"
"Let's have a baby."
Bill's eyes opened wide.
"What?"
"I'm sorry."
Matty took more napkins and put them to her face, as the tears flowed quicker.
"Sorry. Fuck, I'm such an idiot."
"Do you really want to?"
Matty took the napkins from her face and looked at Bill.
"Do you?"
A huge smile came to Bill's face.
"I thought you wanted to wait until after we were married."
Matty shook her head.
"No. I know we will get married and in all honesty, Bill, I don't care if we ever get married, as long as I am with you, but ...
I really want to have a baby. Your baby."
Bill kissed Matty gently.
"Then let's have a baby."
Matty screamed.
"Really?"
"Yes, really."
Matty jumped in Bill's arms, kissing his lips and cheeks and forehead. "I love you. I love you. I love you."
Another scream echoed through the house.
Matty and Bill turned to see Nanny Dove standing a few feet from them.
"Wes gonna have a baby?"
Matty started laughing, as she nodded.
"We are."
"Den get in da bedroom and start making me a baby."
"Matilda Dove," Matty barked.
"What? Its not like youse two don't bes at it ev'ry nite. At least now, it will be worth doin'."
Nanny Dove waved her hands toward the bedroom.
"So. Bes on yer way and git to makin' me a Great Nanny."
Bill looked at Matty.
"Well. I don't think we should disappoint the old lady."
Matty took Bill's hand and they headed toward the bedroom.
"And no peeking, old lady," she called, over her shoulder.