PART 4

There was no music, but Genny and Cole met in the middle of the yard as the first stars came out and danced as though there was. Genny loved that Cole danced with her, and that he learned how to lead, and that he took classes and taught her all kinds of crazy lifts. She was classically trained in ballet like Aunt River, so she was terrible at following, but Cole got this air about him when he led and if she relaxed into it, he’d spin her around until she had no idea where her feet were going, and she felt so amazingly free.

Tonight, they simply swayed. He knew the pregnancy was making her sick, and he’d been attentive without being obvious. The crowd had thinned significantly, the bonfire was built, and whenever Cole turned her toward the fire, the whole side of her body warmed up. He kept stalling their rotation, though, fixing his feet so he had a good view of his mom.

“She’s alright,” Genny said soothingly, without looking up.

Cole sighed and swayed them so she felt the kiss of fire glow again. “She looks better than this afternoon,” he allowed. “She has me worried, is all. My insides are twisted and I want to run back to the ship and see what’s in that file that she’s so afraid for me to know.”

“Stop being nosy,” Genny chastised. “There’s probably nothing to tell.”

Cole hugged her a little tighter. “You didn’t see her face.”

Genny knew he was right, but there was nothing he could do without violating his mother’s privacy. His hands were tied, and if he broke those bonds, she’d just tie them again to protect her mother-in-law. The only thing she could do was reassure him.

“Honey, my dad has been my doctor my whole life,” she pointed out. “I know he’s good at what he does. I trust him to be professional and discreet, but I am still very glad to have my own doctor now – you know – someone I don’t have to look in the eye on a daily basis or attend family functions with. If I were to get bad news from the doctor, I’d tell my dad right away and get a second opinion, but for r