9
"What girl names do you like?" Vincent asked.
What girl names do I like? Catherine asked herself. I've always liked the name Aurora. "Aurora." Catherine said.
"Aurora." Vincent repeated. "It means 'dawn'."
Dawn – wait a minute – dawn! Catherine suddenly sat up straight. "What did you say?"
"It means-" Vincent seemed to realize what Catherine had just realized. He quickly jumped to his feet.. "What time is it?"
Catherine and Vincent both turned to look at the clock, which said it was 5:45AM.
"Oh my goodness." Vincent said, obviously very concerned. "If I hurry, I can make it Below before it gets light."
Catherine only half heard Vincent – she was looking though the windows of her French doors, at the ball of red fire rising in the horizon. "Too late!" Catherine cried out. Vincent turned around to see what Catherine was looking at.
"The basement!" Vincent said quickly, heading towards Catherine's front door.. "I can run down to the basement!"
"No!" Catherine said, standing in front of the door to stop him.. "No – someone will catch you. Just stay calm. We'll spend the day in my apartment and tonight, once its dark enough, you can go back Below."
"I cannot do that!" Vincent said, his eyes blazing wildly. "It's dangerous! Father... Father will worry."
"I'll take care of Father." Catherine said calmly, though she didn't feel to calm. His eyes look wild, she thought. But he's just worried, for himself, for Below, for me, for the baby. He's not going mad. "Don't worry, Vincent – we'll take care of everything. Just sit tight and I'll be right back. I'm going Below and will let Father know your safe. Is there anything you need from Below?"
Vincent nodded. "As always, yourself safely home. It's all I ask."
Catherine smiled, remembering how Vincent had told her that once when she went to California. She had asked him if he wanted anything back, thinking a trinket or postcard of some sort, but he just told her all he wanted was her, back safely.
She now gave Vincent a hug. "I'll be back within the hour. There is food in the cabinet, the coffee is probably cold by now. You can just stick a cup in the microwave..." Wait, Vincent doesn't know how to use a microwave! She realized. "If your hungry, just sit tight. I'll be back as soon as possible." And with that, she went out the door.
She turned around and stuck her key into the lock, carefully locking the door. Not that she thought anyone would break in at this hour, but the love of her life was in there, who was irreplaceable, so she thought it would be better to be safe than sorry.
Once she was satisfied with the security of her apartment, she walked quickly down the hall, jogging down the stairs and where else she deemed appropriate. The sooner she got Below, the better. Father and the rest of the Tunnel dwellers were probably worried sick about Vincent, and she had to get back t her apartment, to call Joe. Who knew, maybe he'd give her the day off! She had had a lot of days of late, but she hoped Joe would understand. He was more than a boss – he was a friend, a very good friend.
When I get back Above, Catherine thought as she climbed down the ladder that lead Below. When I get back Above, I'll fix us breakfast. And while we eat, I'll give Vincent the lowdown – what Father said, how he feels about the whole situation, and assure him everything is okay. And then, maybe we'll talk more about the baby. Or maybe we can play a game or something. I've got to call Joe, of course. And maybe I'll call Meg – yes! Call Meg – maybe she can even speak to my 'special man'.
Catherine couldn't help but giggle at the thought of Vincent being her 'special man' as she weaved throughout the Tunnels that she had learned her away around long ago. All right, so he was. He was a friend, the best kind of friend a girl could ask for, but the romance went much further than that. But she couldn't describe him as her 'boyfriend' or even 'significant other'. He wasn't her husband, so maybe 'special man' did fit.
Catherine remembered the first time she 'fell in love'. It was when she first discovered the Beatles. She had been a young girl, no older than ten or eleven, but that didn't matter to her. Her and Meg both fell hard for
George Harrison. Catherine didn't know when she and Meg grew out of that crush, but it was probably soon after the breakup of the band. Never, in Catherine's wildest dreams, had she dreamed of a man like Vincent. She had spent her entire puberty falling for a famous rock/pop musician whom 10,000 other girls drooled over, and who was married besides. She had expected handsome, charming, rich, and yes, famous. And yet, who did she wind up with? He was a musician by no means, and had no other girls crushing on him. He was handsome, beautiful even, and had a charm that was... indescribable. Rich? Yes, he was. Not with money or gold, but with love, warmth, family, knowledge. And as for the famous – Above no one knew of his existence. Below, he was very famous, and widely regarded for his virtues – love, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and usually joy and peace – and those were only the ones listed in the Bible (Galatians 5:22 – 32). He usually handled the self-control part well too, but there were times where he completely lost control, to his other nature.
His other nature. That put shivers up Catherine's spine. It sometimes frightened her, to think back to when Vincent had gone mad. He had been not himself, and though she would never admit it out loud, he was hardly human, mostly animal. Acting on instinct without a second thought, the same as a dog or pig. True, he couldn't help it, and she would never hold it against him, never.
Finally she arrived at Father's chamber, where there seemed to be some very important meeting going on.
"I say we go Above!" Kanin announced. "If people have found him, it will be on every newspaper, on every radio station."
"Now we don't know that he went Above." Mary said soothingly. "Maybe he just went for a walk in some other Tunnels and got lost."
"Vincent knows Tunnels good as Mouse." Mouse said. "Vincent doesn't get lost – I know."
"Well, we can't just stand here!" William said, beginning to get impatient.
"Has anyone thought of seeking me out?" Catherine spoke up, stepping into Father's chamber.
"Catherine!" Everyone said in one breath. Everyone then began speaking all at once, and it took Catherine and Father several minutes to silence them.
"Silence!" Father demanded, which brought a hush to the other Tunnelers. "Catherine, do you have news on Vincent? Please, share."
"Vincent's all right, he's just fine." Catherine assured everybody first. "Last evening, or this morning to be precise, very early, Vincent visited me at my apartment. Forgive us, both of us, but we lost track of time, and before we knew it, the sun had risen."
"Where is he?" "Did he sneak back with you?" "Are you sure he's all right?" "What do you mean?" The chamber was buzzing with all of the Tunnelers questions, and Father and Catherine again had to silence them.
"Vincent's in at my apartment and he's just fine." Catherine assured everyone. "A little on edge, eager to come back home, angry at himself for losing track of time, but he's all right. Tonight, once the sun sets, he'll come back home. He'll be fine – I promise you."
Jimmy, a young boy who lived Below, pulled on Catherine's sweatshirt to get her attention. "Who will read us A Tale of Two Cities today ?" he asked with a lisp.
Catherine knelt down to match the boy's height. "Maybe Father, or Mary, or maybe I could come down a bit later and read to you, okay? Or maybe we could take a break. Maybe we could skip a day and Vincent can read it out loud tomorrow."
"But Vincent never skips a day!" Maria, an eleven-year-old Tunneler with an obvious attachment to Vincent, pouted.
Catherine sighed. "I'm sorry, but that's the best I can do." She knew the young girl thought of Vincent as a favorite uncle, and that all of the children idolized him. "I wish he could come Below today too, and he'd like nothing more than to come read to you children today, but it just cannot happen today."
Father cleared his throat. "Thank-you, Catherine. Now everybody, Vincent is safe. Let's all go back to our normal routines – I'd like to speak with Catherine alone."
Catherine couldn't help but grimace slightly as everyone let Father's chamber. She knew she was in for a lecture of some kind, and while she loved Father very much, she hated it when he used that tone to say 'I'd like to speak with...'. It always meant a lecture was in order.
"Catherine," Father began as soon as everyone cleared. "I'm sure both of you know that you have both behaved very, very irresponsibly."
Catherine nodded. "Yes, we do, but-"
"No excuses!" Father thundered. "Don't you know what could happen to him if he were caught up there? He'd be killed or locked behind bars, or all these tests would be ran on him and-"
"Father, I understand." Catherine said softly, but firmly. "Vince-"
"No, you do not understand!" Father shouted angrily. "It's dangerous for him to go Above, no matter what time of night it is – and he knows that! He knows I wish for him to stay Below at all times, and yet he still goes Above – to defy me!"
"He doesn't mean to defy you." Catherine soothed him gently. "And I do understand. We both do. He's been captured a couple times Above before, and we both know the minimum of what could be done to him. We just got distracted, but it won't happen again, I know that. How many times in the past ten years has Vincent done something irresponsible?"
Father hesitated. "Well, several times, ac-"
"But they all turned out fine." Catherine interrupted. "Or better than fine – better than better." she quoted Mouse, which made father's frown turn slightly upside-down. "Father, Vincent knows what he's doing, and doesn't often make mistakes. Things will turn out all right, I'm sure of it. Vincent is more responsible and level-headed than anyone else I've ever met. He just messed up a little, like everyone does."
Father sighed. "Are you trying to say I'm being a little too hard on him?"
Catherine laughed. "No disrespect intended, but you are being a lot too hard on him. He is an adult, you know."
Luckily, Father found the humor in the comment and laughed along too. "So what do you two have planned for today?"
"I'm sure it will include both work and play." Catherine assured the elderly man. "We have a lot to discuss."
"Umm, Catherine?" Father asked. "Can you please... define 'play'?"
Catherine couldn't help but roll her eyes a little, but with good humor. "You know, reading, maybe watch a little TV or play Monopoly or something..." her voice trailed. " Things like that. Father, you still aren't angry at me, are you?"
"No, no, dear girl, no." Father said, giving the younger woman an embrace. "I'm not angry at you at all. You and Vincent both had a... misunderstanding, but I forgive you both for it. I can't seem to stay angry at either of you for too long."
Catherine smiled up at him. "Your truly amazing, do you know that?"
Father cleared his throat, a little embarrassed. "Catherine, even though you and Vincent did, er, prove that 'it can be' to a degree, you need to ask yourselves something."
"What is that?"
"You need to ask yourselves 'In light of your past experiences, current circumstances, and future hopes and dreams, what is the wise thing for us to do?'." Father told her. "And though the two of you did, um, 'make love', I would suggest that you should not do it again. No matter how you look at it, Catherine, I was right, it can't be. You are from two different worlds. Your fate is bound to be different than his. And he hurt you. Accidentally, I know, but just the same..."
Catherine sighed. "As far as I know, we weren't planning on doing 'it' again, so thank-you for the advice, but I think we already figured that one out. And I'm not so sure about this whole 'different worlds, different fates' business. You may be right, Father, you may be. But just in case you aren't..." she shook her head. "Let's all keep open minds. Vincent and I are stumbling around in the dark, Father. We don't know what will happen, not any clue, or what we should do. We don't exactly have role-models or examples." Catherine told him earnestly. "We're just trying to love each other, everyone, and everything the best we can, and enjoy life to the fullest, to make each day count. Because we can't guarantee tomorrow." She finished softly.
Father nodded, not quite accepting Catherine's heartfelt speech, but understanding it to some degree anyway. "As you wish, Catherine."
"I should be getting back Above." Catherine excused herself. "Vincent will be getting worried if I'm gone too long."
Father nodded. "Give him my love."
She smiled and nodded. "I'll do that." And with that, she left the world Below.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Where is she? Vincent wondered, pacing back and forth in her apartment. She left twenty minutes ago – shouldn't she be back by now?
She probably got a little turned around, or maybe distracted. Vincent told himself. You should not worry so. She took care of herself before you met, and she can do so now. Your just worried because your here, Above, in her apartment, in broad daylight.
And Vincent knew that that was the truth. He was worried half to pieces. Every sound he heard in the entire building made him jump. The closer the sound was to Catherine's apartment, the less jump and more growl he had. But finally he knew where she was, after calming herself down enough to focus on their bond. She was just leaving Father's chamber – she would be home in a few minutes.
Vincent let out a sigh of frustration. How could he have been so reckless, so careless? How could he have forgotten to check the time?
What is wrong with you? Vincent asked himself, beginning to pace back and forth in Catherine's living room. You know that you must keep careful track of the time while you are Above. If they catch me... For now on, no visiting Catherine's apartment after 2:00AM unless its a dire emergency – no exceptions.
Vincent felt Catherine outside the door, and heard her unlocking the lock. But to be on the safe side, and in case someone happened to glance by her apartment just when the door was open, he ducked behind the sofa, so no one could see him.
Once Catherine stepped in and had the door safely shut, he came out from behind the sofa. "What did Father have to say?" he asked her.
"He's very happy your safe – everyone is." Catherine told her. "He's a bit miffed at both of us, I think, but nothing a little hug and apology won't fix." Catherine smiled. "I told him that he's too hard on you."
Vincent raised his eyebrows at that. "And?"
"And he laughed." Catherine told him. "He actually asked me if I thought he was too hard on you, so I just told the truth. Thankfully, he found the humor in it." she smiled softly. "Father's a softie, you know that, Vincent?"
Vincent nodded. "That's one of his moods, yes."
Catherine smiled. "What would you like for breakfast? Oh, and Joe, I've got to call Joe – see if I can take the day off."
"You needn't do that." Vincent protested.
"But I want to." Catherine said with a smile, picking up the phone. "I've had a lot of days off of late – let's hope he doesn't mind."
While Catherine dialed the number and waited for Joe to pick up, Vincent began pacing again, nervously. In truth, did he want Catherine to go to work or not? He wanted to spend all the time he could with her, of course, but all day in her apartment seemed a little too awkward and inappropriate. But yet, he didn't want to spend the whole day with her gone, either. But it looked like that the decision was in the hands of Joe Maxwell, not Vincent or Catherine.
"Hey Joe," Catherine said once Joe picked up his phone. She laughed. "Wake up, sleepy head."
Vincent didn't know what Joe had said, but it made Catherine laughed again. "Suing me wouldn't be the best idea, Joe; I used to be a lawyer and will represent myself, don't think I won't."
"Too early in the morning to come up with a wise-crack?" Catherine said next. "So you don't think too clearly in the morning. Good. So can I have the day off?"
There was a pause, and then Catherine repeated. "Can I have the day off?"
"I know I've had way too many days off, Joe, but this is kind of an emergency." she glanced at Vincent, and then her belly. "It's pregnancy related."
"Thanks, Joe – your great, you know that?" she said to him next.
Vincent let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Okay, so it seemed Catherine had the day off and would be spending her day with him.
"Flattery is always the best policy – I learned that at law school." Catherine laughed again. "Okay Joe, I will. I will. Thanks again, see you tomorrow, 'bye."
She hung up the phone, spun around and squealed with delight. "He said yes!" she exclaimed happily.
Vincent smiled and nodded, happy to see her happy. "That's wonderful, Catherine."
She gave him a big hug. "Now we can spend the whole day together, doing whatever we want to!" she glanced out the French doors, out on the wonderful bustling city of New York. "Well, almost everything we want to." she added, a note of melancholy in her voice.
Vincent wanted to say something, to take the sadness out of her voice, but before he could think of something to say, she spoke up again. "Oh well, ob-la-di, ob-la-da. What do you want for breakfast, Vincent?" she asked, heading over to the kitchen. "I'm going to start up a fresh pot of coffee, unless you'd like some tea. I have milk too, and orange juice." she peered into the refrigerator. "Okay, scratch the orange juice. Coffee, tea, or milk?" she asked him.
Vincent smiled at Catherine, at her wonderful hospitality and love. "Tea is fine, thank-you." he answered.
"Okay, tea." she said, starting a pot of water on the stove and dumping tea bags into it. "And for breakfast we have cold cereal, oatmeal, pancakes, waffles, or pop-tarts, take your pick."
"It does not matter." Vincent told her.
Catherine pulled out the oatmeal. "I'm in a oatmeal kind of mood." she started busily preparing it.
Vincent just stood there, awkwardly. "Is there anything I could do to help?"
"I don't-" Catherine stopped herself, and tried to think of something Vincent could do. She didn't want him to feel useless, awkward, or uncomfortable. She knew he felt awkward already, that using this hands could maybe relieve some of the awkwardness. "The table is a mess." she said at last. "If you could just find a place for things, that'd be great. It doesn't really matter where – just off of the table."
Vincent nodded and set to work. Catherine smiled. She had fallen in love with the absolute greatest man in the world. Sure, he had his flaws, but who didn't?
A few minutes later, they both sat down to eat. Catherine smiled when Vincent hesitated before he sat down in a chair.
"Don't worry." Catherine assured him. "They are strong. Once, a friend and her husband came over to visit, and her husband is at least 300 pounds, and he didn't even break any of the chairs!"
Vincent chuckled awkwardly as he carefully seated himself. They ate the oatmeal in relative silence, an awkward silence. Catherine didn't know what to say, and she had a feeling Vincent didn't either. Nevertheless, they couldn't spend the entire day in the silence – one of them had to speak up first.
"Not much like oatmeal, more like mush." Catherine said, poking around in her oatmeal bowl.
"It tastes just fine." Vincent assured her.
Great, Catherine thought. Back to the awkward silence.
"So, what is going on Below?" Catherine tried again. "Every time I've gone down there lately, I seem to spend all of my time in Father's chamber, discussing baby matters. What's everyone up to?"
Vincent swallowed before he answered. "Perchik has taken a fancy to Arthur, and his now determined to have a raccoon of his own." Perchik was one of the Tunneler's children. At eight, he admired Mouse tremendously. "He tries to go outside every night to capture one, but his father or mother always stop him. I'm suppose I'm responsible – I am the one who told him that raccoons are nocturnal."
Catherine laughed, happy that the silence was broken. "Someone ought to tell him that raccoons aren't tame, that they're wild animals."
Vincent shook his head. "We have tried, but he keeps insisting that 'Arthur's tame!'. We cannot convince him – it seems that he must find out for himself."
"Did you ever have a pet when you were a child?" Catherine asked him.
Vincent hesitated and then nodded. "For a short while. When I was about nine, Devin had found a stray puppy Above. It was 'our special secret'. We never did name the dog – Father found out in a matter of days."
"I had a kitten for awhile." Catherine told him. "His name was Mittens. We used to play and play – he was my substitute for a sibling, I suppose. Anyways, one day he got outside – we couldn't catch him. We found him the next day in our next door neighbor's dog's mouth."
Vincent grimaced. "Have you ever thought about what makes an animal an animal?" he asked her thoughtfully.
"What do you mean?" she asked, puzzled.
"Well, why it is they do not talk, why they do not think the same way we do," Vincent tried to explain. "They act purely on instinct, while humans have the gift of reason. A choice."
Catherine nodded thoughtfully. "That's interesting – sometimes the only thing that separates us from being animals is that we don't rely on instinct – we can make other choices. I've never thought of that before."
"But yet, a child acts on instinct." Vincent said. "A young child has not enough knowledge or past experiences to make a decision – they just act."
"Yet what else makes an animal?" Catherine wondered. "No one will probably ever know."
Vincent nodded, his mind clearly traveling to another subject. "Catherine," he said at last. "What if the baby is a... is not human?" he asked her quickly.
"What do you mean 'not human'?" Catherine asked. "You put a dog and a dog together and you don't get a horse, do you? I'm sure the baby will be a human, Vincent."
Vincent shook his head. "You know that is not what I mean. There is a part of me that is not human, Catherine – we must face that – before the birth of... our child."
Catherine sighed. ""Vincent, you are perfectly human. 100 human. I really hate it when you talk like-"
"Catherine, look at me." Vincent interrupted firmly, but gently.
Catherine looked up, her green eyes meeting Vincent's. Vincent held her chin up as he spoke.
"I don't look normal, Catherine." He said. "You and I know that, along with everyone else in the world who has met me. I look different, different than any other human that has ever existed. I have another nature… a nature that strives to hurt, kill, and destroy. I cannot be all human... I cannot."
"Now you don't know that!" Catherine argued, tears threatening to spill. "It could have been drugs, or some scientific experiment messing with genes or something. It could have been a number of things. 'Animals' don't think and reason to the extent people do, like you do, remember? We just discussed it!"
"The sickness," Vincent reminded her, taking a deep breath. "The madness. Catherine, it all points to-"
"Nobody knows." Catherine said flatly. "You can't go making assumptions without other evidence. No one knows, Vincent. And why all the concern now? Why not ten years ago?"
"Because no one was pregnant with my child then." Vincent reminded her.
"Well, it doesn't make any difference!" Catherine exclaimed. "Knowing where you came from where change this child's genes!"
"No, it won't." Vincent said, trying to calm her down. He could feel her emotions rising to an unbearable high for him. As much as he loved Catherine, he could hardly bear the hormonal mood swings. "It won't change it's genes any, you are right. But maybe knowing can help us raise the child, knowing more about the animal, or the drugs, or the experiments..." he almost made himself sick talking about, essentially himself, that way. It was something that was always generally avoided, but now, it couldn't. Vincent felt that it must be discussed.
"I'll love the child regardless of its appearance." Catherine said, angry tears trickling down her face. "Maybe you won't, but I certainly will."
Vincent sighed, knowing that this was Catherine's 'sickness' or 'state of madness', her hormonal mood swings. "I will too," he said to her. "But I'm concerned for the child's physical heath, mental health, and emotional health. There may have never been a child like ours before, and we must be prepared for anything. I love this child with all of my life, as much as I love you – and its not even yet born."
"Oh Vincent," Catherine sighed. "As much as you irritate me... your right."
"I am?" Vincent asked, not expecting her sudden change of mood.
"You are." Catherine said. "The child may be a 'daddy's boy' or 'daddy's girl'. He or she may completely take after you, and if it does, we need to be ready – it may have 'the sickness' or have some other complications that you've never had."
Vincent searched their bond, trying to read Catherine's feelings. She seemed happy, perfectly happy, all of a sudden. Her mood had changed in a blink of an eye to an emotional disaster and then, at another blink of an eye, she was perfectly happy again. Vincent shook his head. It sounded like he had his research cut out for him – research on a pregnant woman's mood swings.
"That is just what I mean," Vincent said at last. "Just what I mean. Catherine, I know that you said you don't want to discuss the problems or worry about them too much, but we must. We simply must."
Catherine nodded. "I know – I was just hoping to avoid it as long as possible. So, Vincent, if you came from... I mean, if your existence has anything to do with drugs, how could this affect our baby?"
Vincent knew she was trying to choose her words carefully, as not to hurt his feelings. "If it has to do with drugs, maybe injected into my birth mother or something of the like, then it may not be hereditary. Now, if I am the result of an experiment, my DNA must be altered in such ways, that my - my... traits could be passed on to our child."
"And if you are somehow related to – to an... animal," she spat the word out.
"Then that would be hereditary, as well." Vincent finished.
"How could someone do such a thing?" Catherine wondered out loud.
"Creating different kinds of beings is considered science – good science." Vincent replied. "Many scientists spend so much time wondering if they could, they don't stop and wonder if they should. They never consider the fact that the being they create will be a living being, with feelings and emotions. They don't stop to view it that way."
"Do you think your the result of a scientific experiment?" Catherine wanted to know.
Vincent shrugged. "The more I think about it, the more it seems likely."
Catherine found that her oatmeal suddenly didn't taste so good anymore. She stood up and dumped the remains into the trashcan. "Well, if our child develops an interest in science, we'll need to nurture that interest carefully."
"Yes." Vincent agreed as Catherine gathered up his empty bowl and rinsed it out. "Science is a wonderful thing, but should not be taken lightly under many circumstance – it could do a lot of good, but also much damage."
"Vincent," Catherine said, leaning against the kitchen counter. "Talking about your... 'creation', or who you really are, does it- does it bother you?"
Vincent shook his head. "We've discussed it many times in my life, Catherine. Father and I, Devin and I, Mary and I – I have discussed it with everyone I have known for a great length of time, I am sure. Everyone is curious and has no way to find out the answers, like me."
"But does it make you feel awkward, or strange?' Catherine wanted to know. "If it does, I mean, I don't want to make you uncomfortable."
"It is a little uncomfortable feeling sometimes, yes." Vincent admitted. "I am not ashamed of being different – the uncomfortable feeling comes from knowing that I did not wind up where I was found by accident – someone had to put me there."
"But you would think," Catherine began thinking. "If there was some kind of scientific experiment that made you the way you are, they wouldn't have-"
"Thrown me out, so to speak." Vincent finished. Even though their conversation was serious, he couldn't help but throw a little bit of lightness in it.
"Exactly." Catherine said. "And no matter how you were born, concept, or created, you were put outside the hospital. Maybe your mother – or someone wanted you to be found. If they didn't want you to be found... well, lets not think of what they would have done."
Vincent looked thoughtful. "I have never considered that before. Perhaps..." his voice trailed.
"Perhaps what?" Catherine asked. She then realized that he might not want to share his thoughts. "Oh, never mind. You don't have to tell me."
"No, no, it's all right." Vincent said. "I just thought of a possibility that I have never thought of – suppose I was born at St. Vincents Hospital, the doctor may have seen me-"
Catherine felt rather ashamed feelings through the bond, and interrupted him. "I think I understand what you are saying." she said. "Don't feel bad, Vincent."
Vincent gave Catherine a very faint smile. "It may sound funny, but I never regretted what I am, until the moment I met you."
"Don't feel that way because of me!" Catherine pleaded. "I wouldn't have you any other way – remember that."
Vincent nodded as his response. He could feel her love through their bond, though he couldn't understand it. It seemed he didn't understand most of Catherine's emotions of late. He also didn't want their full day together, just her and him, to be a pity party for him. No, that was the last thing he wanted.
He cleared his throat, awkwardly. "Well, now that we have discussed our child's... appearance and other traits, we need to finalize his or her home."
Catherine sighed. "I wish I could move Below with you – that'd make things so much easier."
Vincent didn't dare tell her that he wished the same, or that he could come live Above with her. No, that would be hardly appropriate, and while he fully believed that sometimes wishes could come true, he had his doubts about those particular wishes – his biggest wishes.
"Vincent," Catherine said. "I don't want this child to be like many children – spending half of its time at it's mom's and the other half at dad's. Or going to the father's house every weekend, and spending the rest of the time with the mom, never seeing the two of them together. I want our child to grow up and have a relationship with two parents – the way we never did."
Vincent nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. Catherine's mother had died when she was very young, and Father's wife Margaret got a divorce shortly before Father moved Below, and then his "girlfriend", so to speak, died in childbirth, giving birth to Devin. Both Vincent and Catherine had grown up without a mother, without two parents, and did not want that for their baby.
"I feel like Below would be a better... environment for the baby." Catherine continued. "Above, it seems that children grow up too fast; they seen pornography on the TV by the time they are four, they know all the rude jokes by six, and then, when they turn eight, you find out that they are already aware of 'the birds and the bees', and when they are ten, poof! You find out that they are 'dating' a fifth grade classmate!"
Vincent couldn't help but chuckle at Catherine, who was getting all worked up at the prospect of her and Vincent's child turning out like the average child Above.
"And then, at thirteen, the girls start asking for birth control. And then, if you don't give it to them, by the time they are seventeen, they've had at least two kids! And the boys, well, they have AIDS by the time they are sixteen! And of course, they become grandparents in their thirties, their kids repeating the cycle. And then-"
"Catherine, calm down." Vincent attempted to sooth her before she got more worked up. The last thing he needed was for her to have another emotional disaster that he'd have to go through. "I know what goes on with children Above. I know it's not pretty. That's why we're proud of our children Below."
Catherine smiled, her face slightly red, embarrassed from getting so worked up over what started out as something small. "Sorry, Vincent. I guess I just got a little excited. I'm sorry."
"As you were saying, Below would be a better environment..." Vincent got her back on topic.
"Yes, it would." Catherine said. "The children there are so well behaved, have a better education than any other child Above, they are surrounded by so much more love and affection, they have plenty of playmates – and we wouldn't have to worry who our child plays with, there is plenty of room, the list is endless." she smiled up at Vincent. "And they grow up to be fine adults."
"Well," Vincent said, humorously. "Devin turned out to be a fine... define 'fine adult'."
Catherine gave Vincent a little swat. "Your brother is a perfectly fine, grown-up, responsible, attractive man." She said. "Almost responsible, anyways."
"He's working on it." Vincent agreed. "I can't wait to tell the look on his face when we tell him about the baby."
"When is the next time he's coming Below?" Catherine asked.
Vincent shrugged. "He never lets us know. He always shows up unexpected."
"He's only shown up twice since I've known you." Catherine said. "Once when he got that job over at the DA's, remember?"
"'I'm a con, but I'm a good con'." Vincent quoted. "Then he showed up again with Charles – that was an ordeal."
"You were so good with Charles." Catherine said, giving Vincent a squeeze on the arm. "The way you accepted him was just... unbelievable. No one else can just look at Charles for the first time and just treat him perfectly normal. But you... you treated him normally from the beginning."
"And he treated me normally from the beginning." Vincent reminded her. "No one else can just look at me for the first time and treat me perfectly normal, can they?"
"The entire world should treat you and Charles equally." Catherine huffed. "This world Above – I hate this world! Everyone says 'free and equal' but when it comes down to it, no one is free and no one is equal. People are bound by their looks, or their culture, or their ancestors – that's not free."
"And while everyone should be equal, we're not." Vincent said slowly. "Nobody is treated equally Above, but its just the way that your world works."
"I'm so fed up with living here." Catherine said, plopping down on the couch. "I know I'm doing a lot of good up here, but sometimes its so hard! Talking with rape victims, people who have had everything taken away from them, children whose parents beat them – its so hard to live like this!"
"But look at all the people you helped." Vincent said gently. "Ellie and Erik, for example. Ellie spent her last months Below with her brother, never happier, and Erik, while he misses his sister, he will continue to live a happy life Below. He could never repay you for being so helpful – never. He talks of you so the time. He's so grateful. And there are only two examples – you've ultimately helped hundreds of people."
Catherine smiled. "Thanks, Vincent. I needed that."
Vincent smiled back. "Your welcome."
"What time is it?" Catherine wanted to know.
"7:30 A.M." Vincent replied, looking over at the clock on the wall.
Catherine sighed. "Okay, what do you want to do?"
"Whatever you want." he said. "There is no need to entertain me."
She pulled Great Expectations off her shelf. "Remember the first time we read this together?"
Vincent smiled and nodded, sitting next to her on the couch. "It was when we first met. I asked you if you wanted me to read to you."
"I said that it wouldn't help." Catherine said. "Until I heard you read for the first time – you read beautifully."
Vincent blushed slightly. "Would you care to be read to right now?"
Catherine nodded. "I'd like that."
So that's how they spent their morning, snuggled together on the couch, reading out loud from Great Expectations.
