She had been dreaming every night. For months images of the painter, who she knew was called Isaac, beset her and hovered around her in her waking moments. They meant something, the paintings hinting at something. Because two to things had come true: her marriage and the war.

She was almost five months along now and had been almost flat until recently. For the first four she didn't feel pregnant, after the first flush of joy at expecting had passed she had waited for it to return. She watched her stomach everyday, looking for the change ad gradually it did, belly growing into a small bump. Virginia had told her that it was nothing to worry about, lots of women didn't show until further along. The baby was something that she couldn't stop thinking about besides the dreams because she couldn't think on Gabriel for to long without riling herself up. She was extra irritable and he just seemed to heighten it. And with good reason, he was being insufferable; she could walk anywhere or even sit in peace without him either edging away or in contrast fussing over her. The latter was more acceptable then the former but she was starting to find his behaviour cloying. She had to repeatedly tell herself that it would pass, it would pass when the baby was born.

She wanted room to breath by herself without any aggravating interferences, even if it was just for an hours stroll. It was a Saturday night and Eden was sitting in Virginia's kitchen, feet tapping on the stone floor as her eye caught the newspaper, a section on local painters. There was a section dedicated to the recently deceased of note: Isaac Mendez.

Eden crunched the paper between her hands, staring at the name. Her eyes then caught sight of one of his featured paintings. She hadn't seen it before but definitely recognised the style. She had found the man from her dream and he was dead. She felt the excitement fade and she sat back and put the paper down. For months she had been dreaming of him and know he was unreachable; the strange dreams and what ever they had been trying to tell her could have had an outcome but it was gone from her just as quickly. She picked it up again and she noticed that there was an address to his home where he kept his studio: The Palace.

Eden had been clamed up in the house for months feeling useless but now she had something, something to not only take her outside but possibly answers. She rose from the chair in determination and climbed the stairs to the bedroom and got ready to pack. She was going and Gabriel wasn't going to stop her this time.

*

"Eden?" Gabriel stood at the foot of the stair calling up them. When she didn't answer he called her louder "The dinners been set out…" Still nothing. He frowned and climbed the stairs.

She was sitting on their bed with her bonnet on and travelling bag at her feet, she was just putting on her gloves when he walked in. At the sight of her Gabriel felt his chest tighten and his hands sweat.

"I'm going out Gabriel."

"With your bag packed?" She rose, keeping her eyes down. "Look at me!"

"I knew I should have just left a note…" She bent to pick up her bag but he darted forward at pulled it away from her. She rose, arms crossed over her chest. "Give it back."

"No, not until you tell me where you are going and why." His body was so stiff with tension he could feel himself cracking with it, jaw clenched painfully tight. She didn't answer but the flush of red over her face told him enough.

"I'm tired of being cooped up all the time Gabriel. I want to just go out."

"You can go out, I promise when ever you want. Just please don't take this with you."

She moved closer to him, looking into his tense face. "And why shouldn't I?"

"Because with it I don't think you'll come back." His hand made a possessive motion toward her but he lowered it to ring the handle of her bag.

She looked at him sadly. "Of course I'm coming back Gabriel, why would you think that?" Just as quickly as the sadness appeared it was replaced with anger. "You don't trust me all do you?"

"What am I meant to think? You've been avoiding me for weeks. You've been shouting at me when I haven't done anything and now you're going somewhere and won't tell me why or where!"

"I've been avoiding you!?" She laughed bitterly. "If I have Gabriel it's only been in response to the way that you have been treating me!" She bent down and tried to tug her bag away. He placed the heel of his hand on her shoulder and pushed her back.

"I haven't done anything! I'm not the one saying another man's name in our bed!"

She gasped and took a step back. "…What did you hear?"

"Who is he?" His words shook with angry and a barely concealed fear.

She placed her hand to her forehead and rubbed. "I've been dreaming about him…" She watched him puff up in affront and felt her skin prickle. "What does it matter? He's nothing now. I could profess my innocence and you'll just ignore it. Even now you don't like me to talk about Nathan."

He remained silent, unable to speak. She was just digging herself deeper and deeper. "Why can't you just tell me who he is? If you have nothing to hide then there shouldn't be a problem."

"The fact that you have to ask me that just proves that I'm untrustworthy to you. Would does it matter if I had seen him before or even slept with him? Gabriel I could have slept with half the city for all you know. Like Nathan, all that is in the past and doesn't correlate to who I am now." Her voice softened. "Gabriel, you've given me a baby, that's all that matters right now, don't think on things that get you upset."

"You did sleep with him?!" He knew it, she wanted to sleep around like she used to. She didn't want him so she had to look for someone else. His eyes looked at her with a prudish judgement. "What was I thinking? I thought you loved me but you just wanted a baby to raise and a nice place to do it. I'm just a donor to you." He felt a whiplash of scorn and he rode on it. "I bet you've always wanted children and you slept with others to get it right? Made them feel that they were important, loved, and when you had got what you wanted you ditched them. I'm just the fool that actually believed you. God, I married you, I married you! You probably forced me to do it, I mean there's no way…"

She stood with her mouth open in shook before her face suddenly transformed into a teeth bared snarl. "THAT IS IT! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR CHILDISH WHINGING!" She moved herself into his face, finger jabbing into his chest repeatedly. "How dare you accuse me of forcing you to do anything! What do you think I am?! Do not care for me at all?" He didn't answer, only tried to move away from her poking hand while still keeping his stance. Eden growled at him, hormones driving her in whirlwind directions. "Why do you treat me this way? You pretend like you're one of the meek but when I'm not making you feel better about yourself you put me down and act like I'm some stranger if our home. I'm carrying your child!"

"AND I DON'T WANT IT! I'VE NEVER WANTED IT!" He was boiling with rage and hurt and he didn't care just then what she felt. "You have been a dishonest person from the minute I met you. You were a prostitute for god's sake! That stain won't ever go way no matter if you have a ring on your finger and a legitimate baby." Judgement was written into every line of his face.

She made a sound like a cat that was about to attack, a low rumbling yowl. Gabriel felt himself tense but she just sped past him and out the door, leaving her bag in his hand. She was almost running when she got to the front door. Gabriel followed close on her heels, suddenly all anger gone.

"Oh god I'm sorry. Please, please don't leave me. I don't know what I was saying. Please Eden?"

She stopped and turned to him. She seemed less angry as she walked closer to him but stopped a few feet away. "Listen carefully because I'm only going to say this once. I'm going away for a few days and when I'm away I want you to think. To think about if you want me in your life and everything that having me involves. I want you to think about what is important in your life and whether me and the baby are part of that. I do love you Gabriel, I think from the start but I can't stay with you if you don't feel the same. If you do love me then it's up to you to decide what you do."

"Just come back."

"Tell me you love me."

Gabriel blinked his lashes quickly before staring at her hard. They both waited for him to say the words but he couldn't get them out and lowered his head in shame. Eden walked the rest of the way up to him and took her bag from his loose fingers, lips trembling. He caught her hand and pulled her to him sharply. His hand quickly cupped her face and he pressed his lips to hers hard, forcing his tongue past her mouth. Eden turned her face away and stumbled back.

"That's not going to fix things Gabriel."

"If you don't come back I'll find you Eden." His voice was think and echoing with a growl.

"And what if you can't find me?" She was calm now but her anger had been holding back her distress and she was crying unheeded tears.

"I'll go and fight if you don't come back." His words sounded shaky but his face was set with a pale determination.

She gasped and her tears rolled fat. "You wouldn't? You're exempt from it Gabriel. You have enough money to get yourself out of it if you're called."

He was becoming more bloodless with every minute. "They don't have to know that. They want as many men as possible."

"You can't blackmail me like this, you can't. You don't have to Gabriel because I will come back and stay if you've changed." She stared at him with a sad hope.

His eyes rounded in fear, nostrils flaring. "I won't change, I won't change into that." He took a breath and closed his eyes, counting the ticks in his mind before opening them again. "I don't know how to make things better." His voice was soft and lost.

They stared at each other, at an impasse. Eden straightened herself up and turned, looking back over her shoulder. "I'm going sway to make things better Gabriel. Please be hear when I get back. I love you."

Gabriel watched her walk away, the almost overpowering need to go after her and drag her back, if need be, held at bay by his heart wrenching conviction. She was abandoning him, just as he always feared. He was right.