She never suspected a thing.
When Audrey called Eva to invite her, Frank and Faye to lunch, it all seemed perfectly normal. They went over, enjoyed Audrey's famous chicken Caesar salad and freshly baked apple pie, and had a lovely visit. The first sign that something out of the ordinary was about to happen came after the dishes had been cleared and the kitchen cleaned.
"Eva, come out back with me. I'd love to show you how well my garden is doing."
Eva glanced over at Frank. "Are you coming?"
Frank smiled and shook his head. "No, I got 'the grand tour' a couple of days ago. I'll stay here and watch Faye." His smile faded as he watched his wife and her mother head out the sliding glass door and into the back yard.
It seemed to take forever. Frank stretched out on the sofa and glanced over at Faye, peacefully sleeping in her playpen, innocent and unaware of the havoc being wreaked in her mother's world at that very moment. He tried, in vain, to read a magazine as he waited for Eva and her mother to complete their fateful conversation. Finally, at the sound of the sliding glass door, he put the magazine on the coffee table and got up.
Eva, whose ashen face bore the expression of a person who'd just been hit in the head with a brick, practically stumbled into the room. She stared blankly at Frank, who quickly walked over and took her in his arms. Once enveloped in his comforting embrace, she buried her head in his shoulder and burst into tears. Frank stood motionless and stroked her hair gently while she cried. Audrey stood by helplessly as she observed her daughter's pain.
Finally, she regained some semblance of composure. Frank kissed her forehead and gently released her, and went over to Audrey.
Speaking softly, he said, "She'll be fine; we'll talk this all out when we get home. May we leave Faye with you for the night?"
Audrey gave him a weak, unsteady smile. "Of course. Please let me know how she's doing."
Frank smiled and nodded reassuringly. "I will. Please try not to worry too much. You've just delivered quite a bombshell…she simply needs time to work through it. I'll try to help her put this news in the proper perspective, and make her see it's actually a good thing."
Audrey hugged him. "Thank you so much, Frank. You're truly a blessing."
He smiled and gently broke their embrace. "Certainly no more a blessing than Eva has been for me."
Putting his arm around Eva's waist, he guided her to their car. The ride home was a silent one, with occasional tears falling from Eva's eyes as she thought about what she'd just been told. At last, they arrived at the sanctuary of their beloved house.
Eva didn't speak until they walked into their living room. Looking up at Frank with watery eyes, she murmured, "How could she keep a secret like that from me?"
Frank gently guided her to the sofa and sat her down. "How could she not? How do you think you would have reacted to that revelation, had you not met me? You would have either been even more devastated than you are now, or you would have thought your mother had gone completely insane. Neither reaction would have been at all constructive."
Eva sighed and buried her head in her hands. "I suppose you're right, but I can't even begin to describe how I feel right now. It's as if my entire existence has been a lie; like I'm not the person I always thought I was."
Frank leaned over and kissed the top of her head. "You shouldn't feel that way. The news about your father doesn't change anything important about the person you are. And, well, on a selfish note…it makes me feel even more blessed to have found you."
Eva removed her hands from their protective position in front of her face, and looked over at him. "You really had no idea I was half Transylvanian when you met me?"
He smiled and shook his head. "No, although I should have suspected something when we turned out to be so, well, sexually compatible." His expression suddenly became guarded, which Eva immediately noticed.
When he demonstrated no particular inclination to continue, she asked, "What makes you say that?"
He sighed. Avoiding her gaze, he finally replied, "Let me put it this way. I've had more than my share of human lovers, and I can't say I ever found any of them particularly compelling as far as 'performance' was concerned. I'd never encountered a human who could truly satisfy me sexually, nor who had a sexual appetite to equal my own. You were the exception on both counts." He looked over at her. "Hadn't you encountered the same problem? Didn't you wonder why you could never find someone who could satisfy you?"
The question momentarily stunned her into silence. When she answered, her voice was barely more than a whisper. "Good God, I'd never thought about it in those terms, but you're right. I went through all the right motions and did all the right things, but it just never seemed to work for me, no matter how hard I tried. I'd only had a couple of lovers before you, and I never realized they were, well, 'lacking'. I always figured the problem was that I just didn't care for sex all that much." She smiled weakly and shook her head. "I can't believe how wrong I was. You were able to prove that to me within seconds. You just touched me, and I knew." A sudden thought again brought tears to her eyes. "Does that mean the only reason we fell in love was because of our sexual chemistry?"
Frank raised his eyebrows in astonishment. "Surely you cannot be serious. I had a number of lovers with whom I had highly intense sexual relationships back on Transsexual, but I never fell in love with any of them. The connection we share goes far beyond mere sexual chemistry, and has virtually from the time we met. However, had we not shared that chemistry, the relationship would have never had the chance to develop. It was that incredible combination of sexual and emotional chemistry that drove me to try and find you again after our first encounter."
For a few moments, Eva sat in silent contemplation of Frank's assertion. Finally, she nodded slowly. "OK, that makes sense. But are you saying we wouldn't have that sexual chemistry if I weren't half Transylvanian?"
Choosing his words carefully, Frank answered, "It's rather difficult to say. Obviously your parents shared that chemistry enough to fall deeply in love with each other, despite your mother being a human. Perhaps it would have been the same for us. However, I should add that even among Transylvanians, sexual appetites vary. I believe your father's was rather restrained – relatively speaking. What I know, with absolute certainty, is that my own is extremely powerful, and I could never find fulfillment with anyone who could not say the same. I've never encountered a human who could qualify." He shrugged. "Sexual compatibility is important in romantic relationships. I don't see any reason why the importance of your background to that compatibility should be seen as a negative. If anything, you should look at it as further evidence of the wonderful and mysterious workings of fate. Had you not met me, it is extremely likely you would have never found a sexually fulfilling relationship…and I probably would have never found an emotionally fulfilling one. While Transylvanians are a highly advanced people in many ways, I've found humans as a group to be considerably more sophisticated about emotional relationships than Transylvanians. You, my love, combine the best traits of both Transylvanians and humans." He smiled and gently ran his fingers through Eva's hair. "You're the most amazing lover I've ever had, and you've taught me everything I know about being in love. You're a miracle, and nothing that went into creating that miracle could ever be a bad thing."
This time, the tears that sprang to Eva's eyes were tears of happiness. Without saying a word, she put her arms around Frank and kissed him, pouring every bit of love and passion she possessed into the kiss. Frank returned her kiss with equal ardor, and they began to undress each other with the ease of long practice.
As Eva began to make love with her cherished husband, one thought kept running through her brain…
Thank you, Mom.