Brian and Justin were walking down Liberty Avenue holding hands on their way to the diner for Sunday breakfast. This was quickly becoming a weekly ritual, as Justin's morning sickness had finally disappeared a few weeks before. Outside the diner, a drag queen wearing a long brown wig had set up a table and was reading tarot cards for passersby. Brian and Justin didn't notice her at first, but when they moved to enter the diner, she called out to them, "Would you like a tarot card reading?"

They both looked up in surprise, Brian frowning and Justin smiling. Justin read the sign hanging from the edge of the small table: "Mysterious Marilyn." Before Brian could stop him, Justin sat in one of the two chairs she had set out for customers and replied, "I'd love a tarot reading."

Brian sighed, but then sat in the other chair.

Mysterious Marilyn directed Justin to shuffle the tarot cards and then asked him what he would like to know.

Justin furrowed his brow as he pondered this. Finally, he shrugged and responded, "I don't know. Could you do a reading without a question?"

Mysterious Marilyn smiled. "But of course. Sometimes it's good to simply listen to what the universe has to say to you."

Then she took the deck from Justin and laid out ten cards one after the other: the lovers, the empress, the emperor, the tower, death, the moon, the chariot, the hanged man, the hermit, and the world. She flinched when she placed the tower card on the table. It depicted a burning tower and the bodies of people who had fallen from it lying broken on the ground.

Justin looked at her anxiously and asked, "Do you see something bad?"

In a trembling voice, she replied, "Yes. Something dreadful."

Justin paled and then jumped a little when Brian, eyes blazing, barked, "That's enough. Let's go, Justin."

Brian stood and tried to pull Justin to his feet, but he wouldn't budge.

He looked up at Brian with pleading eyes. After a few moments of hesitation, Brian sat down again.

Mysterious Marilyn smiled and pointed to the lovers. "This indicates a passionate union. I'm assuming that that's you two together."

Justin smiled shyly and nodded.

"The empress signifies fertility."

Justin smiled and ran his hands over his belly.

Mysterious Marilyn sighed. "The next four, those are the cards that have me worried. Taken together, the emperor, the tower, death, and the moon suggest that you have already suffered some turmoil, turmoil that you have unsuccessfully tried to control, but that more is on the way. Sudden, irrevocable disaster and profound loss. Worse yet, the moon represents obscured vision, so you won't see it coming."

Brian reached over to Justin, unclenched Justin's fist, and took Justin's hand in his, squeezing it gently. Justin relaxed a bit.

Mysterious Marilyn added, in a much brighter voice, "But there is hope. The chariot indicates that this disaster can be avoided. The next two cards tell you how. That is the hanged man, or sacrifice, and the hermit, which signifies, among other things, isolation.

Justin repeated slowly, "Isolation?"

Mysterious Marilyn nodded. "You won't have any idea what this threat is…who poses a danger to you. What is at stake is great and so is the sacrifice necessary to protect her…"

Justin's eyes widened. "Did you say her?"

Marilyn nodded. "The spirits tell me that you're having a baby girl and that she is what you stand to lose if you do nothing."

Justin gasped.

Mysterious Marilyn patted Justin's hand, the one Brian wasn't holding, and smiled. "But if you make the necessary sacrifice, you will be given the world."

She pointed to the final card. "Fulfillment. Prosperity. Completeness."

"What is the sacrifice?"

"The two of you need to leave everything else behind for a time. Until the baby is born. You must leave without telling anyone where you are going, for the danger lies here, with someone you already know. Someone you wouldn't expect."

Justin swallowed hard and turned to face Brian. His expression was dark, but he no longer appeared skeptical and angry. In fact, he looked scared…yet determined.

*******

After Mysterious Marilyn's reading, Brian and Justin started walking. They walked right past the diner (suddenly, neither of them was hungry) and kept going, with no destination in mind. They'd been walking for ten minutes before either of them spoke. Finally, Justin burst out, "I know what you're going to say."

Brian looked over at Justin and quirked an eyebrow.

Justin continued headlong, "You think tarot readings are bullshit and that we should just forget what Marilyn said. That you refuse to let your decisions be guided by a bunch of new age hooey."

Brian just blinked.

Justin added, talking faster and faster, at pace with his growing fear, "She knew we're having a girl, and, I know, that hasn't been confirmed yet, but I can just feel it. Somehow, I just know our baby is a girl. Just like I know that Marilyn is right on. I mean, we've had nothing but turmoil since we found out that I was pregnant. It's not hard to believe that more is coming. Who knows what Lindsay might be cooking up? And all those men at the gym…they despise me. They hate that I'm pregnant with your child. That we're engaged. They think I'm ruining your life…"

Brian stopped dead in his tracks, tilted his head, and asked, "Men at the gym?"

Justin's eyes widened when he realized what he'd said, what he'd let slip. He tried to play it off as nothing by shaking his head, continuing to walk, and shifting gears. More softly, he said, "But even if Marilyn is wrong, where Cleo is concerned, we shouldn't take any chances."

Brian had started walking again, so he was right next to Justin when he nodded and replied, "I agree."

Justin stopped walking and turned to argue, crying, "But Brian…" when what Brian had actually said sunk in. He asked, "You agree?"

Brian nodded. "Nothing is more important to me than keeping you and Cleo safe."

The intensity of the look in Brian's eyes and his solemn tone took Justin aback. He stared at Brian wide eyed for a moment and then swallowed hard and licked his lips.

Brian stepped closer, slid his arms around Justin's waist, kissed his lips gently, and then nudged his nose. He breathed, "I want this. Chaos and all." After a long pause, he added, "I want you. I want us." As he uttered the last word, he drew his fingers lightly over Justin's belly.

Justin was mesmerized. He just gazed into Brian's eyes, speechless. Brian caressed Justin's cheeks and then sent his lips crashing down onto Justin's, kissing him with such passion that he almost knocked Justin over. Justin held onto Brian's arms to keep himself upright and kissed him back with just as much fire.

After a few minutes, their necking became chaster, but somehow more intimate. Brian placed tender kisses on Justin's lips and Justin nibbled on Brian's gently. Brian rubbed his cheek against Justin's and Justin buried his face in Brian's neck. They nibbled, pecked, and rubbed, all the while holding hands.

Suddenly, someone honked a car horn angrily. Brian looked up and caught sight of destiny, though he wouldn't have used that word. He pointed, directing Justin to look behind him. They'd unwittingly stopped in front of a travel agency and were standing right next to a four-foot poster depicting a cozy cabin (smoke coming out of the chimney, fluffy snowflakes falling, and all) surrounded by what the poster called "pristine Vermont wilderness." A smaller photograph was inset (near the bottom). It featured the same cabin, but now surrounded by trees dressed in autumn yellows, reds, and oranges. A stream bubbled merrily beside it. Justin looked back at Brian and smiled brightly. The cabin was perfect. It was early October now. They could enjoy both fall and winter there as they awaited Cleo's due time (early-mid February).

Brian grinned and pulled Justin back the way they had come.

Confused, Justin inquired, "Where are we going?"

Brian looked at Justin as though he'd just asked what color the sky was. "Uh…home to pack…"

Justin shook his head. "Right. Of course. Well, let's go…"

Soon he was pulling Brian along. Brian couldn't help but chuckle (as much at himself as Justin). He'd never admit it, but he loved seeing his Sunshine happy. He cleared his throat uncomfortably. He told himself that calling Justin "his Sunshine" didn't make him a lesbian if no one was there to hear it.