Lovise left therapy with a bounce in her step that day. She hummed happily to herself all the way home, mind filled with thoughts of how it felt to finally make out with Mathias. Her heart was still racing from the experience, and she could barely contain all of the joy she felt from it.
When she walked into her apartment, Lara was baking cookies in the kitchen. She was in such a good mood that she didn't even think of a snarky comment concerning Leon. Her mouth rested in a content smile as she hummed to herself while pouring a glass of orange juice.
"You sure are cheery," Lara commented, looking up from her cookie mix. "Did something happen at therapy?" She began stirring the contents of the bowl. "What did your therapist do?"
"I kissed him, Lara," Lovise softly said, gazing into her orange juice. Her mind was filled with all of the wonderful feelings of kissing the man of her dreams. "I kissed my therapist. And the best part is, he kissed me back. He kissed me back, Lara!" She squealed with delight. "I think I'm in love!"
"That's great," Lara said, smiling. "But just remember that you can't really tell anyone else that. It's extremely unprofessional."
"I'm the unprofessional one?" Lovise asked, scoffing. "Lara, you fucked your boss."
Lara paused for a moment. "That's different."
"How?" Lovise asked, leaning against the counter. "You could get fired if someone finds out or something goes wrong between you two."
The younger sister sighed. "Nothing is going to happen, okay? I know what I'm doing." She began distributing the batter evenly onto the sheet. "Now I need to get these cookies done before I go to work."
"They're for Leon, aren't they?" Lovise stated. It was more of a comment than an actual question.
Lara's cheeks turned bright red. "Maybe," she softly said.
"So you really like him, don't you?" Lovise asked. She crossed her arms and looked over at her younger sister. "My little sister is in love."
She was quiet for a moment before answering, "Leon is different from any other man I've recklessly slept with, Lovise. He's wonderful, and he really cares about me."
"Yeah, for now," Lovise commented.
Lara pouted. "See if I ever open up to you again."
.
One Month Later
Lovise walked into her therapy appointment, cheery as always. She was excited to see Mathias sitting at his desk, beaming up at her. Her heart raced as she sat on the couch across the room from him.
"Good morning, Lovise," Mathias greeted with a smile. "What would you like to discuss today?"
"Ever since the night I first kissed you," she softly began, "I've been having these crazy dreams."
Mathias got out his pen and began to write on a paper. "What kind of dreams, Lovise?"
"Well last night's dream took place in the 1920's," she began. "It was me and you, and we were dancing at a party. There were flapper girls everywhere and men in designer suits. You looked dashingly handsome, as always. But we were swing dancing and having the time of our lives." She paused for a moment. "It felt so real."
"Tell me about another one," Mathias encouraged. "This sounds interesting."
"Well there was also one about medieval-ish days," Lovise began. "We lived in Denmark, I believe." She looked up at the ceiling as she thought back about it. "This will sound crazy, but we had a daughter." Lovise giggled a little. "She looked a lot like me." Her smile then faded. "Near the end of the dream, she got very sick and died." Lovise was quiet for a moment. "And I know it was just a dream, but it killed me on the inside. I couldn't even eat for three days, because all I could think about was that child of ours in our dream."
Mathias was quiet for a moment. "What was the little girl's name?" he finally asked.
"Her name was...Astrid," Lovise answered, thinking back. She smiled to herself before looking back at him. "Funny, isn't it? That's the same name as your puppy."
"Yeah," Mathias answered with a smile. "What a coincidence, right?" He thought for a moment. "Now tell me more about the feeling you had after waking up from that dream."
"I cried all morning," Lovise answered. "Though it was just a dream, I truly loved that child with all of my heart. I was so devastated when she had died. It was the worst feeling that I had ever felt in my life. I felt completely drained and dead inside for five days, Mathias." She frowned. "Is that normal?"
Mathias nodded. "It's completely normal," he answered. "When did you have this dream?"
"Last week, after our session," Lovise softly answered.
"Are you still upset over the loss of Astrid?" Mathias asked.
Lovise was quiet for nearly a minute before answering. "Yes," she finally said. "I find myself in a deep depression. She was so real to me, Mathias. Her laugh, her cry, her everything. Why is something from a dream so real to me?"
"It's hard to say," Mathias answered with a shrug.
"During our first session, we talked about how you believe in past lives," she stated, thinking back. "I've never believed in past lives." Lovise tried to piece things together in her mind. "Do you think I might be dreaming of a past life."
"You might be onto something there," Mathias said.
Lovise thought for a moment. "I don't want to talk about past lives right now," she finally decided. "I want to talk about Astrid."
"Then let's talk about her," Mathias said.
There was a sharp, stabbing pain in Lovise's heart as she spoke of the little girl from her dream. She wanted that little girl to be real, to hold that little girl in her arms once more. What she couldn't figure out is why the little girl died in her dream.
.
Mathias sighed at the end of his work day. His mind was stuck on what Lovise had said about her dream. He knew what was going on, but knew she wouldn't believe him until the time was right.
When she had mentioned her dream where their daughter died, he knew right then and there that she was beginning to remember. He held her while she cried over Astrid in therapy, trying to convince both of them that it was just a dream. But to him, it was a vivid nightmare.
Lovise was convinced that the little girl's name was Astrid because she knew that Mathias's puppy's name was Astrid. Little did she know that the puppy was named after the first child the two ever had together.
Mathias threw on his jacket and headed out of the office with a quick goodbye to Pam. He shivered a little as the cold air whipped at his face and quickly made his way to the car. His mind then went to his session with Lovise once more.
Near the end of the session, she had seemed to calm down a bit, but he had still given her his work cell number just in case she needed to talk after hours. She had just seemed so heartbroken over Astrid, and he wanted to help her as much as he could. Dealing with something like that was awful, especially when you were all alone. He hoped she would call to talk to him.
.
When Lovise got home, she wandered into the apartment to hear muffled sniffles. She knew immediately that Lara was crying and rushed to the living room to hug her. Lovise practically threw herself at her younger sister, wrapping her arms around the silvery-haired girl and snuggling her close, not even asking what had happened. All that Lovise was focused on at the moment was to keep Lara from crying any more than she already had.
"Lo, it's awful," Lara sobbed, hugging her older sister tightly, as if terrified Lovise would leave her. "I don't know what to do!"
"What happened?" Lovise asked, cupping her little sister's cheeks in her hand and looking into her violet eyes. "Are you hurt? Who hurt you?"
Lara shook her head and took a few deep breaths before responding. "It's me. It's all me. I did it."
"What did you do?" Lovise asked, concern tinging her voice with panic.
"Well, I haven't been feeling well this past week or so," Lara began. "And my period is late. So I went to the store and got a test."
Lovise felt her heart stop beating for a moment before picking back up again at a much more rapid pace. "Lara, what did it say?" she slowly asked.
"I'm pregnant, Lo!" Lara sobbed. "Everyone is going to know! I'm going to get fired!" She pushed Lovise's hands away and covered her face with her own. "What am I going to do? I'm so scared of what Leon is going to say!"
"Are you sure it's Leon's?" Lovise slowly asked.
"What kind of girl do you take me for?" Lara sobbed. "Sure, I sleep around at times, but I'm positive this child is his! He's the last person I slept with!"
"How many times did you?" Lovise asked.
"Six times so far," Lara answered. "We were supposed to go on a date tonight, but now I'm scared to go! I know I have to tell him, but I'm so scared of how he'll react! Will he be angry? Will he leave me? I don't know!"
"Wait, you two aren't dating, are you?" Lovise asked.
"Well, not officially," Lara responded, "because of work and all that. But we've been seeing each other for the past month."
"You've obviously been doing more than just seeing each other," Lovise commented.
"I'm too young to have a baby, Lo!" Lara wailed. "I'm only eighteen!"
Lovise cuddled her sister close to her. "Everything is going to be okay, Lara."
"You have to say that," Lara sniffled, "you're my sister."
"I'm going to go to the other room for a few," Lovise said. "I need to make a phone call."
"Hurry back," Lara softly said.
Lovise nodded and got up before placing a kiss on the top of her sister's head. "I will," she assured her before going to her bedroom and whipping out her cell phone. There was only one person she could think of to call, and he had given her a number to reach him at just hours before.
.
Mathias had just walked into the door of his apartment when he could hear his work cell ringing. He was almost certain it was Lovise. He was quick to answer it. "This is Mathias."
"Oh, thank God!" Lovise sighed on the other end. "I need to talk to you!"
He sensed panic in her voice. "Lovise, what's going on? Is everything alright?" he asked, worry tinging his voice. Mathias could hear Astrid's cries from her crate, but he blocked them out so he could hear Lovise better.
"I just got home, and I heard my sister crying," Lovise began. "So I went to find out what's wrong, and found out she's pregnant! My baby sister is pregnant with her boss's child! What am I going to do?"
"Calm down a little, Lovise," Mathias said, hanging his keys up on a hook by the door before shrugging his jacket off and draping it over the back of a chair. "Tell me how you feel about it."
"I know I'm going to have to help take care of the baby," Lovise said. "I'm so scared. After that dream I had, I'm so nervous around babies or small children. What if the baby dies, Mathias?"
"Now, Lovise, you can't think that way," Mathias slowly said, trying to make his voice sound as soothing as possible. "Just because that happened in your dream doesn't mean it will happen to you sister."
"But what if it does?" Lovise whined. "I'm so scared right now!"
"I'm trying to help you as best as I can, Lovise," Mathias answered. "Are you still at home?"
"Yes," Lovise softly answered. "And I know I shouldn't ask this, but…" Her voice trailed off.
"Ask away," Mathias answered, anticipation building up inside of him.
"I know you could get in a lot of trouble for this, but…" Lovise's voice trailed off once more.
"What is it?" Mathias asked, concerned.
"Could you please come over to my apartment?" she finally asked, voice barely over a whisper.
Mathias thought for a moment. "You realize that you're asking for something illegal, right?" he asked.
"I know," she quietly said. "And it's selfish of me. But I know you have my address. It's in my records."
He was quiet for a moment before answering. "Give me twenty minutes, and I'll be there."
Lovise gasped. "Thank you so much! I'll be waiting! Goodbye!"
"Bye," Mathias said before hanging up. He took a long, deep breath. Going over to Lovise's house would cost him his job if anyone were to find out, but that was a risk he was willing to take. Anything for Lovise.
He was suddenly aware of the puppy's cries in the other room. "I'm coming, baby!" he called to her. He needed to make this quick. After all, he only had twenty minutes to get to Lovise.