Chapter 3

Dinner time
Same day

"So how did you enjoy your day?" Dave inquired as soon as everybody had met up again. Livia and Dave were alone before Dave asked his question, while Kendra was looking after the kids before they all went to dinner.
"It was great!" Livia said enthusiastically and Dave just stopped himself from raising an eyebrow and his mouth dropping open in shock at Livia's response. He had expected Livia to be mad at him for forcing her to go and for wasting the money that had been paid in advance, but apparently that wasn't the case. She was usually mad after he had spent the money to get his mate to try something new. Even if she had enjoyed herself Livia didn't usually admit it at first. He was glad that his mate had enjoyed herself, even though she had put up a lot of resistance about going to the spa. It hadn't mattered at the time that Dave had already paid, and he wasn't going to get his money back as it was nonrefundable.
"Well, that's certainly a change in attitude," Dave said happy that Livia had seemed to enjoy her day at the spa.
"I knew I was being ridiculous. I couldn't seem to help myself though," Livia admitted. "You know my upbringing, so you know I hate to waste money, even though I know we both have plenty of it those ingrained habits remain. I'll try not to protest anymore when you sign me up for something to try that cost a lot. Personally, I don't know how you put up with me, as I know we've had numerous arguments, because of my resistance to try anything new that cost more than a few dollars."
"I love you and while I could do without the arguments, that doesn't make me love you any less," Dave told her sincerely. "I know very well that your childhood forms who you are, and if it was one of extreme moderation, because the government wasn't going to spend any more than it had to on children who had no relatives, so there wasn't a lot of money.
"Being raised in such an environment usually follows into a person's adult life. Some people managed to break out of that mold and do very well for themselves once free of the system. Others become greedier and yet others don't really understand the term money is no object, not deep down, even if intellectually they know that this spouse or significant other has plenty of money.
"That last option is you, Livia. I've told you multiple times that I'm never going to go broke, but you still put up a fight every time I insist you try something new that cost a lot of money. I will admit that you haven't complained about the money it cost to travel, but anything extra like those spa treatments I insisted you try, you put up a fight."
"I'll try to do better," Livia promised again remembering the talk she and Kendra had had before they headed to the spa. "It's mostly an instinctive response and I need to learn how to bite my tongue before I say anything, as I don't like it when we argue, even if that's a rare occasions."
"That would be appreciated," Dave said, "but why the sudden change in attitude as you've been fighting me over spending too much money ever since we met."
"Because Kendra and I had a talk, and she told me I need to quit protesting when you do something like sign me up for those spa treatments and that I need to learn to keep my lips zipped. Since I know she's right, I can't argue with her, even if it means, I have to bite my tongue."
"I'm going to have to thank Kendra for saying what she did if she made you understand that resisting that things I do for you is not the way," Dave said, as he took Livia into his arms holding her close and placing a kiss on Livia's lips. "If she got you to see that putting up resistance every time, I want you to try something new is not the way to go."
"I just don't want to seem greedy," Livia admitted, "which is one reason I put up so much resistance."
"That is false thinking, honey," Dave said shaking his head. "I could never think you were greedy in a million years. It's not like you demand I do things for you, because you're spoiled. I simply want to do things for you because I love you and because I understand growing up in foster care wasn't easy on you.
"You need to understand the difference in you demanding things because you're spoiled or me giving them to you. If you started to demand things I wouldn't want to feed into those demands, because then you would just demand more and more like a brat who is never satisfied, but me giving you something or offering to do things for you is totally different," Dave explained.
"I know you're right," Livia admitted, "but now I'm hungry, as Kendra and I didn't have much of a chance for lunch, so I'm more than ready to eat."
"I'm sure the kids are too and so am I," Dave agreed. "I took the kids to a place that served sandwiches for lunch, and they seemed to enjoy it and so did I. For dinner though, we need something more substantial than just a sandwich."
"I'm in the mood for Italian and there is an Italian place on board," Livia said.
"Italian it is, and Sebastian should have no problem with Italian either," Dave said.
"The whole family loves Italian, which is why it's a good choice for a nice quiet family dinner," Livia said.
"I forgot to tell you that you look spectacular," Dave told Livia sincerely now that they had decided on a place for dinner. As an added bonus Livia had promised to try her best not to resist when he did something for her that cost a substantial amount of money. While Dave could understand, Livia's aversion to having money spent on her, that didn't mean he wasn't going to do so when he wanted to spoil his mate, which was often.
"Thank you I enjoyed the facial not to mention the pedicure and getting my hair styled. I also really enjoyed the massage that I was given by this muscular, handsome guy," Livia said her tone teasing.
"Do I need to be jealous of this man you think is handsome?" Dave teased her knowing that he didn't really need to be jealous of some muscular hunk that gave massages, as for one thing Livia was never going to see him again after this cruise, so there was no point in being jealous. For another, he knew Livia was just teasing him and wasn't really serious when she called her masseur handsome.
"You're not jealous at all are you?" Livia said just a little disappointed that Dave wasn't jealous in the least.
"There's no reason to be," Dave explained simply. "With our bond neither one of us would even think of cheating on each other. Besides, you'll never see him again after this cruise so why get jealous?"
"Well, that's a little disappointing," Livia admitted. "That doesn't mean I'm not happy that you're not jealous of the handsome guy that massaged my body. He released a lot of tension that I didn't even realize I was feeling and it's something I wouldn't mind doing again."
"There should be several spas in the city in which we live and since you enjoy your time at the one here, I don't see why you can't go every few weeks or months at least," Dave said. "At least when we're not traveling," Dave said.
"Which we do a lot of," Livia said. "Still, I might just do that once we get home. I know I have money now and everything, but I went without it for my first 25 years, so I often forget that I do, which is part of why I put up so much resistance. It usually doesn't occur to me that I do have money now until after we've already butted heads and then I feel guilty that we did argue in the first place, but by then of course it's too late."
"I do understand, even though it's been years since we got together," Dave told her gently kissing her on the forehead.
"I'll try to be less difficult," Livia said, as she cuddled into Dave's arms contentedly, realizing suddenly that she had been stubborn ever since she had met Dave and for all the wrong reasons.
She was always protesting whenever he spent a whole bunch of money on her, no matter what it was for, and they always argued once Dave had done so. Really, it was more her protesting whatever Dave had done that cost a whole bunch of money on her and Dave standing in his ground, telling her that he was going to do it anyway no matter what she had said. She was then mad at him for a few days, before she forgave him after feeling guilty for the argument afterwards.
Dave had tried to show her ever since they met that he loved and adored her by doing things for her and getting her out of her comfort zone on a regular basis. Livia had resisted all his efforts, especially when it, came to spending a lot of money other than to travel, which was expensive enough. Anything extra though, she was always telling Dave that she didn't need it and Dave never listened, which was a good thing come to think of it. They'd never go anywhere, and Livia would continue to live like she always had, like a monk, with just the bare minimum needed for a reasonably comfortable living.
The beds might be more comfortable, and she might be living in more luxurious surroundings, but other than that, she would continue not wanting to spend money except when absolutely necessary if not for Dave's gentle persistence.
While Livia's visions did help somewhat making her understand that Dave would always love her no matter what they were mostly about others and nearly never about her directly. She sure did make money off them, though more than she had when it was just a website as she had taken Dave's advice, and he had introduced her to people in the art world. She now made quite a hefty sum for a lot of her images. She could make up to $10,000 for some of her larger images and 5,000 for the smaller ones. All this in less than 10 years since she'd met Dave.
A lot of people were interested in fantasy drawings, and since Livia never had to reveal the origins of those drawings, that they came from her visions, it was a good income for her. Despite all Dave had done, Livia still had resisted all his efforts at spending money on her and she suspected like Kendra had suggested that deep down she didn't believe she deserved all these things that she now had including numerous pairs of designer sunglasses, and clothes.
"I want you to be who you are," Dave told her softly his tone sincere, kissing her gently on the lips before finally reluctantly releasing her. "I love every difficult inch of you, and I always will. It's your stubbornness that helped you survive the foster care system so well. Now, it's time for dinner."
"Everything all right in there?" Kendra called after she had knocked on the door. "Sebastian is complaining he's hungry and so is Dunston.
"Everything is fine. We'll be right out," Dave said loud enough so Kendra could hear him. "It is time for some dinner."
"I'm glad you enjoyed the treatments at the spa. I thought it was a good opportunity for you to give them a try," Dave told her. "You can't stop trying new things, because you're going to live for very long time now Livia. I know you know that in your head, but not really in your heart. It won't be long before we are fixing that potion getting your life force to match mine. While we are linked though the bond you know that that potion is the final step in the process."
"Once I take that potion I'll live for as long as you do," Livia said understanding the point Dave was trying to make.
"One of the reasons I used to travel so much before we met, was because staying in one place was often repetitive and boring. Now that we met I'm happy to stay in one place so long as you are there, but since we both like to travel, I had no problem with continuing my previous pattern, except with companions instead of by myself."
"Let's go get us some dinner, as I'm really hungry now," Livia said, even as she took Dave's hand in her own. "I love you and I don't tell you that often enough."
"You know I love you too. It's why I go out of my way to do things for you," Dave told her simply before opening the bedroom door and heading out into the main part of the living quarters, so the whole family could go to dinner.

~~~Dave and Livia~~~