Chapter 8

Livia finally came to find Dave several hours later bringing her sketchpad with her.

"Are you OK?" Dave asked immediately from where he was sitting on the couch in the living area reading a book.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Livia promised him, even as she kissed his cheek. "Remember, I've had this ability ever since I was 13, so I'm well used to dealing with it, though I don't usually have anybody to help me. You bringing me my sketchpad and pencils and also for propping me up against the wall helped me a great deal so thank you for that."

"You're very welcome," Dave promised, as he returned the kiss. "I'll always be there when you need me, though that doesn't mean I won't worry about you at all."

"Also, you leaving me alone to draw helped me immensely as well, as you didn't bother me with questions I probably couldn't have answered at the time," said Livia.

"I knew you would be OK, since as you said, you've always had these visions. I also know you've had these visions all your life this is simply how the talent works. Seeing it firsthand was amazing and also worrying, even if I know this is just how your talent operates," Dave said. "How about a late lunch? I thought you might be hungry after your vision."

He had been worrying about his mate in the back of his mind, even while telling himself that she would be fine that she'd had visions all her life, even if this was the first time he'd seen her go into one. He knew that having this ability to see the future could be hard for anyone, but the person that had such a great and terrible gift learned how to compensate for it.

"That was a good call," Livia said appreciatively, as she'd smelled the delicious aroma circulating around the living area, and that scent had penetrated into the bedroom where she had been. The food was sitting on the table that was often used for meals when they were eating, though this time it was also cold, since it had been several hours since lunchtime. "I'm starving, but then, I usually am after spending hours drawing out my visions."

"I'll remember that the next time you have one and every time in the future," Dave promised. "I'll make sure I have some kind of food prepared every time you come out out of vision. Just let me go heat it up as I wasn't sure how long you'd be and the food is now cold."

"I would eat it even cold, but that sounds fine," Livia said.

"So what were your visions about?" Dave inquired, even as he picked up the tray that the dishes were on, and took it into the kitchen to be heated in the microwave Livia following.

"About the same female with long flowing hair and also a sword. She seems to be some kind of warrior and there were always a couple of other people at her side, another female, who I believe is a wolf shifter and a male, though I'm not entirely sure what he is, except that he has to be a paranormal," Livia answered. "You're welcome to look at the sketches."

"That male could be a sorcerer if you're sure he isn't a shifter," Dave said, as he went back to fixing lunch. "I'll look at your sketches after we eat."

"No, I'm nearly positive, the male isn't a shifter, though I am sure the female is," Livia said. "I've got pictures of the female transforming into kind of half human, half animal, which is how I know for sure I'm right."

"Not many shifters can take half form," Dave said impressed.

"Is that what that form is called?" Livia asked rhetorically

It was clear that, Livia really didn't expect an answer so Dave didn't bother speaking.

"There are many advantages to half form, you know," Dave said after a minute of silence getting back to the subject, they had just been discussing. "You have the strength of your shifter form, but you also have hands, even if on the end of those hands are claws. But one of the disadvantages is, you don't heal as fast in that form as you do in, your full animal form."

"So shifters heal really fast compared to a mortal," Livia said.

"Let's just say, they can heal from things that would likely kill someone like you, though once we take that potion, I can help support you if you're ever gravely injured as our life forces will then be linked and reverse is also true, but that's for later," Dave explained simply, even as he put the dishes the food in the microwave one at a time and heated them up for a couple of minutes each, warming them just enough that they were no longer cold and then put then back on the tray and carried them back into the living area to the table they had been on originally. "Lunch is served, my lady. Let's eat."

Livia had no qualms about sitting down on her side of the table and grabbing the fork that Dave had already placed on one side along with a napkin and dug in. She'd been enjoying the food Dave fixed for several months now, so she knew he was a great cook, which is why she dug right into what he had prepared while she had been in the midst of one of her visions.

Dave had handled the first vision since they had met with calmness and just left her to draw once he had propped up against the wall and brought her, her writing supplies. He hadn't panicked or started a pointless argument when she had finally come to find him after the vision had run its course. He seemed to understand that her visions were a part of her and that if he loved her, he had to accept all of her, visions included.

Livia didn't speak again until her plate was more than halfway empty, and Dave simply watched her knowing she must have indeed been starving to eat so rapidly without further conversation.

"The food really helped," Livia finally spoke. "I'm so starving after a vision it's ridiculous. I'm not sure why I'm so hungry afterwards just that I am. The difference is, I had to fix my own food or just eat something that was prepackaged enough to take the edge off my hunger and then fix something more substantial afterwards."

"I'm glad. You must consume a lot of calories when you go into a vision like you do, which might explain why you're so skinny. That consuming of calories and lack not having the food to overindulge is what keeps you so slim," Dave told her he reaching across the table to take Livia's hand in his and giving it a gentle squeeze. "What did you do when you had a vision when you were still in foster care?"

"The doctors just thought it was a symptom of the supposed delusions and the foster families I stayed with reacted in different ways to the fact that I was starving after I had a series of them, especially if they lasted for hours. After, I got a place at the residence, I really had to buy my own as they fed me at meal times, but as for snacks and things there often wasn't anything to snack on. You couldn't cook for yourself, because it was against the rules. I think the adults that ran the residence were afraid that someone would start a fire, because they didn't know what they were doing."

"That's one possibility, but it's probably not the only one," Dave said. "They also might not have wanted you to get into the food, because then they wouldn't know what they had and what they didn't, as places like that have to buy supplies for all the residents. They would have to do a check on supplies, especially perishables, just about every week, to make sure they had enough to feed everyone."

"I didn't ever think of that, but you're probably right. It is after all logical," Livia decided, as she thought back to what living in the residence had been like. "There was only eight bedrooms and so there was a waiting list. You also couldn't put in an application until you were 15, as the residences were for older kids, not younger ones and you had to be a teenager before they would admit you. Also, they might allow you to apply at 15, but almost no one that age was admitted at least while I was there and you can only apply every six months. I went through several interviews before I got my acceptance letter."

"You know I've been thinking that's it's time that we take our first trip together. It is nearly Thanksgiving and I thought we could enjoy it somewhere other than here in Montréal," Dave suggested changing the subject, as everything that needed to be said on the subject of Livia's visions and her time in foster care had been for the moment.

It was an idea that had been brewing in the back of Dave's mind for the last several weeks. The upcoming holiday was the perfect time to get away for a few weeks as there was no reason they needed to stick around here, as they had no children at present and doubted that Livia's holidays had been very joyful due to lack of funds. Even if she had had the funds to get away, Dave doubted very much that the idea ever would've occurred to her to go somewhere for a few days, as she would've wanted to have saved the money, just in case, it was needed for some sort of emergency. Also, there was no point of preparing a large feast when you were the only one that was going to be eating it and as for presents, Dave doubted that Livia had ever done anything special for her Christmas or her birthday as they were probably just days on the calendar. In other words, just ordinary days, where nothing special was planned, though Dave was sure that Livia's friend had gotten her a present for those holidays, but she was the only one he was sure, since Livia wasn't close to anybody else.

He doubted very much that anybody in the residence had wished her more than a happy birthday, even if they had done that much.

"I'm up for whatever you're planning," Livia promised smiling accepting the change in subject. "I don't even care where we go since I've never been anywhere except Canada and some cities in the US that are just across the border, but that's it."

"Great!" Dave exclaimed excited. "We could extend that trip to Christmas into the new year if you wanted to."

"That's two months," Livia said. "Seems a bit long for a vacation."

"For most people that's true," Dave agreed easily, "but a vacation can be any length of time you wanted to be, so long as you don't have any other commitments and we don't. I don't need to work and you never have, so really, I don't know why we can't stay gone for as long as we like. I've used to taking trips anyway, and I've usually gone for weeks at a time," Dave said. "I'm usually gone for at least eight months out of the year, but now, that we've met I don't see why we can't continue doing that at least until we start having children. I'm only glad I was in town that day or we might never have crossed paths and that would've been more than tragic from my point of view."

"You've really been gone for most of the year on a regular basis?" Livia asked blinking in astonishment. "I can understand wanting to travel, but to be gone practically all year and only be here for a few weeks at a time seems kind of ridiculous."

"Why? It's not like I had a family to get back for, not until I met you anyway," Dave explained simply. "I had no siblings, cousins, nieces, nephews aunts, uncles or parents to worry about, that I could spend my time with, not here in Montréal anyway. As for holidays, I have nothing keeping me here other then a few friends, and they have their own families so I was on my own. I didn't see any point of sticking around here, even for the holiday when I had no one to celebrate it with."

"In a way that's kind of sad, but I also understand your reasons for not being here in Montréal when you had no other commitments and no family or close friends to at least spend the holiday with. However, you could've gone up to Italy where your family was and spend at least a few days with them. I suppose though, if you're not close to them, then you didn't want to do that."

"You're my family now and in a few years, there will be children, but I don't see why we can't travel in the meantime. As for those relatives in Italy, sometimes I do go up for a few days just to catch up with them, just not this year. I've actually stuck around home for much longer than I usually do, as I'm usually off on some new adventure," Dave said. "The servants will handle things while I'm gone and alert me to any problems. What about you? Is there anyone you want to spend the holiday with?"

"No one except, Alifair," Livia said. "She has her own family though, a sister and I believe she has parents as well, so I'm on my own too. It just seems ridiculous to travel for most of the year, but I suppose the rich really are different from ordinary people."

"Even people that aren't rich take a vacation every year and a lot of them go somewhere exotic depending on finances," Dave said. "When we start having children we'll sticking around here more, but in the meantime, I want to slowly show you the world, as I offered to do months ago when we first met. I was thinking we could take a cruise at some point, one for couples who are newlyweds and that's us basically, even if we never actually got married."

He hadn't felt this excited in decades, at least, as everything seemed shiny and new with his mate by his side. He was looking forward to showing her the world a little at a time, and this would just be the first of many trips they would take whether or not they had kids.

"So I'm assuming you know where you want to go," Livia inquired starting to get an excited gleam in her eyes. She was really looking forward to her first trip with Dave.

Dave was also right that they had no commitments keeping them here so why shouldn't they travel while they were young and childless? It was a strange concept to her, but she knew people did do it if they had the money for it, she just never imagined she'd be one of the ones that could afford to go travel to exotic places like Hong Kong or the Congo. Even somewhere like Paris France, sounded exotic sounded exotic to Livia, even though she knew it was a tourist destination that millions of tourists went to every year, but to her it might as well be on the end of the world, as she'd never imagine she'd be able to see any other country.

She had never imagined she'd become a world traveler, but with the way Dave was talking she knew it would happen and she couldn't be happier about that, as she always had a bit of a travel bug, which was why she had bought the motorhome in the first place or at least part of the reason. The other, of course, being that it gave her a place to live, even if she just parked it in one spot, like a motorhome park, though those required a fee, so she usually tried not to use one.

"I was thinking a tourist destination like Paris for this first trip for the two of us," Dave said. "While I would love to take you to Egypt to meet the former conman I told you about I'm not sure that you're ready to handle the heat as yet, not to mention the sand."

"I was just thinking of Paris and how I know millions of tourist go there for vacation every year but to me it seems exotic, because I never imagined I'd have the money to go overseas for vacation. As for Egypt, I would love to go with you whenever you decide to go," Livia said, "but Paris is fine too, as wherever you decide is fine with me. As for the heat in Egypt, I can handle it."

"Great minds and all that," Dave commented smiling before adding, "You might believe you can handle the Egyptian heat, but the heat is different then then in most other places and also, the sand gets into everything no matter how you try to prevent it. Egypt's heat is kind of a baking heat and also sandstorms can blow up out of nowhere, so it's not just the heat you need to worry about. You always need a sash to cover your nose and mouth in case one comes up suddenly to stop the sand from getting into them and it's nearly impossible to keep somewhere completely clean because of that sand. Still, I will take you at some point, but I don't want you have to deal with the heat in the sand for your first trip with me," finished Dave.

"I knew Egypt was a desert country, but it never occurred to me that there could be problems," Livia said.

"Of course, not as you never dreamed you'd be able to travel so you never thought about what you might experience," Dave said.

"Seems like a rather hard environment to live in," Livia said.

"It can be," Dave agreed, "but the thing is, that the Egyptians are well used to it, as they've been occupying that land for many thousands of years. They've learned to adapt to their environment and they've not only managed to survive, they've managed to thrive. Really, humans, can adapt to anything eventually, and I think that the Egyptians have more than proved that they've adopted quite well to such a harsh land."

"True and I'm sure I can adapt to the heat and the sand just like anybody who visits there does," Livia said.

"Besides, anywhere can be a hard environment to live in if you didn't grow up in it, as you have to adapt," Dave added.

"So you're trying to say, that the Egyptians have adapted to their environment and made it work for them," Livia said.

"More or less," Dave agreed smiling. "I'll make the arrangements and get us first class tickets to Paris. We might want to consider taking different cruises to exotic places as you get to see a lot of different countries and places that way. Not just that couples cruise I mentioned, but other cruises that will take us to many exotic places and there's always something to do on board the ship shops, restaurants and they even usually have a movie theater. There's also always games for all ages.

"That sounds really great, but that's for later. Why don't we just start with France and then we can consider a cruise. For right now, I think it's time to try on those clothes that I didn't have a chance to earlier because of the vision that came upon me," Livia suggested, as she took one of the last bites of her lunch.

"Sounds like a fine idea to me," Dave lit up, as he was looking forward to seeing his mate, in all the outfits that Miss Adina had chosen for her.

"I figured you'd like that," Livia said dryly with a small smile. "I know of no man that doesn't like seeing their girlfriend or wife try on different outfits."

Dave simply smiled at Livia's statement, because it was true, so he really couldn't reply to it or he'd be lying. He wouldn't indeed enjoy watching his mate try on all the new clothes.

The two of them finished their lunch and then Livia and Dave headed for the master bedroom so that Livia could try on the clothes that she hadn't been able to a few hours ago because of her vision.

It was time to finish that fashion show that had been delayed because of circumstances.

~~~Dave and Livia~~~

"What about this one?" Livia asked Dave, as she modeled a pair of pants and a blouse. The pants were navy blue and accented her legs something Dave deeply appreciated and the blouse was a kind of cream and had ruffles down the front.

"You look spectacular," Dave told her truthfully "I don't think any adjustments need to be made as they fit perfectly. The color also goes well with your skin tone and your black hair."

Livia studied herself in the mirror and had to agree with Dave's assessment. Not really a surprise, though, when she thought about it, as Dave had excellent taste. "I believe I'll keep this outfit then," Livia decided.

Livia begin pulling the blouse over her head and putting it gently on the bed as she didn't want to wrinkle it. The blouse was silk, and the pants were a linen/cotton blend. All Livia knew was they were cool and comfortable and made for summer when it was blazing hot. This was the type of thing she'd probably be wearing in Egypt whenever they went, since it was supposed to be even hotter there then it was here in Montréal Canada. Still, the heat wouldn't kill her—probably.

Livia begin to go through the clothes that were on a rack to choose what she wanted to try on next and soon had chosen what looked like a sundress, as it was sleeveless.

The fashion show went on for several hours, and Dave enjoyed every minute of it, as his mate tried on multiple combinations of clothes and when she was done, it was late enough that it was dinner time.

"It's past time for some dinner," Dave said, as he looked at his watch. "I enjoyed every minute of that fashion show, but it's been hours since our late lunch."

"I can't believe I'm hungry again," Livia said, as her stomach growled when Dave mentioned dinner. "I mean, you fixed a large lunch and I used to have only something like a granola bar unless I'd had a vision of course then I ate far more."

"That's only because you didn't often have the money to eat regular meals three times a day," Dave told her seriously. "You only had things like a sandwich or a granola bar for lunch, because you couldn't afford to eat out as often as you probably wanted to. You had to watch your pennies and while buying groceries is far cheaper than eating out you probably didn't feel like cooking elaborate meals most of the time, which is also why you probably stuck to things like granola bars and sandwiches."

"Oh, I cooked some, but not a lot before we met, as I'm not really that great a cook, at least not before you started teaching me anyway. I mostly ate out, the cheapest I could find like burgers and hotdogs," Livia said. "I often wished I had a microwave, as those kind of things can be heated up in it, but unfortunately, all I had was a stove, a fridge those kinds of things."

"Which is hardly nutritious or enough to fill you up. It's good enough for a snack, but not a meal," Dave said. "That kind of proves my point rather well. Now that you're used to eating more at a meal, your stomach has gotten used to actually being full and you've actually gained a little weight, which is all to the good, as you were really too skinny."

"Yeah, I have gained a little weight," Livia admitted, as she patted her stomach.

"Now that you've gotten use to eating bigger meals at meal times you're going to be hungrier then you used to be at such times. Before you only had so much money for food and they only fed you a certain amount when you were in foster care so you got used to not eating big meals," Dave said.

"I can't believe how many clothes I tried on or how long it took to try all of them on," Livia said, changing the subject. "I can't believe I tried on 30 or 40 different outfits combinations, just in the time since lunch and here it is dinner time."

"Well, look at it this way you'll never need to try on so many clothes at one time again and you can do your own shopping so long as you remember that money is no object so you don't need to buy cheap, just because that's what you're used to buying or you can continue to use Miss Adina's services."

"You did promise to help me invest," Livia reminded Dave, who nodded, as he had promised that.

"So I did," Dave agreed, "and we can get started on that as of tomorrow if you like, as it's too late to even consider it tonight. For now, though it's dinner time and I think we'll order out and have it delivered instead of me cooking. Where would you like to order food from?"

"You know I'll eat about anything, so it doesn't matter to me," Livia said. "Wherever you want is fine, as you know what I like by now, since we've been to all the places at least once in this area."

"That's quite an opening," Dave said, but went to order dinner without another word.

~~~Dave and Livia~~~