Page 108 of Take Two

Mae grinned. ‘You’re freaking out.’

‘No. Yes. Yes, I am.’

‘Relax, I’m just starting a conversation,’ Mae said.

‘I wasn’t prepared for it. You should have dropped some hints before now. Started staring at prams on the street or knitting booties.’ She took a breath, letting the thought settle a bit.

Then she took another. And another. The panic began to dissipate. ‘But I guess I could start thinking about it.’

‘I’m happy you’d even think about it,’ Mae said easily.

There was one thing Callie needed on the record, though. ‘But what about…’

Mae frowned. ‘What?’

‘I mean, I sort of thought when I started my career, that I’d kissed this goodbye. Kids.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Because they’ll be… Well, they’ll behumiliatedby my career, won’t they?’

Mae cocked her head, shocked and sad. ‘Callie…’

‘You’re gonna tell me they won’t? Neither of us is that naïve, Mae.’

Mae took Callie’s hand. ‘Baby, it was just a blip in time. Something you did for a bit.’

‘You’re actually making it sound worse. Like a porn career.’ Callie tried to laugh, but it came out thin. ‘I just… I hate the idea of our kid Googling me one day and—’

‘—finding out their mother did something crazy for a living when she was young?’ Mae finished gently. ‘I don’t know, they might think it’s cool you were famous.’

‘Till they see me cosying up to some muscly idiot.’

Mae laughed, tugging Callie closer. ‘Well, I didn’t love watching that either. But I got over it. So will they.’

Callie shook her head, smiling despite herself. ‘I don’t know how you always make me feel like… everything’s okay.’

‘Because it is,’ Mae said firmly. ‘Even if it’s not perfect or even goes catastrophically wrong. Stuff breaks sometimes, that’s just how it is. But you get out the glue and get to work.’

Callie leaned back against Mae, thinking of what they had built already, of what else they could make together. ‘Glue?’ Callie asked with only slight mocking.

‘Yeah.Glue,’ Mae said firmly.

Maybe it could work. A little one, Callie’s and Mae’s. Could she really do it? Did she want to? She’s spent her early years forced into motherhood. She had to consider her fear of the trap. It still lingered.

‘I know you might be thinking about George,’ Mae said. ‘I get that. I’m not disregarding it.’

Callie looked at her. ‘Can you stop reading my mind? It’s disturbing.’

‘I just know this isn’t simple to you. I don’t want you to feel stuck with a child if it’s not what you want. I don’t want it if you don’t want it.’

Callie didn’t want to be stuck either. But somehow this felt different. Because no one had put her here. She had walkedherself into this life with Mae. An open door looked good, but only if you didn’t like the room you were in. But Callie liked this room. She was prepared to close the door and lock it up tight.

Callie smiled to herself, thinking about how tiny baby shoes were. ‘I want to keep talking about kids. But maybe over those lovely butter cookies you made?’

Mae smiled and went to the kitchen. She came back with a pot of tea and a plate of cookies. Callie thanked her and poured for them both. Then she took a cookie and bit into it with utter bliss. Mae sure could bake.