Trepidation || j. g ||

| r e m e d y |

"I HAD A dream last night, Jake." Athena murmured faintly across the shiny oak table in their shared kitchen. Jake sat on the opposite side of the table, sporting a black fitted tee-shirt and jeans. A steaming mug of black coffee sat snug in his grasp as he gave a small smile towards Athena.

"What kind of dream, Thee?" He asked genuinely, bringing the mug to his lips as Athena closed her eyes in bliss for a moment.

"A beautiful one."

It was as if Athena began to live out the dream in real life as she spoke to her darling Jake about it. They lived a normal and non-conspicuous life, where the neighbors would call after them in the early morning hours before heading out to work. Both of them worked in the city, which they would have to travel to from their picturesque suburban home. Weekends would be blissful, waking up with the curtain drawn back as bright, steady sunlight streamed in to greet the sleepy duo. Athena could clearly remember the way the sheets felt-so soft and inviting. She couldn't rid the vision of Jake's warm smile and ringed finger from her mind. They were married.

"We had everything-It was priceless. I-sometimes I wonder what happened. Where did we go wrong?" Athena confessed, her mind still replaying her dream as she stared at Jake, who had given her a look which showed an utmost amount of thought.

Athena's mind played back like a tape recorder, she wouldn't even forget this-not ever. Jake and she would play music so loud, and no one would care or complain. They danced around their home they built together and laughed and laughed. She felt so safe in his arms, so carefree. She had never seen Jake's eyes so light before. They were almost robins egg blue. It was this part of her dream that made her stop talking entirely. Instead, she had looked to Jake seriously as she tried not to cry in front of the man she so desperately loved. Then she thought about it again, and she couldn't help herself. Tears fell down the panes of Athena's soft cheeks as she covered her crying face from Jake across the table. She could hear the scraping of wood against wood as Jake immediately rose from his spot and went over to her. He held her close to him, kneeling before her as he tried to get her to tell him why she was so upset.

"C' mon, Thee. Whatsa' matter?" Jake asked softly as he looked into her red-rimmed eyes.

Athena's lips quivered as she tried to spit it out. He doesn't care. We could never, ever have that...he doesn't want that...how could he?

"...Thee?" Jake pushed, his hands pushing back her curly hair behind her ears as she swallowed the lump in her throat.

"We had a family." She finally croaks, shaking her head as she seemed to melt her lips together from pressing them together so abrasively.

Jake didn't know what to say, his eyes never leaving her crying face as he then looked down. He thought about it for a moment, he thought about it really hard. A baby? He wondered what it would be like to hold one, one that he and Athena created out of their bursting love for one another. To be a protector, to love someone so unconditionally. He already did for Athena, but he questioned the idea when a baby was included. Would it be any different?