Lily stretched and yawned lazily, then opened her eyes to sunlight streaming through the thin white curtains. She was in a strange room, strange bed. Where was she?

Then she remembered. She was in a hotel room. It was the only way she could get away from Alinora. She had to sleep after all.

She rolled over and looked at the clock. A little after 9 a.m. This was her third day at the hotel. She usually spent her days at her house, though. She just didn’t want to see Caleb right now. In Alinora or anywhere else.

She’d noticed she’d been more tired these last few days. Feeling more aches and pains. Yesterday she’d realized what it was. It was the fruit. In Alinora. It had a supercharging effect on her body. Made her have more energy, heal faster from things, feel less pain, be more alert. It probably made the baby healthier too. The baby who was kicking with a steady thump right now.

She’d chosen not to know the sex of the baby. In her mind she thought of it as a girl. But she didn’t want to get attached to that idea. In case it was a boy. Which would be fine. All she wanted was a healthy baby. Just then the baby gave her a good punch to the bladder.

“Oop!” she said, quickly getting clumsily out of the bed and hurrying to the bathroom. Pregnancy bladder was worse without the Alinora fruit too.

Later she sat at the table in her room, eating room service food. Fresh fruit and French toast. It was kind of nice to be pampered right now. The fruit didn’t compare to Alinora fruit, but still.

She watched people in the parking lot below. Families unpacking their cars. Children goofing around. She got a little teary eyed. Why couldn’t she and Caleb and the baby be a normal family like that? Why did they have to span dimensions and not speak in the real world? Or their home world. However you wanted to look at it.

She thought about how her life had changed since she met Caleb, since she found Alinora. In some ways it was better. She was less stressed. The sabbatical she had taken had grown into a much longer time off than she had intended. Now it was a maternity leave as well. In her heart she knew she didn’t really ever want to go back. She could keep letting Clara run it for her. Or she could sell it. It was working fine the way it was now, so she’d worry about that after the baby was born.

That was another thing she had because of Alinora and Caleb. A baby. That had been a goal of hers for a long time. A dream. Now here it was. Her friends were very confused about that. She told them she had dated someone briefly and it hadn’t worked out. And she wouldn’t tell them his name. They all said that wasn’t like her, why would she have something so casual, something she never mentioned to them, and then not tell them all about the baby’s father?

They were right, of course, it wasn’t like her. But were they likely to believe Alinora? She’d learned her lesson about confiding to people about that.

She finished her breakfast and got ready for the day. She was meeting Sarah at her house later for lunch. Sarah had also agreed to be her birth partner. They’d started taking childbirth classes together. She wasn’t even sure if she wanted home birth or hospital birth. Those were never details she worried about when she dreamed about having a baby.

After dressing (and going to the bathroom again) she grabbed her purse and a light jacket and headed home for the day. The sun was pretty shining through the trees along the road that led to her house. She drove up and parked in the driveway. She walked up to the door and something caught her eye, lying just in front of the door. It was a lily. Her eyes welled up with tears.

“Darn pregnancy hormones,” she muttered to herself. Caleb had found her. And clearly wanted to make peace.

She smiled, and awkwardly bent down to pick the lily up, and carried it inside. She put it in a vase with water and set it in the living room.

Caleb had been so cold to her in reality. But this was the Caleb of reality and he had apparently changed his mind. She couldn’t have him only in Alinora and not here. She knew that. And now he agreed. Did he really agree? Or did he just miss her in Alinora? She was tempted to start sleeping at home again, but she didn’t want to see him there. Things were all naturally wonderful there, it was hard to be mad at him or have a constructive conversation. It was a place for getting along. It was heaven.

Still she didn’t know if she could hike through the woods to find him again without the Alinora fruit. It was a conundrum. She’d worry about that later. For now she’d concentrate on enjoying her day with Sarah. Then she’d sleep on this. One more night away from home.

Her day with Sarah went well. They had lunch out on her patio in the back. She’d bought a picnic table. Sarah had agreed not to ask her about the baby’s father anymore, so they were talking about other things.

“This is a huge yard,” Sarah said, “I take it you don’t mow it yourself?”

Lily laughed, “Uh, no. I hired someone to mow the lawn and… weed, or whatever it is lawns need. And I have automatic sprinklers.”

Sarah shook her head. “You are so not domestic.”

Lily smiled. “Yeah. Not so much.”

“You hire someone to clean your house too?” Sarah teased.

“No. And I would definitely fail a white glove test right now.”

“With a big yard like this, you need a dog,” Sarah said, looking around.

“Or… a kid?” Lily said, smiling.

“Sure, sure, if you want to go that way with it,” Sarah smiled back at her.

But just then a dog did come into the yard. It was surreal. Lily just stared as Molly bounded out of the woods and ran over to her.

Sarah turned to see what she was looking at. She laughed. “Holy crap.”

Molly came over to them and allowed herself to be petted. She jumped up on Lily and wagged her tail.

“I also think you need a million dollars and I should lose ten pounds instantly,” Sarah said, looking up at the sky.

Lily shook her head at Sarah.

“What, if wishes are coming true today. Or idle thoughts…” Sarah smiled.

But Lily was nervous. She was looking around to see where Caleb was. He couldn’t be far behind Molly.

“I wonder what her name is,” Sarah said, scratching Molly’s ears. “Oh, Molly,” Sarah said.

Lily looked startled.

“Name tag,” Sarah said, pointing at the collar.

“Oh,” Lily said, and smiled, trying to make light of all of this. “She must have wandered away from home,” she said.

Just then she saw him, in the trees behind her yard, in the shadows. He seemed to understand now was not the time to make his presence known. He quietly stepped farther into the woods and out of sight. Lily breathed a sigh of relief. This was just not something she wanted to happen all at once. Sarah meeting Caleb, and Lily getting to know Caleb in real life.

“I didn’t think anyone else lived around here,” Sarah said.

“Oh, well, maybe not in a house you can see from the road,” Lily said, petting Molly. “But I think there may be a house or two somewhere around here.”

“Hmm,” Sarah said, pondering this. She stared intently at Lily.

“What?” Lily said.

“Nothing,” Sarah said, smiling.

“Shut up,” Lily said playfully.

“Any of these neighbors a man?” Sarah asked with mock innocence.

“You shush,” Lily said.

“Aha! A clue,” Sarah said as Lily got up from the table.

“Quit being so wily,” Lily said, “I have preggo brain. I can’t compete.”

“Oh, alright,” Sarah said as she followed her back into the house. Molly trailed behind them.

“I’ll be nice,” Sarah said, “and I will assume that Molly will find her way safely home after I leave?”

“You may assume that,” Lily said, putting her dish in the sink.

Molly sat in the middle of the kitchen floor wagging her tail at them.

Sarah fake yawned. “Well, wow, I’m getting so tired. I guess I’ll be going now,” she said. “I’ll leave you to… whatever.” She smiled.

“Smart ass,” Lily said, then gave her a hug.

Sarah kissed her on the cheek. “See you next week, chica,” she said.

“See you,” Lily said as Sarah grabbed her purse and walked out the front door. She gave a little wave at the door.

“Bye Lily, BYE MOLLLLY,” she said, waving at the dog.

Lily shook her head and smiled. Sarah laughed and closed the door behind herself. Lily heard her get in her car and drive away.

“Well,” Lily said, looking down at Molly, “What now?”

Molly just kept wagging her tail.

Lily took a deep breath and walked back out into the back yard. She just sort of stood in the middle of it, waiting for him to appear again, from somewhere.

Molly danced around her feet, all excited. Lily heard a rustling in the trees and then she saw him again. In the same spot she’d seen him before. He came out of the trees and walked toward her. He wore jeans and a T-shirt and hiking boots. He looked every bit as rugged as he did in Alinora. Just in a modern way. ‘Darn pregnancy hormones,’ she thought to herself.

He stopped walking about five feet from her. He said nothing for a moment. He looked kind of speechless. She couldn’t think of anything to say either. In Alinora things just flowed straight from emotion, there were less inhibitions there. Nothing was awkward.

“Hi,” he said finally.

“Hi,” she said. Her voice sounded croaky. She wasn’t aware she’d gotten so tense. “Hi,” she said, trying again. It came out much more normal this time.

“Hi,” he said again and smiled. He stepped forward and held out his hand to her. “Caleb,” he said politely.

“Lily,” she said as she took his hand. She smiled. He smiled back.

* * *