Chapter 3

The temperature didn't dip too low even when the sun set on the horizon. Not that Nadia needed anything more than "perfectly bearable" when she walked out of her suite in nothing but the bikini she brought with her that trip.

Eva had already fired up the hot tub on their private deck but had dipped back inside to change. A bottle of Perrier was placed next to two Champagne glasses, a cheeky nod to the romantic getaway they were not on. Nadia mostly came to support her wife having to deal with her narcissistic mother and to cover babysitting duty, but it was with the understanding that she would not have to deal with Isabella outside of one family dinner later that week.

Otherwise, it was business as usual for their third major trip of the year.

"It's nice in here!" Nadia called into the suite, where the shadow of her wife moved by the bathroom. "You gonna be out soon?"

"Just a minute!"

Nadia adjusted her bikini top before pouring the sparkling water into one of the glasses. She placed it right next to where she intended to hop into the tub and watch the Malibu sunset.

It was the first time Nadia wouldn't see a west coast sunset directly on the ocean. Malibu faced south, a piece of geographic trivia she didn't know until the night before when she made reservations at a restaurant overlooking the ocean. She had been disappointed to realize that they were not in an optimal spot to see further west and only caught a few rays settling over the tranquil water of the Pacific Ocean.

This was way better!

Nadia gazed at the faraway horizon from her second-floor deck as she stepped one leg into the hot tub. As the heat shot up her spine with every subsequent step, Nadia was reminded of the sunsets in Honolulu, where she had traveled at the start of the year.

Had it really been nine months? Her intrusive thoughts told her that she could have gotten pregnant in Hawaii and now be the size of a hot air balloon.

"Damn," said a voice behind her. Nadia didn't have to look to know that it was her wife finally joining her on the deck. "What a sight."

Nadia settled into the far corner of the hot tub that gave her the best view of the sunset. "You can't even see anything from over there."

Eva appeared at the edge of the tub, wearing a loose crop top over her bikini. "I can see you, can't I?"

Nadia gently splashed the water in Eva's direction. "You're such a hopeless flirt."

"After over seven years together, I hope you understand that about me." Eva dipped her toe into the water without taking off her crop top. "Something has to fuel my life. Flirting with pretty girls is definitely at the top of that list."

"Have you flirted with anyone else but me today?"

Eva was so tall that even when fully seated in the hot tub, the water didn't come up to her crop top, which remained dry for most of their time in the tub. "I almost flirted with that waitress back at the diner. Although she didn't seem up for it."

"When did you flirt with her? I was there the whole time you were."

"She was on break when I first arrived. She was having some crazy conversation with her agent on the phone. You shoulda heard it." Eva leaned back, sinking deeper into the hot water that bubbled between her and Nadia. "She told me she was from Idaho. Have you ever met someone from Idaho before?"

Nadia handed her wife the other glass of sparkling water. "Probably. I don't ask where everyone's from."

"I've never been to Idaho. One of the few states I've never been to, actually. For fuck's sake, I've been to Omaha, Nebraska."

"What about South Dakota?""You think my mom let me reach adulthood without a private tour of Mt. Rushmore?"

"Fine. North Dakota?"

"That might be one of the other states I've never been to. Like Alaska."

"Really? You've never been to Alaska?"

"I don't think I've ever been to Michigan or Minnesota, either. I'm allergic to the Midwest unless it's Chicago."

"You've been to Ohio?"

"Have you been to Ohio?"

"Yes. I once went to a conference in Columbus."

"Good Lord."

"It was not the worst place I've ever been. Maybe you need to give Columbus a chance."

Eva drowned her words in her sparkling water. Nadia leaned over the edge of the tub and appreciated the painted sky as it kissed the sun goodnight.

"You really like sunsets," Eva said.

"Don't you? It always blows my mind how fantastical this planet can look."

"Of all the planets out there, of all the stars… crazy to think we could be the only ones."

"What makes you think there isn't life on other planets?"

Water splashed against Nadia as Eva slammed down her hand. "Fermi paradox, babe."

That rang a bell, but Nadia couldn't remember what it meant. Nor was she inclined to ask, since she was here to appreciate a quiet evening with nature, not whatever existential shit her wife was thinking about right now.

Eva remained quiet as Nadia curled her arms over the edge of the sunken hot tub and became lost in the sea of pinks and purples. The last day of summer was on the horizon. She wondered what it was like to live in Malibu and experience a view like this all year-round.

Kids like Abigail have no idea how good they've got it. Unlike Abigail (and her aunt,) Nadia did not have a childhood of Disneyland, Hawaii, and Mt. Rushmore. Let alone London, Paris, and Singapore. Once a year, the Gaines drove up to visit family in Vermont during the most beautiful month of the year, but for the most part, Nadia's childhood forays into the world were kept to a school trip to Nashville and a cousin's destination wedding in Las Vegas.

Now she could travel wherever she wanted. Between Eva's money and a boss who was generous with the (unpaid) vacation time, the world was Nadia's oyster. The only reason she didn't jet off to Shanghai one weekend and Milan the next was because it simply wasn't her. Such excess had honestly disgusted her when she first met people like her boss Ethan Cole and her future wife Eva Warren. The carbon footprint alone… call me when jets are cleaner in the atmosphere. Or so the Nadia of seven years ago thought. She had since, she hated to admit, become accustomed to taking two or three big trips a year when there wasn't a global pandemic going on. The shorter bursts in Europe or Southeast Asia Eva used to take for work were not Nadia's thing. She either wanted to take her time to be a tourist or spend quality time with her loved ones.

Malibu was perfect. Eva was coming here for a few days, anyway. Nadia knew this would probably be the last real trip of the year and was content to settle into the New England freeze as soon it came later that year.

"How did the talk go with your mom?"

She asked that when she had seen most of the sunset and was reminded why she was in Malibu. Because Isabella's presence loomed over them like a dark sky on a cold night.

Eva sighed so audibly that she rippled the bubbling water. "You know how it is. She takes some jabs at me, I call her a bitch…"

"You didn't."

"Yeah, I did." Eva laughed. "When I called Henry earlier today to touch base with him, he told me to try not antagonizing her. You know this isn't a woman I can gray rock in these situations. We're parlaying about the future and my inheritance. I can't help myself."

Something clogged Nadia's throat. "What did she say about the inheritance?"

"Oh, the usual. You know, she's willing to cut me out of the will if I'm not raising more Warren progeny by forty."

Nadia knew those parameters well. "We've only been married four years. What does she want from us?"

"Babies, Nads. Little blond-haired, blue-eyed Warren babies. So, you know, when we knock you up one day you need to do your best to quell the Irish inside of you. She's really concerned about gingers mucking up the family tree."

"I'm not a ginger."

"You've got red hair, and that's enough. Don't need freckles to freak her out."

I've got a few… Nadia knew all about the genetic science behind being a redhead – after over thirty years of being one, she didn't have much choice – but she doubted her mother-in-law cared. The odds were still good that at least one of their children would look more like her than a bona fide Warren, and that probably terrified a woman like Isabella who dyed her hair to make herself look like she fit in with the Nordic charge that dominated the family tree.

"It's not like you're a guy," Nadia muttered. "We don't ‘whoopsie' a kid into existence." She sipped more of her water, delighting in the distraction the carbonated bubbles brought. "Which I'm grateful for. I didn't like the stress of that possibility hanging over my head when I dated guys." Felt like a lifetime ago now. I had declared myself a lesbian after years of convincing myself I was bisexual when I met Eva. Nadia's wife didn't like hearing details of her past with men, and it was for the best – Nadia was never keen on sharing it. "We have to go out of our way to do it. Besides, what if I can't… you know."

"Trust me, I brought that up. I think she could come around to using a surrogate, but she wants it to be your eggs. Or mine." Eva shuddered as if she were about to vomit.

"I'd rather not go through that, thanks," Nadia said.

"You and me both! About as much as I want that pregnancy and childbirth bullshit."

"She would cut us out if we adopted, I'm guessing?"

"Which is bullshit, considering we're in the perfect position to adopt. We've got money, a big house, and a family support system. Yet even if we went straight to Norway and kidnapped some foster kids who looked exactly like me, my mom would go nuclear. She's obsessed with the genetic family tree."

"That she's not even a part of." Nadia could not forget the detail that Isabella was the outsider in this situation.

"She tells me I'll understand one day. Pshaw. If I'm gonna be a parent, I want it done on my terms, you know? That's all I understand."

"Still…" Nadia shifted uncomfortably in the hot tub which made her sweat a bit more than usual. "I guess now that I'm in my thirties and we've been married a few years… I should seriously think about it. If we're gonna have at least one kid, maybe it should be now before later. Never know what might come knocking as I get closer to forty."

"We've got enough money to do it whenever you want. Don't feel rushed because my mom is crazy."

"I dunno…" The more Nadia thought about it, the more the thought rather appealed to her. When she got with Eva – who barely knew a twelve-year-old from a toddler – she assumed theirs would be a childless romance, whether they married or not. It wasn't until they attempted to plan a wedding that Isabella intervened and decided on their behalf that either kids happened in a certain amount of time… or there was no inheritance.

Nadia knew the reality: she and Eva would be fine with what they already had, and as long as Henry was in charge of Warren Manor, they could keep living there forever. Complete with our own wing. It still weirded Nadia out to arrive at the horseshoe-shaped manor and know that she could do whatever she wanted to the west wing. Like I'm President Bartlett or something.

There was plenty of room for children. They had the means to send them to whatever school they wanted, assuming paranoid Nadia didn't simply hire a team of tutors to homeschool her child. Pregnancy and childbirth seem like they suck ass, but my mother says she never had any problems. Nadia also had what her mother didn't – access to nannies that ensured she got plenty of sleep and "me" time with a newborn around.

They could do it. She was more worried about Eva having a meltdown because nothing screamed fulfilling unwanted gender roles more than shacking up and having kids.

"Can we talk about something else, please?" Eva asked. "We can hash out what my mom wants when we get home."

Nadia curled herself up into a small enough ball that fit right into the crook of Eva's embrace. As her wet cheek pressed against her wife's dry crop top, Nadia said, "Absolutely. What do you want to talk about?"

"How about the interesting shampoo you're using?" Eva audibly sniffed. "What is that?"

"I forgot to bring my usual shampoo, so I'm using what they have in the bathroom here. I think it's tea tree oil and… cinnamon?"

"Okay, that's weird, but I kinda like it."

"Funny." Nadia flicked some water onto Eva's nose. "That's what I think about you."

Eva had to have known that she walked right into that one.

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While Nadia wouldn't be caught dead on a public beach in nothing but a bikini, she didn't mind flaunting the short-shorts and tank top that she had packed in her suitcase. With a healthy helping of sunscreen and a scrunchie that held back her wavy hair, she pulled a sheer coverup over the tank top and walked half the length of the beach while listening to nothing but the roar of the ocean and the seagulls squawking overhead.

Eva was busy again, this time joining her mother and Abigail at the Santa Monica Pier. Nadia was surprised she wanted to go, but Eva was adamant that she not leave her niece alone with Isabella for too long. I don't think she's that big of an influence on a girl who is always around one of us, but all right. Nadia didn't mind having time to herself, especially on beautiful late summer days like that one.

She stopped to take a photo of a border collie digging in the sand, its owner laying on a blanket a few yards away. It was long enough for a woman with suspiciously long strides to catch up to her from a nearby lookout point.

"Even from several miles away, I'd spot you anywhere!" Nadia knew her friend and former coworker Amber Mayview was due to be in Malibu the night before but didn't think they'd meet up until dinner that night. I must be near her hotel. There Amber was, her shredded crop top and booty shorts showing off the lean physique that caught the eye of every person on the beach, male and female alike. Even the dog stopped digging long enough to look up at Amber and bark in appreciation for that bottled blond hair currently in a time-out bun because, as Amber put it, "Shit gets fried when you bleach it enough."

Even at her most "slovenly," Amber was a knockout at home on the sands of Malibu.

"Are you trying to say something about me?" Nadia lifted her sunglasses when Amber got closer. Although she wasn't as tall as Eva, Nadia still had to look up to make eye contact with one of her closest friends. "Because I might be flattered if you are."

Amber hooked her thumbs into her pockets as she stood wide-legged in a pair of strappy sandals. "Believe it or not, this is total chance. My weirder half came out here earlier to do some tanning and I've come looking for her." Amber shielded her eyes and gazed across the shoreline. "For all I know, a riptide took her out."

"I hope she can swim."

"Oh, she's a terrible swimmer. I shoulda put a ring on it before she met a terrible fate."

"There's the gold digger we all know and love."

Amber snapped her fingers. "It's her favorite thing about me. She can't get enough."

"Did you ever think when you first milked her for money that you'd be together still?"

"No! Life's weird." Amber checked the messy bun on the back of her head before changing the subject. "What are you up to? I'm bored already."

"You're in Malibu for one day and already bored?"

"There's not exactly a lot of shit for a girl like me to do around here. Back in the day, I'd have some old guy wrapped around my finger back at the resort, but otherwise… it's all outdoorsy shit! You know me. I don't like getting in saltwater that can gobble me up and spit me out on the shores of Okinawa." Amber shuddered. "All bloated and crusty."

"You've thought a lot about this, huh?"

"I have nightmares sometimes."

Nadia was about to suggest they head to a nearby boardwalk to do some window shopping when Amber spotted something – or someone – in the distance.

"What the… you've gotta be kidding." Without another word to Nadia, Amber marched across the sands with her hilariously large strides that put Eva's to shame. "I let her go out alone for two hours and this happens! Without me!"

It took Nadia a second to realize what her friend was talking about. There, near the shoreline, was a woman in a generous red bikini who had let down her long dark hair before pulling it back into a fresh ponytail. As she leaned between one leg and then the other, she talked to a very tall, very half-naked surfer who wrapped one arm around his board and placed his other hand on his hip. The guy was as ripped as the tide, and Nadia almost doubled over in laughter.

"Seriously, what in the man-bun hell…"

That was the last thing Nadia heard Amber mutter onto the Malibu breeze before interrupting her girlfriend Adrienne with some guy who had to be named either Brent or Drew, with no room for a Chad in between. Yet Amber and Adrienne were not the average couple who got jealous over things like flirting with guys. Not when the other was as good at it.

So Nadia finally got close enough to see Amber standing directly between the surfer and Adrienne, her coquettish seductions turned dangerously high for the sole purpose of getting a reaction out of her long-term girlfriend.

I'm so glad my relationship isn't like this.Yet Nadia couldn't lie that this highly amused her, all the way down to how Adrienne pushed herself in front of Amber while masking her flirtations in apologies to her girlfriend. How do I get in on this without looking like I'm interested? Nadia loved a good comedy of errors when she wasn't directly involved.

"You could teach me to ride one of those things," Amber said with a modelesque wink in the surfer's direction. "She'd just drown."

"I would not!" Adrienne insisted, her whole midriff jiggling as her bare feet danced in the sand. "I'm not as hydrophobic as you!"

"I'm the better swimmer."

That was around the time the surfer realized he was in way over his head. Nadia stood a few feet away, enjoying the show – especially the look the guy gave her when he noticed her great amusement.

"I'll see you guys at dinner tonight." Nadia walked away before she was witness to her friends being their cringiest selves. I'd say only in Vegas, but we're a few miles away. She reminded herself to never go to Vegas with the likes of Adrienne and Amber, the hottest mess of a couple she had the pleasure of knowing. "Remember, we have reservations for eight!"

Nadia resumed her walk. With the warm air in her hair and the sand between her toes, she thanked her lucky star that Eva kept the flirting with other women. At least I'm open to another woman getting between us. She didn't mean the bad way.