I had a few wake-up calls after marriage to Reginald though. Some rude awakenings, if you will. One thing I had always wanted was to raise a child of my own. Preferably a daughter, but I’d take what I could get, even if it wasn’t a Maxine Jr. I hadn’t thought about it until months after marriage, but for some reason I just couldn’t have a child. After months of trying, we went to the doctor and he said that I never would have one. And yeah, that put me down a lot. Reginald didn’t really bother trying anymore, and it kind of put me down a bit, being his wife and all… Oh well, at least he came back with the winter mint candies still.

So when Reginald was at work, I just had to sit at home cleaning and cooking all day. It was so boring. The only thing that took me away from the monotony of it all was painting. Soon enough, my painting room was filled to the brim with art, but I couldn’t even sell them. Or at least, there wasn’t any point in selling them for money. Reginald provided more than enough of that. I just kept painting and painting until I was running out of room to put all the canvases. We started shoving them in the attic just for space.

“Hello, sister-in-law,” Beatrice smiled, waltzing into the house like she owned the place. She did this almost on a daily basis now whenever Reginald was gone. “What are you up to?”

“Painting,” I said, trying my best to ignore her.

“Hmph, you would be painting fruit,” she scoffed. “Of course, just looking at that figure, it’s no surprise food is always on your mind.”

“I’m painting fruit because I’m uninspired,” I corrected with a sigh.

“Not surprised.” Beatrice let her snake, Fluffy, slither onto the small stool in front of my canvas. “How about you paint me something of Fluffy?”

“You want me to paint the snake?”

“Treat him with respect,” she snapped.

“If I paint him, will you leave me be?”

“I’ll head back home, yes.”

I spent the rest of the afternoon painting Fluffy. He was a surprisingly great model, standing perfectly still and letting me paint at the best angles. When I finished, I lifted the canvas up and showed them both.

“Oh… I like that,” Beatrice smirked, yanking the painting out of my hands. “I’ll put this in my house.”

“And leave me alone?”

“Mhm, for today!” she laughed, trying to walk out the door, but banging her body into the door. “Fluffy! Door!”

“Hisssss,” the snake hissed.

“I don’t care for the sarcasm. Door. Now.” Fluffy slithered up the door and opened it for her. “Thanks, baby. Let’s go nail this up above my bed!”

I watched the deranged woman waddle down the street with a painting of her snake in her arms. Good riddance. Well, at least until tomorrow. I seriously needed to figure out something to go out and do during the day. I couldn’t take another afternoon with that woman leaning over my shoulder.

*   *   *   *   *

The next day, I was frantically trying to find some reason to go out. Anything at all would do, but we didn’t need food and I had no friends to go visit. That’s when I remembered that I needed to get paint. That was it! I’d leave before Beatrice could show up. But I worried what would happen if Beatrice went out looking for me though, so I grabbed some of Reginald’s clothes and tried to work some magic.

I wrapped a thin bed sheet around my chest to try and hide my breasts. Then I threw on one of Reginald’s shirts, waistcoat, and heavy coat, finishing it off with a tophat to tuck my hair into. I looked in the mirror, marveling at my looks. I looked like a real, regular man. I couldn’t sit and admire myself for too long though, so I dashed out the door before Beatrice could swing by.

It was kind of fascinating, walking out as a man and how different things were. I still got some of the glances like usual, but not nearly as many. A few people treated me with actual respect and shook my hand! Quite odd for me.

As I was on my way to the paint vendor, I saw something. Something I hadn’t seen in a while. It was just a piece of paper on the side of a building that read “Lucas DuCarmont’s Call For Odd Persons! Paying $0.75 per day” in big letters.

“Looks like he got cheap,” I mumbled. 

I thought about it for a moment. Thought about Lucas and Debbie and Rex, and that little kid Dallas. I stared at my wedding ring and its shining blue gleam. Just like his eyes…

“Dropping by couldn’t hurt,” I said to myself. “Just a nice visit.”

So I made my way to the lab, still knowing the way by heart. I couldn’t have been prepared for it though. I hadn’t been there since that day I said goodbye to Lucas, but when I walked in, I was still shocked at the amount of people. 

Rex was still his usual self, but the boy Dallas was so different. The shine in his eyes were gone, and instead looked at me with a dull blue darkness in his irises. Like a man who had been broken way too young. But there were new people too. A small Irish girl sitting at the front desk filling out paperwork, and two little girls from the far East running around together too. What an odd cast he had here now. And speaking of Lucas… I made my way into his office and-

“Oh, god…” I whispered. Now looking at the man I once knew, Lucas’ right eye was completely white, with a scar across it and left only one shining blue eye.

“It’s… been a while,” he sighed.

“What happened…?”

“Lab accident. Dallas made a mistake, but… It wasn’t the boy’s fault. He didn’t know better, and I’d rather it be me paying the price than him.”

“Oh.”

“I heard you got married,” he remarked. “How’s that feel?”

“Boring,” I groaned. “Reginald hardly has time for me these days, and I’m starting to feel more like a trophy.”

“Sounds thrilling,” he grinned with a small laugh.

“I found out I can’t have kids either,” I sighed.

“Oh yeah?”

“Well, you just decided to drop by like old times then?” Lucas asked suddenly. “Nothing else? Nothing more?”

“Well, um, I need to be out of the house for the afternoon,” I admitted. Lucas held out his hand to me.

“I could keep you entertained.” In a moment, two things flashed through my head. My commitment to Reginald and my passion for Lucas. And at that moment, I took his hand. “If you can keep up with me,” I smirked.

“I’ll try my best.”