I wanted to probe Simone’s comment, but I got a gentle nudge from Timothy. Leave it, my sweet. It is better if you not snoop in such things. Andrew knows what he’s doing. He is enjoying the challenge.
Challenge? That was almost as weird a remark as Simone’s oddly unsettling comment. But, I let it go. Besides Sammy was asking me something about the upcoming honeymoon, Since I had no idea where we were going, I shrugged. “Ask Timothy. He won’t tell me our destination.”
My husband had said . . . Oh, my. My Husband. What a delightful word. I said it several times to myself, just to hear the rhythm of it.
I like the sound of that, too, almost as much as the word wife and your new name: Penelope Caldwell.
Was that my new name? Should it be? I knew several women who had kept their maiden names, saying that it displayed male dominance to demand a name change, as if a wife were the man’s new property. But, it had been my father who gave me my maiden name, not my mother, so what difference did it make in choosing one or the other? Besides, I liked the name Caldwell, but it would change soon, the moment we were forced to leave San Jose. Then I’d be called something else. What would my name be then?
I think Penelope Caldwell has a pleasant flow, Timothy assured me.
Was it my imagination or was Timothy reading more of my thoughts now?
Yes,” he said, giving me a wide grin, it was the bite. You may begin to feel my thoughts, too, as the saliva of the bite creates its subtle changes. Will that offend you? Will you resist that invasion?
“Too late to worry about it now, isn’t it?” I said.
“To worry about what? The honeymoon? Why would you worry about . . .” Sammy blushed then reached for her glass of wine.
I could see that communicating with Timothy in mind speech was going to cause problems, at least when I was among humans.
And that was a startling thought. Will I still be human? I mind sent.
You will be an enhanced human, he said, giving me a quick kiss on my forehead. A supernatural with human characteristics, one accepted by all species or subsets: Fae, human, vampire, werewolf . . .
“Werewolf?”