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Chapter Thirty-Two Slouching Toward Hades Year 1 A.S. Day 176 Jenny unfolded the small fan. She had bought it on her trip to Beijing with Sonya before they came back from their skiing holiday. She remembered how confusing haggling over even little things like this had been to her when she first got there. Sonya had gotten the woman selling them down to about thirty and they had bought some as gifts as well. This one she had kept for herself. It had a printed design of a village scene done in traditional style on the heavy silk and while it was not as flashy as some of the others she had bought she liked this one better. It had gotten really hot and humid over the last two days making the mid September weather as uncomfortable as last month. It had also coincided with some painful growth by the twins. She had spent a lot of time short of breath from them compressing her organs as they grew larger. She was having a hard time sitting in her usual spot too. Her belly was pushing out far from her body now. Her navel had popped out long ago and was seen clearly peeking out from between her top and her shorts. And with the heat lately she wondered why she had thought that she could even come out of the house this afternoon. Derek had kept her stocked with iced tea while she tried to get some reading in, but she just couldn't get comfortable enough to really sink into the book she had brought with her. She felt the thin material of her t-shirt and shorts clinging to her in damp discomfort and tried to generate enough of a breeze with her little fan to make some kind of difference, but it didn't help much. The doors to Java Jolts were propped open and there were a couple of big industrial fans at work inside making a limp effort to cycle the hot air out of the coffee shop. The A/C had stopped working three days before and the service company wouldn't be able to get to them for at least another week. Too many of the parts that were needed to maintain these things were not on the priority list for the strained resources of the transportation system even now. She was wondering if she should bother Derek and ask him to take her home, but something inside of her kept telling her that she really shouldn't consider doing that at all. She knew that he probably wouldn't feel put out by her asking. He had said to her when they came that if she needed to go he'd make sure that he could run her back. But again the thought of bothering him just struck her as wrong and something that she should never do to her husband. She had just finished chastising herself for thinking of him that way again. She really didn't have any right to do that since they hadn't even been talking about it let alone planning to get married. She heard someone call her name and looked up at the source of the voice. It was Madeline. She looked down at Jenny stretching out her t-shirt and sweat soaked shorts and told her that she just looked so uncomfortable and would she like for her to take her home. Jenny smiled at her offer. That would make it better and best of all she didn't have to bother Derek. Madeline was such a good friend. She was lucky to have someone that she liked and trusted looking out for her the way she did. "I'm so glad that you can do this for me Madeline. I didn't want to bother Derek while he's working and I am so hot here. I don't know what I was thinking, I should have stayed home." Madeline said that she'd wait for her to let him know where she was going and helped her out of the chair. Derek looked up at Mindy tugging at his elbow. Jenny was coming in from outside. He could tell that she was not taking the sudden spike in heat very well. He had been keeping an eye on her and was almost ready to just call Jamaal in to take over for him while he ran her home and got her settled. She apologized to him for bothering him. Even though it was pretty busy with so many coming in for iced drinks he didn't see it that way, but then she had been doing things like that more often the last couple of weeks for things that he really thought didn't rate an apology. She told him that she was going to go home now if it was all right with him. She just couldn't take it out there anymore. Before he could ask her to wait a minute while he called Jamaal she told him that Madeline had offered to run her home. He looked outside when she said Madeline's name and saw her sitting out by Jenny's backpack at her table. He still didn't know how he should feel about her. She had changed a bit as he had noticed when she started spending more time with Jenny, but he was pretty sure that underneath that she was the same woman that he really didn't care for when she and Brother Paul would corner him during the few times that he was in a church group after his aunt got custody of him. Jenny and her seemed to get along pretty well and he wouldn't have thought that Madeline would become one of the women that Jenny would choose as a friend from what he knew about her. He really wasn't wild about having one of Brother Paul's minions even this much into their lives, but he didn't feel that he had any place telling Jenny who she should or shouldn't spend her time with. She must have found some way to balance having an ordinary relationship with the older woman as well, because she never said anything to him about her being pestered to go to services with them. Maybe she had found some way to handle her and Brother Paul that kept them from making a nuisance of themselves. He'd have to remember to ask her about that sometime when he thought of it again. He told Jenny that it would be fine with him as long as that was what she wanted to do. She leaned over the counter as much as her belly would allow her to do so and kissed him briefly and told him thanks. He said he'd call her in a bit to see that she got there ok and turned to making some iced latte's that a group had just ordered. Jenny breathed a contented sigh of relief. Madeline hadn't been out of her car long enough for the interior to warm up too much and the a/c made it much more comfortable for her in short order. While they were driving Madeline was asking her about how things were going at the institute with J.L. Jenny told her that she had a video on her phone of him walking for the first time without any assistance and that he was finally starting to make intelligible words in the mishmash of sounds he had been making before now. Madeline expressed concern to her that maybe she should slow down since she was only a few weeks away from her due date. Jenny said not to worry about it, that she would be fine. She had already stopped most of her involvement with the other parts of the project and mostly she was just visiting J.L. and talking with Dr. Warren when she did come over for her sessions. Madeline wondered if even that was getting to be too much for her even if Jenny thought she could handle it now. Jenny assured her that when it got to be too much they would have no problem with her taking a long break until after she had recovered from having the twins. As they pulled into her home Madeline asked Jenny if she knew when her baby shower was supposed to be. Jenny stared blankly back at her and said that if anyone was going to do something like that it was news to her. She said that her mother had asked her what she wanted to do and that if she didn't want to do that it would be alright. Jenny told Madeline what she told her mother. That if someone wanted to get something then they should just give it to her. She didn't think that she really needed to be doing anything like a baby shower right now. Madeline pressed her about it some more as they were walking into the house. And when she suggested that she and the other ladies at the church could take care of all of the arrangements for her, Jenny thanked her and said that she didn't think that this was something she would do with this pregnancy. Madeline didn't say anything to her about Jenny implying that she would do the shower thing for her next pregnancy and Jenny didn't know why she had said it in quite that fashion. Regardless of what her dream/nightmare had told her just before she went after Derek, she had no real intention to do this again for quite some time, if ever again even though she did love Derek a little more each day and that made her at least open to the possibility of it. Madeline was pretty sure that Brother Paul would like to hear about these things when she finished with Jenny. The verbal slip about having more children was a positive sign in her opinion that the Lord's truth was starting to take hold in her heart. She knew that Brother Paul had not come to have that particular talk with her yet and probably would even delay it until after Jenny and Derek came to the camp to accept the truth of the Lord's plan. She also knew that Brother Paul would like to know that Jenny was still seeing the psychiatrist even if she was only having minimal contact with the other doctors she was with. She didn't see how that would really be important, but Brother Paul would want to know about it, that she was sure of. She asked Jenny if it was possible to have something cool to drink and she excused herself and went to the toilet while Jenny got them ready. Jenny's dark bottle of pills was in the corner, nestled in with her real pre-natal vitamins and the bottles of cosmetics and other female necessities that now occupied her half of the bathroom counter. Madeline picked up the dark bottle. It made a hollow rattling sound. There hadn't been a great amount of pills in there when Brother Paul gave them to her, but she was getting a bit low on her supply now. Madeline took two pills out in case she needed that many and went back into the kitchen. She thanked Jenny for the drink and reminded her that she needed to take her vitamins. Jenny reached for the pill that Madeline proffered on her open palm and thanked her for thinking of her. She suggested that they sit down so Jenny could be more comfortable and followed her into the living room. Maybe it was how hot she had been, or maybe it was because of how tired the weather and her pregnancy made her. But Madeline was pretty sure that Jenny went under the pills influence pretty quickly this time. She would ask Brother Paul if this was something he knew about or if it was supposed to happen at all later on. Once she went through all of the reinforcement dialogue with her she started talking to her about her instructions for this session. She offered her sympathy for Jenny having to endure such discomfort and reminded her that she would have to make peace with this part of being a woman. Then she started making strong suggestions to her that even with that difficulty, it was still no excuse for her to not dress appropriately. She reminded her that along with his business, his home and his car and personal appearance that if she was not properly presenting herself that she would reflect badly on him as a wife and that if she wanted to be a wife she should always be on proper display to be an ornament to him just as much as any of his other possessions. It was even more important for her since she wanted to be the most important possession that he owned. Madeline had to give her another pill for the latter part of this discussion. Jenny was proving surprisingly resistant so some of the Lord's plans for her, but Madeline was confident that with proper guidance Jenny would one day soon be a devoted example of modern Christian womanhood. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Year 1 A.S. Day 180 (Day 225 of Jenny's pregnancy) Brother Paul turned off his engine and got out of the car. Derek had already left about an hour before. He planned on dropping by the coffee shop on his way to his next meeting after he was finished here. The little mud woman took her time answering the door. Her sister was right when she told him about her. This woman plainly had no morals given how easily she had taken to fornicating with Derek. Fortunately for her Brother Paul would show her Christian mercy once she had been properly instructed on her place in the new order. He knocked again and waited for her to answer the door. After a moment he heard her fumbling with the lock and once it opened he saw her slightly wan face as it peeked out of the house at him. "Why Jenny you look positively peaked. Are you feeling all right this morning?" he asked her. "I'm just a little tired is all," she said. "It's been hard to sleep lately and I'm just not feeling too comfortable this morning." "Well I'm truly sorry to hear that," he said, "You must make sure to take good care of yourself sister Jenny. Those little ones of yours need every bit of care that you can give them. Especially now with it so close to your having them." Jenny let him in and thanked him for his concern, but she told him not to worry. She just needed rest more than anything. Brother Paul looked around and complemented her on not neglecting her womanly duties in caring for her home. He heard her give him the response he wanted to hear from her without thinking about it. That was good, he thought to himself. This slow method was showing some degree of potential to become a potent weapon in the arsenal of the Lord. He insisted that she sit down after she had gotten him something to drink and then reminded her to take her vitamins. She slowly waddled down the hallway to the bathroom. The size of the twins inside of her was making her lean very far back to offset how her belly was protruding in front of her now. He watched her swallow the pill and kept up some irreverent talk with her until she started to go under. It wasn't time to suggest to her that she should volunteer at the church camp yet, but he was going to lay some groundwork for it while he was here today. That and there were some things that Madeline had told him that needed to be addressed as well. After he led her down the linguistic path and reinforced the mental directives he told her again that he was concerned about the stress that she must be feeling now. Once he had her agreement that it was not getting easier he told her that it probably would be a good idea for her to stop seeing all of these doctors except for the medical ones. She needed rest and her place was in the home preparing for her children and taking care of her husband now. Madeline had told him that she had some degree of resistance to her divinely sanctioned role in life and he was pleased to see that the Lord's truth was starting to shape her mind properly when he only had minimal resistance from her. He asked her what she intended to do once she had given birth and when she spoke of returning to work once they were old enough for her to do so he waited until her suggestive level was higher before giving her another pill and telling her that she really shouldn't be doing that. He kept making associations to her basic inclinations that would lead her to accepting that her proper role from now on was to remain in the home and focus on caring for her children and serving her husband and the family that she would provide for him. When she agreed with him that all other distractions such as career and returning to this so-called institute after the children were born were unnecessary for her life now, he was very pleased indeed. He left her with some final thoughts to consider and made a point of telling her to make sure that Derek got the information packet with what he should know, if he agreed to serve as a church camp councilor this fall. She quietly told him that she would give it to him later and then ceased to speak. As he closed the door and left Derek's mud woman behind in the house, Brother Paul thought it was a pity that he could not allow her to stay with Derek any longer than necessary. But he would show her Christian mercy he decided. She had earned that much by providing this small service in righting the wrong wrought by Derek's sinful aunt when she interfered with Derek's proper spiritual development. He walked out to the car. He had sent Vicki to see Derek shortly after she had completed her own period of adjustment. She had not really needed any guidance about what her proper role as a Christian woman should be. But he had needed to impress on her the need for her to forgive Derek for ending their relationship on such foolish grounds. She was doing wonderful work now, assisting Sister Mary reorient the cursed women in her care. She was happy as well, especially since Brother Paul told her that after Derek rejoined them that they would be married as soon as he understood the gravity of the burden of service that the Blessed had levied upon them by the Lord. There would be some time needed to do so, but Brother Paul was confident that the misguided emotion that Derek felt for this mud woman would be successfully transferred to his proper wife. And both of them would be fine examples to their many Levite children in the years to come. Brother Paul would make sure of that. He got into the car and started the engine. After he pulled out into the road he turned toward Java Jolts to speak with Derek again. He had decided that after this mud woman had recovered from having her litter that he would give her over to Cody in compensation for the injury that she inflicted on him. Once she had been mind wiped she would remain with him until Brother Paul decided that she had made up for her violence against him. A biblical seven years of penance should be sufficient. Then he would see that she was given in marriage to another member of the cursed. Maybe he wouldn't even have her spayed after all if she learned her place well enough at the camp. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Year 1 A.S. Day 182 "I'm so glad that you understand why I want to do this Dr. Warren," She said to him. "It's just gotten so difficult to keep up this schedule with all of the changes I'm dealing with right now. I had no idea that having a baby would do anything like this to me." "I understand completely, Jenny," he said. "When Dr. Min informed me that she was reducing your involvement in the project and later suspending it. I suspected that you might not be able to continue with our sessions before long as well. But I still would like to have some degree of involvement even if you are needing to suspend our regular discussions." "What do you want to do then, Dr. Warren?" she asked him. "Well, clearly with the stress that your pregnancy is placing on you now it is wise to suspend our regular meetings as I said, however I would like to suggest to you that if there is something that concerns you that you should be open to calling me or come here in that event. I want you to know that my door is always open to you Jenny. Especially now." He walked her out to the reception room. The older woman who had brought her today stood up when they came in and started gathering Jenny's backpack and other things up from where they were laying on the chair. Dr. Warren hadn't seen her before but from the familiarity that Jenny showed in speaking to her, clearly she was someone that Jenny had formed a relationship with. He privately thought that it was a positive development that she was establishing female oriented friendships on her own now, but he couldn't recall in their talks if she had mentioned this Madeline woman before. Perhaps after she had the twins they could explore this aspect of her developing feminine identity then. He asked her to keep him posted on how she was doing and reminded her that she only need call if she needed to see him. She thanked him and then left with the woman. Madeline took her to see Dr. Pritchart and Dr. Waverly afterward. Jenny was having a busy Monday, but from now on there would be little need for her to come to this place. And once she had the children, Madeline would see that they were given to good Christian parents. Brother Paul had already told her that he had some candidates among the cursed that would be suitable for them. It wouldn't really matter to Jenny, she wouldn't be returning to this place again and after she had accepted her place she would not miss them. Derek met them at Bob's for lunch. It pleased Madeline to see the degree of affection that they showed to each other even if they couldn't properly restrain themselves as they should. Brother Paul was correct she reflected. Derek needed a proper Christian wife who was befitting his status as one of the Blessed. Madeline had been disappointed to find that Brother Paul felt that it would not please the Lord for these two to remain together even after they had been shown the way. But when he told her that sister Vicki would be taking her rightful place as Derek's wife soon she rejoiced that the Lord's wisdom was so clear. She trusted that Jenny would find equal satisfaction with the man the Lord chose for her as well. After they finished their lunch Madeline watched her kiss him goodbye in an inappropriately lavishes manner before telling him that she would be waiting for him to get back home to her after work. Madeline held her tongue and didn't say anything to them but she didn't think that would be necessary after today so that wasn't that much of a difficulty for her. Once they were in the car she silently reached in her pocket and handed Jenny two pills. She didn't want any impediment to their discussion today. Jenny looked at them for a moment and asked her what they were for. Madeline reminded her that she hadn't taken her vitamins this morning because they needed to get to the doctor's office. Jenny thanked her for remembering for her and quickly swallowed them with a sip of her tea. As she sank deeply into the aura of the drug Madeline remained silent. She wanted Jenny to be as receptive as possible when she did begin to speak. At about the halfway mark she asked Jenny to look at her while they were waiting at a stoplight. She obediently turned her face toward Madeline. Her pupils were so dilated that her eyes had seemed to turn black again. It was a good thing that her windows were tinted Madeline thought. Between that and the cloudy day there was little chance of scorching Jenny's eyes out. Just to be sure she told her to close her eyes and just listen to her voice. Once she did Madeline started to instruct her on how she should behave in public in the future. She wanted her to understand that sort of behavior belonged in the old world and not the new one. But Madeline also felt that she should go a little further as well. Usually what she decided to impart today was something that they reserved for when a woman like her was exposed to God's truth in the camp, but she felt that laying the groundwork a bit now would only be of benefit to her later on. For the rest of the trip home she spoke to her of how the only real pleasure that a decent woman should feel was what she received from bearing her children. She spoke of how deceitful and dangerous it was for a woman to be giving in to the sexual desires that the devil used to lead her away from her proper job of serving her husband. Over and over she reminded her that satisfying her own wanton cravings had no place in her life now, only her duty as a woman and when she did feel carnal pleasure in serving her husband in that way it was only a incidental part of her reward for being a good wife and mother and she should be satisfied with that. As she walked her into the house she asked her if she would behave in such an improper way in public again and was pleased to hear Jenny vehemently insist that it would never happen again. Derek would be grateful, she thought, once he understood what she had done to shore up this woman's sense of propriety. But it wouldn't matter much anyway. Soon he would be with a righteous woman who didn't need to be guided into the Lord's path in this way. Before she left she told Jenny that since she had noticed that she was almost out of her special pre-natal vitamins and she would make sure to see that she got more in a day or two. Jenny thanked her and went inside to rest and reflect on the good council that Madeline had given her. Praise the Lord, Madeline thought to herself as she walked back to the car. Praise the Lord. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Year 1 A.S. Day 184 Day 239 of Jenny's pregnancy Jenny was busy cleaning the house when she heard a knock on the door. Since she no longer had those unneeded appointment wasting her time she could devote her efforts to what she should have been doing all along. Derek had suggested to her that they should start converting one of the extra bedrooms into a nursery now that her due date was only a few weeks away. She had told him that was a wonderful idea and she had already had her mother offer to get some of the things out of storage from when Kim had her twins. The things there were older of course, but still sturdy and along with the few things that she had received already there was already enough to get started on with that. They were at Java Jolts during a slack time when he suggested it to her and when he tried to more than give her a brief kiss she had to cut it short. She had to talk to him soon about how inappropriate it was for them to be doing things like that in public. She knew that they had done so before, but she knew better now that behavior like that was unacceptable if she wanted him to take her seriously as a wife and a mother. After all if she threw herself at him like some little slut he would never see in her the material of the wife she should be. It was a good thing that she was getting so large as well. It made telling him no when he reached for her in their bed easier to accept as well. He had been more accepting of that when she told him she didn't think it would be good for the children right now than he had been of her refusal to display her affections in public anymore. It was a mistake to have done that in the first place she thought, once she had done it she was having a hard time reining him back in to proper ways of showing affection. Perhaps they needed something to help them she considered as she opened the door. The man in the dark khaki uniform asked her if she was Jenny Peterson. When she answered that she was Jenny Peterson he smiled at her and said that he had the right address. He handed her a small box and asked her if he could have some water before he left. She told him that he could and walked into the house while she opened the box. She handed him a glass of water and he thanked her. He asked her what was in the bottle and she automatically told him that they were a special pre-natal vitamin she was taking. He told her that they sounded important and she should probably take one now. She agreed and swallowed one after opening the bottle. She turned back to her cleaning. She felt so focused on what she was doing that she forgot about the delivery driver until he cleared his throat and asked her to come over. She put down her dusting towel and walked over to him. He asked her where her husband was and she answered that he was at work. The man expressed surprise that he was not home and asked if they had already gone to church this morning. She told him that she and her husband really weren't religious and the man suggested to her that they should change that habit. It would be good for them to go to church as a couple. It would be just what they needed now. When she repeated that her husband wouldn't care to go the man suggested that she give him one of her vitamins and he would talk to her husband next Sunday about it for her. He asked her if her family's church was nearby and when she said that she wasn't from here originally he said that she should be part of her husband's faith. That it was her duty as a wife. The way he was saying it made simple sense to her and she didn't see why she hadn't understood such a simple idea before. It would help her with him as well. Once they started going to his church he would understand why she felt the need to not act inappropriately in public anymore. She told the man that she would do what he suggested. He smiled at her and said that he would see her and her husband next Sunday for worship. She thanked him for his advice and he told her goodbye Mrs. Peterson. She closed the door and even though she knew she shouldn't have let the man speak to her as a woman that she wasn't yet, it still made her feel so good to be acknowledged as her Derek's wife by a stranger. Year 1 A.S. Day 187 Jenny had gotten up very early on Sunday morning. She had given Derek a perfunctory kiss when she maneuvered herself out of the bed in the morning. She whispered to him to get his shower while she got breakfast ready for them. Derek watched her shadowy bulk move out of the room and wondered if he should really get up at all. Jenny had been acting really strange the last few days and he wasn't really sure how he should respond to it. Since she had stopped going to the institute she had rarely even left the house. When he asked her if she wanted to go to Java Jolts with him she just said that she had a lot to do and that he should go without her. Most of the regulars were asking him for updates. They could see how huge she had started to get and they really weren't surprised when she stopped coming around as much. Derek could understand why himself. She was just so uncomfortable when sitting here all day like she had before not that long ago and now it just wasn't possible for her anymore. That didn't bother him, it made a lot of sense to him it really did. What did bother him was the peculiar way she was acting. For the last week it seemed like she had developed a phobia about doing anything remotely affectionate with him in public. She was very attentive to him in the home, even though she no longer allowed them to have sex anymore. She did have a point there as well and even though it was a more unwelcome change after being with her the last few weeks completely, he should have expected it. Although she did pay attention to him in other ways. She had started using her mouth on him regularly and as incredibly good at it as she was when she did that, it was all about him, and that made him uncomfortable when she refused to let him return the favor when he suggested it. She was all about the house as well. He was sure than everything there had already been scrubbed within an inch of its existence at least twice by now. When he mentioned it to Mindy she told him that he should be patient. He told him that she had probably had the nesting stage of her pregnancy hit her hard and she would be back to her old self in a few weeks more than likely. Derek listened to what Mindy had to say. He had been a woman until just a few months ago and he understood what Jenny was going through a little better than he did. His sister already had two children before the Shift and Mindy told him that compared to how his sister was, Jenny was positively tame. Still the way she was acting now, strangely enough, reminded him more and more of Vicki in some ways. Not that was really a bad thing. Except for her hateful attitude toward gay people and her uncomfortable insistence on him going back to the church they had a pretty decent relationship most of the time. When Derek had started dating Mindy a few months after he broke up with Vicki, Mindy's lack of interest in that part of life had been a relief to him. But when he first started finding himself attracted to Mindy he had forced himself to sit down and really think about what it was being with Vicki had gotten to him. And he realized when he thought of it that, if she hadn't really taken that step too far, he would have still been with her and that he probably would be married to her today. When she had walked into his shop and asked if he was still himself, he was struck by the realization that, since she hadn't shifted either, he would still be married to her now. Facing that revelation after losing his relationship with Mindy to the Shift was a jarring experience. She had only stopped coming by a couple of weeks before Jenny had walked past his windows that first day. Vicki had made it plain to him that she believed that God intended them to be together and that was why he had spared the two of them from the Shift. That rather selfish and self-serving declaration had drawn a pretty sharp response from him and she had stayed away since then. He wasn't sure that he wanted Jenny to be anything like his ex. Even if it was just a phase. The wonderful thing about his relationship with Jenny was that she was just enough like Vicki that he found that familiarity weirdly comforting, but there was the space that was uniquely Jenny that made it special. He bolstered his patience in his mind. If this was part of who she was when she was like this then he'd just have to take it until she got back to normal. That whole better or worse thing and all that. He heard the phone ring from out in the kitchen and got out of bed to stumble into the shower for a quick wash. She wanted him to do it, and even though he didn't see the point of it he did it to make her happy. If it helped her turn back into the Jenny he loved then it would be worth it. She was very attentive to him during breakfast. She insisted that he should eat first while she tended to something else in the kitchen. He was just about done when he started to feel a peaceful wooziness creeping over him. He just sat there until Jenny handed a phone to him and told him that he had a call. Jenny went back into the kitchen and started cleaning up while she left him to tend to his business. She had a lot of work to do even though breakfast hadn't been that complex of a project. Her plate was in the oven to keep warm while she attended to her duties. She would eat after she did that. She shouldn't be eating with him or any other man. Women should only eat with women unless circumstances demanded that they should be there for her man to show her off. She didn't know when she had started to realize that, but she knew she shouldn't go against it now that she did. She heard him finish his conversation and hang up. He came into the kitchen and looked at her. She stopped what she was doing and waited for him to address her. "When you finish cleaning up and get your breakfast you need to get ready. We're going to church today," he told her. She felt relieved in a way. She had been wondering how to broach the topic with him. Praise the Lord she thought to herself and wondered why it had occurred to her to think that.