Donald Mallory

"I met your guy, Richard."

"Who?"

"Your naval officer."

"The one you scared away from me."

"Is he the dad?"

"What? No. Of course not."

"Then who?"

She shifted her eyes to see if anyone was close enough to hear. Then she leaned forward. "Don't you know already?"

"I guess I do but I need you to say it."

"I've only ever been with one man and you know who I'm talking about."

He nodded. "I kept my promise."

"And I kept mine."

"What promise did you make?"

"To wait."

"That all seemed so long ago."

"Of course, I'm not saying you have to do anything." she said.

"What possessed you to named the girls Rain and Vision?"

"Before they were born I had a dream about you standing in the rain looking out over the sea."

He laughed. "You did? Wow. I actually did that a lot."

"You did?"

"Yeah."

He looked down at his drink and took another gulp. Then he looked up at his sister. She just smiled. He looked at her eyes and made a choice. He got up from his side of the booth and moved over to sit next to her. Then he took her hand and kissed it.

"I'll take care of you." he said. "You and the kids."

"You don't have to. I know you ..."

"Quiet. I decided. I'm going to take care of you."

She leaned in and put her head on his shoulder. He hugged her and held her for some time.