By Kim Hoey

From Here to Eternity

“Eve?”

“Yes Adam.” She stopped stuffing grapes and oranges in a bag and stood to face him where he lounged against a rock outcrop.

“Catch.” He threw her an apple with a bite taken out of it.

She took another bite an threw it back to him. “You know, you aren’t half as funny as you think you are.” She stretched, rubbed the small of her back and returned to her previous job.

“Yeah, but you love me anyway.” He said, finishing off the apple.

When she turned back to him, he was holding a daisy out to her. She smiled in spite of herself.

There was a low rumble in the sky. They both looked up. Adam became thoughtful. Eve grabbed her bag and started for the door. Adam gently grabbed her arm to stop her.

“Seriously though, I know I was made to help you, protect you. Stuff like that. Which, you know. Wow. It’s been a great gig.” He crossed his arms so his biceps bulged a bit. “I mean your kindness, sensitivity, warmth, understanding, intelligence.” He put his hand on Eve’s belly. “I get why you were the one chosen to carry the babies.” He paused. Looked off to the side a bit. “Not gonn’a lie, it stung a little when I got passed over for such an important job. But totally agree now. I mean, I’m nothing if not a team player. “

“Adam.” She stopped his rambling with a touch to his chest. “There’s a point to this?”

“Well, yeah.” He put his hands in the pockets of his new pants and wondered for a second why he’d never thought of pockets before. So useful. “We are heading out the door soon. The paparazzi are going to be all over us. Just wondering if, you know, maybe.” He shuffled his feet a little, kicked a stone.

“Spit it out.” She tapped her foot impatiently and enjoyed the sound of the click, click, click her shoe made against the ground.

“Well, I think we should get our statement worked out before we go.”

Her look of confusion stopped him for just a second before he rushed on.

“You have so much going for you already. You know, once we get out there it’s going to be all, ‘Is that a baby bump?’, ‘Wow, look how pulled together she is.’ Stuff like that. I was just wondering what the word could be about me.” He bobbled his head back and forth in thought. “Just one thing. Maybe. I don’t know. How about we play up that I was the protype model?”

Eve twisted her mouth to the side and shook her head in disbelief. “You think anyone will care who came first?”

Adam shrugged. “We are equals, partners, made from the same stuff to complement each other, all that. It’s just...” he gulped. “I want to be a little special too.” He smiled that boyish grin that she’d seen every day for, well, forever. “Did I mention how much I admire your empathy?” He took the bag of fruit from her, slung it over his shoulder and pulled her to his side in an embrace.

Stepping back, she ran her fingers through his curly dark hair, chuckled to herself a little. He was a sweetheart. And she was built for empathy.

He kissed her softly on the cheek.

“Ok. Sure.” She watched his face light up as they moved toward the exit. “I mean, what could it hurt?”