Betrayal by Nancy Ann Healy

talk about anything tonight.”
    “No, we do,” Alex said seriously and instantly noted the fear on Cassidy’s face. The agent chuckled and released the pressure on her temple. “No, Cass, it’s nothing bad…well, I mean I don’t think it’s bad…it’s just…well…you know Dylan and…. well… after John and then the….”
    “Alex?” The agent looked at her lover a bit sheepishly. “Rambling,” Cassidy smiled.
    “Sorry,” the agent chuckled. “I guess I don’t know how to start.”
    “Why don’t you just start and see what happens?”
    “My parents have a condo in Florida. I was thinking, you know…when school is out. Well, maybe we could go down and spend a few days. Get away. Go to some of the parks. I don’t know.”
    “Alex? You wanted to talk to me about taking a vacation?” Cassidy asked.
    “No. Well, yes.” Cassidy cocked her head and opened her eyes a little wider, questioning what Alex was driving at. The agent sighed. “Yes. I thought it would be good for all of us.”
    “It would be. I agree.” The teacher looked at her lover, sensing that something else was behind all of this.
    “Okay. Cass, you know how you told me you want to have more kids?” Cassidy nodded. “Well….I don’t know if I…”
    “Alex…”
    Alex immediately stopped Cassidy’s thought. “I’ve been thinking about that a lot the last few days.”
    “About?” Cassidy questioned.
    “About you and me and Dylan, about us having our own family.” Alex paused and closed her eyes. “Actually, I can’t seem to stop thinking about it.” Cassidy studied the agent as Alex’s stress visibly increased. “What if I am no good, Cass?”
    “No good?”
    “Yeah, as a parent.”
    “Alex, I have to confess I am a little lost. We just went from vacation to parenting,” Cassidy said gently.
    The agent let out a nervous chuckle. “I have to ask my parents, Cass, to use the condo.”
    “Okay….”
    “I don’t really talk to them often,” Alex explained.
    “I sort of gathered that.”
    “Just, they never really approved…of my choices in life,” the agent explained.
    “Which choices?”
    “All of them,” Alex said as her fingers began to instinctively rub her temples.
    “Alex, we don’t have to go anywhere. If you aren’t comfortable…”
    “No, Cass. I want you to meet them. I want you to…No, I need them to know.”
    “To know what?”
    “To know that I have a family,” Alex said quietly.
    Cassidy let out a soft sigh. “What are you trying to say, Alex?”
    The agent nodded and took Cassidy’s glass away, setting both aside and taking hold of her hands. “I want you to know who I am and why. I was hoping we could go see my parents next weekend. Nick and Barb want to give them their news about the baby and well, they’ve seen us. I can’t just pretend…”
    “Alex, this is all about me meeting your parents?” Cassidy asked.
    “It’s not easy for me, Cass,” Alex admitted. “I don’t ever want to be them.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I mean; what if I am like them? As a parent?”
    Cassidy nodded her very basic understanding. This was the first time Alex had ventured into a discussion about her parents and even now it was somewhat cryptic. What was clear to Cassidy was the anxiety the topic caused for her lover. Working with children for so many years, it was a reaction she had grown familiar with. It generally signaled some type of abuse or neglect, or at the very least a restrictive upbringing. Cassidy had feared that for Dylan with all of Chris’s preconceptions about the boy’s future. It had been a major factor in her decision to leave the congressman. Listening to Alex now, Cassidy needed few details to understand that her lover’s childhood had not been a happy and harmonious one.
    Cassidy remained a bit unclear on where Alex was attempting to head with the discussion. She did understand that she needed to calm any doubts the agent had about Cassidy’s ability to