How long could he postpone the inevitable? If there was a question burning within his mind, surely he must have known that sooner or later, the topic would have to rise again. And considering the many years she had waited for him already, her patience was wearing incredibly thin now.
She squeezed his hand with a hint of impatience. The loving gesture was appreciated, but would not do as a means to distract her, Tessa decided as she leaned in impossibly closer, allowing her body to touch his on top of the covers.
Tessa struggled not to close her eyes at the gentle caress, and simply gazed back, grey meeting obsidian in silence. Of course, she wished to call out his name, urge him on, but where that once might have worked with Will, Jem might lose his train of thought and she most definitely did not desire to wait in such agony for much longer.
When he finally spoke, the relief she felt was immense, but short-lived. He could not truly be asking what she thought he was, could he? Did he wish for…a child?
When Tessa had still believed herself to be barren, being a warlock, she had been struck by such unbelievable sadness, but it faded to nothing in comparison to the grief that came with the actual loss of a child. Once, she had run to Paris to spare herself that pain, and even then, it could not lessen the agony. Will. James. Lucie… A whole family gone in the blink of an eye. A mortal lifetime passed so quickly.
“Would it make you happy?” she finally asked, swallowing thickly once she heard the shakiness in her own voice. Tessa could think of nothing else to say, to ask even. She had given Will a chance at the family life. Could she really refuse Jem then? How would that be fair? And yet, fear made her heart race as she stared up into his eyes, unable to turn away from him now.