The gardens were quiet, almost too quiet as her mind ran rampant, far away from the sweet night’s air toward a future she wanted no part of. Nothing about this was okay with her, and the flowers weren’t offering their usual comfort. Not the smell of her favorite flowers, nor the way the moonlight bounced off of their delicate petals eased her troubled mind. Not even the sound of the fountain’s trickling waters did anything to ease her mental anguish.<br/><br/>No, she found herself standing there, having wandered through the flowers and feeling no calmer than she’d been upon entering the maze in the first place. Her eyes were fixated on the bubbling fixture, the water catching the moon’s soft light through the trees and the walls of leaves.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">I wish I’d just taken him up on the offer when I had the chance…</span>Her thoughts had taken a forlorn turn, still kicking herself for being unable to look at Brad earlier.<span style="font-style: italic">If I had, we could be far away from here, and things wouldn’t be as they are...I’d be with him, not with Ivor. I’d not be pregnant with his child...I’d not be living a lie.</span>Despite all that Brad had done for her, she still held that fear, that very real fear, that he’d realize he couldn’t do it anymore and he’d leave. Finding out she was pregnant only made that worse. Saying you’d stay around to be with a woman who was married to another was one thing...watching that woman go through pregnancy with another man, and watching it come to fruition, was another matter entirely.<br/><br/>She felt his presence before he announced himself. While there was a large portion of her that wanted to make a hasty exit, the other part of her knew that it wouldn’t be a talk she could avoid for long. And, as much as she was dreading it, this talk needed to happen. If she intended on keeping Brádach, this talk needed to happen.<br/><br/>As his hand touched her shoulder, Maria turned to look at him, turned to take in his face with as much of a smile as she could muster. He was still as handsome as ever, standing there like the knight in shining armor she didn’t deserve. His tone was still loving, sweet even, and it had her reaching a hand up to touch his cheek. “...You know you should not be here…” she greeted him quietly. “If Simprina saw you here with me...she’d do everything in her power to get you removed...It isn’t proper…” Then after a moment, after her eyes dropped and found something else to look at, she added, “...I am glad you’re here, though...We need to talk.”<br/><br/>It was at this moment that she took a step away, a hand tucking some of her loose tendrils of hair behind an ear. “You already know I am with child...You’d not have been at dinner if you hadn’t…” Her eyes met his gaze again, no confidence in their depths as she struggled to find the words she needed. “...I’m terrified, Brád...terrified of having his child...I can’t stand to think what life will be like from now on, and what this child will mean. I can’t stand to think what this means for us...When they announced the news, I wanted to lay in the tub and allow my last breath to leave my body...I’m not certain what to do anymore...I don’t want to have his child, Brád...I can’t have his child, Brád…” The tears had started to flow then, her arms holding herself. “I should have left with you when I had the chance…”