Fan Fiction ❯ Eve's Garden ❯ Chapter 5
Chapter Five
After the movie, Eve went over to Diane's house, but her friend had already fallen asleep.
Michael was home and insisted she stay and hang out with him. Having nothing better to do, she relented.
They started watching television and began talking about themselves.
Eve learned that Michael had gone to college and had been a computer engineering major. Michael hadn't pursued a career in his field of study however; he was working for his family's cattle ranch in a farming community about thirty minutes from where he lived. She told him that she was currently starting her general education courses in college and hoped to become a teacher of children with learning disorders. Eve told Michael how she was working two jobs, going to school, and living on her own. She was proud of her accomplishments, especially her independence.
They were amazed to learn that they were both adopted; Michael had been adopted through an agency and had never known his biological parents, Eve had been adopted within her family and knew her biological mother.
Eve's mother had been in the military when she was conceived and Eve had been the result of a short, failed marriage. Knowing she would be unable to raise a child and continue her career, Eve's mother had asked her sister and her sister's husband, who had been unable to have children, to raise her daughter. Eve hadn't found out she was adopted until she was thirteen. It had been traumatic for her since she had always thought her mother and father were, well, her mother and father. At first, she'd felt betrayed and lied to. But she came to feel especially loved since now she knew that her real mother, whom she'd always thought was her aunt, had loved her enough to want the best for her. And she knew that her mom and dad, though they were by blood her aunt and uncle, had chosen her to be their daughter. Michael was enthralled by her story, saying that he hoped one day to find his real mother and father. He had known all through his childhood that he was adopted, having always been told that his mom and dad thought of him as a special gift. He hadn't looked for his real parents because he was afraid of his adoptive parents thinking that he loved them any less. Michael told Eve that wasn't the case; he had always just wanted to know where he came from.
The two talked about their families and about growing up. Michael's grandmother had practically raised him; his mother was a nurse who worked full-time, his father worked in the family business. He spent his days after school and his summer vacations on his grandparents' farm, playing with cows and geese, riding tractors and ATVs, making wine with his grandfather, helping pick cotton, and helping his grandmother cure homemade olives. His family was pure blooded Italian, and they stuck close to their roots. Michael even impressed Eve by speaking a little of the Italian he had learned growing up.
Michael went on to tell Eve that his mother had struggled with cancer years before he was born, but it had been in remission. It had been the reason his parents couldn't have children. The cancer had returned and his mother passed away his junior year in high school.
"After my mother died," Michael told her, "I moved in with my grandma. My grandpa had died five years before, so it was just her on the farm. When Mom died, Dad went through a real tough period of grieving. It was hard on both of us, but my dad isn't a real emotional guy, so he didn't know how to deal with me. I lived with Grandma all the way through most of college, then went to the dorms until I moved in here."
Michael's father had remarried a few years later, an event that had rekindled Michael's yearning to find his biological parents. He'd been raised an only child, but now had two older step-brothers.
Eve couldn't imagine not having her mother around. Granted, they had fought through most of her teenage years, what mother and daughter hadn't, but now she and her mom were very close friends. Her mom had married right after her sophomore year in high school, never getting a chance to finish, because she thought she was pregnant. Eve had been ashamed of her mother's lack of education growing up, but as she got older, Eve had found a great deal of respect for everything her mother had been through. Eve's parents had married before finding out that Eve's mother had developed cancer in her ovaries, which made her body act pregnant. At sixteen, she'd had to have most of her ovaries removed. The doctors said she'd never be able to have children, which is why they had adopted Eve.
Eve had been an only child for most of her life, too. Her mother and father had divorced and had both remarried also. In a strange twist of irony, they both ended up having children with their new spouses. Her mother had proven the doctors wrong by given her a sister when Eve was nine and a brother two years later, and her father had a son the year Eve graduated from high school.
Eve and Michael were in awe by all of the strange parallels in their lives. Stranger still was yet to come.
Eve asked Michael his full name.
"Michael Anthony Richardson," he said, "What's yours?"
"Eve Marie Anderson."
When Eve told Michael her full name, he got quiet for a moment and looked at her thoughtfully, "Eve Marie Anderson. It's funny. My mom's maiden name was Evelyn Mary Anderson. I knew there was something about you. Maybe her angel brought us together."
Eve squirmed a bit. She couldn't tell if he was putting her on or if he was serious. But the look on his face told her. It was too unbelievable to be made up.
Eve found herself telling Michael about her on-again-off-again relationship with Dale. It was something she hadn't been willing to talk about with anyone yet. It still hurt too much. But Michael made her feel at ease. She told him how she had gone to school with Dale, how they had been friends until they graduated and he had left town to train to become a fireman. When he had returned, he had looked her up, invited her to dinner and they had hit it off. Unfortunately, Eve admitted, she had wanted more from things than Dale was ready for. She cared a great deal for him, but he had lied to her, cheated on her and often stood her up. When she finally realized that her dreams of a future with him were futile, she had to let go. "I still care for him, but we're just friends now," she said with a sad smile, "It's because of everything I went through with him that I've given up on dating for a while. He's even gotten himself a new girlfriend and tried to cheat on her with me. Definitely not the committed type. I don't want to get serious again until I've had a chance to heal. It wouldn't be fair for the next person if it was just a rebound kind of thing."
Michael asked her, "But don't you ever get lonely living all by yourself?"
"Well, sure, sometimes. But I'm busy a lot, not home much. Plus, I just visit my friends when I get lonely."
"Well, I hope you'll count me in that number and if you ever get lonely and want some company, you'll give me a call."
Eve smiled, "I'd like that."
Eve felt really comfortable with Michael. She hoped that he actually meant it, because he seemed like someone she'd like to have for a friend and right now she needed all of the friends she could get. And she knew she'd never meet anyone who shared as bizarre a past as hers.
They spent the rest of the night talking and fell asleep together on the couch in the living room. Eve didn't even notice that the apartment was still messy.
