It's just a small place on the water, built on a dock really.

It's quiet and a bit lonely and few people know it exists. Most of the time, the owner uses it as a summer house. In the winter he worked in the city someplace. Maybe he was independently wealthy.

The point was, it was a quiet, elegant kind of place, without uncomfortable witnesses for a confrontation that would probably be... electric.

Hunter pulls one of the chairs away from the small table, always the gentleman.

Jetta slides into the chair with a smile that means that she isn't just here to have a romantic little outing with her main current boyfriend. (Actually, I do believe that Hunter is her only current boyfriend. She dumped Darcy and Keye, stopped answering Alec's phone calls... Good heavens.)

"So, honey," she purred. "What do you think about children?"

No beating around the bush today, apparently.

Hunter puts on a show of thinking about it. Almost as if she isn't the only one acting, but... no, Hunter's always so genuine, isn't he?

"Well... children are nice. I always liked to keep an eye on the sprogs when I had the chance. Usually they like me well enough, though sometimes they complain that I bother 'em." He grinned. "Silly things. Don't appreciate care."

Or boring boring boring summer vacation, either. Or sunburns. (Which were their own fault! Tough love, that was what it was.)

"But I'm rambling. Why d'you ask?"

Oh, so clueless. Really. Whyever would she ask?

"Because I'm pretty sure that you're going to be a daddy in a matter of about eight months."

Okay, seven, by this point. But. It could always just be that the baby came early.

"Of course, I'd never consider abortion, so I need to know how much support I can count on from you."

Yes, she really did just say that. Jetta's not very honest.

Hunter's face went very stiff.

Rather as if he was stiffling an intense emotional reaction.

Like hysterical laughter.

This girl was good. Oh, she was lovely. Like a finely crafted work of art, designed for manipulation. She was beautiful.

There was a long pause. Hunter looked to be thinking.

"Ah, but I do love you." He finally said, and then grinned. "Now, of course I'll hang around and help out with the sprogling as much as I can. But on to more important matters- what're we going to name her?"

Her, you notice. No question as to which gender the babe'll be.

Well, that was easy. A little surprisingly so, considering that they'd never discussed children--not that she wanted any, but she was making do. Stupid Teague--and all that. She blinked, but her smile took on the tone of a pleased cat.

Oh, good, he's still going to be buying her all kinds of things. Two boys to fetch and carry for her. Fabulous. As for the gender thing...

Jetta just assumed he'd prefer a girl.

"Don't make any assumptions; I haven't had an ultrasound yet. It might be a boy."

Hunter's smile turned, well, patronizing. "Jetta, darling. I'm a simple kind of guy, but I have my talents. What do you think of Lavender as a name?"

He's single-minded, and he isn't going to argue with her about this. Another day, he might have that arguments (he liked him a good argument), but not today.

He did tell Teague he'd pick a good name, didn't he?

She made a face.

"Puh-lease. No kid of mine's going to run around with a name like that. Sounds like some little old lady in corsets and petticoats."

Lavender. Isn't that some washed-out shade of purple?

It's a perfectly lovely flower name, Hunter will have you know.

"Old names aren't necessarily a bad thing. I have a few." Very old names, his were. We won't go into that.

"Still, I'd like to name her after a flower, and Violet's out. You're sure you don't like Lav?"

He paused.

"Willow?"

"Like the little short dude in that stupid movie? No way."

There's also Willow of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame, but she doesn't want to name the child after her either. (She's not a fan of the show, partially because she thinks she could do a better job.)

Hunter frowned faintly. "Well, we have a while before we have to decide."

Maybe Teague would have some ideas.

"Yeah, we do. Why a flower name, anyway? Why not something like Jewel, or whatever?"

Why, because you want her to grow up cold and heartless like you?

"Because I want her to have something to remember me by, and there's nothing better than a name."

Suddenly, his face split into a wide grin. "I am, of course, assuming that you don't want me to propose marriage."

He put on his best mock-serious expression and added "One must do the right thing, after all."

At that point, he began laughing.

Hah. He'd make an honorable woman out of her.

Fat chance.

Ahahahhaa.

"Oh, god, no. No offense, but I don't want to get married yet. Kid's going to spend most of its time at my parents'." They'll love having a granddaughter. (They'd love having a son-in-law more, but they'll take what they can get.)

She hasn't told them that she's pregnant yet, by the way. Waiting for the right time. (I.e. when she has something else to thrill them with and can slip the 'Mom, Dad, I'm pregnant and not married' through their euphoria.)

"I'll have to kidnap her over the summer. We can have mapcap adventures."

Anyway, that way Jetta didn't have to deal with it if she ever went home for the summer. I'm sure she'll appreciate that.

Also? Hunter is the only person I know who could use the word madcap in a sentence and not crack up. He has iron self-control.

Oh, I'm sure.

"Yeah, you do that."

... wonder how Teague is going to react to Jetta's plans for their child? I'm sure he wants the baby for himself.

Or at least doesn't want her to turn Baby into a conniving witch like her mother.

"Did I ever tell you what I did for a day job, beautiful?"

To change the subject completely.

"Nooooo," she drawled.

"Do tell."

Hopefully it's something glamourous. She already knows he makes plenty of money.

"I'm a god." He said with his eternally half-serious grin.

Tra-la.

"Yes, honey, but that's not a job," she answered.

So unnish. So blissfully unnish. Except for the fact that Teague knew all that stuff about her, and there was that disappearing guy in the museum... (By the way, she's forgotten about Nick already. His coat is sort of wadded up and tossed carelessly on the floor of her closet.)

"It keeps me busy." He grinned happily at her.

"Do keep it in mind if you ever meet anyone overly strange. Weirdos bother you, call me." If his lady was unnish, then she was unnish, but that didn't mean he'd leave her without a warning. Vampires had a bad habit of killing random people, unnish or not. As did a few other types.

She was his.

"Well, actually, I do think I have a stalker or something. He knows way too much about me..."

... is she trying to sic Hunter on Teague?

Yes. Yes she is.

Looooooong pause.

He isn't really ready to do that for her.

Honesty, activate!

"We actually had a talk about that the other day. Teague isn't really likely to bother you all that much, is he? He's rather harmless as long as you leave his silly guitar alone."

Naming the guitar was a bit much. Hunter liked Teague, he really did, but guitar-naming was the sign of a mind with too much time on its hands.

"... how did you know his name?"

She barely remembers it, and only when she's annoyed with him for getting her into this mess in the first place. (Yep. Blame is firmly on Teague, in Jetta's mind. Never mind the whole seducing thing.)

"I'm godlike that way."

So maybe he guessed.

"You mentioned him once."

Hah. No. In her thoughts, yes. But no.

Unnish coping mechanisms? Heeeere, unnish coping mechanisms. C'mon. C'mere.

"I did...? I don't remember doing that..."

Weird. But hey, she must have mentioned him, or else how would Hunter know his name. Yeah, that must be it.

"Must have been a while ago."

He nodded silently.

Not agreeing with her, understand. Just nodding.

"So, are we going to order any food?"

There's a counter/opening in the wall of the kitchen where he can ask the guy for this or that.

"I'm in the mood for a sandwich." He has simple tastes. "Maybe lemonade?"

"Sounds like a good idea to me. But I better watch what I eat. Don't want to eat anything that'll hurt the baby."

Teague would be furious and she'd have to deal with him scolding her for seven months.

"Yeah. Lemonade sound good to you? I could get us a pitcher."

He should get a turkey sandwich. Just because. With tomato.