She sheepishly smiled. Perhaps a little....embarrassment showed through.
"Ben saw right through me on this yesterday," she confessed, "I was putting him to bed when he straight up asked me if I loved Mr. Corvin."
She felt emotion pushing it's way up. "In...........in my efforts to keep our relationship professional, he saw through it. I stood in his doorway for a few seconds that seemed like an eternity before I simply answered yes and told him good night as I always do in Rheinlandic."
She let go momentarily to wipe a tear from her cheek that had started falling. She didn't want to create a scene. "He made me realize how I truly felt," she finished barely audible.
"Peter" she thought to herself. How WOULD he feel? He was a sweet child and Ben loved him. After a brief silence for her to think, she took back his hand.
"I'll admit," she explained, "I'm not sure how to approach Peter. He's a sweet boy and I like being around him but I wonder how he feels about me. I mean, I'm not his Mother but....I would treat him like one if he gave me the chance. I mean, there are some things a father just can't do that only a Mother can and vice versa."
It was about this time that the waiter returned. She put on her best smile, moved her hair out of her face with a hand, looked up and ordered the Moulteschen.....in Rheinlandic, "Ich werde die Molteschen."
When he looked at her blindly, obviously not understanding her, she gave a giggle, "I'll have the Moulteschen...please."
She returned her smiling face to Erik.
