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"Chérie…" he’d whispered, whipping a swath of sweat-soaked hair off her forehead "What have we done?"

"I think we know," she’d whispered in reply, her voice hoarse fro She didn’t need any tests, any doctor’s visits She sisley

"I’ll call le prêtre" Kingsley started to rise off the floor

Nora pulled her in to tell you how hard it was to pull myself off that floor, Michael," Nora said "I was so sick and so tired…everyBut I did I stood up and looked Kingsley in the eye and I told him…"

Nora exhaled and the past reached out and took her in its arsley lifted his proud chin "I must and you know it, Elle"

"If you call him…if you tell him, then he’ll decide Yes or no, it’ll be on him I can’t do that to him I can’t make him make this decision"

She remembered the cold, hard certainty that she’d felt at thatSøren decide would be a mistake If he told her to keep it, it would ruin their life together Twenty-seven years old…a job in a bookstore that paid al, and she was the mistress of a Catholic priest Not ideal conditions for raising a child But if he said to end it…a Catholic priest…she couldn’t let him make that decision She had to do it She had to do it alone Not for her sake, but for his

"You ever heard of the Fortunate Fall, Angel?" Nora asked, coain

Michael shook his head

"It’s a theological concept that Adam and Eve in the Garden were supposed to eat the fruit That they were supposed to fall That it was God’s plan all along Søren thinks it’s bullshit I’ree That day when I had to el, your priest made all my decisions for me and had for almost ten years He ownedhis permission"

Michael whistled "That’s intense"

"Welco owned You’ll like it Until you hate it," she said and winked at him "Søren…I loved him too much to force him to make this decision for me Either choice would break his heart So for the first time in years, I made my own decision I didn’t want to lose Søren and e had I couldn’t for one second i up a child in the world I lived in--threesosley, parties at S&M clubs, slave auctions Not a faot the ic pills and took them And the second I took them, it was like the Fortunate Fall I had tasted the fruit of knowledge…but not of good and evil The knowledge of freedo my own decisions And it tasted so sweet it scared me I went to the rectory and waited for Søren He caony I spent a lot of time on bathroom floors that week"