“Christ! Please don’t let it slip. Not even a hint! There’s Mike and my work and, my God! What if the kids found out? Or the teachers or other p...rents at the school? I’d do anything! ANYTHING to make sure it stayed secret!”“You really mean that?”“ANYTHING!” she insisted, staring straight into my eyes pleading desperately.We walked in silence for a minute or two, the dogs grudgingly following at a distance.“You’ve been very lucky for the last two years,” I eventually told her. “Keeping an affair. You have to walk away from there. It's not fair to me and the girls."Reese just stared at her for a minute, seeming like he was going to respond in anger to what she had just said, but he finally seemed to sag."You're right. Maybe I'll finish this last assignment and resign. Phil can take over anytime." That's wonderful honey. I can't wait till you're finished with that place. We can do more things together, maybe travel a little and help the girls decide on colleges. It can be like it used to. I'm gonna be like this forever. I just know it. I can feel it in my heart and I want to die!" He allowed himself to slip down beside me and there we sat for a long time, hip-to-hip, silently. There just wasn't anything to say. Occasionally, I would allow my hand to slide down and gently rub the belly of the body that was now very likely mine for good as I tried to feel something moving in there. My mind told me that there was nothing there to feel, not yet anyway. But it was the not knowing;. "Very good, Justine!" I can barely hear her whispered compliment over the pounding of my pulse!I sigh with relief and longing as she drifts away, murmuring encouragement to other students as she passes.Why, oh why did I take THIS art class! Even as the thought enters my head, the answer niggles at the back of my brain: 'Because, Justine, you have a stupid schoolgirl crush on Ms. O'Connor!'Yes, I have to admit that I took the class because I wanted to be close to her. Never mind that every boy.