she liked when Victor was around, because this was how she definitively knew she was on his mind, when she was in his field of vision (and he, hers), and it did not matter whether he was being kind to her that day, or whether he was being cruel (they both called these moments of his “being the boss,” as in, “Oh, I can see the boss is here,” which would often lighten the mood, unless it didn’t), because it was all attention, and she craved it from him, and if having a baby would keep him steady in her life, she’d do it, and so she did, and it was done.
