oration

Jessica is beholden to Paul in a way that she has never been beholden to anyone else before. It is he, this boy-child, born of her own disobedience and her own affection, who exerts the most control over her, however unwittingly. She adores the weight of him in her arms, the warmth of him. When he cries, she can focus on nothing else until he is soothed. Her first thought upon waking and her last thought at the day's end is always of Paul.---Jessica muses on the Voice, on power, on her place in the world, and on Paul.