“Again! Again!” They made him read it three times and by the time he finally closed the book, they were both sacked out. I carefully extricated myself and got up, stretching my now-achy joints.
“So, how did it go?” he asked in a low voice as we walked next door to the nursery. Lola was out again and he laid her down in the crib. He went to the large stuffed chair in the corner and patted his lap. I sat down and he put his arms around me.
“Good. We had fast food and then went shoe shopping. I made April get something pretty.” He nodded and kissed my shoulder.
“Looks like you were busy here as well.” He nodded.
“Yeah, well. It wasn’t right for us to be here and leave even more mess than was here before.” I laughed.
“You know, when we walked in April pretty much tackled Tate. I think they’re, um, having marital relations in the kitchen right now. So it might be good to stay up here until they finish.” He laughed and stroked my back.
“Good for them. I don’t know how they go so long without sex, but I can understand why. Kids are little cockblockers.” I put my fingers in his hair, watching the way it caught the light.
“Yeah, they are.”
He sighed and looked up at me.
“Do you think our kids will be cockblockers?” Oh God, here we go again. He seemed determined to have this out with me.
“I don’t know. It’s going to be a few years before we find out,” I said, trying to not let an edge get into my voice. He was persistent with this lately. I was going to blame it on Lola. She was just too damn cute. She’d make anyone want babies.
He seemed to want to say something, start an argument maybe, but he just nodded.
“Okay, Sunshine. You let me know when you’re ready.” I wanted to drop it, but my curiosity got the better of me.
“What’s with the baby fever, Lucah?” I asked. He looked over at the crib.
“I’m not really sure. I’ve always loved kids, but I didn’t think I’d find someone I wanted to have them with. And then there you were and everything fell into place. I don’t know, I guess I can’t really explain it. I have these dreams of you sitting in a chair and holding this little bundle with hair just like yours.” Interesting. I wanted our future children to look like him and he wanted them to look like me. Hopefully, when they came around, they would have a little bit of both.
“I’m not going to pressure you, I just want you to know that when you’re ready, I am. I am so ready.” I took a breath.
“That’s good to know. But I’m not, Lucah. I’m just not. It’s not the right time. When I thought about my future and having children in it, I always saw a house, not an apartment. And with everything going on with the company, I don’t have the time to devote to that. It wouldn’t be fair to everyone at work and it wouldn’t be fair to the baby. When I become a mother, I want to be there. I want to have the time to devote to him or her.” Usually, I didn’t tell him these things, but maybe it was time to really clue him into what was behind my reluctance.
“I can definitely understand that.” Good. We sat there for a long time, just listening to the baby breathe. Things were quiet downstairs. I was starting to feel sleepy myself, but then April appeared in the doorway of the nursery, somewhat disheveled and with a satisfied smile on her face.
“Everything okay?” she asked in a whisper.
We both nodded.
“The girls are down for their naps,” Lucah said as April went to give Lola a kiss.
“Thank God.”
Tate was right behind her and he’d missed a button on his shirt. I shared a look with Lucah and we were both trying not to laugh.
“Thank you so much for coming over today,” Tate said, also looking down at his baby daughter.
“It was our pleasure,” I said. Getting up, I rubbed my eyes and was definitely going to fall asleep on the way back. I gave April and Tate hugs and Lucah did the same.
“We’ll see you next weekend?” he said.
“Only if you want to,” April said.
“We do,” I said, squeezing her shoulder. Tate put his arm around her and we snuck out of the room and down the stairs. Once we were outside, we could speak in a normal volume.
“Je-sus Christ, I’m tired,” I said, yawning. Lucah also nodded and we got in the car. I pushed back the seat in Lucah’s electric blue Camaro (aptly named Bluebird) so I could lay out as much as possible. Then I slipped my shoes off and put my feet up on the dash. I knew Lucah didn’t mind.
“That’s definitely something that would be hard to get used to. The loss of sleep,” he said.