“Yes, sir. Seventeen. Almost eighteen. God, I’m getting old.”
“We get to meet her, too, this week?”
“She’s with her mom and her stepdad in LA all week.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
“Swing by Clover’s nursery next week and you’ll meet her. She works for your daughter.”
“That how you two met?”
“That’s how we met. My daughter fixed us up.”
“Good for her. Clover’s a good one. Can you put her back on the phone?” Erick passed back the phone. He looked adorably smug. Already working his charm on her parents.
“Hey, Daddy,” she said. “You and Erick work out the turkey?”
“We did. I like this Erick fellow,” he said. “Even if he is at your house awful early...”
“I’m thirty years old,” she reminded him.
“You might as well be twelve. Until you’re married with kids of your own, you’ll be my little girl.”
“Well, I’m not married and I don’t have kids of my own, and I’m still thirty. I have the birth certificate to prove it.”
“You’ll understand how it feels when you have your own babies. The sooner, the better.”
“Right, the sooner, the better.”
“Tell Erick you’re not getting any younger.”
“Dad, we just started dating. And two seconds ago I was your little girl. Now I’m getting old?”
“You know what I mean, sweetheart.”
Clover sighed as quietly as she could. “Yes, Dad. I know what you mean. I’ll see you all on Thursday.”
“We’re really looking forward to it,” he said.
“You and me both. But can you do me a favor?” she asked. “Don’t tell Mom and Kelly or anybody about Erick. I’ve got a lot to do this week and I don’t want to be on the phone with them for hours on end.”
“Your secret is safe with me,” he said.
“Thanks, Daddy. Love you. Bye.”
They hung up and Clover sighed again.
“What?” Erick asked as she rested her head on his chest.
“I’m supposed to tell you I’m not getting any younger so you need to hurry up and get me pregnant since I won’t be treated like an adult until I have children. But I’m not supposed to be sleeping with you, either.”
“So I’m supposed to knock you up, but I’m also supposed to do this without having sex with you?”
“Yes.”
“This is going to be difficult. Or not. Got a turkey baster?”
“Welcome to the world of being a woman. We’re not supposed to have sex, but we’re also supposed to have kids. And we wonder why so many women are on Xanax.”