of walking in and seeing Adley. Of thinking Tildy was her
daughter. I could never have known, even just a few weeks
ago, that we’d be here now. That gives me a strange sense of
fate, which I don’t believe in, so I choose to think of it as a
sense of purpose. Of changes. Of decisions that brought us
here. That makes me think about what I was thinking about
yesterday, about all my decisions, right or wrong, feeling right
in this moment, because I’m so thankful to be here right now.
“Do you want kids?” I don’t mean to just blurt that out,
but it happens and now I have to sit here and watch the
surprise on Adley’s face. Stupid! That is totally not something
to just drop on someone. It has expectation. Hidden meaning. I
don’t mean it that way at all, but I’m scared she’ll take it the
wrong way. “I-I mean, I’m not trying to rush into anything. I
definitely didn’t mean that. I just mean sometime in the future.
Not near future. Just sometime. Just in general.”
“Yeah.” Adley whispers shyly. She doesn’t look away.
She’s not angry. She’s not afraid of the question. “I’m only
twenty-four, and I don’t feel ready for them yet. But sometime.
I’d like that. I love Tildy. I don’t mind little kids. I don’t even
mind older kids. So yes. I’ve always seen myself with a family
when I thought about it.”
“Okay.” I need to change the subject. “What’s
something that you’ve always wanted to try? One thing?
Something that you’ve always wanted to do or always wanted
to learn or a place you’ve always wanted to see?”
“Umm, that’s a tough one. I don’t really know about a
place because there are way too many. It’s like books. I can’t
narrow it down to just one. Something I’ve always wanted to
do? I can’t really think about that either.”