The Matchmaker's Choice: A Lesbian Romance

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.”