Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 77857 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77857 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
I wrap a towel around my waist and join her on the bed. “I’m not a mind reader. You’re going to have to talk to me, Rory.”
“I don’t know how to say what I need to say,” she says.
“This is me. The man who loves you. Say whatever you want to say.”
“I… I really wanted to be pregnant.”
“I know you did.”
“Part of me wants to try again now. To get pregnant right away. But…”
“But what? You’re the one who got off me because I wasn’t wearing a condom.”
“I know. Because as much as I want a baby, I don’t want to force you into anything.”
“You’re not forcing me into anything. And you’re right, I don’t want a baby. Not now. But I do want one in the future. I want one with you, Rory.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
RORY
A surge of warmth spears through me. He does want a baby with me. He just doesn’t want it now.
I stroke my abdomen through the towel.
I guess I really thought you were in there. A part of me really thought I’d meet you in nine months.
“Rory,” Brock says, “I love you so fucking much. But you’ve got to help me out here. Where am I going wrong?”
“I love you too,” I say, “and where you’re going wrong is nothing that either one of us can control. I’m twenty-eight, and I want a baby. You’re twenty-four, and you want to wait.”
“Rory, sweetheart, this is not an insurmountable problem. We both want the same things. It’s only our timing that’s a little off.”
“Timing is everything, Brock.”
“That’s ridiculous, sweetheart. What about compromise?”
I don’t reply, partly because he called me ridiculous, and partly because I want my way, which I know is childish and—dare I say it?—ridiculous, just as he said.
“Rory, you understand compromise. I know you do.”
He’s not wrong. I understand compromise better than the average person. When you have your dreams torn out from under you and the best you can do is teach music to the students in your town, you know compromise.
You also know settling because that’s what compromise is a euphemism for.
Why should I settle now? I had to settle on my career. I had no choice. New York didn’t want me. They didn’t care that I was the most beautiful woman in Snow Creek. They didn’t care that I was the most talented woman in Snow Creek. I was never more than Colorado good.
I don’t want to settle anymore.
I don’t have to wait to have a baby.
I can have one now.
I just can’t have one with Brock.
Damn.
Damn it all to hell. I had to go and fall in love with Brock Steel, who doesn’t want a baby.
Correction—he doesn’t want a baby now.
But he does want a baby in the future, and he wants that baby with me.
Compromise.
Maybe it’s not like settling.
Maybe it’s like…
“Are you going to say anything?” Brock asks.
“Yeah, I am. Give me just a minute.”
My mind races. He doesn’t want a baby now. But he did ask me to marry him. I’m not ready to marry a man I’ve been with for less than a month. But my God, I’m ready for a baby. For the pitter-patter of little feet.
But moving in… That’s something I could do. It’s still too soon for marriage, but we could test the waters. See if we’re compatible. Get our dogs together and explore our parenting techniques.
Damn. I just compared Sammy and Zach to a baby.
I’ve gone completely bonkers.
“Let’s do it,” I say. “Let’s live together.”
A smile splits his face. “You mean it?”
“I do if you do.”
“I do, sweetheart. Sometimes I can’t even believe how much I do.”
“But there’s one thing I want…”
“Anything. You name it.”
“We need to talk about a baby, Brock. If this is forever love, I don’t want to wait. I don’t want to be having babies in my late thirties.”
He kisses my cheek. “We can talk about babies all you want.” He kisses my lips. “And we can practice a lot too.”
“You mean like with the dogs?”
He lets out a guffaw. “I mean practice what it takes to make one.”
I can’t help it. I punch his upper arm. “I’m serious. You probably don’t want a kid until you’re forty. That’s not going to cut it with me. I’m willing to compromise, Brock, but I need you to compromise too.”
“Rory, don’t you know by now that I’d do anything for you?”
“Anything?” I tease.
“All you have to do is ask.”
“Then give me a baby. Now.”
He rolls his eyes. “You’re incorrigible.”
“A little,” I admit.
“Tell you what,” he says. “Let’s practice.”
I nod and reach for the drawer on his nightstand.
He grabs my hand. “No.”
“We’re using a condom, Brock. I won’t be that woman.”
“I know a little about women’s physiology. I grew up on a ranch.”
“I’m not sure how to tell you this, but human women are different from cows.”