Page 94 of Love in the Lab
“Amazing,” Tamara marvels.
“See?” Hannah shouts. “Ididn’ttell anyone that we’re having a baby brother.”
Charlotte rolls her eyes. “Well,nowyou did.”
Understanding dawns. “Wait! Tamara, you’re pregnant? With a boy?” I scoop her into a hug. “Congratulations!”
Tamara beams. “Thanks. We were going to wait until after Dad’s wedding to say anything, but we made the mistake of telling the girls, and now I think even our mail carrier knows.”
This neighborhood has had the same mail carrier for fifteen years. “Frank knew before me?” I joke. “I’m hurt.”
That night, lying on the squeaky mattress in my dad’s guest bedroom—which used to be Tamara’s bedroom; he turned mine into a study—Molly shifts onto her side to talk to me. “Today made me realize that in our haste to get married, we skipped over a few important talks we should have had beforehand.”
I yawn. “Like what?”
“Children. Do you want to have children?”
“Considering how tired I am after playing with my nieces for just a few hours today, I vote no.”
“I’m serious.”
I consider it. “Honestly, I don’t think I have a preference. If it’s important to you, I’m open to it. But it’s not something I dream about or anything.”
Molly looks relieved. “I … don’t think I want children. I know now that I can be more flexible in my life than I have been, butI’m still getting used to it. Still getting used to sharing my life with you. Parenting requires so much focus and attention to do it right. I think it would take away from being the best scientist and partner I can be. I know lots of people make it work, and that’s great for them. It just doesn’t feel like a priority for me.”
I run my thumb across her cheek. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah, Carrots. Whatever you want.”
She bites her bottom lip. “Thanks. I reserve the right to change my mind, though.”
“Always.” I pause. “Except about me. You’re never allowed to change your mind about me.” I tease.
“I would never even consider it.” She smiles and yawns.
“Any other big topics we need to tackle?”
She pats my shoulder. “Not tonight.”
I can’t sleep, so I make my way to the kitchen for a snack. The house is dark and quiet except for a light shining through the sliding glass door to the back porch. I know without looking that my dad’s out there. It’s his spot for thinking, or just letting his mind wander, even when it’s the dead of winter and below freezing outside, like tonight.
It was hovering just above freezing all day, but now that the sun has set, it’s got to be in the low twenties out there. After more than ten years living in warmer climates, I can’t handle this kind of cold anymore. I bundle up in my coat and slide my sneakers on before joining my dad on the porch.
Even then I’m not prepared. “What the h—” I glance at my dad. “—eck kind of weather is this?”
Dad chuckles. “When you were a kid, you’d be outside in worse than this for hours, building snow forts and playing with the neighbors, challenging me to snowball fights.”
I sit on a chair next to him. “Yeah, yeah. That was before I moved south, and my blood thinned out, huh?”
“You said it.”
We sit quietly for a few minutes while I gather the courage to say what I need to say.
“Molly’s great,” Dad says, breaking the silence before I can.
“She is,” I agree. “She’s amazing.”
