Page 162 of Force Play
“He’s been talking about it a lot since Ella and Josh announced their pregnancy,” she blushes.
“Well, how long are you gonna make him wait then, girl?!” Ella asks emphatically.
“Maybe next year.”
I lean back against my chair and smile brightly. “All my besties are giving me niblings.”
Ella’s look turns devious, and I know what’s coming next. “Ari seems like he may be interested in having kids.”
Interested doesn’t even begin to describe it.
“Yeah,” I shrug. “I guess he’s open to that one day. It’s a pretty big change for him.”
“Gee,” Liv teases. “I wonder what changed his mind.”
“Who knows? You know we’re just having fun together.”
Sure, that fun heavily involves fantasies of me getting pregnant lately, but I think I’ll keep that to myself.
“I don’t buy it.” Rory crosses her arms and stares me down. “Even a couple of months ago, Ari didn’t want kids. He all of a sudden does, and you want to pretend you have no part in that?”
“Maybe I’ve just helped him see that it’s still fun when you’re only with one woman.” Since they don’t know about his bisexuality, I leave it at that.
Harlow bites down a smile. “I think he’sveryokay with one woman.”
“As long as we agree that one woman’s name is Lucia Torres,” Ella smirks.
“We’re friends. That’s it.”
I choose to ignore the pit I feel in my stomach.
“Are you sure, Luc?” Rory looks at me worriedly.
No.
“Yes.”
“So, how excited is Josh about the baby?” Lo asks Ella, taking the heat off me.
“The man has already started on registries and has a list of names a mile long,” she smiles.
“I like babies,” Sage shouts.
Liv wraps her arms around her. “Then it’s a good thing that you’ll have some cousins soon, isn’t it?”
“No babies for you and Daddy, though. Only me.”
We all laugh at her assertion. Liv and Lane are in for a rough time when Sage is a teenager. She’s already got too much sass at four years old.
“You’re all we need, Sagie.”
Sage gives her a big hug, and I swear my ovaries nearly combust from the cuteness.
I can’t wait to have that for myself.
I might not appear very maternal from the outside, but inside, I’ve dreamed about having a family.
I want the white picket fence. The toys all over the front yard. The scribbles on the walls.
