Page 42 of The Holy Grail
“Why? She loves to go outside.” He cocked his head to one side. “And didn’t you just say she’d do whatever she wanted to?”
“I did, but I meant in the house. You can, however, keep her from going outside by simply not letting her go outside. That’s the one thing you do have control over. And as for her love of the outdoors, she was a stray and had to live like that, but since she’s found a nice place to call home, she’ll get used to staying indoors where it’s safe. Cats who go outside tend to have much shorter lives than indoor cats, because of cat fight injuries, dogs, and cars.”
“Hmm. Cats are a lot of work.”
“Supposedly it’s kind of like training for having a child.”
“You mean a child you could leave unattended in your house all day with bowls of water and food on the floor?”
“Yes. A child like that.”
They chuckled together.
“Well, if it’s like training for a child, it’ll be wasted on me,” he said.
“You don’t want children?”
He paused for a moment before answering. “I thought about it briefly when I was married, but I haven’t given it much thought since then, which means I probably don’t want them. And I’m forty-two, so …”
“Men can have kids well into their seventies,” she pointed out.
He made a face. “The last thing I want is to be that dad. You know, collecting social security and changing diapers. By the time they’d be enrolled in a soccer league somewhere, everyone would think I was their grandfather, not their father. No, thanks.”
At the ‘soccer league’ reference from the night they met, Jules smiled. “But on the upside, you’d probably have a young, hot wife, right?”
“A young, hot wife who I probably wouldn’t be able to keep up with? Again, no thanks.” He then turned the question on her. “What about you? Do you want children?”
It did seem a little strange to be discussing children on their second date, but she’d been the one to get that ball rolling. “Honestly? I don’t think so. I mean, I don’t even have any plants.”
“What does having plants have to do with anything?”
“Supposedly having plants is the first stepping stone. If you can keep a plant alive, then you get a pet, and if that works out, then you have kids.”
“Well, I skipped plants and went straight to a pet, so do I need to get a few plants?”
“I don’t know. It could all be bullshit.”
They chuckled again.
“Will your mom be disappointed if you don’t have children?” she wanted to know.
“Actually, my father is the one who will be disappointed, because of carrying on the family name and all that. Unfortunately, my brother didn’t come through with any male heirs, so my father has been frequently mentioning my ‘duty’ to produce one, as I get older.” Malcom glanced at her. “What about your parents? Do they want grandchildren?”
“They’ve never put any pressure on me about it, which I appreciate. I really don’t think their future happiness depends on whether or not I provide a grandchild for them to bounce on their knees, and carrying on the family name isn’t a thing, so …” She pressed her lips together for a moment, then decided to dive into the topic of Malcom’s marriage. “You said you briefly thought about kids when you were married. Were you and your wife not on the same page about that?”
“We weren’t on the same page about a lot of things, to be honest.”
She decided to keep going, and figured if he didn’t want to continue sharing, he’d tell her to mind her own business. “Like what things?”
“Furniture, for one. I mentioned already that our furniture looked like modern museum pieces and were about as comfortable, so I really wasn’t upset when Gwen—that’s her name—took it all. She also liked to go out a lot, and I meana lot. I’ve always been more of a recluse and she dragged me everywhere so we could be social and be seen, like we were some sort of power couple. She liked to be the center of attention and fed off it.”
“She sounds kind of like an attention whore,” Jules mused, then at his surprised expression, quickly added, “Sorry. I probably could have phrased that differently.”
“No, you’re right. She was an attention whore,” he agreed. “Your bluntness just took me by surprise.”
She decided to change the subject slightly. “Did your parents like her? Were they disappointed when you got divorced?”
“My father really liked Gwen, so he was extremely disappointed in me, but my mom was fine with it. She knew Gwen and I weren’t a good fit even before I did.”
