Page 20 of Mostly My Girlfriend
“Yes, what we leave to our kids and the generation after that.”
“Are you talking children in general or your children?” Because that would have been surprising to me. That Ethan either:
a) thought about children,
b) wanted them for himself.
Beyond the obvious fact he was a workaholic, he’d never had a relationship that lasted more than a few nights. The thought of him committing to a single woman, deciding to have children with her, didn’t compute.
It also made me a little sick to my stomach to think about. Ethan’s women were chosen by very strict criteria:
a) hotness,
b) hollowness, and
c) greed.
The more they wanted him for his money, the less guilty he felt about dicking around with them then kicking them to the curb when he was done.
That’s who he was going to make babies with? Blech.
“Well, probably more accurately, your children. That’s something we never talked about really. Do you want kids?”
Did I want kids? That felt like a loaded question. Especially considering I felt as if I already had them. Four of them if you included my mother along with my brothers.
With children of my own I believed I would be less resentful of their neediness. More loving.
Not that I didn’t love my family. I did…they just made it so tiring sometimes. Children, I imagined, would be no different.
“I don’t know. I haven’t given it much thought.”
“Uh, hello.” He pointed to his Apple watch. “You better start thinking about it. You’re going to be twenty-six this year. Your prime birthing years are almost up.”
“You’re such an ass. Women are having children well into their thirties and forties these days.”
“Yes, but not naturally. It’s all doctors and petri dishes. If you want to do it the old-fashioned way, you should think about it before you turn thirty-five.”
“I’m not even dating anyone,” I said, throwing up my hands. “Hell, working for you doesn’t give me any time to date anyone. You expect me to meet someone, fall in love, get married, and have babies while trying to helpyourevolutionize the airline industry?”
His smile was all snark and I wanted to slap him in the face. “I’m glad you’ve come around to my way of thinking.”
“It’s not like I’m going to be able to stop you.”
“True. I’ve already bought the building and the surrounding property so you can’t talk me out of it this time. But you know, no one ever said you had to do the whole love and marriage thing. You could choose to become a parent on your own.”
“I know that,” I snapped. Wondering why we were having this conversation when he’d just told me he was moving ahead with his crazy plans. “You really already bought the building? Please tell me you called in some engineers to at least consider whether this can be retrofitted to build planes instead of tractors.”
“All I’m saying is that if you want a reliable gene donor for your children, you can always come to me.”
In my head, I was already scheduling a week’s worth of meetings to address the building purchase and plans for reconstruction when his last statement finally landed on me.
“You want to be the father of my children?”
He shrugged. “Makes sense. Don’t you think?”
No, I didn’t think so at all. “You’re my employer.”
He snorted even as he walked around the desk and ran a finger through the dust. “I’m more than that.”
