boyfriend and became pregnant. When he refused to marry her, she told me the baby was mine. I went to the first doctor visit with her and got the baby's due date. Doing the math, it would not have been possible for me to be the father. Plus I always use protection. I confronted her about it, and she admitted that the baby was the other guy's."
"That's awful, Ben. I don't know how a woman could do that to a man. How did you feel about the baby when she told you she was pregnant?"
"Trapped. I felt trapped. I already knew we would be breaking up. I had heard it from friends who saw her out with the other guy. But even before I went on the trip, I knew that I did not want to see her anymore."
"Don't you want to have children?"
"Yes, I would. Someday, when I find the right woman, I want to have children. But I won't be trapped by a woman who only wants my money. Do you want children?"
"Yes, when I find the right man."
They laid in silence for a long time, and Anne felt herself drifting off. She did not know if Ben was asleep or awake. His breathing was even.
"Anne."
"Yes, Ben?"
"I'm glad that you are here this week; that I found you again."
"I'm glad, too. Goodnight, Ben."
"Goodnight, Anne." He kissed her shoulder then settled back down behind her, curled into her back. Anne drifted off to sleep never seeing the sad eyes that watched her.
* * * * *
Ben woke up a little before five am, stretched his arm out in the dark to feel Anne's warm body in the spot next to him, and sighed in relief. He watched her fall asleep the night before, holding her in his arms, afraid that if he let go that she would get up and leave. He looked at her now with the light of the alarm clock casting enough light to see the softness of her face while she slept. He stared at her committing her face to memory. It was Thursday, and he only had less than four full days to try to win her heart. On Sunday he would be leaving, and she was leaving next week sometime. He never asked on what day she was planning to go back east. After Sunday morning, he would never see her again. It did not matter until now.
He was not ready to let her go, but he did not know how to keep her in Seattle. Her life was out east, and his was here. She said she only wanted this to be a vacation romance and that once she left that would be it. He had agreed to it because that was all he thought he wanted at the time. But he was wrong. He wanted her for a lot longer than a vacation romance. He had to woo her. He had to show her how good they were together. He knew it was too soon after their reunion to be in love with her, but he was. When she asked him last night how he saw their relationship, he realized that he loved her. Maybe he always had.
He thought about their unprotected sex yesterday. He never asked her if she was on birth control. Right now, he did not want to know. Right now he wanted to think that there was a chance that his baby was already growing inside of her. She would be a good mother, he knew. He asked her last night about what she thought about a baby being a good reason for marriage, not because he had past girlfriends who tried to trap him, but because of the idea that if she was pregnant he would marry her. Then when he heard her talk about her natural father and that she would not get married just because she was pregnant, he knew that she was right, and he was thinking foolishly. But if she was pregnant, he would be there. A baby would give him a reason to still keep her in his life.
Looking at her face with the digital light shining on it, he smiled. He had dated several women over the years, some of them he had a physical relationship with and some he did not. There were several who dated him because they wanted something from him, namely his money. Now, here he was with a woman who wanted nothing from him, and