Ro.
Joey looked back at the video game and spoke, “I have decided on Robodad. Your name is Roman, but everyone calls you Roman. You’re my dad, too, but I can’t call you dad ’cause it would hurt Dad’s feelings, so I went with Robodad. It’s your name and dad all rolled into one. But that’s a lot to spit out, so I will call you Ro. That way, it shows that you’re mine, and plus nobody else is allowed to call you that.”
My heart melted. He had put a lot of thought into it. I was touched to my core.
“Well, when I come to play, I want to play Lego Batman. Okay?”
“Cool.”
“Cool.” I smiled as I shut the door.
I walked down the hall to our room. I passed the empty room and looked inside. It was completely empty. Beth said no boxes would be stored in there. Empty boxes were for the basement. I knew she hoped for a baby, too, but I did know that due to our age, we might not conceive. I guessed that was what I sacrificed for living my lifestyle for too long, but I looked at it like this: If I had done it earlier, it wouldn’t have been with Beth. I didn’t want a family without her.
I went to our bedroom. Beth was waiting for me. She sat at her vanity. She stood, and I saw she was wearing a beautiful white negligee. She looked gorgeous with her makeup on and her hair curled. I walked to her and kissed her. Then I pulled her up into my arms. I carried her to our bed and laid her down. I quickly got undressed and laid beside her.
“Roman, I have one more surprise for you today.” She had a serious look on her face, which made me worry.
“What is it?” My tone was edgy, but I was eager to hear what she had to say.
“The reason I went out today—I had a doctor’s appointment. I had my IUD removed today.” She looked at me expectantly.
“What did the doctor say?”
“He said we could start trying. He said I was in good health considering what we went through in the basement. Also since I lost all that weight awhile back, it helps the odds, but with our age, we have a possibility of risks. But he also said that women are having babies a lot later these days.”
“So we are going to do this?” I hoped she would say yes.
“For better or worse?”
I knew she was asking me if I would love a baby if something went wrong. I understood her fear. Joey was autistic, and she believed part of that was genetics, whether from her or from Eric. Also we had a greater chance of having a baby with Down syndrome. I knew no matter the challenge; we would love that baby with all of our hearts. We were financially stable. The house was paid off. I still had plenty of money in savings, and I wasn’t planning on retiring anytime soon. We could do this.
“For better or worse!” I looked into her eyes and kissed her.
Her arms wrapped around my neck, and she rolled me on top of her while spreading her legs open for me. At first, I didn’t think much about it, except how wonderful it felt grinding myself against her. Then it hit me and I jerked up.
“Are you okay?”
She gave me a soft smile. She knew to what I was referring—Jason and the problems with her being on the bottom.
“I know it’s you, Roman. I know it’s you.” She pulled down my head and kissed me in a way that I couldn’t deny. Then I proceeded to make love to my wife.
Chapter 33 – Roman
Two weeks had passed since we’d moved in, and I walked into the kitchen during the middle of the day. I was going to get a snack, and I saw that Beth was on the phone.
“Please, Eric!” Beth begged.
I had to admit my feelings were a bit irrational, but, damn it, it fucking crawled all over me that my wife was begging her ex-husband for something.
I was her husband! I gave her what she needed. Not him. I remembered when I found out that Beth paid for the baby grand piano out of her savings. I felt as though she thought I couldn’t take care of her. She, in turn, told me it didn’t feel like a gift if she used my money. It was then