him. “Yeah, I see what you mean.”
“I’ve never said anything bad about her because I never want to turn Derek against her…but she’s doing it to herself. I can’t keep covering for her.”
“You really don’t need her anyway. You have Cleo. Come on, Cleo is a better mother than Valerie will ever be.”
I’d made the mistake of assuming the same thing. “But she’s not Derek’s mother.”
“But she will be, someday, right?”
Now that she lived with me, it was difficult to imagine her moving out. We had our daytime routines, our evening routines. Sometimes she made dinner, and sometimes I did. When I needed to work on my laptop, she spent time with Derek. It was nice…really nice. The weekends came and went with us at the cabin or the beach house. We felt like a family. “Yeah…someday.”
He caught on to my change of tone. “What does that mean?”
“What does what mean?”
“You looked weird when you said that.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“You never want to get married or something?”
“Didn’t say that.”
“Do you do want to get married?” he pressed.
“At some point.”
He finished his beer then got the attention of the waitress. “I’m gonna give you some advice—”
“You?” I asked incredulously. “Who has no children and no wife?”
He narrowed his eyes and took the beer from the waitress. “It’s because of me that you and Cleo are even together, asshole. If I hadn’t helped you, you’d probably still be just friends or some bullshit.”
I couldn’t deny that.
“When you’re in a serious relationship, the woman is gonna pressure you to commit at some point. If you don’t marry her in a reasonable amount of time, she’ll move on. Some women will settle for never getting married, but Cleo isn’t one of them.”
“I don’t think that applies to us.”
“It does. She’s got a clock on those ovaries.”
I drank my beer and broke eye contact.
“You guys have been together…six months?”
It felt more like a year, like our relationship really started the moment we met. The women I’d picked up meant nothing to me because it was all physical, but my emotional relationship with Cleo started instantly.
“Once you hit eighteen months, she’s going to have that conversation with you. I just don’t want you to get freaked out about commitment and getting remarried and all that—and lose her.”
“I’m not freaked out about commitment.”
“So, you’re open to the idea?” he asked in surprise.
“She’s already told me she wants to get married and have kids.”
“Seriously?” He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “She just blurted that out?”
I remembered the moment pretty clearly, making love at the cabin. “Yeah.”
“And that didn’t bother you?”
“It was uncomfortable at the time, but I grew past it.”
“Wow.” He nodded his head slowly. “Good for you. I just assumed after Valerie you would be totally against marriage.”
“I used to be that way, but Cleo isn’t Valerie. Cleo is…my person.”
He smiled. “That’s kinda romantic.”
I drank my beer, dropping my gaze again.
“You would do the kid thing again?”
I shrugged. “I haven’t really thought about it, honestly. But I know it’s important to her, so I would. Honestly, just trying to figure out how to give Derek what he needs is already a challenge. With Valerie leaving, I’m not even sure how I’m going to do this. So, having another kid anytime in the near future…is pretty much out of the question.” Unless Cleo was willing to step back and be a stay-at-home mother. I guess we could have a nanny take care of both Derek and a new baby, but with that age gap, it didn’t seem to make sense. They would need completely different things.
“What do you mean? You have Cleo.”
“She’s pretty dedicated to her career…”
“So, she wants to have kids but not necessarily sacrifice her career?”
I nodded. “We’re both ambitious people. I love that about her. But…if that’s what she really wants, something has to give. And I can’t stop my work. If I did something else, I’d be open to the idea, but I just can’t step back.”
“No, you absolutely shouldn’t.”
“And it’s a bit sexist to expect her to do it…”
“Not really,” he countered. “If she’s the one wanting kids? Then I don’t think so.”
I shrugged. “Anyway, since Cleo is going to keep working, I have to get a nanny.”
“Hmm…”
“Yeah, I’m not happy about it. But I really have no other option.”
“What about Mom?” he asked.
I shook my head. “It’ll turn into a job for her, and I don’t want that. And I do need someone to look