fell back as he laughed. "God, that's rich. Twenty years ago, your brothers would have been the ones in the back of the cop car, now they're driving it!"
I munched on popcorn and laughed a little as well. "It's definitely something of a paradox."
"Are you hungry?" he asked as I grabbed another handful of popcorn.
"Actually, I am. It's the first time I've been truly hungry since the morning sickness started."
"How about some guacamole and chips?" He rose, leaving the bowl of popcorn in my lap. "I can whip up the guac in five minutes or so and we can have a movie night. You don't work tomorrow morning, right?" he asked.
I shook my head. Most of my housecleaning clients preferred for me to come during the week while they were at work. I had a shift at Crave from twelve to eight, but that was it.
"A movie night sounds good," I said.
True to his word, J.J. was back with a bowlful of guacamole and a bag of chips in seven minutes.
I'd paused Longmire for him, which seemed to surprise him.
"You don't want to watch something else?" he asked.
"Nah. I've been meaning to watch this for a while but I rarely have enough time to binge."
J.J. produced a can of sparkling flavored water from under his arm. "For the lady."
I grinned up at him. "Thank you, kind sir."
As he settled back on the couch next to me, I asked, "So this spending time together and getting to know each other is usually called dating, right?"
J.J. twisted his head to look at me after my out-of-the-blue question. "Um, usually, yes, that's what it's called."
"Can married people date?" I asked, dipping a chip in the guacamole. I took a bite and had to suppress a moan. It was better than my mother's though I would lie to her face if she ever asked me about it.
"I don't see why not," J.J. said, warming to the topic now that his thoughts had a moment to catch up to why I was asking.
"I guess I always thought married people had been through the dating stuff and were ready to stop dating and live a more settled life. Not that I'm up for extreme dating," I muttered.
"I don't think dating has to be extreme," J.J. said. "A movie night on the couch could be a date. The dinner we ate together earlier could be a date, too."
I mulled that over. "So we're having two dates in one night?"
He grinned at me. "If you want."
"I think I do," I said as I met his gaze.
His eyes warmed. "Good. So, more Longmire?"
"Yeah, more Longmire. Though you may have to nudge me with your elbow if you notice I'm falling asleep," I said.
"Only because I'm going to shut it down and tell you to go to bed if that happens," he replied.
"I guess that's fair." I took another chip and scooped guacamole into my mouth. "This is really good," I said once I was done. "Your mother's recipe as well?"
"This one was all mine," he said. "Store-bought guacamole just doesn't taste the same."
I had to agree.
J.J. went back to the Longmire series page and started the first episode again and we both scooted down on the couch. He put an arm around me and I rested my head on his shoulder.
"Now this feels like a date-type activity," I murmured as the opening credits rolled across the screen.
His chest moved under my head as he chuckled. "At least I don't have to worry about your dad coming in and asking why in the heck all the lights are off and I'm touching his daughter," he replied.
"That never happened," I said.
"It would have if you'd dated in high school."
"Fat chance of that. My brothers scared the bejeezus out of anyone who acted even remotely interested in me. If we were Catholic, I'm pretty sure they would have tried to talk me into becoming a nun."
J.J. laughed again. "I'm kind of glad that's not the case."
"Me, too."
We stopped talking and focused on eating every bit of the guacamole and chips while the show continued.
As far as first dates for a married couple went, I really liked this one.
15
I wanted to laugh at how uncomfortable J.J. looked in the obstetrician's office, but I couldn't.
Mostly because I was uncomfortable myself.
When we'd arrived, the woman behind the glass window had given me a huge stack of papers to fill out. Most of the questions were basic, but there were a few about family medical history