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“That’s probably Sarah checking up on us,” she said, leaning over the side of the bed and swiping her phone from the nightstand. She lay back down on him, and he kept his hands on her waist as she opened the text.
And then she gasped loudly, shooting straight up in bed, and Da
“What is it? What happened?”
“Alexis is in labor!” she squealed, dropping the phone and clapping her hands quickly like a child.
Da
“Sorry,” she said, throwing herself forward and knocking him back onto the bed. She held her weight in her arms as she gri
“I’m go
“You’re go
She sighed, lying down on his chest, and his hand came to her hair again, lazily ru
They lay there quietly for a while, and Leah listened to the rhythmic beating of Da
“Do you ever think about having kids?”
Leah nuzzled his chest, relishing the gentle vibrations that rumbled through it as he spoke. “I do,” she said.
It was quiet for a beat before he said, “I remember being young, like twelve years old, and thinking about what a good dad I would be. I think it was because my dad was such a worthless bastard. Like, in a way, I wanted to prove to myself that I could do what he couldn’t.”
Leah lifted her head, resting her chin on his chest. “You’ll be an amazing dad,” she said gently.
He glanced down at her and smiled sadly. “I hope so. It’s just…I’m twenty-nine years old. And I’m about to lose some time. Maybe a lot. And I know men can have children whenever, but…women can’t.”
Suddenly, Leah remembered the night he met her family—the way he had looked at Christopher as he rubbed Alexis’s belly.
Leah lowered her head, pressing her lips against his chest as she spoke. “Even if it were five years,” she whispered hoarsely, “you’d be thirty-four. I’d be thirty-three. Women can still have children safely at thirty-three.”
The second the words left her mouth, she froze. Leah felt his chest stop moving, and she closed her eyes, turning away from him as she rested her cheek on his chest.
She couldn’t believe she had just said that.
They had only just said “I love you” for the first time, and already she was deducing that she would be the mother of his children.
“I didn’t mean…I wasn’t assuming…I was just trying to show you…” She fumbled over her words, eventually letting them trail off.
They both lay there, saying nothing, and although his hand still rested on her head, his fingers had stopped playing with her hair.
After what seemed like an interminable silence, Da
“Leah?”
“Hmm?”
He trailed his hand over the side of her face, taking her chin in his hand and lifting it as he turned her toward him.
“I want them to be just like you.”
She stared at him, a slow smile spreading over her lips, and he lifted his head, bringing their mouths together.
And she wrapped her arms around him as they kissed, figuratively and literally embracing her future.
Leah and Da
Da
As much as the three of them tried to keep the conversation light on the ride to Brooklyn, there was an obvious undertone of anxiety. The last time Leah had seen Catherine, her smiles had been warm, inviting, genuine. This time they were strained and contrived.
Throughout the ride Da
When they arrived at the office, Da
Catherine was in Eric’s office for a little under an hour. When she came out, she held several crumpled tissues in her hand. Her eyes were glassy and bloodshot, and she looked completely drained.
Leah watched an intense pain flicker behind Da
When he let her go, Eric stepped back into his office and turned to Da
She walked over to them, putting her hand on Catherine’s shoulder. “Catherine, do you want to go have a cup of tea? I noticed a diner down the street when we got here.”
Da
She smiled unsteadily. “That sounds lovely, sweetheart.”
Leah turned to Da
“Thank you,” he said before he pressed his lips to her forehead, and then he turned and walked into the office. Eric smiled and gave them a small nod before he shut the door.
“Ready?” Leah asked, and Catherine nodded weakly.
They walked the block and a half down to the diner in relative silence. The interview with Eric had taken a lot out of her, and the last thing Leah wanted was to make her feel obligated to keep up some mindless small talk. So, she was going to follow her lead; if Catherine preferred to sit in reflective silence rather than talk, then that’s what they would do.
Once they were seated, they each ordered a cup of tea and a muffin, and as the waitress left their table, Catherine removed her coat.
“Fu
Leah smiled. “I bet you didn’t think you’d be seeing me before next Christmas.”
“Actually, I had a feeling I’d be seeing you again.” She smiled genuinely for the first time that day as she said, “Old Italian ladies all have a sixth sense. We know everything.”
Leah laughed as the waitress approached the table with their tea and muffins, and it was quiet for a minute as they both fixed their tea.
“You know,” Catherine said, dunking her tea bag in the steaming mug, “when you left my house that day, Daniel took me out to di