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I go still, unsure I heard her correctly. “Wait—what?”
“You heard me, Mr. King.”
Sliding my hands from her hips to her shoulders, I gently push her up until I can see her face. I need to see her expression, to know if she’s being serious. And she absolutely is. Not that I thought she’d tease me about something like this, but this is so unexpected I almost don’t believe her. I can see the sincerity in her expression.
But she’s also still Sadie, so she props her elbows on my chest and drops her head in her hands, looking down at me with a smirk.
“Well?” she asks. “What do you think?”
“I …” Swallowing, I search for the right words.
Despite not having the kind of family that made me want to establish my own—at least in terms of children—sometime after Sadie and I got married, the idea started to appeal to me. Probably because of how many kids are around all the time. Hunter and Merritt have Izzy and are hoping to adopt, Naomi is around with Liam and Ezra as much as her hockey-playing husband’s schedule allows, and Eloise has three kids, the latest one born just a month ago.
It’s chaotic and loud, and all of the relationships have shifted to accommodate all the kids. Something about this appealed to me. But Sadie has been steadfast in not wanting children. She told me this before we even got engaged—and back then, child-free by choice sounded great to me. I wasn’t about to pull a bait and switch and suddenly tell her I changed my mind.
Though she does know I’m open to the possibility of kids. We talk about everything, and I told her while reassuring her I was okay if we didn’t.
I never tried to change Sadie’s mind, and I was never disappointed. Not exactly. There were simply times that I longed for what my friends have. The full, loud chaos of a house with kids.
But as I told Sadie, it didn’t feel like anything wasmissing. She is exactly what I want and need.AllI want and need.
And yet …
“I thought you didn’t want to have children,” I say. “You’re not doing this just for me, are you?”
She shakes her head, a smile overtaking her face. “I don’t know what changed. Just that something did. I don’t know if you’re still even interested, so I guess if you’re not?—”
“I am,” I say quickly. “But only if you’re sure. Are you sure? Because I need you to know—you are enough for me, Sadie girl. Only you.”
“Some might say I’m too much,” she teases.
“Not me.”
“We might not even be able to get pregnant. Merritt can’t, and sometimes these things are genetic. I don’t want you to be disappointed.”
“I won’t be.” I pause, letting my gaze rove over her face, looking for signs. “You’re really serious? I need to know you won’t regret this. That you’ve thought about it and know it’s whatyouwant. It has to be what we both want. Are you completely and totally positive?”
Sadie rewards me with a huge smile. “I stopped taking my birth control last week.”
“You did?”
“I did.” She tilts her head, studying me. “Are you sure you still want to try for a baby?”
“Yes.”
The answer is fast. No hesitation. Because, though I would have been content with Sadie alone, this feels like an added blessing. An expansion of an already perfect life.
“I had to ask because … you’re kind of getting up there in years, Mr. King. Basically a grandpa already.”
I’m so shocked by her teasing that my laughter practically bursts out of me. “Forty-four isnotold.”
“It is when we’re talking about becoming a father for the first time,” she says with a cluck of her tongue. “Grandpa Ben. It has a nice ring to it.”
I flip us over so quickly she gasps, then giggles as I pin her arms above her head. “I’ll show you grandpa.”
I kiss her through her laughter, kiss her so thoroughly the laughs become pants, then a soft groan. I pull back, grinning. Sadie smiles back.
“You know what the best part about this is?” she asks.
