Page 16 of Knock Me Up

She giggles as she seductively nibbles on a sausage. Or eats it normally, I suppose. Everything Piper does is seductive to me, even just existing. “What do you want, Luke? This is a pretty sweet bachelor pad, but I don’t see a lot of grandpas living in places like this.”

I stroke my chin. “I guess I do want a house of my own. Someplace for a family. It doesn’t have to be a massive, labyrinthine mansion. Some of those places have hundreds of rooms, and even if we wanted to give every child one of their own...”

“My womb shudders at the idea of a hundred children. But you know me well enough by now, Luke. I’m really into the whole family thing.”

“So maybe someplace more modest. Someplace we can make a home. Enough space to grow, but not enough to get lost in.”

“That sounds perfect to me. I’m sure we can find a place just like that.”

“What about you, Piper? Let’s say everything keeps going perfectly. Do you see yourself being a full-time wife and mother?”

She takes a long drink of water to give herself time to think. “I mean, I have to. If you try to be a part-time mother, you’re doing it wrong.”

“You’d give up being a florist just like that?”

She shakes her head. “I’m still a person, Luke. I have my passions. I’ll have to figure out how to balance my professional life and my drive to be a mother. The latter will come first, but I’m going to try to make the former work for me too.”

I throw my hand over her shoulder and pull her in to kiss her on the forehead. “I’ll be right behind you to support you in every way I can, Piper. Like you, I’m going to put being a father and husband over everything else.”

She looks at me passionately, a huge smile on her face. God, I’m falling more and more for her by the second.

We clean up breakfast, and I head to take my turn in the shower. As tempting as it is to invite her in, proper hygiene is important. If Piper is in there with me, there’s no chance in hell that I’ll get any actual showering done.

After that’s done, I comb my hair as I walk through the apartment and catch Piper standing on the balcony, peering over the side. The sun shines over her, and if I were a more poetic individual I’d think of some wonderful sonnet about how she’s the sunshine of my life and this is a brand-new dawn.

Instead, I’m just going to have to settle for admiring how beautiful she is.

Life’s truly difficult sometimes.

I come up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist. “How’s the view?”

“Hmm?”

“Anything in particular you’re looking at? Skyscrapers? Some scene on the streets below?”

“Oh, no. Just thinking.”

“About what?”

“About how everything is changing so fast. Like, super fast. I’m not single anymore. And I’m never likely to be single again.”

Her tone is changing too. There was more uncertainty yesterday. More belief that our crazy instant marriage wouldn’t work out. Now she’s a believer. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that the love that I am feeling for her isn’t a one-way street.

“I’m sure it can be arranged for you to have the house to yourself from time to time. A pint of Ben & Jerry’s can be supplied and you’ll have access to any drama or comedy you desire to watch if you want to relive that single life experience.”

She turns around, crossing her arms. “Wow, stereotyping women much?”

“What, am I wrong?”

“Yeah. Totally. My preferred pint of ice cream comes from a local organic shop, not Ben & Jerry’s. I’m insulted, Luke. Absolutely insulted.”

We both break into laughter. The sounds of her joy are almost as sweet as the sounds of her orgasm.

Then she looks over my shoulder to something else on my balcony. “Is that a hot tub?”

“What else would it be?”

“You have a hot tub on your balcony?”

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