They went simple and found a cute, little deli a few blocks over based on a recommendation Wes had made to Steve a few weeks ago. They put their orders in at the counter. Steve held Laura close as they waited. He almost never got to see her during his work day, and he was savoring every second of it. When their orders came up, he carried them both to a little table in the back corner of the restaurant. They made a little small talk before Laura finally said. "Steve, about last night."

"No," he said firmly. "Laura, I don't care about last night. You got a little silly. It's no big deal. No harm done."

"I got a little flirty," she pouted, "and I'm sorry."

"You weren't even that flirty! I've seen worse from you with a few drinks in your system, though in my experience, I've usually been on the receiving end," he teased proudly.

"You were for most of last night, too!" Laura looked down at her plate in embarrassment. "I'm still sorry. You know I don't drink like that often. It's just… Myrtle was talking about pregnancy stuff, and it really freaked me out, so I just… kept drinking."

Steve took a deep breath and grabbed her hand across the table. "I'm glad you're here, Love Bug. If we need to talk about anything, it's that. What did she say that scared you so much?"

"It's not important," she said, not wanting to repeat all the nasty stuff she'd heard last night.

"Yes, it is! Laura, I wanna have a baby someday soon. That's never gonna happen if my kooky cousin has managed to completely terrify you."

"Soon?" Laura repeated nervously.

"Tell me what she said, Sweetums, so I can make it all go away!"

Laura looked around the deli nervously. This wasn't exactly dinner table conversation. "Ok… Like, for example, she's like… really gassy, I guess, and apparently, she's… especially gassy when they… Well, you know..."

"When they eat spicy food?" he offered innocently.

"No, Honey, when they… have sex."

"Oh," he said simply. "Well, that's no big deal."

"It's gross," Laura pressed.

Steve chuckled to himself. "Honeybuns," he began, "we've been married for seven months now. You have to know I've heard you… blow off a little steam."

Laura scoffed slightly. "I know that, but it's gross, and I don't wanna be doing that when we're making love."

Steve chuckled and reached for her hand. "Like I said, no big deal." He stroked her soft skin with his thumb. "I will think you're sexy no matter what comes out of you in bed."

Laura cringed. "It wasn't just that. She went on and on about all the gross things happening to her body, and I just couldn't deal, hence the drinking."

"Ok. So pregnancy is a little gross. So what? It's the miracle of life! It's worth it!"

"Well, for you maybe! It's not your miracle!"

"What?"

"It's not your body! And it's not just gross. She showed us a book on birthing, and she told me that all my babies are gonna have giant, Urkel-baby heads and that my coochie's gonna tear all the way to my booty, and-"

"Hey," Steve interrupted. "Hey, relax. You're being silly."

Laura's brow furrowed in offense. "Excuse me?"

"No," Steve said, growing flustered, "I just mean, this is a little ways off. You don't need to work yourself up this much over it."

"I told you we didn't need to talk about this."

"No, I'm glad we're talking about it. I just don't want you to have a panic attack in the middle of this deli, so take a breath. We're not there yet, so relax."

Laura nodded and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. It's just… You should've seen the pictures."

"Baby, I've seen video! I don't need the pictures!"

"You've seen a birth on video?!"

"Laura, I'm in upper-level bio classes. I've seen more than one."

Laura was suddenly extremely grateful that she was studying in the humanities. "Was it horrible?"

"No, Sweetheart. Did you get to the end of Myrtle's book? There is a lot of yelling and screaming and crying, but at the end of it, they put a baby in the mom's arms, and she smiles this amazing smile. It's all worth it to her in the end, and I know it's gonna be worth it to you too."

Laura looked away. "What if it's not?"

Steve swallowed hard and pulled his hand back. "Laura, are you not sure if you wanna have children with me?"

Laura was surprised he managed to ask her that question pointblank. She looked back at him. She looked at his big, brown eyes now suddenly filled with worry. She imagined them on a baby. Then she added his dimples. Then an oversized pair of glasses. She couldn't help but smile softly. "It's not that," she promised, grabbing his hand again between both of hers. She squeezed it tightly. "You and I will make such amazing babies. It's just a matter of timing."

Steve took a deep breath and sighed. "I know, and I'm willing to wait, but last night… You were so freaked out that you wouldn't let me…". He couldn't even say it. Not in public like this anyway.

"I know. I was drunk, and I wasn't thinking clearly. That was silly. I'm on the pill for a reason. I won't do that to you again…. Unless we wanna," she grinned flirtatiously.

Steve looked down at the table nervously. "You're that scared of an accident?"

"I mean… Not usually because I know we're safe, but last night I was definitely nervous."

Steve nodded. "I know we're safe, but nothing is 100% safe, so… What if we have an accident?"

Laura pursed her lips. "It's not gonna happen, Steve," she said firmly.

"But if it did?" he pressed.

"It won't, but if it did," she said, "we'd do what he had to do."

Steve nodded. That answer satisfied both of them, but it was certainly vague enough to leave room for some miscommunication. Neither of them seemed concerned by that. "If I could, I would do it for you," he said softly.

"Do what?"

"Be pregnant, carry our babies, give birth."

"What?" she laughed.

"I'm serious! If I could do all the hard stuff so you wouldn't have to, I would! Like the mighty seahorse."

"What?" she laughed again, only growing more confused.

"The male seahorse carries and births the babies from his pouch," he explained.

"And you would do that if you could?" she asked laughing.

"Abso-tutle-outley!" he exclaimed.