Jennifer was still quiet on the way home from dinner. Jonathan didn't want to intrude but he was concerned that something may have happened with her father that he didn't know about, maybe something Stephen had said to upset her somehow. Whatever it was, Jonathan wanted to do what he could in order for her to feel better.

"I know we had a bit of tension there for a bit, but I like your father. And he certainly does love you a lot," he said.

She reached out and took his hand. "I'm glad you like him. And he liked you too. He does approve, and he was very impressed at the way you stood up for yourself. He could see how much you love me.'

Jonathan put her hand to his lips. "I do love you. Very, very much."

Jennifer smiled at him, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

He had to watch the road while he was driving, but he was still concerned. "Is anything wrong, darling?" he asked, hoping the direct approach wouldn't be unwelcome.

"No, just some things my Pa said. When we said goodbye, he told me he was proud of me. He says that a lot, but not like this. And I suppose most women feel this way at one point or another, the idea that we can be as successful and accomplished as we want, but the thing that makes our parents the proudest is when we get married."

Jonathan felt his heart drop at that. He hated to hear that Jennifer felt that way. He couldn't deny that it was probably true. But it just wasn't fair. "Well," he reasoned, "you agreeing to marry me is certainly important to me, but it's hardly the most significant thing you've done. I intend to read all those books you've written before we leave New York."

That got Jennifer smiling again. She even wrinkled her nose in that way that Jonathan found absolutely adorable. "We can always take them with us to LA. And that reminds me, what are you planning on doing while we're in New York?"

"Other than making love to you at every opportunity?" he teased.

She laughed, which was what he intended.

Jonathan continued, "No, I'll check in with my New York office tomorrow. I might go by there and make some calls to LA. I haven't checked in at all since the Kingsford Motors deal went through. I've got good people to take care of things, but I do like to know what's going on."

"You don't get to where you've gotten without knowing what's going on, Jonathan," Jennifer pointed out.

"True. But I've also gotten to where I am by trusting people to do their jobs. I don't like looking over people's shoulders," he replied.

Jennifer gave his hand a squeeze and went quiet again. But they turned onto her street, and Jonathan parked the car in front of her building.

"How about tomorrow you drive me to the office downtown and you can drive the car as much as you want and get a feel for it?" he offered as they walked up the steps and she unlocked the door.

"That sounds great," she agreed. "Thank you, darling. I haven't had my own car in so long, I'm excited to get something when we get to LA and I'll actually have need for it."

"Have you been to LA?" Jonathan asked as they went up the stairs to her apartment. He realized they'd never talked about it before.

"Here and there. I'll confess that the only part of LA I feel like I know is Rodeo Drive," she said.

Jonathan chuckled. "Well, you'll be a regular there. All the shopgirls will know you."

They reached her apartment and heard music coming from inside. They looked at each other and shrugged. Jennifer opened the door. They found Max sitting on the sofa with a cigar in his mouth and a glass of scotch in his hand, tapping his foot along to the Glenn Miller record he'd found and put on the gramophone.

"Hey, you two!" Max greeted. "How was dinner?"

"It was good," Jonathan answered. "Looks like you've had a fun night."

He nodded. "It's been nice. You got a good music collection, Miss Edwards. Some nice records in there with all that Helen Reddy."

Jennifer laughed. "Well, she's my favorite. But I love jazz and old standards. You put on another one I love." She turned to Jonathan. "Fancy cutting a rug, Hart?"

They'd been out dancing before, but nothing like this. Jonathan wasn't sure Jennifer would know that Jonathan wasn't bad at the Charleston and a bit of swing. Max had taught him all those years ago. He took Jennifer's hand and spun her around. They were both laughing and dancing up a storm in no time. The perfect end to a strange but wonderful evening.

Jennifer had to end their dance-a-thon when she was laughing so much she couldn't keep rhythm anymore. She couldn't remember having so much fun in a very long time. That was the thing about Jonathan. He was fun and he was intelligent and he was devoted and he was kind and he was passionate and he was everything she could ever have hoped for in her wildest dreams.

The way he'd stood up to her father like that had surprised her. Maybe it shouldn't have. She should have known that Jonathan Hart wouldn't back down for anything. He was polite and kind to Dad until he was pushed, and it had not escaped Jennifer's notice that Jonathan hadn't lost his cool until Dad questioned not only Jonathan's feelings but Jennifer's as well. Jonathan would defend and protect her until the end of time. She'd do the same for him, too. No matter what.

She said goodnight to Max, and Jonathan told her he'd meet her in the bedroom. She left the men to talk, and she went to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth and get ready for bed. Her cramps were starting to come back after all that dancing, which was annoying. And it was a reminder of what had really made her so quiet all through dinner. It wasn't something she wanted to discuss with Jonathan in the car, but they needed to talk about it sooner rather than later.

Dad expected them to have children. Jennifer never imagined herself as a mother. But…well… She sighed to herself in the mirror. She had to talk to Jonathan.

Jennifer had just gotten herself into her pajamas when he came into the room. "Hi, darling," he greeted sweetly.

She sat on the bed, hugging her knees to her chest. It was the most comfortable position for her back right now. "Jonathan, when you're ready for bed, I think we need to talk before we go to sleep."

He frowned. "Alright, let me go brush my teeth and I'll be back."

Jennifer nodded. And she waited. She hardly knew where to start with this conversation. Mostly because she hardly knew how she felt.

No, that wasn't true. She knew how she felt. She knew exactly how she felt, but she wasn't sure how Jonathan felt at all. And as perfect and wonderful as he'd been about everything else, there was no telling how he'd react to this conversation.

He didn't leave her waiting for long. He appeared wearing his pajamas and robe, and after closing the bedroom door tight, he sat on the bed to face her. "Are we going to talk about what made you so quiet tonight?"

She nodded.

"Wanna give me a clue what it's about?"

Jennifer knew she had to just bite the bullet and do it. But she tried to ease in. "It was something my father mentioned. He said he was glad that I'm settling down to get married and have a family. And I realized I'd never thought about that before."

"Getting married and having a family?"

"The having a family part. And I realized, too, that we haven't exactly been careful. I'm obviously not pregnant right now, but if we keep up like this, I can't imagine it'll take long."

Jonathan's brow furrowed and he looked down at his own lap. He didn't answer. Like he didn't know what to say. Like he was building up to break bad news.

That made Jennifer nervous. "Jonathan? What aren't you telling me?" she asked worriedly.

He looked back up at her, searching her face for something she wasn't sure she could name. "I want to give you everything in the world. Everything in the world you could ever want. You know that, right?"

"I do, yes," she answered, her anxiety not being quelled in the least.

"Jennifer, do you want children?"

"Do you?"

"I asked you first," he countered.

Jennifer bit her lip, not sure how she was supposed to answer. If this were a conversation with anyone else in the world, she'd know what to say. She'd say something vague and she'd change the subject. She couldn't do that with Jonathan. She wouldn't do that with Jonathan. She had to tell him the truth. And she had to trust that the truth would be okay with him. She steeled herself and said, "I've honestly never thought about having children. I never quite pictured it for myself. I think if it happened, it would be wonderful. But it's never been my lifelong ambition like it is with so many other women. I love my work and I love travelling, and I don't know how I can do all that with a child. So maybe after a while, it might be a good idea. But not yet."

Jonathan nodded, falling quiet again. He sighed. "I should have told you already, but it just didn't come up till now," he mumbled.

He was keeping something from her, and she didn't like that one bit. "Jonathan, please tell me," she implored.

"Just about two years ago, I got in a pretty bad accident. I was new to riding and my horse threw me, and I got dragged over some pretty rough terrain. The injuries were bad but I recovered almost completely."

"Almost?" Jennifer was starting to put the pieces together.

"I'm sterile," he confessed.

Her eyes widened. "So you couldn't get me pregnant, no matter what we do?"

"I'm afraid not. I should have told you before. I can't give you children. Whether it's next month or in five years or really ever," he said sadly.

Jennifer opened her mouth to respond to that but she stopped herself. "Do you want children, Jonathan?" If he did, they could always adopt. Find an orphan who needed a family, give another child the home that Jonathan never got when he was a boy.

But Jonathan just shrugged. "I figured I'd always be a bachelor. The family life was never anything I envisioned, so after the accident, it wasn't really much of a loss. But now that I have you, knowing that I can't give you what you want, I just…"

"No," she interrupted. "No, I said not yet because I…well, I assumed you would want children. Jonathan, I'm already over thirty, if we were going to have children, we shouldn't wait. But knowing that you're…well, that just solves all that, doesn't it?" she said cheerfully.

"You really don't mind?"

"I really don't. I promise, darling. Now we don't have to worry about it and we can make love anytime we want without having to think about it. And that is what matters to me."

Jonathan grinned, and Jennifer felt much better seeing that gorgeous smile of his. She crawled towards him on the bed to kiss him. He pulled her onto his lap and deepened their kiss. Jennifer hummed happily in his arms.

When his hand crept up her pajama top, she pulled back. "Darling, remember, I'm…"

"I don't mind if you don't mind," he told her.

Jennifer giggled and pulled him back in for another kiss. Oh what a perfect, perfect man she'd found!