When Steve came back to the house, it was already midnight. Everyone had gone home, save for those who lived there and Laura. He stepped into the living room to find her fast asleep on the couch. It reminded him of the time he had tried to tiptoe past her to avoid waking her when she was under the spell of his love potion. A part of him couldn't help but think how much easier this would be with a little help from his friend, Woowoo Juice. He shook the thought from his head and knelt by her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her gently. "Laura," he whispered. When she didn't move he shook her again. "Laura, my love."
Her eyes fluttered open and met his. Immediate relief rushed over her. She sat up and threw her arms around his neck. "You came back," she whispered.
The relief in her voice felt like a stab in the gut to him. She had thought he wouldn't come back? He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back tightly. "Of course, I did, Sweetums. I'm mad and sad, but I'll always come back."
She released him and sat back. "You're still upset with me?"
He looked down at the floor. "Yes," he admitted in embarrassment.
"Steve, I—"
"No. Don't," he interrupted, placing a finger to her lips. "Let's just talk about this later, ok? I want to go home and get some sleep."
She nodded. "Ok," she said standing. "Just give me a minute to write a note for my parents."
He nodded and followed her to the kitchen. He watched her write the note, and they walked out. They drove home in complete silence.
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When they got into the apartment, Steve locked the door and headed straight to the bedroom. He stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed. He slipped off his glasses and turned away from her without another word.
Laura stripped down to nothing and got under the covers with him. She curled up against him, pressing her breasts into his back. "Baby?" she whispered.
"Yes?"
She softly kissed the back of his neck. "Can we please make love? I need to feel you inside of me," she whispered, hoping her explicitness would push him along.
"Laura, sweetheart, I just can't right now."
"But, Steve," she whispered, trailing her hand down his chest and slipping it into his boxer briefs, "I need to show you how much I love you." She gripped his member and began to stroke it. She grinned softly against the back of his neck, kissing him again as she felt him begin to tremble.
"Laura," he whispered back, his voice straining, "I love you, but no." He grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand from his underpants.
She allowed him to pull her hand away, despite her every urge. As she felt tears begin to sting her eyes, she rolled away from him. She sobbed softly to herself.
When he heard her crying, his heart ached. He had never wanted to make her feel like that. He turned back to her and spooned her. He pressed his erect member into her butt. He softly kissed her neck. "Shhh... Sweetums, I'm right here. I'm sorry, my love. Please, don't cry."
She turned back to him, tears streaming down her face. "No, I'm sorry, Steve. I never wanted to change my mind. I just... I didn't expect you to bring it up right away. I mean, I did, but I was kind of pretending we were going to have more time. I couldn't deal with disappointing you again. I'm just not ready, Steve."
Steve sighed deeply. "I don't want to talk about this anymore," he whispered. He reached his hands out to her breasts. He massaged her gently.
"Oh, I love you," she whispered.
"I love you, too," he agreed, sliding one hand down to her womanhood as he climbed on top of her. He felt around her wet entrance before moving a newly lubricated finger up to stimulate her clit.
"Ohhhh…" she purred.
He softly kissed her neck, then slipped lower in the bed. He took a nipple into his mouth and sucked. As he did, his mind couldn't help but wander to breastfeeding and back to babies. He pulled away from her abruptly, lifting off of her body and supporting himself with his arms on either side of her body.
"Steve?" she asked softly.
"Are we ever going to have a baby, Laura?" he asked suddenly.
"Of course, we are," she answered without hesitation.
"When?"
She shifted uncomfortably beneath him. "I don't know, Steve. Whenever we're both ready, I guess."
"What if that day never comes?"
"It will," she promised.
"Laura, I wasn't the one who insisted you stay home with the baby. I fought you on that decision because I didn't want you to ever feel like you gave something up to start a family with me. This is what I was afraid of, Sweetums."
"Steve, I do want to stay home with the baby. I just don't want one, yet. I'm not ready to give up my career. I'm not ready to give up our alone time. I'm not ready to move out of the city. I'm not ready to just be someone's mom. It's hard enough being your wife. People think I'm arm candy, remember? I don't ever want to be that."
"So don't do any of that. We can put the baby in daycare, and you can still work. Your parents can watch him or her while we have alone time. We can find a bigger apartment downtown. Our lives don't have to change!" he pressed.
"That's incredibly naïve, Steve. Having a baby does change everything, and more than that, I want it to change everything. When we have a baby, I want to be able to stay home with him or her. I want to have a big house in the suburbs. I still want to have alone time with you, obviously, but I want to have some cute, little toddler who has to sleep in our bed with us when it rains and who gets the flu and ruins our date night. I want that life. I just don't want it… yet."
Steve met her eyes in the dark. "Well, I do," he whispered.
Laura looked away. "Steve, I know you don't want me to do this before I'm sure I'm ready."
"Laura," he whined, "you'll never be sure. Sweetheart, I've been waiting for this my whole life, and I'm sick of waiting."
"Well, it's not like you can start without me, Steve, so you'll just have to get over it. I'm not ready," she insisted.
He took a deep breath and stood from the bed. He took a few slow steps toward the door.
"Where are you going?" she asked, growing angry that he was trying to guilt her into a decision this important.
"To sleep in the office," he answered flatly, stepping out of the room.
Laura plopped down roughly in the bed. She turned away from the window, not wanting to see his empty side of the bed. As much as she wanted to be angry with him, she couldn't stop the tears from flowing. She had to admit it; she had broken a promise.
