The next morning, the alarm went off far too early for Laura. It wasn't even her alarm. She wasn't even working. She was just job hunting all day. Now that she had passed the Bar and told Steve how she really felt, there was a chance she could actually find one soon.

The alarm was for Steve, but since he wasn't in bed, he wasn't going to hear it. Laura grabbed her robe and took a few steps toward the door that connected the bedroom to the office, but then she heard the shower. Steve was already up.

She slipped into the bathroom to start her own morning routine. She brushed her teeth and washed her face. She ran her fingers through her hair. She reached for her birth control without thinking. She looked down at the case in her hand, and the weight of the moment hit her. She took a deep breath. It was just like any other day, right?

The shower stopped behind her, and Steve stepped out, wrapping a towel around his waist. He was clearly surprised to see her. "Hi," he said softly when their eyes met in the mirror.

"Hi," she replied with a gentle smile.

He took a few steps toward her and wrapped his arms around her waist, despite the fact that his skin was still moist. He leaned his head into the curve of her neck. "I missed you," he whispered.

"I missed you, too," she purred as she relaxed against him.

He kissed her neck again and again.

"Mmmmm…" she moaned. She turned around suddenly and faced him. She moved to wrap her arms around his neck, but he grabbed her wrist as she raised her arms.

He stared nervously at the little robin's egg blue box in her hand. He took it from her gently and released her from his grip. He held the circular box in his hand and stared at it. "Did you take it yet?"

"No," she answered.

"Why not?" he asked hopefully.

"I was just about to," she insisted, reaching for it so he wouldn't make any incorrect assumptions.

He pulled it further back, but she just moved closer and reached further. Eventually, he yielded. He felt ridiculous playing keep-away with something like that.

She took it from his hand and opened it. She quickly took that day's pill and placed it on her tongue. She grabbed the glass she always left by the sink for that purpose and filled it with water, taking three big sips as he watched her swallow the pill. There. Now, he knew she was serious.

He nodded and stepped away from her toward the door.

"Wait," she said. "Where are you going?"

"To get dressed," he answered flatly.

"Oh, but, Steve, you're up early. I thought we could…" she trailed off. She never felt uncomfortable telling Steve when she wanted to have sex, but something about this situation made her feel very uneasy.

"I'm not really in the mood anymore, Laura," he answered truthfully. It wasn't that she had taken the pill. It was the way she had done it, in front of him, deliberately, like she was trying to prove something.

Laura tried to hide how much that hurt her. She didn't want him to make love to her because he felt guilty about hurting her feelings or he wanted to end a conversation, like he almost did last night. She wanted him to want her. "Maybe I can get you in the mood again, baby," she purred, untying her robe. She slipped it off her shoulders and tossed it at his back, as he continued to face away from her. Turn around, turn around, turn around, she urged him in her head.

Slowly, he turned and let his eyes trail up and down her body. Damn, she was sexy. He forced himself to meet her eyes again. "Laura," he began softly, consciously resisting his hormones, "you know I don't like to make love when we're mad."

"I'm not mad," she purred, taking a few slow, hip-swinging strides toward him.

"Maybe not, but I am," he reminded her in annoyance.

She pouted her full lips. "You're not mad at me, baby," she cooed. "You're just upset about the situation."

"No, Laura," he corrected, turning away from her tempting form so he could really explain himself, "I'm mad at you. You broke a promise to me, sweetheart, a promise that you insisted on making when I gave you every opportunity to just not commit to a date, and I'm mad."

Wow. She knew that already, of course, but whenever they had a fight, he always danced around telling her he was mad at her. Now he was coming right out and saying it. That couldn't be a good sign. Laura rushed over to him and got on her knees in front of him. She reached for his towel and yanked it down to expose his member. It was flaccid.

He looked down at her in surprise and a little embarrassment. "See? I told you I wasn't in the mood," he said flatly, bending for his towel again.

As he bent, his face came down to her level, and she grabbed his cheeks. She pulled him down and kissed him passionately. Thrown off balance, he fell to the floor beside her, and she readily climbed on top of him. She kissed down his body until she was at his member again. She gripped it and began to stroke. "Oh, Steve," she purred, "don't worry. I can get you hard again."

"Laura," he warned, but she refused to pause. Her lips wrapped tightly around his member, and she took it as deep as she could. "Ohhhhhh…" he moaned. "Oh, God."

She sucked on him aggressively, trying to get him to the edge before he stopped her. She bobbed her head up and down. As she reached his tip, her tongue circled it and tickled it, making sure to taste his pre-cum. "Mmmmmm…" She moaned for him again and again, making it clear how badly she wanted this. She stroked the base of his member that she couldn't fit in her mouth while the other hand massaged his balls.

After several minutes of his stoic, near-silence, his hand shot down to the back of her head and gripped her hair. He gently, but insistently, pulled her head up and off of him. He looked at her shocked face and grinned to himself. "I don't want to finish in your mouth," he explained as he released her hair.

She smiled. "Oh, but, baby, we have plenty of time. You could let me swallow it, and then in a little while—"

"No," he said sharply. "Get on your hands and knees, please."

"Can we move to the bed? It's a little uncomfortable on—"

"Laura," he said eerily softly, "just turn around."

She swallowed her words and followed his instructions. She silently hoped he was going to warm her up a little first, and she breathed a deep sigh of relief when she felt his fingers at her entrance instead of his huge member.

He slipped two fingers from his right hand inside of her while his left hand groped her butt. He moved his fingers in and out.

"Steeeeve…" she moaned.

"They say this position allows the penis to penetrate right up to the cervix so when I orgasm the sperm will head straight for your womb," he whispered.

Her eyes widened. "What? Steve, I—"

SMACK. Suddenly, Steve's hand spanked her hard.

"OH!"

"I know we're not trying yet, Laura," he growled in her ear as his fingers continued to penetrate her again and again, "but thinking about getting you pregnant turns me on, so I'm going to make love to you in this position. You're going to feel me deep, deep inside of you. I'm going to orgasm. You're going to orgasm, and you're going to take my cum all the way up to your womb. There's no egg waiting for it there, but I'm going to put my seed in you, Laura. Are you going to let me do that?"

"Yes, Steve," she agreed breathlessly.

"You're so wet for me, baby," he said as he drew his fingers out of her and gripped her hips. He moved closer, lining his member up with her entrance. He slowly guided himself inside. She was tight, as she hadn't had very much foreplay, but he was forceful. "Mmmmmm…" he growled.

"Ooooooooo," she whined as he pushed inside.

He moved one hand to her back and pushed her lower, so that her backside was in a much higher position than her head. He moved in and out of her, going deeper with every stroke. When he was buried to the hilt, he bent over her. "Oh, Laura," he groaned, "you're so tight. Oh, Laura, my pet, do you feel me?"

"Yes," she whined.

"Do you feel me right at the entrance to your womb?"

"Yes."

He thrust into her gently. "Are you gonna let me in?"

"Yes."

He began to thrust in and out of her rhythmically. His balls slapped against her again and again as he thrust his pelvis into her butt. "Where's my manhood, Laura?"

"Inside me," she answered breathlessly. She couldn't believe he was talking like this. Sure, it wasn't vulgar, by any means, but for Steve, it was a lot. He was normally the kind of guy who just moaned her name, told her he loved her, asked her if it felt good, and told her when he was coming, but this was a whole new level. This was almost… dirty talk? Some weird, clean version focused on procreation, but still. Who was this guy? And where was her husband?

"Where inside of you, Pet? UNH!" he thrust into her hard.

"OH! In my… In my… Ohhhh… In my womanhood."

"Yeah, it is!" he growled as he thrust. "Yes, babycakes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes, yes, yeeeeeesssss…"

"Oh, Steve. It feels so good, baby. You feel so good…"

"Is it deep inside you, Laura? Is it deep?" he growled.

"Yes, Steve! Yes, it's so deep, so, so deep. Your big, hard dick is so deep inside me!" she called.

He thrust harder, pressing into her big booty as hard as he could. "Do you feel me hitting your cervix?"

"Yes! Oh, God, Steve! You know you can hit it. You know you're big! OH, GOD."

"Does it hurt?"

She shook her head but couldn't manage to speak as he knocked the breath out of her again and again.

He was panting heavily now, but he just couldn't stop his mouth. "You feel me hitting against your womb again–" Thrust. "And again–" Thrust. "And again?" Thrust. Thrust. Thrust.

"Yes, baby. Yes, baby. Yes, baby."

"Do you feel my balls slapping against you?"

"Yessssss…"

"What are they filled with, pet?"

"Your cummmmm…"

"Yes, Sweetums. My cum," he purred, "my seed. Where's my seed gonna go, Laura Lee?"

"Oooooo…"

"Where's my seed gonna go?"

"Inside me…"

"WHERE?" he demanded louder, spanking her.

"OH! In my womb," she offered hesitantly.

"Good girl," he growled under his breath, barely loud enough for her to hear. "Where's my seed gonna go?"

"In my womb," she moaned more confidently.

"Is that where you want my seed, pet?"

"Yes."

"Where do you want my seed, Laura Lee?"

"Deeeeeeeeep in my womb," she cooed.

He grinned and bit his lip. "Mmmmm… What do you want deep in your womb, Laura? Say it. Say the whole thing."

"I— Ohhhhhh… I want your seed deep in my womb, Steeeeve…"

"Yessss… Steve who?"

"Steve Urkel," she panted. "Steve Urkel. Steve Urkel, I want your seed deep in my womb."

"Beg for it, Laura," he ordered.

"Please, Steve!" she called without hesitation. "Please, Steve, give me your seed! Please, baby! I need it. I need your hot cum inside me. Put it in my womb, Steve. Steve Urkel. Steve Urkel. God, I'm getting close. Oh, Steve, please give it to me. Plant your seed in my womb, Steve. It'll feel so good, baby. So good for both of us. Please, Steve Urkel, plant your seed inside Laura Winslow!"

"OH, LAURA!!!!!!!!" he screamed as he came at the very back of her womanhood, his member shooting his cum against her cervix again and again as he thrust into her as hard as he could.

The force of his final thrusts and heat of his cum sent her over the edge with him. "Steeeeeve…" she moaned as he pounded into her.

He released strand after strand of cum inside her. After his last shot, he slipped out of her and pulled away. He spread the lips of her womanhood to peek inside. She looked so good overflowing with his cum. He smiled as he watched her tremble through her orgasm. He knew she'd be disappointed that he had pulled out so quickly, but he wanted to be aware enough to enjoy the moment.

"Ohhhhhh…" she purred. Laura began to change positions, but Steve's hand quickly stopped her.

"Don't move, pet. Stay just like that," he insisted.

"What? Why?" she asked, though she followed his directive and held the position.

"I want to give it time to soak in," he explained. "If you move, gravity will send it in the other direction."

"Steve," Laura said softly, "you know that's not gonna make a difference."

"I know, Laura. I just… I'm just fantasizing, ok?" he said in exasperation.

"I'm not sure that's healthy for us in this case." She sat up and grabbed his hands as he reached to stop her. She stroked them gently. "Baby, you can't just pretend we're trying. You need to deal with the fact that we aren't."

Steve took his hands away. "Laura, you were the one who insisted we make love this morning. Now you're telling me that I'm the one ignoring the problem?"

Laura looked down at her lap. "You're right. I tried to distract you from all of this and it backfired. I have no right to be mad about that."

Steve reached for his towel and Laura's robe. He handed it to her and wrapped the towel around his privates. "I think we need to really sit down and deal with this, Laura."

"I don't want to fight, Steve. Not about this."

"I don't either, lover, but what else can we do? We can't do it now because I have to get to work, but we can't just ignore this. When I get home tonight, we need to talk."

"I love you," she whispered, resting her head against his shoulder, "with all my heart."

"I love you, too," he promised, wrapping an arm around her.

Laura held her breath as she worried the second part wouldn't come this time, but it did, of course.

"With all my heart."

———————————————————————

Steve headed off to work, and Laura spent the morning on her computer, updating her résumé to say she had passed the Bar. With this new information, she resubmitted to several law firms and government agencies, but when that was done, all she could do was wait. Knowing she was unlikely to get responses today, she decided to meet Max for lunch. Friday was a busy day at the salon, but after the debacle the night before, Max made time for her.

"So are we gonna talk about this baby thing, or are you just gonna keep feigning interest in my salon drama?"

Laura shrugged. "I don't know, Max. I don't know what to say."

"Well, I still need some context. Why did Steve think you guys were going to start trying?"

"Well, that's simple enough. When we were first married, he asked me about it a lot, but I always told him that I didn't know. When Myrtle had Beau, we had just gotten through that pregnancy scare, and again, he wanted to know when. I looked at him with a baby in his arms, and I knew I wanted that, and I knew I wanted it soon, so I told him that we'd start trying as soon as I passed the Bar, but now, I don't know that I want to."

"Ever? Or right now?"

Laura shrugged.

"Oh, Laura, you can't do that to him," Max gasped.

"Do what?"

"You can't never let him have a baby. When you guys got married, wasn't that already something you had talked about?"

"Not really," Laura shrugged. "We didn't think we had to. It just all seemed implied, but that's not a given. I don't have to have a baby if I don't want to."

"Laura, you've always wanted kids!"

"I know, Max, but it's scary and the worst part is that Steve isn't scared at all. He's so confident that we can do this and that this is the right time for us. He's completely blind to the challenges, which leaves me with the job of being the realist."

"Laura, you are the realist in your marriage and Steve is the dreamer. It's always been that way," Max argued.

"But that's not fair, Max. What about my dreams?"

"Don't your dreams have kids in them? Where do you see yourself in ten years?"

"I want to be an A.D.A. by then."

"Ok, fine. Who are you coming home to?"

"Steve, of course."

"And?"

Laura closed her eyes and thought for a minute. She imagined herself at 35, walking in the door after a long day. She saw Steve being there to greet her. Then she heard little footsteps following behind. She opened her eyes before she saw them, not wanting to have to face the children she was threatening may never exist. "Yeah, ok, there are kids."

"Ok, so you do want kids. Laura, I'm not saying you have to do this now. I'm just saying that you can't tell that man you're not sure it'll ever happen. It'll kill him."

"Max, what if I don't want kids and Steve leaves me?" Laura asked softly, her eyes stinging with tears.

"Laura, he would never do that, but you need to realize something too. Steve would never leave you, no matter what you did to him, so you need to be really careful about how you treat him. He wants this, Laura. He wants this more than anything in the world, and he has been very clear about that since you were kids. You're the one who's changing her mind all of the sudden. You need to be sure you see what you're doing to him."

Laura looked down at her plate. "Ok, Max, I get it. I don't want to talk about this anymore."

Max allowed the subject to drop for the time being, and though they continued to talk about other things, Laura couldn't get her mind off of what Max had said. This was what Steve wanted. He wanted it more than anything in the world, and Laura loved him, so why wouldn't she do everything she could to give it to him? But was that a good enough reason to have a baby? Should she have a baby if she didn't want it the way he did?

———————————————————————

Steve arranged his own lunch date that day for the very same reason. He needed to talk about this with someone whether he wanted to or not.

"Hey, Big Guy!" Steve called as Carl walked into their favorite diner.

"Hey, Steve," Carl smiled as he sat across from him.

"What's up, Steve? Why'd'ya wanna have lunch today?" Carl asked as he glanced momentarily at the specials.

"Oh, I… Uh…" Steve began. He knew Carl was going to ask, and he did really want to talk about it, but he nearly swallowed his tongue trying. "No reason," he shrugged eventually, avoiding Carl's eyes as he stared at the menu. He ordered the same thing every time they met here.

Carl raised an eyebrow at him. "Mm-hmm… So you don't want to talk about this whole baby thing?"

Steve's eyes shot up to him.

"Laura explained it all to Harriette, Steve, and she explained it to me," Carl clarified, "so if you want to talk about it, we can."

"Carl, why doesn't she want to have a baby with me?" he asked softly, trying not to cry.

"Steve," Carl replied, "she's just not ready. She didn't say 'never', did she?"

"No," Steve admitted.

"Then you just have to be patient. You're still young. You have plenty of time."

"We've been married for over four years."

"Yes, but you haven't been financially stable for that whole time, and more importantly, you were both still in school. Now, you've been out for a few months and you're feeling ready for that next big step. Plus, you've had the same job for four years. Laura graduated when you did, but she's only now fully-licensed. She hasn't even begun her career. She's not ready for another big change like that."

"But she said she wanted to after she passed the Bar. What if she keeps putting it off and putting it off, and one day, we turn around, and it's too late?"

"That won't happen, Steve. You waited fifteen years for Laura to come around to you. You can't expect her to be ready for a baby at the drop of a hat. Laura is cautious and stubborn. You know better than anyone how hard it is to convince her to do something she doesn't wanna do. You have to let her come to this idea in her own time."

Steve looked down at his wedding ring. He knew Carl was right. He had forgotten how important it was to be patient with Laura. He had pretty much forgotten how to do it. He didn't want her to put her life on hold for their family, which was why he had discouraged her from staying home with the baby. He was afraid she would grow to resent him for it, but if she wanted to, then he couldn't stop her, and he did have to let her do it in her own time or she really would resent him eventually. "You're right."

"I always am," Carl smiled.

Steve looked back up at his mentor. "I want a baby so badly, Carl."

"I know, and Laura knows that, too. You just have to be patient and trust that she's going to want that as badly as you do someday."

Steve smiled softly. "Are you looking forward to being a grandpa?"

Carl scoffed. "Oh, yeah," he said sarcastically, "a bunch of little Urkels runnin' around my house. That's just what I need." Carl watched as Steve laughed and snorted. While Carl did mean his comment as a joke, Steve's reaction did disturb him. He said a silent prayer that Steve's laugh wasn't genetic.

———————————————————————

When Laura got back to the apartment, she set her purse down and walked into the office. She sat down at the desk and emptied the plastic bag in her hand. She had stopped at the bookstore on her way home. She was a lawyer at heart, and if she was going to fight tonight, she was going to be prepared. She bought books about conceiving a baby, pregnancy, infants, toddlers, children, teens, parenting while working, parenting while staying home, going back to work, and how children affect marriages. She broke out her favorite pink highlighter and an empty notebook and got to work. She had a long afternoon ahead of her. Not only did she have to research her side of the argument and the opposition, but she still had to settle on a side!

———————————————————————

By the time Steve finished his workday, he had decided that they had nothing to fight about. If she wasn't ready, she wasn't ready, and that was that. He would just have to be patient. Sure, the longer they spent without kids, the longer he remained terrified that one day she'd leave him, and they'd never see each other again, but he had been living with that fear for four years. Surely, he could last a couple more.

Knowing that she would be geared up for a fight when he got home, he made a quick stop at the florist. He picked up her favorite flower and got back into the car.

He pulled cautiously out of his spot parallel to the street and tried to move to the left-hand turn lane. In busy Chicago, driving as slowly and carefully as Steve always did, that was nearly impossible. He decided to just make three rights instead. If he had driven a little more aggressively in the first place, he never would have been at that light when the semi blew through. His caution nearly cost him his life.