Stocky & Sumptuous

Chapter 1 I sipped my water and convinced myself it wasn’t bad enough that I should attempt to drown myself in the glass. It was tough, but I set the glass down and grinned at the guy across the table from me. He was cute. Dark hair. Light blue eyes. Broad shoulders. His lips looked like they’d be soft and his hands were big. But dear God was the man boring. I swore if I had to spend another night listening to one more guy drone on and on about how excited his boring job was, I really was going to drown myself in my water glass. “It’s fascinating, isn’t it?” he asked, a broad grin telling me just how excited he was about… What was it he did again? “It really is. Absolutely fascinating.” If he caught my boredom, it didn’t faze him. Just another sign that he was only there to hear himself talk. I tore off a chunk of bread as he continued explaining something to me. I only half listened, enough that I could interject a nod or a sound of agreement once in a while. My mind wandered, constantly going back to the whole reason I was there in the first place. I wanted a baby. Maybe it wasn’t progressive of me to want a baby, but I didn’t care. I’d spent the last two months, ever since I held my friend Riley’s baby girl, staring at babies. I wandered baby supply stores. I even started thinking about what I would register for when I had my own little bundle. I was losing it. Which was why I was on a date with another guy I’d met online. He was harmless, but only because I knew I could easily run away before he finished his next story. I had no doubt if he pulled out a knife, it would only be to tell me the origin of knives, not to cut me into tiny pieces like my sister was convinced every guy I met online was going to do. If even one of them evoked any sort of emotion in me besides boredom, I might have died of shock. Ugh. Online dating was not working for me. “Tell me again what you do?” Brad asked. He smiled at me, his head tilting to the side as though it was taking me a while to answer. Oh, right. It was. “I’m the business manager for a home restoration company.” “What does that mean?” I had to give him points for actually sounding interested. I told him all about my job, surprised when he asked questions and acted like he gave a s**t. Sure, I liked my job, but it didn’t usually garner so much interest from my dates. Whatever. Dessert arrived, the bright part of any date for me, and we changed topics to our families. I devoured my triple chocolate cake, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side, as he told me about his parents, also investors. Hey! That’s what he did. Only child. That explained his lack of communication skills. He pushed his dessert, a scoop of sherbet because it was healthier, away, and I figured I needed to lay it on thick. If he wasn’t turned off by my lack of attention or my super-sized dessert compared to his tiny and healthy one, I needed to pull out the big guns. “How many kids do you want?” I asked, innocently batting my eyelashes. “Uh, kids?” Insert fear… right there. “Yeah, kids. I’m already thirty-three so my biological clock is getting pretty loud, you know? I’d really like to be pregnant by the end of the year and have at least two in two.” “Two in two?” I nodded, leaning in and giving him my bedroom eyes. “Yeah. Two kids in two years. My sister is a couple years older than me and I always knew I wanted a big family. At my age it might not be possible, but I’m thinking it might be a good idea to ** to adopt at the same time. That way when my eggs dry up we’ll still have more kids. You know, since adoption takes so long.” His eyes grew wider with each word, just like I predicted. It was always a mood killer. Even the guys who made it seem like they were up for a family ran scared when kids were brought up. It didn’t have to be true, but it helped that I was being honest. I had always wanted kids. A few of them. Over the years, those dreams drifted away. Until I held Pauline. Looking down into her trusting face, loving and sweet, and I knew the desire for a family never left, it just took a backseat to the other things in my life. Like work. And taking care of my big sister. “I don’t know that I’m ready for kids yet. I mean, not this soon.” He rubbed the back of his neck and flicked his eyes around the restaurant, searching for an escape. “It was really nice meeting you, but I think maybe we should take things more slowly.” I leaned across the table and reached for his hand. “I was really hoping we could move things more quickly. I mean, I’m already off my birth control. So we could start trying right away.” Nothing excited a man more than the idea of s*x, but going bareback terrified the bravest of men. Especially on a first date. “Yeah, uh, I never have s*x without a c****m. And kids… Yeah, uh, I need to go. It was great meeting you.” He stood and tossed more than enough cash onto the table to cover dinner. He nearly tripped over his chair before he bolted for the door. I just sat back and laughed. “Another one bites the dust?” Amy, the waitress at Nicolino’s, asked. I’d met all my dates there because I loved the food, but also because they knew me. The first time I went to Nicolino’s was with my large group of friends for Max and Charlie’s anniversary. I fell in love with the quaint place and the comfortable feel and became a regular quickly. “Yep,” I told Amy with a grin. “He was so dull I thought I was going to fall asleep. I told him I want to be pregnant by the end of the year.” Amy laughed. “You’re bad.” I shrugged. “He had that second date look in his eyes. I had to pull out the big guns.” Amy shook her head at me. “Well, at least he left you enough money to cover your dinner, maybe tomorrow’s, too.” I chuckled and scooped up the cash, then handed it all over to Amy. “It’s yours.” Palms up she backed away. “No. I can’t take that much money. You should pocket it.” I shook my head. “It’s like blood money. I’d feel dirty taking it. Besides, he left it on the table to pay for dinner, so it’s yours.” Amy reluctantly took the cash and stuffed it in her black apron. “How about another dessert? You can take it home if you don’t want to eat it here. Mom just finished a tiramisu.” I groaned. “You’re evil, Amy.” She laughed as she walked away. Moments later she was back with a bag that I knew contained more than just one piece of tiramisu. “Lunch for tomorrow. Mom insisted.” I shook my head and hugged Amy. “Thank you. Tell Carla thank you also.” “Will we see you tomorrow?” Amy asked. I nodded sadly. “Unfortunately, yes.” “Can I ask you a question?” Amy asked, her brown eyes uncertain. I nodded. “Why are you doing this if you aren’t enjoying yourself?” I forced a grin and told her the truth. Because even though I didn’t know her well, I felt she deserved to know what was really going on. “I want a child. My sister is a fertility specialist, but all my friends are happy with their husbands. I’ve considered asking Peyton about artificial insemination, but I know it’ll be much better if I have someone to share it with.” “I can agree with that. I wouldn’t have such a great life without my husband. You’ll find the one who makes your heart race and your world slow eventually.” I grinned. “I hope it’s before my eggs shrivel up, too. My sister is the best fertility specialist around, but there are certain things you don’t share with family. Your v****a is one of them.” Amy laughed and hugged me. We said goodbye and in twenty minutes I was home alone, wondering if Amy was right. If I would find that one guy who was everything for me. I sure hoped so.