“Ha! Eventually! See? What does that mean? Did he fight you on it?”
I thought back to that phone call. “Not really, no.”
Several exasperated sighs came from Kitty. “There’s just no way! Y’all are so smoochy cuddly squishy in those pictures!”
“Yeah, well, we didn’t kiss that day,” I said, punctuating my words with another chopstick stab. “I’m a mess anyway. I wouldn’t want to date me either.”
“No, no, no,” Kitty said. “Back up. Didn’t he ask you out and you told him you needed a friend? You friend-zoned him.”
“It’s not friend-zoning. I wanted to be considerate of his feelings.”
Kitty let out a long-labored sigh. “Oh my god. I’m going to strangle you two.”
“Why?” I groaned. “I’m trying to keep him from making a mistake.”
“Have you considered,” she said slowly, “that he doesn’t think it’s a mistake?”
“Well, if he thinks that, he’s wrong.”
“Vi,” she deadpanned.
“Kitty,” I fired back.
“Colton is trying to be considerate of you. You are trying to be considerate of Colt. Because of this, both of you are acting like complete idiots and pretending like this doesn’t end with you pushing a quadruplet stroller full of bouncing little Jonesies.”
I huffed a laugh. “I’m sorry, a what?”
I heard her husband, Guy, in the background. “Don’t tell her that.”
“Tell me what?” I demanded.
Kitty giggled. “Well, she knows now.”
“That was private,” Guy whined.
“It’s still private. I’m just telling the person who it affects.”
“Telling me what? I will not hesitate to come to Los Angeles and beat it out of both of you.”
Kitty panted, feet thumped on stairs, and a door slammed. “Colt was drunk over here one time and said he wanted to get you pregnant with quadruplets.”
A door creaked and Kitty uttered a quiet “uh oh.”
“Okay, Guy found me and I think I’m in trouble and he’s looking at me like I’m dinner. I gotta go. Love you bye! You’ll be fine! Just admit you’re in love! He’s just being an idiot and so are you!”
The call dropped on her squeal.
But I was sitting there, astonished.
Colton wanted to get me pregnant.
Not just pregnant. Super pregnant. Maximum-level pregnant.
But he said that when he was drunk. What’s the phrase? Drunk words are sober thoughts?
I squeezed my eyes shut and forced a breath. It tapped into my deepest desires. To already be married to him. To have his babies. To have little, toddling versions of us wandering around. To be connected to Colt for the rest of my life.
Colt wanted me that badly. It’s almost the ultimate praise. He fell so in love with me way back when that he wanted to continue the human race with me. He wanted me to carry and bear his babies, and a lot of them.
