"Yes, their own homes. Not theirs and ten others," he said.
I frowned at him because he did have a point...to an extent. I'd been planning to cut back a bit in my last month or two, but not yet. Even with his insurance, there were going to be medical bills and deductibles that I would need to pay.
"If I were eight or nine months pregnant, I would agree that I need to slow down, but I'm barely out of my first trimester so I should be fine for another four or five months."
"Dr. Stubens said you needed to take frequent breaks and put your feet up, even early on in your pregnancy, so you don't have issues with your blood pressure and swelling."
"I know what she said but she's also aware of what I do for a living so she knows how much I'm on my feet. If she thought I should quit one of my jobs, she would have said so."
He mulled that over for a moment. "Okay, you have a point there, but my point is that I'm doing well financially and I can take over payment on our joint bills. When you're done with school, we can talk again."
"You're still telling me what to do here, J.J.," I said.
"I'm trying to help you, Lee," he shot back.
My voice was getting higher and louder but his remained calm.
"Let me help," he said. "You don't complain when I make dinner or help you tidy up. This isn't much different."
I laughed. "It is different."
"How?"
"Money equals power and control in a lot of relationships, Jay. I can't afford to be financially dependent on you and I'm not just talking about money."
"You won't be dependent on me," he said. "You're not dependent on me now. You'll still have your own money and income and you'll be spending a lot less of it if you're not paying all of the bills."
I exhaled. "I'm not comfortable with this," I stated.
"Do you think I'm comfortable with living here while you pay for everything?" he asked. "Would you be if our roles were reversed?"
Crud. He had a point. I wouldn't be okay with living with him while he footed the entire bill. Even if he'd been doing it before I moved in. "Why do you have to be so reasonable and logical?" I asked.
He grinned at me, knowing that he'd gotten through. "Years of experience in dealing with your brothers."
I made a face at him which made him laugh. "Fine. You can take over the basic utilities like water, trash, and electricity. We'll split the Wi-Fi and subscription streaming services. Groceries will be on whoever does the shopping that day. Sound fair?"
"I still say I should pay for the groceries. I eat a lot more than you."
I groaned. "And I grow most of our produce, so it's not like we're spending a lot."
He frowned at me. "Then, I should definitely pay for the groceries since you're putting in so much time gardening."
"Gah! Fine!" I exclaimed waving my arms. "Pay for the groceries. But don't start insisting on paying me back if I pick up milk or eggs or whatever on the way home from work."
The butthead smiled at me. "All right. We have a deal. Now, I prefer to keep the utilities on auto-pay, I'll need you to give me the login and passwords for the accounts, or at least log in for me so I can add my card information to it."
"Right this minute?" I asked, giving my apple slices and peanut butter a pointed glance.
"After your snack. You don't eat enough as it is."
I sighed. "I eat plenty. I just had trouble eating when I was still having morning sickness. It's almost completely gone now, so I'm going back to my regular eating habits."
J.J. raised his hands in mock surrender. "Okay, I apologize. I'm going to change while you finish your snack and then we can get everything changed over."
I waited until he left the room before I sat back in my chair and sighed again. Arguing with J.J. was going to be difficult because he refused to argue and he also refused to budge. Rather than losing his temper the way my mother and brothers did, he would just come back with logic and reasonable debate.
While I was glad he wasn't prone to losing his temper, I also wondered if he was like me. I rarely lost control of my anger, but when I did, I had a tendency to do and say things I regretted.
