Page 73 of The Hero
“I think she definitely was because of that last line. Most would say until death do us part, but I’m thinking Buddhists believe in reincarnation, so saying in this life and the next makes sense,” April mused.
Marlowe had no clue about the Buddhist religion, but she liked the thought of being with Kendric not only in this life, but whatever happened after as well.
“What about you?” Carlise asked April.
“Huh?”
“We all did the one-bed, forced-proximity thing. What about you and JJ? How are we gonna get you two into one bed, make him stopfarting around and pull his head out of his butt and admit that he’s madly in love with you?”
Marlowe watched in fascination as her new friend’s cheeks reddened.
“He’s not in love with me,” she protested.
“Oh please, he so is,” Carlise said with a shake of her head.
“Well, I’m happy being his admin and friend. So no forced proximity for us.” Then she gave each of them a stern look. “I mean it. If you lock us into a room with a sleeping bag or something, I’m not going to be happy.”
Everyone chuckled.
“Besides, I’m too old for him,” April muttered.
“What? You are not!” Carlise exclaimed. “We’ve already been over this. You’re only seven years older, that’s like nothing!”
“I’ve already been in a serious relationship, and it sucked,” April said, ignoring Carlise’s comment. “I’m happy being single. And soon, I’ll get to be Aunt April to all your kids. I’ll get to spoil them rotten.”
“You don’t want children of your own?” June asked.
April gave her a small smile. “No. Don’t get me wrong, I love kids, and I know I could always adopt or something, but I’m enjoying not having that responsibility.”
“It’s okay if you don’t want to be a mom,” Marlowe felt compelled to say. “Society puts too much emphasis on women having babies. As if there’s something wrong with us if we don’t want to experience childbirth. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have your happily ever after with JJ.”
“We’re friends. That’s it,” April insisted.
But Marlowe could read the longing in her voice. She hadn’t been around the woman very long, but it was obvious she couldn’t take her gaze from JJ when they were in the same room together. They might snipe at each other, but Marlowe hadn’t met two people with more chemistry.
“Besides, Chappy, Cal, and Bob fell in love in like two seconds. You two”—she pointed to Carlise, then June—“were married within weeks. And Marlowe, it was like five days for you!”
“The circumstances were a bit different for us,” she protested. “We got married, but we didn’t love each other.”
“Bullcrap,” April said. “Again, Bob wouldn’t have married you if he didn’t want to. He was already in love with you, I have no doubt about that. My point is, Jack and I have known each other foryears. Nothing has ever happened between us. Eventually, he’ll meet a woman and fall as hard and fast as the rest of his friends did. He’s not going to wake up one day and suddenly realize that he loves the woman he sees at work all the time. Besides, he’s my boss. That never ends well.”
Marlowe wanted to argue, but wasn’t sure what to say. She didn’t know JJ or April well enough. Something was clearly keeping both of them from admitting their feelings for each other, and whatever it was, it might be something they couldn’t overcome.
“Anyway, I can’t wait for there to be babies running wild in here. I’m always available to babysit, I just want to make that clear right here and now. Okay?”
Everyone laughed.
“Good. Because with four kids, we’re gonna need some alone time,” Carlise joked.
“With thetwowe want, we’re gonna need some alone time,” June said with a laugh.
“How many do you want?” April asked Marlowe.
“I don’t know. More than one, less than six,” she blurted.
“Six? Good Lord,” Carlise exclaimed. “I thought four was a lot.”
“I just ... I’ve always wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. I kind of got sucked into the archaeology thing, and while I liked it, I want to settle down. Raise a family. It’s not cool these days to say I want to greet my husband at the door when he comes home from work, but ... I do. I’m not sure how the dinner thing will go, since I suck at cooking, but I’ll figure it out.”
