Page 31 of Not My Friend
“Do you want to have kids?”
We’d never talked about this before.
“Kids?”
I nodded.
“You know, I haven’t given it much thought, to be honest. I’m not dying to have kids, but I don’t think I’d be opposed to it either if the situation was right. Not right now, but maybe in a couple years.”
“I’d love to have kids. Preferably at least two so they can be friends.”
Kimberly chuckled. “Tell me you’re an only child without telling me you’re an only child. Most siblings are definitelynotfriends, at least not during childhood.”
“You didn’t get along with your siblings?” I asked in surprise.
I knew Kimberly had two sisters and a brother, although I’d never met any of them last time we were dating. They didn’t live in Seattle, and we weren’t together long enough for one of them to make a visit, but I knew the siblings all talked and texted regularly. I’d been under the assumption that they’d grown up super tight.
“We mostly do now, but not back then,” she responded. “My sister Kara was always a total bitch to me and Misty because she was convinced that my parents liked us better, but she coddledour brother Tyler. Misty was super secretive and mostly ignored all of us like maybe she wished we weren’t there, and as for Tyler, he tried to get along with everyone but that just irritated all of us. At any given time, two of us would have an alliance against the other siblings. It drove our parents nuts.”
“That sounds hard.”
Kimberly shrugged.
“It’s pretty typical I think, most of my friends had drama with their siblings too. The four of us fought like cats and dogs, but if someone came at one of us, watch out. One time in junior high some dude put a worm down my shirt, it was slimy and gross and I totally freaked out. My sister Kara hadn’t spoken to me in days, but she ran right up and gave him a bloody nose for messing with me. She got suspended for it and when I thanked her for helping me, she punched me too, then blamed me for getting grounded.”
I shook my head. These sibling antics sounded horrible, but my girlfriend was grinning like these were happy memories. It was all so different from my own family that it didn’t compute.
“I’d like to meet your family some time,” I said without thinking.
I immediately slapped my hand over my mouth. The last thing I wanted was for to think I was being too clingy, I’d been trying hard to avoid that.
“Never mind, I didn’t mean to say that.”
She gave me a look I couldn’t interpret.
“It’s cool. You’re my girlfriend. I’m sure you’ll meet them eventually. Kara and Tyler almost always come for the holidays.”
I felt a warmth in my chest at the idea that Kimberly thought we would still be together when the holidays rolled around. That was months from now. Then again, other than her cranky ass cat, things seemed to be going well between us.
It had been a month since we’d agreed to date officially, and really, not a lot had changed. We still chatted a few times a day on text. We got together on the weekends and usually went to dinner one night during the week. The big differences were public shows of affection and sleepovers. We’d had four now, one every weekend, and we were both careful to limit it to one night and do more than just have sex like we used to.
It was a nice, easy progression in our relationship. It felt much more mature than our first time around, and I had to admit that it also was more even. We weren’t having the ups and downs and wild emotional swings of our first relationship. Well, I wasn’t anyway. Kimberly had been more even-keeled the first time around, but she also had kept herself closed off, where now she actually was talking about her feelings and her likes and dislikes.
We’d both grown, and I was glad we’d grown in a way that complemented each other.
“By the way, it’s been a month now. Are we re-upping this girlfriend arrangement?” I asked lightly.
“I hope so. I already bought us those tickets forMama Miawhen it comes to town next month.”
“Well I’d hate to miss a musical with Abba, so I guess we’ll have to stick it out,” I teased.
Kimberly got up to use the bathroom and while she was gone I somehow got into a stare-off with Vader. He sat straight up on the cushion she’d vacated, staring at me. I stared back, neither of us willing to lose by looking away.
“Are you two having a staring contest?” Kimberly laughed when she came back. “What are you, kids?”
“I’m not looking away first,” I said, continuing to stare at the cat.
“Oh for the love of…,” she paused, grabbing Vader and taking him into the kitchen. “Come on baby, let’s get you some wet food so Gina and I can have some adult time.”
