“And anyway, even the most gorgeous model, after popping a baby or two?” He looked to the audience and grimaced. “I’m just not that fond of children anyway.”
April slipped a white and blue sundress over her head and examined her silhouette in the mirror. Samson was a tall man. Even Lana was tall. It stood to reason they would have large babies. She hoped she would be able to handle it. With no family history, no knowledge of what her mother or grandmother had gone through, April didn’t know what to expect. Her fears of losing Samson were beginning to be eclipsed by her worry for things that might be wrong with this baby. Things lurking in her DNA that she could never know about until a test revealed it.
But even if her doctor’s appointment revealed the worst, and her child needed a series of surgeries like April had when she was a baby, she found that she didn’t care. This child, however it had manage to sneak through Samson’s sea of condoms, deserved parents that wanted her, or him.
“Please don’t leave me,” she murmured.
April pinned her hair halfway up, allowing some of her curls to spill down around her face the way that Samson liked. She applied her makeup lightly and avoided her perfume, which was so bothersome now that she might as well go without it. Tonight she would tell Samson that he was going to be a father, and let him opt out if he really wanted to.
***
The intensity of the Texas summer was beginning to abate that evening. April could feel a breeze over her shoulders as she and Samson stepped out onto the rooftop patio of B&B Butchers. The carefully arranged lanterns lit up the empty patio, but the sky was still getting dark enough for April to appreciate the view. She could see the entire skyline of Downtown Houston. This far from the traffic and cracked streets, she could appreciate the towering buildings and multicolored lights. She could even smile at the huge, glowing ferris wheel that rotated from the Downtown Aquarium.
Because, why not have a Ferris wheel at an aquarium? Houston had a lot of flaws, ones she was becoming intimately acquainted with as she took on more design projects, but lack of creativity was not one of them.
“This view is gorgeous.” April let Samson pull her chair out for her and smoothed her dress underneath her as she continued to gaze at the skyline.
“It is. You can thank Garcia for this one. I asked him where he’d take someone special.” Samson leered.
“And those plans fell through? Thanks for thinking of me.”
“Stop joking. Tonight is special.”
“Is it?” What was he planning?
The waiter came to take their orders, and April declined trying out the raw bar, to Samson’s disappointment.
“Oysters look like snot, and you and I have never needed an aphrodisiac.”
Samson suppressed a laugh. “Now I don’t know if I can ever eat them again.”
“Good.”
Ultimately, they settled on crab cakes for an appetizer, and April let Samson do the ordering for their steaks. He also insisted in ordering a couple of lobster tails and a bottle of wine.
“You are a man of excessive tastes,” April informed him.
“I drank a cherry limeade for you. You can eat lobster for me.”
“I win in both of those situations!”
“That’s just fine.” Samson reached for her and gave her a silly smile. “I like it when you win.”
April grinned stupidly as well. She couldn’t help herself. She loved him. She wanted it all. The job, the man, and the baby. She wanted her stable home and family, and creative fulfillment, and a squirming little version of Samson, and lots of orgasms.
Not wanting to ruin their dinner, April carefully kept their topic of discussion on work and travel. Samson seemed content to listen to whatever she had to say, pitching in jokes and compliments as they came up. By the time she made it halfway through her steak and lobster, April was almost too full to breathe. She was going to have to watch that. Samson’s penchant for spoiling her could end up being a bad thing.
“You haven’t had any wine,” Samson pointed out. “That’s not exactly fair.”
“Not really. You pretty much know I’m going to put out, after this kind of dinner.”
Samson kissed her hand. “It’s just as well. I want you to remember this.”
He took a deep breath, knocked back the rest of his wine and dabbed the corners of his mouth. Then, he pulled a small black box out of his jacket pocket.
“Samson…”
“April, you know that I’m the kind of man who makes big gestures, but not big commitments. And I know that you said that things were fine, if we were just having fun...”