"Wow," Reuben says, "so you'll be playing music all summer."
I take a sip of my coffee, thinking. "It's not just the summer, Reuben. We are going to keep doing shows everywhere forever. I can't imagine my parents stopping anytime soon."
"And your brother Nate and his wife Jessica, they do this full-time as well?"
I nod. "Oh yeah. Jessica's an incredible singer. We do lots of duets together. Nate plays the keyboard. Dad is on the banjo, and Mom can play the fiddle and the cello. She's all strings."
"How long have Nate and Jessica been married?" he asks.
"Five years," I say. "I know Jessica wants to have a baby. She'd be such a good mom. I mean, Nate would be a great dad too. I'm sure it will happen pretty soon."
"What about you?" Reuben asks. "Do you want kids?"
I try not to blush as I think through my answer, thinking about Plum. Last night Reuben said he loved me. Was that too much too soon? In the light of day, I wonder if those were just words that you whisper in bed. I'm not quite sure they're words that will be repeated now that the sun is out. Now that the moon is hidden.
"I want a family," I tell him. "I imagine most people who grew up in a big family either want a big family of their own or one or zero kids. Me, I would probably be happy in the middle somewhere. I don't know. On the other hand, I can easily see myself with a big old family, as long as I can have my little witch doctor kitchen somewhere in the house or the RV," I clarify. "I think raising a family would bring me a lot of joy and happiness, and I don't have ambitions for a big career outside of the home. I'd like to have a business and if it supported just me, that would be awesome. But if I had a family to help support, that would be really great too. So I guess my long answer for an easy question is yes. I would like to have kids someday." I smile. "What about you, Reuben? Do you want more kids?"
He finishes his banana before answering. "I think so. Having Plum taught me what it means to be a man and a father. I'm not saying I have it all figured out. Hell, I'm just making it up as I go. But I'd like to do that again. But with a partner this time. I know there are no guarantees for that. When you make the choice to have a child, you have no idea of how life is going to turn out. But if I had the chance to do it again with someone I loved, yeah," he says, looking straight at me. "I'd want to have more kids with them."
I take a drink of my coffee. "I'm not saying I don't want to come to your house for family dinner," I say. "I do. I'd like to meet your parents and the rest of your siblings. But I don't want..."
"Don't," he cuts me off. "Don't try to end this when we've just begun. Don't say words you can't take back."
"We already said a lot of words," I tell him, "last night."
"Do you regret it? Whispering things like I love you?" He sets his coffee mug down, leaning his elbows on the table.
"I don't regret anything," I say. "The things I said last night I meant. In that moment, I felt so much love for you."
"Felt?" he repeats, stiffening.
"Yes," I say. "It doesn't take away what I feel in this moment. I'm just saying in that moment, there was so much love between us. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever been a part of, ever experienced, Reuben, and that's because of you."
"Because of us," he says.
I nod. "Us."
"You don't think you really love me?" he asks.
"I didn't say that at all. I do think I love you." Tears fill my eyes again. "See, you keep making me cry. Yeah. I think I love you. This whole world you have here. It's..." I look around the property. "It's a fairy tale."
"What if it didn't have to be?" he asks. "What if it could be real? Not just something made up in a book. What if it could be your life?"
"What are you trying to say?" I ask.
"I'm not trying to say anything. I'm trying to let you know that I love you. I love what I know of you. I love what I can see for us. I don't know how that's going to work with you in the Redwood forest and in Mexico, but..."
I swallow. "I can see it too, this being more than a fairy tale, make believe. I can see it being our story."