“I didn’t think you’d do it until I was pregnant.”
“You will be soon.”
“You sound very confident.”
“You’re my bride. Tonight is our honeymoon. It’s the perfect time according to your cycle. I have held off despite the pain it has caused me from not coming inside you. It will happen tonight. I’m sure of it.”
She’s still smiling but she’s shaking her head at the same time. “I’m sorry to have to disappoint you but my reproductive system isn’t the same as a college finance department.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You can’t simply bribe or bully it into getting pregnant. It doesn’t work like that.”
“Want to make a bet?”
“A bet? What kind of a bet?”
“You get pregnant tonight and I’ll pay you a million dollars.”
“You’re shitting me, right?”
“You don’t get pregnant and I’ll divorce you and still give you the million.”
“Don’t talk like that.”
“Like what?”
“This isn’t a game, Nico. This is real life.”
“I’m well aware of that.” I put a hand on her leg. “You willing to take my bet?”
“Sure, why the hell not? It’s not like I lose out either way. I become a millionaire.” She sounds sarcastic, like she thinks I’m teasing her. She’s no idea how serious I am.
I’m also certain that she will get pregnant tonight. Don’t ask me how I know, I just do.
Part of me wants to pull the car over and do it now. I manage to resist. “Tell me something,” I say.
“What?”
“You hungry?”
She looks at me and grins. “Now you’re talking my language.”
“What would you like? Italian? Chinese?”
“Hell, no. I want greasy and cheap with lots of fries and a milkshake bigger than my head.”
“What my lady wants, my lady gets.”
I pull into the parking lot of the first diner I spot. “Ready for our wedding breakfast?” I ask, getting out and holding her door open for her.
“It’s not quite how I imagined it,” she says as we walk inside, drawing glances from the few customers inside.
We take a corner booth so I can keep an eye on the parking lot just in case. The waitress appears next to us after a couple of seconds, notepad in hand.
“Hi, y’all,” she begins. “Name’s Sandy. I’ll look after you this afternoon. Say, you two on the way to a costume party or what?”
“We just got married,” Rory says, holding up her ring.