Finding Joy (The Joy Series) (Volume 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

doesn’t plan on having kids,” I finished.
    “Just make him see how much you want it. He’s crazy about you. And he’ll be a great dad. Look at how awesome he is with me. Hell, you know you are going to get married and make babies. And then it will have a whole bunch of brothers and sisters to grow up with.” She stopped rambling and looked down at her bulging tummy, which looked more pronounced when she was sitting in a slouch. “I wish I had that.”
    I smiled knowingly at her. We were on common ground here. The fact that we were both only children was something Lizzie took solace in even though it was the only common thread in the fabric of our childhoods. Whereas my childhood had been silk, hers was scratchy wool.
    “Yeah, we need to talk about that, too” I said, and then paused to take a deep breath. “Lizzie, I’m not without reservations here. I have concerns. One of them is that if I take him or her, there won’t be any brothers or sisters to play with. He will be an only child just like we are. I’m not sure I’m okay with that and didn’t think you would be either.”
    “But why?” she asked. “I’m telling ya, he’ll come around. I know it. Adam’s like your Prince Charming, and you’re going to ride off together to your castle in the sky and have lots of little princes and princesses. He loves you so much,” she said dreamily.
    While her 14-year-old imagination was running away, conjuring up my happily ever after, I wondered just how much I should tell her. She might be dealing with adult problems, but she was still just a child. And unloading my problems on her was not part of the program.
    I reached over and wiped a string of fluorescent cheese off her chin. Her eyes snapped back to attention. “See, look at you mothering me. Wiping food off my face. You’re a natural. You won’t be able to stop with just one.”
    “Yes, I will,” I said quietly. “I’ll stop at one because I have to stop at one. I can’t have any kids, Lizzie.”
    “What do you mean, ‘you can’t have kids’?”
    “I mean, I just can’t. I don’t have all the right equipment, so to speak.”
    “Oooooh,” she said, dragging the one word out as long as she could and looking at her feet.
    I’d seen and heard this reaction before. Nothing struck another woman speechless like the phrase ‘I’m barren.’ It was the reason I stopped telling people a long time ago. It was nobody’s business anyway. “It’s okay. I came to terms with it a long time ago. It never even occurred to me that I would have the chance to have a baby. And I was fine with that … until … well, until you came along.”
    “And then I changed everything, huh?” she said brightly. “Well, good. I’m glad something good is coming from this disaster. You’ll get your baby, and I’ll get to pretend it never happened. This was meant to be.”
    “It certainly feels that way, doesn’t it?” I asked, as she stood up and began wadding up the paper wrapping from her pretzel. “Ready to go?”
    “Not really. I’ve got nowhere to be. But you do. You need to go home, and you need to talk to Adam.” She picked up half of the bags and headed for the trashcan. She looked back at me expectantly and grinned.
    I picked up the remaining shopping bags and followed. She was right. It was probably time to just come out and tell Adam about Lizzie’s proposition. I would present my case very logically and rationally. I wouldn’t get emotional and weepy. I would just tell him that this was what I wanted, that this was fate stepping in once again with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And then I would list the 101 reasons why he should do this with me … the number one reason being that I couldn’t live without him.
    My head was telling me that I had it all figured out, but my heart hadn’t caught up. Lizzie was handing us our ‘happily ever after,’ but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was all just too neat and tidy. I did have