Return of a Soldier (Soldier Series Romance Novellas) Read Online Free PDF Page B

said, pulling away.  “I didn’t even know you wanted kids,” I said in disbelief.
    “I didn’t either,” he said with a shrug.  “I never even considered it until I met you and Hannah.  I guess I always thought I’d be alone.”
    My heart caught i n my throat as I saw the sadness in his eyes.  I knew I was lucky to have Trent come into my life, to come into Hannah’s as well.  I knew he felt the same way about us.  But I had never planned to have more children.  Truth be told, I hadn’t exactly planned to have Hannah, either, but I wouldn’t have traded my life with her for anything.  Now that I had a life with Trent all mapped out in my mind, a life I thought he’d be happy with and wanted, too, I felt like he was slowly pulling all that away from me.  One future had been dangled in front of my eyes, and now Trent was asking me for something completely different.
    My heart pounded in my chest as the realization crept over me that maybe Trent would never be happy if we didn’t have a baby together.  I was perfectly content with the idea of making a life with just the three of us.  A part of me now felt slightly betrayed that he’d never even mentioned it before.  Hannah was finally in school, and I was going back to work full-time this fall and looking forward to the next chapter in my life.  If Trent and I were to have a baby together, I’d have to put my dreams on hold again.  My entire world would be turned upside down.  I knew Trent was nothing like my ex-boyfriend, but with his deployment, it would be like I was a single mom taking care of a newborn by myself all over again.  Plus I’d have Hannah to take care of.
    “Trent,” I said sadly, “I don’t want any more kids.”
    “You don’t?” he asked, genuinely seeming surprised.
    “No,” I said emphatically, shaking my head.
    Trent studied my face in the moonlight , now seeming slightly in shock himself.  “I guess I just thought you’d love to have more kids.  You’re such a good mom to Hannah and—” he cut off, seeming unsure of how to continue.
    The passion I’d been feeling moments earlier was slowly fizzling out, replaced by a tiredness from the late hour and a realization of the fact that the man I was in love with wanted a different life than me.  How could we have talked all these long months, sharing both our deepest fantasies and dreams for the future without ever having discussed the possibility of more children?  If that’s what Trent had been wanting, why hadn’t he told me until now?
    I sighed, not wanting to think about it anymore tonight.  Maybe Trent was really just caught up in the passion of the moment and thought it would be a romantic notion for us to have a baby together.  Maybe he just thought he wanted kids.  Spending two weeks with Hannah and me would let him see what life was really like with a young child.  Our entire relationship didn’t hinge on this one moment tonight.  We’d talk more in the morning.  The reality was, at this point, I just wanted to crawl into bed and not think about it anymore.  A nagging little voice in the back of my mind wouldn’t let it go, though.  If having kids of his own was that important to Trent, what was to stop him from finding happiness with someone who would offer him that?

Chapter 6
     
    “You’re upset,” Trent said , hurrying to catch up with me as we walked across the front porch on our way back inside the cabin.
    “No, I’m not,” I said, shaking my head.
    “You haven’t said a word the entire walk back,” he said, catching my arm.
    Trent t urned me to face him, his hands resting on my shoulders.  He towered above me, and I gazed up at him, wishing we could just go inside and pretend that the entire conversation never even happened.  “I’m just tired.  Maybe we should just talk more about everything tomorrow.”
    “Fine, let’s go to bed,” he said, pulling me to him for a kiss.
    I knew Trent thought I’d come around and