Love And Marriage

Chapter 1: The Start of Something New

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The onions I threw in the pan started to cook, filling the air with a nice aroma. I checked the rice, then my tablet, then the chicken. I only had a few minutes until Jesse got home from his Father's Day trip.

Although it was only a week long I really missed my husband and I was excited for him to come back. Every year his dad took him and his siblings on a weeklong trip with him to some nice place, usually a surprise. They always have a great time and it keeps his kids from "buying useless father's day gifts", according to his dad. One year was London, one year was a road trip, another Disneyland. It was a cute tradition they started when Jesse's dad retired.

Any moment his uber would be dropping him off and we would be having a quiet evening together. An important evening because I was about to ask him something that had been weighing on my mind for a while. After 3 years of marriage, several years of career training and both of us finally being on stable financial footing, I think it was time to start trying to expand our family. I just hoped he felt the same way. Sure, we'd talked about it, but we talked about having kids in a near-distant future, not any time soon. Even though I'm not thirty yet, I'm not getting any younger and neither is he, so I don't want to wait too long.

I put the fresh veggies in with the onions, turned the heat off the rice and took another glance at the tablet. I wanted everything ready for him when he came in. I checked the food one last time before running to get a bottle of wine. When I came back Jesse was unlocking the door.

"Jay, I'm hooommmmee!" Jesse sang from the doorway.

"Jess!" I ran to the doorway and hugged him.

"Hey baby. I missed you." He dropped his luggage as we kissed him. His strong arms holding me close to his chest. His skin, a slightly darker shade of brown since last week, he must've been outside enough to get a tan. I pulled away and took his hand, leading him into the kitchen.

"How was your trip? How was everyone doing? By the way," I lifted the lid on my pan, "I made chicken stir fry."

"Smells amazing, I haven't eaten since this morning. We were in a rush to make it back in time." He said. He got a whiff of each pot.

"Jess, how was the trip?" I said

"Oh yeah, it was great. We all went fishing,horseback riding, axe throwing. The ranch was great. Another great trip."

"Sounds like y'all had fun. Did you at least take pictures?" I handed Jesse some utensils and the wine.

"Of course I took pictures! You would beat me up if I didn't. Well you and mom, Apparently I'm the official photographer of the family." He said as he started to set the table. "I'll show you after we eat."

I brought over the rice and veggies and placed them on the table.

"Well I'm glad you had a good time, even though I missed you so, so, so, so much." I gave him my best pouty face.

"Oh really? I missed you too." He said, giving me a flirtatious grin.

"So, so, so much." I said purposefully rubbing my body past him and dramatically batted my eyes. He stood behind me with his hands on my waist and put his lips close to my ear and said, "Why don't you show me how much you missed me?"

I turned to face him, my hands on his broad shoulders.

"Oh I'm going to."

Our kitchen "table" was actually just a little breakfast nook because our kitchen is so small. It was one of the things that attracted me to the house. No formal dining room but this cute little nook gave us a beautiful view of our backyard and let in so much light into the kitchen. I walked past Jesse to put the chicken on our table. He said grace and we began to eat.

Between mouthfuls of food, Jesse said "We have dinner with my family tomorrow. Just so you know."

"Oh great, another night of your mom taking cheap shots at me." I rolled my eyes. Don't get me wrong I love Jesse's whole family except his mom.

Jesse and I have known each other since we were kids, and I never had a problem with her. She was always nice and welcoming, but all that changed when I started dating her son. Since then his mother did NOT like me. It only got worse when we got engaged. She didn't think Jesse was serious about me until she saw that ring. She told Jesse many times, usually in front of me that it was a mistake to marry me. She would have chosen Jesse's ex- the woman that cheated on him. She may have broken his heart but she really got along with his mom. On the other hand Jesse's dad treats me like I'm one of his daughters, he truly is a second dad to me. We've gotten along since the day we met. He told Jesse that marrying me was one of the best decisions he's made. When Jesse's dad is around, Aiesha, his mom, isn't that bad but when he's not, the negativity never stops.

"She is not going to do that. It's supposed to be a celebratory dinner. "

"It doesn't matter what it's supposed to be, she always finds a way."

He sighed, "Anyway, everyone is going to be at dinner tomorrow at 8, think you'll be able to get home in time?"

"Yeah, I'll probably leave work around 6:30 assuming I don't have to stay."

"Thank you. I love you."

"Do you? Cause if you did you wouldn't make me go." I said, stabbing a piece of broccoli on my plate.

"It's a family dinner, you are a part of the family, it's the only time my sister and brother are going to be in town at once."

"Not according to your mother I'm not and never will be. Besides, you don't even like your bro."

Jesse gave me a deadpanned look. "I'll make it up to you."

"Shopping, make it up to me by taking me shopping."

"Fine, You want seconds?" He asked as he got up and reached for my plate. I shook my head no and watched him go to the stove. Now or never I guess. I'm not really sure why I was nervous to bring up the baby conversation, it was something we both wanted. Something we both planned on having in the near future. I think it was just knowing that having a kid was going to upturn our lives so much when they just started to get stable and normal and routine, was a bit scary. But I plucked up my courage and started the conversation.

"So Jess, there's something I wanted to talk to you about." His head whipped around.

"Oh God."

"What?"

"You make me nervous when you start a conversation like that." I rolled my eyes at him as he sat back down again.

"Listen, I think it's time that we start trying for a baby." Jesse was quiet for a moment. I couldn't read his face. Then he took my hand and kissed it.

"You know it's funny you said that. My dad had been asking me all week long when he was going to get some grandkids out of me." I laughed because I could just imagine Jesse's Dad doing just that.

"But I think you're right. Everything in our lives is calm, you're almost done with your training, I finally have steady work. Why not?"

I smiled. "Are you sure that this is what you want? I don't want you to feel pressured into doing this."

"Baby, I think you're right. We both want kids. I don't see a reason why we shouldn't. And imagine all the practice we're going to have to do. I love you and I can't wait to get you pregnant." He said, this time his hand was on my leg.

"Oh yeah, we're going to have to practice a lot. Make sure we've got the proper technique." I said bringing my face close to Jesse's.

"You know ain't nothing wrong with my technique."

"Hmmm."

"What does 'hmmm' mean, huh?"

"Oh nothing. Nothing at all. Maybe I just need a reminder of this technique you speak of." I replied sarcastically.

"We're going to have a baby."

"Yeah, we are." He kissed me slowly.