Page 72 of Size King

Although I slow down, I don’t stop riding him after we both come.

Masonand I talk in bed for hours afterward. Initially, it’s small talk that anyone can share with each other, nothing intense, confrontational, or uncomfortable. We are bound for situations like that in the future if we aren’t careful.

Inevitably, the conversation does eventually find its way to the unborn child I have growing inside of me.

“So, what do you want to do about this whole kid thing?” Mason asks as nonchalantly as he can.

“I’m keeping it, if that’s what you were asking,” I reply. “I thought about it, and I don’t think I could go through with an abortion. It’s just not something for me.”

“Fair enough,” he says. “And in terms of keeping it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you going to give the baby away after it’s born or raise it yourself?” he asks. “I’m no dad.”

“Like I said, you don’t have to be involved with this child inanyway,” I say. “I just felt you had the right to know that you had a child coming into the world.”

We stay quiet for several minutes. I keep waiting for him to speak, but he is waiting for me to speak. Since I don’t know what to say, I blurt out something.

“When did you see yourself having kids? Like, down the road? I assume not now with a strange woman you barely know.”

“You assume correctly.” He chuckles. “I’m not sure. Really, I’ve never thought much about having kids. I was telling you the truth before. This is the most I’ve ever thought about it.”

“Same,” I say, trying to relate, even though I’ve thought about having kids on-and-off for many years.

“I guess it didn’t really matterwhenI had the kids,” says Mason. “I am waiting for the right woman to come along. I figured when I met her, everything would fall into place, and kids and the house and the pool and the family, all of that would happen naturally. But now, who knows? I’ll probably never find the right woman.”

“Hey, now,” I react feeling slightly offended. “You never know where the right woman might turn up.”

“Now I have a kid, so there’s no chance of me ever getting a date again,” he says. “It’s just as well. I am about to give up on women altogether anyhow.”

“Why? What did we do?”

“Nah, I don’t mean to generalize,” he backtracks. “You know what I mean. One really awful one spoils the whole bunch.”

“Tell me about it,” I relate. “Who ruined women for you?”

“Brittany,” he answers quickly. “The only girl I ever thought I might get serious with. We dated when I lived in L.A. Everyone thought we were going to get married, ironically. Back in the day, I almost thought I was going to end up building my own house or cottage up here in the mountains with that girl.”

“Oh, geez,” I say. “What happened? She didn’t want to move to Wrightwood?”

“Nah, she loved nature and being around it as often as she could,” he says. “We drifted apart over time. I wanted to end things once I knew we were in trouble, and she pressured me to stay, so I did. Then, she cheated on me—with my cousin, no less. I broke up with her. Then, she broke into my dad’s house when no one was home and stole some expensive things.”

“Whoa,” I say, taken aback. “That’s really rough. Sorry to hear that.”

“Eh, it was a long time ago,” he says. “Did you have a Brittany?”

“Guys have cheated on me before,” I let him know. “I’ve never had a guy steal from my parents or me.”

“Lucky you,” he says. “Well, not really lucky, because you’re pregnant.”

The sun was setting, with natural light fading out of the room quickly. I use that as my cue to get out of bed and head back home.

“I’m really sorry for barging in on you like this,” I say as I put my underwear back on. “I didn’t know how to reach out to you. I felt like if I creeped and found your number and called you out of the blue, that would freak you out, or you wouldn’t even answer. I’m glad I came, though.”

“I’mveryglad you came, darling,” he says as he slides his boxers back on.

“I don’t expect you to know what you want to do right away,” I assure him. “In fact, I don’t expect to even hear from you during my first trimester. I just wanted you to know so you could think of what you wanted to do.”