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"Abby," grinned Jake, "after you're done breastfeeding
the little guy, he's moving out of our bedroom. Every time we get serious, he wakes
up!"
"Not every time," she smiled.
"It feels like every time," chuckled Jake. After a few moments of thoughtful
reflection, he looked at her soberly. "Abby, you weren't thinking of Ricky staying
in our bedroom for the entire time we're in California, were you? He'll be running
around in training pants by the time I've graduated!"
"So?" shrugged Abby. "What's the big deal?"
"I don't mind Ricky being with us when he's this young," explained Jake,
"because he doesn't know what we're doing in bed."
"Jake," sighed Abby, "I think you're overreacting. Toddlers don't
understand sex. They're too young!"
"My father began abusing me when I was four," said Jake. "I couldn't
understand what was happening to me at the time, but I remember the fear, and I remember
the days that came after." Jake sighed, kicking the box of magazines he was
packing against the wall of Abby's bedroom. "Please, Abby," he begged,
"after you're done breastfeeding Ricky, couldn't we move him to his own room?"
"I was planning to breastfeed for at least one year," she informed him.
"One year?!" exclaimed Jake in surprise. "That long? But, I can't
be with you like that-- not with him right there!"
"If it means so much to you," conceded Abby, "we'll move Ricky to
the second bedroom when we arrive in San Diego."
"You think I'm being foolish," he reproached himself.
"After what you've been through," replied Abby, "I can understand
why you want to be so careful with our son."
"But, a normal father wouldn't do this?" asked Jake.
"I don't know," she confessed, with a small laugh. "I've never asked
Dad and Mom!"
"You don't think your parents felt self-conscious with the crib in the same
room?" he wondered.
"Well, I'm not going to ask them," smiled Abby. "You can if you want
to, but I'd rather not know!"
"You still don't like to think of your parents being intimate," mused Jake,
with an ironic smile.
"They act silly when they think there's no one's looking," said Abby. "All
I want them to do is act their age. Is that too much to ask?"
"It is, when a man's still in love with his wife," Jake answered knowingly.
"What about these old fishing books, Abby? Do you want to take these, too?"
"Of course," she answered, looking rather shocked that he needed to ask
such an unnecessary question.
Jake bundled the last of her books into the large box and carried it to the living
room.
"I know I have a lot of things," remarked Abby, carrying Ricky into the
living room with her, "but at least, you don't have very much to pack." |
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