Looking up from her needlepoint, Carol asked, "Did you get the nickel tour?"
"Dime, I think he gave me an upgrade," Allie smiled.
"Come sit. Tell me about you."
Dean and Allie sat down on a leather couch. She curled her legs up and snuggled into the crook of his arm.
"I saw the piano. Who plays?"
"We can all play, but Dean is the family's pianist. With the hyperthymesia, all he needs to do is watch someone play, and then he can sit down and do it on his own. That's how we found out about it. He was 3," she said.
"No, I think he was 4," Jack said.
"No, he was 3. He was watching Aunt Paulene. She was here for Easter," she said. "Do you play any instruments, Allie?"
"Oh, I wish. My father told me we would teach me to play the piano. I was told that my big hands and long fingers would be my perfect instrument. Unfortunately, he never got around to it."
"I can teach you, baby, if you want me to. I promise to follow through.
"That would be nice. I have always looked forward to learning. However, neither has a piano, which may throw a wrench in that plan."
He leaned close to her ear. "I can deliver a Steinway to my house when we get home. Or any maker, for that matter," he said, kissing her cheek.
"I can sing. I'm just not great at it," she said. "That's about it."
That's about it? Caretaker, you have the most fantastic voice. I remember you singing to us. You could make a platoon full of Marines cry.
"I haven't sung since I got out of the military. Unless you count showers and car concerts."
"Buttercup, I have never heard you sing."
"Maybe one day, if you are lucky."
"Maybe one day you'll sing your children to sleep," Carol said. "Oh, Bean! I forgot to tell you your cousin Donna is pregnant."
"Again?"
"Good God, they go at it like catholic bunnies," Natalie said.
"OH BUG! That's not nice," Carol said.
"Yeah, but that's funny. I don't care who you are," Jack laughed.
"Anyway, yes, again. This is their seventh."
"They've been married ten years. Very devoted Catholic bunnies," Dean said with a smile.
"Not you, too, Bean!"
"Okay, I have to know, how did he get the nickname Bean?" Allie asked.
Dean took a long drag from his beer. His face became flushed.
"Certainly, you've seen his ass," Natalie said.
"NATALIE ESTELLE STAPLETON!" Carol exclaimed.
"What? Are we really going to pretend that he hasn't hit that?"
Dean picked up the pillow he was leaning on and whipped it at her.
"Not in the house," Carol yelled.
"You would prefer we throw your pillows around outside, Mom?" Natalie said, tossing the pillow back at him.
"We call him Bean because he was born with a strawberry birthmark on his bum. It looked like a kidney bean. So, my mother started calling him Bean. This, of course, was after we had named him Dean."
"Really? I have never noticed," she said with a smile.
"The larger I grew, the smaller it became."
Allie took Jack's glass of ice water from the table and took a sip.
"How about you, Allie? Do you see babies in your future?"
A fine mist of water propelled out of her mouth onto the table before her.
"JESUS MOTHER!" Natalie exclaimed, wide-eyed.
"What? I just want to know if I'm ever going to have grandbabies. Bean is my only hope."
"Hey!" Natalie said.
"Oh, come on, Bug, you know you want to be the fun Auntie Bug and not mom."
"Touche. I will make an awesome aunt, by the way, guys."
Allie took another drink of water and set the glass on the table.
"Sorry about the mess. You just caught me a little off guard. I would love to have children, but it's impossible."
"You never told me that, Babe," Dean said.
"The subject never came up in any conversation."
Here's one of those awkward moments I was not interested in being a part of. But I have changed my mind. I want to see how this plays out.
Malibu was sitting on the hearth of the fireplace.
Dean leaned in close and whispered to you. "Maybe that is a conversation we should have, maybe in private."
"No, it's fine. I resigned myself to it years ago. I was diagnosed with endometriosis when I was a teenager, around 16 if I remember correctly." she said. "since then, I have had a lot of scarring. My doctor and I are talking about partial historectery
"Allie, I am so sorry I brought it up. I'm just a typical nosey mother who obsesses over the possibility of grandchildren."
"Oh no, Mrs. Stapleton, it's okay. You didn't know. There are a lot of children who could use a stable home with good people. I saw so many parentless children when I was deployed. I became someone they came to trust, and then I had to leave. "
"Allie, please call me Carol. Mom works, too. Many of the kids' friends call me Mom or Mama S."
"You have endometrosis?" Dean said.
"Endo-me-tri-osis. Bruh, you have a thousand books in your room. Maybe one of them needs to be on women's health," Natalie replied.
"Hey babe, why don't we take a walk?"
"It's all good. Doesn't bother me at all."
"Please?" he asked.
Dean stood up, and Allie followed.
"I guess we're going for a walk."
They walked out of the room. Malibu followed them out.
"JESUS CHRIST MOTHER!"
"Don't take the Lord's name in vain, young lady!" she scolded.
"Whoa! Back the truck up! We're policing what comes out of MY mouth!" she scolded her right back.
"I said I was sorry, and I am sorry. I wondered if my future daughter-in-law would have babies with my Bean. Is that too much to ask?"
"Wait, is Dean going to propose to Allie?"
Mrs. Stapleton sat silently. She looked like the cat that ate the canary. Arthur was going to kill her.
"MOM!"
Carol got up and headed towards the kitchen.
"Mom! Mom! Mom!" Natalie said, chasing after her mother.
Dean helped Allie put her coat on. They walked around the property in silence. Dean was clearly uncomfortable and didn't know what to say or how to start. Allie had the attitude that this was just another walk, and they were about to talk about what they wanted for dinner. She knew he was far too polite to say anything.
"So, is this a relationship deal breaker?"
"You not being able to have children? It was just a surprise to hear. But you were right. We never discussed it. I guess I just assumed we would have children one day," he said.
"I guess it never really occurred to me to say anything. I accepted it decades ago, and it has become a part of my day-to-day life. Not to mention, I never thought I would fall in love, let alone get married! And we haven't talked about it."
"I've tried, but you either brush it off or dodge the topic."
"Now you know I can't. So where does this leave us?" she asked.
"What do you mean where does that leave us?"
"Well, I know that you were willing to put up with being attached to a murderer, but who wants to be with an infertile murderer?"
"You need to stop referring to yourself as a murderer. You were doing your job, just like if you have to shoot someone on your job now. It's your J.O.B.," he proclaimed.
He's right, Caretaker. You know it just as well as I do. If you're a murderer, then I am your accomplice. I didn't pull the trigger, but I told you where to shoot.
"You were just doing your job... oh. Right."
"To answer your question, it leaves us in the same place before my parents met us on that porch this morning. In love and hopelessly devoted to you."
"Did you just hijack a line from Grease?" she asked.
"It fits the situation."
"I don't want to be the person who stops Carron's bloodline."
"Allie, my cousins have the bloodline on lock. All their children are boys and carry the Stapleton name."
"Stapleton? You mean the name on the sign I saw when we turned on the driveway?"
"When exactly were you going to share that with me?"
"I meant to on the ride, and then I thought I would tell you on the plane. That didn't happen. We were a little busy." My last chance was coming here, but she was so nervous."
"Carron is my mother's maiden name. We thought when we went out into the world, we didn't want to walk around as Stapleton's and have people up in our shit. Please, Buttercup, don't shy away from me now. You knew I had money. You knew my family was well-off."
"There's a difference. I am an only child. My family bloodline stops with me. My brother is gone. The bloodline of Jack and Carol Stapleton will stop because of me. I don't think I can do that to you and your family. Unless Natalie does end up having a child."
"Pretty sure there is a better chance of you having a baby," he said.
"Well then, it's irrefutable. The bloodline will be lost. Your family is too successful for it just to fade into oblivion."
"Are you trying to talk me out of our relationship?" he asked.
"If you want biological children, then yes, run now."
"Allie, look at me. I have never run away from anything, anyone, or any problem. You are not just anyone, and this is not a problem. And WE can face anything together. You are stuck with me, Alexsandra Grace."
He held her close. She pulled away. "Wait, how do you know my middle name?" she asked.
"You and Bruss, I work for the FBI. I know the name of your first pet. Which was mittens, by the way."
"Yeah, he was a cool hamster."
"Look, I am sorry. I know it's torture, but you will have to put up with me loving and taking care of you for the rest of my life. That is if you let me.
"You know I have endured actual torture, right? Go ahead, I can take whatever you got to dish out," she said.
He took her face in both hands and kissed her gently. She put her arms around him and pulled him close. His body was warm, but the air had grown cold.
"Oh God, I want you so bad right now. Let me take you to the carriage house. Please," he begged.
They kissed until they became a little too aroused to continue. They separated and let the cold night air cool them off.
"This isn't easy for me either," she said.
"We should just head back in. Mom is starting dinner, I'm sure. She's a great cook if you aren't a vegetarian. Hang around long enough, and you will at least look pregnant. My father used to look like a twig before he met my mom," he said.
"Do you think I can take a shower? I need a little time alone and under some steaming hot water. I think my toes are frozen."
He put his arm around her shoulders.
"Are you sure I couldn't join you?"
"I just met your parents 6 hours ago; I am not going to shower with their son under their roof."
"How about you wait another hour? Would 7 hours ago be appropriate?"
She laughed, "You are such an ass. You know that, right?"
"No wonder women like to look at me when I walk by. Women love staring at a great-looking ass."
She shook her head slowly and smiled at him.
"What have I gotten myself into?"
"Just a life of laughs, love and …. I can't think of another L word to end that sentence."
"How about sex? Let's end it with sex."
"I thought you would never ask."