The Summers After

four

BELLY

Belly was excited to spend a week in Boston with Conrad, she really was. The two of them hadn't had an uninterrupted week alone since before Matt was born. But she's also heartbroken leaving the boys, she cries on the top step saying goodbye to them. Her mom assures her everything will be fine, and to go. The drive to Boston is a few hours so they should get on the road.

Laurel hugs Conrad, tells him to drive safely, and then ushers Matt back inside with Henry on her hip. Conrad holds her hand while they drive.

"Are you okay, Bells?"

She looks over at him and nods, "I'm fine. I just haven't been away from them this long."

He kisses her hand, "I know. If you want to leave before Thursday, you can bring the car up and I'll grab a train."

"You're sweet, but I really do want to spend this week with you. I'll be okay, I promise!" She says excitedly. Her voice hitches a little too much at the end.

Conrad eyes her, but doesn't press it any further. They drive in silence for a while. Conrad uses his thumb to gently stroke her hand as he drives.

She settles into her seat and relaxes the further they get from Cousins. She crosses her legs in her seat and rests her hand on the back of Conrad's neck.

"Tell me something I don't know about you," Conrad says softly.

Belly snorts, "Are you kidding? You're probably the only person in my life who knows absolutely everything about me,"

"There has to be one thing, one little thing, that I don't know about you."

Belly thinks, she goes down the list of things she might tell Taylor, or her mom, or even Jeremiah but Conrad knows every one of them.

"I'll go first," Conrad says.

"Okay..." For some reason this game feels like it has an ulterior motive.

"I want another baby."

Belly snaps her head to look at him. This is surprising for a lot of reasons. They both grew up in a family of two, so a third child feels foreign. Henry is still so little, she can't even believe he's thinking about another baby. And one of the biggest reasons, which is something they don't even talk about, Belly is a single mother in the summers. She knew she would be, her summers in Cousins were non-negotiable but Conrad has to work. He can't just up and leave the practice for 3 months. So every summer, Belly feels like a single mom. He comes up every weekend, but that's when they do the fun stuff. They play, swim, stay up late, eat junk food because Dad is there. But Sunday night rolls around, Belly watches Conrad drive away and she is left with two exhausted, sugared up kids, who want their Dad.

"You want another baby?" Belly asks in disbelief.

"I do."

Belly frowns and lightly shakes her head. "Okay, I feel like this is out of left field, Con."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have sprung it on you like this. I just figured now would be a good time to talk about it."

Belly nods. "When did you start feeling like this? I mean, when we were engaged and even first married, we agreed on two."

Conrad sighs, "You know how much I love our boys, right?"