“Thanked me?” I said, with a confused frown. “For what?”
“For the life you’ve given me,” Natalie said simply. “It’s more than I ever imagined it would be. It’s bigger and brighter and happier than anything I could have achieved alone. I was born to be your wife, and every year we’re together, that becomes more and more apparent.”
I took her hand and kissed it tenderly. “I should be the one thanking you,” I said. “Before you, I had adventure but there was no meaning tied to it. But now… Now, I have a purpose. My life, my work, and my travels all have a purpose because you’re standing next to me.”
She smiled. “I feel the same way.”
“Good.” I nodded. “Because there’s something I wanted to discuss with you.”
Natalie’s eyebrows rose curiously. “This sounds serious.”
“I suppose it is.”
“Should I be worried?”
I laughed nervously. “I don’t know… I don’t think you should be.”
“Okay,” she said. “Now I really am nervous.”
“Don’t be,” I said, reaching across the table and taking both her hands in mine. “I’m just trying to introduce a new adventure to our lives.”
“A new adventure?” she repeated. “You want to plan another trip?”
“Uh… not exactly.”
Natalie smiled. “Darling, am I mistaken or do you actually look a little flushed?”
“I never thought I’d want this,” I admitted. “I always thought I was too…rigid and selfish to choose that kind of life.”
“What kind of life?”
“Sorry.” I laughed. “I know I’m talking in riddles.”
She smiled encouragingly at me. “Just come out and say it,” she said. “What do you want?”
I took a deep breath. “I think… I think I want children.”
Natalie’s eyes widened for a moment. There were a few seconds of shocked silence before she burst out laughing.
“Why is that funny?” I asked, joining in her laughter.
“It’s not,” she said. “I just… I didn’t expect that. I thought you were going to suggest something scary.”
“Well… I consider having children to be scary.”
“We’ve never really talked about kids,” Natalie said, as her tone softened into seriousness.
“No, we haven’t.”
“At one point, I was content to be a two-person family, traveling the world till we were too old to board a plane, no pets, no children, nothing to keep us tied to one place.”
“I thought that, too, at one point,” I admitted.
“What made you change your mind?”
“You did,” I told her. “Almost every single change of heart I’ve had in the last five years is linked to you. You make me feel safe and brave. You make me want things I never even realized I wanted. The only reason I want children is because you are my wife. I’ll have the best partner in the world to raise those kids with.”
“We won’t be able to travel as much when they’re young,” Natalie pointed out.