Expectations [Ian and Kitty]

Kitty had moved in with Ian about a week ago when they got married. It was hard to believe that they had been married for such a short time. It must have seemed longer to her because of their incrediably long engagement compared to everyone else. The reason why she had moved in with him was rather simple--it would have been hard to move all of his paintings into her small house. So that settled it and she was living in his house now.

One thing had yet to be settled. The fact that Kitty hadn't talked to Ian about not having kids. She was scared to though, scared that Ian might not look at her the same if she admited it. It was hard to not tell him though. The more she got kissed by him and he showed affection the more guilty she felt. This evening would be the end to that. She decided to make some spagetti for dinner to break the news to him.

"Ian," she said approaching her husband in the living room. "Dinner is ready."

"Really?" Ian asked. He turned off his TV. "Alright then. Speaking of which, don't I still have to cook something for you? I did lose to you after all in that star gazing contest." Ian kissed his wife on the cheek and sat down at the dinner table. "Wow, it's so hard to believe we're married. I never thought I’d have a wife, or even a girlfriend. Though I am irresistible." Ian teased Kitty and gave her a playful wink. "But are you absolutely positive you want to move into my house? I don't want to trouble you with anything."

"Yeah," she said walking back into the kitchen. "Just make me lunch sometime then," she smiled liking the thought. Then she wouldn't have to go out to eat or run back home from work. "Or you could just cook tommorrow," she shrugged.

"It'd be too difficult to cram all of your paintings into my small house," Kitty admitted the thought. Plus she did happen to like the name of the street Ian was living on more. Paloma had a nice ring in it to her and his house had a pretty nice view compared to her old one.

"Uh, Ian?" Kitty asked to get his attention away from the food. Part of her couldn't believe she was doing this to him. "I don't want to have kids."

Ian stopped eating and looked up. "Huh?" He asked. At first, he thought Kitty was messing with him, but the expression on her face told him otherwise. "We just got married, you just moved into a new house. This whole marriage thing is a big step for both of us. It makes sense you wouldn't want to have kids yet. So why bring it up?"

"At the wedding you were talking about it," Kitty said taking a sip from her juice. She fidgeted with her fingers and looked down at them ashamed. "I don't want kids at all and I had to tell you," her gaze still facing towards her fingers. "You sounded so excited about it that I wasn't shure what exactly to tell you, but I don't want children." She slowly peeked up at him to see his reaction.

Ian's face scrunched up. "Why?" he asked. He was glad she told him her feelings, but wasn't this decision a bit too sudden? Especially since they had just got married. They still had their whole lives ahead of them, so why bother to make this decision now? They didn't have to have kids right now. It was still too early. But to never have kids? That seemed a bit out of the question, even to Ian who was still unsure about the whole 'parent' thing.

"I just can't do it," Kitty said not giving away the full explaination. She felt horrible for telling Ian this news so suddenly and surprising him about it. Telling sooner is what she should have done, but that was the past and she couldn't fix that now of all times. The problem was that Ian seemed so excited before about the idea of having kids and she hated to let him down like this.

Ian choked on his water. "Just can't do it?" He asked standing up suddenly. "Kitty, I love you and I respect you, but don't you think it's a little too early to make these decisions? We're a team now; we need to decide things together. We need to work as a team. I mean, I'm not ready for kids either, but it's a bit selfish to decide on your own whether we have kids or not."

"I'm sorry Ian, but I just can't," she looked so heartbroken when she said the words and felt as if she were about to cry over the whole ordeal. She set down her fork and stood up from the table. "I'm not feeling too well so I'm going to head to bed early," she said dissmissing herself from the conversation. Part of her was actually not feeling too good, but normally she wouldn't go to bed early for an upset stomache--she'd just not eat much. She just needed to get away from this conversation and needed to think about it.

Ian sighed and sat back down, rubbing his temples. "Get some rest." he said quietly. "We'll talk about this in the morning."
Ian sat there and played with his food, taking little nibbles occasionally, but in the end he ended up throwing it away. Guess I'm sleeping on the couch tonight. He thought. If Kitty's sick, then I don't want to catch what she has.