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I gripped Will’s hand under the table, trying to telepathically get across that he should just tell the truth. He forcibly separated us and reached for his water, taking a drink before leaving both his hands in plain sight.
“I’m not sure what to tell you. There’s nothing wrong.”
Devin visibly bit back a groan and Mom’s eyes narrowed too. Before Dad could get a word in, she asked.
“Honey, he seems uncomfortable talking about kids. Let’s just leave that subject alone for now.”
I could have cursed. Mom had noticed exactly what the cause of his tension was, and she’d announced it even while trying to leave the topic.
Dad wouldn’t be dropping anything, especially not that.
Will didn’t even look like he was breathing as Dad raised a brow. “You so nervous at the thought of kids you’re willing to lie to avoid the subject?”
Then, he did the absolute worst thing he could have, Will said. “No, there’s just nothing to tell. You aren’t the first person to ask me this in the past week, and it’s getting old. Why should it matter?”
I set my menu down, reeling for something that could turn the conversation away from this, but Dad spoke before I could.
“I’d say it matters because you’re with my daughter, who has talked about having kids since she was one.”
Will’s head snapped around to me, and I groaned internally. Did Dad have to bring that up right now?
The paleness from yesterday was rapidly coming back to Will’s face, and I knew I needed to cut this off, or things were going to get a lot worse.
“Dad, I've been so busy running my clinic lately and even if we wanted kids, neither of us have the time to devote to them now. You know I’ve always been dead set against having them until I can be sure they have the home they deserve.”
That was true. While yes I did eventually want children, I’d seen too many neglected thanks to busy parents. If I didn’t have the time to spend with them and bond, then I didn’t need kids yet.
That didn’t soothe William.
“So you do want them?” He asked, a blade of something hovering under his tone. I’d wanted to discuss this in private, not with my parents present, but I guess there was no getting out of it.
Facing him, I nodded. “Eventually, that would be nice, but considering how new we are in the relationship, I’d say it’s far too early even to begin to think about that.”
That helped get some of his color back but not all of it, something that Dad noticed.
“You against it that much, kid?”
Will’s jaw ground and he took a deep breath. “I’m still young, and I’ve never even thought about children because my…lifestyle wasn’t suited for them. Is it surprising that I’d be wary of the idea when we’re only just starting out?”
His tone was sharper, defensive, and Dad snorted.
“There’s no rush on you two having kids of your own, but the fact you’re so tense about it has my curiosity. You got something to hide?”
I sucked in a breath, more than done with this. “Dad, that’s enough. Neither of us want children right now, and it's rude to even bring it up. We’ve been dating less than two months, and I have no desire to jump into that kind of thing blind. Now, can we drop the subject?”
This time it was my voice that was hard as diamonds, and thankfully Dad backed off with a nod. “Alright, then what do you want to talk about?”
The air around the table had shifted from its formerly almost friendly one to something darker and honestly, I just wanted to leave. I couldn’t do that though, so instead I offered.
“Devin and I got a dog named Fig.”
Mom perked up, her lips stretching wide in a smile. “Do you have pictures? We’ll have to meet him the next time we come over!”
The conversation dissolved into talk of our new companion after that. Thankfully Dad didn’t jump back on the topic of kids again, though he spent the entirety of the dinner staring holes through William’s head.
Who, for his part, had never looked less comfortable in his life, and guilt twinged hard in my chest. Whatever his issue was earlier, it’d only gotten worse and the longer we stayed here, the deeper the problem would go.
I needed to get him in private to talk it out. If his defensiveness around kids or marriage was anything to go by, he had problems with commitment.
