“Just chill,” Kyle replied, fatigue evident in his voice. “I love spending time with my dad, Rob, and Sam, but it was kind of exhausting too.”
“I know what you mean,” Jon said. “How about we get some burgers delivered from Logan Tavern? That way we can veg in front of the TV for a while and get to bed early.”
“You always have the best ideas.”
“That’s why you love me,” Jon teased.
“Just one of many reasons, sweetheart,” Kyle agreed. “Maybe later we can try to make a baby again.”
“Hmmm, you come up with some pretty good ideas too.” Jon chuckled. The joke was getting kind of old, but he still loved the intimate time he spent with Kyle.
After dinner, they wasted no time climbing the stairs to their bedroom.
A few days had passed,and Jon had just finished cleaning up the kitchen after dinner. He glanced over at Kyle, who was staring intently at his laptop screen.
“You look awfully serious over there. What exactly are you looking at?” he asked.
Kyle sighed. “I’ve been thinking about us having kids.”
“Okaay,” Jon started.
“I love that we joke about making babies together, but the reality is that once we decide we’re gonna do this, we need to figure out if we want to adopt or do surrogacy. So I’ve been reading up on both options; there’s a lot to think about.”
“So let’s talk it out. What have you found out so far?” Jon sat beside Kyle on the sofa and looked at his computer screen.
“Cost is definitely a consideration. Surrogacy is a lot more expensive than adoption. It’s usually somewhere between one hundred and two hundred thousand dollars! Sometimes even more!”
“Really? I knew that it cost more, but I didn’t realize how much.”
“Yeah, adoption is typically between twenty and sixty thousand, and foster care adoption tends to be less expensive than infant adoption.”
“Remember how we said that we didn’t necessarily care if the baby was genetically related to one of us?” Jon asked.
“Sure. We agreed that there are a lot of kids that need to be adopted.”
“Right, so why don’t we just take surrogacy off the table for now? That’s not to say we couldn’t look into it down the road, but for now it seems to make more sense to focus on adoption.”
“That makes sense. Phew.” Kyle looked relieved. “Thanks for talking through that with me. The more I read, the more overwhelmed I got. But that planning brain of yours cut through it all quite easily.”
“Of course, sweetheart.” Jon kissed Kyle’s cheek. “And remember, I work for a family law practice. When we’re ready, I can ask one or two of the lawyers for advice. Plus, we’ve got your uncle Mike.”
“You’re absolutely right,” Kyle said. “Since we’ve already told my dad and Rob that we want to start a family at some point, maybe we should talk with Uncle Mike and Aunt Ellen about it. We’re supposed to have dinner with them next week. We can bring it up when we see them.”
“That sounds perfect.”
Chapter 7
Kyle
The shrill ring of a cell phone broke the stillness in Kyle and Jon’s bedroom.
“Hello,” Kyle answered sleepily. “Uncle Mike. What’s wrong—” Dread filled him as he listened. “What! Oh my God! How—” He choked out a sob, and Jon’s arms were immediately around him. “Of course. What can I do?” He paused, listening as he cried. “Okay, I’ll talk to you later. I love you.”
“What happened?” Jon asked quietly.
“M-m-my cousin Mike and B-Becky were in a car accident a few hours ago. They were both killed.”
“Oh, God! How did it happen?”
