I blinked. “You… got what reversed?”
“I reversed the vasectomy,” he said quietly, watching my face carefully. “I didn’t want to tell you over the phone. But it felt like something I needed to do.”
Random Voice: Oh, hell no.
My mouth went dry. The idea of him doing something like that without telling me… was…I couldn’t find the words to describe this feeling.
“Theo—”
“I’m thirty, Carmen,” he cut in gently, voice firm but very vulnerable. “And I know we’re still figuring things out, but I can’t pretend like the future’s not in the room with us every time we talk. I want something permanent. With you.”
I stared at him, eyes searching his face. There was no bravado in his tone. Just the raw, human truth of a man trying to do the right thing before it slipped through his fingers.
But it didn’t make it right.
“Theo…you should’ve told me,” I said, the edge in my voice sharper than I expected. “Something like that—it’s not just about you. What about me? I just graduated! I spent seven years of my life studying for my career. I haven’t even started my job yet, and you—you—¡Haces algo así sin discutirlo!”
He cocked a curious eyebrow at my outburst. “Your dad teaching you Spanish still?”
I breathed out deeply as I tried to control my temper and nodded shortly.
“How is he?”
Terrible. But I’ll fix it. This is about you!
“Still very sick and still very much in jail. So he can’t help you escape this conversation.”
“I know,” he said quickly. “I know. And I’m so sorry, Carmen. I’m not trying to pressure you into anything. I just… I’ve been thinking a lot. About where this is going. About what we really want.”
I pulled back slightly, sitting straighter. My heart was still pounding—not with anger, but with overwhelm. The words he’d dropped at my feet weren’t small. They came with expectations, consequences… a whole shift in trajectory.
“You think I haven’t been thinking about the future too?” I asked, folding my arms loosely across my chest. “I want a life with you. I do. But I’m not ready to be a mother yet, Theo. Have you forgotten? We’re still doing long-distance.”
His eyes dropped for a moment, then lifted again, filled with guilt. “I didn’t mean to put more pressure on you.”
“But you did,” I said, softer now, because I didn’t want to punish him. “You did. And if this is where your head is, I need to know that before you make appointments that change both our lives.”
He nodded slowly. “You’re right.”
I sighed, brushing a hand through my curls. “Look, I love that you’re thinking long term. I love that you see a future for us. But that future has to be builttogether.”
“I hear you,” he murmured, reaching for my hand again. “Really.”
I studied him for a minute longer. “Good. Because I want to enjoy this trip and in order to do that, I need you to stop making solo decisions about our lives like you’re the only one in the relationship.”
“I will,” he promised. “I swear.”
“And you better start buying condoms,” I added dryly.
His eyes widened—then he laughed, low and sheepish.
“Yes, Sweetness.”
You Know Better, So You Did Better.
Still Day One.
I couldn’t stop replaying our conversation.
