She said, “Actually, I’ve been thinking about children lately.”

I wasn’t expecting that. I had a blank stare.

“Okay,” I told her. “Are you thinking about adopting or something?”

She frowned at the idea. “Ah, I thought about that, but I’d rather have that…that connection, you know.”

In a flash, she had me thinking about Andrea and having my own children again. I guess Kim could think about having children like any other woman.

I said, “Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?”

Kim shook her head and started to chuckle. “You are so perfect.”

I was then confused. “Perfect for what?”

She said, “Terrance, these days, more and more professional women are starting to think about sperm donors and artificial insemination.”

She was right in my face with that. I thought those kinds of conversations only went down inside private hospital offices or clinics.

I looked into her eyes and said, “You’re really serious about this, aren’t you?” I began to speak in a hushed tone. I even looked forward toward our driver, but it was one of those long, stretch limos, so he was nowhere near our conversation. But still…

Kim nodded and said, “Yeah, I’ve given it a lot of thought.”

I had never known her to be a practical joker. “And…”

I knew what I wanted to ask, I just didn’t know how to ask it.

She grinned and said, “Usually, a woman would ask for an unknown donor who may have certain characteristics. But I don’t trust that too well. I’d rather know what I’m dealing with, you know.”

I was totally silent. I just knew she wasn’t talking about me having children with her. That was totally off the radar. But what else was I supposed to think? I couldn’t even nod my head to acknowledge her. I was in suspended animation, like I was watching someone else’s movie. I was waiting for the next scene to happen. Kim had turned the limo ride into a sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat-with-your-heart
-racing thriller, with your eyes wide open, your mouth dry, and the hairs raising off the back of your neck.

She said, “I know I’m just putting this on you out of the blue, but I have a very short list of the kind of guys I would prefer, and it’s best for me to ask you straight up to see how you would respond to it first.”

So far, I had no response at all.

Kim said, “And knowing that you would keep doing your own thing is a plus, because I wouldn’t want a whole bunch of complications with it, just like you wouldn’t.”

I sat there and said nothing at all. Then I started shaking my head and grinning like a madman. Was someone playing a sick joke on me? I felt like a man in ancient Greece with Zeus and the other gods toying with my emotions. What the hell was going on?

“So…what do you think?” Kim finally asked me. She said, “I know, it’s crazy ain’t it?”