Insistent

When I got home from work yesterday Alex was laying on the couch watching a movie on Lifetime tv. Some movie about a teenage girl with a baby. When it was over she came into the bedroom and wandered around touching things on our dresser. "I wish I had a baby."

Josh was brushing his teeth in the bathroom and from the way his body stiffened I knew he overheard. Alex kept going. Did I think if she did a lot of crunches after she had a baby it would go back to being flat? Would Danielle and I be angry if she had one first instead of last?

A couple of minutes later Josh came in with his jaw tight. He sat down on the edge of our bed and pulled Alex so she was standing between his knees. He asked why on earth she would want a baby. "Because they're little and cute, and you can boss them around."

Josh kept shooting me looks, but I wasn't fully paying attention. So he launched into this whole speech about how babies are tons of work and responsibility, Alex needs to get a full education, have a way of supporting herself, as well as be in a stable relationship with a great person before even thinking about having a baby. He went on and on. Alex asked Josh all these questions about if he wants a baby and when and why and the two of them talked for almost an hour.

Later, after Alex had gone to bed, Josh freaked out on me. That we'd discussed this and I was going to do all the stuff that fell into the parenting category unless I wasn't there for it. That Josh didn't know what to say (as if I do). That he wasn't prepared for all those questions (like I am). On and on again.

I pointed out that Josh didn't have to do that. That he could have just taken it the way she'd meant it, which was that she'd just seen a cute baby on tv, and little girls like cute babies. Josh disagreed, said you have to seize these moments and talk about it right then. That this is what his parents always did with him and his sister. It was almost cute how earnest he was about it. Wrong. But cute.