Emma laughed. “And I’m glad I helped you figure it out.”

With a grin, Connor said, “If I remember it correctly, I did get it up for you.”

“Oh, ew!” she cried before covering her face with her hands. She immediately thought back to Connor’s fifteenth birthday party. All their other friends had left, leaving them alone in his parents’ basement. Although girls were crazy about him, Connor never settled down or dated much. Instead, he preferred flirting with them and hanging out with Emma.

After sneaking half a bottle of his dad’s Jack Daniels, he tearfully confided in Emma that he thought he might not be attracted to girls at all. He begged her to let him kiss her, to make out with her to see if he really was g*y. Considering she’d never gone past first base with anyone, she was more than a little reluctant. Emma peeked at him through her fingers and shook her head. “I can’t believe you were the first guy to feel me up.”

Connor chuckled. “I do believe I did a little more than feeling you up. I’m pretty sure I dry humped you into oblivion that night until I came in my pants!”

Emma smacked his arm playfully. “Ugh, I can’t believe you remember all that.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t just the fact I was making out with my best friend that was a major turn off. It was that to finally… come I had to fantasize about a dude.”

Rolling her eyes, Emma said, “Once again, thank you so much for reminding me of that fact. It’s totally not given me a complex or anything in my extreme dateless state!”

“Oh come on, Emmie Lou, you had half the male population jonesing for you back in the day, and if you got your head out of your ass and back into the dating game, you would see that straight dudes everywhere want to bang that hot bod of yours.”

“Yeah, they want to bang me. They just don’t want to get to know me or have committed relationship. Once they find out I’m old-fashioned and won’t have sex right off the bat, they run away.”

After an awkward silence, Connor sighed. “This is where you bring up the baby part again, right?”

“I can’t believe you would act so surprised about it all. You know how much I want a child—how I’ve always wanted a big family. I’ll be thirty in a few months. It’s not now or never time, but it’s getting close.”

“So why not find some dude to settle down with and have kids. You know, get on Eharmony or something like that. I mean, surely Nate has to know some eligible men to hook you up with.”

Emma huffed with frustration. “I’ve not had an actual relationship since Travis, and I’m not sure if there’s really anyone else out there for me.”

“But you haven’t even tried. I mean, with your mom’s cancer and her dying, you shut down for so long. Maybe it’s time to really put yourself back out there again,” Connor argued.

Shaking her head, Emma said, “Aren’t you listening to me? I want a baby. All my life has been loss and death.” She brought her hand to her abdomen. “I want life growing within me—a part of me and my parents.”

“Em—”

Tears sparkled in her eyes. “I have so much love to give a child. Please, Connor.”

He grabbed his wine glass and downed the remaining contents. He then rose off the couch to stumble back into the dining room. Emma watched as he snatched the last wine bottle and refilled his glass. When he came back to the doorway, he shook his head. “But why do you need me? Why can’t you just go to a sperm bank and pick out a sample from a Brad Pitt with a 170 IQ?”

“Because I don’t care about Brad Pitt looks and high IQ’s.”

Connor snorted. “Thanks a hell of a lot. You sure don’t know how to sweeten the pot, do you?”

Emma rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I meant. I was thinking way past superficial things, but while we’re on the subject, yes, you will bring the most excellent DNA to my baby, both in looks and in intelligence, okay?”

“Whatever,” he grumbled before taking another long gulp of wine. He flopped back down on the couch beside her.

“Connor, don’t you see the bigger picture here. If I can’t have a baby with someone I’m romantically in love with, I still want it to be with someone I love. I know you’re a good and decent person, and you would be such a good father.” When he didn’t say anything, Emma leaned closer to him. “And think about your parents. Besides Grammy and Granddaddy, my baby wouldn’t have grandparents, and I know that yours are amazing to your sister’s kids.”

“That’s true,” he murmured, still not meeting her expectant gaze.

Emma sighed. She knew she had just thrown him for a loop, and it was going to take him awhile to process everything. “Look, I’m sorry that I brought it up.” When she started to rise off the couch, Connor grabbed her arm.

“Okay.”

She furrowed her brows at him. “Okay what?”

He exhaled noisily. “Okay, I’ll be your baby daddy or sperm donor or whatever.”

Emma’s chest constricted, and she almost couldn’t breathe. “Really?”

Connor nodded. “Yeah, why not.”

“But are you sure? I mean, you don’t need more time to think about it?”

“Nope. Let’s have a baby.”

Emma squealed with pleasure before throwing her arms around Connor’s neck and squeezing him tight. “Oh my God! I can’t believe you’re really going to do it!” She pulled away to kiss both his cheeks. “I love you so very much.”

“I love you too, Emmie Lou.”

She nuzzled her head against his neck. “But what made you change your mind?”

“Travis.”

Emma jerked her gaze up to meet his. A grin curved on Connor’s lips. “It was like I could almost hear him telling me to do it—to make you happy since he couldn’t.”

A mixture of happy and sad tears pooled in her eyes. “I can never thank you enough for doing this. I can’t imagine being happier than I am at this moment.”

He rubbed his thumb across her cheek. “I think the day we find out you’re good and knocked up will beat this one.”

She smiled. “Or the day our baby is born?”

Connor nodded. “And if it’s a boy, I wanna name him Travis—Travis Connor Montgomery.”

“I would like nothing more, especially for the baby to have your last name.” She titled her head at him. “But what if it’s a girl?”