When My Shift Ends | ?

twenty-seven | first draft

"Do you think you'll have kids?"

She gulps, tearing her eyes away from his. "I don't know. Maybe."

"I think you'd be a good mom. If that's what you wanted, of course. You're a good person. Your kid would be lucky." The tiredness of his voice doesn't go unnoticed by Ellie as her concerned gaze makes its way back to his face.

"You think so?"

"Yeah." He yawns. "If you don't want kids then at least get a puppy. Something in this world needs to be raised by you. Do it for me."

"Deal." She goes silent before curious thoughts begin dancing around in her mind. With a nervous glance to Cooper, she asks, "What do you think you would've been like as an adult?"

He takes a second to think over the question before fixing her with a cocky grin. "I would've been that dad that all the PTA moms had a crush on."

"Humble."

"I'm a humble guy," he says with a wink, his grin fading slightly. "I don't know if I'd want the traditional white-picket fence lifestyle. I think I would've liked to travel more, maybe eventually settle down when I was older and felt like I'd seen the world."

"I've never liked white fences," Ellie says, pushing herself up from the bed despite Cooper's groan of disapproval. "Though maybe they aren't so bad with the right person."

He turns over onto his back, tossing an arm over his forehead as he stares at her. "I hope you find that right person."

"I already have."

The corners of his lips tug upwards, though his eyes remain tired. "I hope you find that right person and he doesn't have cancer."

She stands at the end of his bed, staring back at him with sad eyes. He says nothing either, and soon it feels like they're competing with one another in a staring contest. Ellie is first to break her gaze, dropping her head to the floor. "I should go."

"Wait," Cooper says, propping himself up on his elbows and nodding towards his dresser. "Grab the jar."

She reaches for the glass jar, noticing it's still filled with countless slips, slips she thought they'd have more time to complete. Without thinking about it too much further, she hands the jar to Cooper. He props the lid off and reaches his hand in, producing a piece of paper before turning to Ellie.

"Whatever is on this slip, we'll do it tomorrow. Even if I don't feel good," he says, holding the paper up. She nods in agreement and he unfolds it, his eyes scanning over the words as an excited grin takes over his face.

"What does it say?"

"You're going to hate this."

"Oh no." She reaches for the slip, easily pulling it from his fingertips before allowing her eyes to read over the words. A frown makes its way to her face as she fixes him with a blank stare. "Really? You put this in the jar?"

"I told you I wanted a private pageant," he says, biting his lip to hold back a smile.

She tosses the paper onto the bed, a groan leaving her along with it. "What does this even mean?"

"Interpret it however you'd like. Just know that I'm going to be pulling out a gold speedo for my performance. You're more than welcome to do the same."

With an eyebrow quirked, she asks, "You own a gold speedo?"

"That is neither here nor there. The point is, get ready for the sexiest performance of your life and prepare to try and top it, miss pageant queen."