The morning after

I want a baby

I want to finish my degree
I want an internship with a company whose name you've heard
I want a career where I can make a difference
with my unique abilities
I want a solid paycheck and the opportunity to advance and a nice bonus twice a year --
I want a good career

I want a long-term live-in with a good career
it doesn't have to be as good as mine
a man who appreciates what I have to offer our partnership
Who pays the check and opens the door and buys me a dozen roses twice a week
I want a platinum engagement ring with three diamonds, or heck, six or even nine
to show everyone how he feels about me
I want a wedding on the beach in Maui with vows we write ourselves and my college roommates carrying lilies and all the songs they played on the radio when we were first dating --
I want a unique and meaningful wedding

I want my own house
I want a big house in a nice suburb with a little yard and a dog
a fluffy dog that stays indoors and doesn't make too much noise
named Margaret or Jenson
I want a gym membership and a treadmill upstairs. I want a gameroom and a TV in every room and a two-car garage and three cars and easy recycling and a water filter and a four hundred-dollar composting system that doesn't stink. I want organic vegetables and pedicures and hot yoga and fifty-dollar face cream when my face starts looking thirty --
I want a nice house

I want a baby
one of each
I want a girl who will take ballet and grow up to be an empowered young woman who loves herself and speaks her mind
I want a boy who will play teeball and baseball and football and grow up to be a sensitive and caring young man
I want a college fund and a prep school fund and a private school fund
and a preschool fund
and a fund for dance class and taekwondo class and sports camp and horse camp and music camp
I want SAT tutoring and iPods and iPads and the right clothes and Disneyland vacations --
I want a baby,
later --

I do want a baby