catching up with the boys

I caught up with two of my closest friends last night for dinner at an inner city Vietnamese restaurant. One of the friends just got back from overseas. I have known him since grade 4. He and his wife are expecting their first child, a boy. The other I met while at uni and is currently working on the manuscript for his second novel, which will be centered on a gay character. He has been quite heavily (and obsessively) researching the piece and I recently wrote about his visit to a sex-on-premises venue (quite brave given that he is both straight and has a girlfriend). Maybe it's the stage we are at in our lives but it does seem that we are now having very grown up conversations. We talk about my friend's baby. What will they call their son? (not sure yet, but it'll have to match the Spanish surname of his dad). Will the baby be circumcised (Don't know. Don't care. Got to ask the wife. Her background is Jewish). We turn to my other friend. Has he and his girlfriend started talking about babies yet (Yes....the plan is to have a baby within the next year and a half...women and their biological clocks...tick, tick, tick ). My turn. Will Nathan and I ever get married? Have kids? It's so far from my reality, I tell them, I haven't allow myself to think about marriage or kids. "Nathan and I are thinking about getting a dog though", I say.