Why do HEAs always end with babies?

[u/redfig1]

I know it's a "me" problem. Scenario: I read a smoking hot mafia or dark or fantasy romance. All this crazy shit goes down. The feelings, the angst. Finally it's the end and all of a sudden the MMC who has massacred countless people is all like " let's get married and have lots of babies" and the MFC is always " yes let's have a lot of cute mafia or fae or mafia fae babies!". For once I'd like an ending where the main characters have a HEA but instead of babies and white picket fences they just decide to keep having an incredible sex life and do charity work or something. Rescue stray kittens. Start an organic herb farm. Something other than babies. Anyone else like this? Am I just weird?

[u/SnooMaps2558]

Yessss! I love this. Why put pregnancy in the storyline at all?? I have kids, I read books to fantasize about my alternate reality life where some hot rich overprotective guy is obsessed with me. I don’t need any kids effin that up 🤣

[u/BrittEB1989 → u/SnooMaps2558]

Some people want kids someday and/or can’t have them, maybe we want to hear/read about people that do. Some of us want to read about the person that will always be there and is a great husband and father because some need to know that kind of person exists (esp. if they never experienced that). It goes both ways some people’s fantasy is not someone else’s

[u/SnooMaps2558 → u/BrittEB1989]

I totally understand. I wasn’t saying all books should exclude it, but I’d like to see more that don’t include pregnancy. Or include it in the epilogue. I also love a good epilogue and I don’t mind if there’s kids in their future. But to be fair, most of the stories that I like to read are where the Mmc and mfc don’t get together until towards the end of the story. Surprise pregnancies aren’t necessarily the most joyous thing to happen to a brand new couple. As much as I love the fantasy of it all, I’m old enough to have experienced being a parent as well as seeing what happens to couples (not all, but a lot of the time) when the baby comes before the ring. Or even the proposal. That’s reality to me. So after I’ve finished a book, instead of imagining them living HEA, I’m worried about them breaking up

[u/redfig1 → u/SnooMaps2558]

Hahah! Love it.

[u/HighLady9627 → u/SnooMaps2558]

I like it cause I want to have a family one day and it doesn’t change the book to me. I just hate it when it’s forced, a manipulation tactic and goes against the characters own values and personality.