Second child?

I’m trying to shorten a really long story. When my boyfriend and I got together, he already had 2 (older) kids with his ex. I had no kids and really wanted some. This was definitely a sticking point. People say now that I blackmailed him, no, I just said that if he didn’t want any more kids, we’d be better off breaking up because we’d both want different things. I don’t see it the same way, but whatever, it doesn’t matter. We’ve had a little one for almost 3 years now, and he’s absolutely thrilled with him. They play together, and my little boy runs to him first if he falls. We pick him up from daycare together, and my little boy jumps for joy when papa is there. It’s really nice to see.

My boyfriend turns 50 in May. Now you’re probably thinking, “Yikes, so old, so sad,” blah blah blah. But when I look at the men of my friends my own age, they’re still out partying and gaming with the guys, they don’t do anything around the house, change jobs, have debts, cheat, can’t even change a lightbulb. Of course, not everyone is like that, but I hear this kind of stuff all the time. My boyfriend is very active and helpful, handy, helps with the housework, young at heart, we support each other, stable and reliable, rarely just lies on the couch. Absolutely not an old l**. I’ve always been attracted to older guys; I’m just not into those young guys. He says he enjoys being a dad even more now because he has more peace in his life. We’re very happy as a family of three, and everything has worked out well.

But here’s the thing. My friends are getting pregnant with their second kids one after another, and it does affect me that I won’t have that. At least I assumed my boyfriend wouldn’t want another. When I shared my feelings about this, it turned out he’s quite open to having a second child, which I didn’t expect. I’ve lived for years with the knowledge that we’d stay at one kid. Now he says he loves having our little boy and if I really want a second, it’s worth discussing. I’m a bit confused. Of course, it sounds wonderful to be pregnant again and have another little rascal around, but I don’t want to mess up what we have now. Two kids is definitely more challenging than one, and there are risks too, like sperm quality and related risks. I’d really like our little boy not to be an only child, even though there are a lot of prejudices about that. My man will be nearly 70 when our kids are 20, and that’s quite a lot to consider. People will probably mistake my boyfriend for grandpa instead of papa. Oh, what a big deal, what others think or say, people always have something to criticize.