As much as the world mocked Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon for getting married so quickly, they actually seem to be doing alright. I can’t quite explain it, but whenever I see the interviewed I can’t help but think that they make sense somehow. They’re still publicity wh*res and all that, but I don’t totally dislike them like I used to. They seem to balance each other out a bit. But, again, being the fame lovers they are, the couple naturally had to sit down with In Touch to talk about babies and marriage and death. Because when in doubt, chat about one of those three and someone will listen. Chat about all of them and you get the magazine’s cover.

After weathering so many ups and downs throughout her career, Mariah Carey has never seemed more at peace. Strolling into a Brazilian restaurant in New York City for an exclusive interview with In Touch, Mariah is nothing like the diva she’s perceived to be. The Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter looks gorgeous, wearing little makeup and dressed casually in black pants, a black shirt and big black belt. Usually guarded about her love life, this time, she’s brought along her husband, Nick Cannon. “I love where I am in life right now,” Mariah, 39, tells In Touch as she sips on a glass of cabernet. And why shouldn’t she? She’s got a man who writes her love notes each morning, even after a year-and-a-half of marriage. She’s got a highly anticipated new album, which dropped September 29. She he is getting Oscar buzz for her gritty role in the upcoming movie Precious. And she and Nick definitely want to start a family! Over dinner, the couple opened up to In Touch about their solid marriage, having a baby and more.

So, are you ready for kids?
Mariah: Definitely, we want a family.
Nick: Yes, of course. It’s at the forefront of our minds. We’re very close. But we want to enjoy our first year together. We didn’t have a stable environment. The first year we were in LA in a hotel and then we were like, “Let’s get a house.”
Mariah: But don’t think I’m moving to LA.
Nick: We live in both places. We need to figure out where we are going to raise our kids. Here or LA.
Mariah: New York.
Nick: LA.

How many kids?
Nick: We’d like two.
Mariah: Of course, we’d be happy with one. I want to be able to manage the right amount of attention. We are so busy — if you have six kids running around, no one gets what they need. Kids need a lot of attention.

Would you consider adoption?
Nick: It’s never out of the question. I was raised by my grandmother, who was also a foster mom, so I grew up around a lot of kids.

So you can see yourself having one by the end of 2010?
Mariah: Yeah. What do you think?
Nick: I think that’s what the world is waiting for.
Mariah: Oh, my goodness, that’s so much pressure on our kids!

It seems like 40 is a pivotal age in Hollywood.
Mariah: I find it offensive. It unfairly taints women in particular, and makes people look at you differently. I lived with that my whole life. Honestly, I never thought I’d live this long.

You thought you’d die by now?
Mariah: I have always been grateful for everything I had, but my personal life was a mess. So many artists just exist for their careers and then burn out quickly. That was me before I met Nick, and he helped me. I always thought that I wouldn’t be here at this point. I was thinking, “Okay, I’ve got another year of my life left. This has got to be the end of it.” Finally, he was like, “Stop talking like that.” I have been obsessed with the whole Marilyn Monroe thing my whole life — all those artists who died young.

[From In Touch Weekly]

I like how Nick said they’d like two kids and Mariah quickly interjects that they’d be fine with one. Before she married him, Mariah had said she didn’t want kids at all. Of course she quickly changed her tune after they’d walked down the aisle. Regardless, it seems like she’s being reasonable when she’s explaining her reason for not wanting a large family, but I sort of get the impression Nick would be happy with a lot of kids. He just seems the sort.

Mariah has certainly had her mental health problems in the past, including a breakdown that landed her in the hospital. But after that she rebounded and started putting out the best songs of her career. It’s sad but not really surprising to hear that she felt so lost and sad that she never thought she’d live another year. It sounds like she was lonely and needed someone to anchor her, and Nick probably does that. We tease that he’s really her personal assistant, but it seems like he has a way of helping her out and being attentive to her and he does it without a fuss. I guess if you were pessimistic you could equate that to a personal assistant, but if you were optimistic you could also say that sort of attentiveness is indicative of a very devoted spouse.

Of course I’m also totally biased because I saw Nick interviewed on the Today Show last week about “America’s Got Talent” (which he hosts) and he was so cute when he was talking about the kids on the show. He’s very charming. I may be totally naïve, but I think he genuinely loves Mariah. I still think she doesn’t really want to have kids, but she must love him too if she’s willing to negotiate on it.

Here’s Mariah promoting her new fragrance ‘Forever’ at Macy’s Herald Square in New York yesterday. Images thanks to WENN.com .