7.7: Oh Baby, Baby

NOTE: I talk about some basic body functions/stuff briefly, so if you're offended by that type of stuff, you've been warned. There's no language/violence/nudity/descriptive intercourse stuff.

  "Hi!" Rosie and  I greeted the receptionist at the clinic, squealing out of excitement.
  "Hello, ladies." She smiled. "Here for your follow up appointment?"
   "Yes." I nodded. Rosie and I had been engaged for a month when we learned about a new, for lack of the scientific phrases, baby making process. We both donated an egg and a doctor genetically combined them, so we created on egg that had DNA from both of us. I wasn't sure how exactly he did it, but apparently it was a new process they were testing to help reduce a child's risk or certain diseases and conditions that both parents had to be the carrier of. It you change the egg so the mother no longer has the trait, the baby will be healthier and still physically and emotionally resemble both parents. They took the process farther for us so the baby had a chance of  looking like both of us.
   "Great, just take a seat in the waiting area and the doctor will be with you in a moment." She smiled, then went backing to typing on her laptop.

   "Can you believe it?" Rosie squealed, patting her stomach. "I may be pregnant." A our last appointment two weeks ago, this was our third, the egg and anonymous donor's sperm had been- how do I say this without sounding weird- implanted in her.
   We were warned since this was a fairly new process the egg might not be fertilized properly and Rosie may not be pregnant on the first try. The doctor also informed us that while pregnant, the person would have to take it very easy, avoid anything strenuous, and be careful. We decided that because of this, Rosie should carry our first child. Rosie already had an at home job and, since I would have to give up gardening for nine months and couldn't go to work, it would be an easier adjustment.
   "Janes-Kinnely." The doctor called out. Rosie and I hadn't officially tied the knot yet, we were waiting for warmer weather; that didn't stop us from having a child together. We stood up and ventured back to a room. "Hello." She smiled. "Ms. Kinnely, if you could please relax on the chair there, Ms. Janes, here is a seat here for you." The doctor gestured to our assigned seats.

     "I'm so excited, Hazel!" Rosie whispered, as she walked over to the chair.
     "I am too, but a little nervous." We would find out in just moments if we would have a child in nine months; it was nerve-wracking.
     "Now before we begin, I would like to ask you something that the other doctors seemed to have forgotten." 
     "What is it?" Rosie asked, looking concerned.
     "I'm aware that Ms. Kinnely has already gone through artificial insemination, but it is still necessary to ask:  have you ever had a miscarriage? If you have, it could effect this pregnancy and put you at a higher risk."
     "Thankfully no." Rosie shook her head. I on the other hand, was quieter. "Hazel?"
     "I haven't, but my mother did. I think it was because of extreme stress of something, she ended up..." I took a deep breath. I couldn't cry, I couldn't cry. "Passing from it. She had a difficult relationship with my father, so he never talked about it. I mean, that's one reason we decided Rosie would be..." I trailed off.
    "Hazel." Rosie said again, looking like she was about to cry. I hadn't told her that Kayleigh's pregnancy was cause of death, I left that small detail out. She knew about her passing, I had told her about the miscarriage, I just hadn't let her put two and two together.

    "I apologize." The doctor said, as she stood up and walked over to Rosie. "Would you like to find you now if you will be mothers?"
     "Yes." I nodded, smiling. The past was the past; I was about to find out if my fiancee was carrying our first child, it's a joyous occasion.

Rosie's Point of View...

 

  I lay underneath the covers, my back aching, as lay Hazel sleeping beside me. We had gone to bed at just before midnight; it was now two am. I felt a churning in my stomach. A nauseating grumble. The feeling was one I was too familiar with; I was about to spend five minutes in front of a toilet spewing the last thing I'd ate, yogurt, salad, and cheesecake, into it. I disliked the feeling and, unlike its name, morning sickness came at any time. In movies, morning sickness ends once the female finds out she's carrying a bundle of joy. In real life, you're vomiting at any time and, depending on the odor or sight of certain food, every time you go to a buffet. I was thanking for the pregnancy symptoms, though. I'd put up with practically anything if it meant I was lucky enough to be able to have a child.
    I stood up, trying not to disturb Hazel. The first couple weeks, she always got up with me and comforted me, saying I was beautiful no matter how horrid I felt. Now that I was at the end of my first trimester and three months pregnant, she had adapted to my middle of the night bathroom trips and slept right through them.

   After three months of baby making inside myself, I expected to have a cute little bump. I didn't. The bump was more of an awkward, and incredibly bloated, muffin top that made me look like I had binged on too much fast food. Ironically, I hadn't gone near anything greasy in months. Hazel was making sure that I ate top notch organic produce, to keep me and the growing fetus healthy.
   Another advantage of this nightly runs, I was exercising. I think Hazel was worried that something would happen to be or the baby if I moved too much; she was very clingy lately. I wish I learned about her mother sooner... I could have helped her cope. I rushed to the bathroom that led to my old room. the master bathroom was a shower, sink, and toilet combined in the room the size of this bathroom's tub; there was no way I was fitting myself in there.

   I began heaving up my last meal, reminding myself that I should be thankful that I got to create new life. Hazel could have taken your place, but instead she's letting you do the honors of bringing your first child into the world. After a few minutes I stood up, slightly dizzy from having gotten up from the floor quickly. I quietly turned off the bathroom light and instead of going back to bed, I decided to fix myself something healthy to eat. I was feeling a tad peckish right now and was already up; might as well eat.
  "Marco?" I asked. It was early in the morning, I didn't expect to see him in the kitchen.
  "Hey, Rosie." He smiled. He has been staying with us for three months now and was still complaining about us not letting him pay rent. We hadn't told him about wanting him to be a donor, either. Hazel figured we should get to know him, let him become comfortable within our home before springing the 'Please impregnate one of us artificially conversation' onto him.
   "Oh, hi. Um... can I talk to you?"

   "Sure.  I was just..." He set down the mop and organic floor cleaner and bucket of water.
   "Cleaning, I can see that."
   "Don't tell Hazel. See, she insists on letting m stay here without doing anything and you guys have a wedding to plan and a baby to prepare for; I should be helping you take care of the house and everything, not mooching off you."
    "Marco, you're her fine, it's fine, okay?"
    "Just... okay. What did you want to talk to me about?"
    "Okay, well... have you ever donated?"
    "Donated what? Blood once, yes. Anything else, no. I am an organ donor, though, I mean, I signed the back of my driver's license."
     "Good for you. I mean sperm donor."
     "I-" He froze up. I could tell I just made this conversation awkward. "Why?"
      "You're Hazel's childhood friend. Her past. She lost her mother and father, her girlfriend who she came out with, I mean... she needs something to hold onto."
      "Doesn't she have you?"
      "Yes, but you're different. A guy. If I want to have a child with her, it takes a lab. You could go to the bank and... it wouldn't be difficult."
      "I don't know. I would have a child then, wouldn't I?"
      "Hazel and I would. You'd be the donor."
      "That's the thing. I don't know if I can do that. If I ever someone fertilize an egg, I don't want to never be part of its life. I wouldn't dare call myself dad, I wouldn't be there for every big moment, but I'd want to try and stay involved the best I can. I'm a traveling business man... I fly out for a few months at a time and the come back for two, three, sometimes four month, then fly out for half a year to three or four years, then come back."
     "You don't want to leave a child, something that was once part of you, behind?"
     "Exactly. I don't want to be a parent, I wouldn't take that from anyone, I just want to be like that uncle you see at holidays who gives you awesome stuff because he doesn't see you often."
     "You want to be an uncle?"
     "Something... I wouldn't tell the kid who I am, I'd just be a friend of the family."
     "It seems doable, I could ask Hazel."
     "That's another thing..."
     "What? Hazel?"
     "I had a big crush on her as a kid... it would seem... the future I didn't get."
     "Marco, it would be okay. You could still find a wife and everything, you'd have nothing, no obligations, to our family."
     "Maybe. I might donate... I have to leave in two days to fly out for a bit longer than expected, ten months. When I come back, I might consider it."
     "The baby's due in six."
     "So it would be four months old, roughly... another baby would mean there would be about a year difference between them?"
      "Just consider it, okay?"

      "I will." He smiled at me as I turned to walk back up the stairs. I may have just completed our goal of asking Marco and having him say yes. I was excited for this baby, we both instantly loved it, but I could tell Hazel wanted to experience what I was, only with less risk... I could tell she wished she could carry our child and know what I was going through.