7.9: A Growing Family

   "Look at me motha!" Basil (just for clarity, her name's pronounced Bay-sell or Bays-ill, not Ba-zell), our darling little toddler, exclaimed. "I a big girl and use the potty."
    "Wow." I smiled, as I held hands with Rosie, my baby bump bulging out. "Rosie, are we ready to go to the festival?"
    "I need to change Basil into her play clothes first, then we are." She smiled, as she turned to our little girl."We're going to go to the park! Yay, mummy just need to get you dressed up in your new outfit. Want to some mother?"
    "Yeah, yeah. It pwetty." She giggled, clapping her hands together.
    "I bet it is. You know who else is pretty?" I asked her, as she Rosie picked her up.
     "Mummy?"
     "Yeah! And so are you. You're pretty."
     "Thank oo, motha."
     "Aww, you're welcome." I said, as I turned towards the dresser and took out Basil's new leggings and smock dress. Basil was dressed quickly, then we got into our car, buckled our little tot into her car seat, and drove to the festival.

    "Now Basil," I said, standing by the park's white fence. "You know I... mother's getting bigger, right?"
     "And mother's been eating more cookies?" rosie smirked a little; I had always been ultra-healthy, but with baby hormones I'd given in to the temptations of junk food.
     "Organic, natural, and the dairy and eggs were from cows and chickens that were free-range and didn't have any artificial growth hormones. Also, there was protein powder and oatmeal in it. Not the point though." I wanted Basil to grow up respecting earth and nature; she didn't have to be vegetarian or an activist, I just wanted her to be informed. "What's mother going to have?" 
      "A baby." She pointed to my stomach. "Baby in there."
      "That's right! Mother's going to have a baby soon. Now, mother and mum will have a new baby, you'll have someone to play with, you're still our big girl, isn't that right? We love you, but we may be focused on the new baby a lot." I leaned forward and kissed her forehead and Rosie's cheek.
      "We love you." She smiled, repeating what I said to Basil. "And I love ya Hazel."
      "I love you, too." I smiled.
      "Me loves oo! Motha and mummy and mummy and motha and baby."
      "Aww." I felt the sniffles coming. My heart always melted whenever she said something as adorable and sweet as that. "Let's get a picture at the photo booth." I said. I slowly walked to the booth, as Rosie walked beside me with Basil.

  "The picture's great." Rosie smiled, after the photographer showed us a copy. "We'll take two."
  "Sure thing." He smiled. "And I have to say, out of all the kids that parents have dragged over here, yours is the best behaved."
   "Thanks. What do you say Basil?"
    "Thank oo, messtah."
    "You're welcome."
    "Um...Rosie." I whispered. "I'm going to go to the ladies."
    "Pregnancy bladder?" She sympathetically asked.
    "Yeah. I don't know how you did it."
    "It's all worth it. Of course, you don't need me to say theta, you see it." She laughed, as Basil, who was standing on the ground trying to catch a squirrel, looked up at me.
    "Me good."
    "Yes you re." I agreed, as I wobbled off to the barn where the restroom facilities were.

   "Where motha?"
   "She's going to the barn. She'll be back soon." Rosie picked Basil up and began tickling her, just as a drizzle began.
    "I get baby soon."
    "Yes you do."
    "Rain! Rain, rain me wanna play."
    "We should go to the barn and see mother. We don't want to get all wet, now do we?"
    "Yeah. Me wanna get wet. Rubber ducky and bubbles. Hehe."
    "We're not taking a bath, though you need to after playing with the squirrels." She laughed as she carried her to the barn, much to the upset toddler's protest.
     "Hey Rosie. Hi Basil." I said, after I exited the restroom. "Why are you in the barn?"
     "It rainy." Basil pouted. "Me wanna play. Mummy said no."
     "Mummy's right. I'm sorry, basil. Maybe sometime later?"
     "Me wants now."
     "Basil, we don't want your new outfit muddy or for you to get sick. We can play outside tomorrow, when it isn't raining." Rosie said, looking a me. Basil, like most toddlers, could be rather strong willed.
      "Outside is fun. Me hungry."
      "Let's go home." I said. "We can cook dinner and I'm feeling a little worn out anyway."
      "Good idea. You really should rest; the baby's draining your energy." Rosie said, as she patted my stomach. "Aren't ya?"
       "Motha pick me up! Up! Up!"
       "Basil, mother has a baby." Rosie explained. I was trying to avoid doing any heavy lifting that could avoid harm to myself or the babies. My pregnancy wasn't as high risk as Rosie's, since in the past year or two they'd experimented more and discovered a safer way. The baby was another anonymous donor baby Our donor was different from last time; he wasn't Basil's DNA provider. Marco had declined our offer to be a donor. He insisted on being there for the child's life and, with an offer to live in Germany with a six year contract business, he'd hardly be in Washington.

       "But I wanna up, up." She crossed her arms. "Please?"
       "Okay, since you asked nicely." I sighed, leaning down to pick her up. I gently tossed her in the air, as she smiled with delight. We were trying to teach her her manners and this was a good way to show that the word please helped you out.
       "Yay, yay! Me hungry. Thank oo." 
       "You're welcome, honey." I smiled, as I tried holding her. I could tell Rosie wanted to help, but if it made Basil happy, a few minutes couldn't hurt. We began strolling to the car. Rosie, naturally, drove us home. She was an excellent driver and I, on the opposing hand, was easily distracted when on the road. Basil would say something, or I'd see an animal, or anything really and have to look or point it out.

    Rosie parked in the driveway and unbuckled Basil. She carried her in and set her in her high chair, giving her a bottle of water to drink until we could finish cooking her meal. Salad with carrots and chicken nuggets. I had agreed since Rosie wasn't vegetarian we could raise Basil like her and let her decide once she was old enough. I began the process of making the salad, as Rosie got the chicken nuggets and placed them on a try in the oven.
   "Rosie, I think I forgot to put the cheese tray from snack time back in the fridge."
   "Let's go check." She said. I followed her to the dining room, carrying a bowl of salad.
   "Guess I'll have to throw it away." I sighed, as I glanced at the cheese and cracker plate that had been sitting out too long.

    "At least we ate the majority of it. Basil seemed to really like it." Suddenly, I felt a pain in my abdomen. An odd pain... a pain Rosie had once described to me as going into labor. "Hazel? Hazel?" Rosie repeated my name.
    "Rosie... the baby's coming."
    "What? Oh my gosh. Do we- I need to calm down. I'm going to call our sitter for Basil."
    "Oww! Yeah. Uh huh." I nodded.
    "Yes, could you come in? Please. My wife's in labor. Yes. Great. Five minutes? Hurry! Go over speed limit. Hurry! I'll pay you extra just get here. My wife needs to get to the hospital." She shouted into her phone, then closed it. "Let's get you to the hospital." She took my arm and led me to the car.
     "Hosp-contraction." I said. The contractions were the most painful thing I'd gone through.
     "Here." Rosie opened the passenger side door.
     "I want to drive."
     "You're in labor! No."
     "Please." I begged, just as the babysitter pulled up. Rosie looked at me. I was stubborn, just like Basil.
     "Can you handle it?"
      "I'm sure. Otherwise I'll just have the baby here."

      "We decided since we had Basil we'd go to the hospital."
      "I know. No meds."
      "Look, just. Fine." She smiled at me, as I moved to the driver's seat. I began driving us to the hospital, occasionally swerving whenever I got a violent contraction. Rosie looked like I was about to crash, as she held onto the arm rest. We didn't crash, though. We arrived safely at the hospital. We rushed in and were immediately given a room. Soon, I was lying on a bed, my legs in an awkward contraption, as a nurse was screaming at me to push.
     "Push, push, push!"
     "You can do this Hazel."
     "Push, push! I see the head. Push!"
     "I'm pushing, I'm pushing!" I yelled back, gripping onto Rosie pale flesh. I left a bright red mark.
     "Push, push, push! Congratulations." She said, as she held our bundle of new life. "It's girl."
     "A girl." I said, suddenly another pain came.
    "Twins?!" The nurse exclaimed, passing our baby girl off to another nurse. "Push again, push again! Push, push, push!" Suddenly, another little baby came into the world; Rosie and I were shocked. Apparently either I or the donor was really fertile. "A bouncy baby boy." She announced with a flourish. "What would you like to name 'em?"
    "Wren." Rosie said. We had picked out two names since we liked not knowing the gender, one for a boy, one for a girl. Apparently we'd need both.
    "And Harbor."
   "Like the bird and the place with boats?"
   "That's right." I said. Harbor, Wren, and Basil, our little darlings. Our family was complete.

7.8: New Beginnings in the Park

    "Can you believe it?" I beamed. "We're getting married today! Married!"
    "I can believe that, what I can't is the fact that I fit into this dress." Rosie laughed, as I leaned in for a kiss.
    "You are eight and a half gorgeous months pregnant. It doesn't matter how much you gain or lose, you are still a caring, intelligent woman who's making me the luckiest lady on Earth. I love you."
    "Did you forget to write your vows?"
    "No, why?"
    "Because I think you just wrote them."
    "Aww..."
    "The baby! It's kicking." Rosie exclaimed, as I leaned forward, listening to her growing bump.

    "I can hear it. Do you hear mother? Do you hear me? We love you and can't wait to meet you."
    "Hazel, I can't wait to meet this child."
    "Neither can I... you'll officially be mum, then."
    "And you'll officially be mother."
    "Do you think ti's a boy or girl?"
    "I don't know. I liked being surprised, though... you know how some ladies are like, able to tell you the gender based on where the bump is or something? I don't feel like that... maybe it's because it's my first pregnancy, but I don't think I could tell you correctly if someone paid me."
    "So if someone starts a pool, I should put money in the one opposite of what you think."
    "Pretty much." She giggled again, patting her stomach.
    "Are you ready?" I asked, as I took her hand and we begin walking to the wedding arch.
    "Defiantly."

    "Here we are." We took our places beneath the park's wedding arch. I took a deep breath. I was getting married today, to Rosie Kinnely... who was going to take my last name. She said Janes had so much more history behind it then Kinnely did. "Rosie Kinnely, I always expected this day, if where ever to happen, to happen differently. I didn't expect you to propose to me, I didn't expect you to be willing to take my name, I didn't expect our first child to be due almost a year after we went to France together. I didn't expect any of it, but one thing I did expect is you. You would always be caring and optimistic and smart and it wouldn't matter how rainy or snowy or cloudy it is, because you'd always be my sunshine. I can't promise you everything. I read the classic vows about sickness and stuff and honestly... that doesn't seem like you and me. We don't have a classic relationship. But we're amazing together."

    "It's going..." She began sniffling, "To be difficult to top that. But that isn't what marriage is about. It isn't about me or you, it's about us. What we do together, what our child does, that's what represents us. It doesn't matter if I do something or you do something and it fails, if we do it with each other supporting us, then it has already succeeded. That's why I can't wait to be your wife and I can't wait to find out if I did this marriage ceremony correctly, because I have no idea. But we did it together and even if we did it wrong, this means more to mean than any type of big ceremony that was done correctly. Hazel Janes, will you take me as your wife?"

    "Of course." I smiled, as she slipped the wedding ring onto my finger. I couldn't believe today had finally come. Today was the day my future truly began. "And Rosie, will you take me to be you wife as well?" I asked her and even though I knew what her reply would be, I still felt giddy inside, as the anticipation grew.

    "Hm... let me think, YES!" She said, almost shouting the word yes.
    "I'm glad you're enthusiastic." I teased, as I slipped the ring onto the finger.
    "Is there any other way to be during a wedding?"
    "Classic, boring-"
    "May I kiss the bride?"

    "Please do." I said,  as I leaned forward, embracing my wife. My wife! I felt excitement bubble up inside me as I thought the word, over and over again. My wife who was going to have our baby. This was perfect imperfection.
    "Hazel," Rosie whispered in my ear, "I want you to do something with me..."
    "Alright..." I whispered back. Rosie's hormones had become a tad berserk in the last few months; she could either be telling me she loved me, wanting to go back to our home and have a wild time, or ask me something off the wall insane.
    "Seesaw."
    "Please tell me that's a position, because I think I've been wanting to try it for awhile, but with your belly..."

     "No!" She giggled, for the third time in ten minutes, "The seesaw over there. The teeter-totter. All I can think of is playing on, like little kids do. Is that weird?"
    "You're pregnant, just married, and Rosie. Those three things make the perfect combination of insanity... you are the bride, though and you always do what the bride wants. I suppose if that means playing on children's playground equipment, then we should do that."
     "I weigh like a thousand pounds... and your dress."
     "I wore white to a playground. It's my fault if it gets dirty. And you are not that heavy! I would pick you up and carry you, but I can't lift more than like thirty, forty pounds and I don't want to risk the health of the child, so I won't."

    "Then to the seesaw!" She began walking as quickly as a heavily pregnant lady could, to the teeter-totter. I sat down on one end, as Rosie sat down on the other. "You realize you probably can't-"
    "I elevated you!" I exclaimed, interrupting her commenting about how I probably couldn't.
    "Now it's my turn." She smirked at me, as I began being lifted off the ground. I imagine who ever designed my dress expected me to have a large indoor wedding... maybe a fancy outdoors one with expensive flowers and caviar. They probably didn't expect this, me actually playing in a playground, to happen five minutes after I just tied the knot.

   "Hazel, I love you." Rosie said, as I looked down upon her from my perch two feet off the ground.
   "I love you, too.
   "Love you more."
   "No, I love you more!"
   "No, I do." Rosie said, sticking her tongue out at me, like a young child or Miley Cyrus would do.
   "I love you and the baby to Jupiter and back a billion times."
   "Well I love you and our baby to Pluto and back a billion plus three times and back!"
   "Aww, well I..." I began my decent as Rosie rose into the air, "Love you more than soy ice cream with organic herbal flavor enhancers and coco syrup on a warm, sunny day."
   "Well I love you more than Cheetos on a lazy, fat pregnant day."
   "It's msut be a tie." I said, faking a sigh. "We both love each other and the baby equ-"
   "Ah!" Rosie shouted, freezing in mid air.

   "Rosie? Rosie, are you okay? Rosie, is it the baby? Dammit. I shouldn't have let you do this, you should have rested..." I slowly lowered her to the ground, quickly rushing to to her side.
   "Hazel." She whispered, as I helped her stand. "The baby..."
   "WHat's wrong?"
   "Hazel, I'm having contractions." She whispered, holding onto me. "My water just... Hazel, I'm having our baby!" Suddenly her quiet whispers disappeared for yells as she held onto my arm, her finger nails plunging into my skin.

   "Do you want to go to the hospital? You're a little early... we should waited until after the baby was born to have the wedding, I knew this would happen."
   "We wanted a home birth. Take me home."
   "I'll get the car." I hurried to the parking lot, unlocking the mint green eco-friendly car Marco had given to Rosie and I as an early wedding present. I pulled around to the front of the park, helped Rosie into the vehicle, and sped away to our home as quickly as I could without violating any traffic laws. I parked in our driveway and flung open Rosie's door, helping her inside our home.
   "Ah-d-er." She said, clenching her jaw. "Natural childbirth hurts!"
   "Do you want to just lay down on the couch?"
   "No, no... we prepped the nursery with all my birthing things... we should go OW OW up there."
   "I think we should have got a midwife."
   "No, no, I can do this. Help me." Rosie grabbed onto my arm again, as she tried walking to the stairs. I helped her up them, to the baby's nursery. As she began panting, much like an adorable lab, I helped her lay down on her birthing cot. Yes, we bought a birthing cot.
   "Breath, breath, breath-"
   "Owww." She yelled.
    "Push, I know you can do it Rosie, push, push, push!"   shouted, not sure what else I was suppose to do. All the birthing class lessons suddenly left my mind, as I pushed her wedding gown up, so a bundle of fabric rested around her hips.
    "I'm pushing!" She yelled. The minutes ticked by, as we both shouted, unsure of what to do. We had prepared so much for this, but here in the moment our knowledge was limited.
     "It's a girl." I said, smiling, after what seemed like hours and in reality was only thirty minutes. I took a baby blanket that was hand knit and wrapped it around her soft, squishy body.
     "A girl..." Rosie said, smiling.
     "What should we name her?" I held her out to Rosie, so she could hold our bubbling baby girl.
     "Basil..." Rosie whispered. Basil, like the herb, had been my favorite name out of all the baby books and apparently was hers as well. "Basil."
     "Welcome to the world Basil." I smiled, watching Rosie hold her. I gently kissed mum and baby's foreheads, as we stood together and placed our baby in her crib.
     "Hazel, we did it." Rosie whispered. "Our baby."
     "Our baby." I repeated, my heart overwhelmed with pride. "I'm married with a beautiful baby girl. Rosie, I love you."

     "I love you, too Hazel." She leaned forward, hugging me.
     "And we love you, Basil!" We said in unison. Hazel, Rosie, and Basil Janes. We were a family.

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.

7.6 Part Two: Love is Quick

   "The power's back!" Rosie exclaimed, as she began sliding into her jeans.
   "Really?' I said, sitting up in bed. We had decided since we had officially started dating, already lived together, and already technically slept together, sharing the master bedroom and the queen sized bed would make more sense then having separate rooms. I glanced up, noticing the dim glow coming from the light bulb. "It's about time; it has been ten days since they blacked out."
    "Come on, let's crank up the heat and go outside."
    "That's funny." I chuckled.
    "Huh?" She asked, as she began buttoning up an adorable jacket.
    "We're going to turn up the heat so it's nice and toasty in here and instead of enjoying the heat, we're going out go outdoors, where it is," I stole a glance at the thermometer that was on the balcony, "Thirty-one degrees."
     "Please? I know it's backwards, but come on. I wanna go outside and show you something."
     "If it'll make you happy." I sighed, getting out of bed and quickly getting dressed. She rushed out of the room, down the stairs, to the outdoors. I followed her, not as excited. We had survived ten freezing days, why go outside when our house had practically became an igloo? "Brr." I said, shivering as I took Rosie's hand.
    "Here." She said, leading me to the bridge. "Isn't it beautiful out here? The snow makes everything look like a winter wonderland."

    "We can enjoy that wonderland from our home... I could make us mugs of tea and organic cinnamon muffins. We haven't seen each other completely..." I trailed off, hoping none of the neighbors came out. I wouldn't want them to hear my suggestions for what we could do in the bedroom. Let's just say that since the power went out we hadn't exactly been stripping down to our panties and bras and I, only having seen Rosie's body one hundred percent uncovered on a night I didn't exactly remember (consider how dark it was), wanted to try some new things and see Rosie. All of her.
   "Isn't out here more romantic?"
   "I'm freezing... I guess it would be, if it wasn't for that."
   "So yes! Good, I have a surprise for you."
   "Surprise?" I exclaimed. We hadn't left the house since the power outage, so whatever she had she had before her trip or got on it. "What is it."

   "Hold on, I don't just wanna blurt it out."
   "What is it? Please?" I begged, eager to know what my lovely beautiful as a rose Rosie had.
   "Patience, patience."
   "Cold stole patience." I glanced at her, as she began lowering herself onto the ground, into the ankle deep snow. "Careful, it's freezing. Your jeans look thin. Don't get frostbite..."

     "Hazel Janes." Se smiled at me. "Do you have a guess yet? Think ya know what's going on?"
     "Nope." I shrugged. Rosie looked adorable in her coat as her cheeks and nose were turning red. I knew whatever she would do would be romantic and sweet and well planned, but as the chilly wind bit at our exposed faces and my bare hand, I had to struggle to stay happy and patience. I couldn't get annoyed, no matter how freezing it was. "Please tell me."
    "Alright." She sighed, as if she was only because I begged her to. She turned around, taking something from her coat pocket. I leaned forward, trying to see what it was.
  

   "Hazel Janes." She smiled, as she opened up her hands. A small ring box was placed firmly between them. A ring box... was she- no, she wouldn't. We had just started dating. It was true, we'd known each other for almost nine months, but Rosie seemed like the date for a few years, take a plane to Paris, and pop the question by a pond or the Eiffel Tower type of girl. If anything, I thought I'd be the one with the ring box; I was the one who wanted the relationship for so long, I'd mentally been in it longer.
   "Yes?" I squealed and not because of the cold.
   "I love you."
   "You-" I gasped. She had been the first on to say the L word. "I love you, too."

   "I hoped you did." She smiled. "This might surprise you." I nodded quickly. It defiantly had. "But here, in my hands, I hold a ring box. Inside the ring box is a ring. I don't want this ring to just be a ring though. I want it to represent us and everything we've been through. We haven't known each other long, just nine months almost... most proposals that come around the nine month mark are because of a pregnancy. For us, though, that isn't the case. It isn't biologically possible for it to be the case." I laughed; it was the truth. I wanted, still want, a baby, but it would take science to get me one, or an adoption agency.
   "See, I may have only know you nine months, but we've only dated ten days. Ten days seems like a long time, yet it doesn't. A third of a month. We aren't even one of those couples who can tell you the hour, the minute, or the second our relationship began; we aren't a rush into marriage couple. In those ten days, I've gotten to know you better than anyone else. I've done things to stay warm with you, Hazel, that I wouldn't tell anyone else about. After doing those things, it seems like a ring should be required.

    I bought this ring in France. It's old, I'll give it that, but this diamond has history. It has meaning. Just like our relationship, we rose out of hideous ashes and cultivated something beautiful. And before you asked, yes everything is environmentally friendly and the working conditions of everyone involved in the ring making process were fairly treated and well paid. I checked because I knew you cared about things like that. I made it my personal goal to give this ring away before the year ended. I didn't want to go into next year alone, I want to go into it with you, with adventure and mystery. That is why I'm here today, in the cold, asking you a question. Hopefully my goal will be completed and I'll give you this ring when you answer this question: Hazel Janes, will you spend the rest your life with me? Everyday we can get to know each other better and I hope that you'll accept and I can spend everyday with you. Will you marry me?"

   "Yes! Yes, of course I'll marry you!" I exclaimed, jumping up and down. Rosie slid the ring onto my finger, as I  bounced up and down. I was going to get married. My girlfriend proposed! My fiancee was Rosie! "Oh my gosh!"
   "Oh thank goodness." Rosie said, as she stood up.
   "Rosie! Did you ever think I'd say no?"
   "For a minute there, I though you'd storm inside because of the weather."
   "No, never. I might complain, but you said it would make you happy, so I tried to comply. If you told me what would happen, I would have been out here in a heartbeat, no complaints."

   "That would have ruined the surprise." She smiled, as I embraced her. Soon we weren't talking about our engagement, we were celebrating with warm, lustful kisses. I slipped my glove-less hands underneath her jacket, partly to stay warm, partly to hint what would happen when we went inside.

   "Let's get inside... maybe we could celebrate our enagement with a little less fabric..."
   "...and a lot more alcohol." She completed my sentence for me.
   "Alcohol! Reminds me. Rosie, child." I was talking so quickly, my sentences came out in fragments.
   "How does alcohol remind you of children?"
   "You can't drink it when pregnant. We're engaged, maybe we could talk about children now. Adoption is timely and we may not get a baby for a year or more..."
   "Donors." She said simply. "Hazel, I want to hold a piece of you. I want to hold you child. See, you're a wonderful person who cares about the world around her-"
   "And you're a sweet, intelligent, loving lady-"
   "Imagine what you child would be like."
   "Our child. Imagine what our child would be like."

   "Maybe... we do need to research more, I just know that I want a little baby boy or girl that has some of you in it."
   "And I want a baby that has some of you in it." I looked up, suddenly gasping.
   "What? What's wrong?"
   "Nothing's wrong...but it's Marco!"
   "Marco?" She asked.
   "Childhood friend, helped me cope when my mom passed, is caring and sweet and went to college for forever." I rushed over to greet him and invited him inside, with Rosie confused and Marco stuttering out words, we all walked to the living room together and sat on the couch.

   "Marco, what are you doing back in Appaloosa Plains?" I asked. Last time we talked... the last time we had a conversation, he confessed his love for me, then left after he figured out that I wasn't interested in anyone of the opposite gender. At least, that's how I saw it.
   "I heard about the storm on the news. My mother's getting older and Bethani, my sister, has had difficulty coping with the loss of our father."
   "I'm sorry." Rosie said. "Oh and I'm Rosie, Hazel's fiancee! Fiancee, can you believe it?"
   "Um...wow. Did I interrupt anything? I can go, if you want. Sorry, I mean congrats. He stood up, moving towards the door.
   "No, please stay." I said, standing up and pulling him back onto the couch. "We were best friends and I haven't seen you in a long time. We're talking. Okay?"
   "Sorry, Hazel." He smiled, looking into my eyes. I saw the Marco from all those years ago, the wild haired, beanie wearing Marco, not the slicked back hair business man Marco who had stubble on his chin. He had aged greatly; stress does that to you. "I didn't... I just, ya know. I'm in town to help my mother move into a nursing home. I thought I'd stop by and see if you were okay or needed any help. I ran into that one girl, what's her name? The one you introduced me to?"
   "AJ?"
   "Yeah, that's it! AJ. We chatted and she told me about some ten year deal, apparently she's moving to California and that deal's over. She gave me your address and told me to tell you to go to hell. I'm guessing you guys didn't end well."

    "Angry ex?" Rosie guessed. I'd briefly told her about my relationship with AJ when explaining why I needed a roommate, but I didn't mention any names.
    "Yep." I nodded, waiting for Marco to keep talking. "How long are you in town?"
    "A few months, probably three or four. I don't have any business deals to tend to until March, so I thought I'd pay a visit to my hometown for a bit. Would make my family happy."
    "Do you have a place to stay?"
    "I was going to stay at a hotel." He shrugged. "I mean, with my mom's house being sold and Bethani planning to move away with her boyfriend I didn't have many options."
    "A hotel!" Rosie exclaimed. "For three or four months? That's insane."
    "It is." I agreed. "We have two spare bedrooms, I mean if Rosie's okay with it..."
    "I defiantly am."
    "Then you should stay with us."
    "I wouldn't want to intrude. You probably have wedding stuff to do, anyways."
    "You're staying." I said. Marco ran away once, it wasn't happening again. Or at least, if it was, I was going to get to spend some time with my old best bud.
    "Okay... I can pay rent and-"
    "Marco, we're friends. Friends do this type of thing all the time. No worries about money." I smiled at Rosie, as she nodded in agreement with me. I missed Marco. We had known each other so well and when he left... I liked having part of my past that was good stay in my life. "Hey, are you single? Got kids?"
    "Yes and no." He said, looking surprised that I asked. Him staying gave me an idea. I liked him, he was a male, and Rosie and I want children... as long as he was alright with it and Rosie agreed to it, it made sense. He was well educated, muscular, and handsome. He'd make a great donor, I'd just have to chat with Rosie when he went out sometime. Maybe... maybe, maybe.

    "Let's show you your room." Rosie said, standing up.
    "Defiantly." I agreed. I reconnected with an old friend, who might provide what I needed to create a baby, and got engaged; how perfect was today turning out?

7.6 Part One: Back Home

   I set my mug of green tea on the dining table as I stretched. It was nice and early on a Tuesday morning; I'd be getting ready to go off to work any minute.  I sneaked a peak out the dining room window to see what had concerning the weather over night. A thin sheet of ice coated everything, from the walkway, to the pool, to my plants. About to quickly gulp down my tea and eat a few almond and apples from my garden, I turned away from the window just as a little bop of red-orange caught my eye. Rosie was home! A smile instantly appeared on my face, from ear to ear, as I rushed to the front door.
 "Rosie had been gone two and a had months, it was now mid-December. I wasn't sure what she was doing traveling across France and parts of Europe on some sort of exotic wine hunt (probably just drinking wine, but that seemed too ordinary for her), but it had taken awhile. I flung open the door as an icy blast of wind greeted me, along with a hug from my roommate.

   "Welcome back home."
   "Thanks! I have so much to tell you. It's gotten really cold since I left, though. I can't believe it's only six degrees out there. The airport taxi had to drive incredibly slow, since they were worried if they slid or something while going out of county I'd sue the company. That's why I'm home later."
   "You're not later, it's still pretty early."
   "Not for a flight that got in at five am, but otherwise yeah."
   "So..."
   "Hey, can we watch the news? I've been out of touch for almost three months and wanna know what's been going on."
   "Sure." I said, taking a seat on the couch and flipping on the television. A balding man was blaring on about the importance of driving slowly and being careful about black ice. "As you can see, not much has happened since you left. Oh! A gas station was robbed. The thief took a couple six packs, some gum, and the cashier's Costco membership. That's probably the worst and sadly most exciting thing that's happened."

   "If there's one thing I like about Appaloosa Plains, it's that I can always count on it to be dull and uneventful... therefore, stress free." She said, as she took off her heavy winter jacket, snow boots, and gloves.
    "I wouldn't exactly call it stress free." I mumbled, thinking about what had happened between us. In the months Rosie was gone, she had cut all contact with Washington and solely relied on the locals for conversation and news about the USA. We hadn't talked about that night since the morning after and I needed clarity. I liked her, I still did, but where did she stand? How did those months in Europe change her views? Did they even do anything?
   "...and remember folks, if you see a downed power line, call your electric company, do not go near it. For more tips about what to do during power outages call-" Suddenly our television and the light began flickering in a few second things went room completely lit to pitch black.
   "The power went out!" I exclaimed. "...guess I'm not going in to work."
   "Why not?"
   "I couldn't get ready and my roommate just got back, plus the lab uses this power company and chances are if something happened, ice or a damaged line, they would be powerless as well. No power, no heat, no lights, no working machinery no work."
   "Ah... lucky you."
   "I guess."

   "What should we do? Depending on how long this lasts... I mean, you don't have a generator, do you? And we can't use those one type of heaters, the ones that could poison us."
   "I don't have any type of heater, so no worries about the poison part... don't open the fridge, I know that much. I probably have some candles in the basement between your wine machinery and the wall."
   "You set it up for me? Aww, that's so sweet."
   "I had time." I shrugged, trying to refrain from blushing. "So, you go look for those, I'll get blankets. I think we're suppose to stay in one room with the doors closed so that way the heat doesn't escape...basically, go as quickly as possible."
   "Alright." She said, standing up in her socks and flimsy t-shirt with quarter sleeves. We both headed to our locations, gathering supplies. I took the blankets from the closet that were hideous color, greens and oranges and floral designs, and headed back down stairs. A trail of tea light candles led me from the bottom of the stairs to the living room. On any other day, this would have been a huge fire hazard; this morning I was grateful for them.
  "Oh, you found my battery operated stereo!"
  "I figured for the news or something." She shrugged, bending down to light another candle.
  "I've got blankets and extra socks. They're  synthetic wool, so on hundred percent alright for vegans." Neither of us were vegans, but I still bought a majority of household products that were certified as vegan friendly.
   "We need to talk, Hazel."
   "Yeah... we have nothing but time until the light come back on, I guess." I joked, trying to not plunge straight into serious mode. "Um, you probably should go first."

   "Hazel... we slept together."
   "Diving right in, okay then."
   "We're both adults, we should talk like that then."
   "Rosie, I know... I just... I have trouble looking back and regretting it  because I don't. Like I've said before, I'd never hurt you, but I liked that night. I'm sorry. Have you talked with Gwen yet?"
   "She met me at the airport. I told her... that's why I took a taxi back, she stormed out of the place. We're done. Over... there was two reasons I went on the trip. The first was to put off the breakup." I assumed the second was wine.
   "I'm sorry."
   "No need to be, I knew. Those two and a half months gave me coping time. She was angry, she  said she knew it... the thing is, she almost seemed happy that she was right. I apologized and she got to make a scene. We did what we could to try and make the relationship survive, but in the end it couldn't."
   "Do you blame me?" I asked, being a bit selfish. I was having trouble sleeping, thinking that maybe her had decided to cope by hating me; I couldn't live with that if it was true.
   "I blame both of us. We both started it... I agreed to cheat, you agreed to help me. I'd like to move on though, from that. Move forward. Not necessarily forget, but not cling to that and label us as that."
   "Moving forward sounds great..."

     "I want to continue living here, if that's okay."
     "It's more than okay, it's great. I don't want to have to interview someone else."
     "I don't want to have to search the Internet hoping the people posting the ads aren't insane, murderous lunatics." She smiled, taking my hand.
     "So you'll stay? I was worried you wouldn't."
     "Defiantly am staying."
     "We should probably bundle up, it's getting chilly..."
     "You know the best way to stay warm?"
     "No, what is it?"
     "Body heat. You know what would create the most body heat right now?"
     "Spooning?" I asked, trying to avoid the gutter.
     "Not exactly spooning, but close. I'd say begin with a kiss and go from there."
     "A kiss?" I asked, confused now. Was she teasing me and just joking, or did she want me to kiss her?

     "Hazel Janes, will you go steady with me?"
     "What? Of course! But, I thought you wanted to move forward... aren't I from the past?"
     "I want us to move forward. Together. I want us to rise from the ashes of our wrongdoings and, together, make something great."
     "You're such a romantic."  I whispered, staring into her eyes. I never noticed before tonight how beautiful they were. An endless pool of her caring love...
     "I try." She shrugged.
     "As do I... you just can't tell." I laughed. I leaned forward, taking her hands as we went into a tender embrace, my lips meeting hers, as we kissed, no longer having our relationship be forbidden.
     "I was thinking..." I quietly said, as I held her in my arms, "I want a baby sometime..."
     "What?!" She exclaimed, pulling back. "Babies are precious, but now? We just started dating... literally, just started."
      "Well... It was just, I love having plants to care for. They need me to survive and if I take care of them well, I get fresh and bountiful harvests. During the winter, I don't get to care for them... and it was so lonely without you.
    Imagine a giggling child here. I could read to it and teach it about nature, we could go on picnics and nature hikes. See, if I were to raise a child, ever smile, every milestone, it would be amazing and special. And since we technically can't have a baby, I thought, well, if I have a relationship that doesn't work out, it wouldn't be like with a mum and father, since the child would just be mine. I'd need a donor of course or I could adopt, either way... never mind, it's silly."
     "It isn't silly, it's sweet. You want a baby and I do want children eventually. Maybe... we should talk more. I'm not going to let you be a single mother, though. I think we should think about having a baby together... After the power comes back on, we can do research, talk more..."
    "You're amazing Rosie."
    "Why? I haven't done anything amazing lately." She looked at me, her bangs hanging over part of her eye.
    "You just are. Also, I mean, you're considering a baby because I want one." I pushed the hair out of her eyes, as I stood on my tip-toes to kiss her forehead. Rosie and I had finally started the relationship I yearned for for so long; a kiss was my paradise and her affection worth every second that I waited.
 Rosie Kinnely was a wonderful, caring, intelligent, kind lady who agreed to share all her wonderfulness and intelligence and kindness with me who was considering having a baby, a family, together. What more could I ask for?