The sperm bank. Or Western Slope Family Planning, as it’s called.
Oh. My. God.
“May I help you?” a receptionist asks.
“Aurora Pike. I have an appointment to talk to one of your counselors.”
“Certainly. You’re a little early.” She nods toward the waiting area. “Just have a seat, and someone will be with you as soon as possible.”
“Thank you.” I turn, again defiantly, and find a chair.
Only one other woman sits in the waiting area.
She looks up at me as I sit down.
“Hi,” she says timidly.
“Good morning.”
“I’m so nervous,” she says.
Do I look like I have wants to talk to strangers tattooed on my forehead?
Apparently.
“No reason to be nervous.”
“It’s such a big step, you know?”
That’s what the counselors are here for. To talk to you about all this crap.
“It is,” I say.
“I just… No one wants to date me or anything. This is really my…only shot at this.”
I take a look at her then. A good long look. She’s pleasant-looking—not beautiful, but pretty. A spray of dark freckles graces her nose and cheeks, and she’s not wearing makeup that I can see.
She continues. “You’re so pretty. Why are you here?”
“It’s a long story,” is all I say.
She seems to get the idea then. She looks back at the magazine on her lap and says nothing more.
A few minutes later, a woman in a white coat walks out. “Sandy Thomas?”
The other woman stands. “I’m Sandy.”
“Come on back.”
I feel oddly abandoned. I didn’t really want to tell Sandy my life story, but I was rude. I didn’t mean to be. It’s just that this is all so personal. I don’t have my sister’s support, and my parents don’t even know I’m here.
That’s not really fair to Callie. She’ll support me in whatever I decide. She just doesn’t think this is the best idea in the world. And part of me agrees with her.
Part of me, though—that part of me that wants a baby, no matter the cost—is ready to do anything to make my dream happen sooner rather than later.
A baby. A baby before I’m too old to enjoy it. A baby while I’m young enough to know I’ll be able to see not only my child grow into an adult but also my grandchildren.
That’s what I want.
“Aurora Pike?”
“That’s me.” I stand.
Another counselor in a white coat holds her hand out. “I’m Davida. It’s nice to meet you. Come on back.”
Davida is a beautiful woman with dark skin and piercing black eyes.
She’s also bisexual. Not gay. Bi. I’ve learned to have a radar about these things, and when I find a bi woman, I instantly take notice. Raine wasn’t bi, and that was a big part of our problem. She didn’t understand my attraction to men. Davida would understand, and she’s not wearing any rings on her left hand.
I’m instantly attracted to her.
Funny, though. I’m not thinking about what it might feel like to kiss her full lips. Or what she might look like naked.
In fact, the only person I really want to see naked right now is Brock Steel.
Doesn’t matter. I’m not here to pick up a woman. I’m here to get information on sperm donors.
Davida leads me to an office in the back, and then she walks behind a desk.
“Have a seat, Aurora.”
“Rory. Everybody calls me Rory.”
“Very good, Rory. Everyone calls me Davey.”
I smile. “Nice to meet you.”
“So, Rory, what can I do for you today?”
I clear my throat. “I…want a baby.”
She smiles. “Do you?”
“Of course I do. Why else would I be here?”
“Because you didn’t sound too convinced just then. You hesitated a bit.”
“I am hesitant. Not because I don’t want a baby, but because I’m sitting here in the sperm bank talking to someone I don’t know, who’s going to try to counsel me. I know everything you’re going to say before you say it.”
She chuckles. “You do?”
“Yes. You’re going to ask if I’ve ever been in a serious relationship. Don’t I want to wait? I’m twenty-eight years old, Davey. I’ll tell you what I told my sister, who I tell everything to. I’m worried about my biological clock.”
She opens her mouth, but I stop her with a hand gesture.
“Yes, I know twenty-eight is not that old. I know huge problems don’t begin to happen until the thirties, and that women are having babies well into their forties with no complications these days. I know all of that. But I also know that I want to be around for a lot of my children’s life. I want to see them grow up, and I want to see his or her children grow up. Maybe even great-grandchildren. I want all of that. It’s what I’ve always wanted since I was a little girl.”
“Actually, Rory,” Davey says. “I was going to ask you if you had a look at the donors on the website.”