It was the second time that the power had gone out. The night that he had nearly told her about his discovery. He now knew he shouldn't have taken his brother's advice. But when he asked Marty thought Troy, his older brother, was usually right about most things. And after he and Crystal had tried to get pregnant for over six months, he had confided in Troy. Troy had two kids himself, with his now ex-wife Betty, so maybe Marty thought he was some expert. Troy had just told him. "Man go to the doctor and get them to run a test and find out. If it's got something to do with you, then you can tell her and save Crystal all this heartache."
That is what convinced Marty to go. He had, since he had started dating his wife, this unquenchable desire to give her everything she ever wanted. It had driven his mother crazy when they dated. Now, his desire had him stuck.
He had listened to his brothers advice. Snuck off and got himself tested and the doctor had confirmed his fears. He was sterile. A case of the measles when he was a child probably the culprit. He had meant to tell her then, but he tried to pretend the doctor was wrong. A month later and still no pregnancy and he knew he had to tell her, but he didn't want to admit it to himself, much less to Crystal.
For the first time he was not going to be able to give her what she wanted. And the only person at fault was himself. The person who had always given her everything, couldn't give her the very thing she so longed to be. He didn't know what to do.
Until the night the power went out on their street for the second time in less than a month. They had been in the middle of dinner the first night and had finished by candlelight, the next night Crystal had been in the shower and had needed help. Both nights had led to them having wild, hot sex. And on that second night, right after she had drained his infertile balls, he had come up with the idea to give her what she wanted. It wasn't a plan he wanted to execute, but one that he knew he would need to do if he were to make his wife what she always wanted to be, a mother.
So now, one month later, the plan was coming into fruition.
In the moonlit bedroom, Crystal lay nestled under the covers, her bare shoulders exposed to the cool night air. It was 1975, and the suburban home she shared with her husband, Marty, was bathed in the soft glow of the moon filtering through the french doors of the bedroom. She had removed her glasses hours ago, leaving her vision blurred, but she didn't need them to feel the warmth of the man beside her. She traced along the bed and realized that her husband was gone. The warming sheets, the only clue of his absence. She leaned up and shifted to the lamp to turn it on as the house was uncharacteristically dark. The lamp wouldn't come on and then she noticed that the alarm clock was off too. "Another power outage," she said to herself.
Marty had slipped out of bed as soon as he knew Crystal was asleep, his heart heavy with the secret he couldn't bear to share. He had devised this plan, a desperate, humiliating plan, to ensure she could have what she had always wanted. He'd enlisted the help of his brother, Troy. The one who had gotten him into this mess. He had thought to ask his younger brother, Rusty, but since Rusty didn't have kids of his own yet and he had also had the measles when they were younger, Marty had decided on Troy. Troy was only one year his senior and although nothing like Marty in personality the two shared a slightly similar build and had voices that were similar enough that even their mother couldn't recognize them apart over the phone.
So as Marty had planned, he had stolen out of his bed to stage a power outage, plunging the house into darkness at the breaker box in the garage. It was here that Troy was supposed to meet him. Troy was parked down the street and was waiting on the lights to go out to come up the drive. Marty could see his silhouette slowly coming down the gravel driveway.
Marty thought back to asking Troy. He had met him for lunch on a Saturday and Troy had refused. Told Marty it was the dumbest idea he had ever heard and all but stormed out of the restaurant. Marty knew that Troy was no angel, but he knew enough about his older brother to know that he had a twisted moral code that Marty was pushing the limits on during the conversation. It had taken two more conversations for Troy to even consider it, and Marty truly believed it was the thought of him asking Rusty that truly convinced Troy. They both knew their wayward younger brother would say yes, and that the chances of Crystal discovering it were far greater with their more muscular and shorter brother.
So here they were, Marty having left his unknowing wife in bed, while he quietly retreated to the garage, leaving Troy to take his place. The arrangement was clear: Troy would impregnate Crystal, but she would never know it wasn't her husband. Troy didn't say anything as he came up. Marty looked up at him. "I left her asleep. Did you put on the boxers I bought you?"
"Yes," Troy said exasperated. "I don't know why you are worrying over details. There isn't going to be any light in that room to see a darn thing." Troy slipped out of his cut off jean shorts and took off the tanktop he had worn over, so that now he was in the same boxers his brother was sporting in the garage. Troy had even gotten a shorter haircut yesterday, so that even that couldn't be a clue to Crystal. "Anything else I need to know?" he asked.
Marty shook his head "no", and watched as Troy opened the screen door and entered into the home that he shared with his wife. Marty thought back to Troy's comment and he chuckled to himself. He wondered if Troy was upset that there wouldn't be any light in the room. He figured that Troy wanted to get a good look at his gorgeous wife. Her breast even covered in a shirt got a lot of attention, and even though Troy would never admit it, he knew he had probably ogled her a time or two himself. He was glad it would be too dark for Troy to see her, but as he looked across the moonlit backyard he didn't' feel as confident. He suddenly remembered the glass paned french doors beside his bed, which were free of any coverings and his past experience on a full moon night told him that the visibility was probably going to be more than he had anticipated. Fear clutched at him. Maybe he had made a mistake. There was a chance that she would be able to see him. What if she had gotten up while he was away. She had been asleep, but she could have gotten up, found a match or something.
Marty's guilt and worry gnawed at him as he stood in the garage, the cold concrete floor beneath his bare feet. He tried sitting down. He had pulled out a folding beach chair from the supply closet for that very thing. The lights were out and it was nearing 2am. But his anxiety got the best of him. Was this what he wanted? "No!" the answer quickly came to his mind, but it was what he needed to make sure that Crystal got her baby. He just hoped that the one time would take.
He couldn't stay here, though. He stood from the beach chair he'd pulled out to wait out the night. But now he knew, he had an overwhelming need to witness what was happening, to make sure that their plans were going through. To make sure that Crystal was none the wiser to what was happening. Just one peek Marty told himself.
Troy had one shot to give her what she most desperately needed, which he could never give. The thought of that was too overwhelming.
Marty crept from the garage and around to the backyard, his footsteps silent on the dewy grass. The blinds were down and closed, but a broken panel allowed him an unobstructed view of the bedroom. He had left the window cracked, knowing how hot the room got when the power went out. At the time, he had not planned to come and watch, but to make sure that the room got a breeze when he turned off the power. Now, he pressed his face against the bedroom window, the glass cool against his skin. Inside, the room was dark, but the moonlight from the curtainless french doors cast just enough illumination for him to see the silhouette of Troy climbing into bed beside Crystal. His heart sank as he watched Troy's broad frame settle next to her, his brother's muscular build a similar, but also stark contrast, to his own more lean physique.
