An average looking man in his mid thirties, his brown hair done up in a stylish fade, stood next to an old woman who was laying on a bed with pillows propping her up. A dialysis machine was filtering the toxins out of her blood with tubes running from her body to the machine and back. She seemed relatively calm as if this was a routine process. The man turned on a television on the opposite wall and handed her the remote.
"Mom," he said loudly. "I'm going to do a few errands, but I'll be back before your treatment ends in two hours."
"Ok."
"Call me if you need anything." He held up a phone and set it down next to her on the bed.
"Thank you Matty," she said with a wan smile. He kissed her forehead before leaving for another bedroom.
On the wall was a fantasy poster of a man and woman looking fierce in elaborate medieval armor with a dragon blowing fire dramatically behind them. He grabbed keys and a wallet off the dresser before leaving the room and the house.
With a click he unlocked a small faded-red car in the driveway and began traveling down surface streets filled with quaint suburban homes. It was only a ten minute trip until he stopped on the side of a four story khaki-colored apartment complex. It was characterized by small balconies that the tenants had filled with all sorts of items, such as BBQ grills, bicycles, lounge chairs, and satellite dishes. He got out of his car and trekked up a long flight of stairs on the outside to the third floor. He checked a text message on his phone and then walked to apartment 375. The door sounded hollow when he knocked and waited patiently. It was a moment before he heard the lock and then the door opened a crack with the security chain holding fast. There in the space between the door and the frame, he saw a plain-looking woman wearing light makeup with pixie cut brown hair.
"Hello?"
"Michelle?" he asked.
"Yes, M-"
"Matt," he said, pointing to his chest.
"Ok," she replied with a smile. "Just a second." The door closed and then reopened completely. Matt looked at her smiling while she held the door open. She was barefoot, wearing mid-thigh length forest green shorts and a conservative short-sleeve white tee. He noticed she had several tattoos on her wrists, arms, and legs.
"Why don't you come in?"
"Sure." He entered and she closed and locked the door behind him.
"Sorry for the mess," she said as she walked into the living area. There was a small kitchen to the right and a sitting room with a television deeper in. On the opposite side was a hall, presumably to a bedroom.
"It's fine, cleaner than my house," he said with a smile. She laughed nervously.
"How... how about we sit down on the couch?" she suggested.
"Sure." They sat down on either side of the three-seater couch.
"Oh, did you want something to drink?" she asked.
"Uh, yeah that would be great, what do you have?"
"Let me look," she said, nearly jumping up and going to the refrigerator. "Uh... beer, water... uh... amaretto?" she said dubiously.
"Amaretto?" Matt echoed with surprise.
"You want some?" she smiled.
"Uh, no I'm not a fan, sorry. I'll have a beer I guess."
"Alright."
She popped the top off of two longnecks and gave one to him.
"Cheers." She held up the beer.
"Cheers."
They clinked bottles, then drank. For a moment they looked at each other without words.
"I brought the documents you asked for," Matt said, breaking the awkward silence.
"Oh good." She set down the beer on the coffee table and took the papers he handed over.
"Clear health as of last week; no STDs. And my grades from high school. I never finished college though. My ex got pregnant so I dropped out to get a full-time job." Matt took another sip of the beer. "Mmm this is yummy, what is this?" He read the text on the label. "Hopennheimer? Seriously?"
"Do you like IPAs?"
"This one, yeah."
"Ok, your grades..." she looked at the old copies. "Not bad," she smiled.
"You wanted to see some photos of my kids too, right?" he pulled out his phone.
"Oh yes," she replied with an amiable smile.
"Here." He held out his phone after scrolling to a social media page.
"Wow, how old is he?"
"Noah just turned 17 last month and the twins will be 16 in December. Let me show you them, just a sec." He scrolled and handed his phone back.
"Wow, identical huh?"
"Yeah."
"And Hannah? She just had your kid recently right?"
"Yeah, just two weeks ago." He found the message Hannah had sent him and showed it to Michelle.
"Awww," she cooed. "They must be so happy."
"Tired more than anything."
"Yeah at first, but having a baby has always been a dream of mine."
"I know. Sorry I was just being cynical."
"Well stop..." she said with a laugh.
"Sure," he replied. "So no pressure, I know it's a tough decision, but did you want to go through with it?"
"Uh," she breathed deeply. She looked Matt up and down with a wan grin. "Yeah, let's do it."
"You sure?"
"Yes. You're smart, handsome and you have beautiful kids. You're a great donor. I'm ready."
"Ok there's just the contract then. You read it from my email right? I'll just grab it from the car so we can sign."
"Sure."
He went down the stairs and got the contract he had from the glove compartment. Then he rushed back up to the door which she opened for him.
"Do you have a pen?" he asked breathlessly.
"Oh, um... just give me a second." She went left, down the hall towards her bedroom and returned holding the pen up.
"Ok, right here," he said, pointing to the signature line. She signed in somewhat messy penmanship. Matt signed beneath her and took a photo of the page. "You keep this copy."
"Thanks."
"So that's it, now the magic can happen," he smirked.
