Chapter Two
Shortly after, we headed back inside and returned to sitting at the kitchen table. Sarah and Kyle were sitting, but they gave the impression they had just sat down. They were probably standing at the door, watching us out the window the whole time, I thought to myself with a pleased smirk. They really wanted this to happen, and I was counting on it.
Lucy had agreed to let me do the talking. I waited a few moments to let their suspense build, before saying finally, "We'll do it..."
"Oh, thank you Steven, thank you..." Sarah interrupted with a squeal.
"Please," I added, with a gesture of my hand, asking her to wait. "Please wait until I'm done. I'll do this for you, but I have some conditions that must be met."
"What sort of conditions?" asked Kyle, a suspicious frown on his face.
"Please, Kyle," Sarah interjected, a pleading look on her face. She turned to me. "We'll do anything. Please."
I looked at her for a moment. "Well, let's wait to finalize things until you've heard me out. Ok?"
"Ok," she agreed, then turned to Kyle, who nodded.
Satisfied they were ready, I began: "Condition number one: This will not be some cold, unfeeling transaction. I am more than an anonymous sperm donor. For better or worse, we're family. I refuse to have sex in a situation that is anything less than pleasurable, for either of us. You aren't some whore doing a job, and neither am I. That being said, nothing will be off the table. In the end, making sure it is pleasurable will be the most effective in ensuring conception. Obviously, it would be best to try several times during the fertile period to make sure it happens."
Sarah and Kyle both nodded in agreement. "That makes sense." Kyle decided.
"Conditions number two and three are for my benefit. Since you're saving thousands of dollars doing it this way, and we won't accept any amount of money in return, I feel it's fair to ask for a few, shall we say, less than selfless requests."
They both nodded again, less enthusiastically.
"Condition number two: I have a strong attraction to pregnant women. During your eighth month of pregnancy, we will spend a weekend together. I will come down here, and we will spend the time in a hotel. I will be paying for these accommodations, as well as my travel here and back home."
I didn't give them time to respond as I continued: "Condition number three: I also have a fascination with breastfeeding, as Lucy could share if you asked her. Six months after the birth of the baby, I will pay one final visit. Everything else will be the same as the eight-month visit. Obviously, you will need to be lactating at this time. Whether you choose to breastfeed your baby or not is up to you--if you care about your baby you will--but it is part of my condition. Who knows? Maybe you'll find you're into it too, huh Kyle?" I said with a grin.
"Finally, condition number four: No one else in the family will know about it. This is also how I make sure the other conditions are followed. If you become pregnant and decide not to fulfill condition number two or three, I will personally make sure your family knows exactly what happened. In that case, I don't have anything to lose, but you do. Do you understand?" I paused to gauge their reactions. "And before you say anything or think about complaining, Lucy has already agreed to these conditions; otherwise, we wouldn't be having this talk. Lucy loves you so much that she's willing to let all of this happen between us. Think about that before you agree or disagree." I sat back in my chair and took Lucy's hand on the table. She gave me a reassuring smile.
They sat there for awhile, first staring at us, and then at each other. Finally, looking at Sarah, Kyle responded, "I think maybe now it's our turn to be excused to discuss things." Sarah nodded and they both got up and exited the kitchen. Seconds later we could hear them ascending the stairs, presumably to go to their bedroom to discuss things. I got up to check on the kids in the living room. They were completely absorbed in a show that I didn't recognize--there were so many more cartoons nowadays I had never heard of. Regardless, television to the babysitter rescue again--I kid. We rarely let them watch much television at home; that's probably why they were so enthralled there. Lucky for us they were--how were we to know how the evening would go when we first came over? Unless...
I returned to the kitchen and looked at Lucy. "Hey Babe, you didn't know this was gonna happen, right? I mean, they didn't talk to you about it beforehand, did they?"
She had been staring at the table, lost in her own thoughts, until she realized I was talking to her. When she fully understood what I had asked, she answered, "No Steven. I was just as surprised as you were when they asked. I'm still a little nervous about it, but can you blame me?"
"Of course not, Lucy." I chuckled. "I'm still a little surprised that you were so agreeable to their proposal. You hear about things like this happening in stories or something, but you never think it would happen in real life, least of all to us." I paused, considering the whole situation. "How do you think they'll respond?"
"I'm not entirely sure," she responded quickly. Obviously she had just been thinking about that very thing. "I can tell they really want a baby, but who knows how they would respond to your requests. Honestly, if I were in Sarah's situation, I don't know how I would respond. It's so hard to imagine what I would do to get what I really wanted most..." She trailed off, lost in her thoughts again.
After about five more minutes, I could hear a slight creak of the floorboards above us, then they were descending the stairs. They rejoined us in the kitchen, sitting down heavily in their chairs. I could tell it had been a really serious conversation, though not loud enough for us to hear from downstairs.
I had to remind myself to keep breathing, so thick was the atmosphere of anticipation. I mostly expected them to rescind their proposal in light of my counter-proposal. Finally, Sarah said, "We'll do it. I'll do it," she paused, taking a deep breath. "But I have one more condition of my own. Kyle wouldn't let me consider agreeing without promising I would give one final stipulation. Here it is: We've agreed to your conditions, all of them. But throughout the whole process, anytime we're...together...I get the final say on how things go. If we're doing something, or you're doing something, and it makes me feel unsafe or way too uncomfortable, I get to say we stop. That's absolutely non-negotiable," she ended, looking at Kyle, who nodded in approval.
To say I was surprised was an understatement. I didn't expect them to agree, but I definitely appreciated their addition to the arrangement. "I agree wholeheartedly. We're not doing this to make anyone feel unsafe or uncomfortable. I should have thought of that myself. Everything is still acceptable to everyone at this point?" I asked looking between the three of them. I received three nods in return. I continued, "So, before we can make any arrangements, we need to know what part of your cycle you are at right now."
"We were just gonna mention that ourselves. The thing is," Sarah paused, "my last period started twelve days ago. For those of you keeping track at home, that means the next three days are my most fertile time of ovulation." She ended with a chuckle. I couldn't help but laugh out loud. Sarah was such a nerd sometimes, and I loved that she felt comfortable enough to show that around us.
"So, I guess we need to decide if we're pulling the trigger now, or waiting for a later date for our first attempt. What do you think, Lucy? Is this something we can work into our week down here, or should we try again another time?" I gave her hand another loving squeeze.
