Sunshine (Take Two Sequel)

Chapter 35: Rory

Today was an important day. I was on my way to pick up Joe and Ben, and we were heading to the fertility clinic. My oncologist told me the pregnancy was totally safe, Ben and Joe were on board and most of our friends were being really supportive. There was only one thing left to do: combine Ben and Joe's sperm with my eggs and pray one of them takes. I walked up to Ben and Joe's door and rang the doorbell. Joe answered the door and gave me a nervous smile.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi Joe," I said. "Are you two ready to do this?"

"I think so," Joe said. Ben came up behind him and nodded in agreement.

"We'll be fine," I said. "It's not like we'll have to anything today, necessarily." Ben and Joe nodded their heads and we all headed out. When we got to the doctor, I went in for my tests while Joe and Ben waited in the lobby. Afterwards, the doctor wanted to talk to us in her office, so I went to get Joe and Ben.

"Before we go in there," Ben said. "Is the doctor aware of what we're doing?"

"Her name is Doctor Camden," I said. "And she's very aware and supportive. Maybe more so than a few of our friends." We all went back to Doctor Camden's office and sat down.

"I have good news for the three of you," she said. "It looks like Rory is ovulating which means it's the perfect time to get this process started."

"You mean today?" Rory asked. "Right now?"

"Sure," she said with a shrug. "Unless there's some reason you can't." I sighed and looked over to Ben and Joe.

"I really can't think of one," I said.

"You can't?" Ben said to me. I shook my head. He looked back at the doctor and said, "Could you give us a moment?" She nodded and the three of us went out into the hallway.

"What's the problem?" I asked Ben.

"You want to do this today?" Ben asked.

"Why not?" I said.

"Because it's... today!"

"So what?" I said. "Look, my oncologist told me it was safe to have a baby now. If we wait too long, I could relapse and I won't be able to do this. You two agreed to help me, so what's the difference between helping me today and helping me later? I don't think you two are being fair!" Joe sighed and gave Ben a look.

"We're not," Joe said. "I think we were just nervous because this is happening so fast."

"I'm nervous too," I said. "But we made a decision and we can do this! We're going to do this." Ben and Joe nodded and we went back into the doctor's office.

"Everything alright?" Doctor Camden asked.

"Yes," I said. "We're ready to do this. We want to do this."

"That's great!" She said. "In that case, you two can go find an empty room and deposit your specimens. After that, we'll mix your samples together and insert them into Rory's uterus." She handed Joe and Ben too cups that they took, awkwardly.

"And then I'll be pregnant?" I asked.

"Possibly," she said.

"Possibly?" Joe asked. "There's a chance this won't work?" Doctor Camden sighed and looked at the three of us.

"Artificial insemination is not an uncommon practice," she started. "But that does not mean it is a perfect system. There is more than one way to do this, and we've chosen the method with the highest chances of success. We're going to take your sperm and insert it directly into Rory's uterus while she's ovulating, which is the best way to do this, but that does not mean it will definitely work."

"So what are the chances of this working?" I asked.

"In the best cases," Doctor Camden said. "20%." I sighed nervously. This might not work? This has to work!

"If this doesn't work," Joe started. "Can we try it again?"

"Of course," Doctor Camden said. "But you'll have to wait for Rory to be ovulating again, so you'll have to wait until next month. For now, we'll try this and pray it works." We all nodded and the boys went to find empty rooms while I went down the hall with Doctor Camden. This better work. With my health, who knows if I'll be able to do this again.