AN: Hey guys! Obviously this is my first story on here and I'm testing out the waters with this story that hasn't left my mind for the past few days. Please review and let me know if I should continue or not. I'm not too happy with how this first chapter turned out and it's a little too short for my liking but it's something. (Of course, I own nothing Orange related). - MJ
Piper Chapman always grew up being told that life was about finding the perfect man, falling in love, and starting a family together, preferably in that exact order. Her mother, Carol Chapman, always reminded her that life was about appearances and one should only care about what others envied about her. Whenever she had thought about starting her own family she had never pictured it like this, alone in a doctor's office waiting for some stranger's sperm to be inserted into her uterus.
She was days away from her 30th birthday and she had all but given up on finding her "someone to settle down with" as her mother would call it. Fact is, she didn't want someone to just settle down with. No, she wanted adventure and love and yeah maybe she was a little naïve to ever want that but she didn't care. This lack of love and passion in her life is what led her to start her own family, her own way.
Not once growing up did she imagine becoming a single mother seeing as how she was simply so far off from being part of a perfect family to even consider bringing her own children to the mix. She had spent months wondering and going over the idea of artificial insemination to start her family and although the baby would have no dad she couldn't escape the notion that she was meant to be a mother. She knew that to be a fact and she didn't want to wait any longer and take the chance that maybe, just maybe, her prince (or princess because who was she kidding she knew she had a preference for both sexes even if she never stated it loud and clear) would show up and they would get their shit together fast enough to start a family before her biological clock called time on her window for baby making. So it was that conclusion that pushed her to make the call to her doctor and OB/GYN months ago to start her routine of fertility drugs to increase her chances of becoming pregnant. She was definitely excited and when she approached her best-friend Polly on the idea she was a bit skeptical to say the least.
"You need me to do what?" Polly asked, looking over the stack of files Piper had dropped onto the coffee table.
Piper looked up from the file she was currently going over and looked to her best friend and replied with barely controlled excitement. "I need you, my best friend in the entire world, to help me pick out the lucky sperm donor to my future child!"
"See that's what I thought you said which brings me to my next question. Piper Elizabeth Chapman… ARE YOU CRAZY?" Polly slammed the file in Piper's hands onto the table and gave her friend a pointed look. Piper had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at her best friend's dramatics, instead choosing to look her straight in the eyes.
"Polly I'm not crazy. I'm not. But I am almost 30 years old with no husband, let alone an actual love life of any kind and no family of my own. You on the other hand have Pete and Finn, the perfect family." She paused finally feeling somewhat nervous about her friend genuinely thinking of this as a bad idea. "I don't know…I just want that for myself I guess. Besides Popi, I have nothing to call my own really, and even that I share with you. I know it sounds selfish and maybe it is but you know better than anyone else that I've always been a little self-centered."
Polly looked at her as if she was trying to pinpoint exactly when Piper had lost her mind. She knew the idea sounded crazy to her friend, and probably her family too when they found out, but Piper wasn't looking for approval. She wanted their unwavering support, or at the very least, Polly's very judgmental yet unwavering support. Finally she just couldn't take the silence and spoke up. "Look Polly, you're my best friend and it would mean the world to me if you helped me out with this. I want my own family. I want my own baby. I want someone who gives my life meaning. I want the long tiring days that feel so fulfilling when you take a step back and think about them. I want to know what it's like to wake up and provide for someone other than myself." Piper knew she was rambling by this point but she just couldn't stop herself. "I want the feeling of something so precious growing inside of me. I want to feel what so many other women out there, including you, have gone through. This is what I want Polly and so help me God if you don't get your judgmental WASPy ass on board with me on this I am taking all future godmother duties away from you and I will find someone else."
For the first time since she explained what was going on, Polly gave the smallest of smiles and sighed, pulling up the nearest file. "So what kind of sperm-giver are we picking for my future godchild?"
"Oh my god! Thank you, thank you!" She was once again bouncing up and down with excitement. Her best friend was on board and she felt a huge weight lift off her shoulders at the idea of someone else besides her knowing about her plan.
Reaching over and placing her hands over her best-friends she looked towards her. "Seriously Pol, thank you. Really. You have no idea how much this means to me."
"Yeah well, you're my best friend idiot. No way you're going through this experience by yourself." She paused, looking over at Piper and seeing just how happy her friend was she couldn't help but chuckle to herself. "So are we going with the obvious blonde haired, blue-eyed baby daddy or what?"
At this Piper really had to roll her eyes and explain. "He's not the baby daddy Pol. He won't be involved and he won't know this baby exists. He's simply donating his sperm to the greater good of motherhood. Besides, I was actually hoping to find one with green eyes or brown...maybe darker hair? I don't know but something in me is pushing me to make sure this baby is not your typical Chapman. We have enough of those in this world. I want him or her to be their own person who is not defined by looks or family like I was, or still am actually. If nothing else, I want this baby to be different than the usual Chapman stereotype." She finished with a huff at the thought of her parents or lineage having any lasting negative effect on her child.
"Alright there mama bear calm down," laughed Polly. "Let's look over what we have and find you the perfect baby. Aside from physical looks of course." Piper looked away sheepishly and nodded her head not fully trusting herself from getting overly excited again.
That day in her living room with Polly now seemed so long ago and she couldn't help but smile at the idea of her best friend getting just as excited as she was at the prospect of having her own baby that she could love unconditionally. She was getting nervous waiting for the doctor to walk in but thankfully she didn't have to wait much longer before she walked in.
"Ah, Miss Chapman, today's the day isn't it. Are we ready?" Her doctor, Dr. Gomez, was a relatively young doctor, 26 (she had asked before she stop herself, blaming her foot-in-mouth disease, when she first met her afraid of her being too young to possibly be out of medical school yet), and definitely attractive with long brown hair that reached below the shoulders and light brown eyes that danced with happiness, no doubt from the love of her job, and a soft face that instantly helped Piper relax. She couldn't help but smile instantly and she hoped her face wasn't as flushed as she felt at the moment. Before she could contemplate a response however, her doctor continued.
"You know, I was a little surprised to see you on my list so soon but it looks like you've been following your vitamin routine to the letter and you were able to find a donor relatively quick so, really, it shouldn't surprise me too much." She chuckled at this and Piper couldn't help the slight blush that lit up her face instantly.
"Well you know me, why put this off any longer it's not like I'm getting any younger." She replied with a slight nervous giggle that definitely betrayed just how nervous she was about this whole ordeal. Her doctor of course took note of this.
"Where's your best-friend today?" she asked looking around the room thinking she had missed her when she walked in. "I thought you would have some company for this big day today." Polly had accompanied Piper on all her appointments and check-ups after she confessed her plans for a baby, insisting that this whole process, no matter how different, meant she needed someone in her corner at all times enjoying it with her and supporting her.
"She couldn't make it today, her Finny came down with the flu and she's on nursing duty until it clears up but hopefully the next time she comes with me will be in two to three weeks when we find out this worked and I'm pregnant!" she definitely couldn't help her smile and excitement at the prospect. Dr. Gomez gave her a slight chuckle before she explained how the next hour or so would proceed and how the donor sperm she had selected would be injected into a catheter which would then be inserted through her cervix and into her uterus. Hopefully, after all that, she would find out if she was expecting in as little as a couple of weeks.
Piper knew it did her no good to get her hopes up and yet she couldn't help herself. She was giddy with excitement at knowing that soon, maybe, she would be carrying her baby and starting the whole process of shopping for clothes and baby essentials and transforming her apartment into baby central. After months of vitamins and ovulation tests she was getting closer to her dream of becoming a mother and she couldn't for the life of her stop smiling. Not even when she felt the coldness of the tube enter her or even when she realized that she was definitely exposed in front of the very attractive doctor who kept talking to her as if nothing. Not even when she was sent out the door with pamphlets on how to take care of her body for the following weeks did she stop smiling. She was smiling so much and planning out the following nine months in her mind that she didn't notice the tall figure stepping out of the cab that she was trying to climb into until it was too late and she was slamming head first onto the other stranger, effectively knocking her into the present time.
"What the fuck." Piper could swear she had never heard a more soothing sound before even if the voice was filled with irritation and annoyance. She was in a trance and looking up into bright emerald eyes shielded behind thick librarian glasses did nothing to help her snap out of it. She must have looked strange seemingly glued to the sidewalk with a dazed look on her face because suddenly the voice was no longer speaking with annoyance but instead with mild concern and confusion at the fact that Piper was not moving or reacting.
"Umm…are you okay lady?" God that voice. Piper had died and gone to heaven she was sure of it. She snapped out of it long enough to look into eyes filled with concern for her state of being and she had to clear her throat before speaking.
"Oh! Yes…sorry. I wasn't paying attention. Sorry. Um…I should be asking you. Are you okay? Oh god. I didn't hit you too hard did I. Oh no. I'm so sorry. I…" Piper was effectively cut off from her rambling when she heard a low chuckle escape the other woman and if Piper thought she had heard sexy before, boy was she wrong. She didn't even care that it was at her expense that this woman was laughing, all she knew was that she didn't want the moment to end and she wanted to hear more.
"Relax kid. I'm fine, although I should probably be concerned for you. It almost looks like you got hit in the head and have a concussion from that far away look on your face." There was that chuckle again and oh god, no smirk had ever looked so sexy before.
"What? No...no I'm fine thank you. I just need to pay more attention is all." She was trying so hard not to stare at this point but a part of her knew she was failing miserably. As if that ever present smirk on the other woman's face wasn't hint enough of her blatant staring. She couldn't help herself. If she thought her doctor was attractive, this stranger was drop dead beautiful. She was definitely tall and had an athletic build to her, if her toned arms were of any indication, with tattoos visible from under the rolled up sleeves of the dark grey v-neck that showed off a cleavage that left little to the imagination.
Yeah, her doctor had nothing on this woman.
"Well...if you ask me it would be totally rude of myself to let someone as striking as yourself walk off alone when there's danger of a concussion." If the other woman's smirk was anything to go off of, Piper knew what was coming and she found herself not minding one bit. "So why don't you let me keep you company until we know you're in the clear. Maybe join me for a cup of coffee?"
Piper couldn't help the smile forming on her face even if she tried to fight it off. Never before had someone grabbed a hold of her attention so easily or made her feel as warm as she did when she looked into those emerald eyes. She barely even knew this woman, heck she didn't even know her name, yet Piper knew she wasn't someone she wanted to walk away from. So with that thought in mind she looked at the older woman's smug face and nodded her reply.
"I guess one cup of coffee couldn't hurt. We need to make sure there's no lasting effects after all." Piper had no idea where she was getting this sudden boldness from but she was rolling with it. "I need to make sure all my motor and conversational skills are still in tact after all. For medical reasons, of course."
"Of course. After you." That was it. Piper couldn't avoid this feeling even if she wanted to. She knew she was agreeing to spending time with a complete stranger and there were many warnings going off in her head as to why she shouldn't be allowing this woman into her life, but Piper Chapman was not one to live without a little adventure. This woman radiated nothing but confidence and adventure and she was determined to get to know her better.
Let me know what you think! - MJ