A/N: As promised, the sequel to Charades. If you haven't read that you may find Constance a bit OOC but there are things that happened in the first story that explain why, I'll also be alluding to them through this one.
"Do you have questions Ms Drill?"
Imogen took a deep breath before looking across the room to the doctor who was regarding her with a kind expression on his face. "No, I think you've answered them all for now. Sweetie, do you have anything to ask?"
From the seat next to her wife Constance nodded, "Just one, you said unlikely didn't you? Not impossible."
"I did. When it comes down to it we know very little about the human body, it continuously surprises us. You still have many options available to you so don't give up hope. Think about what we have talked about and please contact me if you have any additional questions."
"Thank you, we will"
The couple exited their doctor's office and made their way to the car park. As they walked Constance could see the clouds of anger and disappointment raging inside her wife, she reached for her hand, looking to offer support . "It will be okay, I promise you."
"Will it?" Imogen was aware she sounded snappy but her emotions were all over the place and she didn't know how to deal with them right now.
It had been two years since she and Constance had wed, well since the day before Constance's fortieth birthday which was when they considered themselves officially married from. During that time they continued to build on their relationship, they socialised, travelled and had renovated Constance's childhood home where they had since spent many a wonderful weekend and school holiday period.
In addition they enjoyed a very happy romantic life which made Constance wonder how she had ever managed without this incredible woman. The horrific way her life had been impacted by Hecketty Broomhead and the subsequent trial of the evil witch seemed like a lifetime ago. Broomhead was in prison, a barely functioning woman who had been stripped forever of her powers. In addition the archaic marriage laws for witches had been abolished and Constance and Imogen had fallen more in love each day. How they had come together had been almost like fitting together pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, one that almost seemed complete. Almost.
For the past fifteen months they had been trying for a baby. Witches had the ability to have a child with another woman and despite Imogen's lack of magical powers they had been assured it was possible. Month after month they had waited to see if they had conceived and each time they had been disappointed. It had taken a couple of months to face up to things but eventually they had decided to investigate what was causing the one dark spot in their happiness.
Having been tested Constance knew she was capable of producing a child. And although she was older than Imogen, witches bodies aged at a slower rate so she was still in the right age bracket.
For Imogen things were not quite so straight forward. As had just been confirmed by the magical doctor they had visited, she did in fact have fertility problems. Apparently there were numerous issues including not ovulating which seemed to be the key to their problem. Although magic could do a number of things, both women had to be capable of producing an egg in order for conception to take place.
It was a quiet train journey back with both women contemplating the situation. Constance could see how much Imogen was hurting, she felt the same way. They had been told that something that they both so badly wanted was unlikely to happen and it was a blow. But there was still hope, something she desperately wanted her wife to realise.
As soon as they were back at the castle Imogen had started to change into her exercise gear, desperate to let the familiar routine help her in processing her feelings.
"I know you want to talk and so do I, I promise.", She ran her hands through her short hair and sighed. "But I need a bit of space to clear my head so I'm going to go for a run okay?"
"Of course love, I'll make dinner and open a bottle of wine for later."
"Sounds good."
Constance made her way downstairs to the basement kitchen and started preparing the salad for their meal. It was as she was putting some chicken in the oven that Amelia entered the room.
"Ah, here you are. I saw Imogen go out earlier. How did it go?" She could already tell from Constance's body language that it wasn't good news.
"It wasn't what we wanted to hear. Based on what the tests show even with medical and magical help the chances are very slim, almost impossible although the doctor was reluctant to be so negative"
Amelia moved over to the sink where Constance was drying her hands. "I'm sorry my dear, I know you wanted to hear something else but all is not lost. There are many options, you can still have a child. There's donation for example, surely that's worth thinking about now?"
Constance sighed as she sank onto one of the kitchen stools. "I know and I'm not dismissing it Amelia. I want to carry a child so much but every time I've imagined it or we've talked about it, it's been Imogen's baby I've seen myself pregnant with."
"It would still be Imogen's child, you know that."
"I do but I need a bit of time to accept that my dream, our dream is not going to happen the way we wanted it to. Right now donation is still not the most appealing to me but I suppose it's something we need to think and talk about. I just don't want to pressure her, not now when things are still so raw."
There was another reason that donation was not top of her list when it came to the available choices. And even though she trusted Amelia implicitly, Imogen was the only person that she was really willing to share those thoughts with.
Amelia leaned over to give her dejected looking friend a hug. Over the last few years she had seen both women blossom from being together and she hated the the thought that yet again something had come along to affect the happiness they deserved. It broke her heart that they were being deprived of something they wanted so much. Both would be incredible parents and any child who may come into their lives would be loved unconditionally.
"It will work out, you'll see."
Constance responded with a wry smile, "That's what I've been telling Imogen, I just hope that we're both right."
By the time dinner was ready Imogen was home and out of the shower. Normally after a run she was starving but today she had no real appetite.
"It's very nice but I guess I'm just not that hungry."
Constance was feeling the same way, she had picked at the food but couldn't quite bring herself to eat it. "That's fine, we can have what's left for lunch tomorrow. How about we take the bottle of wine upstairs and have that talk. If you're up to it that is?"
Imogen truly wanted to talk. Even after her run there were so many thoughts going through her head and she knew that she needed to let them out. Talking would help and there was nobody else in the world she could open up to more than the woman she loved.
After they had settled down with their wine there was a couple of moments silence before Imogen spoke. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry? What on earth do you have to be sorry about?"
"I'm sorry that I've caused this. All those months of disappointment were all down to me."
"No, no love." Constance put down her glass and brought a weeping Imogen into her arms.
"Yes, this is my fault. I look after myself, I'm fit, I eat well I do everything I can to be healthy and for what? My body doesn't do one of the biggest things it's designed to do and there's nothing I can do about it. And it's not just that it's failing me, what kills me is that it's failing you too. I can't give you, give us what we want. You deserve so much more, you could have had so much more and I've let you down."
"You have not let me down, not now, not ever. And I have more than I could ever have imagined because of you. Never, ever think that anything will change that. Everything that happened led me to you and I would go through it all again to have you, to be your wife. Yes, we're both disappointed but the good thing is we know now. We can take some time and decide what we want to do but Imogen, this is not your fault, do you hear me?"
Imogen tried to nod, though it was difficult as the embrace she was being held in was so tight. She knew what Constance was saying was true, they had each other, they loved each other and they would get through this like they had gotten through other difficult times, together. She was also relieved that her wife had suggested taking a bit of time to decide what was next. Yes, she had always said that there were options there but quite frankly they were a bit overwhelming and she didn't want to rush into anything.
"I love you so much, you know that. You are my family, you are my entire reason for being and I'd do anything to make you happy."
Constance smiled at the murmured words and through the kisses she was dropping on Imogen's face, did her best to convey that she felt the same. Neither woman had any blood family to speak of. Her own parents had passed away and Imogen's parents had such issues with the fact that their daughter did not conform to their heterosexual expectations that they had disowned her. Constance had never even met them and based on their actions she didn't want to. Bigots and homophobic people had no place in their world.
What Imogen said was true, they were each others family but that family had expanded to include other people. There was Amelia of course and she and Davina had become close allies to them both. In addition there was Imogen's old friend Anna, her husband John and their children Carrie and Jake who absolutely adored their "Aunties" and spent as much time as possible with them.
"You do make me so happy love, every single day. Let's see how we feel over the next few weeks, we'll keep talking of course but we won't rush into anything. We both want to expand our family and I still believe that will happen for us. We just need to not worry and trust that we'll make the right choices together. We seem to have a pretty good track record of that so far don't we?"
"We do sweetie."
It was going to take more time and talking of course but Imogen was already feeling reassured by the indisputable love she was receiving. Constance was right, they needed to take their time but maybe things weren't hopeless after all? Despite many challenges, things seem to have a way of working out for them so long as they stuck together.
Maybe this time would be the same?
A/N 2 Hope you enjoyed the first chapter, this is 14 chapters in total so I'm planning to post twice a week. Most of the story is written but I'm still very open to suggestions and ideas. Thanks for reading