OCEANSIDE WELLNESS
11:45AM

It was a fairly normal Tuesday morning for Dr. Charlotte King. She had a few patients at the practice and had done her rounds at the hospital. She was standing at the counter, checking her messages. She was planning on getting lunch with Cooper. He had been down the last few days—ever since they got the results back of the fertility tests they had gotten done. It had been six months since they started trying, and nothing was happening. Of course, Charlotte feared it was her. She had been so ambivalent about the idea, so she figured she was the reason they couldn't get pregnant. Turns out, she was as fertile as they come. Cooper, on the other hand, well, the doctor told him he had a very low sperm count, and the likelihood of him getting Charlotte pregnant was less than ten percent. He had walked with his head down, barely said a word to her or anyone else, and had been keeping himself busy with charts and American Bake-off.

Charlotte was worried about him. She missed him. She told him that they were having lunch this afternoon, and he couldn't refuse or back out of it. She wanted to see him, talk to him again. She and he both knew there were other ways to make a family, hell, he was adopted, but that didn't make a difference to his mood. His ego was bruised and he was feeling guilty. Charlotte had finally made it clear what she wanted. She wanted a baby—his baby—but he couldn't give it to her.

Charlotte let out a breath and turned around when the elevator dinged. She smiled as Cooper came closer to her. She was leaning against the counter now. "You seem like you're in a better mood."

Cooper smiled and kissed her softly on the lips. "My old friend from high school, Michael, is coming into town with his daughter, Zoe." He paused, looking at her with an apologetic smile.

"You're breaking our lunch date, aren't ya?"

He kissed her quickly on the lips. "Yes."

She sighed, holding onto his arm, brushing her thumb against his shirt.

"He just called and said their plane had landed. I'm meeting them at the promenade." He paused, his eyes widening. "Hey, why don't you come with me? I'd love to show you off to him. He'd never believe I bagged such a beautiful wife." He kissed her.

"Tryin' to make me feel better for blowin' me off and bein' so distant lately?"

"Maybe. But it's true."

She let out a breath and looked up at him. "Ok, fine. Long as I get to have lunch with my husband I don't care who's taggin' along. I miss you."

"I'm sorry. I've been—it's just been a long week."

She nodded and rubbed his arm. "It's ok, Coop. We can make a family some other way. It doesn't make much difference to me."

He sighed. "I know we can. There's adoption and sperm donors and all that, but—."

"I know, Coop." She touched his lips with her finger. "I still love you. You may have only a few swimmers, but that doesn't make the sex any less amazin'." She smirked. "We'll have a family. I promise. I know you feel guilty, but you shouldn't. Sure I wanted to have your baby, but hey, I will have your baby, it just won't be part of you or part of us both. There are other ways to make a family. We ain't done yet, baby." She smiled and pressed her lips against his. She broke the kiss and brushed her thumb across his cheek. "Can you stop bein' all moody moose now?"

He laughed. "I love you."

"Now, let's go eat lunch. I'm starvin'."

"I can tell."

She slapped him. "I had a strawberry for breakfast this mornin'. Leave me alone."

They stepped towards the elevator and Cooper reached over to press the button. "I think you'll like Mike. He'll definitely like you."

"Where's Zoe's momma? You said he was here with his daughter, but what about—."

"She died giving birth to Zoe. She had a postpartum hemorrhage and she had a reaction to the anesthesia. That's what Mike told me when I went there four years ago. Zoe was only a baby at the time, but she was the sweetest thing. I can't wait to see her. She looked a lot like her mother. She was named after her."

Charlotte nodded and slipped into the elevator doors. "I can't wait to mee—she looked down at her phone when it beeped. She scrolled through it and looked at Cooper, sighing. "Sorry, Coop. Emergency at the hospital."

"Well, I guess—." His pager went off and he glanced down at it. "It must be bad. I got paged too."

"At least we'll be together for lunch." She laughed and walked off the elevator when it reached the lobby.

"I'll call Mike and tell him. I'll meet you at the hospital."

She kissed him on the lips and slapped his ass. "See ya there." She laughed and walked out of the building, heading towards her car.

Cooper dialed his buddy's cell number and listened to the rings. It went right to voicemail. "Hey, Mike, hope you get this message soon. I got called into work for something, so let's meet up tonight for drinks. Tell Zo, hi for me. Sorry, man. Drinks at nine. I'll buy. Call me back if that doesn't work for you. We'll think of something else. Bye." He hung up the phone and walked out into the parking lot, searching for his car.

A/N: thanks so much to Col3725 for editing this for me and adding in some of the details. This is my first Private Practice story, but certainly not my first FanFic. Follow me on twitter: gleeroxmysocks. Definitely more drama to come! Please review.