I already have a few chapters written so I'll go ahead and post Chapter Two. This one is quite a bit longer than and first. Just hope it's not too long. Enjoy!!
Chapter 2
Joanne was stunned, but couldn't help but crack a small grin.
"A baby? As in….like a 'baby' baby?"
Maureen bit her lip and gently shook her head 'yes'.
"Maureen, you realize this isn't like the time you wanted a hamster. I mean, you can't take a baby back to the pet store because you're tired to feeding it and cleaning up after it and stuff," Joanne said, cocking her eyebrow at her girlfriend, remembering the Harriet the Hamster fiasco from a year and a half ago.
Maureen sighed heavily and rolled her eyes.
"I know that, Dwiddle Brain. I'm being completely serious here. Joanne, I really want a baby. I want to be responsible for another person and take care of them and raise them and watch them grow, and I want to do it with you," Maureen said, taking Joanne's hands in her own.
Joanne just stared at Maureen as she poured her heart out. It was funny, but she actually believed her. Maureen had made an amazing transformation over the past year. She had grown and matured so much. Her Little Performance Artist had finally realized what it was like to make a commitment and what it meant to truly love someone. Now this is not to say that Maureen had turned into a yuppie stiff by any stretch of the imagination. She was still the same outspoken drama queen the Alphabet City had come to know and love, but she had gained a vast amount of maturity and wisdom in the last year.
The girls sat in silence for a moment. Maureen waited for a response from Joanne, while Joanne continued to ponder the magnitude of the bombshell that her girlfriend had just dropped on her.
"You're not saying anything….." Maureen lowered her voice, fearing Joanne's reaction to the new feelings she had just expressed. "Why aren't you saying anything? You're making me nervous. Please, Pookie, just say something. Oh God, you don't want a baby, do you? Oh shit, are you mad? Please don't be mad. Oh, for the love of hell, Pookie, just say something!!! You're stressin' me out!!!"
"No, no, no, baby, I'm sorry. I was just…..I'm just……..wow," Joanne said with a heavy sigh and a little laugh. "I just can't believe this. My Little Drama Queen is growing up." Joanne's lower lip puckered out. "You really want a baby? Like…..like really?"
"Really, really," Maureen grinned, "But not if you don't want to. I'll understand if you don't want to. I mean, I know we have never really talked about this and-"
"Sweetie, sweetie, sweetie," Joanne interrupted Maureen before she got too worked up, placing her index and middle finger on Maureen's lips, then moving her hand up to Maureen's cheek, "Sweetie, this is the best news you could have ever told me. A baby had always kind of been in the back of my mind, even when I was younger, but after we got together, I guess I just never thought it would ever happen. I never thought it would be something you would want to do, but yes, I would love to raise a baby with you!"
This was too much for Maureen to take. Her face crinkled, her bottom lip quivered, and her eyes became flooded with tears.
"Really?" she asked with a sniffle.
"Really, really." Joanne interlaced her fingers with Maureen's and kissed the back of her hand.
Tears streamed down both their faces. Maureen fell forward into Joanne's lap in a sob of joy and relief. Joanne leaned forward, kissing the top of Maureen's head and resting her chin on the tangled mess of brown locks that were piled there in a sloppy bun.
"Oh God, I'm so happy. And relieved," Maureen said as she lifted her head out of Joanne's lap and wiped her eyes gently to avoid smearing her mascara back to her ear. "I was so afraid that you'd think I was crazy or that you wouldn't think it was a good idea, but...yeah…..you really wanna do this?"
"Absolutely," Joanne replied, tucking a stray strand of hair behind Maureen's left ear. "Which brings me to my next point……just how would we go about doing this?" Joanne readjusted herself on the couch and covered Maureen's bare feet with the blanket. "We kinda have some options, ya know? Were you thinking about adop-"
"Weeeelll," Maureen interrupted, "I've been thinking about this too. Actually, I've always kinda thought about it and yes, you're probably going to think I'm crazy, but I wanna have a baby. I mean, I actually want to be pregnant and give birth and go through the whole thing."
Joanne looked at her girlfriend with a surprised smile.
"Really? I never would have-"
"Yes, I know, I know. You never would have imagined me as the 'maternal/pregnant/mother' type."
"Well, in all honesty, no, I never really have. How long have you felt this way?" Joanne asked, curious about this whole new part of her partner.
"Since I was little, I guess. I mean, I hide it well, but I've always kind of thought about it. It's just that…..well……I always thought I'd be a real shitty mom. Before I met you I was a broke, self-absorbed, flirtatious, performance artist living in a squat with Mark, Roger, Collins, and Benny. Not really a great place to raise a baby, ya know. But ever since I was a kid I've wanted babies. I've wanted to know what it would be like to be pregnant. To have this whole tiny little person living inside of me and to feel said little person moving and watch my belly grow. It's just always been a fantasy I've kept hidden away because, A) it totally goes against my persona, and B) I just never thought it could ever happen. I never thought I'd be at a place in my life where I could really think about it, but now that I'm with you and I'm settling down and……it…it just feels right"
Joanne sat, almost flabbergasted at this whole new side of Maureen that she never had any idea existed.
"So, you mean, you'd wanna get a donor and do the whole 'turkey baster' thing?"
"Yeah, well, kinda….." Maureen answered sheepishly, looking down at the floor.
"Kinda?" Joanne asked, very concerned with the response she had gotten. "Oh, please don't tell me you wanna try this the old fashion way with some guy because that ain't-"
"No, no, no!!! No, baby, I didn't mean it like that." The tension immediately released from Joanne's face, but Maureen could tell she was still extremely curious and that she had better explain, and fast! "I mean, yes, I'd be having artificial insemination, but it wouldn't be as simple as a turkey baster and some sperm cuz there is actually another part of my little baby fantasy." Maureen took a deep breath and cleared her throat.
"Ya see, it has always been my dream to have my lover's baby." She looked up, straight into Joanne's eyes.
Joanne, confused tried to figure out what Maureen was hinting at.
"But Sweetie, that's not-"
"Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, don't say it's not possibly, cuz I'd hate to have to prove you wrong. It actually is possible. Ya see, instead of just inseminating me with Joe Whats-his-face's sperm…I….uh……well……if it would be ok with you…….I'd like to use your eggs so that instead of this baby just being biologically mine, it could be both of ours."
For the first time that Joanne could remember, Maureen had left her completely and utterly speechless.
The intense eye contact had gotten to Maureen and she dropped her gaze back to the blanket on her lap. It wasn't until she realized that Joanne was still staring straight into her face that she finally looked back up and saw the tears pouring from Joanne's eyes.
When their eyes met, Joanne, unable to come up with words to express how she was feeling, did the only thing she could do; she leaned forward, placed her hands on Maureen's cheeks, and kissed her more passionately than she ever had before. Maureen, not being one to turn down a passionate kiss, reciprocated the ardent lip lock.
After a few moments, Joanne pulled away, still keeping her tear soaked eyes fixated on Maureen's. Not knowing what to say, Maureen simply grinned back.
"Yu-you'd really want to do that? You'd really want to have my baby?" Joanne could only just keep her composure.
"Of course, I mean, not only would you make an amazing mamma, but just look at how beautiful our baby would be." Maureen took Joanne's face into her hands, studying the amazingly beautiful physical features that their future child was sure to inherit. Joanne reached up, gently grabbing Maureen's wrists.
"God, Jo, I love you so much!" Maureen touched her forehead to Joanne's.
"I love you too!" Joanne grinned and Maureen leaned in for one more sweet little kiss.
Joanne giggled slightly and carefully wiped the tears from under her eyes.
"Oh jeez," Joanne said wearily, with a giggle still caught in her throat, noticing that Letterman was over, "Dave's over and I am spent!! Let's continue this conversation after we have gotten some rest and maybe I can stop crying, okay."
Maureen grinned back at Joanne and got to her feet, pulling the lawyer up as well.
"So, you're 'spent', huh? I guess that means you don't want to," Maureen gave two quick eyebrow lifts, "ya know….?"
"Emotionally. I'm EMOTIONALLY spent," Joanne emphasized, pulling Maureen close and running her hand down the small of her back, making her way to Maureen's cute little behind. "I didn't say anything about-" She interrupted her own sentence by leaning in and planting yet another kiss on Maureen's full lips and squeezing her ass.
"Oh, well, ga-roovy, cuz I had a little 'sumin sumin' in mind." Maureen led Joanne to their bedroom, loosening her tie as they walked. Joanne's hands had found their way to Maureen studded belt and began fiddling with the buckle.
"Ya know, this could get a lot harder to do when we have a baby around. Especially in this tiny apartment," Joanne said, pulling Maureen's belt roughly back through the belt loops and pushing her back onto the bed, then lowering herself down gently on top of her and covering her with small, sweet kisses on her neck and arms.
"Details, schmetails. We'll deal with that later." Maureen began working on the buttons of Jo's shirt. "For the time being, it's just you and me, baby."
TBC...
