Once the dinner bill arrived and Greg had thrown a credit card on the little tray, he tried to bring some levity to their table as he sensed Kate getting quiet and tense again. He could tell that the lateness of the day and the task that was before her was starting to weigh heavily on her mind. "I can't believe I'm buying dinner for the woman who is about to try to have my child but is doing the conception while I'm in another hotel room," he teased.
When her giggles subsided, she thanked him again and suggested she should be buying him dinner instead. "No, you should save your money for all those nappies you hopefully will need," he said with a wink.
Kate had forgotten how fun it was to hang out with Greg. He always seemed to know when she needed a laugh. They had giggled their way through the shops, finding everything on their list and more. When they returned to the hotel, Greg took a nap in his room while Kate did some research on her tablet in her room.
She used her new thermometer and ovulation kit before dinner and confirmed she was indeed ovulating. Over an after dinner cognac in the bar, she finally broached the timetable for the rest of the night. It was agreed that Greg would express his "contribution" into the cup they bought, then put it inside his shirt to try to keep it warm while rushing it to her room before returning to his own.
She understood that after she used the baster she needed to lie in bed with her bottom propped up on pillows to help improve her chances of conceiving. He offered to come back and watch a movie with her to pass the time but she declined saying she was really very tired as she hadn't slept much the night before. In truth, although she loved him like a brother, she didn't want him to see her in bed, let alone be in bed with him.
They paused at the top of the stairs before going their separate ways. As a parting shot, Greg said, "Thanks for choosing me. I should have said that earlier. See you in about a half hour."
"I can't imagine it being anyone else. I'll see you whenever you're ready."
She entered her room and saw everything laid out waiting. The pillows were already in place on the bed. She had a towel, Isaac the Inseminator, her cell phone, some water, the tv remote and the remaining chocolate all within reach so there would be no need for her to move any more than she had to while she needed to remain still to help Greg's swimmers reach their destination.
She turned on some music, turned down the lights and put on the red silk with black lace teddy she brought to wear for Caroline. She then covered herself with the hotel robe so Greg didn't get an inadvertent glimpse of anything he shouldn't. She did everything she could think of to set the mood to relax herself and make the process feel less clinical. She was afraid that if she worried too much about the end result she'd never be able to bring herself to a climax.
When Greg finally knocked on her door, she just about jumped out of her skin. She rushed to it but only opened it far enough to take the cup and receive a kiss for luck on her cheek. She didn't want him to see everything she had prepared because she already felt funny that he knew what she was about to do and didn't want him picturing her any more than he might already be.
Kate's hand trembled as she filled Isaac and began. She felt in a hurry to insert it before the semen had a chance to cool off too much. After she finished with the baster, she set it back on the towel and let her right hand drift back to her well-manicured triangle to begin stroking herself. She caressed her breasts with her left. She knew what she had to do but was initially too tense to fully relax into it.
Then a song that made her think of Caroline came on and she remembered Caroline's reaction the last time she wore her form-hugging red teddy. Their night began with a dance in their bedroom to that song before they made their way to the bed where they got lost in each other's arms for hours. As usual, just thinking about Caroline was enough to send her blood rushing south. As the happy memories of Caroline flooded her brain she forgot about the funny position she was in on the pillows and managed to climax without thinking further about how her future as a mum could be riding on that moment. It wasn't as long or as intense as any she experienced with Caroline but she thought it was enough to help her situation.
She fell asleep without much effort and when she woke, as the morning sun was pushing its way through the perimeter of the windows where the blinds didn't meet the wood, she found she was still propped up on the pillows as though she hadn't moved at all in her sleep.
She and Greg grabbed a quick breakfast before setting off. Greg carried her bag to her car were they agreed Kate would let him know if they needed to coordinate another night the following month.
A couple of weeks later, to Kate's amazement, she discovered she was pregnant. She couldn't believe her luck. Given her age she feared it could take quite a few attempts. She was instantly elated and then instantly saddened that she couldn't share her news with Caroline. She started panicking about when she would have to tell her in order to arrange her maternity leave. She decided there and then to wait until she was into her twelfth week as none of her other pregnancies advanced to that point.
Days after telling Caroline that she was pregnant, as Kate was walking down the main staircase with another teacher on the way to a special assembly, a couple of kids from her 9F class ran by them. The biggest one accidently brushed against her on the landing where the staircase bends at the glorious stained glass windows. He knocked her down the bottom flight. When she landed, she was sprawled on the hard floor, not moving. Everyone in the vicinity rushed to her aid but she remained unresponsive. An ambulance was called and she was whisked away to the closest A&E before Caroline even knew what happened; she was at a late lunch meeting with Gavin and had accidentally left her mobile in the Jeep.
By the time Caroline left lunch and headed back to her car, she had six missed calls and eight texts. After her call with Beverley ended she realized the hospital had also called. Apparently when Kate was taken to ER after their peanut-laced kiss months earlier, she listed Caroline as her emergency contact and hadn't changed it after their relationship ended.
Caroline raced to the hospital and was relieved to find that in the brief time between her return call to the nurse and locating Kate in hospital, she regained consciousness and was answering the doctor's questions.
Kate didn't know whether to cry or sigh with relief when she saw the harried but beautiful blond bolt into her room in a complete panic. Her head throbbed and every bone in her body hurt from her fall. She had a concussion but miraculously had no broken bones. The staff's initial focus was on reviving Kate and making sure there was no swelling in her brain. Kate's main focus instead was the well being of the baby. They had a fetal monitor on her and the heartbeat was strong but they were planning to do a thorough sonogram as soon as they had Kate stabilized.
Kate thought Caroline was there as a caring head and was unaware someone on the hospital staff had called her. She thanked her for coming but told her there was no need to hang around as she was being admitted for the night and would be out for various tests for the better part of the afternoon.
Although things were still strained between them, Caroline offered to help her in anyway she needed but didn't want to make Kate uncomfortable by staying. After Kate promised to call her later with an update, she took her leave. Back at the office, she found she couldn't think about anything but how frail and battered Kate looked lying in that hospital bed and her overwhelming need to be there with her. As soon as the final bell rang Caroline exited Sulgrave in an effort to clear her head.
By dinnertime Kate was settled into an observation room at the end of the A&E wing. She felt nauseous from her concussion and was feeling more than a little sorry for herself. It struck her that she was in for a long night alone with nothing but nurses to interrupt her every time she drifted off to sleep.
As the nurse was clearing her untouched dinner tray, she commented on how quickly her friend arrived after returning their call.
"What do you mean when you called her?" Kate tried to sit up a bit in an effort to better understand what the nurse was saying but she was too sore and quickly settled back down into her original position. "You weren't conscious so we called the emergency contact we had for you. I don't think I've ever seen anyone come so quickly before. She must really be a close friend."
As if on cue, Caroline knocked quietly on Kate's door even though it was ajar. She had a large cone of Kate's favorite flowers in her hands that entered the room before the rest of her. Upon seeing the flowers, the nurse excused herself saying she would go find a water pitcher or something for them. The size of the bouquet confirmed what she thought she saw in Kate's eyes when she mentioned Caroline and she decided they needed their privacy.
Caroline gasped when she saw the large black and blue stain on Kate's beautiful face. It hadn't looked that bad earlier and now there were deep circles under her tired, watery eyes. She looked so small and frail that Caroline couldn't hold back her tears.
"I know you said you'd call but I was too worried about you to just wait by the phone. I can go and leave you to sleep but I just needed to see you and know everything is alright with you and the baby."
