A/N: Just a brief warning for this chapter, there is somewhat significant (though not very graphic) talk of medical procedures in this chapter, so if that bothers you I would recommend skipping this chapter.

"Mrs. Morris?"

Jennie looked up to see a nurse looking at her expectantly, a patient smile on her face. She stood and hurried over to where the woman was standing.

"You may go in now. Doctor Williams is expecting you."

Jennie nodded her thanks and walked into the small but well-furnished office, her heart hammering in her chest. She recalled her conversation with Katherine a few days earlier.

"I've made an appointment for you on Thursday morning, to see Doctor Williams at his clinic. He's an old family friend, and he's been experimenting with some new procedures to help women get pregnant."

Jennie blanched slightly at the word 'experiment'. "Katherine, this is very kind of you, but I don't know. I haven't even talked to Charlie about all this yet."

"Just go to the appointment. If you don't like what he tells you, then we'll say no more about it. But you should at least hear what he has to say." Katherine smiled encouragingly at Jennie and pressed a folded piece of paper into her hand.

Jennie looked down at the paper and saw that it was an address of a doctor's office uptown. She sighed and nodded as she tucked the paper inside her pocket. "Alright. I'll go."

Doctor Williams was a middle-aged man, with graying hair and a pair of polished spectacles perched on his nose. He looked up from the papers he had been studying and gave Jennie a friendly smile. "Ah, you must be Mrs. Morris. Katherine Kelly's friend."

Jennie nodded, trying to smile back. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Doctor Williams." She took the hand he had extended to her and gave it a quick shake.

"Likewise," Doctor Williams sat down and gestured to the chair on the other side of the desk. "Please, sit down."

Jennie slowly sat down, fidgeting slightly in the hard wooden chair. "Thank you for seeing me."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all," the doctor reassured her. "I've known Katherine since she was a little girl, and I've been friends with her father for years. Helping a friend of hers is the least I can do." He rummaged through the papers organized in neat piles on his desk, finally pulling one out and opening it. "Now, shall we get down to business?"

"Um, yes. Yes, I suppose so," Jennie said softly. "I assume Katherine told you why I'm here?"

"She did yes," Doctor Williams confirmed. "I believe you and your husband are trying to have a baby?"

Jennie nodded. "Yes. We've been married for just over two years and… nothing, so far."

"Hmm." Doctor Williams flipped through the folder and made a few notes. "That is concerning, yes. Have you consulted anyone else about this?"

"Not another doctor, but a midwife. She gave me a few remedies to try, but none of them worked. That was a few months ago."

"I see." Doctor Williams nodded. "Well, I'll see what I can do to help you. The first thing I would like to do is perform a physical examination to try and rule some things out. Is that agreeable to you?"

"Now?" Jennie choked out. She hadn't expected to have to undress in front of a man she didn't know.

Doctor Williams must have sensed Jennie's alarm because he smiled at her reassuringly. "The nurse will be present the entire time, and if you're ever uncomfortable just tell me and I'll stop."

Jennie swallowed hard. "I- I suppose that's alright, then. Yes."

-Break-

The examination was brief, and Jennie was relieved to see that Doctor Williams was perfectly honorable the entire time. She supposed she should have trusted him immediately since she trusted Katherine and knew she would never do anything to intentionally harm her, but this was unlike anything she had ever done before.

"I'm pleased to report that you look to be perfectly healthy, Mrs. Morris," Doctor Williams announced when it was all over. "And you have a healthy and varied diet?"

"Yes," Jennie said as she buttoned up her skirt and pulled her gloves back on.

"Well, there's nothing wrong so far as I can tell," Doctor Williams said. "But of course that doesn't exactly solve your problem."

"Katherine mentioned that you were trying some new procedures?"

"Yes, I am." Doctor Williams nodded. "But as those are very new and largely untested, I can't, of course, recommend them to you."

"What exactly are they?" Jennie asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"One, mainly. Impregnating a woman with a sample of her husband's sperm using a syringe."

Jennie's eyes widened. "That sounds… invasive."

"It's really quite simple, and painless," Doctor Williams assured her. "But again, I can't recommend them to you outright. And I must tell you that it may not work."

"But there's a chance?"

"Yes. I've done it before, and had several successes I'm proud to say." Doctor Williams smiled. "Perhaps you would like to take a week or so to think about it? Talk it over with your husband?"

"Well… yes, I think that would be best," Jennie said. "Thank you, Doctor."

"Of course, ma'am."

A/N: The first recorded experiment with artificial insemination took place in the late 1700s and was performed by a Scottish surgeon named John Hunter. This experiment was successful. After that, other doctors also attempted to perform experiments with artificial insemination, with varying levels of success. In 1884 an American doctor named William Pancoast impregnated a woman with donated sperm, which was also successful. Doctor Williams himself is completely fictional, as I have no idea which (if any) doctors in New York were willing to perform this procedure in the early 1900s.