A/N: Another Saturday, another update! Thanks for continuing on this Minx adventure/journey with me! I really appreciate it. This is a little bit of a shorter chapter than usual. Work was kicking my ass this week so writing time was limited by time and exhaustion when I got home. It's a long holiday weekend here so hopefully that will help recharge my batteries. This chapter picks up a week later from the previous one. Hope you enjoy this update!
/
Bianca checked the time. Their flight for New York was scheduled to leave shortly so they needed to leave for the airport soon. Susan had arrived a few minutes ago and was going over a few details with Marissa. Bianca knew her fiancée was a little nervous about their visit to the fertility clinic today. She couldn't really blame her and felt it was only normal. Truth be told, Bianca was a little nervous herself. She wanted this, for them to have a child together. More than anything though, she wanted this for Marissa because she knew how much this meant to her fiancée and how much she wanted it.
Marissa glanced up catching Bianca's gaze. The redhead flashed her fiancée a smile before turning to their children.
"Okay, monsters. Your Mom and I will be back later today."
"Will you be back for story time, Mommy?"
"Yes, we will, Monkey. As I seem to recall, it's your turn to pick tonight's story so make it a good one, okay?"
"'K, Mommy! Are we still going to the zoo tomorrow?"
Marissa grinned at Gabby's obvious excitement for visiting her favorite place. "Of course we are. So, you all know the drill. Be good and listen to Susan."
Three small heads bobbed up and down.
"And don't forget to feed Max and make sure you take him outside." Bianca added.
"We will." Miranda assured her mothers.
"Okay then. It's time for us to go. Do you have everything you need, Rissa?"
"Yes, I do."
Hugs and kisses were exchanged before the couple headed out.
/
"Rissa, relax. It's going to be fine." Bianca gave her fiancée a reassuring smile and squeeze of her hand. The couple was in the waiting room of the Franklin Clinic. They had arrived early for their appointment with Dr. Roeth. Neither woman liked to be late in general, but for a meeting as important as this, it was even more vital for them to be on time.
Marissa exhaled slowly. "You're right. It will be. I'm just anxious."
"It's okay. You're allowed to be. I am too, but it's going to be fine. We'll get through this together."
A smile formed on Marissa's face. "Yes, we will, just like we do with everything else. Thank you."
"For what?"
"For being you and knowing exactly what to say and do to make me feel better."
Bianca chuckled. "You're welcome, but it's nothing that you don't do for me."
A nurse entered the waiting area and called their names. "Marissa Tasker and Bianca Montgomery."
The couple glanced at each other briefly before standing. With hands joined, they followed the nurse down the hallway towards the doctor's office.
/
Dr. Roeth smiled and stood up from behind her desk to greet the couple. "Ms. Montgomery, it's nice to see you again. And you must be Ms. Tasker. It's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too, Dr. Roeth. Thank you for seeing us."
"Dr. Roeth, good to see you."
"Please have a seat. So, Ms. Tasker, tell me about yourself. How long have you and Ms. Montgomery have been together?"
Marissa couldn't stop the grin on her face. "Bianca and I have been together officially a little over 16 months."
"Officially?"
The couple shared a glance that could be best described as somewhere between amused and embarrassed. "Well, Bianca and I were friends for a long time before we finally realized things had changed between us. It took us a while to acknowledge that there was more to our relationship than just friendship. Now, I honestly can't recall a time when I wasn't in love with Bianca, and I couldn't even begin to tell you what took me so long to realize it."
"That makes two of us."
Dr. Roeth smiled as she observed the loving gaze shared by the women. That was when she noticed something different from the last time the brunette was in her office. "That's new."
Bianca followed the doctor's eyes to her hand and smile brightly. "Marissa and I are engaged. We proposed to each other when I got home from my trip here."
"That is wonderful news. Congratulations!"
"Thank you!" The couple happily replied in unison.
"Now, Ms. Tasker, Ms. Montgomery tells me that between the two of you there are three children."
"Yes, Bianca gave birth to Miranda and Gabby. I adopted AJ. His biological mother was my sister. I couldn't love any of them more if I had given birth to them. I know Bianca feels the same way about AJ."
"So, you've never given birth or been pregnant."
"That's correct. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to experiencing all of it."
"It is a wonderful experience. You're a lawyer?"
"Yes, I specialize in family law. I love what I do. It can be challenging, but it also makes appreciate what I have, what Bianca and I have built together, so much."
It was easy for the doctor to see the sincerity behind those words. "I reviewed the medical records Ms. Montgomery brought the last time she was here. Did you bring the more detailed records?"
Marissa nodded as she handed over the file. "Yes, I did."
"Have there been any changes to your health recently?"
"No, there haven't been any changes."
Dr. Roeth reviewed the file while the couple waited anxiously. "It says here you were injured in an automobile accident last fall."
Bianca tensed at the memory of almost losing Marissa. It was still a painful memory for her and always would be.
The redhead squeezed her fiancée's hand. They had decided earlier to be honest with the doctor about everything. "It wasn't really an accident. A client's estranged husband wasn't happy with the fact that she left him and took their son with her. He couldn't locate her because we were able to place them in one of the Miranda Center's safe houses."
Dr. Roeth nodded in understanding. "It was an abusive relationship."
"Yes, it was. After the last incident, she summoned enough courage to leave and file for divorce. Since he couldn't find her, he decided to take his anger out on a target he could find which happened to be me. He plowed into my car which resulted in the injuries listed there. Will they impact my chances of getting pregnant and carrying to term?"
"I don't believe so. According to your doctors, everything has healed nicely. So, I don't foresee any problems. How is your knee? Any pain?"
"There's no pain. At my last checkup a few weeks ago, it was at about 95% so the doctor lifted that last of the restrictions I had."
"That's good to hear. I'd like to do an exam now if that's alright with you. I know your gynecologist did one not too long ago, but I'd like to exam you myself."
"I'm fine with that."
/
The couple was directed to an examination room where Marissa changed into a hospital gown. Dr. Roeth and a nurse joined them a few minutes later. Bianca stood near Marissa's head while the doctor performed the exam. When it was finished and Marissa had dressed, they joined the doctor back in her office.
"Well, Ms. Tasker, everything looked great. I don't see any reason why we can't help you make a baby."
The relief was evident on both women's faces as matching smiles broke across them. The doctor went over the various procedures and outlined the one she recommended and why. Having done some research of their own and using Bianca's past experience as a guideline, the couple agreed with her approach. Dr. Roeth noted that because twins ran in Marissa's family, she recommended not using fertility drugs at this time. She didn't want to increase the chance of multiple births even more. The couple agreed with this as well.
"So what's next?" Marissa asked.
"Let's set up an appointment for the procedure. Using your cycle as our guide, how does two weeks sound?"
Marissa glanced at Bianca who smiled and nodded.
"That works for us."
"I have an opening at 10:00. Is that too early?"
Bianca shook her head. "No, we'll come up the evening before so that won't be a problem."
"I would suggest you stay overnight in the city. The change in pressure from flying affects some patients. No strenuous activity immediately after the procedure and limited activity for at least a day."
"I'll rent us a car and driver for the day if we go anywhere. My sister and her husband will watch the kids, and we'll stay over both nights. I'll make sure she is properly pampered, doctor." Bianca smiled brightly.
Marissa grinned. If Bianca was like this now, the redhead could only imagine what she would be like when she was pregnant. "I leave myself completely in your more than capable hands." She turned back to the doctor. "What about the donor?"
Dr. Roeth nodded and handed them a packet. "You have some homework. The cd contains a list of donors along with their physical traits, personality, medical history, psychological profile, education, likes and dislikes and so forth. I would like you to compile a list of your top five choices. List them in order from your most to least favorite and have that back to me by the end of next week. My email address is attached. This will give us time to make sure we can hopefully accommodate your top choice by reserving it and making sure we have here for a standard number of treatments. Now, do you have any more questions for me?"
The couple looked at each other. Bianca shook her head and let Marissa answer for them. "Not at this time."
"If you come up with anything, please don't hesitate to contact me."
With that, the couple left the clinic anxious to get home and started on their 'homework' of selecting a donor.
Dr. Roeth watched the couple as they walked out holding hands. She really hoped she would be able to help them realize their dream.
/
As promised, Marissa and Bianca were home before bedtime. After hearing about the kids' day with Susan and reading the story Gabby had selected, they tucked the children into their beds before heading back to their bedroom.
Marissa pulled out her laptop and loaded the cd the doctor had given them. The couple reviewed the profiles and began eliminating donors that didn't meet some of their basic criteria.
Bianca saw Marissa attempt to hide a yawn. The brunette closed the laptop and removed it from their bed.
"And what do you think you're doing?"
"We can go through the rest of the donors over the next couple of days. It's been a long day, and we can both use some rest, especially you. You're going to need it. My job is to take care of you, and I take it very seriously."
Marissa grinned. "You win. We don't have to do it all tonight. And by the way you take excellent care of me."
"Good. I aim to please." Bianca settled under the covers and pulled Marissa into her arms after kissing her tenderly. "I love you."
"I love you too." Marissa snuggled into the loving embrace and soon drifted off to sleep.
/
By Wednesday, the couple had their top five choices and just needed to put them in order. They were sitting in Krystal's reviewing the lists they had made and discussing them quietly.
"I like this one best." Bianca indicated the donor that was her favorite.
Marissa read his profile again and smiled brightly. "Hmm, BD #3."
Bianca shook her head and chuckled. "I knew we shouldn't have mentioned this to Kendall. I'm starting to think she's a bad influence on you."
Marissa grinned. "I think we can call it a draw on the bad influence."
When the couple checked with Kendall on whether she and Zach could keep the kids when they went back to the clinic for Marissa's first treatment, they also explained the doctor's homework of picking out their top choices for a donor. Kendall quickly nicknamed the donors as Baby Daddy with numbers 1 thru 5 randomly assigned. Marissa cracked up and adopted the phrase immediately while Bianca tried to resist but soon caved. Baby Daddy was soon shortened to BD just in case the kids overheard. The couple really didn't want to explain the phrase to them.
"BD #3 is my favorite too."
With their top choice made, the others fell quickly into place. They were just closing up the file when Kendall and Greenlee joined them.
Greenlee spotted the manila folder that Bianca tucked away. Kendall shook her head, silently telling her curious friend to not question them about it. As much as Greenlee wanted to know what was going on, she followed her friend's wishes and nodded, effectively letting the subject drop before it even came up.
When lunch was over, the couple walked out together.
Marissa took the file back from Bianca. "I'll email Dr. Roeth with our choices as soon as I get back to the office."
"Okay. I'll see you tonight. Love you."
"Love you too."
/
Two days later
It was recess and Miranda was on the swings with her best friend Jessica Mendes. The girls were happily chatting away when someone caught Miranda's eye. She froze temporarily.
"What's wrong, Miranda?"
Quickly scanning the playground, Miranda located AJ. He was engaged in a game of dodge ball. She remembered what her mothers had instructed them to do if such a situation arose. She immediately looked for a teacher to ask for help and found her own teacher. "I'll be back. I need to tell Mrs. Simpson something. Could you keep an eye on AJ for me?"
Jessica nodded and watched her friend hurry off.
"Mrs. Simpson."
The teacher turned and looked at Miranda Montgomery. She was surprised to see the girl this soon since there was still time remaining for recess. She quickly saw distress in the girl's eyes. "Is everything alright, Miranda?"
Miranda shook her head. "I need to talk to you."
"Okay, what is it?"
"Do you see that man over there?"
The teacher turned and saw a man across the street. He was staring intently at the children playing. Correction, he was staring intently at one particular child. His gaze seemed to follow AJ Chandler's every move. She was instantly on high alert. "Do you know who he is?"
Miranda nodded. "Uh huh, he's AJ's dad. He's not allowed to see him without either of our Moms around. He tried to take AJ before."
The teacher nodded and immediately motioned for another teacher as she kept her eyes peeled on the boy, not letting him out of her sight.
"Mr. Spencer, we have a possible situation. Will you keep an eye on my area? I need to take AJ Chandler and Miranda Montgomery to the principal's office."
Bob Spencer didn't know exactly what was going on, but he had a good idea. "Sure. I've got it covered just get them inside."
Mrs. Simpson walked over to the part of the playground where AJ was playing with Miranda following her.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your game, but AJ, I need to see you."
AJ was confused as to what was happening but could tell something was up just by looking at Miranda. He dropped the ball and followed his sister. AJ wanted to ask what was wrong but something was telling him that he should probably wait until they were inside.
Mrs. Simpson followed behind AJ and Miranda keeping them in her sight the entire way to the doors leading back inside the school. Only once the children each had a foot inside the building did she glance over her shoulder. Seeing that the man was no longer there, she exhaled a relieved breath, grateful that the immediate threat had passed. The teacher then turned her attention back to the kids as the group headed down to the principal's office where Mrs. Evans would contact AJ and Miranda's parents and take precautions to ensure AJ's safety.
"What's wrong, Miranda?" AJ whispered to his sister.
Miranda glanced at her brother and whispered back. "I saw your dad watching you from across the street. Our Moms always said that if we see him and they're not around that we should ask a grown-up for help."
AJ slowly nodded. He knew why they had told them that. He remembered all too well when his dad had lied to him and tried to take him away from his Mom. AJ looked down and saw Miranda had grabbed his hand.
"It's gonna be okay. I know our Moms are gonna take care of it."
/
A/N: Sorry, my evil side took over towards the end of this chapter and made me take this detour in the story and leave the cliffhanger. I try and reason with her, but you all know how she gets. She likes these kinds of things and tells me that we need a few bumps in the road for Minx from time to time just to keep everyone on their toes. See you soon!