Sorry it's been a while. I went on vacation and then was sick for a while. Thank you for reading! Enjoy!
Chapter 2
In Matthew's fingers, he turned his phone over and over on the table in front of them. His eyes peered at them, but he hadn't said a word. Instead, he continued with his phone, making Mary want to snatch his phone away. Anna must have sensed Mary's frustration, because her hand rested over Mary's and gave it a loving squeeze. Mary turned her head toward her wife, her body relaxing as Anna winked at her.
"I know this is a big ask. You don't have to answer today," Mary said, returning her attention to Matthew.
Matthew inhaled slowly, dropping his phone on the table, and leaning forward.
"So, you want me to father your child?" He asked, his brow raising.
"But we'd raise it," Anna cut in. "Mary and I would be the parents. You'd be in the child's life as much or as little as you'd like."
Matthew brought his hand up under his chin, as he sat back slightly in his chair. He dropped his arm and gave them a small smile.
"You both will be wonderful mothers," he told them.
"But –?"
"I can't do it," Matthew said regretfully. "I appreciate you asking me. I know it couldn't be easy to ask me such a huge ask. But I just married Lavinia. She and I are hoping to start trying for children in the near future. I don't think I could have a child out in the world I didn't raise as my own."
"But the child wouldn't be yours," Mary told him. "You'd be a donor. The child would be mine and Anna's."
"Yes, I understand that," Matthew said. "To me, though, I couldn't see your child as just someone I donated to. I would help create him or her. I don't believe I could do it."
"We understand," Anna interrupted, before Mary could say anything else. Her hand rested on Mary's back, giving it a rub of support. Mary let out a low breath and nodded.
"Yes, we do," she said. "We understand." Matthew looked at Mary incredulously. "Truly," Mary added. "We said we wouldn't push anyone. I'm sorry I overstepped by not immediately accepting your no."
Matthew chuckled, his eyes glancing between Mary and Anna.
"You're good for her," he said to Anna with a wink.
"Oh don't worry, she's still quite stubborn," Anna replied. She playfully nudged her with her shoulder. Mary rolled her eyes.
"I'm not stubborn; I just know what I want. There is nothing wrong with that."
"No," Anna agreed. "There's not."
"I do wish you both the best," Matthew said.
"Thank you."
-X-X-X-X-
Anna rubbed the lotion over her arms, while watching her wife climb into their bed that evening. She could see the distress on Mary's features. Mary had really been hoping today they would have their donor.
When Anna finished putting on her lotion, she got into the bed next to her wife, resting her head on Mary's shoulder. She rubbed her hand over Mary's arm and kissed the exposed skin of her shoulder blade.
"I'm sorry today didn't work out," Anna whispered.
"Not your fault, darling." Mary turned and placed her hand on Anna's cheek. "We are having a baby. If our last person is also a no, we'll use a sperm bank."
Anna frowned.
"I know because of what's happened with your family, you want –"
Mary didn't get a chance to finish her sentence, because Anna drew away from her, shaking her head.
"I don't want to talk about any of that," Anna said quietly. She began to chew on the edge of her thumb, turned away from Mary. Mary slid up behind her and placed her hands on Anna's shoulders.
"I shouldn't have mentioned your family, darling. This is a happy time for us," Mary said. "We're starting our family."
Anna wiped below her eyes, as she felt the tears threatening to escape.
"I'm sorry," Anna told Mary. "I don't know why I reacted so strongly." She rested her head back against Mary, closing her eyes and sighing. "This is all…."
"A lot?"
"Sometimes I wish my mum was part of my life."
"Darling –"
"I know, she wasn't a good mum."
Mary ran her fingers through Anna's hair, humming gently.
"Our child will have two mothers that love them more than anything in this world. We'll protect them and put them first. I know it's important to you that our child knows where they came from, but they will have us, always," Mary said, as she continued to soothe Anna.
They both laid back in the bed before Mary cuddled Anna to her, still stroking her hair. Anna met her eyes and her lips curled up into a small smile.
"You'll be the best Mama. I cannot wait to have a baby with you."
"And you'll be the best Mummy." Mary winked. Her fingers ran over the curve of Anna's jaw. "We still have one more person to ask, Anna. Get some sleep. Tomorrow is another big day." Mary kissed her wife. She turned to turn off the bedside lamp and rested back onto her pillow. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
-X-X-X-X-X-X-
While the first two asks had made Anna nervous, today's final ask made her more nervous than ever. Not only because it was their final person they had to ask, but because she and John Bates were close. At work, everyone called them a "work couple." It was all in good fun. The two of them had never dated. However, John had become family to Anna, a best friend in every sense of the word. When she and Mary got married, he was the one to walk her down the aisle, since her family wasn't a part of her life. Asking him felt like crossing a line, but she knew he would be an amazing donor. He'd want to be a part of the baby's life, and her and Mary's child would know all about who they are.
"Are you ready?" Mary asked, brushing a stray hair off Anna's cheek.
"No," Anna admitted, chewing on the inside of her lip. "Perhaps, we should just go with a random donor?"
Mary narrowed her eyes.
"Darling, you were the one who insisted we try for a donor we knew. Plus, you adore Bates. He's your best friend."
"Exactly. What if it ruins everything?"
"It won't," Mary assured her. "It didn't ruin everything with Thomas or Matthew, and it won't with Bates. Worst case scenario, he'll say no. We're quite used to it by now, aren't we?"
Anna nodded.
"Yes, we are." She sighed.
"Now, come on."
They stepped into the third restaurant of the week. Anna clasped her hand around Mary's, whose thumb lovingly grazed over the back of her hand.
Inside, they took a seat at a booth in the back. As they sat down, Anna spotted John coming in through the front door. She waved. He spotted them, giving a small wave and little nod.
Anna took in a deep breath.
"It's going to be all right," Mary promised.
John joined them a moment later, taking a seat across from the two of them.
"Thanks for coming to dinner with us," Anna started. "We are so thrilled you're here! Have you had a good day off? I missed you at work." Mary's fingers tapped the back of Anna's wrist in an attempt to get her calm down.
"I had a doctor's appointment about my knee," John said, his brows furrowing in thought. "Wasn't much of a fun day."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot."
"It's not a problem." John gave them both a smile. "It's rare the two of you invite me alone for dinner."
"No, it's not," Anna said quickly. Mary tapped her wrist again and shot her eyes over at her wife.
"We should do dinner more often, just the three of us," Mary answered. "It's always over at the Abbey with Mama and Papa. But sometimes it's nice, just to be us."
"Yes," John agreed. Glasses of water were brought over to the table. John lifted his and took a sip. He eyed both Mary and Anna, but didn't say anything else.
"You see," Mary began, "Anna and I want to start a family. We've been discussing possible donors and –"
"We'd like you to be the sperm donor," Anna cut in. "It's okay if you don't want to be, it's perfectly fine. We don't want to put any pressure on you, just – well, we were hoping that our child would know who their donor was. And we would be the parents, Mary and me. We wouldn't expect anything from you, at all. But we can find a sperm donor from a bank. You are our final option, so if you say no, then we'll have to. But I think –"
"Anna," Mary said, raising both brows. "Darling, why don't we give Bates a moment to soak it all in. Let's not overwhelm him."
"I'll do it."
Both Mary and Anna's jaws dropped, as they returned their attention to John across the table. He had leaned forward slightly with a determined look on his face.
"Wait, what?"
"I'll be your donor," John said.
"Are you sure?" Mary asked. "It's quite the ask."
"Yes," John answered. "I actually guessed it was why you invited me to dinner tonight."
"Oh?" Anna chewed on the inside of her lip.
"Thomas may have told some people downstairs about you asking him to be a donor."
"Thomas," Mary said beneath her breath, "of course."
"You don't have to decide today," Anna stated.
"I have thought about this. I want to be your donor. I don't forsee myself having children. You both will be great mothers to this child. And I would get to know the child, correct?"
"Of course!" Mary said, a bit too enthusiastically. "You can have as much or as little part of this child's life as you'd like. We would prefer you to be a large part, like an uncle. However, we would never force it on you."
John smiled.
"No, that sounds perfect. What would I need to do?"
"Well, you would go and give samples to our fertility doctor. She would explain all of that to you. You would have to do several. It can take many months for Anna to get pregnant, plus we'd like to have more children in the future."
"At least two," Anna added. She wrapped her arm around Mary's, pulling herself right next to her on the bench seat.
"Right." John glanced down, slightly embarrassed for a moment before looking back up. "Well, we can get all the specifics figured out soon. Why don't you give me the doctor's information?"
Anna unlatched herself from Mary and dug the card out of her purse, sliding it over to John. He lifted it, looking it over before tucking it into his front shirt pocket.
"Thank you," Anna said sincerely. "You're helping make our dreams come true, again."
-X-X-X-X-X-
"We're having a baby!" Anna said, nearly tackling Mary and making her fall back on the bed. Mary laughed, bringing her hand up to cup Anna's cheek.
"Darling, don't get ahead of ourselves. There is still much to do."
"But we have our donor."
"Yes," Mary said with a smile. She leaned forward, giving her wife a kiss. "We do. I am just excited as you are about this journey we're about to take."
Mary placed her leg over Anna's waist, turning them over so Anna laid beneath her. She kissed her again and then ran her hands up and down the sides of her arms.
"Now, let's celebrate."
To be continued...
