With a final flick of his wrist, Darien threw the fine ball point pen on top of a stack of forms and slid it over the Serena sitting next to him. He took a quick glance at her face. There was no emotion. She just watched as he moved his hands off the paper, then slammed her hand on the packet. Slid it over to her. Quickly signed and then slid forms to the nurse sitting across the desk from them.
She gave them an awkward smile. Pulled the packet closer her and picked it up. She quickly skimmed through the paperwork to make sure nothing was missed. She then placed the papers on the desk. Folded her hands over them.
"Are you two sure, you want to go through this? I can shred these right now if you have any second thoughts." She waited for them to say anything. "I only ask again because I have seen this situation go bad for married couples, and..." The nurse sighed. "I just want to be sure this is what you guys want."
Serena looked at the nurse. She then turned to Darien. He didn't make eye contact. She just observed his serious profile. She watched him for what seemed like 5 minutes and not once did he budge. She turned back to the nurse. Let out a breath. "We're sure." She focused at the table. She could feel something building in the back of her throat. She cleared her throat. "Let's just proceed."
The nurse nodded. Got up. "I will go get the stuff. Do you need pen and paper? This will be a lot to learn today."
"Yes, please." Serena responded.
"Okay two sets?" The nurse asked as she moved to the side of the desk.
"No, he'll be leaving." The two looked at each other and the at Serena. "This part is only related to me right? We don't need him right now?"
"I am going to let you guys talk this part out and I will be back with two sets and if we don't need one set, we will just leave it okay?" The nurse hurried out and shut the door behind her.
"Serena."
"We don't need you here Darien."
"Rini is my daughter too."
"I never said that she wasn't."
"I want to be involved, with all of this." He argued. "With you."
"Suddenly?" Serena whipped her body towards from him. "May I remind you Darien...we're here doing it this way." She pointed at this desk and diagrams of menstrual cycles. "Because of you."
"No, we are doing this because you are choosing the route."
"I chose?" She scoffed. "No! You made all the choices."
"How Serena, explain to me how? You are the one who chose to leave! Without any reason you, decided to pack and leave."
She shook her head. She thought about all the nights she waited for him to come home from work, to eat only to find out he already went to eat with his coworkers. She almost started to cry about the nights when she would get dressed up in her nicest lingerie, only for him not to give her a second glance because he was so tired. The loneliness she felt, tugged at her heart. She licked her lips. "You're not even worth it." She put both hands on her lap. Squared up her posture. "You want to be here Darien, fine. Stay. Just don't interfere with what I need to do to make sure that my daughter is where she needs to be in the future."
"That's it? I get no more say? This is my child Serena. This is not how I want her to be made."
Serena didn't say anything. She sat as still as a statue.
This annoyed Darien. He scoffed. "What else is new. Typical Serena, can't even have a conversation like an adult. Has to shut it all out." He threw his hands in the air.
Just as his hands reached his thigh, they both heard the door, and turned around to see the nurse walking in with med vials, syringes and needles. She walked over to the desk and laid everything out.
"I am going to need all these needles?" Serena asked nervously as she looked up at the nurse.
"Yeah. But I will walk you through everything." She slid some papers to Serena. "You can stop me anytime." She gave Serena a comforting smile. "And i mean it. At anytime if you want to stop."
Serena looked at the needles again. She hated needles. Her heart starting racing. She bit the side of her cheek.
"Serena?" She heard Darien's voice.
She shook herself out of her trance. "No." She slid the papers into her direct view. "I'll be okay." She smiled fake. "If this is how I am going to be a mommy...then this is it. Please start."
The nurse observed her.
"I am serious. Just start. I want to make sure I have enough time to get everything."
"Okay. Let's start with all the medications, then we will discuss the schedule. Typically after that I leave it up to you if you want to discuss the egg retrieval part and then of course the in-vitro fertilization part, we can or if you want to save that for after the this first part, we can do that too." She looked Serena up and down, she just nodded. She then looked at Darien. He just did a small wave with his hand to proceed. "Okay."