3.
~ "I can't believe she thinks... that she thinks... that I'm the kind of man who... who would just make a baby and then leave." Arthur grumbled to Cobb. Arthur had started drinking at Ariadne's place, continued at Cobb's until he was now slurring his speech.
"I can't... believe that." Arthur said reaching for the bottle of wine.
Cobb easily snatched it away. The Point Man's reflexes off.
"Arthur, I think you've had enough." The Extractor said. "Poor Ariadne." He added.
"Yeah. Yeah, it must have been hard for her." Arthur said sadly leaning back in his chair.
"We thought Mal and I were having fertility problems at first." Cobb said sadly. "I can't imagine what shes had to go through. Women often say they never want children, but to have the option taken away from them. It's not good. "
"Cobb, pay attention." Arthur barked. "Ariadne has asked me be the father of her child. She looking for a baby without the whole... baby-daddy-drama."
Cobb snorted as laugh.
"Sorry, Arthur. It's just funny to hear you talk like that." The Extractor explained.
Arthur gave his friend a hard look.
"I'm sorry." Cobb shrugged.
"Can we focus on me for a second? I'm not ready to be a father." Arthur said. His eyes blurry from drinking.
"Well, according to her, you won't have to be a traditional father. She's just asking for your donation."
"Cobb, there will be a child out there with my blood. My history. One that I won't know anything about." Arthur said.
"Doesn't have to be that way." Cobb said hopefully.
"That's how she want's it." Arthur grumbled. "She want's to have a baby, my baby, alone. What if the kid shows up at my door and want's to know why I wasn't there?"
"I think he or she would call first." Cobb mused quietly.
The Extractor looked at his friend for a long time.
"Well, maybe your right. I mean, your not ready to be a father and Ariadne might not even be a good mother." He said at last.
"I never said that." Arthur said sitting up straighter. The Point Man looking at his old friend like he had lost his mind. "She would be a great mother. She really would. If I was ever going to have a baby with someone... I mean she... she would be way up there."
"Yeah, but your not ready. Your not ready for the commitment it would mean. Being a father is so life changing. I mean it was wonderful for a guy like me." Cobb said putting a hand on his chest. "But it might not be... a good fit for someone like you."
"What does that mean? You think I wouldn't be a good father?" Arthur asked. "I would be a great father, and Ariadne would be a perfect mom."
Arthur sighed.
"I mean... together... we would be good parents." Arthur added thoughtfully.
"I don't know, I just don't see it." Cobb mused with a careless shrug. "Maybe she would be better with Eames."
Arthur huffed and stood to leave.
"I'm keeping your keys." Cobb called after him. "Get yourself a cab."
When the Extractor heard the front door slam shut he sighed.
"That was easy." He said to himself.
~ Ariadne had just gotten out of the shower. Her body felt better after freeing herself from her restricted clothing. Her breasts had swollen and become tender. She knew that was normal from the hormonal medications. What she had not been ready for was the sudden rise in her sex drive.
She had only dated one guy seriously enough to have sex with. Perhaps it was old fashioned of her to trust that you should only have sex with someone you loved. She had dated him through out school and when she finally decided she wanted to be with him, the whole experience had been a major disappointment.
Her long time boyfriend had done nothing to satisfy her that first time and didn't bother to meet her needs afterward. Sex with him was always awkward and uncomfortable. She felt the whole thing had been terrible and wondered why she didn't enjoy it as much as her girlfriends enjoyed being with their boyfriends.
In the end, she chalked it up to being her fault. Perhaps there was something wrong with her. She even briefly thought she might be a lesbian. The very idea of having sex with her boyfriend was enough to make her sick. She soon could not tolerate the idea of being with him, his careless hands and clumsy kissing, and broke up with him.
She figured she wasn't gay when she started taking the hormones and found the young men she went to school with very distracting. Then she started working with Arthur. Suddenly, she was thinking about him in a very heated way that made her glad he couldn't read her mind.
She had surprised even herself when she had ordered herself a toy online and started using it everyday. Doctor Cook had said her ability to become aroused so easily was a normal result of the hormones she was on. She wondered if she had taken them with her ex, if she would have like sex with him more. But the idea of being with her ex sexually again, killed any desire she might have.
Her day had been a long one and all she wanted to do was go to sleep. Arthur's obvious rejection of wanting to father her child had hurt. She felt very foolish for even asking him. Why didn't she just go to a sperm bank? She could have picked out a rocket scientist or Nobel prize winner.
She briefly entertained herself with the idea of spending the rest of her evening looking at racy things online and using her new toy when her doorbell buzzed.
She was surprised to see Arthur when she looked out her peep hole. Just a few hours after leaving her, he had come back.
"Arthur?" She asked once she had unlocked the door. The rank smell of liquor reaching her. "Arthur, have you been drinking?"
"Yes, I have." The Point Man said darkly.
"You never drink." She said calmly as she watched him stroll into her apartment. His eyes unfocused and his gait unsteady.
"You didn't drive here did you?" She asked.
"No, Cobb kept my keys." Arthur said looking around and finally collapsing on her sofa. "I've been thinking about what you asked me earlier." He said. His voice deeper and less careful.
"You have?" Ariadne said wearily as she shut her front door and locked it.
"Yes, I have. I'm going to do it." He said looking at her through drunken eyes. "I'll do it. But only on one condition."
"What's that?" She asked folding her arms in front of her. She didn't like seeing Arthur drunk.
"No clinics, no test tubes. We can make a baby, but only if it's done the old fashioned way." He said.