Chapter 9
Flash back: 10 months ago.
Helen looked at her watch for about the hundredth time since arriving at the doctor's office fifteen minutes ago, she sighed nervously, "where the hell is Nikki?" she thought as she fidgeted with a loose thread she'd noticed at the hem of her skirt. She'd reminded her twice about their appointment this morning before she'd left for work. She checked her mobile again to see if she hadn't by chance missed any messages. Nothing… she picked up the magazine she'd been paging through earlier and started at the front page for the second time, she didn't even recognise any of the articles as she paged by them. The magazine was just an excuse to keep her hands busy.
The small bell above the door tinkled as Nikki pushed forward into the reception room, her eyes scanning the people seated along the walls and she smiled when they met Helen's. Her long strides carried her swiftly across the room and she took the chair to Helen's left, "sorry I'm late darling, the traffic was murderous," she said as she kissed Helen's cheek. She read the nervousness in Helen's posture immediately and reached out to squeeze her hand tightly. "Hey," she said, lifting her chin with her slim index finger to look her in the eyes, "everything is going to be just fine." Helen's forehead creased with worry, "how can you be so sure? What if she can't help us, or won't?" she said, her voice full of tension. "Shh," Nikki whispered, putting her lips close to Helen's ear, "take a nice deep breath, there you go, it's all going to work out, trust me." Nikki's calm voice soothed Helen who grasped her hand tighter and let out a long breath as she rested her head on Nikki's shoulder.
"Miss Stewart," called the receptionist from across the room. Nikki stood, giving Helen's hand a slight tug, 'come on then," she said, smiling reassuringly at Helen who got slowly to her feet. "The doctor will see you now miss," the receptionist said, pointing toward a door to their right, "Go on through." "Thank you," Nikki said, taking the lead and guiding Helen toward Dr Sheffield's office.
Alice Sheffield was a very busy woman, the fact that she was one of the best gynaecologists in London and a brilliant fertility specialist to top it off made quite sure of that. Nikki had heard a lot about her through the grape vine, she'd helped Trish and her partner Justine conceive and carry their two children a few years ago. So when she and Helen started to seriously discuss starting a family she had taken the liberty of getting Dr Sheffield's number from Trish and making them this appointment.
The good doctor was not quite what Helen had expected. Firstly, she was a lot younger than Helen had expected her to be. For some reason people always imagined doctors to be grey and wise looking. Her dead straight blonde hair fell to her shoulders and she was tall, almost as tall as Nikki. Her white coat billowed behind her, exposing her willow frame as she came around her desk to greet them. "Alice Sheffield," she said in a husky voice as she extended her hand towards first Helen and then Nikki. "Helen Stewart," Helen replied as they shook hands, "and this is my partner, Nikki Wade," gesturing toward Nikki.
"It's nice to meet you both," she said pleasantly. "Please, take a seat," she said as she returned to her side of the desk and sat down, neatly crossing her legs. "How can I help the two of you today?" As she swivelled back in her chair and clasped her hands beneath her chin.
Helen looked to Nikki and grasped her hand tightly, "we were wondering if you would be able to help us start a family," she said, hope radiating from her brilliant green eyes. Nikki smiled and gave Helen's hand a small squeeze as the both turned their eyes toward Dr Sheffield. Alice Sheffield had seen that look before, it was the reason she had chosen her field. Being able to give deserving couples who would cherish the gift of life she was able to give with every atom of their beings was what made her life worth living. Bitter sweet though it was, as she herself would never be able to conceive. "Well," she said after a brief pause, "you've come to the right place." The corners of her mouth curving into a small smile.
Helen was absolutely bursting with happiness as she rushed through the front door. She'd never felt more alive in her whole life. She'd talked the hind leg off a donkey all the way home in the car, Nikki hadn't even been able to get a word in edgeways, but it didn't matter to her at all, the one thing she'd always wanted was for Helen to be happy. She watched Helen flit around the living room, unconsciously tidying as she spoke. God how she loved this woman was the only thought going through Nikki's mind as she sat there on the sofa. "There is so much we have to do Nikki," she said, collapsing onto the sofa next to her. "We'll have to paint the spare room, convert it into a nursery, baby proof the whole house, buy loads of baby things and…" "Easy tiger," Nikki chuckled, "first things first, there is no guarantee it will work on the first try. We need to get into the routine she drew up for us and start reading the literature. And then there is the small problem of the sperm donor."
Helen made a face, "that's the only part I was worried about, what happens if we end up with some axe murderer's sperm." Nikki snorted at the look on Helen's face; she could be so comical at times. "I'm pretty sure Dr Sheffield would only supply 'merchandise' from reputable sources, and besides, Anthony and Sarah sure don't look like the offspring of a demented axe murderer now do they?" She said, winking at Helen. They both loved Trish and Justine's kids with all their hearts, they were beautiful.
"Uh hum," both Helen and Nikki turned to see Robert standing in their living room door way, neither could be sure how long he'd been standing there, they had been so wrapped up in their own world that they hadn't even noticed him. He had this fake hurt look plastered on his face, "you know, I can't believe you two," he said, both assuming that he was angry about not being told about the plans for the baby quickly began to apologise profusely. "I'm not finished," he said before either could get a coherent sentence out, "like I was saying I can't believe that you two would go out looking for a random sperm donor when you have a perfectly good one living under your own roof. It hurts you know," he said, adding a dramatic sniff for good measure. "When I heard you talking about getting pregnant two weeks ago, and yes, I was eavesdropping outside the kitchen door, I was so sure that I would be your first, and only choice in the sperm donor department that I scooted straight over to the doctor for all kinds of test, but alas… it seems that now you won't need to know that I am HIV and Hepatitis free, have no sexually transmitted infections, have a really high sperm count and that my little swimmers are rather fast little buggers. I'm also not an axe murderer, well, not that I know of anyway. Oh, and I happen to have an IQ of 144, not quite a genius, but you could do worse, just thought I'd throw that bit in there.
Nikki and Helen sat gaping at Rob as he stood there with a wicked grin on his face. "Unless you don't want me to be your sperm donor," he said with a shrug as he pretended to walk away. These two were a tad slower on the uptake than he'd expected them to be, "must be the shock," he thought. It took Helen a whole ten seconds to digest what she'd just heard.
"Robert wait," Helen stammered, "But… But… are you sure?" she wasn't quite sure that she'd understood his words correctly, a look of confusion still plastered across her face. "Of course I'm bloody sure," he said with a laugh, wriggling into the gap between Helen and his aunt on the sofa. "You two have done so much for me. It would be a dream come true to be able to help you with this. And besides, this way the baby will kind of be a bit of both of you seeing as Nik and I share some fabulous Wade DNA and I think we are actually rather good looking, wouldn't you agree Nikki?" He said with a very straight face before bursting into peals of laughter.
There was a moment of silence in the room as neither Helen nor Nikki could think of the right words to adequately express their overwhelming appreciate. The tears welled up in Helen's eyes and began cascading down her cheeks in small rivulets as she pulled Nikki and Rob into a bone crushing bear hug. "Oh, sweetie, please don't cry, you'll have me sobbing my eyes out if you carry on like this," he said as he wiped away Helen's tears with his shirt sleeve.
"We can't thank you enough," Nikki said, her voice trembling with emotion as she hugged Rob again. "Of course you can, I've already thought of a way," he said, grinning mischievously at them, "you can let me be the little rascal's very crazy uncle. The one who gets to baby sit and doesn't get into trouble for letting him or her eat ice cream for breakfast, and gets to tell him or her embarrassing stories about mummy Helen and mummy Nikki, it will be fantastic." He made a break for the door before the good natured slap that Nikki had aimed at his shoulder could connect.
They all looked at each other and began to laugh. "Thank you Robert, thank you." Her eyes willing him to see just how much this gesture meant to her. "It's only my pleasure," he said with a small bow, "Right, who's up for a good celebration?"