To Donate or Not to Donate
Carter woke up with both his women on his mind. He showered, shaved, got dressed and went downstairs to start the coffee maker and toast a bagel. He wanted to help Deb, and had an idea on how he could do that, but he wasn't so sure it would go over well with Kem. It could in fact, really piss her off.
Deb considered him family and he rather considered her family too. But not in the traditional sense of course. She certainly wasn't his sister. There'd been times when he considered having a romantic relationship with her. The only thing that really stopped him from pursuing that was her preference for black men.
She does have the same taste in men as she does her coffee. This may not be something she's interested in anyway. But this is a child, a baby, a way for her to create a family if that great guy out there doesn't make himself known. If she ever did feel the need to do this, wouldn't it be better if the sperm donor was someone she knew and loved rather than some nameless, faceless number on a cryopreservation tank?
And Kem, how would she take it? How would she deal with the knowledge that he had a biological child with another woman? Kem knew about Deb, but they never interacted. Why? Was it a jealousy thing? Could she understand that Deb was facing a lifetime alone, a lifetime without a family of her own? That he didn't want that for her? He just wanted her to be happy too? Have someone to share her life with, someone that would love her the way she deserved to be loved?
He sliced the bagel in half and set it in the toaster. He was so happy to be having this baby with Kem, was it so wrong that he wanted Deb to experience a happy pregnancy? The coffee maker signaled its contents were ready. He poured himself a cup. He looked forward to the days ahead, to the baby's birth, to fatherhood, marriage. He was going to have a wonderful, happy life. "Ching", he retrieved the bagel from the toaster and slathered it with cream cheese. The way things are now, Deb was looking at a life considerably less than wonderful and happy.
He got out his travel mug and filled it to the brim with piping hot coffee. He grabbed the mug, his bag and his keys and headed to the hospital. The entire trip in was spent going back and forth with the pros and cons of helping Deb and evaluating Kem's ability to understand his need to help her.
Arriving at work, he put the internal argument on hold. There were patients to see, traumas to handle, management to please. But the commute home was round two. He spent the night tossing and turning over round three. But with the morning light, came a resolve.
First thing after breakfast, was a trip to the Urology Center near the hospital. He pushed open the glass door that led into the waiting room. Professionally appointed, but sparsely populated, it made the trip to the reception window a bit easier. The receptionist opened the glass to greet him and he made his request "I'd like to set up an account for a designated recipient."