Author's Note: Hey guys! So, as promised, I'm updating on Sunday, though technically it's late Saturday night. Thank you so much for the reviews you've left on the previous chapters and thank you for continuing to read this story :)

As usual, I don't own/have anything to do with Skins.

Chapter 3: Begonia Skies

June 9th 2013

Things at the apartment were peaceful, but things in my head were much more hectic. I was printing out a known sperm donor contract to have Cook sign if he agreed to be our donor, and Emily was cooking dinner for tonight. We were doing a Sunday roast to lure Cook in, and then we were going to ask him to be our donor. If he agreed, hopefully we'd be able to sign the contract later tonight and everything would be in order to start at-home inseminations next weekend. If Cook didn't agree, we'd probably miss my ovulation for this month and we'd have to wait until next month to start trying with a different donor, or possibly with a sperm bank which could be quite expensive. Emily and I were comfortable financially, but it would certainly be easier if Cook agreed to be our donor. And since I wanted to start trying as soon as possible, both Emily and I were desperately hoping that Cook would agree and sign the donor contract tonight.

The sperm donor contract wasn't too difficult to navigate through for me - thanks to my major in politics and my minor in law - but explaining it to Ems took ages. She kept questioning why the contract had to be so explicit, and why we even needed a contract. Technically, the contract was just a formality, since I knew Cook wouldn't try to gain custody of the baby or anything like that, but I also knew that it was important to have a contract in these circumstances. I also added in other important clauses to the contract, like the donor must not engage in unsafe sex practices while he is donating his sperm, though it should be noted that celibacy is preferred. Emily found that clause rather funny.

I finished printing out the contract and stapled it all together before hiding it in one of my desk drawers. I'd take it out if we ended up needing it, and hopefully, we would. I went into the kitchen and found Emily just hanging up the phone with a smile on her face.

"What's up?" I asked as I walked over to the stove and stirred the gravy that was bubbling away.

"Oh, that was just Katie," Emily said as she pulled the roast out of the oven and stuck a thermometer in it. "Just updating us on the transfer. She says Effy sat on the couch upside down yesterday after they got home, with her head dangling off the seat cushions and her legs on top of the back rest part. Apparently, Effy is doing the exact same thing today, because when Phoebe did it on that show Friends, she ended up pregnant with triplets."

I laughed and went to set up the table. I knew Effy would do something weird like that – she was really worried about getting pregnant, and she wanted to get pregnant as soon as possible.

"How are they doing, other than that?" I asked as I laid out the forks and knives carefully.

"They seem just fine," Emily replied as she put the roast back in the oven. "Katie says she's feeling a bit nervous about Eff and how she'll react if they don't get pregnant on this round. Effy's been pretty stressed about it lately, and they're both hoping they won't have to go through another transfer."

I nodded, understanding Effy's worry. She saw how hard the egg donation was for Emily, and she didn't want her to have to go through the process again. I didn't want Emily to have to go through the process again either. I also knew that Effy didn't want to use up all their eggs right away – she wanted to save as many as possible in case she and Katie decided to have another baby.

Libby walked up to the front door and sat next to it patiently. She looked back at me and barked, as though she knew Cook was just on his way up to the flat.

"No more talk about Eff and Katie and babies now," I warned Emily, waggling my finger at her in mock authority. She smiled and nodded.

Cook didn't bother to knock on the door. "EMILIOOOOO! NAOMIKINS! THE COOKIE MONSTER HAS ARRIVED!"

I walked into the living room, where I saw Cook playing with Libby and laughing his head off. I walked over to him and hugged him.

"Hey, Cook," I said as I pulled away and Libby jumped at our feet. "How've you been?"

"Ah, not bad, Naoms. Been busy working at Keith's pub, haven't I?" Cook replied as we walked into the kitchen. I poured him a beer while Emily hugged him and talked about work.

Cook sat down at the table, across from Emily and I. I passed him his beer, and listened to Em talk about how much she hated her job.

"The women that I work with, they're all still so young, fresh out of college. They don't hate it nearly as much as I do, but it's getting ridiculous. The shop makes us wear as much makeup as we can possibly cram on our faces, I have to wear full false lashes to work every day," Emily sighed heavily as she took a drink from her glass of water. "I didn't become a makeup artist to do this, to promote fake beauty like this. I used to love the look that women would get after I would do their makeup, when I would just bring out their natural features. But now, I have to meet sales demands and push products, so I have to cake makeup on these gorgeous women, who don't need all that crap on their face. It doesn't exactly promote self-confidence, and it certainly isn't what I became a makeup artist for. I'm just so miserable working there."

Cook nodded and took a drink from his beer. "Well, Ems, I know a local photographer who's looking to team up with a makeup artist. She's a wedding photographer and wants to expand her services to include makeup and hair and stuff. She said something about having brides come to one place to get everything they need for their wedding. I could give her your card if you want, I'm sure she'd be interested in working with you."

Emily smiled and thanked Cook profusely. I knew just how much she hated her job, so I also knew how grateful she was for the job opportunity. She got up and went to take the roast out of the oven, and started serving everybody dinner.

"So, Cook," I said through a mouthful of mashed sweet potato. "How do you happen to know this wedding photographer?"

Cook smiled and winked at me and I laughed. We ate dinner, sharing stories about work and friends and what had happened during our week. Emily and I carefully avoided talking about Effy and Katie, obviously not wanting to let anything about the IVF slip. Cook finished his dinner first, leaning back on his chair and patting his stomach with a smile on his face.

"Excellent meal, Emily," Cook said, placing his napkin on the table. "Top notch roast. And those orange potatoes were pretty good too."

"Sweet potatoes, Cookie," I reminded him. He smiled and shrugged at me.

"Well, we may have had ulterior motives for inviting you over for Sunday roast, Cook," Emily said as she carefully placed her knife and fork down on her plate.

Cook quirked an eyebrow at us, and Emily grabbed my hand and squeezed tightly. I suddenly felt so nervous that Cook would refuse to be our donor. Emily looked at me expectantly, since I had assured her that I would be prepared to ask Cook myself. I took a drink of my water and cleared my throat.

"Well," I started, biting my lip nervously. "Emily and I feel that we're ready to have kids. We really want to start trying as soon as possible, but obviously, we...uh...can't do that without some help. We've decided that I'll be the birth mother, but we still need a sperm donor...and we were really hoping that you would be our donor."

Cook looked completely shocked and scared. I got even more nervous once I saw Cook's reaction and my palms started to sweat. Emily noticed my obvious discomfort and cleared her throat.

"Obviously, you can say no. Or you could take a few days to think everything over, if you like. But we really do need to know as soon as possible, since we have to start trying next weekend," Emily said, smiling gently at Cook.

Cook stared intently at the table. "So, what would I need to do? Just...do it in a cup and then hand it over to you guys?" He asked, fiddling with his napkin. His brow was creased and he was obviously deep in thought.

Emily and I both nodded.

"We'd also ask you to try to stay celibate, but if you couldn't do that, then having safe sex would be important. Very important. And we'd also need you to go in to the doctor's for some really quick tests, just to make sure that your swimmers swim fast enough. I hope that doesn't offend you," I added, biting my lip nervously. Cook smiled up at me.

"So when do I start?" He asked, still smiling at us. Emily screamed and got up so quickly she knocked her chair over. She ran over to hug Cook and peppered his face with kisses. Cook looked up at me and smiled and I smiled back, though it was a bit hard to do through the happy tears that were falling down my face.

Emily ran over to me and kissed me. "We're gonna start our family, Naoms," she whispered as she hugged me tightly, her chin resting on my shoulder. Cook came over and wrapped us both in a tight hug.

Later that night while Emily was out taking Libby for her walk, Cook and I sat at the kitchen table and went through the specifics of the sperm donor contract.

"What does that one mean?" Cook asked, pointing to a clause with the tip of his pen.

"That means that Emily and I will get to choose the baby's name," I replied, as Cook smiled and nodded. He read through the rest of the contract and signed. He looked up at me, his face warm and open.

"Thanks for choosing me, Naoms," he said quietly. "It means a lot to me, to be able to help you and Ems start a family."

I reached over and grabbed his hand. "You were our first choice, Cookie."

He smiled, his eyes getting teary. "I'll get to see the little guy every once in a while, right?" He bit his lip and brushed his tears away. I immediately thought of Cook's younger brother, Paddy, and how much Cook loved him. Of course, Cook would want to be a part of the baby's life. My heart almost broke at the sight before me; Cook, a man that usually acted like a kid himself, agreeing to help Emily and I have a baby. I got up and hugged Cook tightly, kissing him on the cheek.

"Of course. You'll be Uncle Cookie," I whispered as Cook hugged me back just as tightly. He nodded against my shoulder, and I felt a few tears fall onto my shirt. "Thank you so much, Cook. It means so, so much to me."

He nodded again and grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair, indicating that he was ready to go home. I handed him the first specimen cup, and he laughed. "Never thought I'd be whacking off in one of these."

I laughed with him and walked him to the front door. "So I'll drop by your flat next Saturday night to pick up, okay?"

Cook nodded at me and waved goodbye. I smiled and waved and shut the door behind him. I felt like I was floating, I was so happy. I was beyond happy, I was completely ecstatic. Cook had agreed to be our donor, and hopefully, I'd be pregnant with our first child soon. I wrote a reminder to pick up prenatal vitamins from the drugstore tomorrow on a post-it note , and stuck it on the fridge. I looked down at my stomach which was completely flat. I lifted my shirt a little and put my hand over my stomach, eager for the day when I would feel our baby kick beneath my hand. I closed my eyes and sighed, so wrapped up in my thoughts that I didn't hear the front door open.

Emily walked into the kitchen with Libby trailing behind her. She walked up behind me and put her hands over mine, so we were both holding my stomach. "I can't wait," Emily whispered.

"Me neither."

Author's Note: I hope you liked the chapter! Please let me know what you thought in a review - I love reading your thoughts about the chapter :)

Also, you can check me out on tumblr, follow me, ask me a question about the story or anything: keeping-schtum (dot) tumblr (dot) com