Chapter 4: Piper walks in
Piper crashed in the front door making a lot more noise than she had intended. Alex was standing by the kitchen counter talking to Kubra and counting out bags of Heroine to hand off to him. This was not a typical arrangement and it had Piper concerned. Kubra was generally very distant from his cartel for safety reasons especially now after they had been to prison. However, she assumed it had to do with his new found concern over whether Alex could handle herself professionally and relaxed slightly. Alex looked so young and calm. With her hair pin curled on her forehead and her thick black eyeliner it was as though they hadn't aged a day but the nervous way she twirled her extensions around Kubra reminded Piper otherwise.
"Hey babe "Alex called out as Piper tried to book it upstairs. Having failed Piper walked into the kitchen and placed herself between Alex and Kubra. Alex pulled her in for a hug and kissed her on the top of the head.
"Hello again Piper Chapman, nice to see you're still playing house." Kubra hissed as he pointed at her fridge calendar full of fertility appointments. Alex unapologetically placed her hands over Pipers shoulders and shot Kubra a look.
"I'm happy for you Vause, I hope it has your drive in life." They both knew better than to speak when Kubra was talking despite their desire to put him in his place. He broke into laughter "you had best be teaching baby Vause to count early." He said looking to the bags Alex had finished counting on the counter. Piper writhed her fist in her hand a bit at his remarks but her anger fizzled out as Alex handed Kubra what he came for and walked him to the door. Piper was thinking about what he had said. She had somehow never even thought about how the baby would be affected by the cartel... And suddenly it was all more than she could handled she sat on the floor and began to tear up.
Chapter 5: 11 months prior to story start -baby Vause!
After months of heartache and unsuccessful attempts at getting Piper pregnant their fertility doctor suggested they go through IVF. Piper jumped on the idea right away but Alex had some concerns about her health through all the hormone treatments, but after talking it through they decided they were going to go for it.
"You know Al, I have a really neat idea for having this baby that would make it way more of an authentic experience for us!" Piper was so enthused by her brilliant idea she almost didn't notice Alex was staring at her expectantly.
"Well, what is it ? I don't have my own sperm to contribute so I'm not sure I follow."
"Well, since I have to get eggs extracted and carry the baby I thought maybe you could too and I will carry one from me and one from you and whichever one takes will be our baby but we won't even know and we'll get to watch him or her grow to look like one of us!" Piper could hardly contain her excitement. Alex looked like she was going to puke.
"Wow. I wasn't expecting that. Hum Pipes I love you but I don't know how I feel about having things extracted from me... Plus, wouldn't that mean we'd want to get two donors ? One sperm donor that looks like me for your egg and vice versa?" She tried hard to make it sound difficult and in-appealing. Just then the doctor walked back in and interjected.
"Actually," she said "the chances of conception would be higher if we did it that way and it has been done. Finding the sperm donor wouldn't be overly difficult either there are plenty to choose from." The doctor winked at Piper . "Alex ? What do you think ? Baby Vause could actually look like you or maybe even your mom." Piper knew it would make her emotional but she thought it might help Alex visualize it if she thought of her mom. She traded up a bit at the mention of Diane. But then her phone started ringing and broke the moment. Alex wiped her eyes and excused herself into the hall.
"Fuck. It's work Pipes sorry I have to take this " she said as she walked out. Piper was used to her work breaking the best moments but she knew it would give Alex some time to breathe and make a decision . The doctor wrote them both a script for fertility drugs to take over the next month before the extraction.