"I need you to come to my office today," he said, "You should bring Adrian and maybe your parents.

Trudy's heart skipped a few beats.

"Am I dying," she asked nervously.

"Not at all," the doctor said, "But you are about 4 weeks pregnant."

…

"Wait," Marsha said, "We were told Trudy couldn't get pregnant."

"Her getting pregnant isn't the problem," Dr. Richard said, "The problem is her being able to carry the baby. We don't expect that she'll be able to carry more than 6 weeks."

"So," Adrian asked, "You mean we're going to lose the baby?"

"In order to save the baby we need to do a pregnancy transfer as soon as possible," Dr. Richard said, "We would take the baby and transfer him or her into the womb of a surrogate mother."

"You can do that?" Marsha asked.

"Well, we'd need a healthy, willing person to carry the baby," Dr. Richard said gently.

Marsha took a breath and replied.

"You just found her," she said, "Use me!"

"Marsha," Dr. Richard asked, "Are you sure about this? Being pregnant isn't exactly a walk in the park"

"You don't need to tell me that."

"Fair enough. I do have some tests I'd like to run and to look over your files just to be safe. Before the procedure I want to make sure we have the best chance of a good outcome and everyone being healthy."

Marsha asked, "But this won't take too long right? Because you said…"

"Yes I said we won't have much time. But we'll get everything expedited."

Marsha nodded looking relieved at that. But there was something that still worried her. "What if something is found where I'm not a good candidate for the procedure? What will happen then?"

Dr Richards returned her gaze steadily. He answered, "if we have Trudy's permission we can start the process right away for a search for a suitable surrogate mother."

Trudy reached over and squeezed Adrian's hand.

She noticed the sharp smell of the antiseptic from the clinic. While she was thinking she looked over at the poster with the fetus in utero, the books on the shelf and the certificates on the wall of 's office.

"I… yes. Yes, please start." She turned to her mother and reached out for Marsha's shoulder. "Thank you Mom. I can't tell you how much this means to me and Adrian."

"I know but it's for my grandchild."

All the tests came back perfectly. The transfer was done the very next day. Trudy and Marsha were both put to sleep. They woke up about an hour and a half later.

"The transfer went perfectly," Dr. Richard said, smiling.

That night Trudy and Adrian were talking.

"With six girls I'm guessing you want a boy this time," she said.

"I would be perfectly happy with a seventh girl," Adrian told her, "Frankly, I don't care if it's a monkey. I just want a happy and healthy baby."

"I know one thing," Trudy said, "He or she will be a very loved child."

"This child is already a very loved child," Adrian replied with a smile.

Trudy had a thought.

"Can you imagine if it's twins," she asked laughing.

"That would be great," Adrian said, "There would be an even number of people in our household."