No one was home when they both arrived to the house that evening. Owen was with Rachel, who would be dropping him home after soccer practice and dinner out with her family. So James and Sarah sat at the kitchen table eating Chinese food while Sarah explained the protocol she’d reviewed with Dr. Kapoor.
“I have to give myself injections,” Sarah explained. “Hormones. Kinda weirded out by that. Or do you want to do them?”
“I prefer giving you other types of injections,” James laughed.
Sarah shook her head and James could see that she wasn’t in the mood for silliness. “You’re a doctor, I think you can handle it.”
“I’m not that kind of doctor,” Sarah smiled. She found it nearly impossible to be even slightly annoyed by this man with his boyish smirk and bright blue eyes.
“So what’s my job?” he asked, pressing his hands together as if he were ready for action.
“I think you know,” she replied. She handed him the brochure which outlined each step. His contribution was listed about three quarters of the way down the second page. “Semen sample,” she read aloud.
“Yeah, I can read.” He looked at Sarah with a devious grin. “Can I bring in a harem to assist with obtaining my sample? I want it to be of the highest quality!” He winked.
She shook her head again. “They actually recommend the donation be a solo endeavor.” She wasn’t sure why she kept rejecting his playful advances. She guessed it was because IVF was a serious topic and warranted a serious attitude.
“Oh, where’s the fun in that?” He stood up and pulled Sarah to her feet so that her body pressed against him. “What about now? I’m not expected to take care of this solo, am I?” He took her hand and placed it squarely on his crotch, which was bulging with an erection.
“Surely talking about IVF doesn’t turn you on!” she teased him.
“No, but you do,” he whispered in her ear and she felt his hot breath raise the tiny hairs on her neck. His voice alone had the effect of signalling her brain to immediately dampen her panties with desire.
James took her hand away from his groin and steered her into the living room in front of the windows looking out onto the street and the French doors leading to the deck. Anyone walking by would be able to see in. She felt like she was in a glass cage as he firmly pushed her to her knees and began to unbuckle his belt.
“We can’t do this in front of the windows!” she protested, but he had already filled her mouth with his thick, throbbing cock. His pants were on the floor, gathered around his ankles. Sarah steadied herself as she dutifully took him to the back of her throat. She trailed her fingertips up and down his taut hamstrings and calves as he began to thrust in and out of her salivating mouth.
It’s been a while since we’ve gotten it on anywhere besides the bedroom, she thought. Is that a bad sign? She remembered how they’d christened every room of the house when he’d first moved in. I guess we’re an old married couple now. Or maybe not, she reconsidered, as he grasped her by the neck while he drove his cock deeper and deeper, keeping her right on the verge of choking.
“You want my sample down your throat?”
Sarah forcefully pulled back her head so that she could respond. “No, I want it in my pussy,” she managed in a raspy voice.
“That can be arranged…” He pulled her up from the floor and whipped her around so that she faced away from him. He hiked up the skirt of her dress and ripped her panties down to her ankles. A sense of urgency radiated off his skin, and she heard it in his quickened breaths. She stepped out of her panties just in time for him to shove her body over the arm of the sofa.
She felt his cock against her ass cheeks before any other part of his body made contact with hers. As he grabbed her hips and pushed into her with a deep growl, all she could think about was their second time together. It was the night she’d refused to play teacher and commanded him to “take her.” And take her he did.
Just like that night, he gathered up a fist full of her hair, forcing her to arch back toward him. “Is this what you wanted?” he inquired, slamming into her backside so savagely that she couldn’t possibly formulate a response. Instead, she involuntarily screamed out his name into the quiet, unmoving atmosphere of their home.
He drilled into her like a machine. It had been a good while since he had pounded her so relentlessly, so intensely. They had gotten into the habit of slow, sensual lovemaking before drifting off to sleep, but this was something else, an entirely different beast. This is a proper fucking, Sarah thought. There’s really no other term for it.
She found herself uncontrollably grunting that oh-so-satisfying one syllable word again and again as her body neared orgasm. Those delicious consonants shot out of her mouth, starting with her teeth pressed against her lips to form the “f,” biting into them as she walked the line between pain and bliss, and ending with a puff of air exhaled with each hard “ck.” Then her breath was stolen as her climax gripped her body. All sounds ceased for a moment as she hung mid-air, suspended in ecstasy.
James stopped thrusting so that he could feel her pussy contract around his cock. He loved feeling her orgasm peak, then subside as it ravished her body with each spasm. He loved knowing he had brought her there, walking her to the edge of the cliff and leaping over it with her, hand in hand. Because very often, they climaxed in tandem, and this was one of those times as he felt his own body tense, his balls tighten and the impending waves begin to wash over him.
Although Sarah couldn’t see James’s expressions, she had memorized his “o” face after witnessing it so many times. It was projected in her mind as she felt him fill her pussy. The last few spasms of her own climax were dissipating. She loved this feeling, the feeling that they had just released all of their stresses and cares inside of each other, as if they were sharing their burdens, healing each other from the inside out. In these moments she believed the life they’d built together would stand for eternity.
***
Abby was a thinker, much like her mother and grandmother before her. If she wasn’t speaking and didn’t appear actively engaged in the world around her, it was due to the fact she was visiting the world which spanned the space between her ears. Maddy had learned this the hard way, after too many times of realizing Abby wasn’t hearing a word she was saying. And that morning, at breakfast, Abby was indeed in her own little world; it just so happened that world was states away back east.
She’d gotten an email from Chloe, her high school best friend. Once upon a time, she and Chloe had been inseparable. They had real sleepovers; they had virtual sleepovers where they stayed on the phone with each other overnight; they were in constant communication via text, IM, Facebook, Skype, Snapchat and who knows how many other social networks.
But then things changed somewhere around the time of their junior prom. That’s when Chloe first found out that Abby was into Bree. “Into” as in sexually. Chloe was blown away. Not unaccepting, not intolerant, but she felt as though maybe she hadn’t really known Abby like she thought she had. It felt like a betrayal of sorts, and she fully admitted it.
Abby thought about all the times they sat on each other’s beds and gossiped about boys. They’d fantasized about who would be their first, who they might marry, or someday – long into the future – have babies with. They practiced kissing their pillows, never each other. Maybe Chloe was jealous it wasn’t her that Abby fell in love with?
Chloe was adjusting to life at the University of Virginia. It was the first time she had been away from home longer than a one-week summer camp, and Abby got the distinct impression she was struggling. It wasn't that she came out and said "I have no friends," but there was definitely an undertone of loneliness. The bulk of her email rambled with gossip about their peers who had gone off to other institutions. She hadn’t been able to disengage from the high school world that was still playing on in her mind.
About Abby's ex-boyfriend Tyler, Chloe wrote, "Tyler is at UMD as you know and chose to s
tudy psychology instead of sociology so he wouldn't have to have your mom for a professor. I hear he broke up with Fiona, the mystery girl he brought to Senior Prom from another school district."
She went on to discuss Jonathan, her own ex-boyfriend and how she certainly didn't miss him at all, but he hated West Virginia because there was nothing to do there. Finally, she wrote about Bree, who, even though she’d gone to a different high school, was one of the few people Chloe knew at UVA.
Abby's heart jumped at the mere juxtaposition of the letters spelling out her name. She hadn't heard anything from her since their breakup in July and had thus become unaccustomed to seeing her name in print, although she had seen it and heard it in her mind a million times since then.
"Bree is dating an upperclassman football player, can you believe it? I guess her lezzy streak is definitely over. I had lunch with her the other day. We try to meet up once a week after our eleven o'clock Tuesday-Thursday classes since they're in the same building. She's got Finite Math and I have Calculus right across the hall from her.
“She looks really happy although I bet she's lost ten or fifteen pounds since school started. I thought college students were supposed to gain weight, not lose. But anyway, I told her she is starting to look a little too thin. Oh! And I forgot to tell you! She got her hair all chopped off. It's chin length and bobbed all the way around, slightly longer in the front than in the back. It makes her look so much older! But then I guess she’s a year older than us anyway."
Abby had been drawn to Bree's solid shape, her curvy but muscular physique. She played field hockey, and she was strong. Abby was so wiry and flat-chested, her hips and waist approximately the same circumference. Maybe she was drawn to body types that differed from her own. She enjoyed caressing Bree's supple curves, running her fingers through her golden waves and planting delicate kisses on her bronze skin.
She felt a pang in her ribcage as she imagined Bree’s once lush figure turned gaunt, her skin pallid and her hair shorn. She was trying as hard as she could to remove herself from the identity she'd established in high school. And maybe from her identity as Abby's girlfriend. She had been a lithe golden goddess, and now she’d turned into a typical co-ed, just blending into the crowd.
Abby wondered if she should do the same. Maybe it was time for her to grow up, embrace whoever it was she had decided to be, cut off her girly teenage hair, and stop wearing jeans and t-shirts all the time. Maybe it was time for her to move on from Abby Lynde, high school student... Maybe she should be Abigail Schumaker, taking her father's last name?
***
Sarah had gotten used to the injections. And she was beginning to get used to the recurring ultrasounds to monitor her progress. Rachel accompanied Sarah to many of the appointments since she was still staying at home with Amethyst. Sarah wasn't sure who was more excited for her to have a baby, her or Rachel. She was pretty certain it was the latter.
Rachel already had glorious plans in the works. "If you have a boy, then he can marry Amethyst someday." She laughed. "Wait, maybe I shouldn’t be presumptuous like that. Maybe Amethyst will be gay, I don’t know. So then I guess it doesn't matter if you have a boy or a girl. Just matters who they find themselves in love with. But no matter what, I hope they'll be best friends like we are!"
Sarah just shook her head and glanced over at the ultrasound technician, Janet, who was busy scanning Sarah's ovaries with a transvaginal transducer. "See what I have to deal with?" she sighed.
"I just assumed you two were a couple," Janet smiled. She was beginning to grow fond of their antics after so many appointments.
Rachel giggled, "Nope, we're both married to men. But I'd definitely have a baby with Sarah if we were single. She's the most amazing mom I know!"
Sarah felt a tear well up in her right eye. "That may be the sweetest thing you've ever said to me!"
The technician handed her a tissue. "All those hormones are making you weepy!" she laughed.
Dr. Kapoor burst into the room and grabbed the chart from the table next to the ultrasound machine.
"How are we doing here?" He studied the screen. "Wow, you've got some pretty fine ovaries! We're going to get a lot of beautiful eggs!"
"I don't think I've ever received so many maternal compliments in one sitting!" Sarah joked. "So things look good?"
"Absolutely," Dr. Kapoor confirmed. "We're going to do the hCG shot tonight and the retrieval 36 hours after that. You need to get that husband of yours in here. I'm sure your friend is a great person, but I don't think she can provide us with any swimmers....unless there is more to her than meets the eye!" He winked and grinned, impressed with his own joke.
Rachel practically fell out of her chair with laughter. "Sarah, Dr. Kapoor is a hoot. I can see why you like him so much!"
"Great, I'm relieved," Sarah said to Dr. Kapoor. The nurse came in with the hCG shot prescription, some instructions for James, and two appointment cards. "You can both be here at 9 and we’ll have him do his thing and then we can do your thing! After that we’ll do our thing.” She winked too. This is the winking-est doctor’s office on the East coast, Sarah mused. “So we’ll see you on Wednesday then, okay?”
Sarah nodded and accepted the pile of cards and slips. It was a good thing she was taking this whole procedure one day at a time. If she considered every step together, she thought her head might explode.
Sarah redressed and met Rachel in the hallway. "So did you guys talk about names yet?" she asked, her face glowing with anticipation.
Sarah shook her head. "Can I just get knocked up first? Then we'll talk about names and nursery themes and all that, okay?"
"Hmmph," Rachel retorted. "All those hormones are making you bitchy too!"
***
Sarah found James in their bedroom packing a duffel bag when she arrived home from her appointment. He barely looked up, even though she stood a mere two feet behind him for several seconds waiting for him to turn around. “Where are you going?” she finally asked. When he got into one of his preoccupied moods, it took a lot to distract him. She threw her arms around his waist and squeezed herself against his backside.
“Yeah, I’ve gotta go down to Fort Bragg on some Army business. I’ll be gone a few days. I’m sorry for the short notice, but I just found out this morning.”
Sarah felt a lump growing in her throat. She still had the instruction list and appointment card in her hand from the doctor’s office. “You can’t go now! I need you here…for the sample.”
He didn’t even turn around. “Well, the U.S. Army doesn’t really care if we’re trying to have a baby. We’ll have to postpone till I get back.”
A month of appointments, injections, ultrasounds, research, hormonal mood swings, driving, blood draws, and more mood swings flashed before Sarah’s eyes. It was all too much. She wasn’t sure what was more in danger of exploding: her head or her chest. She felt like a million daggers were being thrown at her and most of them were right on target. Slowly sinking to the floor, she let the appointment cards and printed instructions slip from her hands as she waited for the tears to catch up with her other organs’ state of devastation.
I can’t believe…after all I’ve gone through… He’s done nothing so far. He won’t even give me the injections. My mother had to come over and help me! He only has one tiny responsibility in this mess and now he can’t even do that! Her head was spinning with furious, resentful thoughts.
“Sarah?” He finally turned, sat on the bed facing her, and looked down at her in a pile at his feet. Deep, violent sobs suddenly ripped through her body as she convulsed, falling over into a fetal position. She was crying so hard that she couldn’t speak.
“I’m sorry, baby,” he apologized. “There’s nothing I can do. I won’t be gone that long.”
“It’ll be too late,” she finally managed between wails. “My ovaries are ready now. I was supposed to do the trigger shot tonight and retrieval on Wednesday. It’ll be too late if we wait any longer.”
“We’ll have to try again next month,” James said, patting her on her leg.
Sarah jumped to her feet as though she had not just been gravely wounded. “Don’t pull that patronizing bullshit with me,” she seethed. Her whole body was shaking with rage. She couldn’t remember feeling this angry since the night she confronted Garrett when he’d lied to her about having safe sex with his other partners. And we all know how that night ended, she thought. After making it through several performances playing opposite him in Chess, Sarah never spoke to Garrett Stone again.
“What do you want me to do?” he demanded, defensiveness settling over him like a storm cloud, opaque and gray.
"You have no fucking clue, do you?" Sarah screamed. "I just went through a month of hell so that YOU can have a baby, and now you're not even going to do your piddly part of jerking off into a cup? I'm really tired of the Army deciding the parameters of our marriage. I will tell you this: I'm not doing this again if I have to go through all the injections and bullshit, just so you can back out at the last fucking minute. I'm not doing it again unless you absolutely promise me you're going to finish what we started. And your being so fucking cold and patronizing about the whole thing is making it a million times worse."
James placed his hands squarely on his wife's shoulders. "Look, I get it, you're angry. But there is nothing I can do about this, okay? If Uncle Sam says I have to go, I have to go. Do you think I want to? Do you think I am trying to make you mad?"
The Mountains Trilogy (Boxed Set) Page 73
