The Husband (6 page)

"I haven't slept all night, Doris. I've given this whole thing a lot of thought and have been struggling with the knowledge that I'm the reason we can't get pregnant. I did a lot of research on my condition on the internet last night, and there really isn't anything we can do about my problem."

"I know there isn't anything we can do. We can always adopt though, honey. This isn't the end of the world."

"When we got married, I promised you I would give you anything you could ever want. You've wanted a baby since we were married, and a baby is the one thing I can't give you. Yes, we can adopt, but you won't have the actual experience of giving birth, of bringing life into this world, which you've wanted for so long. I'm so hurt by this realization," Jeff said, tearing up.

Doris got up and went over to her husband and sat in his lap. She put her arms around his neck and hugged him.

"Honey, I'll be all right," Doris said. "The most important thing in any marriage is that we love one another. That hasn't changed for me. Has there been a change for you?"

"No, not in the least. Why would my problem change my love for you?" Jeff replied.

"Exactly. Now since there isn't any way for a pregnancy to occur, let's move on from the subject," Doris said.

She went to get up, but Jeff held onto her. He suddenly had a distant look in his eyes, and Doris finally asked, "Jeff, are you alright? Are you losing it over this situation?"

"I just had an idea, but I don't know how you'll feel about what I've come up with. I may not be able to give you a baby, but what about a sperm donor?" he asked.

"A donor? Oh, I don't know about that. The idea of going into a doctor's office and getting some stranger's sperm and putting the stuff in me is a little yucky for me."

"What if someone we know, and practically love as family, donates?"

"Family? Who?"

"Adam. He's good looking, intelligent, has a good personality and great body from what I can tell. We'll need to talk to him about family medical history, including mental history, but this is a possible solution, don't cha think?"

Doris felt stunned. In the first place, she had never considered having a child using another man's sperm. But to use Adam's?

"Are you serious?" she asked.

"Yes."

"But if being gay is genetic like medicine believes, we run a good chance of having a gay child. Have you considered that?"

"Doris, I would like my child to be heterosexual like us, but if we had a baby who grew up to be gay, then so be it. The important thing is that he or she is healthy. A gay child is really of no concern to me. Are you concerned?"

"No, but men usually don't take a gay son or daughter very well, especially a son. This would be your child even if Adam donated his sperm. Are you sure about this?"

"Absolutely. Now, from what I understand, there is no way in hell Adam could deliver the goods the old fashioned way, we'd have to do this in a clinic if Adam agrees. 'Course, even if he could get an erection for a woman, I couldn't let another man fuck you."

"Artificial insemination is the only way I'd agree to the impregnation anyway. Let's sleep on the idea, and we'll talk again in the morning. This is a major decision, plus there are rights Adam would or would not have to take into consideration. He would be the biological father. Would that give him rights?"

"Good question. While they're out, I'll call our attorney and see what he says."

As Jeff headed down to his office, Doris sat at the table and thought about two things: having a baby and having a baby using someone's sperm other than Jeff's. Could she deal with the reality of such knowledge?

She also felt concern for who they were going to ask to be the donor. How would Adam feel about knowing the baby would be his as well? Could he walk away and never look back? What would Craig have to say?

As she cleaned up from breakfast, Jeff returned to the kitchen.

"Well, he would have certain parental rights, which he would have to sign away with the court. The lawyer says he can draw up paperwork, which would make the situation pretty tight for us, but there is always a chance that should he try and revoke the agreement, we might have a situation on our hands."

"Well, let's not speculate. Let's talk to both Adam and Craig tomorrow since Craig will have something to say about his partner being involved in this. Again, I wanna sleep on this whole thing tonight. One thing though… We do not tell our parents about this, understood?"

"Yes, dear."

* * * *

As Craig sat in the waiting room, Adam filled out paperwork in an office, his office to be, and met people he hadn't already met. He received the address of a medical clinic where he had to go and give urine for the drug test, and a copy of the company personnel handbook.

As they were driving to the clinic, Adam shouted out, "Hot damn!"

"Oh my God, you just scared the shit outta me. What's up?" a perplexed Craig asked.

"Well, the manual states in here the company has a same sex benefits clause that says if we get married here in New York, you can get all the benefits that my wife would ordinarily get. They even refer to you as a husband. This means you don't have to worry about getting a job that has medical benefits because I can put you on mine. The book also says coverage is effective for both of us thirty days after I start. This is wonderful!"

"Well, this is good. You're going to work for a company that, at least on paper, is civilized and believes in equality. This looks like the place here," Craig said as he pulled into a parking lot for a group of low-rise buildings. The name Horizon Medical had been emblazoned upon one of the buildings, and Adam headed in to take care of that part of his employment process.

By the time they arrived back at the house, the clock on the cherry sideboard struck twelve-thirty.
Instead of finding an air of tension in the house, the guys were relieved to find something close to normalcy. They grabbed a quick sandwich, and Craig took the newspaper they'd got while out and began to go through want ads as Adam headed to the downstairs office. As he got near the door, he heard Jeff on the phone with a client, and the conversation sounded like he had just received a big buy order for first thing Monday morning when the markets opened.

He slid into his seat quietly so as to not break Jeff's train of thought and turned on the computer to check e-mails. When he opened his Hotmail account, he found a rejection e-mail from the other company he had applied to and found himself relieved the news wasn't a crushing blow. He had a job now and actually got the one he had hoped for, the one that paid the most.

The other e-mails were from friends and his old employer in Houston advising him they had gotten a reference call from the company that hired him in New York. Adam pulled over the paperwork he had brought home with him and had begun to fill out the last of the forms as Jeff hung up.

"How'd the processing go?" Jeff asked.

"Good. Filled out the paperwork they needed right away for police checks and things like that, brought home the rest, which I'm working on now, and pissed in a cup so they can tell if I'm a druggie. So all and all, a good morning. Did you just get a big buy order?"

"Yep. My commission on the sale should be about a grand. I hope the purchase for the client works out well for him since he's one of my more important ones. Listen, I wasn't going to bring this up until tomorrow, but the topic can't wait. Close the door please."

Suddenly worried now they might have to leave because of what happened the night before, Adam got up and pulled the office door closed and sat back down. He swiveled in his chair and faced Jeff.

"Unless you're gonna ask me to get down on my knees and finally blow you, I don't think this is good news coming," Adam said in an attempt to make light of the situation.

Jeff let out a loud laugh and then looked serious. "Sorry to disappoint you, but, no, I'm not going to ask for a blowjob. Look, I know you guys said you went right to sleep last night, but I know you had to have heard what went on between Doris and me. We were loud, and I lost control of my volume, and I began yelling. An honest answer would help me to continue if you would tell me the truth. Did you hear us?"

"Yes, we couldn't help but hear your conversation even though we tried not to listen. I'm sorry, Jeff. I can only imagine how tough this is on you and Doris, but especially you."

"Thank you, I appreciate your concern. I checked with my doctor this morning and did additional research, and there isn't any way to fix what's wrong with me. I've come up with an alternative plan that I want to present to you for consideration."

"Okay, you've got my attention. What's the plan and how do I, of all people, become involved?" Adam asked with a puzzled look.

"Adam, we're gonna ask you to consider being a sperm donor so Doris can get pregnant and have the child she and I have always wanted. The entire process would cost you absolutely nothing, and I'd even be willing to pay you five thousand dollars for going through with it. Whaddya think?"

Adam's jaw dropped. Had he heard what he thought he'd heard?

"Excuse me, but did you just ask me to be the sperm half of your baby?"

"Yes, that would be boiling the request right down to the basics," Jeff replied tensely.

Adam got up from the chair and walked around the limited space in the office. "This would have been a lot easier if you had just asked me to blow you," Adam said with a laugh. "Okay, first of all, I won't take any money if I do this. Money's an insult. We're friends, and you've more than come through for both me and Craig in our hour of need. To think you'd have to pay me for something I do myself almost four times a week is silly. Second, I'll have to talk to Craig about what you're asking, although I reserve the final decision to be mine alone."

Adam sat back down with a heavy sigh, ran his hands through his hair, and looked at Jeff.

"You're very kind to refuse my cash offer. Look, I know how attractive you think I am, and I know I turn you on a lot. I also know you'd give anything to be able to give me a blowjob. How about I do let you give me a blowjob as a thank you for helping my wife and I have a baby?"

Stunned, Adam sat back and looked at his friend.

"What? You gonna just whip the monster out right here and let me go to town sucking away on your big cock? No, Jeff, under no circumstances would I accept your offer. You are entirely straight. We're not doing a long stretch in prison where the rules change nor are we stranded on a desert island. Under no circumstances would I allow you to do something against your nature in exchange for me helping you two out. Forget this idea as much as the money. I'll talk to Craig, and then the four of us should sit down and discuss this."

"Thank you for being such a good friend, Adam. I thought for sure you'd take me up on the blowjob offer as a thank you."

"Yes, Jeff, you know I'd love to give you head, but not under these circumstances. Hell that would mean your baby would be conceived on the basis of a blowjob! No, this is out of the question. If I do this, I do this for friendship, not for any personal gain of any kind. Okay?" Adam said, almost hurt.

"I understand." Jeff got up and pulled Adam out of his seat and wrapped his well-muscled arms around him, hugging him tightly. "I love you for this Adam. Please, don't ever tell anyone about either of my offers to you just now or, if we go through with this, the fact that you are the father of my baby. As far as the world is concerned, I want people to believe I finally got Doris pregnant."

"I wouldn't have this any other way, Jeff. Now, I'm gonna go talk to Craig in the bedroom, and then, if he has no problems, we can all talk about your idea after dinner. Is that okay?"

"Yep, that'll work. I better go tell Doris we've talked. I had agreed to wait until tomorrow, but just couldn't."

When they walked up the steps, Adam got Craig and they headed up to the bedroom while Jeff went out on the back deck where Doris sat in the sun.

"What? You're horny and wanna get some this time of the day?" Craig asked. "Only sex can possibly make you pull me into the bedroom in the middle of the afternoon."

"Honey, I'm not quite sure how to tell you this, but our little talk here has to do with last night. You know the problem Jeff and Doris have, right?" Adam asked.

"Yeah, Jeff's shooting blanks and Doris can't get pregnant because of his condition."

"Right. Well, Jeff just asked me if I would donate sperm to Doris so she could get pregnant."

"What? Really? What did you say?" Craig asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I told him I'd have to talk to you first and think about the whole concept a little more. My initial reaction is to say yes."

"You don't have to actually sleep with her, right?"

"Of course not, silly," Adam said. "I couldn't do that anyway. I'd have to do the old jerk-off into a cup at a clinic and then the specimen gets spirited away to be inserted into the mother-to-be and hopefully conception results."

"This is gonna be weird, Adam. You're gonna know you're the father and not Jeff. Have you thought about living with this knowledge?"

"Yes and no one must ever know Jeff's not the father. We have to take this secret to our graves, agreed?"

Craig sat there thinking about the whole thing. Then his face lit up like he had just figured out a fuel alternative to oil or something.

"What? I know that look," Adam said nervously.

"Why can't we both donate sperm? You know, mix the sperm together and then we won't know which of us the father is. Wouldn't both of us being donors make the process a little easier on everyone instead of
knowing
you're the father?"

"I don't know a whole lot about this stuff. Is there a possibility our sperm would somehow combine together and they'd get a baby who looks really weird or something?" Adam asked.

"Where were you in sex ed during school? Damn! No, only one wiggler will make it through to the goal. 'Course there could be something like twins, but the sperm will be one of our sperm, not a combo."