Artificial Insemination [2/2]

It had been five days since Seth's Uber away from Subspace. The first three days of silence from him made me think it was me he wasn't talking to, but when I asked Ethan he hadn't heard from him either.

"I don't understand why he has to be this way," I mumbled, staring out the window of Ethan's jeep.

We were parked outside the hospital where the insemination was going to happen. I should be thinking and worrying about that when instead my thoughts flocked to Seth.

Ethan sighed. "He'll come around."

"Before you leave? You leave in seven days, Ethan. And what am I gonna do without you and him? You guys said you would help me through this and I--"

"Seth will come around and I'm going to be a phone call away," Ethan said, frowning as he glanced over at me. "Are you having second thoughts because I'm leaving?"

I shook my head. "No. Anna and Maddox are too excited. They've been there every step of the way too."

"It's not about Anna and Maddox if you're having second thoughts. It's your body. If for a second you think that you can't do this, then don't."

"I know you both aren't happy about this, but I've made up my mind."

Ethan continued looking forward, his knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel. "They can adopt. There are millions of kids all over the world just waiting for a couple like them."

I reached over and pulled Ethan into a hug. "I'm decided, but Maddox did say that if this insemination doesn't stick, he doesn't want to put Anna through the wringer anymore. If this doesn't work, then they will adopt."

"And you get to keep the money?"

"Yes, the first part of it, but I have a good feeling. The doctor says I'm very healthy and he doesn't foresee any problems." I glanced at the clock. "I better get in there."

"Do you want me to go in with you?"

I shook my head, reaching for the door. "No, that's okay. You need to pack. Anna and Maddox will be here and then we're going to dinner afterward. If it doesn't take too long I might make it back on time for some a la Cassie dessert!" I said, wiggling my eyes at him.

Ethan snorted. "What exactly is that since we can't have sex anymore?"

"Well, you'll have to wait and see!" I said, getting out of the car and slamming the door.

I waved at him once more and turned towards the hospital. After Subspace the situation with Seth had made both of us cranky, so it helped with my 'no intercourse' rule after I stopped taking birth control.

"Okay Cassie," I whispered to myself, "Today is the day you might make someone's dream come true."

Of course, we wouldn't know for a couple of weeks if the insemination took, but it was worth a dinner celebration with the expecting parents after the appointment.

The minute I walked in, Anna was there, kissing me on either cheek. "Are you nervous?" she asked.

"Are you?"

Her shoulders slumped. "Like you wouldn't believe. Maddox had to run to the restroom, but the doctor said whenever we're ready. They also want to talk again on the matter that you've never carried a child and to reiterate that it is risky. I understand most cases the surrogate has had a child, so of course, everyone has to be sure."

"If you guys are willing to take the risk, then I am too! I've told you... of course, you've been through so much already. I would understand if you wanted someone who had already had a successful pregnancy."

Anna shook her head. "It's you. It's hard for Maddox to get along with people and the two of us, when we saw you, something just clicked."

"But what if--"

Anna shushed me with a finger to her lips. "We told you. If it doesn't take we can try again with you, or we'll adopt."

The insemination was quicker than I thought. Afterward, Anna and Maddox took me to a seafood restaurant where we gorged on lobsters, snow crab legs, and shrimp for two hours. We parted at the two and half-hour mark when they dropped me off at Ethan's apartment.

"Have a good night, sweetie!" Anna called out.

"You too! You both are gonna be great parents!" I added with a subtle nod to Maddox who beamed at me.

I patted my full stomach but paused, rubbing over the pouch that bulged from being well fed. "Are you in there?" I stopped and rolled my eyes, snorting. "Well, if you are, you're gonna be a lucky kid!"

"He sure is," Seth said walking up behind me.

I yelped and turned, slapping him on the shoulder. "Hey! You can't just disappear and then sneak up on me in a dark garage next to an elevator!"

Seth laughed cautiously, bouncing away from my outstretched arm. He rubbed his shoulder and bowed his head. "That was specific."

"It was a specific scare!"

"I'm sorry." He paused, rubbing the back of his neck. The light glow from a lamp post let me see the bags under his eyes. None of us had had a lot of sleep lately. "About... well, everything."

Folding my arms around my midriff, I stepped into the elevator and leaned against the side to stare at him. "It's okay. I get it. Big changes happening and we've all been so busy with the end of the year school and work. I understand. Ethan does too."

I frowned as Seth's jaw clenched and his fists tightened on either side. "Seth, I hope you aren't coming over to attack him about his choice. It's a tough program to get into, the fact that they asked him is groundbreaking. Read the letter! I'm sure this time it's not just lying casually by the door either."

"I'm not going to attack, but I'm calm enough that we can talk about what we're going to do."

The churning feeling in my stomach at the way he said that made me worried. "What do you mean what we're gonna do? I mean, we'll wait for him to come back, right?"

The silence that followed the elevator ride up almost had me in tears, but the door dinged open showing Ethan's neighbor scolded her daughter for playing on the stairs.

"Alicia, I've told you not to play with your skates on the stairs! You could fall and hurt yourself or someone else!"

"Don't be silly Mom, no one takes the stairs when we have an elevator!"

The watering in my eyes left as I chuckled at Alicia's reasoning. I definitely wasn't going to use the stairs. I was way too lazy to take all those flights.

We walked into Ethan's apartment without knocking, but Seth remained quiet as I called out to Ethan letting him know 'we' were here.

"Subtle, Cass!" Seth mumbled, his forehead wrinkling from his deep frown.

"I had to prepare him somehow. I know you didn't call! And you never answered me. We'll wait for him to come back, right?"

Seth shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. It's a long time. Life can change so quickly and long distance makes it more difficult."

"But-but for the right person, you wait. I mean," I licked my bottom lip and shoved my hands into my jean pockets, "for the right person, you wait. And you'll wait as long as you have to."

"And what if that person changes and you're waiting for nothing?"

Ethan shuffled quietly in. "Love is nothing to scoff at. I love you, you love me, we love Cassie. Is that not enough for you to give me this time to advance my career? I would give you the same courtesy, and you know I would. So are you going to?"

"Am I going to what?" Seth snapped.

"Are you going to wait for me? Am I worth it to you?" Ethan said back in the same octave Seth had snapped. Ethan's face was turning red in anger and Seth didn't look like he was going to budge.

I gasped and pushed between them. "Of course you're worth it, Ethan. Seth isn't saying that he's--"

Seth slapped a hand on the counter. The smack echoed in the kitchen and I shrank back. "I can talk for myself! Can't you just stop getting between us? I know it's what you're good at, but for once, let us handle this!"

Ethan pushed Seth away from me. "Don't you talk to her that way!" Ethan paused, sniffing near Seth's mouth. "Jesus, have you been drinking? Are you drunk?"

"I had a few, but I'm not drunk."

"Drunk enough to say some bullshit you don't mean."

I bowed my head. "I always thought your tongue was looser when you're drunk and you say what you truly mean. I-I really didn't know you felt that way about me. I'm sorry. I thought we'd tackled that hurdle early on. If you need me to back off--"

Seth swore viciously. "That's not what I meant. I'm sorry. I'm angry and I--I truly don't feel that way about you, Cassie!" With his shoulders sagging he turned towards me and tucked his fingers into the belt hole loops of my jeans. "I like having you between us," he finished with his lips against mine.

I let him kiss me, but I didn't return the kiss.

"Cass," he started, trying to coax a response from me. "I'm upset. I'm upset because my life will suck without Ethan."

"Mine too," I whispered, ignoring the fact that he didn't include me in that statement.

"What happens when Ethan's out of the picture for you? You wanted him, not me. That's how we started. If he goes, what's to keep you from leaving too?" He finished with a tremble in his voice and his hands clutching either side of my face.

"Is that what you think is going to happen? I leave and Cassie loses interest in you and what we three have?"

Seth kept his watery eyes on me. "It's part of it. Neither of you can deny it's true. I was a packaged deal with Ethan. If you wanted him, you had to have me. You settled."

"I did not settle!" I growled. "You're crazy!"

"Don't call me crazy, it's such a dismissive term," he whispered against my lips with a half-hearted smile.

"I love you. I love you both and if I can have you both, then I will be stingy. I'm going to wait for Ethan, but at least I'll have you here with me, Seth. Ethan won't have either of us, but we're all going to wait and be patient because that's what people do when they're in love."

Seth's hands dropped from my face to wrap around my waist. He bowed his head into my shoulder. "And how many times have you been in love, miss expert."

"Twice, and I'm still in love with them."

I felt his head nod against me and the warmth of this breath spread through my shirt as he exhaled. "So, we're gonna do this?" he asked.

Ethan took a step forward so that Seth and my side were facing his front and he wrapped his arms around both of us. "It was never a question for me. I was always in for the long haul. For both of you," Ethan said, kissing the side of Seth's next and then doing the same to mine.

"Me too," I said without hesitation.

Seth laughed. "So I'm the odd one out?"

"You've always been an odd one, but you fit with us. So we'll take the good and even the bad if you will," Ethan said.

"Okay," Seth paused and lifted his head from my shoulder. "Even the bad?"

"Especially the bad," I said back, with a large smile. I leaned forward, capturing his lips, the sting from his earlier words washing away at the fear of losing slipping from his eyes.

We laughed for a while, but we talked all night and into the early morning about the opportunity Ethan was being given, about my insemination, about how Seth was going to try his best to be there for me, but most importantly we talked about life. Our life and how we were going to spend it together.

Ethan clutched my hand, Seth held the other and just as I was about to slip into sleep Ethan whispered, "You guys should live together while I'm gone. In my apartment, so when you're both together you'll have a bit of me too, at least until I come back."

Seth grunted in agreement. The warm feeling of belonging and the idea of living together with Seth lulled me to sleep. Everything was right and I've never been happier.

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The 3rd draft of this story is now finished. Any chapters after will be 2nd draft material! There is a sequel in the works called C for Cherry! If you'd like more info about the sequel you can view it on Wattpad under that name! Thank you!