Certainly, Sean would have been a factor, but still, he’d only come into the picture, what, five, six years before? She’d had all her twenties and early thirties to make something happen.
“If I choose to meet the child at some point, I want you to let me do so.”
I only wanted the option. This was no guarantee that I would at some point.
“Also, I want to be listed on the child’s birth certificate as the father, but of course I’ll agree to withdraw parental rights.”
“So…”
“So I won’t be the father, but I want the option to meet the kid or if the kid wants to meet me one day it can.”
It sounded easy enough in my head. That it confused Emily wasn’t exactly encouraging, but, hey, a contract was a contract, it would be up to lawyers to interpret it if things got messy and hairy.
“OK…”
“And once the child is born and is healthy, you have to agree that there will be no more children born from my sample. I don’t want my sperm frozen and have two dozen little Burkes running around this city.”
“Oh, that’s easy. I only want one child as well.”
Finally, we agree on something without hesitation.
“That’s it?”
“Yeah, I suppose so,” I said.
This felt like it was supposed to be harder than that. For how Emily was last night, I had fully anticipated that she’d want a fucking football team of kids. But for her to agree so easily…it almost felt cheap.
Life never was this easy. There were always complications along the way. But shit, four weeks of just being around, plus one jack-off session, and I’d get five million and a collector’s car? What wasn’t to like?
“OK, good,” she said, almost sounding relieved that the supposed interrogation of sorts was over. “I’ll get my lawyer to draft papers regarding the exact wording of the parental agreement. You, of course, will get the chance to review and make any changes you want, and then…we’ll go from there.”
“Good,” I said, standing up.
Emily raised an eyebrow at me.
“Not even going to stay for breakfast?”
“I’m not a big breakfast guy.”
“Suit yourself,” Emily said. “Thank you, Burke. It’s really appreciated.”
She came over and hugged me. I didn’t expect that. I really didn’t like unexpected touch.
But…
It felt good. Her body felt good, and pressing up against it felt amazing. A part of me yearned to keep this feeling as long as I could, to hold on to it.
But before I let myself get too sappy and too corny, I pulled back.
“Text me whenever the appointment is set up,” I said, leaving without another word.
What had my life come to that I was now jacking off for women to have my genetic offspring? What did it say that I had agreed to it?
And moreover, what did it say that I was kind of oddly excited about having a mini-me in the world?
I normally wasn’t a reflective guy, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about all of this. But it was undeniable that by the time I exited the building, leaving without anyone at the front desk the wiser, I was feeling more hopeful than I was concerned.
Chapter 7: Emily
Holy shit.
Holy shit!
Holy shit!!!!!!
I was beside myself, giggling and laughing. Finally! Finally, I would have a child! And it would come from a man who I knew and my child could know one day.
In an ideal world I would have preferred to have conceived the old-fashioned way.
But you know what? I was finally getting the chance to have a child. I wasn’t about to argue with the circumstances of it. I was just going to accept it and embrace it for the fact that it had come at all!
I didn’t even know what to do with myself. It was not even noon on this Saturday, and it already felt like my entire weekend had just been made. I could do no wrong and had no fear about the future. Sure, being a single mom would have its challenges, and I’d have moments wishing for a more traditional family. But…
It was agreed to. Everything else was just a formality. A voice in my head said, “Nothing is finalized until pen is put to paper,” but I ignored that voice. My bliss was far too great for me to be concerned with anything else right now.
I texted my doctor with trembling hands, “He agreed! We’ll be in touch soon!” I hit send and then found myself writing even more. “Perfect timing with my ovulation cycle! We should be able to start right away!” Again, I hit send.
And again, once more, I found myself unable to stop writing.
“So excited!!!!”
I made myself put the phone down before the doctor would get annoyed at how much I was blowing up her phone. As good as Dr. Needham was, she probably had better things to do than to calm down patients who were as crazy and mad for a baby as I was.
But that did nothing to diminish how good I felt about everything. No, it wasn’t perfect, but it was far better than having no child. I found myself unable to contain my cheer and excitement; I had to tell someone!
And who better to tell than my best friend, the woman who had only just started her journey with her family and her new man? No one, that was for sure. Definitely not my mother—I think the idea of me
