The accumulation of anticipation every day for the past month now resulted in nothing more than another apprehensive waiting game. The last few weeks had been torturous. It seemed the daytime hours ticked by slowly in expectation of their nightly phone call to Sophia. Avery dropped by La Bella Luna every evening after work. Kane always stopped whatever he was doing and they retreated back to his office to check in on her progress. As each day passed and the one month mark closed in, the three of them grew cautiously excited. Kane hid the eagerness clawing at his gut. He had secretly grown to crave the idea of having a little baby to complete their family.
For Sophia, with her scholarly and professional mind, she'd wanted to explore and participate in this newfound territory of fertility. She was a true scientist, through and through. Her excitement over being a donor, knowing firsthand with real time experience how the pregnancy played out, seemed a dream come true for her. She was documenting and journaling everything for the American Medical Association. It seemed they were all impatient to get this ball rolling. For Kane, they were a match made in heaven.
The interesting thing was the more Kane spoke to Sophia, the more he liked her, and that helped solidify everything for him. They had known each other for almost a year now. The connection he felt with her was the root of why he allowed himself to secretly hope they could pull this off. In his mind, he couldn't have asked for a better surrogate. She fit them perfectly, while being genuinely and completely at ease with his and Avery's relationship. Avery was taken with her as well, or so he'd said many times over the past months.
All of them had become fast friends, even her husband, Thomas, sometimes got in on the nightly phone calls.
This wasn't Sophia's first pregnancy. She was happily married with two children of her own. She specialized in fertility treatments in her medical practice. When they all met for the first time, Avery thought Sophia would be their physician. She was young, progressive, and had just turned thirty. She had studied under the top physicians and researchers in the field. But as their first meeting progressed, it became clear the scientist in her wanted to be more involved, and after the initial tests were run, she became both their surrogate and egg donor. She worked closely with Dr. Palmer in every aspect of her care.
Both personally and professionally, Kane knew Sophia understood the signs of pregnancy, but she would always fall just short of saying those confirming words. She'd stop herself, and no matter how hard Avery tried to talk around her to get her to reveal her suspicions aloud, she never would. Instead, she'd laugh at him, tease Avery about being an excellent prosecutor, and say she didn't want to jinx them. Those moments were the true reason Kane's heart had a little more hope than his brain would allow him to admit to.
He never told Avery, but he listened intently to how she spoke. He learned everything he could about her, trying hard to digest how his children might turn out. She was fun, smart, easy to speak to, and Kane grew to love the idea his babies might share in her personality. Kane could even see that if things were different between them all, she would have made an excellent wife to Avery before he came into the picture and botched up his political career. She matched him on every level, from her tall, sunny blonde looks, to her dynamic wit and charm. They were lucky to have such a compelling woman as his and Avery's child's biological mother.
Lost in thought, Kane startled as the physician's office door opened suddenly. Dr. Palmer entered with Sophia right on his heels. They were both in lab coats, carrying on a deep discussion. Neither paid any attention to him or Avery. Avery came immediately to stand behind Kane's chair, resting his hands on his shoulders and squeezing. He used his thumb to lift Kane's chin, guiding his head up, and back until he looked into his eyes. Avery bent forward and whispered in his ear, "No matter what the test shows, we'll work through this. I love you. This will happen for us."
Kane tried for a reassuring smile, but his anxiety levels were too high, and the narrowing of Avery's eyes told Kane he wasn't buying it. Instead of letting the moment linger and having Avery focus just on him, he cut his eyes back to the doctors.
"Gentlemen, I'm sorry this has taken so long. Dr. Richardson wanted to be here when I shared the news. I won't draw this out. We have a viable pregnancy," Dr. Palmer said in a matter-of-fact tone, like he hadn't just changed their entire world with those five small words. Although his demeanor never changed, Sophia's did. As she stood right beside him, she broke out in a big grin and threw her arms in the air. Avery was around Kane's chair, dragging him up as the room busted out in handshakes and hugs all around. Kane couldn't stop his tears as he was wrapped in a solidly tight three-way hug, sandwiched between Sophia and Avery. He wasn't alone in his emotions though, Sophia was in full blown crying mode.
"The first trimester is already a concern before you factor any of the unknown complications that may arise from this type of a procedure. We need to manage our excitement levels and keep a good eye on Dr. Richardson," Dr. Palmer advised in a somewhat fatherly manner while standing on the outside of their embrace.
"But it worked!" Kane declared, reaffirming the obvious. Avery tugged Kane closer. He was beyond happy as he tightened his hold. He gave Avery a quick peck, closing his eyes as he wrapped his arms tighter around him. Their world was about to change, and he couldn't wait for the next chapter to begin.