Page 53 of The Facilitator: Part 3
We showered and with damp hair climbed under the sheet. The windows were open and the sound of the sea floated into the room. I wrapped an arm around my wife and pulled her to lay on top of me. I loved the feelof her body against mine. I kissed her slowly, deeply, wanting to steal the moan that burbled in her chest. When I was done kissing her, I made love to her.
We fell asleep after, tangled in the sheets and with a soft breeze cooling down our bodies.
It was another phone call that had me awake. Alex had decided to press charges against Addison for theft, she had called my cell for help, I imagined. I didn’t answer it. I muted the sound and placed the cell back on the nightstand. I snuggled in to my wife and dozed for another hour.
Although Daniel’s death was recorded as suicide, because of the bad history between us all, I had to go the police station with Alex and we were reinterviewed alone. The gun had come up as stolen and we were asked if we knew the owner, Grant Pearson. I’d never heard the name, neither had Alex. Silently, I made a mental note to ask my father’s partner, Sandra.
Lauren had spent each morning with Gabriella, getting her fill of her godson, so she told me. One afternoon, we visited my sister, it was the only day she could fit us in, she was so busy. I loved that she was.
“We should find a chemist,” Lauren said.
“Sure, now?”
“That would be good,” she said, it took me a minute to figure out why.
“Ah, right,” I said, and no matter how hard, I couldn’t muster the same enthusiasm I had before. I tried not to show that, of course.
I headed into the small town and to a pharmacy. While I waited in the car, Lauren ran in. She came back with a small paper bag. We didn’t speak about what the bag contained but I followed Lauren to the bathroom. She peed on the stick and then we waited in the bedroom. I didn’t need to see it to know the result. She gave me a small smile and then she sighed.
“It’s okay, baby,” I said when I saw her swallow hard and her eyes filled with tears.
I sat on the bed next to her and pulled her into my side.
“What am I doing wrong?” she whispered.
“Nothing, it’s not you, it’s me,” I replied. Her statement confused me.
“Not anymore. Those were fertilized eggs but they’re not…taking,” she said.
“We knew the chances were slim,” I said quietly. I hated to see her upset, even though I was torn up inside myself.
“Those were the last two,” she whispered.
“We can make more,” I replied.
We fell silent for a while. It was highly unlikely wecouldmake more. I remember Sam telling me that if three rounds hadn’t resulted in a pregnancy then we’d need to look at alternatives. I wasn’t sure what those were until we met with the fertility clinic when we returned.
“Come on, let’s take a walk,” I suggested.
“I invited Gabriella and Alex over for dinner,” she said.
“That would be nice,” I replied. Hopefully, that would cheer us up some.
Lauren and I walked along the beach; we were quiet, contemplating, and thoughtful. I held her hand in mine and when we returned, we sat on the sand and listened to the sea.
“It’s cleansing, isn’t it?” I said, breathing in deeply. Lauren nodded.
She sat in front of me and I wrapped my arms around her. I rested my chin on her shoulder.
“We’ll adopt,” I said. “We’ll love that child because we’ve gone through all this and that makes the child even more special.”
She turned her head and gave me a small smile. “I love you,” she said. I kissed her temple.
“When we get home, we’ll speak to a few agencies and see what the procedure is,” I said.
“I think you go to your local council so we ought to figure out where we’re going to live, if we still want tomove,” she said. Her voice held the tiniest amount of enthusiasm, but it was there. I tightened my hold on her.
“Unless we consider adopting from abroad, or here, even?” I added.
