Chapter 9

“Kendi, would you say that again please?”

“They said that they are so impressed with the kind of guy you are that they think you would be the perfect father for their babies.”

“Their babies?”

“Yes. They are both at a time of their lives when they want to have babies. They have been looking for the right guy and they think that they have found him.”

“Kendi, are they nuts?”

“No. They are desperate. They want babies and haven’t found the right guy.”

“OK, so what are you telling me?”

“That they want to have your babies.”

“Kendi! We just went through a whole load of shit because we thought another man had knocked you up. And now you come and tell me that two women want me to father their kids. Really? You want me to have sex with two women?”

“WHAT? NO!”

“OK, let’s start from scratch. The doctors each want to have a baby. Right?”

“Right.”

“They want me to be the father. Right?”

“Yes.”

“Do they want me to be the sperm donor, or the daddy?”

“Oh. I didn’t ask about that.”

“Well, don’t you think that is a good thing to ask? Do they expect me to be a part of their family? Am I going to be ‘Daddy’ to these kids or Uncle Mick?”

“I need to know that.”

“YOU need to know that? Hell, I need to know that,” I said.

“Then after all of that, how do we make the baby? Do we do it the old-fashioned way or differently?”

“I don’t want you sleeping with another woman. Ever.”

“OK. Kendi, get on the phone and see if you can get some answers. I won’t be able to sleep tonight if I don’t have answers.”

Kendi went to the living kitchen and got her phone. She called Donna and after a few rings she got an answer.

“Hi Donna, it’s Kendi. I told Mick and he asked all sorts of questions that I didn’t think of. I’m going to put you on the speaker so that we can have a talk. OK?”

Click.

“Sure. Renee, come here. Mick and Kendi are on the phone.”

“OK, Mick and I have some questions. Well Mick does.”

“I can understand that. I’m sorry to have this dropped on you Mick. Renee and I have been looking for a man who would get us pregnant. After getting to know you we think that you are the guy.”

“Alright, Donna, my first question, and the one I asked Kendi, do you want me to be the sperm donor or the daddy? I mean do you expect me to be one of the people raising the kids?”

“No, Mick. I mean if you felt that you wanted to be in their lives, we would have to talk about it beforehand. We had not planned that you would have any responsibilities to us or the babies.”

“So, a sperm donor.”

“Yes, to put it bluntly.”

“The next question is how do we make the baby? Do we do it the old-fashioned way or some other way?”

“Mick, we both think that you are a great guy, but neither of us want a penis inside of us. So, it would be an alternate method. I know a doctor who will take your sperm and put it in us.”

“So, the turkey baster method.”

“Yeah OK, for want of a better term.”

They both laughed at that one and that lifted the mood a lot.

“OK, thanks for clearing that up. If you wanted me to father a child by having sex with you, the answer was going to be an unequivocal no. Since that is not in play, it is something I have to think about. I just came to grips with the choice to accepting Kendi’s baby if it was by another man. Now I have to come to grips with having a baby with two wonderful women, but then walking away and never seeing them.”

“At some point they will need to know who I am because of medical reasons and for legal reasons. I mean if you die, I am the next of kin as the biological father. That carries a heavy burden for me. Kendi makes the situation a bit more complicated because of the legal issues. I mean I could sign away my parental rights, but that has some moral and ethical issues for me.”

“I understand, Mick. I figured that you would be asking all of those questions. That is why we thought of you. We also wanted to have the kids to be biologically related, to really be siblings. You are honorable and ethical. If you had not asked these questions, we would have forgotten the whole thing.”

“OK, Donna, let me sleep on it for a few days. I need to run this around in my head and have a long talk with Kendi.”

“No problem. Thank you for even considering the possibility. Do you have any other questions?”

“If I say no, will it mean that our families can’t be friends?”

“See what I mean? Thank you for caring.”

“Renee, we have a great amount of respect for you and Donna, as professionals and as people. I’m going to get some sleep.”

“Thanks again. Good night.”

“Good night Donna. Renee.”

I disconnected the call and looked at Kendi.

“I need some sleep. We will talk about this in the morning.”

“Are you mad at me, Mick?”

“Mad? No. I just don’t understand some things. I need some sleep and some thinking time. Let’s go to bed.”

“Can we make love?”

“Please don’t take this wrong, but I’m not in the mood. I love you with all of my heart, but I’m confused about stuff. Hell, I’m not even sure what the stuff is.”

I held out my hand and Kendi took it and I led her to our bed, and I cuddled up to her. In spite of all the things going around my head, I fell asleep almost immediately.

“More BABIES!”

I sat up in bed and almost threw Kendi on the floor. The sweat was dripping off me.

“Mick? Are you OK, Lover?”

“No. Yes. I don’t know. I was dreaming.”

“A nightmare?”

“I was in a delivery room full of women having babies and Doctor Donna and Doctor Renee were there and they were telling me to keep telling the women to ‘Push’ and the babies kept popping out. They were having babies too.”

“Wow.”

I looked at the clock and it was 5:45AM. I normally got up at 5:30 for practice during the week.

“I need to go for a walk.”

“Should I come with you?”

“If you want to. I need to think.”

I got up and pulled on some jeans and a t-shirt and pulled on a hoodie, then socks and my loafers. I headed for the door, not paying attention to Kendi. She had pulled on sweatpants and a sweatshirt, socks and shoes and was about two steps behind me. I was already at the elevator door when she came running up behind me. I was so absorbed in my own thoughts that I never noticed her unfettered breasts flopping around under her shirt.

We got in and out of the elevator without a word and I took off walking at a pretty good pace. At some point in the first half-block, my brain kicked in. I had two kids by my first wife, Jean. Now I was having twins with Kendi. But two women, my wife’s OB/GYN and the doctors’ lesbian lover had just asked me to father their babies.

It wouldn’t be via intercourse, but they would still be my children. My son or daughter. Half-siblings to the kids I was going to have with Kendi. I was in shock when they dropped the word on me, because it had come from Kendi and she never clarified the conception method. At first, I thought she was asking me to sleep with her doctors.

There would be no sleeping with the doctors, but the results would be the same. Now I had to decide on trying to differentiate between the results and the process. I would not have sex with a woman outside my marriage, but I would be having children outside my marriage. Could I?

I didn’t look, but I could see out of the corner of my eye the occasional movement of Kendi’s arms as they swung with her stride. I loved her. Why would she even consider that I would want to father kids with another woman or two?

Those basic themes kept rotating through my mind. Having kids out of wedlock. Having kids without my wife. My wife wanting me to have kids with other women, regardless of the process. Over and over and over.

There was a tug on my sleeve.

“Mick?”

Kendi spoke quietly and got my attention.

“Mick? How much longer are you going to walk?”

“Huh?”

“We are almost to the end of the river walk.”

I looked around and saw that I was a long way from home. That was when I realized that my feet and knees hurt. I looked at Kendi and saw the concern on her face.

“Sorry. Are you OK?”

“Yes, but you’re limping.”

“I am?”

“Yeah. You don’t normally walk for an hour and a half.”

“Has it been that long?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Sorry. I guess I was deep in thought.”

“I’m sorry Mick. I never thought that this would hurt you like this.”

“Hurt me?”

“Yeah. I have never seen you like this. You might have just kept walking, like Forrest Gump was running, until you hit the ocean.”

“Sorry. Are you sure that you are OK?”

“No, I’m not OK. I’ve hurt the man I love and the father of my twins.”

“Damn.”

“What?”

“I don’t have my phone.”

“I’ve got mine.”

“Maybe you should call Boise City Taxi and get us picked up and taken home.”

“OK.”

Kendi looked up the number and called to have us picked up at the fast food restaurant about a block and a half down the street from the Greenbelt. We sat on the outdoor patio. I didn’t say a word. The cab pulled into the parking lot and we identified ourselves and got in the back. Kendi gave the driver the address and we sat back. Kendi put her hand on my thigh and I put my hand on hers.

When we got to the condo, Kendi paid with her phone link and we walked to the elevator. When we got out, our neighbors were standing there. We looked at them, wordless, and began walking for our door.

“First fight?”

“What?”

“First fight? Have you just had your first fight?”

“No. Why?”

“You are very much not like your normal selves. I figured that you just had your first fight. You look like we did after our first.”

We looked at them as they got on the elevator.

“Did we?”

“I don’t know. If we did, it was certainly the quietest fight I can imagine.”

We walked to our door and as soon as the door closed behind us, Kendi stripped off.

“Shower. You, me, now.”

I stripped out of my clothes and followed Kendi’s smooth butt to the shower. She started the water and I just stood there. I just didn’t know what to do. It was as if I was walking in a coma.