Part 1: Kelly

The statuesque blonde moved quickly, bending and picking up toys and games from around the room, her motions those of practised ease. If there had been a witness, he would have noticed an almost electric tension about her as if she was under some sort of stress, yet her face was set in pleasant lines. That unseen witness would have realised that this was a woman who was familiar with her job and pleasant in her dealings with people. If the witness had been male, he would more that likely have noticed many other things as well; after all, she was extremely pleasant to the eye.

Curvaceous, yet trim, her hair was neat even at the end of her day and she wore off the rack clothes in a way that gave them a tailored look, yet the striking thing about her was the natural beauty of her face. Bright blue eyes swept the room, then finally a smile touched her lips as she gave a short sigh. Thank goodness it was five o'clock and Kelly's shift at the daycare was finished. She loved children, but eight hours of looking after a group of eleven poorly disciplined kids belonging to other people was enough to tire anyone. Why people didn't show their children a little discipline was beyond her. Now if she had a baby...

Her smile instantly changed to a light frown, but she stopped herself before going any further, forcing herself to think of something else. She knew better than to think about her own lack of children. If she started thinking about that too hard, she'd start crying and if she started crying now, she'd never be able to drive home.

Suddenly she thought that she understood why she was so touchy and she glanced at a calendar to confirm it. Yes, she was ovulating, she was due either today or tomorrow and every time she ovulated, her body became almost desperate for sex. She had to go home and do the laundry, make dinner, anything to keep busy, but later tonight she'd convince Steven to have sex and try to give her a baby. At this time of the month being around children made her feel even worse if she couldn't touch and cuddle them, but her group of children were gone for the day. The best thing to do was to slip out of the daycare building as quickly as possible and to get away from any sign of children. She had to do that, right now!

She only paused long enough to wish Claire, the owner of the daycare, 'Goodnight' in a perfunctory manner. Then she was out the door on the run, leaving her boss staring after her with a somewhat beseeching look on her face as if she didn't want Kelly to leave so soon.

Traffic was light for once and Kelly was home in minutes. When she opened the door, she automatically bent to scoop up the mail. She closed the door and as she walked down the hall, she sorted it into junk mail, bills and... Oh goody, there was a letter addressed to Steven and herself. Using a fingernail, she slit it open and... Ohmigod. It was a wedding invitation.

Kelly looked at the letter a second time and sighed heavily. Nothing had gone quite right today and this capped the lot. Now her cousin was marrying her husband's brother. She knew she should be enthused about the invitation to her cousin's wedding, but she wasn't. Instead she felt suddenly empty and disappointed with her life. She tossed the invitation and its envelope down on the hall table, resolutely marching into the kitchen to prepare dinner for Steven and herself.

They'd have to go to the wedding, after all it was a family thing. Actually it would be a dual family thing, both Steven's family and her own. Not only would she have to sit with her family at the wedding and then afterward at the reception, but she'd have to be around Steven's family as well. Once more she'd have to smile and act enthusiastic about all the children who ran screaming around the reception hall. There would be four of her sister's kids, several of her brother's kids, hordes of kids from Steven's family and who knew how many of her various cousins' kids. But, none of those kids would be hers, none would be a child she could cuddle and care for every day.

"Seven years!" She growled as she dragged a pot out of the lower cupboard and slammed it down on the front burner of the stove.

"Seven whole years and more than ninety times I've been disappointed. Just like clockwork, I've had my period every damn twenty-eight days since we were married, come rain or come shine." She growled as she opened the fridge and dug out the vegetables needed for the meal she planned.

"Seven years and we've tried everything, but still no change." She moaned as she began to peel the vegetables.

Her hands worked automatically as her mind wandered down the long hallway of seven years' disappointment. She and Steven had tried all the supposed failsafe methods of getting pregnant. They'd tried the methods her Granny had suggested, the 'natural' methods, even as far as making love in a haystack on a moonlight night, at least they'd used a blanket for that. They'd tried the scientific methods, making sure their timing was right and her temperature was right. They'd seen doctors and been tested, then they'd been assured that everything was medically right with both of them.

One doctor had even convinced Steven to give up on wearing briefs and changing to boxers. He'd explained that perhaps the cooler boxers would reduce any possibility of Steven's testicles becoming over heated because that would reduce sperm production. Now Steven wore boxers, shorts and trousers that were looser in the crotch, but even that didn't help.

Nothing had helped. Her periods still came around every twenty-eight days, as regular as clockwork.

She sighed again as she sat down at the kitchen table and waited for Steven to come home, keeping an eye on things as dinner cooked. She felt morose and despondent, but knew that she was too stubborn to give up. She wanted a baby. Actually she'd decided that she needed a baby and someway, somehow, she resolved to have one. A quiet tear trickled down her cheek.

Over dinner that evening, they spoke quietly, discussing the upcoming wedding and what they should get for a gift. It was only after they'd discussed the wedding that Kelly brought up her deep desire for children once more, hoping that this time when they saw the families, she could announce that she was pregnant. Once more Steven convinced her that he wanted kids just as badly as she did and once more he was optimistic. After all, the wedding invitation had come out early because the families were spread so far across the country, they had almost four months to try for better results.

Later, Kelly had a bath and Steven came to join her afterward to towel her dry. His hands worshipped her through the softness of the towels, loving her with each touch and each stroke of the soft terrycloth. By the time he scooped her into his arms and carried her to bed, she was putty in his hands. Steven made love to her slowly and gently as she returned his love through two orgasms. Then came his time, his need built and he stroked harder, faster. His body drove toward its final goal, yet she felt her body rise to meet his until she felt him ejaculate deep inside her. Once more she had an orgasm, this time an instant after his, yet it didn't stop right away. He held himself inside her even as his erection shrank, meanwhile her body clasped and massaged his slowly diminishing flesh. She sighed as he stroked and played with her afterward. Then she snuggled against him, thankful that he wasn't one of those men who rolled away and fell asleep after sex.

She fell asleep that night, relishing the feeling of being loved by a man that she adored and loved in return, but...

If only they could have children, life would be perfect.

Fourteen days later, her period dropped in to say hello, right on time. That night she cried herself to sleep in Steven's arms.

The next morning Kelly's life began to change and grow more complicated. It started not long after she got to work at the daycare center and found Claire crying in her office.

"What's wrong?" She asked as she leaned over to touch her hand to Claire's shoulder.

"The city has passed a new law with standards we can't possibly meet." Claire whimpered. "They say we have too many children for the area we use. I can't possibly expand the area, so I'll have to cut back on the number of children. But, if I have to cut back on the number of children we care for, that means I'm going to have to cut back staff."

Kelly felt herself go numb. Not only was she the last staff member that Claire had hired, but she was the only one who wasn't supporting her family on her earnings. Logically, she was the first person to be let go. In a move that said wonderful things about her character, she volunteered to leave when the time for cutbacks came, yet it was one of the hardest things she had ever done. Despite the fact that she was going to lose her income, the worst shock for Kelly was the fact that she wasn't going to be able to be around the children at the daycare center.

In order to meet the city's deadlines, Claire would have to start cutting back immediately and she warned Kelly that her job might only last until the end of the week. Somehow Kelly managed to make it through the day. Not only did she have to face the fact that she was going to lose her job, but she had to deal with a group of temperamental children who realised that something was wrong, even though no one had told them anything. Then as well she had to deal with the discomfort arising from her period. When she arrived home that night, she simply collapsed, ordering pizza for dinner instead of cooking anything herself.

Steven beat the pizza delivery to the door, but only by moments, then as they sat down to eat, the telephone rang. When Kelly answered it, she only talked for a few seconds before she handed it to Steven. It was his sister, Geraldine, and Gerry wanted to ask Steven something.

Kelly sighed deeply as she put her slice of pizza down, even her appetite was gone now. It wasn't that she didn't like Gerry. She actually did. The problem was that Kelly didn't understand her.

When Kelly and Steven had first started dating in their final year of high school, Gerry had been a twelve-year-old nuisance, acting extremely jealous of Kelly, wanting to be around Steven whenever Kelly was around. After their marriage, Gerry barely seemed to tolerate her. Then about three years after Kelly and Steven were married, Gerry had announced to her whole family that she was moving out with her female lover. She'd moved away somewhere with her lover and often hadn't contacted the family for months at a time. However almost a year ago, she'd phoned Steven one night to say that she had a new lover and that they were going to have a baby.

Suddenly Kelly was taken unawares and surprised out of her reverie by Steven's hand on her arm. She looked at him wide eyed.

"Sorry to surprise you, Sweetheart, but Gerry has a problem and is asking for our help." He said quietly as he held his palm against the mouthpiece of the phone. "Her lover split, leaving her with almost nothing, She has no job, no money, her rent is due in two weeks and she has a two-month-oldbaby to care for. Mom has no place for her in that tiny condo of hers and Dennis is just getting married. She has no one else to turn to. She knows she's often been a bitch to you, but do you think we could... ?"