Page 67 of Glitterati Omega

“You could,” Rupert offered. “I’m just … not entirely comfortable.”

Morgan peered at him over the rim of their laptop. “And you’re comfortable withmelooking at what’s between your legs?”

“Well!” He flushed.

Morgan shook their head and looked away. Their brow crunched as they read over the chart. “ivf?” they said finally, then looked up at him quizzically. “You’retryingto get knocked up?”

“That was the general plan, yes.”

Morgan stared at the sheet. “I don’t think I can recommend that,” they said. “To doivf, we have to overstimulate the ovaries—and you have only one, remember—which is kinda not a nice thing to do, so, like, I’d worry that we’re going to overwork what you’ve got there, and then with your history …”

“Dr. Khan mentioned something about naturalivf.”

Morgan stared at the screen for a long, silent moment. Their mouth twisted. “I guess,” they said at length. “That could be an option, but like.”

“Dr. Khan suggested it might be better for me. Less risk of ovarian overstimulation syndrome.”

Morgan pursed their lips. “Yeah, but—”

“Do you think we could try that?”

Morgan made a noise, then said, “Yeah, I guess we can start there. As long as you’re ovulating.”

Rupert grimaced. “That … might be a problem.”

Morgan sighed, then leaned forward, tapping their pen on their desk. “Out with it.”

“I had a cycle in July, and nothing since.”

Now the noise Morgan made was irritated. “Then we have to go the other route, regularivf.”

“But,” Rupert said.

Morgan shook their head, their dark curls swaying everywhere. “We’ll start with what they call mildivf—lower doses of the drugs.” They tapped their pen and frowned at the screen. “Seems like that’s the best option—you can’t do the natural stuff if you’re not ovulating spontaneously. It just doesn’t work.”

“Okay,” Rupert said. Morgan wrote him a ’script and then sent him to talk to another nurse, who explained the process. It sounded much worse than he’d expected.

Winston was unfazed when Rupert explained the course of drugs he had to take, followed by the procedure to retrieve the eggs, followed by fertilization in a dish to create the embryos that would be used for implantation. Winston’s role, aside from supporting Rupert through the process, was to “provide a sperm sample,” which, Rupert had surmised, meant the alpha needed to jerk off into a cup or something. Winston just laughed, and Rupert thought it was rather cruel that Winston got to do something pleasurable, whereas Rupert had to have a needle and a little vacuum stuck in his unmentionables.

“Are you sure you want to go through with this then?” Winston asked when he was finished explaining.

“I don’t see any other way.” He wasn’t ovulating spontaneously, and as risky as it was to flood his system with a bunch of hormones, he wasn’t, apparently, going to get knocked up on his own. It wasn’t like he’d been a nun the last nine months. There had been points where he and Winston had been on separate continents, which made sexual intercourse rather impossible, but when they’d been together …

Those nights made Rupert wonder why he’d ever put up with Thomas anyway; Winston was far more attentive andfarmore talented. Last night, Rupert had come from the alpha’s fingers alone.

“All right then,” Winston said. “Go fill your prescription and we’ll try this.”

“Areyousure?” Rupert asked, perching on the edge of the sofa. “You never wanted to be a parent, and you’re effectually giving me license to make you one.”

Winston sighed and glanced away. He kicked one foot up on the coffee table. “It takes more to be a parent,” he said, “than simply donating genetic material.”

He turned to Rupert. “But—I think it will make you happy, and I am very invested in making you happy.”

Rupert giggled, then leaned in and brushed their noses together. They kissed, briefly, chastely. “Thank you,” Rupert said when he pulled back.

“Now, poppet, have you given any more thought to what you want to do with the house in Pretoria?”

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