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I nodded. “If this first round of IUI didn’t work out, what would you think about coming into the room with me next time?”
His mouth curved into a smile. “I thought you’d never ask. I would love that. I wished I was in there with you this time, but I wasn’t sure how you felt.”
“Now that I know what it’s like, I think you should be in there. I was sorry you weren’t.”
“Thank you. Next time we’ll do it differently—if there is a next time.”
“Oh! They showed me the vial of your sperm so I could check the label to make sure it was the right name.”
He snorted. “Were you like, ‘Why the fuck are you showing me this?’”
“I just laughed and confirmed it was correct.”
He arched a brow. “Did it look…presentable?”
“Yes.” I chuckled.
“Good to know. I would hate for it to embarrass me when I couldn’t be there to defend myself.”
I cracked up. That felt so good after a long day. “Thank you for the laugh,” I said after a moment, wiping my eyes. “Thank you for everything.”
“Of course, beautiful. Thank you for letting me go on this adventure with you.”
CHAPTER 24
ARCHIE
I HADN’T BEEN that nervous the first time we came to the fertility clinic, but this visit was a different story. Noelle and I were currently waiting—anxiously—to be called in to find out whether our first IUI attempt had resulted in a pregnancy. She’d given her blood sample a couple of days ago, and the office required you to come in for the results.
Over the past two weeks, Noelle had seemed to find her groove working from home in the office space I’d set up in the corner of her room. We hadn’t gotten to hang out as much as I’d hoped, though. Clancy had been sick, so I’d spent more time than usual hanging out at Mariah’s. Not to mention, the restaurant had been booked solid lately. On a couple of nights, I’d dropped off food from Fontaine’s for Noelle and Roz, who’d become fast friends, but I hadn’t had much time to stay and chat.
I looked up when a nurse finally called us into the doctor’s office. We followed her to a room down the hall. And then it was more waiting. Why do they do that? They make you wait in one area, then call you into another room to wait again—even longer.
I reached for Noelle’s hand when I noticed her legs bouncing. Even though I was nervous, too, I was fighting not to show it.
The door suddenly opened, and we straightened in our seats.
Dr. Burns came right out with it. “Hi, Noelle.” He took a seat and opened his laptop. “So, your test is negative. There’s no pregnancy at this time.”
Fuck.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
My heart broke into a thousand pieces.
Noelle nodded, and I squeezed her hand.
“This is certainly not unusual. In fact, it’s not all that common to conceive the very first time. Each cycle has anywhere from a ten to twenty-percent success rate.”
Despite his assurance, I felt like a fucking failure. “You okay?” I whispered.
“Yeah.” She forced a smile. “It is what it is, right?”
“The more attempts, the more likely it is to happen,” the doctor said as he typed something into the chart. “So we do have you down for another cycle. We’ll get your appointments squared away on the way out.” He looked back up at us. “I understand that the two of you are not together, correct?”
“That’s right,” she said. “We’re friends.”
Dr. Burns nodded. “I tell my married clients that it never hurts to supplement with regular intercourse to maximize the opportunity the window of ovulation presents. But of course, I understand that’s not an option for you at this time. If anything…changes, that’s one of the things to keep in mind.”
Tell me something I don’t already know, Captain Obvious.
Noelle nodded again, her cheeks turning pink.
Just like that, the doctor excused himself, and our appointment was over. It felt almost wrong that we had to leave so fast after getting that kind of shitty news. They needed to have a room with fucking candy and alcohol or some shit where they could put people like us to decompress first.
Even worse, I had to work this afternoon and couldn’t spend the day with Noelle. I would’ve loved to take her mind off this disappointment.
After we confirmed our next appointments at the front desk, we stood facing each other outside the building.
I pulled her into a hug and held her close. “I’m sorry.”
She spoke into my chest. “It’s okay. Truly. This was to be expected. That’s why we have another appointment.”
We’d agreed to three tries. If she had to move on to IVF—something we hadn’t discussed—that would be financially tough. IUI was much more affordable.
I took a step back. “What are your plans today?”
