The Maine Event

Chapter 13

They could already sense the dry air filling their nostrils and the monotonous hum beginning to numb their senses as the airplane began taxiing. They'd been told it could still be a while until take-off, the post-Christmas travel having picked up it's pace again, and even the first class was fully booked. Thankfully, the fellow passengers seemed to be quite used to this type of waiting, hence each of them had settled into their own routines and were not really paying much attention to others around them.

"How did it go at the clinic?" Logan asked, having not really had a good moment to talk to Odette in New York while her friends were around.

They'd even taken a suite with two bedrooms, sleeping separately which had become the norm now. In a weird way they were still involved, having to carry on casual kisses and touches in public. But this was just an act and they were both pretty capable of separating fact from fiction. But even beyond the friends with benefits part, they had also been partners. But that partnership had begun to dismantele too since their priorities had changed. They could both feel it.

"Things look pretty good, I might not even have to do IVF right away. So essentially I spent last night browsing the catalogue," Odette replied, with a slight glimmer in her eyes. She looked excited, perhaps a little scared even, but that was expected.

"That's good," he replied. He couldn't help but to feel a little bad for her, having to do this on her own, while he seemed to be getting all of it, and Odette very little.

"What do you think - brunette Princton mathematician or a Harvard med school graduate with blue eyes that looks like a viking?" Odette asked, half-seriously, with a chuckle.

"You've got to find one who'd at least graduated from Yale," he laughed quietly.

She'd anticipated that response, and really the school played no role for her, as long as the medical profile looked good. But the catalogue she'd been given was definitely the kind that held only the top shelp produce.

"I figured you wouldn't mind if we came back to New York for our 'honeymoon' and I booked myself an appointment for that week," she added a moment later, making air quotes with her fingers.

"Hey, no objections from my part. It gets me on the right side of the pond," he laughed quietly.

"I thought you'd say that. You look a lot happier, you know," Odette commented.

"You too," Logan replied, though he could also see some sadness in her eyes. But at least this baby business seemed to make her excited.

"How long have you been thinking about this?" he asked in whisper a moment later, considering the airplane setting, adding, "I just wonder what you would've done if Rory hadn't come back into the picture."

"I wouldn't have tricked you into anything, Logan," Odette assured. "But I'll be honest with you, having a kid with you wouldn't have been the worst option, even if the marriage itself would've been just a friendship. The thought did cross my mind. But, no, I haven't been thinking about this for very long. Some months perhaps. But this wasn't the aim when we first decided to go through with this," Odette confirmed quietly, gesturing between herself and Logan.

"Well.. thank you for your honesty, I suppose. And I guess, there's a bit of a compliment in there for me as well," he said with a smile. "But in a way I feel like I'm letting you down even...Maybe it sounds insane given everything," he added with a shrug.

"You have a chance of something more, I can't blame you for that," Odette sighed acceptingly.

Briefly Logan considered whether he should mention their own dream of a baby, even in the midst of the craziness, but he held back, being unsure if it was his place to share. While Odette was one of his best friends at this point, somehow that felt too private, too fragile given what had already happened.