Whoa, Baby!

6.

Chapter Six
The Reality of Sperm

Sitting in Hank's dimly lit office, I felt a mix of anticipation and anxiety. My cousins, Joshua and Jonathan, flanked me on either side, and the atmosphere was thick with unspoken thoughts. This meeting held the potential to reshape our lives in ways we had never fully considered.

We had all made the decision to donate sperm at Xytex, a choice that had ripple effects we were still trying to understand. Now, here we were, ready to confront the consequences of that decision.

Hank, the private investigator, was a steady presence in the room, shuffling through a stack of papers as he prepared to share what he had discovered. His expression was serious but not unfriendly, a contrast to the tension that gripped us. "I've managed to track down three children who were born from your donations, aside from Ocean," he began, his voice steady.

"Three?" Joshua asked, brow furrowing in confusion. He had been quieter than usual, worry flashing across his face. He was a father too, but the child resulting from his donation had remained an elusive mystery.

"Three children," Hank confirmed, flipping through his notes. "Two of them are directly connected to Jonathan, and one belongs to you, Joshua. However, I don't have any further details on the woman who used your sperm. That information was not disclosed."

I glanced at Joshua, feeling a twinge of sympathy. The idea of him having a child out there—one he couldn't connect with—made my heart ache. He had been through so much since his divorce, and this revelation was just another layer of complexity to navigate.

"What about Jonathan?" I prompted, eager to shift the focus and keep the conversation moving.

Hank smiled slightly, turning to Jonathan. "Well, it turns out Jonathan has twins. They were born to a woman named Ilona Gaines, who goes by Tookie. She's somewhat known in certain circles."

"Wow," Jonathan breathed, his eyes widening. "Twins? That's... a lot to process." I could see the gears turning in his mind, calculating what this meant for him, for us.

"Yeah, definitely," I agreed, feeling the weight of the moment settle on my shoulders. "What are their names? How old are they?"

"Let me check," Hank said, rifling through his papers with purpose. "Okay, the twins are named Jett and Jersey. They're just over three years old."

A rush of emotions swept over me. Two tiny lives, part of our story yet entirely separate. I imagined their giggles and cries, the chaos that twins brought into a household. It was beautiful and overwhelming all at once.

"I wasn't able to uncover much beyond the basic information," Hank continued. "But I can tell you that the families seem to be private. It might take some additional digging to find out more about them."

Joshua leaned back in his chair, a thoughtful expression clouding his face. "What do we do now? Do we reach out to them?"

Hank nodded slowly, the gravity of his words hanging in the air. "That's entirely up to you two. This can open up a lot of questions and potential relationships. Are you all ready for that?"

"I think we should at least consider it," I finally said, searching for the right words. "They deserve to know about you guys, don't you think?"

Jonathan looked thoughtful, his brows knitting together. "Yeah, but what if they don't want to know us? Or what if they have families already? It could complicate things."

I understood his hesitation. My own experience as a father had shown me how fragile relationships could be. "But they might also want to know where they came from," I argued. "And we could give them that. It's not just about us—it's about them too."