The Fight (Republished)

Chapter 12: Conception

After that day in the jewelry store, we held a small ceremony at a local park to say our vows and make our marriage official. The sun was out, birds were chirping, and there was a light breeze that gently caressed her white summer dress as she stood facing me. I opted for my old black suit, but I ditched the jacket and bought a new tie especially for the occasion. A small crowd of family and friends came to witness the special moment and one of her friends made the wedding cake for the reception.

She looked so beautiful standing there in the sun. Her smile, her hazel eyes, her pinned up brown hair and even the earrings she borrowed from her mother; they were all beautiful. I always thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world, but on that day, she truly felt it without me saying a word to her. She could see it in my teary eyes, which I naturally blamed on the gentle breeze. Standing there hand in hand, I had a hard time waiting for the priest to say, "You may now kiss the bride."

I could tell that she was too by the way she squeezed my hands in excitement. When we finally kissed, it was like time stood completely still for us. The sun smiled down around us as we stood in the shade and the breeze ran across our faces as if it was giving us its blessing. It was perfect and simple. Just the way we wanted things to be from the start. We couldn't have asked for more in that moment as our lips parted and then we walked between the crowd of family and friends who were in full support of us.

We signed the papers on a clipboard and sat on a park bench as we did. One of my Uncles who was amazing at photography took all the photos and assured me that we didn't owe him anything because it was strictly his hobby. After seeing his work, you'd know that was a lie as well. He's amazing at what he does, hobby or not. A passion like that was something rare and to have him as our photographer, we felt truly blessed.

At the reception I finally got to see the cake her friend designed for us. I had no problem with her picking the design and her friend did such an amazing job that I felt guilty eating it. The cake was white, with three layers and very vibrant icing decorating the edges and sides, as well as a bride and groom standing on the top. Every time I looked at her, her smile was reaching from ear to ear and showed no signs of going away. She was the happiest woman in the world that day and nothing was going to ruin that feeling. Her cancer had been kept at bay by medicine and her strong will to live. I couldn't imagine being in her shoes. All I wanted was for her to be happy and for us to live our lives to the fullest, regardless of how long either of us had left.

Naturally after a wedding, two people make love. We were no exception to this and had sex for several hours, with a couple of breaks. If we were going to have a baby, I needed to make sure I was performing at my best. Even though we'd more than likely have to mix things up in a test tube, a million in one chance of getting pregnant was still a chance. That was one of the surprises that the doctor told us when my wife was making her decision to not have any further surgeries. It came as a shock to me since she had told me there was zero chance of it happening, but knowing there was a slim chance made me much more confident. The boost actually helped now that I think about it. Before I thought that making love to her would end up in her orgasm and that was it. But now, there was another purpose, a small one albeit, but another purpose nonetheless.

We had sex every day and up to four or more times if I had the energy; we wanted to increase our chances of getting pregnant as much as possible. I didn't mind the workout, but she was wearing me rather thin. With her waking me up first thing in the morning for sex, a second time after breakfast, a quickie during the day at some point and then another before we went to bed, I was surprised either of us were able to move the next day. She was on a medical leave of absence at work still, so we were getting in as much time together as possible before she went back in a few weeks.

I went back to writing my stories and she went back to waiting tables. She would come home to me sitting at the computer, tapping away on the keys with no sign of slowing down as I worked on my newest book. A kiss on the neck would cause me to lose track of my thoughts, but a quick click of the save button and I was joining her on the bed with no hesitation.

We spent every moment that we had together talking about our future as if she had beaten cancer for good. The thought of losing her faded as we got back to our normal lives and lots of sex in order to try to get pregnant on our own before we had to get a doctor involved. Through some miracle, the day that we had finally decided to see the specialist about artificial insemination, was the day that we found out we were pregnant.

As a routine step, they did an ultrasound and it revealed something shocking to the technician. She was hesitant at first since she knew of our situation, but after another pass by, she confirmed that she had some news for us. At first we thought it was bad news, but her face didn't exactly reflect that.

"I'm not entirely sure how to say this," she began, "but you don't need our help."

The look on her face wasn't of excitement, but it was of surprise for sure. She was holding back her facial expression and nearly slipped before my wife finally asked the question that was on my mind as well.

"What do you mean?" she asked softly.

"You're already pregnant," the technician replied with a smile and a brief laugh.

My wife turned to me with the biggest smile on her face that I had ever seen. In that moment I felt as if our world had been paused. There was no sound anymore and I couldn't even feel my heart beating. It was in that moment that perseverance and determination pulled through despite the odds. We had a million in one baby on the way and the smile on my wife's face was one that I wasn't going to forget any time soon.