THE SURROGATE: A LUKE BROOKS FAN FICTION

Chapter FIVE

                   CHAPTER FIVE

"Oh God Luke! I'm so fucking nervous!" I said, putting my hand on my stomach and rubbing it as we approached the hospital. Luke took his eyes off the road, just for one minute to tell me, "Don't be... You have me here! You've got nothing to worry about! Big, strong, good looking Lukey is here to protect you!" he said jokingly. "Well mister, big, strong and good looking, keep your eye on the road! I don't wanna die before I even get the chance to see my baby..."I paused and closed my mouth. I said it, MY BABY  . The baby isn't even here yet, doesn't even exist yet, and already I'm claiming it. This shit needs to stop before it even starts. "Yeah, I heard what you said..."Luke said suddenly, as if he read my mind. I suppose I was half expecting him to give me an "I TOLD YOU SO!" speech, but to my surprise, he didn't. As we approached the hospital, we pretended like I didn't say anything at all. I could feel myself getting nervous; so nervous in fact, my hands started shaking and my heart was beating against my chest. Thank God for Luke who was there, to yet again, comfort me in my time of need. "Hey, you're gonna be okay... Now let's go have this baby!" he said as he pinched my cheeks, and we went up, into the hospital. 'Let's go have this baby' words I hope to one day hear him utter when we have a child of our own together.

*IN THE HOSPITAL*

"Hi, uhm, I'm here to see Dr..." I couldn't even finish my sentence, because I was interrupted by the nurse at the front desk. She was about in her mid 30's, her red hair was tied up in a neat bun, and of course, she was wearing her nurse's uniform. "The doctor is waiting for you. You're late!" She didn't even look at me as she said this. Talk about being polite right? "Uhm, which-" "(sigh) if you look straight ahead, you'll see her office" she said, pointing her pen in the direction of the doctor's office. Okay, this is it! I kept telling myself as we edged closer and closer until we reached the office. On the door, in big bold letters, stood, DR. DICKSON. As soon as he saw what her last name was, Luke, of course, started giggling. "Stop it!" I said sternly as I put my hand on the door handle, and opened the door.

We walked into her office, and it was so... clinical to say the least. The office was completely white, -except for the grey blinds and the black chairs she had at her desk-

"Good afternoon, I'm doctor Dickson..." she introduced herself.  Luke, giggled just at the mere mention of her name, and I elbowed him in the stomach. She smiled as she extended her arm to shake our hands. She was actually a beautiful lady; she was Asian, with short black hair that curled at the ends, and a smile that just made you feel right at home, "Please take a seat" she said, directing us to the chairs.

"So, I understand you want to sign yourself up to become a surrogate?" she asked as we sat down and made ourselves comfy, "Are you clued up on everything? Or do you any questions you'd like answered first?" she asked, leaning back into her chair, and intertwining her fingers. "Well. Yes, I actua-" "How exactly does this whole surrogacy thing work?" I was interrupted by Luke. I looked at him astonished. Like no dude, this is my question to ask, although, he kinda took the words out of  my mouth. "Well, the choice is actually up to the surrogate, or in this case, its up to Isabella over here" and she pointed towards me with her hand, "What do you mean its her choice?" again, I was interrupted by Luke! I had to admit, I loved seeing this side of him; the caring and supportive side. "What I mean is., She began in a soft voice, "If she wants to be biologically related to the child, then that means that she uses her own egg..." and she proceeded to make hand gestures, just to better explain the process, "Pregnancy can only occur through invitro fertilization... What happens is, we'd first need to create and retrieve the egg. Depending on who she chooses to be the parents, this involves the stimulation of the ovaries of the person she chooses to be the mother, using a type of fertility drug. In this way, the woman's ovaries produce a number of eggs, which one of our physicians will retrieve during a surgical procedure known as trans-vaginal ultrasound aspiration" the doctor paused, and looked at the both of us, -probably to check if we were still listening, which we were- she continued, "I will remove the eggs from the ovary using a needle-like suction device, and the egg is placed into an incubator. The father is then required to give a certain amount of his sperm, which is then separated from the semen and placed into the incubator with the eggs from the mother. It takes a few hours for fertilization to occur, the fertilized eggs are then observed for a few days, then the next step in the process takes place, which is when we transfer it to the surrogate mother." 

I looked at her with my eyes wide, I honestly did not know that so much actually went on for surrogacy! I mean, I had done the research, but obviously not as in-depth as I thought. "I hope I didn't confuse you?" she asked. "No, no you didn't! not at all!" I said, finally getting the chance to speak. "There is also, the natural way to get pregnant..." The doctor said, looking from Me to Luke. Luke and I looked at each other, both of our cheeks burning up. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her smile. "Do you have any other questions?" she asked after a few moments of silence. In that moment, I couldn't think of any, so I just sat there with my hands between my legs, looking down at the ground. "What if she decided that she wants to keep the baby?" Luke asked, surprising me with his question. The doctor shifted in her seat, "Well, that is a bit of a complicated issue," she answered honestly, "but with most surrogacy situations, there are contracts involved. Regardless, in the case that Isabella decides that she wants to in fact keep the baby, I suppose that would be quite all right; as long as she changes her mind within the open window." Dr. Dickson answered. Luke and I looked at each other, I don't know why, but the thought of that happening absolutely broke my heart. I could never do that to someone. This made me wonder if I was in fact making the right choice. There was still a chance for me to change my mind. No! I am so sick and tired of playing everything safe! I am doing this no matter what! "I must be honest with you as your doctor," she spoke, causing Luke and I to look at her, "There is a chance that this could be successful, but there is an equal chance that this could be unsuccessful" she leaned forward, looking at us. I looked away; it hadn't even struck me that there was a possibility that it wouldn't work! "But, we hope for the best yes?" she said as I looked up at her, "The chances of it being successful in your case is much stronger" she smiled at me. Her words left me feeling conflicted. On the one hand, it gave me hope, and on the other hand, I was slightly relieved that it was a possibility for it not to work. I need my head read.

"Have you chosen the people you are going to be surrogate for?" she asked, and Luke and I looked at each other, "No, I'm interviewing my first couple tomorrow" I answered looking back at her rather embarrassed. She smiled, and took a file out of her filing cabinet; in it, she had a whole lot of names of potential parents, "I'll just leave you and your boyfriend to decide..."  when she said the word boyfriend, I literally choked, and had to stop myself from blushing too hard. "Oh no, he's not my-" just as I was about to correct her, the twat interrupted me again, "Thank you doctor!" and he threw his arm over my shoulder and kissed me on my cheek. Now this time I was blushing. The Dr. Dickson left to get the forms for me to fill in, and Luke and I remained, just looking through who would be the best candidates.