They have me wait in a holding area. It feels like she’s been gone a long time but it’s only thirty minutes when I check the clock.
“Mr. Breckenridge. We’re ready for your contribution.” Contribution. That’s what they’re calling it these days.
They’re asking for my sperm. I’m guessing that’s a good sign. It must mean they were able to retrieve viable eggs.
I follow the clinic employee down the hall. I’m left in a small room with one assignment—jack off into a cup. Shouldn’t be too hard considering the dry spell I’ve had with Bleu.
I double—and then triple—check the label on the cup for accuracy before I do the deed. We can’t afford a mix-up with this.
I wait at the collection window for someone from the lab. No way I’m throwing this in the window and leaving. I need to see it properly follow the chain of custody.
A woman appears and I hold up the bag. “My contribution.” It’s the term they used so I’m going with that. I doubt they’d appreciate me calling it what I usually do.
I’m taken to where Bleu is recovering. She’s still sleeping so I sit at her bedside. I bring her hand up for a kiss. “I love you, Bonny Bleu.”
She shifts slightly when the automatic blood pressure cuff squeezes. She lazily opens her eyes and looks at me.
“Hi, beautiful.”
She grins. “Hi.”
I get up and sit on the edge of the bed. “How do you feel?”
“A little crampy but otherwise okay.” Her speech is slow.
They must’ve given Bleu some good drugs. She’s barely stirred. “You’ve been sleeping like the dead.”
“I’m very tired.”
“I see that. I booked a hotel so you can rest until our flight this evening.”
“Always so thoughtful. You take such good care of me.”
Her eyes appear heavy. I think she’s on the verge of dozing off again so I stroke my hand over her cheek. “Dr. Paschall came by. He said he was able to get ten eggs.”
Her eyes pop open. “Ten? That’s a really good number for me.”
“Aye. Dr. Paschall was very pleased.”
“You gave them your sperm?”
“Aye. It felt like every woman in the place was looking at me when I turned in my cup.”
She laughs. “I’m sure they were looking at you and thinking how much they would’ve enjoyed helping you produce what was in the cup.”
Bleu’s nurse comes into the small recovery area. “How are you feeling, Mrs. Breckenridge?”
“Fine. Tired. A little crampy.”
“All normal things.” She removes the blood pressure cuff from Bleu’s arm. “I have your discharge teaching instructions.”
Bleu’s eyes are closed again so the nurse looks to me. “Dr. Paschall wants to see her back on Friday morning for the embryo transfer.”
Wow. This is happening. “We’ll be here.”
* * *
It’s Thursday, my last day of work for the week. I’ll be in London with Bleu tomorrow for our embryo transfer. I can’t believe it. Dr. Paschall is going to insert two fertilized eggs into Bleu’s womb tomorrow. She could officially become pregnant in less than a day.
I’m finished and shutting down my computer when Abram bursts into my office. No knock. “That motherfuckin’ Order just raided our transport truck—the one carrying our supply for the Irish.”
Oh hell. “How much did they get?”
“Everything! All the firearms. All the ammunition. And they killed our three men making the transport.”
Un-fucking-believable. “How could they have known?”
“I don’t know but it seems there’s a songbird within our midst. Until I find out who’s singing, I trust no one.”
I run my hands through my hair. “This is a fine mess.”
“Aye. We have to get those guns back or we risk our new relationship with The Guild, our new Irish comrades.”
It’s not an alliance we can afford to lose. “Aye. I prefer to call them friend than foe.”
“We have two days to recover the firearms. I’ve organized a meeting for all the brotherhood to join at nine tonight.”
I can’t be there. Bleu and I are leaving for London. We have the procedure tomorrow. “I can’t make the meeting. I have a flight leaving at eight.”
“You don’t have a choice. You’re a Breckenridge. You will be there.”
Why’d this have to happen now, of all times? “Let me see what I can work out.”
“The only thing you’ll work out is being at our meeting tonight. Nonnegotiable.”
Abram walks out the door without further discussion.
Shite! What am I going to do? We can’t postpone the transfer. Its success depends entirely on perfect timing. Tomorrow is it.
My secretary has already gone for the day so I call out to Linsey. “I need you to change my flight. See what’s available to London early in the morning.”
Ten. That’s the best I can get. That only gives me an hour to get from Heathrow to the clinic. That’ll be a tough one but I’ll have to make it work.
“Book it.”
Now I have to tell Bleu I won’t be leaving with her tonight. I doubt that’ll go over well.
I use the ride home to prepare what I’ll say to her but I’m still clueless when I walk into our flat. “Bonny?”
“Back here.” Her voice carries from our bedroom. I should’ve known that’s where she’d be, doing last-minute packing.
I come into our bedroom. She looks up from the suitcase and grins. “I ask you again, sir. Would you like a suit? Suit? Or a suit?”
“I need to talk to you.”
Her grin fades. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t leave with you tonight.”
She sits on the bed, my platinum suit falling into a heap on her lap. “Why not?”
“We’ve been raided. The Order has stolen a huge shipment of firearms intended for our allies with the Irish. It’s a new alliance so it’s unstable and reliant upon this transfer. We aren’t in a position to blow it because we have to go through The Guild to get to The Irish Federation. They’re our ultimate objective.”
She’s shaking her head. “I can’t do this by myself, Sin.”
“You won’t be alone. I’m on a flight to London in the morning.”
“But what if you don’t make it? Any number of reasons out of your control could prevent you from being there.”