Jennifer Mikels - The Fertility Factor

Joey pushed several of the chocolate, doughnut-shaped cereal pieces around in the milk. “The zoo.”

“That’s up to Dorothy.” A widow in her midsixties, she was ample-figured with salt-and-pepper-colored hair and a dimpled smile. Unsure if the heat might bother her, he suggested. “Why don’t you wait until my day off, and I’ll take you then, Joey?”

Derek slapped a minimum of butter on a slice of toast. Could he rush his son? He’d been running late since he’d awakened. He felt out of step this morning. That was Lara’s fault. Inch by inch, tension had crept through his body during that kiss. He’d wanted to devour her. Why her? he wondered now.

The differences between them might be why he felt the attraction. They had different backgrounds, different outlooks. No, there was more. He liked her smile, the quickness of it. He liked her walk, the sound of her laughter and her conversations that went on nonstop sometimes.

“Daddy, Dorothy said we could go see that new movie. It’s really good. Everyone says so.”

Derek focused on them. “Everyone” probably meant Joey’s best friend, Austin and Rylyn, the femme fatale of kindergarten. “Okay. We’ll go to the zoo on my day off.” Derek drained the last of the coffee in his cup and left Joey and Dorothy talking about the movie.

In passing he shut the kitchen drawer and grinned. He’d never look at a turkey baster the same way again.

After a scheduled caesarian at the hospital, Derek strode toward the doctors’ lounge. He changed into a black polo shirt and charcoal-colored slacks, then grabbed a cup of coffee. He was draining the last of it when he heard footsteps behind him.

“I’ve been looking for you.” Rose’s gray eyes smiled at him, but he felt nothing for his ex-wife except affection for a good friend. Trim, at forty she still had All-American cheerleader looks.

“New hairstyle? It looks good.”

She settled on a chair across from him and threaded fingers through the light-brown hair cut to just below chin length. “Thank you. I’ve been wanting to talk to you for days, but when I stopped by last night to pick up Joey for his sleepover with me, you weren’t home.”

“I was stuck in an elevator.”

Amusement danced in her eyes. “Be serious.”

“I am.”

“Alone?”

Why would she ask that? “What does that matter?”

“Were you alone?”

“No, my nurse and I left late and got stuck. And don’t make anything of it. I could have been stuck in there with the janitor.”

“Well, she’s certainly a lot more interesting.”

Unbelievably so. “Joey tells me you’re dating,” he said to distract her from more questions about him and Lara waiting for rescue in the elevator.

“No one you know.” A serious, almost worried look settled on her face. “Derek, I need to tell you something.”

Instinctively his stomach tightened. She wasn’t smiling.

“I’m leaving.”

He’d never liked surprises. He liked this one even less than most, he decided as she explained herself.

“To spend time at the Paris Institute will be a marvelous opportunity for me.”

He knew it must be or she wouldn’t go. “What about Joey?” he asked while he dealt with a mixture of emotions: pride, annoyance and disbelief.

“I’m not worried about him. You’re a wonderful father.”

“But you won’t be here when he needs you.”

She turned a sad look on him.

Don’t look at me like that. She didn’t have to say anything. He knew what she was thinking. Because he’d had a rotten childhood, he believed Joey might have one if she wasn’t around for a while.

He’d already broken a promise he’d made to himself when his son was born. He’d vowed Joey wouldn’t go through what he had as a child. So much for promises. He and Rose had divorced, shattered their son’s family.

“Derek, Joey is well adjusted. And this will be good for him in one way. He’ll only be living in one residence for a while.” Rose gave him a weak smile. “I’ll tell him when it’s almost time for me to leave.”

Joey deserved better than what they were giving him.

Derek couldn’t get that thought out of his head. He left the hospital and crossed the street. He had a three-o’clock appointment at Manhattan Multiples with a woman who’d recently received the news she was expecting three or maybe four babies.

Inside the center, he rode the elevator to the third floor. Rose would explain to Joey what was happening. A simplistic solution. Nothing was that simple. If Joey was upset, he’d come to Derek for answers. And children were resilient. At an early age hadn’t he learned how to handle disappointment?

“Dr. Cross, you have a call on line two,” the appointment clerk said as he strode by.

With a nod, he hurried into his office and grabbed the telephone from his desk. “Derek, it’s your father.”

Annoyance rose within him in a flash. What could his father possibly want?

“I’ll be in town for a few days. I thought we could meet.”

“Where are you now?”

“I’m in Acapulco.”

He’d thought his father was in Europe with wife number four. Alone? Derek wanted to ask, but why bother? He’d never really known his father’s last wife.

“I’ll call you when I get in,” his father added before hanging up.

Brief, to the point. All of their conversations were the same. Why the stopover in New York? It had been years since they’d seen each other.

Even before his mother had died, he’d never known the love and affection from his parents that Lara felt from hers. Maybe that was why envy had fluttered inside him when she’d talked about her family. Dumb thinking, he decided. His family was Joey now. His son was all he needed.

The moment Lara entered the center, Josie and Carrie cornered her. “We have a plan.”

“For you,” Carrie said, pointing a finger at her.

Lara stopped at the front desk to scan the next hour’s appointments. Oh, great. “What plan?”

“For your problem. You know about—” Nearby footsteps silenced her.

Derek nodded his head in their direction, then settled at a counter nearby and scribbled notations on a patient’s chart. Few could decipher his chicken scratch. Lara numbered among those few.

Carrie whispered, “I’ve talked to several of the nurses who work at the center and the hospital and friends you have here. We’ve decided your problem is real.”

Lara slanted a look at Derek. She’d swear the edge of his lips had twitched in a grin at that announcement.

“So we’ll help.”

“Help?” Lara decided she’d better concentrate on Carrie. “Help how?” If standing on a street corner and wearing one of those signs that would advertise for a husband was part of their plan, she was refusing.

She was thankful Derek had chosen that moment to leave. He stood at the end of the hallway, talking to his ex-wife. Possibly he still had feelings for her. Perhaps that’s why he’d avoided involvement with other women.

“We’re all—”

“How many of you are there?” Lara asked Carrie.

“Eight. We’re going to hunt among friends—male friends—and our relatives to help you find your Mr. Right.”

“Wait—” What was she going to say? Don’t do this. Why? This was exactly what she needed if she was serious about having a baby. She’d depleted her own resources for an interesting man, someone she’d want to spend the rest of her life with. Because despite the urgency she felt about having children, she wouldn’t act impulsively. Mancinis married for keeps.

On the stairwell, they joined Allison Baker. “Eloise announced she’s going to throw a small fund-raiser this month for Manhattan Multiples.”