She sniffles a little, but I can see that my words have helped.
“You mean it?”
I nod.
“A hundred percent baby,” I say in a rough voice. “I adore you, sweetheart, and have since that first day with the fire alarm.”
With that, she throws her arms around my neck, half-laughing and half-crying.
“Yeah, that was a little insane, wasn’t it? But I love you too, Caleb, and I want us to be together. I’ll get over it. I love you, Caleb,” she repeats again.
But before I can devour the curvy girl, she pulls back for a moment.
“Oh, and guess what?”
“What?” I growl. “I just want you on your back right now, sweetheart, legs spread.”
She giggles.
“Well, we’re kind of going there. What I mean to say is that you did come to Valley Cryo to make some deposits, and one of those deposits worked because I’m pregnant, Caleb,” she whispers. “Are you happy? I’m expecting your child.”
I sit there stunned for a moment.
“Are you serious? We’re going to have a baby?” I ask in a hoarse voice.
Addy nods. “I just found out yesterday, and it’s true. You are a very virile man, Caleb Select, and it turns out that all those trips to the sperm bank weren’t for nothing.”
With that, I pull her into my embrace, tears stinging my eyes.
“Holy shit, baby girl. Thank you,” I whisper around the lump in my throat. “This is the best news you could’ve given me because I do want to become a father, with you as the mommy of course.”
Addy turns to me, those chocolate eyes soft and wise.
“Good, I’m glad to hear, because you’ll be a wonderful daddy, Caleb.”
With that, our lips join as our hearts meld because this is a fitting end to my adventures in sperm donation. In the beginning, I thought I’d be anonymously helping infertile couples conceive, but now, everything’s been turned on its head. After fending off an insane psychopath, Addy and I have now established our own little family, and I can’t wait. Our son or daughter will be the light of our lives, and with the curvy girl in my arms, everything is sure to work out just right.
EPILOGUE
Addy
* * *
Six months later.
It turns out that John Foley is just plain dumb. About a month after the big blow up, John served Caleb with a lawsuit for “emotional distress” about being prevented from starting his own family with Caleb’s sperm. At first, we couldn’t believe it, and we didn’t, until Luke put a copy of the complaint into Caleb’s hands. But it really was there, and so the litigation started and it was painful.
Yet I’ll never forget the look on the judge’s face when he dismissed the case. He said Foley had unnecessarily clogged an already impacted docket with his frivolous claims, and that the man was out of line. I’m not sure what that means exactly from a legal sense, but what I do know is that even after the litigation ended, Caleb was angry. Real angry, and when my boyfriend gets in that state, he goes for blood.
As a result, Caleb got on the phone straight after, and talked to some folks that he knows in government. Before you know it, Valley Cryo was being investigated by the FDA, Health and Human Services, and who knows what other agencies. All I know is that Valley Cryo was shut down within a week. It was something having to do with samples that weren’t kept at the right temperatures and medical records that were falsified, not to mention faulty record-keeping. I have to say that none of that surprised me because there weren’t many controls when I was there. After all, I was making love to Caleb during his donation appointments, and no one ever said a peep.
So yeah, Valley Cryo is no more, although I’m sure another sperm bank will pop up before the week’s over. Evidently, it’s a lucrative business with a lot of demand, so there’s probably an entrepreneur lurking in the wings ready to jump into the gap.
But in the meantime, Caleb’s taken over the lease at the sperm bank because he says he needs it for something top-secret, although I have no idea what that might be. Regardless, we’re cleaning out some of the stuff in the office, and I huff a bit while bending over, my pregnant belly getting in the way.
Immediately, my handsome boyfriend’s at my side, kissing my neck with his hands on the box.
“You know, you don’t need to be doing this. Heavy lifting is bad for the baby.”
I lay my hands on my hugely pregnant belly. “That wasn’t heavy! It was just some stationary inside, and besides, I’ll be fine. I like helping out and the movers are doing the real heavy lifting.”
Caleb laughs. “I guess that’s true, but you know how protective I am. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you or the baby.”