Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 94012 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94012 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Noelle was dressed and lying on the table when I walked in. When she turned to me and smiled, all felt right in the world.
“Are we in business?” I asked once the nurse left.
She chuckled. “I guess we’ll see.”
I sat down. “Did it hurt?”
She shook her head. “There was a little pinching and cramping, but nothing too bad.”
“Pretty sure I had the easier job between the two of us.”
“The nurse commented on how fast you finished.” Her shoulders shook as she laughed.
“What can I say? I understood the assignment.” I winked. “Been practicing for this moment for years.”
Her beautiful eyes glowed with joy, the same joy I felt right now. I couldn’t imagine doing this with anyone else. Sharing this experience with Noelle was the next best thing to having her as mine. Not to mention, the thought of my sperm inside her right now fucking turned me on.
CHAPTER 23
NOELLE
ONCE THE LYING-DOWN period was over, Archie and I were able to leave the doctor’s office.
“Do you have to take it easy for the rest of the day?” he asked as we walked through the parking lot to his car.
“No. I just can’t do any rigorous exercising.”
He opened the car door for me. “So bungee jumping is out of the question then?”
“Probably.”
“Well, there goes my plan for us.” He went around and got in on the driver’s side. “When do we come back here again?”
“Two weeks.”
“You think you’ll do a home test before then?”
I shook my head. “They said false positives are common with those because of the hormones they gave me. I don’t want false hope, so I’ll wait for the actual blood test.”
“Oh yeah, that would suck to get a false positive.” He still didn’t start the car. “Do you have plans for the rest of the afternoon?”
“No, actually. I was just going to go back to the house and organize some stuff.”
“Why don’t you forget about that? It’s a beautiful day. I took all of today off. We should celebrate making it through round one.”
Fastening my belt, I relaxed into the seat. “I’m game for whatever, sure.”
Archie showed me some more of the town before taking me to see his restaurant, Fontaine’s. Fontaine had been Nora’s maiden name, and I loved that he’d named it after her. It was cool to meet some of the people Archie worked with, too. Based on some of the looks and nudges he got from coworkers, it seemed likely they’d drawn the wrong conclusion about me.
After, Archie insisted on taking me to some ice cream place he loved.
On the way there, his phone rang. I could tell from his side of the conversation that it was Mariah.
“Everything okay?” I asked when he hung up.
“The hospital asked Mariah if she could pick up an extra shift tonight. She knew I had the day off and asked me to take Clancy.” He frowned. “I’m sorry. I have to get over there now so she can leave. We’ll have to do a rain check on the ice cream.”
I nodded. These types of interruptions probably happened a lot in his life. “No worries.”
“Actually… I’ll be making dinner tonight for Clancy now. Why don’t you come over and meet her? It’s just as good a time as any—unless you’re not feeling up to it.”
Jitters immediately set in, but no way was I going to turn down a chance to meet Archie’s daughter. “I still feel great. I’d love to meet her tonight.”
“Cool. I’ll drop you off at your place now so you can decompress. Then I’ll go to Mariah’s, pick Clancy up, and come back to get you.”
“That sounds perfect.” Since I didn’t have a car out here, I was reliant on Archie for transportation unless I called a car service.
After he dropped me at his mom’s house, I opened the front door to a most unusual sight. A woman with a long, gray braid was sitting in front of a camera on a tripod in the living room. This had to be Roz. I hadn’t yet had a chance to meet my roommate because she’d been sleeping in when I left for my appointment this morning.
There were multiple ring lights set up, and Roz was speaking into the camera. I listened to what she was saying…something about hot flashes. I waited until she hit pause to clear my throat and make my presence known.
She turned, raising her hand to her chest in surprise. “Oh goodness gracious! You scared the bejesus out of me.” Roz smiled. “You must be the famous Noelle.” She gave me a once-over. “No wonder that boy did your room up so nice.”
“Nice to meet you, Roz.” I looked over at the ring lights. “I didn’t realize there was a production going on here.”
“Oh! I was just recording a video for my YouTube channel. Menopause Roz. I have fifty-thousand subscribers! Can you believe it? Bunch of broads looking to hear me talk about the change of life.”