Parallel Lives Pt. 02

For a moment she pondered on the hypothetical notion of having Andy as her boyfriend - could she bring herself to ask him to surrender his foreskin for her? To submit to being circumcised as a personal sacrifice of his love and devotion to her?

Her answer somewhat took her by surprise - no, she couldn't. Sure, she could one day try to persuade him to have it done, but since it was his body and not hers, only he ought to have the final say. And she would definitely respect his decision either way - without question.

But of course, that was all pie in the sky thinking - Andy was stuck in here for the foreseeable future and their time together would be brief. In only a couple of days they would part company - her to resume her daily life, and him to be assigned to another partner to repeat the exercise of getting her pregnant. That notion made her feel a moment of sadness as she laid next to him as he dozed contentedly with his right arm resting atop his chest and his now shrivelled penis that was now just a shadow of the magnificent pillar of naked masculinity it had been just minutes earlier.

After a few minutes he came around from his brief post-coital slumber and he looked at her and smiled.

"I guess I ought to be getting dressed," he said with a soft sight. "Though if it were up to me I'd like to stay here all day."

"I'd like that too," Kat responded sincerely as she softly brushed his hair away from his eyes. "You're a sweet and wonderful guy, Andy," she responded softly. "But alas we're forced to go along separate paths. Still, I'm definitely going to enjoy the rest of our time together while it lasts."

"Me too," he responded, and kissed her softly on her forehead.

He smiled, and then dismounted the bed in order to retrieve his clothes.

"See you again in a few hours," he said as he dressed. "I know I'll definitely be looking forward to it."

Kat smiled in response as she continued to lay naked on the bed.

"That makes two of us," she concurred.

Back To The Mainland

After six days, Claire and Kat's time at Parkhurst Regional Fertility Centre had come to an end, and both young women felt a shared sense of purpose and fulfillment as they prepared for their journey home. With luck, both Steve and Andy had sown their seed inside them, and right at that very moment the long process of cell division and gestation was already underway. The only way either of them would know for certain if their assigned partner's efforts had been successful would be if they missed their next period. But that was in the future - their immediate thoughts were concerned with going home.

Though Claire's first time with Steve had been a letdown, to put it mildly, their subsequent encounters had been much more positive, and by the last few times she had even achieved orgasm. They'd got off on the wrong foot, but the more times she had sex with him, the more she grew to like him and to sympathise with his situation and that of all the other men kept within the escape-proof walls of the former high security correctional facility. He'd revealed himself to be a rather learned man - not only had he a degree in mathematics, he was an avid reader too, with a particular love for the works of Thomas Hardy, and he would sometimes quote the words of Wordsworth and Coleridge during their couplings. Hearing his deep masculine voice reciting the words of the famous Lakeland poets whilst they had sex had a hypnotically arousing effect on her:

"My heart leaps up when I behold, a rainbow in the sky," he had spoken as he thrust himself into her. "So was it when my life began, so is it now I am a man. So be it when I grow old, or let me die! The child is the father of the man, and I could wish my days to be, bound each to each by natural piety."

Just recalling those words in her head made her feel weak at the knees. If only they could have gotten to know each other outside of the strictly controlled environment of the Fertility Centre, and had more time to form a meaningful relationship. But then, in a world where there were so relatively few grown men compared to when William Wordsworth and his fellow poets were ambling around the Lake District's fells and dales and writing some of the most romantic prose ever written, it was a simple but sad fact of life that the majority of women would never find a man to share their life with. For Claire and the majority of her female contemporaries, lonely spinsterhood with a selection of sex toys and paying for an occasional dalliance with a man in a mascularium was no contest for finding genuine love with a kind, gentle and handsome man like Steve.

Kat was also busily musing upon her time with Andy as she packed her things away into her small suitcase. Up to that point she had always been so certain that her ideal penis was circumcised, and as high and tightly cut as possible, but following her time with Andy she had become a little more easygoing when it came to her penile preference. She now knew that she would be less fussy about the status of a potential lover's penis than she had been before - if he was the right guy and he was intact, she would just live with it (although she would still try to convince him to have it done). In her heart she knew she'd been deluding herself - adult men were scarce enough as they were, and men who had been circumcised were even scarcer. But at least there was Cal at Criterion House.

The discharging process was pretty straightforward - all it really consisted of was a brief meeting with the Fertility Centre's chief officer to wish them well and to ask if they'd enjoyed the experience, to which they'd both answered that they had. Claire had for a brief moment thought about mentioning Steve's attitude during their first encounter together, but she kept her mouth shut as she didn't want to get him into trouble - he had of course redeemed himself in all of their subsequent sessions together.

"So, I guess we just go home and wait now," Kat said as the chief officer concluded their brief exit interview.

"That's the general idea," the senior official answered with a smile. "By now, both of you should already have been successfully impregnated by your donors, and the process of cell division should be well underway. But of course, the only way to be certain is if you miss your next period, which would then have to be confirmed by a full pregnancy test. Our success rate is pretty high - over eighty-seven percent in fact - so hopefully in nine months time both of you will be giving birth to at least two beautiful healthy babies."

The chief officer's facial expression then changed from jovial to a more serious appearance.

"Now of course there is a chance that one, or both of you, will be carrying a boy," she went on, this time with more gravitas. "And if that should be the case you will both be offered counselling should the unthinkable, but sadly all too common occurs, and your boys succumb to Anderson-Swift's Disease. Hopefully that eventuality won't occur, but it would be imprudent of you both not to mentally prepare yourselves for it.

"Also, in the event that you deliver a boy, he will automatically be enrolled into the International Boy's Health Program. Throughout his childhood and adolescence his health will be closely monitored with full medical examinations every six months, and routine ten-minute checkups every two months. We may not be able to prevent him from falling victim to Anderson-Swift's Disease, but what we can do is ensure that should a boy be fortunate enough to live to adulthood, by the time he gets there he will be in absolutely perfect health. And of course, this should also hopefully increase his chances of becoming fertile later in life."

"So, if I have a boy there's a chance he might end up in here himself one day?" Claire asked, even though it was a pretty obvious enquiry and she inwardly chided herself for asking such a dumb question.

"Quite possibly," the chief officer replied. "The majority of the men here, over eighty percent of them in fact, were conceived here. So unless one of your sons moves to another part of the country, or overseas, they will both be taken here if they ever produce a fertile semen sample.

"But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Now, before you leave, as I'm sure you both have a ferry to catch, I would like to offer just a few words of advice. If either one of you does end up having a boy, I would like you to remember one thing - they are stronger than you think. With the virus being such a threat to their lives it can be all too easy to become overprotective of them - to wrap them up in cotton wool and try to keep them from harm, but that can sometimes only cause them to end up resenting you. Remember, you will be their mother, not their jailer, and you must allow them the freedom to be... well, to be boys.

"Boys are naturally energetic and rambunctious, and they love engaging in rough-and-tumble play - it's completely normal. But of course sometimes it does result in the odd scraped knee or minor scratch, and you can't ever prevent that. There is always the temptation to keep everything sterile, but boy's immune systems are still pretty robust, with the obvious exception of Anderson-Swift's of course. If he gets a graze or a small cut, just treat it normally with a little antiseptic and a sticking plaster and a kiss to make it better - he'll be perfectly fine. Now, have either of you any other questions before you go?"

She looked at both young women in turn, neither of whom seemed about to speak so she simply continued.

"No? Well in that case I shan't keep you any longer. Thank you both for volunteering, and on behalf of us all here at Parkhurst Regional Fertility Centre, I'd like to wish you both the best of luck for the future."

All three women stood, shook hands, and then both Kat and Claire exited the office and headed back to the reception area, and from thence out of the main gateway where a taxi would hopefully be waiting for them to take them back to Cowes for the next ferry. Together, they made their way back to the mainland, and off on a new journey. The journey to motherhood.

* * * * * *

Thank you for reading -- I hope you enjoyed it! Watch this space for the third story in this series where we meet Johnny and get to see this parallel world from his point of view as a young guy trying to forge himself a career as a Personal Assistant. As for Claire and Kat, we'll catch up with them later on in the epilogue.

Peace and love.