Unexpected Attraction

"Stay there, Ralph, this is my foul up, I'll deal with it," she said as she went after Stella.

I could see them over in the next room, Stella sobbing as Mom put her arm around Stella's shoulders.

They were soon heading back to the table, Stella still softly crying, Mom with her arm still around her.

As they took their seats, Mom was apologizing profusely.

"Stella, I simply can't apologize enough. I don't know how I could have been so insensitive. I simply meant to say that I would be honored if you would allow me to help you with planning the wedding."

"It... It's all right. It's just after all this time the rejection still hurts, especially when you and your husband, who have just met me, are so accepting, while the family who should've loved me unconditionally, didn't."

The good thing about this was that whatever barriers that might have still been there had been shattered. I began to wonder if my mother was the mother of the bride or the groom. Stella and my mother were on the phone practically non-stop planning the wedding, and I wisely took my father's advice and stayed out of the way, simply writing checks as required.

We didn't hide Stella's background, nor did we announce it. Some people knew or somehow figured it out, but we had apparently chosen our friends wisely as nobody said anything or refused to attend. I was happy that some of Stella's cousins did come, apologizing profusely for the attitudes of the rest of the family, until we had to ask them to stop. They weren't responsible for the rest of the family, and we were just happy to have them there. Stella was still quietly disappointed that her parents not only didn't come, but wouldn't even give us the courtesy of an RSVP.

We kept the wedding low-key. We had it at a small local resort on a lake, and held the ceremony outdoors with the lake in the background. While I wasn't observant, my family was Jewish, so we got married under a chuppah, a canopy, and I broke the glass after my father gave the blessing over the wine and Stella and I took small sips.

After cocktails and appetizers on the deck, we went inside for the main reception. We had a great meal, and the DJ began playing tunes that got everyone up dancing.

My father had a surprise in store for us. As the DJ played Hava Nagila, and everyone danced in a big circle, two chairs were placed in the center. I knew what was coming, but Stella just looked up at me in puzzlement.

We were seated on the chairs and were each surrounded by four strong men. Before Stella could react, each chair was lifted high by four men and we were danced around the room in the Horah, the Jewish Wedding Dance. We each held an end of a napkin as the chairs were raised and lowered and spun around. Stella was nervous at first, but soon got into it as she gained confidence that we wouldn't be dropped.

When the chairs were returned to the floor, she jumped up, threw her arms around me and I twirled her around.

It seemed like the party had barely started when it was time for us to retire to our hotel room to celebrate our wedding night and rest up for our early flight to the Virgin Islands for our Honeymoon. I wish I could tell you about the sights we saw, and the adventures we had, and we DID get out of our room occasionally, but for all practical purposes we could have saved the money and just stayed in our bedroom for the week.

There was enough turnover that Stella was able to get her job back at the bowling alley.

We had settled comfortably into married life when we hit a little bump in the road. We were coming upon our second anniversary when my mother began the conversation that most young married couples dread; when would we be giving her grandchildren?

My father tried to cut her off, but it wasn't really unexpected.

"Mom, you know we plan on having a family," I said, "We're just not sure that we're ready yet."

"Who is ever really ready?" she said. "I'm not getting any younger, you know."

God, now she was playing the Jewish mother guilt card!

Before I could reply, she became more conciliatory.

"I truly don't want to pressure either of you, but adoption can take a while, especially if you want to adopt a baby. You should at least begin planning, check out adoption agencies."

What could I say? She was right. I took Stella's hand.

"Okay, Mom, you win. We'll start checking things out." Stella nodded her agreement. "Don't worry, you'll be the first to know when anything happens."

"That's all I can ask, Sweetie," she said, and stood up to give each of us hugs, while Dad shook my hand and kissed Stella on the cheek.

It was quiet in the car on the way home.

"Penny for your thoughts, Hon," I said, breaking the silence.

"I was just thinking that this is it. I know we discussed the possibility before, but now it's reality."

"Yeah," I said, "I guess if we're going to do this, we might as well get started. Why don't you go online tomorrow while I'm at work, just see what's what?"

"Okay, Ralph, I can do that."

We were a little tense when we got home, too tense for any fooling around. I just spooned against her back and held her tight as we both drifted off to sleep.

Things were still a little quiet at breakfast, but as I headed out to work Stella gave me a big smile and a hug.

"Don't worry, Ralph, it will all work out."

"With you on the case, I'm sure that it will," I said as I headed out the door.

It was a crazy day at work, and I barely gave babies another thought, but being stuck in traffic on the way home gave me plenty of time to think about it. Unfortunately, I didn't really have any information with which to work.

When I pulled into the driveway, Stella was at the door practically bouncing with excitement.

"Looks like someone has some good news," I said.

"I think so, I hope so, I hope you think so," she said, a little of her excitement draining away.

"Honey, if you think so, I can't imagine that I'll disagree. So what did you find out about adoption?"

"Not adoption. Surrogacy."

"Surrogacy? That sounds familiar, but how does that help us?"

"We find a woman to carry your baby!" she said.

"Oh, no, I'm not having sex with some stranger."

"Of course not, you big goof," she said, punching me in the arm.

"When we find the right woman, we use your sperm to either artificially inseminate her, or use in vitro fertilization."

I was in a bit of a daze as Stella dragged me over to the computer to show me some web sites she had found. I was amazed that there were several agencies devoted to this process.

"Just think, the baby will be carrying your genes! It will physically be your child, not just emotionally. I don't mean that you would love it any more, or an adopted baby any less. It's just the frosting on the cake."

"Okay, Stella, see if you can get an appointment, but not a whisper to my parents."

She nodded excitedly and practically dragged me to bed, completely forgetting the dinner she had cooking. After a couple of orgasms each, the growling of our stomachs reminded us of our mistake, along with the smell of burning food on the stove. We made a mad naked dash to the kitchen, only to have to put the ruined pots and pans into the sink to cool off.

I ordered a pizza and popped a couple of beers, that we clinked in a toast to each other. As nervous as we were, we managed to get half the pizza down before going to bed for a restless night's sleep.

Getting approved for surrogacy was remarkably easy, and I was pleasantly surprised that the surrogate was willing to meet with us. It was awkward at first, but we warmed up to each other quickly. I was actually a little jealous as Stella and Mary would often meet for coffee or just to chat, but I quickly got over it.

My mother was good about it, she didn't nag us or anything, but she rarely missed an opportunity to drop hints or outright ask how we were doing with our plans to expand our family. We didn't want to tell her about our plans until things were more definite, not wanting to disappoint her if things didn't work out.

The big day finally arrived. We had decided on in vitro rather than artificial insemination even though it was more expensive, because of its higher success rate. I had given the clinic a sperm sample, they had extracted eggs from Mary, had several embryos ready to be implanted, and Mary was ready.

I was surprised that they would be implanting two embryos, and it was explained that this was to increase the chances for a successful implantation.

Stella and I took Mary in for the procedure, and I think that we were more nervous than she was. One or the other of us, sometimes both, were pacing around the waiting room. I thought that all that I needed was a cigarette to look like the expectant father in all the old movies and TV shows.

"God, Stella," I said, "if we're this nervous now, how will we survive when Mary is due to give birth?"

Stella just shook her head, threw her arms around me and hung on for dear life.

Before we could totally lose it, the doctor came out to tell us the procedure went well.

"We won't know for a couple of weeks that the implantation was successful," she said. "Mary needs to rest for a couple of hours before she goes home, but you can go see her now."

We were very tentative as we entered the room, but Stella was soon rushing over to the bed to give Mary a big hug.

Stella moved away just a bit, but held one of Mary's hands as I took the other.

"There's no way that I can thank you enough for doing this for us, Mary," Stella said through her tears. I could feel my own eyes brimming with tears as I nodded my agreement.

"Well, the $30,000 is a good start," Mary said. As Stella recoiled in shock, Mary said, "I'm just teasing, Stella. I wouldn't do this for any amount of money if I didn't feel the calling."

We each gave Mary a hug, then left the room to let her get her rest. As soon as the doctor gave her okay, we took Mary back to her home, and I made her comfortable while Stella made her a light lunch.

"I still can't imagine you doing this for us," I said.

"I'm doing this for me, too," Mary said. "I've always wanted to be a mother, but never found the right guy, and never had the money to do anything on my own. I'm going to use the money you gave me to pay for an adoption. As soon as I recover from the birth I'm going to pursue it in earnest."

"Well, I'm sure you'll be a great Mom," I said as Stella came in with the food.

Seeing Stella's puzzled look, I explained Mary's plan. Stella out the food down and gave Mary a big hug, giving her own assurances about what a great Mom she would be.

We cleaned up after lunch and left Mary to rest.

We were all on tenterhooks until the doctor called us to come into the office. We were concerned about why she wanted to see us until we saw her big smile, and she motioned for us all to sit.

"I called you all in because I have some very good news," she said.

We were a little puzzled. Obviously we were expecting, hoping that there had been a successful implantation, what more could the doctor have to say?

"As you know, we implant two embryos to increase the chances of success."

We all nodded.

"Well, in your case, both implantations took. You're going to have twins!"

I thought that Mary was going to faint as Stella rushed to her side. Soon we were all shedding tears of joy, even the doctor.

When Mary hit the three-month mark and was beginning to show pretty well, we invited my parents over for dinner. They were surprised to see an obviously pregnant Mary there, whom they had never met.

After dinner we all sat in the den as I got ready to make the big announcement.

"Mom, Dad, I know you've been very anxious to know what our plans were regarding grandchildren, and we've been very private because we didn't want to say anything until we were sure.

"Well, a few months ago, Stella and I started investigating surrogacy..."

I could see a look of bewilderment on my parent's faces.

"Surrogacy," I explained, "is used when a woman can't become pregnant for whatever reason, and another woman agrees to carry their child.

"We found Mary with the help of an agency, the doctor removed some of her eggs and fertilized them with my sperm, so they are genetically my children and your grandchildren. The embryos were then implanted into Mary. As you can see, the procedure worked, and in about six months you're going to become grandparents!"

My mother jumped up and didn't seem to know who to hug first. She decided to start with me, move to Stella and finally Mary, giving her teary kisses and thanking her over and over again, as my father first shook my hand before hugging everybody.

I wasn't quite sure why I didn't mention the twins, and I just shook my head quickly at Stella and Mary's puzzled looks.

We were finally able to usher my parents out, explaining that Mary needed her rest, when Stella came after me.

"Okay, Ralph, spill! Why didn't you tell your parents about the twins?"

"Mary, could you please give us just a few minutes alone?"

"Sure, Ralph," she said, still puzzled as she went to the kitchen.

I sat down on the couch with Stella, who had a strange look that was a mixture of anger and puzzlement on her face.

Before she could start again I place a finger on her lips as I took a deep breath.

"Stella, you know that when we started this process we were looking to have a baby."

"Well, duh, Ralph, what's that got to do with not telling your parents about the twins?"

"I'm getting to that. While we weren't planning on it, having twins was sort of a bonus."

"Again, tell me something I don't know. Come on, Ralph, you must have something weird on you feeble brain to be so mysterious."

I gathered all the courage I had before saying what was on my mind.

"You know how Mary was planning on using her surrogacy payment to pay for an adoption..."

Stella didn't even need for me to finish my sentence.

"Oh, Ralph that's a wonderful idea! Mary will be so thrilled."

"How the hell do you know what I was going to say?"

"Ralph, I can always read you like a book! Let's get Mary in here and tell her."

We got Mary back and sat her down between us, as Stella took both of Mary's hands in hers.

"Mary, Ralph has the most wonderful idea, and I hope that you will think so, too."

Mary just looked from me to Stella and back again, wondering what the fuck was going on, finally settling on me, I guess because it was my idea.

"Mary, we, or I guess I, though Stella apparently agrees, were thinking. We were never planning on twins, though we're definitely excited by the idea. I started thinking of your plan to adopt a child, then thought that maybe... maybe you'd like to have one of the twins for your own?"

Mary's jaw dropped, then she started to cry. What is it with women anyway? I thought I was giving her good news and she starts crying!

When she turned to me and hugged me, saying, "Thank you" over and over, this clueless man realized they were tears of joy.

"One more thing," Stella said, and now it was my turn to look puzzled.

"Mary, Ralph, I would love it if we could remain friends, more than friends, after the babies are born. You can be an "aunt" for our baby, we'll be aunt and uncle for yours. I'm sure Ralph's parents would be thrilled to have another grandchild to spoil."

Mary and I shook ourselves out of our shock and readily agreed as we fell into a group hug.

My parents were a little surprised when we invited them back the following weekend.

"Folks, I didn't really tell you everything last weekend because I had to talk things over with the ladies first.

"Mary has been planning to use her surrogacy fee to pay for her to adopt a child. Well, when the doctor gave us the news that Mary was indeed pregnant, she also dropped the bombshell that she was going to have twins."

"That's wonderful," my mother said, "but why didn't you tell us last week?"

"Because I didn't want to possibly disappoint you."

"Why in the world would that disappoint us?" my father asked.

"Because we're not keeping both babies..."

My parents started bombarding me with questions. When I finally got them calmed down, I continued.

"We're going to let Mary keep one of the babies, but there is good news there, too. Mary is going to remain close to all of us, in fact she would like you to be honorary grandparents to her baby."

Mom nearly swooned into my father's arms, then went over to give Mary a hug.

"This is real?" she said, "I'm going to have two grandbabies?"

Mary could only nod with a big grin on her face.

It was late when we finally got my parents out the door, and let Mary crash in the guest room.

We all grew very close over the next six months. Stella was a real mother hen, fussing over Mary so much that Mary almost got annoyed with her, though during the third trimester she was grateful for the help.

Stella and I both trained with Mary as Lamaze coaches, getting some odd looks from the other couples.

As much as we tried to be prepared, when Mary's water broke it was barely contained chaos.

The staff in the delivery room weren't quite sure what to make of us. First, they tried to keep Stella out, then they seemed to think that Mary and Stella were a lesbian couple and tried to keep me out, until finally Mary, during a pause in her labor pains, made it abundantly clear that if we weren't both allowed in to the delivery room then she would have the babies in the fucking hallway. With that, we were gowned up and went to help Mary as best we could.

We each took a hand and tried to comfort her and coach her. Mary alternated between screams of, "What the fuck was I thinking of," to smiles telling us how happy she was.

Mary, fortunately, didn't require a c-section, and the births were relatively easy (easy for me to say, I know). First out was a boy, and I cut the cord, followed soon after by a girl, and Stella cut her cord. As soon as the babies were cleaned up they were placed at Mary's breasts and immediately latched on and started nursing.

Stella and I were hustled out so that Mary could be cleaned up, but as soon as she was moved to the recovery area of the birthing suite, we were right there gazing in awe at the babies.

As soon as Mary was able, we took her to our house where we had everything set up in the largest guest room, including two bassinets.

While we had never discussed it, Mary had Stella listed as the mother of the boy, with my last name, named after my father, Morris, and Mary listed as the mother of the girl, named after her deceased grandmother, Helen, with Mary's last name. It was obvious where this was going, but in the way of all wise men, I kept my mouth shut.

My parents were there as soon as possible, cooing over and cuddling with the babies. We fibbed a bit, and told them that we hadn't decided on names yet, as we didn't want to ruin our big surprise.

My parents were sitting, my mother holding the girl, my father holding his namesake.

"We haven't really discussed which baby was going to be mine," Mary said, "and which was going to be Ralph and Stella's. I exercised some maternal privilege with the birth certificates, and I wanted to explain my thoughts."

"Mary," Stella said, "there's no need to explain. You gave birth to them, you've earned the right..."

"Stella, please," Mary said, "This is important to me."

We all grew very quiet.

"I know Ralph is your only son. That is why I want Stella and Ralph to have a son, to carry on your family name."

I'd seen my father get emotional before, but he had to hand the baby to me as he broke down crying.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he sobbed as I rubbed his back.

"Dad, you've got nothing to be sorry about."

"Yes, I do!" he said as he looked up at Stella. "Stella, I've tried to love you as much as any father can love his son's wife, and for the most part I've succeeded, but there was a small part of me that regretted, maybe even resented, that my family line might end with Ralph. Now, you and Mary have given me this indescribable gift, and I now feel so unworthy of it." With that he ran out of the room in tears.