Chapter 170: Half of Each

Elias waited at the condominium parking unit assigned to Alexander. He hadn’t been driving for Alex for a few days. Usually, Giovanni would come around and pick up Alex. Elias didn’t know where they were going.

So Elias texted. "Sir, Alex. I’m at the parking area. Will you be needing my services?"

Alexander messaged Giovanni. "Meet me at the clinic. Elias will bring me there."

"Okay. See you, fiancé." Giovanni typed back.

Once inside the car, Alex directed Elias to the clinic’s location. When they arrived, they found a special entrance for clients. The guard directed Elias to the clinic’s parking area while Alex stepped out of the car.

Elias didn’t ask Alex what they were doing at a fertility clinic. He respected his privacy.

"Text me if you need anything, sir." Alex nodded, then shut the car door.

Their second visit to the fertility center felt considerably different from the first.

Mostly because nobody handed either of them a specimen cup.

Alexander considered that an immediate improvement.

The reproductive specialist walked them through what would happen if they decided to proceed. Once they selected an egg donor and completed the required screening and legal consents, the donor would undergo ovarian stimulation so several eggs could mature in the same cycle.

Not every retrieved egg would necessarily be mature, and not every mature egg would successfully fertilize or develop into an embryo suitable for freezing.

Alexander appreciated that the doctor didn’t make promises.

This was medicine, not online shopping.

"So if we use sperm from both of us?" Giovanni asked.

"If enough mature eggs are available, they can be divided between you," the specialist explained. "One group could be fertilized using Mr. Vance’s sperm and another using yours."

Alexander glanced at Giovanni.

Exactly what they’d hoped.

"And suitable embryos can be frozen afterward?" Alexander asked.

"Yes."

Beside him, Giovanni asked, "Can we have the embryos genetically tested?"

The specialist explained the available testing and its limitations, including what information it could provide and what it couldn’t guarantee.

Alexander listened carefully before something occurred to him.

"Would we know whether they’re boys or girls?"

"You can generally identify the sex chromosomes during testing," the specialist explained. "The egg contributes an X chromosome, while the sperm contributes either X or Y. So genetically speaking, the sperm determines whether an embryo is typically XX or XY."

Alexander looked at Giovanni.

"So technically, that’s our department."

Giovanni’s mouth twitched.

"Apparently."

Alexander leaned back. "Good. I was starting to feel like the egg donor was doing all the work."

"She is doing considerably more than you."

"I contributed."

"You contributed to a cup."

Alexander glared at him.

The specialist suddenly became very interested in the paperwork on his desk.

Alexander didn’t yet know whether they would ever want to choose between a male or female embryo. For now, simply knowing they might have both possibilities waiting for them someday was, strangely enough.

They returned to the donor program.

The coordinator gave them access to the clinic’s available profiles, and Alexander opened the first.

Healthy.

Twenty-six.

No significant hereditary conditions identified in the preliminary history.

College graduate.

Athletic.

Liked painting.

Giovanni looked over his shoulder.

"No."

Alexander turned.

"You’ve been looking for six seconds."

"Family history."

Alexander checked.

There it was.

He moved on.

By the seventh profile, Alexander realized something.

"This is harder than choosing a husband."

Giovanni looked offended.

"You chose me in one conversation."

"Exactly."

"You proposed to me," Giovanni added insult to injury.

"I was under pressure."

Giovanni stared at him.

Alexander smiled sweetly and opened the next profile.

Then both of them became quiet.

The woman was twenty-five and healthy. Her genetic screening didn’t immediately present anything concerning based on the information available, and her family medical history was remarkably uneventful.

She was a university graduate, worked with children, exercised regularly, and listed reading, swimming, hiking, and cooking among her interests.

Alexander glanced at Giovanni.

"Swimming."

"No."

"What?"

"You’re thinking about the sperm again."

"I wasn’t."

"You absolutely were."

Alexander looked back at the profile.

"Good eggs and good swimmers."

"Alex."

"What?"

"We’re in a fertility clinic."

"Exactly. This is probably the only building where that sentence is medically relevant."

Giovanni rubbed a hand over his face.

But he was laughing.

They didn’t choose immediately.

That felt too important.

Instead, they reviewed the information available and asked what additional screening would happen before anything proceeded. Eventually, they asked the coordinator to place the donor on their shortlist while they completed the remaining counseling and matching process.

When they finally left the clinic, Alexander carried another folder.

Giovanni glanced at it.

"You’ve started collecting those."

Alexander looked down.

"Sperm records. Now egg donor records."

"And eventually?"

Alexander thought about it.

"Embryo records."

Giovanni nodded.

They continued walking.

Then Alexander added, more quietly, "Hopefully prenatal records after that."

Giovanni became silent.

For a moment, Alexander wondered whether he’d gone too far ahead again.

Then Giovanni reached over and took his hand.

"Hopefully."

Alexander squeezed his fingers.

It was strange how much that single word affected him.

No one could guarantee anything. The specialist had made that clear, and Alexander didn’t want guarantees anyway. He wanted them to make each decision because it felt right, then deal with whatever came afterward together.

For now, they’d found someone they wanted to know more about.

Someone whose eggs might someday be divided between them.

Half for Alexander.

Half for Giovanni.

And if they were fortunate enough for those eggs to become embryos, perhaps someday one of those embryos would become their child.

Alexander smiled.

Giovanni noticed.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"That expression isn’t nothing."

Alexander looked ahead.

"I was just thinking about our future children."

"Perfect?"

Alexander laughed.

"No."

He tightened his fingers around Giovanni’s.

"They don’t have to be."

That answer seemed to please Giovanni far more.

Giovanni brought his own car to the clinic because he had an afternoon meeting at a project site. Elias waited patiently in the parking area, a motivational book in hand. He was already halfway through it when Alex knocked on the window.

Elias stepped out and opened the rear door for Alex. He waited until the seatbelt clicked into place, then sat behind the wheel.

"Where to, sir?"