Aidan and Katie Ch. 07

I hugged her. "How did you do this so fast?"

She giggled. "I had planned this before. I bought the mugs and put them in the freezer. I had the root beer in the refrigerator in the garage and I made the chili when you called. It could have simmered longer, but I figured since it's more of a condiment, it would be OK. We can eat bowls of it tomorrow."

We made our hot dogs and sat in front of the TV. She pressed play on the DVD player and when the opening credits rolled, I started laughing. "Babies on the brain, Babydoll?" It was Baby Boom, starring Diane Keaton.

She giggled, "Mayyyybeeee... Wait 'til you see the next one."

I looked at her, squinting suspiciously and she laughed. We ate our chili dogs, drank our root beer and watched the movie. We laughed, we cried and we thoroughly enjoyed the movie. When it was over, she didn't let me see the next one until it was playing. I started laughing again; she had put in Cheaper by the Dozen with Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt.

"Babydoll, you're out of your mind if you're thinking we'll even get close to a dozen kids." I kissed her and hugged her.

She giggled, "I know, but I thought it would be fun to watch."

We snuggled in and watched the movie. We were both amazed at who some of the kids grew up to be. Piper Perabo and Hilary Duff were in it and Ashton Kutcher basically had a walk on. By the time it was halfway over, I could tell by her breathing that she had fallen asleep. I watched the end of the movie, got out from under her and turned everything off downstairs.

"Come on, Babydoll, time for bed." I said gently, kneeling beside her.

As I had learned, getting her up when she was asleep was nearly impossible. I coaxed and cajoled, begged and finally threatened her before she moved. Sometimes, it was like living with a pre-teen. She stumbled up to bed and fell in. I'm not certain that she had even woken up. I climbed in behind her and she scooted back into me, squirming until I spooned with her. The last thought I had before falling asleep was that we hadn't even discussed how to approach Elle with this monumental request.

I opened my eyes and looked around, I was alone in bed. I lay there for a few moments before I realized that something smelled wonderful. After using the bathroom and brushing my teeth, I walked up behind Jeannie as she was working on the countertop. I slipped my arms around her waist and nuzzled her neck.

"Mmmmm," she hummed, "morning sweetie."

I kissed her ear, "Morning, what smells so good?"

"A cinnamon coffee cake." She murmured, "Plus I'm making an egg, cheese and sausage casserole. It ought to be done just about the time that Elle gets here."

I kissed the back of her neck and she leaned into me. "Babe?"

"Mmm-hmm?" She hummed.

"Have you thought about how you're going to ask Elle?" I asked softly.

Her shoulders sagged and she shook her head slowly. "I-I-I don't know, do you?"

I turned her around and hugged her to me, she was shaking. "No, but let's just let it come. Let's just try to get the conversation around to babies and kids and see where it goes."

We stood with our arms around each other until she calmed down. "OK."

I looked at the clock, "I need to get ready and so do you."

She merely repeated herself, "OK."

I went to our room and took a quick shower. I pulled my hair into a ponytail, put on a pair of shorts and a tank top. When I came out of the bathroom, Jeannie had just pulled off her clothes and, as always, I was shocked breathless by her body. I stopped still and stared at her.

She grinned at me, "We don't have time, Angel." Then she brushed past me, making sure that her boobs caught the bare skin of my arm.

I took a deep shuddering breath and muttered, "Bitch." Jeannie just giggled.

I went downstairs and got a cup of coffee. I went out and sat on the patio, it was a little cool for shorts, but it still felt good. A few minutes later, Jeannie came out and hugged me.

"Is everything ready?" I asked. "Do you need help with anything?"

"I'm good." She said.

It was then that we heard the doorbell. We went inside and started toward the front door when we heard the timer go off. Jeannie veered off to the kitchen and I went to the front door. Elle was there in shorts and a tank top. I hugged her and said, "Evidently, shorts and tank tops are the order of the day."

She asked, "What do you mean?" Then Jeannie popped in and she was dressed almost identically to Elle and I. "Oh." Elle said when she saw Jeannie. Then they hugged, too. We went out to the kitchen and Jeannie had laid everything out.

"Ooohh," Elle said, "everything looks and smells great!"

Jeannie got everybody coffee and we sat down. I could tell she was nervous because she was talking a mile a minute. We ate and spent a long time sitting at the table talking. I asked Elle about The Elle and she sighed deeply.

"Kenny, my chef turned in his notice a month ago. He got an offer from a fine dining restaurant and that's where he wanted to be. I was fortunate that he told them that he wouldn't dump on me and needed to give me a month." She said sadly. "Aidan and I planned for this, but I had hoped he would last longer than a year. He helped me find his replacement from the culinary school and had been helping train her. But, it's taking much more of my time than I had hoped. Aidan and I have spent less time than usual together. I'm missing him a lot."

The longer she talked, the more that Jeannie didn't. I could feel her withdrawing and becoming very still. I found her hand and held it lightly while we talked. I asked Elle about the new chef and she told us that this one was a woman named Suzie.

Elle laughed, "Her name is Suzanne, and she tried to carry that off for a little while, but she couldn't do it. She realized that we're way too relaxed for that kind of formality."

Elle went on to tell us that it would be a month or two before she could cut back her hours again. When she said that, Jeannie's shoulders slumped and she withdrew from the conversation completely. It did not go unnoticed by Elle.

"Jeannie," Elle said, "what's wrong? You have gotten much too quiet after having been so excited when I got here. Tell me what's up."

Jeannie looked at me and I asked her, "Do you want me to talk about it, or do you?"

Jeannie shook her head, took a deep breath and said, "I will."

She looked at Elle and said, "Katie and I have been talking and we want to have a baby."

Elle grinned, "That sounds great. Are you going to do artificial insemination? Don't you like to have to go through profiles of guys that are donors?" She giggled, "OK, I want one from Column A, one from Column B..."

In spite of herself, Jeannie laughed at that. "I suppose that is the way it works." She looked at me and squeezed my hand. "But, that's not what I, uhh, I mean, we want."

Elle cocked her head to the side. "Then what is it that you want?"

Jeannie hesitated and I nudged her. She looked sideways at me, a little annoyed. "OK, OK." She took another deep breath and gripped my hand tighter. "I, uhh, we don't want a stranger to be the biological father to our baby. We want someone we both know, we both trust and we both love to be the father. I am going to be carrying our child and I want our baby to be related to both of us."

She stopped; her face blood red and breathing hard. Elle sat there a moment looking confused. Then, as she realized what Jeannie was saying she smiled softly. "You want Aidan to be the daddy, don't you?"

Jeannie relaxed a little, just a little. "Yes."

Elle looked at me, grinning hard, "So you want your brother to whack-off into a cup, huh?"

That made me laugh and then as I pictured it, Aidan hunched over a cup clutching a men's magazine, I began laughing harder. Elle started giggling and finally Jeannie joined in. It broke the tension a little.

Elle sat back and looked at Jeannie. "So, do you want my permission or something? That's no problem, I'm sure that Aidan won't have a problem whacking off for his sisters."

Jeannie turned to look at me, panic in her eyes. I squeezed her hand gently trying to reassure her. She was breathing heavily again. "I'll do it, babe." I whispered.

I reached across the table and took Elle's hand. "Here's the thing, Elle. Jeannie doesn't want artificial insemination. She doesn't want a sterile lab for the baby. She wants our baby conceived in love."

Elle gasped as she comprehended my words. She looked between Jeannie and I. "You, she, uhhh, you want to have sex with Aidan and you want my permission! You don't want a sterile lab as the point of conception, but a dirty little fuck is good enough!?!? Jeannie, Katie you're both nuts!" She pulled her hand away and glared at us.

I sighed, "That's not it at all. Jeannie wants all four of us there. She wants all of our love there. She doesn't want sneaking around; she wants us to love the baby into the world."

Elle jerked her hand away and sat there with her mouth hanging open. "So she wants the baby conceived in an orgy?"

I was speechless. I had bought into Jeannie's rationale and didn't think about how the presentation would sound. It sounded downright nuts and it struck me as really funny. I started laughing again and both of them turned and stared at me.

"Oh, come on!" I said, "It's funny!"

They sat there and stared at me as I laughed. Pretty soon the corners of Elle's mouth started twitching and she started giggling. She took my hand again and we sat there for a few moments.

"OK," She said, "At first blush, that's really weird, but I can see what you're trying to accomplish. Now, what do you want from me?"

I took another deep breath, "I think we need you to talk to Aidan and feel him out on this. After all, we're asking him to have sex with his ex. If it's a non-starter then just let us know. If he wants to talk about it, we'll do whatever he wants. Just let us know. We're going to go to an OB/GYN this week and find out the best way to chart all of Jeannie's rhythms and whatnot. If it's just no, then we'll talk to the doctor about artificial insemination."

Elle sat there and looked at us, a neutral expression on her face. The she smiled, "You know, it took a lot of courage to ask this. I don't know how Aidan is going to react to this, but I'll ask. I'm not gonna take sides, I'm gonna be neutral. If he asks me what I think, I'm gonna tell him that I have no problem with him having sex with Jeannie as long as it's to make a baby, but not for recreation. Am I clear on that?"

I started giggling, "So they can make a baby, but they can't have any fun doing it?"

Elle just stuck out her tongue at me. Jeannie sat there a minute and then ran around the table to Elle and threw herself into Elle's arms. "Thank you, Elle, thankyouthankyouthankyou."

"Whoa there, Jeannie." Elle said softly, holding Jeannie. "There's nothing set."

Jeannie buried her face in Elle's neck. "I know, but you're willing to try, that's enough for me."

"OK." Elle said.

Jeannie kissed Elle on the cheek, came back and sat down. We sat there talking for a few more minutes. Then Elle looked at her watch. "I'd love to sit here for a while, but I need to get to the restaurant. I'll talk to Aidan and let you know."

"OK," Jeannie said, "Thank you."

**********************

We spent the next several days wondering what was going on. Jeannie kept bugging me to call, but I told her to give Aidan and Elle time. Aidan had to work out what he was feeling about it. No matter what Elle had said at our house; she had to be settled with the whole thing in her mind. In the meantime Jeannie set up an appointment with an OB/GYN to find out about her cycle and maximum fertility. One piece of good news was that Jeannie hadn't been on birth control for nearly two years and her body should be functioning normally. The hormones were long out of her system. The second piece was that she was as regular as clockwork. We should be able to pin the fertile days down pretty accurately.

We heard from Elle on Thursday. Aidan had been thinking about it and had some questions. They wanted us to come for dinner on Friday night. We agreed and Jeannie was all kinds of excited.

"Calm down Babydoll." I said as she was choking the shit out of me as she hugged me. "He has questions, he could say no."

"I know, but we're a step closer." She squeaked in excitement. "I don't know if I can wait until tomorrow night!"

I laughed, "Well that's just tough, 'cause you don't have any choice."

She sighed, "I know."

********************

The next night we went to Elle's. She had cooked some lasagna and garlic bread. Jeannie had asked about wine before we went and she bought a good cabernet sauvignon. We ate the lasagna, which was very good and then went into the living room with our wine. The conversation was a little tense at first, but became easier as we went along.

Finally, Aidan said, "Let's address the elephant in the room, OK?"

We all laughed. "Look," he said, "I don't think I have a problem with this. But, I want to make sure that Katie and Elle are OK with it." He looked directly at me. "I know what happened with Julie and I need to know that this isn't gonna freak you out."

I smiled, "Baby Bro, I appreciate that you're worried about me. But, I realized that this isn't merely about Jeannie getting some dick. This is only about a baby. So I am fine with it...as long as Elle and I are there."

He said, "OK, Elle told me that she's OK with it, too...as long as you and she are there. Next I want to know if this is gonna be a clinical wham, bam, thank you ma'am or if it's gonna be something more. I mean, I don't see the point of not having artificial insemination if we're not having some tenderness." He looked at Elle in a panic. "Babe, it's not that, I mean...uhhhh..."

Elle went over and hugged him. "It's OK, Aidan, I know what you mean. I think the idea is that Katie will get Jeannie all hot and bothered and ready for you and I will get you ready for Jeannie. Then we will help things along." She looked at us, "Do I have that right, ladies?"

"Yes you do," I answered. "Aidan, I want you to know how much we appreciate this. I know that this must be a hard decision because I know how much you love Elle. It must be hard also giving us a baby and that you'll watch the baby grow up from across the room. Know this; you will be a major part of our child's life, our child will know that you're his or her daddy." I glanced over at Jeannie and she was crying and nodding enthusiastically. "You won't have to worry about our baby."

There were tears in his eyes as we all came together in a hug. Then I had a wicked thought. "Besides, when will you ever have access to six boobs at once? What variety, too. Papa Bear, Mama Bear and Baby Bear."

Elle said, "Hey!" and smacked me, but she was laughing.

Aidan hugged her and said, "And they're juuuuussttt right!"

Jeannie and I said, "Awwww..."

"Oh shut up!" Aidan growled.

We laughed at him and then went over and hugged both of them. He growled, but had to stop because he was laughing. We broke up when he started struggling to get loose.

"OK," he said when everyone was back in their seats, "what now? How, where and when do we do this?"

I looked at Jeannie and she shrugged. "How about this? We should do this at our house. I don't think Elle wants to look at your bed or her bed and have the memory of you with another woman." They both started to protest and I raised my hand, "I know, I know, we'll all be there, but the mind is a funny thing and this will be a powerful memory for all of us. It's not like you guys are going to be in our bed every night, now is it? This will be a happy memory for us, so let's just do it at our house. We know the time frame and it should be two weeks from now. So, we're suggesting that you guys stay with us for a couple of days at the height of Jeannie's cycle, that way we'll have a couple of shots at it. How's that sound?"

Aidan made a face, "A little clinical, but I get it."

Elle smacked him again, "Jesus, grow up! It sounds wonderful. I'm actually kind of looking forward to it."

Jeannie suggested we watch a movie. She had obviously thought about it because she got on Netflix, pulled up Conception, a movie about nine couples and the night that they conceived. It was a brilliant selection by Jeannie and made us laugh at the title, easing whatever remaining tension there was. We watched the movie, everybody hugged again, finalized the plans for Aidan and Elle at our house and then we left to go home.

Jeannie snuggled up to me in the car. "Do you think it went well, Angel?" Jeannie asked hopefully.

"I do," I answered. "I think he just wanted to make sure that I was OK. If he thought that I was just doing this to make you happy and would have a problem with it, he would have said no. So, yes I think it went well."

"Good." Jeannie said.

**************

We spent the next week making sure the house was perfect. We were going to set them up in the guest room. It had it's own bathroom so they would be comfortable. Jeannie put some nice welcoming touches in their room and the bathroom.

Jeannie took off the week that we had arranged to meet. The Tuesday that they were to spend the first night, Elle got to our house early and helped Jeannie fix dinner. I think Elle was trying to make Jeannie feel at ease about the situation. Jeannie had been on the phone with Elle every day since Aidan had agreed to help us. Several times, I heard Jeannie ask Elle if she really was OK with this.

I got home about five and Jeannie seemed nervous. I went into the kitchen and drew her into my arms and held her. She was shaking. I looked at Elle and she shook her head and shrugged.

"Jeannie," I said, "it's OK. Aidan wants to help us, Elle wants to help us and this is will be fun and sexy."

She took a deep shuddering breath and said, "I know, but that doesn't make it me any less nervous." She giggled, "I haven't had a dick in me since Aidan and I split up." She looked at Elle, "I've never had anybody's dick but Aidan's in me. I've had dildos, but Aidan is the only man with whom I've ever had sex. So I guess this is somewhat appropriate."

Elle got up and hugged both of us. "Jeannie, I told you, this is good. Aidan is excited about having a child." She pulled back and grinned at us. "He gets to practice being a dad and then the baby goes home."

Elle looked at me. "Do you want a beer?"

I looked at Jeannie and she frowned. I laughed, "I guess I'll have a diet Coke."

We sat and talked as dinner cooked. Elle and I spent most of our time trying to calm Jeannie. After a little while her breathing returned to normal. It seemed to me that she had finally relaxed. We were then able to have a normal conversation.

About that time, the timer went off on the oven. Jeannie looked at Elle, "What time is Aidan gonna be here?"

"Right now," Aidan's deep rumbling voice startled all of us.

Elle laughed, "Perfect timing." She got up and hugged and kissed him. The look in his eyes was heartwarming; I could tell that he really loved her.

Jeannie had been banging some pots together and suddenly got very quiet. I turned to look at her; her eyes were wide and filling with tears. Her lips were trembling and she was shaking. She slowly turned and dropped the pots on the stove and took off. Aidan and Elle were surprised by her abrupt departure. I glanced at them as I followed her up the stairs. Aidan looked confused until Elle leaned in and whispered to him. I knew what had happened and so did she.

Jeannie was lying on the bed face down when I got to our room. I lay down beside her and started stroking her hair. "Babydoll, it's OK. If they thought this was going to affect their relationship, they wouldn't have agreed to do it."