Emmy and Angela took a little mini-vacation to New York after their last sessions of egg collection, but I had to stick around Los Angeles for my semi-weekly doctor visits. They’d both professed their reluctance at leaving me alone but I could tell they wanted a break from what they’d both been going through, so I insisted I’d be fine for a week or two without them. It wasn’t that I wouldn’t miss them, but I felt that they needed to break from the routine that had involved so many needles and so many visits to the fertility clinic.

Of course, I still faced a couple more months of both of those things, but it really hadn’t been so bad for me- mostly just inconvenient.

The house felt really big and empty without the two of them, but I used the opportunity to catch up on some work that I’d been neglecting. Of course, I went over to Andy and Jenna’s place for the Wednesday dinner, so it wasn’t as if I just buried myself in work and school.

“Angie tells me that the whole IVF thing has been brutal on Emmy,” Jenna said as she cut tomatoes for the salad. I was sitting at their kitchen counter drinking sparkling water, since alcohol and caffeine were off-limits. “She said it wasn’t too bad for her, but it really kicked Emmy’s ass.”

“Yeah, it did,” I agreed. “It sucked for her, and they just couldn’t collect very many eggs each time, so they had to do it twice more than they’d expected.”

“Damn,” Jenna said, shaking her head. “Well, I hope it works out for you guys. If it isn’t prying, what are you doing for a sperm donor?”

“Ange didn’t tell you?” I asked.

“To be honest, she was annoyingly coy about it,” Jenna said with a shrug.

“Coy about what?” Andy asked as he came inside bearing a plate full of smoked brisket to cut up.

Jenna looked at me, so I said, “About who the sperm donor is going to be for Ange’s and Emmy’s babies.”

“Yeah?” he asked, looking up from the cutting board. “I was just reading this news article about a fertility doctor in Oregon who’d been using his own sperm, and may have over seventy-five kids.”

I snorted at the thought, imagining a doctor secretly spanking his monkey in the back room of his fertility clinic.

“Andy, and Jenna, for a while now I’d been thinking about asking you, Andy, to donate, if it came to that-”

“Heh heh heh… You said ‘came’” Andy said in his best Beavis impersonation.

“Seriously?” Jenna asked, stopping what she was doing. “You were thinking about asking Andy?”

“I was,” I admitted. “I hadn’t talked about it to Emmy or Angela, but I had the idea in the back of my mind.”

“That’s a really big deal,” Jenna said.

“I mean, I’m super honored you’d even consider that,” Andy said. “But I guess I lost out in the end?”

Jenna smacked him on the arm at that, and said, “Um, why Andy? I mean…”

“Love you too, babe,” he said, blowing her a kiss.

“Well, honestly, just look at the guy,” I said to Jenna, waving to indicate Andy, who struck a muscle man pose in response. “He’s good-looking, big, strong, smart, and good-natured.”

“Yeah, that’s me,” Andy said, continuing to pose, this time in the classic two arms down position.

“And you’re practically related,” Jenna said.

“Not biologically, but yeah, Andy is the closest thing I have to a brother,” I agreed.

“So if it isn’t Andy, then who?” Jenna asked, returning to the original question.

I stood up and aped the poses that Andy had just been doing. It only took a few moments before Jenna’s eyes went wide.

“How is that even possible?” she asked, completely forgetting about the salad.

“There’s a lab in South Korea that has successfully taken the DNA from a sheep’s egg cell, extracted it, and injected it into another egg cell, in effect, mimicking a sperm cell. They’ve agreed to use us as test case for human trials,” I explained.

“So, like, you’ll be the dad?” Andy asked. “That’s it for us men, then. I guess we aren’t needed any more. We might as well give up now,” he said, raising his arms in surrender.

“Now, wait a minute there, buster,” Jenna said. “I’m an old-fashioned girl, and I want my baby the old fashioned way, so I’ll need you for a while longer, anyway.”

“Execution postponed,” Andy said with a sigh of relief. “A reprieve.”

“If I were to guess, the reason Ange hasn’t told you all this is that part of the agreement was that both the lab and us were sworn to secrecy, which I guess I just blew,” I said. “So don’t tell anybody. Also, this is still veeeeeery experimental, and there’s a good chance it won’t work at all, and if it doesn’t, we may need this stud here after all,” I said, jerking a thumb at Andy.

Later, after dinner, it felt a little strange to relax and hang out with no alcohol involved, just a can of La Croix to sip on. Jenna and Andy kept me company in that respect, the three of us on the wagon, so to speak.

“I’m still having a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that it’s even possible for you to get Angie and Em pregnant,” Jenna said as she leaned back against Andy’s solid bulk.

“I’m still having a hard time with the idea that I came that close,” Andy said, holding his thumb and index finger a quarter inch apart, “to being a father. Twice over, even.”

“Would you have? I mean, if we’d asked, would you?” I asked him, leaning back in the easy chair.

“For you guys, of course. I can’t think of anybody else I would, though,” Andy answered.

“Ahem,” Jenna said indignantly.

Realizing what Jenna was getting at, he said, “I’m talking about jerking it into a cup. When it’s time for us to have kids, we’ll do it the fun way.”

“The fun way does sound like more fun,” Jenna agreed, cuddling up against him a bit closer when he wrapped one of his big arms around her.

“Believe me, we’re trying that, too,” I said, causing Andy to choke on his sparkling water.

Jenna laughed, and said, “Yeah, Angie loves giving me all the details.”

“She does?” I asked, surprised.

“All the details,” Jenna reiterated. “I’m like a vicarious lesbian or something,” she added.

“Is the vicarious sex good?” I asked, enjoying watching Andy turn red as a beet.

“Damned good,” Jenna said, smiling broadly. “I’m still bummed that I’m the only one in our group who still hasn’t actually seen you naked, though.”

Andy was exhibiting remarkable wisdom by keeping silent and trying to not draw attention to himself while Jenna and I bantered, but when I said, “Well, we might have to do something about that,” he just lost it.

“Dang it, Lee, not when I’m taking a drink!” He said after his cough/laughing stopped. “You nearly killed me!”

At the meet up spot that Saturday the guys asked why Angela wasn’t with me.

“She and Emmy are relaxing in New York for a week or two,” I said with a shrug. “I couldn’t go because I have stuff here I have to deal with.”

“That may be the first time I’ve ever heard the words ‘relaxing’ and ‘New York’ used together,” Stein said, sitting on the fender of his now metallic sapphire-wrapped McLaren- a color suspiciously close to the paint job of my Spyder.

“I like New York,” Teddy Bear announced, sipping his coffee. “I grew up in a small town in Iowa and always dreamed of the big city when I was a kid, and in my mind, it was always New York.”

Stolen story; please report.

“So how did you end up here?” Stein asked.

“Well, I got a part in a movie that filmed mostly in New York while I was living there, but I had to shoot a bunch here in LA, too, and then I booked another gig here, and next thing you know, I’m here full-time.”

“The old, familiar story,” Stein said, finishing off his scone. “Boy comes to Hollywood, gets too much work, can’t leave.”

“Exactly,” Teddy Bear agreed.

Stephen joined us with his steaming cup of coffee and a pastry in its green and white bag.

“Hey,” he said to me. “I saw your friend, you know, the pool hustler? She was working the table at this little dive bar in Silver Lake.”

“Stephanie? You didn’t lose money, did you?” I asked, amused.

“Well, sort of. I wound up buying all her drinks for the night,” Stephen admitted.

“The pretty little brunette?” Teddy Bear asked.

“Yeah, the one from Leah’s party. The one who completely destroyed all of us at the pool table,” Stephen replied. “I gotta tell you, watching her play last night, she let us off easy. There were some dudes in there that thought they had game, but she strung them along so hard it was painful to watch.”

“Leah, you went to the same high school as her, right?” Teddy Bear asked.

“Yeah, down in Fallbrook, in San Diego County,” I confirmed. “I’ve known her since sixth grade, I guess, but we weren’t really friends until senior year.”

“There must be something in the water down there,” Teddy Bear said, shaking his head in disbelief.

“She did some laps in your car last fall at your birthday track day, didn’t she?” Stephen asked. “And she was cool with that?”

“Oh, heck yeah,” I said. “She kept telling me to go faster.”

“Sure, blame it on somebody who isn’t here to defend herself,” Geoff said with a smirk.

I pulled out my phone and found Stephanie’s number, showing who I was calling to Stephen. When she answered, I put her on speaker. “Hey, Steph. I’m here with my driving buddies, and they were asking about the track day you came to at Willow Springs,” I said.

“Yeah? You mean Stephen and Teddy Bear and those guys? They were at your party, too,” Stephanie said.

“Yeah, those guys. Remember riding in my new BMW?”

“That totally kicked ass!” Stephanie said, her voice clear from the phone’s tiny little speaker.

“Alright, now for the question everybody is dying to know. Whose idea was it for you to go out on the track with me- yours, or mine?”

“I asked you to take me out,” Stephanie said.

“And whose idea was it to completely haul ass?”

“Well, I’m gonna go with shared blame for that one,” Stephanie said. “I mean, you were already out there killing it, right? But I did keep telling you to speed up.”

“What happened when we saw my boys on the track up ahead?” I asked, as everybody leaned in to hear better.

“I told you to pass ‘em,” Stephanie said. “Good and hard.”

“That’s how I remember it, too,” I agreed.

“Wait, are you at the track again?” Stephanie asked.

“No, we’re here in La Cañada Flintridge, about to hit up Angeles Crest,” Stephen said so Stephanie could hear.

“You guys do street driving, too?” Stephanie asked. “Hey, Leah, are you driving that new Porsche?”

“Sure am,” I said.

“Hey, come pick me up- I want to ride with you. It’s like, just twenty minutes on Highway 2.”

I looked around at the guys. “Do you guys mind waiting twenty minutes or so for me to go get her and come back?”

“Wait- she meant twenty minutes each way,” Teddy Bear objected.

“Alright,” I said with a little shrug. “Maybe with traffic it’ll take me twenty-five minutes to go get her and come back.”

“I'm gonna start a timer,” Stein said.

“Stephanie,” I said into the phone. “Text me your address, and be ready and waiting outside in ten minutes.”

“Are you serious?” she asked.

“As a heart attack,” I confirmed.

“Alright,” she said. “Sending the address now. I’ll be waiting out front.”

I ended the call, then copied the address that came though into the map app. It said twenty-one minutes. I showed it around to the guys, tossed my empty coffee cup into the trash can and jumped into the car.

“Start your timer!” I yelled to Stein as I peeled out of the little cul-de-sac next to the gas station.

As soon as I hit the freeway on-ramp I dialed the speed way, way up, letting that two million dollar Porsche do what it was made to do. That early on a Saturday morning traffic on Highway 2 was light, so it was easy for me to make very, very criminal speed down through the hills by Glendale, only needing to really slow below a hundred miles an hour when I hit the off-ramp into Silver Lake. Stephanie’s place was only a few blocks from the freeway, so I was right on time when I screeched to a stop in front of her adorable little Spanish-style bungalow.

She got in the car without any delay, and I backtracked the way I’d come. Our velocity was excessive, but Stephanie just held on and laughed like crazy as we sped past the other cars as if they were in reverse.

From a block away, I dropped to normal traffic speed and pulled into the little parking area as if I was just out for a typical drive, doing my best to not show the adrenaline rush still coursing through my veins.

“O.K., that was completely fucking awesome!” Stephanie said as I parked the car.

“That was completely fucking insane,” Teddy Bear said as Stein showed everybody the stopwatch timer on his phone.

“Well, you beat the twenty minute mark, Leah,” Stein said. “I’m guessing you exceeded the speed limit, you naughty person, you.”

“That was…” Stephanie started to say. “You know how when the Millennium Falcon goes into hyperspace, the stars just go shooting past? Now imagine if those were cars. That’s what it was like.”

“How fast do you think you were going?” Teddy Bear asked.

“No clue,” I said with a shrug. “I wasn’t looking at anything but the road.”

“I saw one hundred sixty-three miles an hour at one point when I looked over,” Stephanie said.

“Really?” I asked. “Cool.”

“That is one hundred per cent go straight to jail speed,” Stephen said.

“Only if you get caught,” Stein said, checking his phone. I felt mine chime with a text, and I saw it was a contact card from Stein. “That’s my wrap guy. You might want to get to know him. He does great work, quickly, and at any time of the day or night.”

“O.K., that is fucking funny,” Geoff said. “Your wrap guy works on short order any time of the day or night. Because of course he does.”

“He’s a good guy to know,” Stein said with a smirk. “A real life-saver, you might say.”

After lunch, I drove Stephanie back to her place. “You want to come in and check it out? It’s a lot smaller than your place, so the tour won’t take long,” she said.

“I’d love to,” I said, and I meant it.

The white stucco and red clay tile roof were classic Los Angeles bungalow, but the fresh turquoise paint on the front door and windows gave it a hip, up-to-date feel.

Entering, the first thing I noticed is that the walls and trim were painted pure white, maximizing the natural light. The unstained oak flooring, mostly covered by a textured gray area rug, was probably original, as was the glazed brick fireplace.

The whole house was small, so the living room wasn’t very big, but Stephanie had kept the furnishings a bit minimal, making the room feel nice and open.

The little dining room had a pass-through archway into the kitchen, so from the living room sofa you could see all the way through the house and out the back French doors to the rear yard.

The kitchen had been remodeled recently, with clean, white cabinets and porcelain farmhouse sink on one side, and a gleaming stainless stove and matching hood on the other.

“This is really nice,” I said, looking around. “I mean, really nice, Steph. Sure, it’s small, but it looks as if it could feature in a magazine.”

“Thanks,” Stephanie said, uncharacteristically self-conscious.

I followed her out onto the back patio through the kitchen’s double French doors.

“Oh, wow,” I said, looking around. “This is beautiful. I love this.”

The entire space was small, mostly just an outdoor seating area with a sail cloth shade, a raised bed in back with a mix of citrus trees, and off to the left a tiny little pool. To the right was a converted free-standing garage, with double French doors like those leading into the kitchen. Looking through the glass I could see that it was Stephanie’s office, and it looked a whole lot more functional and, well, functioning than my own home office.

“I love this place,” I said to Stephanie.

“I do, too,” she said. “Come on, there’s still more to see.”

The front bedroom was set up as a guest room, and the back bedroom, which also had double French doors onto the patio, was her bedroom. It was nothing like her room had been back in her mom’s house in Fallbrook. This was the bedroom of a grown-up, very sophisticated and chic woman with her own style and taste.

Back in the kitchen, Stephanie asked if I wanted a Coke, getting a nostalgic smile from me.

“I’d love a Coke, Steph,” I replied, thinking of how much of the stuff we’d drunk the summer we were together.

We took our sodas out to the patio and relaxed in the shade on that warm early summer afternoon.

We sat there for a while, not talking, just lost in thought. Finally, I gave up on trying to find the right words, and just said what was on my mind.

“Steph,” I said. “You know, when we were together, I used to daydream that we’d have a place like this together, you and me. I mean, maybe not exactly like this as far as the details go, but…”

Stephanie sighed, letting her shoulders droop. “We were kids then,” she said. “I had dreams for us, too. I imagined we could make it work, and be together, maybe get our own apartment…” After a long pause, she said, “I never told you this, Leah, but I resented that you went to Stanford. Not, like, because you went to a better school than me, but because you chose that over staying with me. You would have been accepted in a hot minute at State, and if you’d stayed, I would’ve told my mom that I didn’t care what she thinks and we could have been together.”

“Oh, Steph,” I said, suddenly heartbroken for younger me and younger Stephanie.

“They say everything happens for a reason, right?” she asked, sitting up straighter. “It happened, and what with one thing or another, here we are. You got back together with Emmy, and I swore off dating for a couple of years.”

I wanted so badly to move over to the couch next to her and take her in my arms, but had to settle for blinking back the tears forming in my eyes.

“Steph, baby…” I said, my voice soft. “You never said anything. You never asked. I just didn’t know…”

“I know I didn’t,” she said. “I thought about it, but I didn’t want to be selfish. You had a huge opportunity, and it wouldn’t have been fair for me to hold you back like that.”

She tried to hide it, but she was wiping back tears forming in her eyes, too.

“But like they say, life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans, right? We’ve both grown, and moved on. We have our grown-up lives now, which aren’t the lives we imagined for ourselves when we were kids.”

“No, that’s true,” I agreed, leaning my head back and looking up at the shade cloth suspended over the patio. “I never could imagine my life now.”

“Emmy tells me she’s going through fertility treatments for IVF,” Stephanie said, changing the topic. “So you guys are gonna have a baby?”

“Ange, too,” I said. “Two babies, if all goes right.”

“But not you? You aren’t going to try to get pregnant?”

“I don’t know… Maybe some day, but right now it’s not on my radar the way it is with Emmy and Angela,” I said. “Their biological clocks are going off big-time right now.”

“How will you explain to people that your kids have not one, not two, but three mommies?” Stephanie asked with a laugh.

“It took me a while to get used to telling people that I had a wife after Emmy and I got married. It just felt strange to say, you know? And now that I have two wives, it’s even stranger. Thank God this is California, and most people don’t even blink when I tell them I’m in a poly marriage, if they even ever ask.”

“It is pretty crazy, alright,” Stephanie agreed, holding her can up in a salute.