Rhetta bit her lip coyly. “Is that what you want, baby?”
Caroline smirked and pressed Rhetta harder against the door, making her gasp. “You know what I want.”
“Why don’t you get me out of this dress then so that I can go freshen up for you?” Rhetta purred.
Caroline didn’t need to be told twice. In less than a second, Caroline had Rhetta flipped around and pressed her front against the door, hips pinning Rhetta in place as she deftly undid on the fastenings of her dress before stepping back.
“I’ll be waiting,” she said before turning away and leaving Rhetta panting alone against the painted wood.
In the bathroom, Rhetta struggled to get her hair out of its up-do, her hands shaking as she searched for pins. She knew that it was ridiculous. She had had sex with Caroline hundreds of times and this wouldn’t be any different. Except it would be. It was their wedding night and they had cared enough about what tonight would mean that they had actually talked about it. Their future was looming fast and they knew that soon they wouldn’t have the opportunity to go all at it. They’d have a swollen belly between them or a crying baby begging for their mammas’ attention. It wasn’t exactly their last hurrah, but they did want it to go with a bang – pun very much intended.
So Rhetta took a deep breath, loosed her hair, dabbed a little of Caroline’s scent on her neck and took a deep, calming breath before going out to give her wife the show of her life.
The first thing she saw when she got back into the room was Caroline sat on the end of the bed, waiting for her in nothing but an open shirt and boxers. Rhetta felt herself lick her lips in appreciation of her wife’s toned abs before reminding herself that she was the one who was supposed to be driving Caroline wild.
As she reached the spot in front of her wife, Caroline reached back and flicked on the remote for their iPod speakers, filling the room with a slow, heavy beat. Rhetta smirked at the familiar song. It was the beginning of the playlist that Caroline had built up over the years with moments like this in mind. Even just the sound of some of the songs on that list was enough to get Rhetta wet. She tried not to think about Pavlov and dogs, but she knew that the similarity was there whether she liked it or not. She tried to push the thought out of her mind as her body fell into rhythm with the beat.
“How’d you like your present on me, baby?” she cooed as she turned around and swayed her hips, giving Caroline a good view of her round, pert ass cheeks laid bare by the thin thong and framed by the ribbon and buckles of her garter belt. “It felt so good wearing it under my dress for you.”
“Turn around, let me see it,” Caroline commanded and Rhetta immediately complied, turning slowly so that Caroline could take her in. “Fuck, you look good in that, babe. So fucking hot.”
Caroline leant back on the palms of her hands and Rhetta took the opportunity to come a little closer.
“Take off your bra.”
Rhetta reached behind her and undid the clasp, before dropping the white lacy bra to the floor. She climbed up onto Caroline’s lap, a knee either side of her hips, and began to grind in time to the music – almost but not quite touching her. She arm went around Caroline’s neck and leant back, rolling her hips and smirking as Caroline’s gaze went to her chest. But the smirk fell from her lips the moment she finally ground down on Caroline – her eyes going wide at what she felt there. She looked to see that Caroline was the one smirking now.
…
The door to the exam room swung open and Rhetta – her cheeks flushing crimson from the memory – sat up so quick that she jolted Caroline straight off the bed and onto her ass on the floor.
“Well I’d like to say that’s the first time that’s happened when I’ve walked into this room but…” Dr Carson trailed off, clearly enjoying the blush steadily warming up Rhetta’s cheeks. “How are you feeling today, Rhetta? No side effects from the hormones or any other symptoms that I should be aware of?”
“Nope, everything’s good thanks,” Rhetta answered, her blush still in place as she tried not to think about the fact that she was now very wet and would have to open her legs for the doctor any minute. She was definitely going to think that they had been fooling around. “I – err – I haven’t had any side effects at all.”
Caroline snorted as she hauled herself up off the floor. “Lucky you.”
“And what about you, Caroline?” Carson asked. “I know that you had some discomfort after the procedure. Has that gone away now?”
“It took a few days, but yeah Doc, I’m back to normal,” Caroline said, twinging at the thought of the egg collection.
“That’s great. Now, as we discussed with you previously, we have frozen down some of the best quality embryos. So if you want to use those in future cycles, we can do that or we can do the collection again. Either way, we can discuss your options if and when we need to,” Carson explained. “I know that you’ve had legal papers drawn up and signed regarding the adoption, but we also advise that you add a clause on ownership of the embryos since we’ll be storing them. There have been a few infamous cases in the IVF world of couples where one partner had died or filed for divorce and the law precludes the other partner from perusing a pregnancy with the embryos they created.”
“We have.” Rhetta nodded. “Our lawyers have made sure that the contract is watertight. No matter what happens, we both have full legal rights over the embryos.”
“Good. I know that it sucks to have to talk legalities at a time like this, but we have a duty of care to the both of you. We want to make sure that the law recognises you both as being the legal parents of any children you create here. Ten years ago, when my wife and I went down the same path as you’re going down, we didn’t know anything about the legal mess we could get ourselves into.”
“And yes, Caroline, that means I know exactly how you feel about the egg collection procedure,” Dr Carson chuckled. “My wife and I swapped for our second child, though, so I have experience of both perspectives.”
“What are our chances of it working the first time around?” Rhetta interrupted. “We’ve read all of the literature, but every answer we get is different.”
Carson nodded. “Every clinic has different success rates. But for someone who is as healthy as you, I’d say the odds of success are probably a little over 50%. Your athleticism does work against you a little bit, and you are heading towards the top of the ideal age window. We would like to see a little bit higher fat to muscle ratio than you currently have too, but it shouldn’t be anything to worry about. You might want to cut down on your exercise if you do get pregnant and we would encourage you to put on a little bit of weight. Nothing drastic - we still want you in the normal, healthy weight category for your height, we just want a little bit more of that to be fat rather than muscle. Carrying a baby takes a lot of energy and it they love to mess with our metabolisms, so haveing a little bit more fat on you will do you good.”
It wasn’t the first time that Rhetta had heard this advice. She’d talked to Rodney surreptitiously at their last camp and the forward had warned her of the complications of athletes of their level carrying a baby.
“Don’t worry, doctor. I’ll do anything I can,” Rhetta assured her. “Even if it means getting a little out of shape.”
“Well, that’s everything that I wanted to talk to you about. I’ll get Nurse Archer back in here and we can get started.”
…
Forty minutes later, they were walking down the beach hand in hand. They still had a little while before breakfast, so they had picked up some coffee – decaff for Rhetta – and went out to watch the early morning waves.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Rhetta whispered after they sat down in the sand. She couldn’t see another person for miles around – not even surfers in the water. It was just the two of them, the golden sand and a calm ocean coloured with the pinks and yellows of the sunrise. “I can’t believe that we’ll get to wake up every day to sights like this one when we mo
ve into the new house.”
“They sure look more beautiful now that I know I’ll have you by my side, Princess,” Caroline said softly, gently squeezing Rhetta’s hand. “You make everything in life more beautiful.”
Butterflies stirred in Rhetta’s stomach and she turned to kiss Caroline gently, smiling against her lips. “Charmer.”
They stayed pressed together, cuddled close to keep out the early morning breeze and keep in the soft, languid moment that was stretching out between them.
“Nothing feels real,” Caroline murmured so quietly Rhetta barely heard her.
“It’s been a pretty big 24 hours,” Rhetta said soothingly before brushing back the soft hair at Caroline’s temple.
“I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel or how to act. I know that right now there’s a tiny life inside of you but it’s like we have to pretend that it’s not there until they can measure its there and I’m finding that hard,” Caroline rushed out. “Fuck, that sounds stupid.”
“It’s not stupid. Nothing that big heart of yours feels is ever stupid, okay?” Rhetta asserted, waiting until Caroline nodded before she continued. “I get it, baby, I do. It’s so hard not to get my hopes up, but we can’t allow ourselves to get excited by the thought of me being pregnant when it might not happen.”
“I know,” Caroline said quietly.
“But that doesn’t mean that we have to pretend its not happening,” Rhetta assured her. “It just means that we have count down the days until we can take a test. Or, you know, twenty tests. Maybe thirty. Probably more.”
Caroline laughed softly, a stray tear running down her cheek. “Do you think that maybe I could talk to him or her – just once, I promise – to let them know that we’re rooting for them? To tell them to try real hard to hang in there for us?”
It didn’t escape Rhetta’s notice that Caroline had gone from saying ‘it’ to ‘them’ and it worried her that Caroline’s heart might break if the test came out negative. She wasn’t sure that she could take seeing Caroline devastated and feel like she was responsible for it.
“I don’t think I could take hearing you talk to our baby only to find out it was never meant to be,” Rhetta said gently.
Caroline deflated at her words, but Rhetta took her hand and brought it to her lower belly – holding it there. The look she gave Caroline told her that this was a onetime thing. At least until they had a positive test in front of them. But Caroline smiled anyway and ran her thumb over the place where all her hopes lay.
Seeing that smile made Rhetta’s heart melt. It made her surer than ever that taking a break from her career to start their family was the right thing to do. So she laid back on her elbows in the sand.
“Okay, you can talk to them just this once,” she warned, smiling softly. “And be quick. Someone might see!”
Caroline’s smile was as bright as the sun as she leant down to ghost her lips over Rhetta’s belly.
“Hey there little one,” she whispered. “I know that you’re really tiny and fragile right now, but we know that you can do it. Hang in there, because I promise that we’ll make awesome mommies.”
“So awesome,” Rhetta agreed, reaching down to ruffle Caroline’s hair.
“R!” Caroline whined, swatting away Rhetta’s hand.
“Awww, poor baby. Did I mess up your precious hair?” Rhetta teased.
This was the point where Rhetta would usually run away and Caroline would make chase. And even though Rhetta was faster and competitive to a fault, she always let Caroline catch her. Even though she knew that it meant she would end up in the ocean. But not now. Now Caroline just narrowed her eyes and pouted.
“I’m not going to throw you in the ocean right now, but I want you to know that’s what would have happened if… well, you know,” Caroline said, starting off sassily and ending with a blush, looking away from Rhetta’s eyes.
“You can say out loud that I might be pregnant, Caro,” Rhetta said softly. “I’m not asking you to pretend that it isn’t happening or that it’s not a possibility. I just don’t want us to start acting like I am pregnant until we know for sure.”
When Caroline still wouldn’t meet her eyes, Rhetta took off her sweatshirt and laid her head on top of it on the sand, lying down completely and opening her arms.
“Come here, baby.”
Reluctantly, Caroline lay down beside her – nose to nose.
“I’m sorry, R,” she muttered.
“Hey,” Rhetta scolded her gently. “Don’t you ever apologise for what you feel, okay? Unless it’s that you hate me, in which case apologise away.”
Caroline smiled weakly. “I could never hate you.”
“Just wait until I’m 8 months pregnant and making you go out in the middle of the night to buy me cupcakes,” Rhetta teased, though she knew that Caroline would love taking care of her. She always revelled in any opportunity to play the white knight or the caring girlfriend.
“That sounds awesome,” Caroline said honestly, a smile forming on her lips as she pictured Rhetta snuggled up in bed, her belly big and swollen, waiting for her to come home with her latest craving. Caroline would bring it to her – no matter how late it was or how hard it was to find – and Rhetta would kiss her in thanks, everything about her warm and soft and cosy.
“Know what else is awesome?” Rhetta asked casually. When Caroline shook her head, Rhetta pulled out her phone and held up the photo of them that Sam had taken the day before. “That right here, right now is the time I’m going to tell the whole world just how much I love my wonderful, beautiful wife. If you want me to that is?”
Caroline’s eyes went wide. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Caroline bit her lip and grinned. She watched as Rhetta edited the photo and typed out a post. As soon as Rhetta was done, she held out the phone for Caroline to read.
@carowilliams, you have shown me what true love is. I love you more and more every day, even though every day it feels impossible that I could love you any more than I already do. But then I see your smile or hear your voice and I believe. I can’t wait to make each and every one of our dreams come true together, baby. And I can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives as your wife. #MrsAndMrsWilliams
There were tears in Caroline’s eyes by the time she had finished reading the short paragraph. She would never have been able to imagine this moment when she was sitting with Sam on the beach almost a year before. It was a moment that had become less and less important to her in the wake of their engagement, their gold medals, their wedding and the possibility that Rhetta might be carrying their baby. What the rest of the world knew and thought meant so much less than what happened between them. But that journey together had taken them so far, that it had brought them right back to where they had started. Wedding rings and hopefully Rhetta’s growing belly would soon give them away. If they wanted to do this on their own terms, this was their last chance.
“I love you so much, R,” she whispered fiercely. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives as your wife either. But I want you to be sure. The more we give, the more that they’ll want.”
Rhetta smiled serenely and hit share before Caroline could say anything more. “Then we’ll redraw the line. Give only what we want to give.”
In less than a minute both of their phones were blowing up with notifications.
“Can we hang out here a little bit longer?” Caroline asked, not sure that she wanted to face the music just yet.
“We can do whatever you want, baby. Whatever you want.”
…
By the time that they made it to breakfast, Rhetta was exhausted. All of the emotions and sleeplessness of the last two days were taking their toll and all she wanted to do was crawl back into bed and snooze in Caroline’s arms. But instead she was standing in front of the breakfast buffet, looking with distaste from one bowl of chopped fruit to another. Despite this being her usual go-to breakfast, the mere thought of it was turning her stomach. As
had the idea of the cooked breakfast of pancakes and bacon that Caroline had ordered at their table. She had thought humorously for a moment that her body was starting morning sickness a bit early. But then she had started to worry that she was getting sick, and that terrified her.
“How’s my new granddaughter this morning?” Grandma Williams asked proudly, reaching up to wrap Rhetta in a tight hug.
Rhetta smiled wearily. “I’m good. It’s just been a long day already and it’s not even 10am.”
“I’ll bet. I saw you two sneaking out before it was even light this morning,” Grams whispered. “I hope everything went alright at the clinic?”
Rhetta nodded. “It went good, thanks. Now, we just have to wait and hope. And I’m supposed to be taking it easy for the rest of the day. I honestly didn’t think I’d be this tired. I feel like I’ve just played a full 90.”
Grams chuckled and patted Rhetta’s arm. “Of course you’re tired, darlin’, but you’ll be just fine. You just make sure that my granddaughter waits on you for the foreseeable. Not that it’ll be hard to persuade her. I can see her watching us from across the room right now.”
Rhetta turned around and saw that Grams was right. She stuck her tongue out at her overprotective wife.
“I don’t feel too good, Grams,” she admitted, turning back around to make sure that Caroline couldn’t read her lips. “Caro is going to worry like crazy when she finds out. I know it’s probably nothing, but I don’t know what me getting sick right now would mean for our chances.”
“You’re a healthy young woman – now don’t look at me like that, ya’ll are young in my book – and your body knows what it’s doing. It won’t matter if you get a little sick. Your body will look after its precious cargo just fine.”
“I sure hope so,” Rhetta sighed. “She’s so excited. I don’t want to let her down.”
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