I contrived to hang around until almost everyone else had left, then went over to try to apologize about him to Elisse and Gina, and make sure he hadn't said anything to hurt them. To my pleased surprise, both of them had simply ignored him once they realized that he was an opinionated jackass with a big mouth and tiny little mind. Elisse assured me that she'd heard much worse, and that she knew none of the rest of us cabbies were like him – and that both of them knew I was even more different from the rest of the drivers. She and Gina shared a Look, then Gina turned to ask me if I could swing by the place again when I got off my shift. I raised an eyebrow in question, and she told me "There's something that Em and I would like to talk to you about. There's something we need some help with, and we figure you're just the person."
Smiling, I asked "Do I get even a hint what it is?"
Only a small smile touched her lips before she answered "If I did, I don't think you'd drive worth a damn. We both stay late to get things ready for the next day, so even if we look closed, we'll be here. Just knock on the door – maybe 'shave-and-a-haircut', so we know it's you, okay?"
I said that was fine, and that I would, and headed back out to the rig that I lease from the cab company. If I'm not the best driver in town, then I don't miss it by much; I get enough people calling for me by name that the company pretty much lets me set my own hours, and do what I want. The owner told me one time that I pull in half again as much for the company as the next highest driver. For a novel change of pace, they leave the golden goose alone, and keep the administrative bullshit to a minimum.
Between fares, the rest of my shift was pretty much occupied with wondering what Gina and Em could want to talk to me about. I'd gotten the impression that it was something serious, but neither of them had indicated any hurry, either.
After I'd finished up for the day, I went back to their place and knocked on the door the way I'd agreed; it took a minute for Elisse to come and let me in. She called out to Gina and told her that I was there, and guided me over to a booth at the back. After she'd gotten me seated, she asked what I'd like to drink, and I went with some iced tea. A few moments after she left, Gina slid in opposite me; when Elisse came back she had drinks for all of us.
We spent a couple of minutes just relaxing and shooting the breeze before Elisse said "I expect you're wondering why we wanted you to come back after we closed for the day."
"Well, yeah…"
The two of them shared another Look, then Gina said "You know that we live together – that we're lesbians, and how we got together and all that. I don't know if either of us ever told you, but we've been together for almost ten years now. That's longer than most hetero couples manage, and we're both still happy and in love with each other, and there's nothing that I think either of us would change about our situation… except for one thing."
I simply nodded for her to go on, but it was Elisse that said "As happy as we are, we're still aware that we aren't getting any younger. We've talked and thought about it, then talked and thought some more, and both of us want to have a family – besides each other, I mean. Being lesbians, we obviously can't make it happen ourselves, so the first thing we thought of was to try adoption."
Gina joined in by saying "But there was a problem: that we are lesbian. All of the adoption places we applied to weren't going to tell us 'no', directly, but they damn sure said so by what they did and didn't say and do. Oh, they used words like 'priorities' and 'legal ramifications' and 'precedent' and 'unconventional', but what it all boiled down to was that they weren't going to let us have a baby – or even a small child."
Elisse picked up there by telling me "We heard about artificial insemination, and a couple of other things, but if they weren't outrageously expensive or unreliable, we pretty much ran into the same problem as the adoption agencies: nobody wanted to let a couple of 'queers' anywhere near a child, or reproducing. Of course, the bigoted idiots think we're going to… DO things, or maybe do 'something' to make any child we have as 'perverted' as WE are. Except that neither of us would ever think of doing anything like that, even if we could! Dammit, we even want our child to be hetero, if only so that they don't have to go through all the crap that WE did!", nearly in tears when she finished.
Gina was the one to tell me "The short version is that we've tried or checked into everything that would let us have a child; and after a couple of years of rejections and other blocks, we've had to face the reality that if we want a family, it's going to have to happen the old-fashioned way. And that's what we'd like your help with."
Despite paying close attention as they'd been talking to me, I was still baffled about how I could help them when Gina finished. Seeing the confusion on my face, she told me "Jim, we'd like YOU to be the one to help us start a family."
Hearing her say it that way finally helped me understand what they wanted my help with. Even so, it took a few seconds before I could ask "You want me to be the, um, donor, then?"
After sharing a look, both of them smiled, and Gina answered "Yes, but not the way I think you're thinking. Because of our business, we've got some health and other insurance, but we've learned that we can't qualify for anything like in vitro due to our… situation. When I said 'the old-fashioned way', I meant exactly that: for you to impregnate one – or preferably, both – of us. Directly."
I could only sit there and blink at them as I tried to get my mind around what they were saying to me. The thing was, I couldn't quite make it happen. Their explanation and everything very neatly led up to what they wanted me to do, and why – except that to me, it was like someone trying to tell me that the alphabet started out A, B, C, D, 42, purple. It just didn't work.
When I finally got my mind wrapped around the idea, the first thing I had to ask (of course) was "You're sure that's how you want to start a family? I mean, both of you are more than passably attractive, so it isn't that the idea doesn't have some appeal – it's your 'situation', as you called it that's throwing me off. I know you were married before, Gina, but what about you, Elisse? You've said that you've always been a lesbian, so I'm not sure how well that would work out."
Gina answered first by telling me "When I was married, I never really did enjoy sex with my husband. Oh, it felt good, sometimes, even though I never had orgasms with him or anything. Don't take this the wrong way, but being with you wouldn't be any big deal for me. If you're anything in bed like what I've seen the rest of the time, I'll probably have a better time with you than I ever have with a guy before."
Then it was Elisse's turn, and she told me "As a matter of fact, I'm not a virgin – but not because of any guy. I lost my hymen when I was with an older girl while I was still in high school; she was real patient and gentle about using her hand, so I don't have any kind of phobia or anything about having something inside. You'd be the first guy I've ever had inside me, but like Gina says, I expect you'd be nice enough about it that it'd be okay. Even if you weren't, though, I want a baby bad enough that I could go through with it, no matter what."