Chapter 4 #3
"Yeah?" Excitement darkened her golden-brown eyes. With a whoop of joy, she flung her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly. "You won't regret it."
"I'm holding you to that," he warned.
Marianne stared at her son, a horrified expression on her handsome face. "You cannot possibly be thinking of going through something like that." She glanced at her husband to get some support, but Stanley Copeland merely shrugged helplessly. "Darling, please say something."
"It seems our son has already made up his mind."
"Samuel, what on earth possessed you to agree to that? IVF! Do you realize the enormous risks involved?" Rising from the padded chair next to the window of the blue-and-white sitting room, she walked over to the tray to pour herself a glass of wine.
He had stopped on his way home to inform them of what was going on.
It had been over a month since his and Eliza's visit to the clinic, where he had reluctantly agreed to the arrangement.
Five weeks had passed, during which her temperature had been monitored, along with hormone regulation, ovarian stimulation, and egg retrieval.
There had also been the times when he had to jack off into a cup and hand over his life-giving seed to the team that would be working with them.
"It's our decision," he said tightly.
"You mean it's her decision. She wants this and is forcing you to follow suit," Marianne replied bitterly.
"No wonder you have barely been seen out in public.
Not to mention the fact that she has not been making an appearance at essential functions.
People are starting to talk-" She stepped back when he rounded on her, face icy with displeasure.
"I don't give a damn about what people are saying. And she has a name. Eliza. She also happens to be my wife, and I will not have you badmouthing her. Is that clear?"
His mother stared at him with a hurt look on her face. "What has she done to you?" she whispered. "I thought you had come to your senses and decided to leave her-"
"Marianne!" Stanley's mild expression vanished, and he rose to his feet slowly, a frown of displeasure directed at her. "Enough!"
"Then I will excuse myself. It's clear my opinions are not wanted here." Putting her glass down, she glided out of the room, her thin shoulders stiff with resentment.
"She'll go into the conservatory and sulk for a few hours." Stanley went over to the cabinet. "Drink?"
"A shot of whiskey." Samuel waited until his father had poured the liquor into two glasses and came over to hand him one.
"Are you sure about this, son? I might not be well informed about the process, but from what little I know, it sounds like a lot of complicated ins and outs."
Lifting the glass to his lips, Samuel took a sip.
"It is."
"But you want to please Eliza."
He shrugged, expression shadowed. "She wants this more than anything.
You and Mother have never spent enough time with her to know her fully.
She's an amazing human being. You know what she went through in the past and how much she suffered.
She's not bitter about it." He looked down at the glass as he swirled the contents.
"I made a mistake and almost made an even graver one.
I thought I wanted out." He shrugged again, a pained expression on his face.
"I blamed her for the lack of a child. We both got checked out thoroughly, and it turned out neither of us was to blame.
Conceiving the normal way just wasn't happening. "
"I know the risks and shudder to think of even losing her or what the process will do to her." A slight smile curved his stern lips. "But she's determined, and she's strong and resilient. I want this for her and would appreciate your support."
He looked towards the closed doors. "And Mother's, whenever she comes to her senses. Eliza might not have been brought up in our society, but she's better than most of those who were." He finished the drink.
Putting the empty glass down, he gathered up his jacket in preparation to leave.
"Son?"
Samuel turned at the door.
"You love her."
He smiled slightly. "I tried to convince myself that it was just passion, that it would fade and I would come to my senses. I even entertained the idea of proving that I could do without her."
"You went away for two weeks."
Samuel nodded in memory. "I told her I had to be on location for a shoot when in reality I took the time to stay at the little cottage in rural Maryland.
I wanted a chance to reevaluate myself and find out what I really wanted.
Who I really wanted. I want her." He shoved his left hand in the pocket of his ash-gray dress pants and rocked back on his heels.
"I told her everything. We promised each other that we would be straight, that we would tell each other everything no matter how painful.
She's smart and funny and is willing to give up a lucrative career to become a mother.
What woman in this day and age is prepared to do something like that?
" He shook his head. "Because of that, I have to support her, in every possible way I can. "