28
Rose sat beside Eli on the sofa in Luke and Edye’s private sitting room with her hands clasped so tightly her knuckles had gone pale.
She had sung in front of crowds.
She had stood beneath hot stage lights while strangers watched every move she made. She had taken applause, criticism, rejection, and the strange, hungry attention that came with people believing they knew her because they liked her voice.
None of that had ever made her as nervous as sitting across from Luke and Edye Stanley on a quiet afternoon.
Eli sat close enough that his thigh touched hers. One of his hands rested over hers, warm and steady, though she knew him well enough to feel the tension in him too. His thumb moved slowly over her fingers, a silent rhythm meant to calm her.
It helped.
A little.
Luke sat in the chair across from them, elbows on his knees, his attention fixed on them with that serious, patient focus of his. Edye sat beside him, one hand resting on Luke’s arm, her expression already concerned.
“You two said you needed to talk to us privately,” Edye said gently. “Whatever it is, you can say it.”
Rose tried to answer.
Nothing came out.
Eli squeezed her hand.
She looked at him, and his eyes softened. He would speak if she wanted him to. He would carry every hard word if she could not. That was Eli. He made jokes in public and held pain with quiet hands in private.
Rose drew in a breath.
“We got the test results back,” she said.
Edye’s face changed immediately.
Luke went still.
Rose forced herself to keep going before sympathy broke her. “The fertility specialist ran every test possible. Blood work, scans, imaging, all of it. We knew something might be wrong, but we didn’t expect…”
Her throat closed.
Eli leaned forward slightly.
“They found something unusual,” he said. “Rose has an ovary on the left side, but no fallopian tube there. On the other side, she has a tube, but no ovary.”
Edye’s hand flew to her mouth.
Luke’s jaw tightened.
Rose looked down at her lap because their faces hurt too much to look at. “The doctor said natural pregnancy isn’t possible. Not with my anatomy the way it is.”
“Oh, Rose,” Edye whispered.
That was all it took.
Rose’s eyes filled.
She hated that they did. She had cried so much already that she thought surely her body had run dry. Apparently not. Apparently grief could refill itself whenever someone kind said her name.
Eli wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.
“I’m all right,” Rose said, though her voice made a liar out of her.
“No, you aren’t,” Edye said softly.
Rose gave a small, wet laugh. “Not completely.”
Luke stood and crossed the room. He did not say anything at first. He just crouched in front of Rose and took her hands in his.
For a man who could command a ranch with one look, his touch was impossibly gentle.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
Rose nodded because she did not trust herself with words.
Luke looked at Eli. “Both of you.”
Eli’s mouth tightened. “Yeah.”
Edye rose too, moving to sit on Rose’s other side. She wrapped an arm around her, and Rose leaned into her before pride could tell her not to.
For a few minutes, no one said much.
There were no easy words for this.
No quick comfort.
No bright side big enough to cover the loss of a dream Rose had carried quietly for longer than she had admitted.
She had imagined surprising Eli with a positive test. Imagined him dropping to his knees with one hand against her stomach and tears in his eyes.
Imagined morning sickness and swollen feet and the ridiculous joy of arguing over names.
Those dreams had not died completely.
But they had changed shape.
That hurt.
Eli kissed the side of her head. “We do have a possible solution.”
Edye pulled back enough to look at them. “What kind of solution?”
Rose wiped under her eyes. “The doctor said I can carry a pregnancy. My uterus is healthy. That part isn’t the problem.”
Edye blinked, trying to follow. “So IVF?”
“Yes,” Eli said. “But not with Rose’s eggs.”
Rose nodded. “We’d need an egg donor.”
Edye’s face softened with confusion and pain. “Sweetheart, you know I would if I could, but…”
“I know,” Rose said quickly. “I know you can’t.”
Edye had never hidden that part of herself from the family. Her own grief over not being able to carry children had been part of the long, beautiful road that brought Nia and Malik into her and Luke’s lives. Rose would never have asked her for something she could not give.
“That isn’t why we came,” Eli said.
Luke’s gaze narrowed slightly, not in suspicion, but because he was already thinking ahead.
Eli looked at Rose.
She nodded.
He turned back to Luke and Edye. “We’ve talked it over. A lot.”
“That usually means something big,” Luke said.
“It is,” Eli admitted.
Rose’s heart began to pound again.
She reached for Eli’s hand and held on.
“We want to ask LaRiah to be our donor,” Rose said.
Edye went completely still.
Luke’s eyes moved from Rose to Eli, then back again.
Rose hurried to explain, because the silence made her nerves jump. “We know it’s a huge thing to ask. We know it wouldn’t be simple. We know it affects LaRiah and Wyatt, and it would have to be something they both felt comfortable with. We’re not trying to pressure anyone.”
Eli nodded. “We would never want that.”
Rose’s voice trembled, but she kept going. “But if LaRiah said yes, the baby would be as close as possible to coming from my family line. LaRiah is my sister. Her egg, Eli’s sperm, and I would carry the baby.”
Edye’s eyes filled all over again.
“Oh,” she whispered.
Rose nodded, tears slipping down her cheeks. “I know it wouldn’t be genetically mine. Not exactly. But it would still be my child. Our child. I would get to carry the baby. Feel the kicks. Give birth. And the baby would still have Dolson blood.”
Eli’s hand tightened around hers. “We don’t need that to love a child. We know that. Luke and Edye, you two taught everybody here that family isn’t only blood.”
Luke’s expression softened.
“But,” Eli continued, voice rough, “if there’s a chance for Rose to experience pregnancy and have that connection to her sister too, we want to ask.”
Edye wiped under one eye and drew in a slow breath.
“You understand what you would be asking of LaRiah,” she said.
“We do,” Rose said.
“And Wyatt,” Luke added.
“Yes,” Eli answered. “That’s why we wanted to talk to you first.”
Rose looked at Edye. “Not because we want you to talk them into it. I promise. I don’t want anyone pushed. But I don’t know if I can ask her without falling apart, and I think if you and Luke were there, I might be able to get through it.”
Edye reached for her hand. “Of course we’ll be there.”
Rose’s lips trembled. “You will?”
“Yes,” Edye said firmly. “For moral support. For you and Eli, and for LaRiah and Wyatt too.”
Luke returned to his chair, but his eyes stayed on them. “We’ll make sure the conversation is calm. No pressure. No expectations.”
“That’s all we want,” Eli said.
Edye looked at Rose carefully. “But sweetheart, you need to prepare your heart for them saying no.”
Rose nodded.
“I mean it,” Edye said. “LaRiah loves you. Wyatt loves you. But this is not a small request. There may be medical concerns, emotional concerns, family concerns. They may need time. They may not feel able to do it.”
“I know,” Rose said.
Eli’s thumb brushed over the back of her hand. “We’re prepared for that.”
Rose drew in a shaky breath. “If she says no, we’ll find another way. The clinic gave us information on donor services. There are options.”
“But you want to ask LaRiah first,” Luke said.
“Yes,” Rose whispered.
Edye leaned closer and kissed Rose’s temple. “Then we’ll be there when you ask.”
Rose closed her eyes for a second, letting the comfort of that settle over her.
She had been so afraid Edye would think she was selfish. That Luke would think she was asking too much. That they would look at her differently for wanting something so deeply that it required another woman’s generosity to make it possible.
But they did not look disgusted.
They did not look disappointed.
They looked sad for her.
Protective.
Careful.
Loving.
Eli cleared his throat. “Thank you.”
Luke looked at him. “You don’t have to thank us for standing with you.”
Eli gave a faint smile. “I think that’s a rule around here.”
“It is,” Edye said. “And Elise enforces it.”
That pulled a soft laugh from Rose.
Luke leaned back, considering. “When do you want to talk to LaRiah?”
Rose glanced at Eli.
He nodded, leaving the answer to her.
“As soon as possible,” she said. “Before I lose my nerve.”
Edye squeezed her hand. “Then we’ll call them and see if they can come over tonight or tomorrow.”
Rose’s breath caught again.
Tonight or tomorrow.
The next step.
The terrifying, hopeful, beautiful next step.
Eli wrapped his arm more securely around her, and Rose leaned into him.
She did not know what LaRiah would say.
She did not know whether this dream would open wider or close in a way she would have to grieve all over again.
But she was not sitting in the fear alone.
That mattered more than she could say.
Luke stood. “I’ll call Wyatt.”
“And I’ll call LaRiah,” Edye said.
Rose looked up quickly. “Wait.”
They paused.
Rose swallowed, then gave a shaky smile. “Can you maybe not make it sound terrifying?”
Luke’s mouth curved slightly. “I’m not sure I know how to make anything sound less terrifying.”
“That is unfortunately true,” Edye said.
Eli looked at Luke. “Maybe Edye should make the first call.”
Luke nodded. “Probably wise.”
Rose laughed again, and this time it hurt less.
Edye stood and pulled her into another hug.
“We’ll do this one step at a time,” she said.
Rose nodded against her shoulder.
One step at a time.
It was not a baby yet.
Not a pregnancy.
Not a promise.
But it was hope.
And after so many negative tests, so many sterile rooms, so many hard conversations and quiet tears, hope felt like the first breath after being underwater too long.