Chapter 3 37 страница

All too soon for Blair, the hour was over, and she and Werner stayed in their seats while many of the doctors gathered around Kylie to continue their questioning. The always-aware woman spotted Blair and Werner, and she dashed up the aisle to say, “I’m gonna be a while. I hate to have you wait until all of these guys are finished grilling me.”

“We’ll go down to the café,” Blair said. “When you’re finished, come find us.” She stood and kissed Kylie’s cheek. “You were awesome.”

“Thanks,” the doctor said, blushing under the compliment. “I’ll see you soon.”

„G

After about half an hour, their server brought a phone to the table. “There’s a call for you, ma’am,” he said.

“Hi, honey,” Blair said when she picked up.

“How’d you guess?” Kylie asked.

“Call me lucky. What’s up?”

“I’m still stuck here, and after this, I really should go to another talk. Is that okay, Lucky?”

Blair answered, laughing. “Sure, no problem. We only wanted to sing your praises for a while. We can do that later.”

“I’m gonna be here until 7:00,” Kylie said, “then I’m free. I’m starving, though, so why don’t you order some room service for us and have them deliver it around then.”

“You’ve got it. Dad’s got to go soon, so I’ll keep myself entertained until then.”

“Have fun, and thank your dad for me. Maybe we can have lunch tomorrow.”

“I’ll ask,” Blair said. “My mom’s gonna take tomorrow morning off so we can have a little more time together. Having lunch with you would work out well.”

“See what you can work out, honey. Talk to you later.”

Blair hung up and shrugged. “I guess this is what happens when you’re married to a doctor.” She smiled and added, “It could be worse — at least she doesn’t play golf.”

„G

As soon as Kylie got back to their room, she quirked a grin at her partner and said, “I don’t know where you’ve been, but I hope you go there often.”

“I was at the spa,” Blair replied. “Do I look particularly beautiful?”

“Particularly,” Kylie said. “You’re cheeks are pink, your eyes are sparkling and you’ve got a healthy look that just glows.” She came closer and sniffed, saying, “You smell like … cucumber … and avocado.”

“Good nose, Doc. I had a facial, and that’s exactly what they put on me.”

“What else did you have done?” Kylie asked, looking for clues.

“A couple of things. Had a manicure and a pedicure.”

“Nice,” Kylie said, lifting a foot and inspecting the pink nails.

“And I had a bikini wax.”

“Yow!” Kylie clapped her hands over her vulva, recoiling in horror at the mere thought. “How can you stand that?”

“It’s not that bad,” Blair said. “Zip zip and you’re done. Lasts for weeks and weeks.”

“You don’t have to do that for my sake,” Kylie said. “I don’t mind if you’re a little fuzzy.”

“I like to be neat,” Blair said. “The 70’s are over, babe.”

Kylie pulled at the waistband of her partner's boxers and peeked inside. Drawing her finger down the neat blonde hair, she said, “I didn’t know this was a fashion statement. But I’m very happy with the way you’re groomed, so I guess I shouldn’t complain.”

“No, you shouldn’t. But you should get out of your nice clothes and wheel that cart over here. I’m starved!”

„G

On the way back to Los Angeles, Blair snoozed off and on, her head resting on Kylie's shoulder. They were nearly home when the blonde woke up and stretched in her seat. She smiled up at Kylie and said, "This was the best trip of my whole life."

"Your whole life? Really?"

"Really. It was wild and scary and crazy, but so very worthwhile. I learned things about myself and about us that are probably the most important lessons I've ever learned. Things are gonna be different from now on, Kylie. You and Mackenzie are never, ever gonna have to guess how much I love you."

"We both know it," Kylie smiled, patting the baby gently.

"You're gonna know it, and you're gonna hear it," Blair promised. "That's as important as knowing it."

Chapter 13

A few days after returning from Chicago, Kylie sat down on the edge of the bed and gently scratched between Blair's shoulder blades. When she got no response, she leaned over and kissed all across the expanse of pale skin, smiling when she recalled the decadent number of kisses they'd shared the night before. But still Blair didn't flinch, and the doctor started to run her short fingernails down her lover's flank, her efforts finally met with a giggle. "I thought if I held out long enough, you'd turn me over so we could get busy," the blonde said, her voice low and sexy.

"You have quite an appetite," Kylie said, "and I'd love to pick up where we left off, but duty calls. Sorry to wake you, but I forgot to tell you, I'm going to stop for a drink after work. I'll be home a little late."

Blair rolled over onto her back and took Kylie's hand. "Steppin' out on me already?"

"Nope. I'm meeting with a guy who practices family law. He agreed to give us some advice if I bought him a drink."

"Gosh, he must be a great attorney," Blair said. "Is his office in the bar?"

"Funny girl," Kylie said, giving her a little tickle. "He's got a great reputation, and he does a lot of work with gay and lesbian couples. We're having a drink because we know each other a little bit, and we wanted to catch up, too."

"How do you know this guy?"

"He's on the board of GLBT Equality. I did a little volunteer work for them last year."

"GLBT. GLBT. Hmm … gay, lesbian, black … no, that can't be it. I can't guess," she said, giving up quicker than she normally did.

"Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered," the doctor said. "You're a member now, so you should learn the initials of your peer group."

"I'll put it on my business card," Blair said, sticking her tongue out at her partner. "What'd you do for this guy?"

"Nothing for the guy, but I did some surgery on one of Equality’s members. A guy had gone to India for a sex change, and he had some complications. He couldn't afford to go back to India, so I fixed him up."

Blair's eyes opened wide. "What'd you have to do?"

"It's too early, honey. Trust me. I'll tell you later if you really want to know."

The blonde pursed her lips and shook her head. "No, thanks. If it's gross now, it'll be gross later. But I'm proud of you for helping out — whatever you did."

"Thank you," Kylie said. "It was nice to be able to do it. I'll call you when I'm on my way home."

"I love you," Blair said, patting her partner on the cheek, then letting her hand slide down her body and rest on her ass. She palmed her butt, then gave it a squeeze. "You look pretty today," she said, obvious sexual interest coloring her voice.

"Thanks." Kylie bent and kissed her, lingering a little longer than she should have. She crossed her eyes as she sat up. "Gotta go, or gotta be very, very late."

„G

Kylie walked into the nautically decorated bar at one of the oceanfront hotels in Santa Monica and spotted Dave Robbins immediately. The large, redheaded man stuck out in a crowd, and he stood when she approached his table. "Kylie, good to see you again."

"You, too, Dave," she said as they shook hands. "How've you been?"

"Good. Nothing to complain about. Well, other than the fact that my lover's been out of town for three weeks."

"Ooo, that's a long time. Is he due back soon?"

"Yeah. Tomorrow. You'd think that I'd like a little break after nine years, but I'm counting the minutes."

"I have a new perspective on being in love," Kylie said, smiling. "So I completely understand that counting the minutes thing. Since I last saw you, I've not only fallen in love, we're going to have a baby in December."

"Congratulations, Kylie! That's great to hear! Tell me about her."

"Her name's Blair, and she sells real estate here in Santa Monica. She's a wonderful woman, but she comes with a few unique issues, and that's what prompted me to call you," Kylie said. "She got pregnant through anonymous donor insemination."

"Okay," he said, nodding. "Is there a problem?"

"Yeah. She was married at the time, and they performed the insemination through a doctor. Her ex-husband signed the consent form."

"Oh." He made a face and scrubbed at his chin with his fist. "And … you want to keep him on the hook or off the hook?"

"Off would be very, very nice," Kylie said. "He has no interest in the baby. I'd love to be able to adopt, but I know I don't have a chance if he doesn't want out."

"Hmm … you're right. It won't be easy if he doesn't want to terminate his rights. Honestly, I don't think you'd have any chance at all."

She nodded. "That's what I thought. He's being an ass about our getting together, but I figure he might be reasonable and cooperate with us if he can make sure he's off the hook for child support."

"Yeah, yeah," he said absently. He was drawing designs in the condensation on his glass, and after a moment he looked at Kylie and said, "Are you familiar with the new step-parent adoption provision in the family law code?"

"No. Never heard of it."

"Well, if the ex wants out, you're not gonna have a problem. The legislature passed a law allowing same-sex partners to legally be considered stepparents. You'd have all the rights and obligations of a natural parent."

"Are you kidding? We don't have to do that crazy second parent adoption thing that people have been doing for the last few years?"

"No, thank God. The legislature really stepped up to the plate on this one. So, if your partner's ex-husband agrees to terminate his parental rights, you shouldn't have any problem being approved."

Kylie sat back in her chair and smiled at the attorney. "I had no idea that could happen." Her smile grew, and she said, "Having the baby be mine legally is exactly what we both want. This is great, great news, Dave."

"It's been great for a lot of families," he agreed.

"So all we have to do is get Blair's ex to agree." She sighed and said, "Knowing him, he'll put up a fight to be spiteful. He's been a real ass."

"If you want me to represent you, I'd be happy to get involved. I'm very good at pointing out all of the detriments of being a non-custodial father."

Kylie nodded. "I'll have to talk with Blair first to make sure she thinks we should do this, and if she does, I think it would be best if she talked to him. She seems to know how to deal with him — most of the time."

Dave shook her hand and gave her a big smile. "I hope it works out, Kylie. I'm very happy for you and your partner. You're gonna be a great mom."

Kylie clapped him on the back and gave him a bright smile. "Thanks, Dave. I'm sure gonna try. Now how about that drink I promised you?" She signaled the bartender. “What are you having, buddy?”

„G

As soon as Kylie got home, she shared her news with Blair. "That's fantastic, honey!" the blonde said. "I thought this would be a very long, drawn out deal."

"It doesn't seem like it will be," Kylie said. "As long as David agrees to terminate his rights, that is. Do you want to talk to him, or should Dave take a crack?"

"I'll talk to him. He wouldn't like it if a stranger approached him first. Give me a few days to come up with my strategy. I need to decide if I should get Sadie on my side first, or if that would make things worse."

"I'm sure you'll come up with a plan," Kylie said. "You're very persuasive. Heck, you made me fall in love with you, and I was sure I didn't have a chance!"

„G

After dinner, the pair sat in the living room to read and listen to music. Kylie noticed that she hadn't heard much from her partner, and she lowered her book only to find a pair of eyes staring at her. "Yikes! It's kinda creepy to see you looking at me like that. Am I in trouble?"

"Hardly." Blair grasped Kylie's toes and tugged on them. "I was thinking about religion."

Kylie put her book in her lap and gave Blair a speculative look. "Religion, huh? Like what's the meaning of life, why am I here kinda thing?"

"No, more like whether we should have Mackenzie baptized or …" She made a face and said, "Circumcised."

"Oh." Kylie looked at her for a moment and said, "I decided I want a girl."

"Kylie, we can't ignore the issue. What do you think we should do?"

She sat perfectly still for a few moments, then met Blair's eyes. "If it means a lot to you, I won't protest if you want to have him circumcised and raise him as a Jew. But if that's what you want, we have to get involved, too. I don't want him to be the only Jew in the family."

"You'd convert?" Blair asked, her eyes wide.

"Sure. I think we'd have to, honey. It'd be positively weird to tell him he was Jewish but nobody else in the family was. Heck, even your father doesn't claim his Jewish heritage. Mackenzie'll think he's a modern day Abraham."

Blair shook her head. "I'm not committed enough to have us both convert. I guess I'd like to incorporate some of the holidays into our lives, but that's about it. I really enjoyed having Passover with my grandmother. And I'd like to have Passover for us."

"We could do that," Kylie agreed, "but I don't think it's fair to cut off a piece of Mackenzie's body so he feels Jewish. That's a big sacrifice, and he doesn't get a vote."

"Are you against circumcision?"

"Yeah. Very much so." The doctor was wearing her most serious expression — the one she sported when she felt strongly about something.

"I haven't really given this a lot of thought," Blair admitted. "But won't he look different from the other boys?"

"Not really," Kylie said. "It's not done routinely anymore, and of the boys born at my hospital, only about thirty percent are circumcised by doctors. I'm sure there are more done at home in a bris, but I'd bet no more than fifty percent of the boys are circumcised now. Of course that's in Southern California. I'm sure there are parts of the country where it's still routine."

"But you're against it."

"Yes. I already said that. I think it's unnecessary, and I don't like to perform unnecessary surgery — on anyone. There are risks with any surgery, and I don't want our son to be put at risk when he doesn't have to be."

"Yeah, but there are benefits, too, aren't there? I've heard circumcised men never get cancer of the penis," Blair said, making a face. "That's one place I'm sure he doesn't want to have cancer."

"That's true," Kylie agreed. "And if we removed his testicles, he wouldn't get testicular cancer, either. That sucks, too."

Blair raised her eyebrows and looked at her partner's expression carefully. "I'm surprised that you feel so strongly about this. And given that you do, why didn't you say something sooner?"

Kylie leaned back against the sofa and let her head drop for a few moments. "I'm sorry. I should have told you how I felt. This is an emotional trigger for me." She looked up at her partner. "When I was in my last year of residency, I assisted on a penile reconstruction for a two week old baby."

"My God," Blair cried. "What happened?"

"The kid got a nasty infection from his circumcision. I won't go into detail, but they tried everything they could, and they weren't able to halt the infection. We had to remove a lot of tissue, and even though we saved his life, he was absolutely mutilated. I think about that little guy every once in a while and wonder how he's dealing with it." She took a breath, and Blair could see that she was struggling with her emotions. "Shit happens, and you can't prevent every freak accident. Nobody knows that better than I do,but I can't imagine how his parents feel. They thought they were having a little skin snipped off …" She reached up and wiped her eyes, then said, "There's no such thing as minor surgery, baby. I don't wanna do anything invasive or permanent to Mackenzie that we don't have to do. It's his body and if he wants to have his penis circumcised, he can do it when he's older and can make his own choices."

Blair scooted down and put her arm around her partner. "Okay. No circumcision. Besides, it's not like he's gonna have a daddy to compare himself to."

"None of my nephews are circumcised," Kylie said, "so he'll look like his cousins. That should be good enough."

"I don't think he'll see his cousins' penises," Blair said, laughing softly, "but if he does, he'll be one of the guys."

They cuddled together on the sofa for a few minutes, neither of them speaking. But there was a discomfort between them that Blair finally mentioned. "I have one of these moments every couple of days," she said.

"What moments?"

"The 'I'm in complete control of another person's life' moments. It always scares the crap out of me."

Kylie laughed soundlessly, her chest bouncing against her partner. "We're not in complete control, but it's close — especially on things like circumcision. It's pretty awesome, isn't it?"

"That's one way to think of it. Sometimes I feel like I'll wet myself it scares me so much."

Kylie patted her gently, then kissed her head. "We'll make mistakes, honey. Lots of them. We'll do things that screw him up a little bit. Every parent does. And no matter how good a job we do, he'll resent us for some things. Every kid does."

"I'm still mad that I couldn't get my driver's license until I was eighteen," Blair said, laughing.

"Wow, that's harsh!"

"Well, we didn't have a car at the time, and my school didn't offer driver's ed. My parents didn't want to pay a private company to teach me since there wasn't a car to drive. It made sense, but I was the only one of my friends who didn't have a license. I hated it."

"I hated never getting a new book," Kylie said. "I longed for a brand new book without a dog-eared page or a pencil mark. I was so jealous of the older kids 'cause they always got new clothes and books."

"Damn, were your parents on that strict a budget?"

"Not really. But they didn't believe in wasting money. If there were clothes that fit me, I was gonna wear 'em. And someone had already bought every book I needed for school. It wasn't a big deal, but it always made me feel like I wasn't special enough to get something new."

"Ooo … you're my special girl," Blair said, hugging her tight. “You're finally the first in line for new stuff. And I love wearing your clothes."

"I noticed that you had one of my shirts on today," Kylie said. "Did you wear that to work?"

"Yeah. It felt great! I wore some black leggings with it. I thought it looked kinda cool."

"You did look nice. A little more casual than usual, but I think you should dress as casually as you can get away with."

"A day without panty hose is a glorious day," Blair agreed. "Hey, do you mind if we get back to the religion thing?"

"No. Go ahead."

"What would you think of putting Sadie in charge of Mackenzie's religious upbringing?"

"Sadie? In charge?"

"Well, not in charge. That was a bad choice of words. But she's very involved in her church, and I know it would mean a lot to her. Since neither of us has strong feelings about organized religion, I thought Mackenzie could get a taste of it from her and bond with her at the same time. It might be nice to have a set weekly time with his grandmother."

"And you think it's important for him to have a religion?"

"Mmm … I don't think it's vital, but it'll give him something to rebel against later," she laughed.

Kylie gave Blair a halfhearted nod. "I guess that's okay."

"But …? I know there's something you're not saying."

"Well, I kinda wanted to have him baptized in the Episcopal Church. It would mean a lot to my mom."

"But you don't wanna take him to church on a regular basis, do you?"

"No, not really. I was willing to go to a temple if you wanted Mackenzie to have a Jewish identity, but if he's baptized as a Christian, he'll be like all of his cousins."

"Then let's do it," Blair said. "We can take him to Chicago and have a big christening party. My family can come, too. It'll be fun!"

"So … we'd have him baptized twice?"

"Sure. What can it hurt? We won't tell Sadie we did it, of course."

"But Mackenzie will eventually be able to speak, Blair. He might spill the beans."

"He won't remember! He'll be a month old!"

"No, no, I meant that he'll tell my mom that he goes to church with Sadie."

"Oh! Yeah, that'll happen, but your mom isn't insane. She'll think it's nice that he goes to church — she won't care that it's Armenian Orthodox, will she?"

"No, I guess not. She thinks the world is easier for a kid to understand if he has a religious upbringing. I don’t think she cares what faith it is, though."

"Something's still wrong," Blair said. "I see a little line here." She ran her thumb down the crease between Kylie's eyes.

The doctor nodded, looking contemplative. "How much do we know about this religion? I don't want Mackenzie to grow up thinking his moms are gonna go to hell for being gay."

"I'm not gay," Blair said, giving Kylie a hot, wet kiss. She was nearly cross-eyed when she pulled away, adding, "I'm a straight woman who happens to be in love with another woman. That doesn't make me gay. I can still go to heaven."

Kylie grabbed her and pinned her to the seat of the sofa, looking down at her with fire in her eyes. "You're gonna be good and gay by the time I'm through with you." She kissed Blair for a long time, thrilling at the taste and the feel of her soft, wet lips.

"I'll go wherever you go," the blonde agreed after catching her breath. "You're nice."

Kylie sat up and pulled her partner up with her. "I was serious about the religion," she said. "I don't want him raised in some repressive atmosphere."

"I don't either, honey. But it won't hurt him to go with Sadie until he's in grade school. We'll pay close attention and ask him what he learns every week. If it sounds like he's getting a bad message — we'll put an end to it."

"You think it'll be that easy?"

"Yeah, I do. I've made it clear to Sadie that she's not allowed to ever make a negative comment about homosexuality. She knows I'll follow through."

"Okay. We can start him off with the Orthodox Church and see what happens. If it's not working, he can be a nice non-church-going Episcopalian — like all of his cousins."

"Sounds good to me."

Kylie squeezed her partner's hand and said, "One more decision made on Mackenzie's behalf. I hope he never finds out that we made two major decisions for him in the space of twenty minutes — with almost no deliberation!"

"I won't tell if you don't," Blair said, crossing her heart with her finger.

„G

The following Friday, Kylie was having lunch at her desk when the intercom buzzed. "Dr. Mackenzie, there's a man here to see you."

"I'm not seeing any salesmen today, Christy. They have to make appointments like everyone else."

"I don't think he's a salesman. He said his name is David Spencer, and he's … well, I think you'd better see him."

"Great," she grumbled. "I'll come get him."

Kylie pushed her salad aside and put her shoes back on. Before she walked out of the office, she grabbed her crisply starched lab coat and shrugged into it. When she opened the waiting room door, she found David staring at her, his face blotchy and mottled from anger. He spoke loudly, gesturing at Christy. "Does the receptionist have orders to keep all of your girlfriend's husbands away from you?"

Not saying a word, Kylie held the door open and waited for him to enter the corridor. Thankfully it was empty, so no patient heard David's running commentary. "When you steal someone's wife, the least you can do is face him like a man."

Doctor Greene stuck his head out of his office before Kylie and David passed, and he gave Kylie a questioning look. She shook her head and waved him off, then walked into her own office and closed the door after David entered.

He didn't say anything, but she could see his eyes widen when he saw the size of the layout. Kylie was actually a little embarrassed by the size of her office, but today she was glad she had it. When her practice had moved to its present location, the doctors had drawn straws and she'd won, something that the others still held over her head.

The practice was located in a modern office building that was a few floors higher than any of the surrounding buildings. She had a corner office with six windows, three of them giving her an unobstructed view of the Pacific Ocean.

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