Chapter Text
Marta isn’t sure what you wear to a meeting with a potential sperm donor but the denim skirt and white tank seem casual enough without her looking like she doesn’t care at all. Her cute yellow canvas tote has a manila folder with a few important bullet points about his health and work. No pictures. She knows he’s white, a Boston native and under the employment category he’d typed out “books”. So, she’s guessing he’s this cute little nerd who owns a bookstore or something.
“Donor 5673,” Helene the fertility counsellor at the exclusive clinic had told her. “He’s open to co-parenting the same as you. Steady job, no criminal record and he passed the two mandatory psych evals.”
She’d taken the manila folder from her and glanced inside. “You think he’d be a good father?”
Helene’s smile was cryptic, “I think he’s a good sperm donor. The same way you’d be a good egg donor. It’s up to you to decide if you’d be good parents together.”
“Has he said anything about me?”
“He’d like to meet. He has a similar amount of information on you. He liked that you were a medical professional.”
Marta had nodded. Scanning through the information on the two pages she was given. No other children. Never married. Under quotes he’d written. “I’ve been kind of a selfish guy most my life but this baby whoever they are will always be my first priority.” Not a particularly poetic quote for a guy who worked with books but something about that had struck her.
The Hestian Family Clinic had put together this little ‘meet cute’. They were a cutting-edge fertility clinic that helped couples and women get pregnant but also encouraged unconventional family situations like the one Marta wanted. She was done waiting for the perfect guy. Acknowledging that he may never come along but she wasn’t against co-parenting with someone who had similar goals and could maintain a cordial relationship. She had no problem being a single mom but her child having another parent out there was just good planning in case the worst ever happened. And anyway, this would be an IVF procedure so that ruled out a messy physical relationship.
Donor 5673 was meeting her on a Friday morning at a cute little brunch place by the river. His fertility clinic mandated email said he’d be wearing glasses, a blue flannel shirt and jeans and sitting at a table on the patio. She was about twenty feet from the place when she spotted him chatting with a waiter. Something about his minimal profile had made her think of someone more youthful but he was older, a little more rugged than expected, with a full beard and dark hair. He smiled when he stood to greet her approaching revealing a row of even white teeth that Marta kind of wanted to touch.
Oh great, she was nervous now. She’d been expecting someone wildly different who did not give off ‘hot English teacher’ vibes.
“Hi,” she breathed extending a hand for him to shake. “I’m- I’m Marta. From Hestian.”
“Ransom,” he said then cringed at the surprised face she made. “Actually Hugh. Ransom is my middle name. My grandad was a murder mystery buff and I think he thought it would be funny but it just stuck. No one calls me Hugh. Jeez, I’m shaking your hand for way too long.”
“O-okay,” Marta smiled nervously, taking the seat opposite him. “I’m glad we could meet.”
“Yes,” he said across from her blue eyes very wide. “Me too. This whole process has been surreal. It’s not where I expected to find myself to be honest.”
“Oh? What were you expecting then?”
He looked embarrassed, “I turned 40 a few months ago and I guess I just thought- “
“That you’d have been with someone by now and had children by now.” Marta finished with a commiserating smile.
“Yeah.” He smiled back the corners of his eyes crinkling. “I’m guessing you’re in a similar situation.”
“People keep saying it’ll happen when you least expect it,” Marta rolled her eyes and Ransom let out a soft laugh. “Well, I’m not expecting it anymore for sure. And I don’t think I’m very good at the apps either.”
“You never know,” he said softly. “Life can surprise you.”
“I don’t want surprises,” Marta said leaning forward on the little table. “I want a baby.”
Ransom grinned at her leaning forward to match her stance, “So do I.”
It was a very small table and Marta found herself noticing the little flecks of green in his eyes. If she moved slightly her arm would brush his. He was very pretty. With nice lips and great cheekbones. Any baby of his would be nothing less than a gorgeous little cherub. Lucky her.
Marta broke the intense staring with a cough, “So…your job description just said you work with books?”
“Oh,” he leaned back and reached into his pocket for a small business card. “Technically I own a publishing company that I just pulled out of bankruptcy.”
He handed her the small card that said H.R Drysdale. President of ‘Clock & Dagger’. “Luckily. People are reading again so we’ve had a really good quarter.”
Marta smiled, “So you’re…rich?”
“I prefer to think of myself as ‘comfortable’.”
“Sounds like something rich people say.” Marta said waving his card around a little.
The gleam in his eyes turned mischievous, “What about you? What kind of nurse are you?”
“NICU,” Marta said and Ransom made a small hum of approval. “Every time one of those babies goes home, I feel so proud. But I also think I’m going to kidnap one of them.” That admission made him laugh.
“Well maybe we keep that as a plan B.”
The hour they spent chatting went well. Marta found out he didn’t have much family. His parents had both passed in his 20s and he wasn’t close with his cousins and aunts. Ransom’s best friend from college who also worked at the company had had a baby the past year and he was the godfather to a 9-month-old little boy named Declan. They traded phone numbers and some more contact information.
“Would you want to meet for a pizza or something?” Marta found herself asking when he wrestled the cheque out of her hands.
“Need a little more convincing that I’d be a good baby daddy?” He joked sliding a black AmEx into the little book.
“Maybe.” She said as they stood to leave.
“I’ve got a better idea than pizza though. If you’re interested.” He spoke. “There’s a carnival in town. We could get hotdogs and maybe win a few stuffed animals. Plus, I feel like the activity would keep conversations from getting awkward.”
Marta agreed. She walked back to her car with a hopeful feeling about Ransom. When she told her sister about the plan Alice almost choked to death on the takeout they were sharing.
“You want to have a baby with this guy?”
“He passed the clinic’s psych evals.” She said wrapping her shrug tighter around herself. “He seems nice.”
“Dios mio, Marta.” Alice looked more surprised. “You don’t even want to match with guys on Bumble.”
“It’s not like that. He was a 97% match for a compatible donor. We have similar goals.”
“Romantic,” Alice said drily. Then a sly look came onto her face. “What’s he look like?”
“That’s not the most important thing.” Marta said trying to keep her face neutral but her sister could unfortunately see right through her.
“Uh huh. Sure.” Alice snatched the little business card off the table and was googling him before Marta could protest. She must’ve found something because Alice’s mouth opened slightly in shock. “Are you sure you want to do IVF?”
“He’s not that good-looking.” She tried hiding behind her mug of tea. “Besides we haven’t decided on anything definitively. We’re still getting to know one another.”
Alice had been nodding along with a slight grimace this whole time. “I think this is the worst idea you’ve ever had.” Marta rolled her eyes. “No! No! This is a disaster. Plus, he’s more than good looking, okay? I mean I guess that baby would be really cute but at what cost.”
“We’re not going to be a couple.” Marta said reassuringly. “We’ll just be co-parents.”
“Co-parents who fuck,” Alice said simply causing her sister to make a face. “I’d bet my left tit that baby’s getting here the old-fashioned way.”
Marta tried to ignore the ominous feeling she got at those words.