“Could we meet the family? Her husband?” he heard Riley ask.

“That is what Rebecca has done before. We’ll arrange that with her, then apart from the legal documents and the normal medical procedures, all of which are detailed in your schedule when you receive it, you can relax for a while.”

“This time next year we could be parents again?” Jack said softly. “That’s kind of hard to believe.”

Riley squeezed his hand, then lifted it to his mouth and placed a kiss on the back.

“Exciting.”

* * * * *

Choosing a donor for the whole donor egg thing was traumatizing. On the face of it selecting blue eyes and dark hair was easy. Ten or so donors matched the characteristics that were as simple as eye and hair color. Narrowing down the search that way was the easy part.

“What if we pick a donor who has problems?” Jack said as he flicked from one screen to another. The iPad was on his lap, and Riley curled his legs under him and cuddled in close to see the screen and to be as near to Jack as he could. This sofa in the D’s good room was old but clean and so damn comfortable, even for two men.

“What kind of problems?”

“Something that hasn’t happened yet? Some awful neurological thing that has yet to be discovered.”

“Oh god,” Riley said suddenly. Jack turned to him with a frown.

“What?”

“What if they prefer the Redskins over the Cowboys?”

Jack narrowed his eyes then huffed as he looked back at the screen. “Ass,” he said with no heat and quite a lot of affection.

After that they narrowed it down to three, then to two. Finally they were faced with two absolutely perfect donors. Both with families of their own, both with degrees, both with dark hair and blue eyes. Not that any of this was an indication of what a future baby would be like after Jack’s genes were introduced, but hell, this was like putting choice into random events—kind of weird.

After emailing the first and second choice over to the agency, Jack and Riley sat for a long time chatting about everything and nothing.

“Everything is going to be so different,” Riley summarized. “A new baby, a new us, really.”

Jack twisted around on the sofa to face Riley.

“It won't change us,” Jack said firmly.

“It will,” Riley protested. “We’ll have a whole new dynamic to all of this.” He waved around expansively at the room. “The D will be changing, more rooms, the time we can spend on our own…”

“Are you okay?” Jack asked. His tone was dead serious.

Riley smiled at him. “Of course I am. Just a little overwhelmed is all.”

“Not too late to stop this whole thing you know,” Jack offered carefully.

Riley shook his head. “No. Never. I want this. I want you and me and kids and the ranch, and hell, we need to get dogs too.”

“Dogs.”

“Big ones.”

“You’re an idiot,” Jack said affectionately before pressing a kiss to Riley’s lips.

Riley pulled away with a grin. “Yeah, but I’m your idiot.”

* * * * *

The Henderson’s house was a tastefully rebuilt two-story in University Park within walking distance of SMU and some great parks.

Rebecca answered the door and ushered Riley and Jack inside the cool interior. As soon as Riley walked inside, he relaxed. The scent of lemon polish and the general strewn-about evidence of family life was comforting.

“This is my husband, Peter,” she introduced a guy with dark hair and gray eyes. He shook hands with both Riley and Jack, and then the four of them stood in silence. Riley considered that maybe Peter wasn’t overly keen on his wife going through surrogacy again. Disappointment and wariness built gradually even as Peter made coffee and chatted about inconsequential things. Once they were sitting in a garden room, it was time to get down to the details. Riley pulled out a list of questions they had come up with in bed last night, but took one look at them and pocketed them again.

This wasn’t about set questions and answers; this was about getting to know Rebecca. He only really had two questions that nagged at him and made him think this could all stop at the drop of a hat. Jack was all, ‘everything will be fine’, but Riley didn’t share his husband’s optimism. He was waiting for the axe to fall.

“Are you okay with your wife doing this?” Riley blurted out. Jack glared at him. They’d talked about building up to that question, but all of a sudden there it was on the table between them. Peter didn’t say anything to begin with. Instead he pressed his lips firmly together. Riley wished he could withdraw the question immediately, but it was too late. “I don’t mean any offense,” he added lamely.

“Jeez, Riley,” Jack muttered under his breath.

“It’s fine. No offense taken,” Peter reassured. “This will be the third time, and I have supported Becca through the other two. My brother is gay, and he and his partner went through surrogacy, and we saw from the outside how much the surrogate was doing for my brother. I have a beautiful niece who is in a happy family. Why would I think to deny other men in your position the same wonder of having a baby?”

“That’s very…” Riley began but couldn’t get the words out. He abruptly felt very emotional.

“Thank you,” Jack interjected. Riley squirmed in his seat, not at all easy for him on these small chairs. He didn’t know what to say or do, and he felt out of sorts.

“Hi. Thomas is dead.” The voice was from way down on the floor right at Riley’s feet and was obviously that of a child. Riley leaned over and saw a small boy, maybe three or four, with Thomas the Tank Engine in pieces in his hands. “It,” he demanded and pushed it at Riley. Riley took the pieces and glanced at them briefly. He recalled Rebecca and Peter having three older children, so this must be one of the kids they fostered.

“I’m Riley,” Riley said carefully. “What’s your name?”

To his shock the small boy curled in a ball and covered his eyes, then rocked gently in this position.

“I’m sorry,” he immediately apologized to Rebecca and Peter. “Did I do something wrong?” Great start to proving he was a man who could be near children. He knew they should have bought Hayley.

“This is Max, he’s four, and we foster him,” Rebecca said. She climbed down to sit next to Max on the floor and Riley followed suit. Crossing his legs he concentrated on fitting the four bits of Thomas back together.

“Thomas is my favorite,” Riley chatted as he attempted to affix the back to the front. “And I loved James. He was the red engine if I remember right.” He kept talking and only stopped when he finally had Thomas fixed as best he could. The toy probably needed a new screw or some glue or something, but at least it looked and worked like it should. He pushed it along the tiled floor and made a chugging noise to go with it. Finally Max uncurled himself and pushed the train farther along. Every so often he would tug at his short red hair. Then with a small smile, he climbed up using Riley as a ladder and ran off out into the garden.

“What’s his story?” Jack asked as soon as he was out of hearing distance.

“He has learning difficulties after being very premature. His mom overdosed when he was two and there is no trace of a father. He’s been in the foster system ever since. Kids with special needs are difficult to place.”

“I’m sorry,” Riley apologized quietly. “I didn’t mean to scare him. I didn’t know.”

“We didn’t tell you,” Rebecca reasoned. “He’s not very good with strangers at first.”

“Still, I’m not small. I’m probably scary. Poor guy.”

Riley was relieved when Jack changed the direction of the conversation. “How long has he been here with you?”

“A while now. Six months.”

Riley sat back up in his chair and sipped on coffee. Maybe he should read up on understanding a child with learning difficulties. What if they had a child that wasn’t Hayley? A girl or boy who maybe had physical or mental issues? They should think about what they would need to put in place to help the child.