“Are you nervous?” Tori asked, as she came in and plopped down in the chair across the desk from Whitney.

Whitney looked up from her computer, sliding her chair back.  “I’m definitely a little anxious about tomorrow.”

Tori nodded, clicking a pen out of habit.  “Well, I’ll go with you, you know.  I can just work from my phone.”

Whitney smiled, “I’m going to be there for hours though, Tori.”

“Well, I could at least come for part of it.  Keep you company, get your mind off things.”

“Sure, Lance and Jake are going to each stay for part of it, too.  The more company the merrier.”

Tori raised her eyebrow, “No Justin?”

“He’s working on tour preparations all day, but he’s going to come home early so we can spend the evening together.”

Tori drummed her fingers on the desk.  “You know, if it was my fiancé, I would want him to be by my side while I was going through in vitro fertilization for hours.”

Whitney crossed her arms, “Well, then it’s a good thing he’s not your fiancée!”

“Fine, sorry.  So what is the game plan for tomorrow, anyway?”

“Well, Jake is going to pick me up.  Lance is going to meet us there later.  Essentially, they are going to transfer the embryos into me and we’re going to keep our fingers crossed.  They said it’s not too painful, but it just takes a long time, so I am supposed to bring some reading material to pass the time.”

“I’m sure Jake can pass the time with all of his crazy stories.  He’s too much.  I swear, if he wasn’t gay…”

“…but he is,” Whitney said with a chuckle.

“Can’t we find a nice boy for me?”

“Maybe we’ll meet someone at the doctor’s office tomorrow.”

“Yeah…I’m sure all the nice single guys are hanging out at the fertility doctor!”

Whitney laughed.  “True…

**

Whitney slid her jacket on as she snatched her keys off the side table and headed out the door, locking it behind her.  She made her way to the car parked at the top of the driveway.

“Mornin’ sunshine,” Jake said, flashing her a grin while he ran a hand through his chestnut brown hair.

She smiled as she settled beside him in the passenger seat.  He put his foot on the accelerator as they headed off to the appointment.

“Now, I know that we have quite a few hours to kill.  Just in case my stories aren’t enough to entertain you, I also packed you a few things,” he said, motioning to the tote bag in the backseat. 

She smiled again as she pulled the bag into her lap.  Inside was an issue of People Magazine, a paperback copy of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and a copy of Lance’s own Out of Sync: A Memoir. 

“Seriously, you packed Lance’s book for me?” she laughed. 

He smirked, “Well, I figured while the baby is forming it wouldn’t hurt to be thinking about us fathers.  Plus, I figured you could use a good laugh.”

“Jake, sometimes you are so ridiculous.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.  Now, how is everything going with you?”

She sighed, looking out the window.  “Everything is going alright.  Lots of things going on at work, but busy is good.”

He nodded, “I know how that is.  Filming this movie is seriously draining.  I am counting down the weeks ‘til it’s over.  How is Justin?”

“He’s fine.  Really busy with all the tour preparations…”

“Right.  So what is the plan with that?  I know we had discussed being on the East Coast after the holidays.  Is that still going to work?” he managed a glance at her before turning his attention back to the road.

“Yeah, I think that will be best.  Since he’ll be on the road, I can spend some time with my family and friends.  It’ll be nice to be in New York.”

He nodded, “I am ready for winter in New York.  Once this movie wraps, it’ll be the perfect change of pace and then Lance and I can really focus on preparing to start our family.”

She nodded as she continued to stare out the window. 

**

The procedure had gone smoothly, but now Whitney had to stay for observation while lying down for hours.  It had only been about fifteen minutes and she was already feeling a little restless.  She was about to reach for the magazine when she heard a faint knock at the door.  “Come in.”

Jake walked in.  “Alright Whit, I’m glad to see that everything went okay.  I’m off to set, but I’ll leave you in the capable hands of this guy,” he said, placing a peck on her forehead and motioning over to Lance, who followed him carrying flowers.  Jake headed back out the door.  Lance placed the flowers down and sat in the chair beside her.

“Thanks for the flowers,” she said, shifting her head to make eye contact with him.

“Flowers are the least I could do,” he said, beaming.  “Now, how are you doing?  Do you need anything?”

“I feel okay.  I could just use some distractions to get through the next few hours.”

“Alright, well, I will try to be the best distraction I can be.  I’m sure Jake was more entertaining though, that one always has stories from set,” he laughed heartily. 

“Yes, he does entertain.”

“Isn’t this all…crazy?”

Whitney peered at him curiously, “Which part?”

“It seems like just yesterday we met.  And now here we are sitting and hoping you’ll be able to be the surrogate for my child.  It’s all kind of surreal,” he smiled, his mind wandering.  “Not to mention that I did introduce you to your fiancé.”

She nodded, “Yes, I remember that evening so vividly.”

His eyes close for a moment, trying to remember that night.  “Yes, I remember being at the event.  I think that was the third time we had crossed paths.  You had this great dark blue dress on and, of course, you were circling the room to check up on things.  And Justin spied us talking and approached, making his way into the conversation.”

She closes her eyes for a moment, replaying that night in her head.  “That gala was so much work.  I was a nervous wreck the whole evening, managing every detail.” 

Lance continues to speak, but her mind wanders as she recalls the events of the fateful night.  The first few hours of that evening were a fast-paced blur.  She remembers stopping at the end of the bar, taking a quiet moment for herself and gently sliding her glass back and forth on the counter to ease her nerves.  “A gin and tonic,” she hears a gentle male voice order and then he moves from behind her to the stool beside her.  He drums his fingers on the counter slowly and then turns to her, his blue eyes locking hers for a moment.  As the bartender returns with his drink, he takes the glass to his lips and then gently places the glass back on the counter.  He looks at her curiously as he stirs his drink.  She is nervously running her fingers through her hair, her eyes shifting around the room before meeting his once more.  “Are you having a nice time?” he asks, running his right hand through his short dark brown hair.  She nods shyly.  “This sort of thing is a little stuffy for my taste, more of a chore to go out than an experience to enjoy…” he shyly smiles, awaiting her response.  Her dimples show as she smiles wider, but someone taps her on the shoulder before she can respond and she’s ushered away.  She heads to the kitchen, where the catering staff is having some sort of melodrama, but corrects it with ease.  She makes her way back into the main room when she feels a hand on her arm and turns to see Lance, smiling and offering his hand.  He congratulates her on the event and they make small talk for a few minutes, before they are interrupted by Justin.  “Oh, Justin, this is Whitney…” Lance motions between the two, making introductions.  He puts his hand on her shoulder as they make conversation.  Lance excuses himself and the two are left to themselves.  He asks if she’d like a drink and then moves over to the bar.  After a few minutes, he returns to her with a glass in each hand and a friend behind him.  She smiles as she realizes his friend is the same man that was at the bar with her earlier.  “JC, this is Whitney, the event planner,” he smiles, as he hands her one of the glasses.  JC’s cheeks redden, most likely from remembering the statements he had made earlier about the event.  He shakes her hand and then excuses himself and she is left with Justin once more.  He tells her he’s in town for a few days and asks if she might want to attend a party with him that she’s not working.  She smiles and accepts the offer. 

“Whit?” Lance interrupts he train of thought. 

She blushes, “Sorry, I was spacing out.”

“What were you thinking about?”

“Just that night again.  Can you do me a favor?  Could you text Justin and let him know everything went okay?  I know he’ll be wondering…” she said. 

He nodded, pulling out his cell. 

**

Tori sauntered into the room.  “How’s my girl doing?”

Whitney smiled, “I’m doing okay.  Just getting a little restless.”

“Laaaaaance, give me a hug!” Tori said, grinning. 

He obliged and then turned to Whitney.  “Alright, Whit, I need to head off.  But, please call me if you need anything.”

“Oh, Lance, did Justin get back to you?” she asked.

He looked at his phone, “No messages, sorry.”

“Okay, well, thanks…I’ll call you later.”

He nodded as he waved and headed out. 

**

She was half asleep in bed when she heard the vibrating of her phone.  She sighed as sat up and stretched her arm out to retrieve it from the nightstand.  She eyed Justin’s name popping up and leaned back against the pillow as she took the call.

“Where have you been?  I’ve been trying to reach you,” she said, with exasperation. 

Silence.  She was becoming more irritated by every silent second that slipped by. 

“Well,” she started, her words dripping with sarcasm, “My day was just fine, thanks for asking.”

“Uhh…Whitney,” a different male voice said into the receiver.  Her eyes widened as she realized it was not Justin on the other end of the line.  “Hey, it’s JC.”