exercise quite a lot,” Dr. Tafesh remarked as she read our intake forms. “A minimum of twenty-four hours a week! Are you a professional athlete?”
“I operate a mixed martial arts gym,” he explained, “so I stay in fighting shape.”
“I see.” She glanced back down at the tablet. “Erin, you take a more moderate approach it seems.”
“Just barre and some light lifting and cardio at home,” I confirmed.
“Your cycles are regular,” she commented. “Low pain levels with your period. No heavy cramping or bleeding?”
“No.”
“You have a family history of endometriosis,” she murmured. “Mother and grandmother?”
“Yes.”
“And you’ve never been pregnant and miscarried?”
“No.”
“Well, you two are a puzzle,” Dr. Tafesh announced with a smile. “I like a good puzzle.” Sitting back in her chair, she placed the tablet on her lap. “So, I would like to start with a wide range of blood tests for both of you and then some imaging studies for Erin. Ivan, we’ll need a sample from you. The results from these tests will help me form a better idea of what the problem might be and how best to go about fixing it. Do you two have any questions for me?”
I did, of course, and opened up the list of them in the Notes app on my phone. I asked them one by one, and Dr. Tafesh answered every one of them in a way that was easy to understand and set my mind at ease. After our consultation, we were walked to an imaging room across the hall for my ultrasounds and then to the lab for our bloodwork. I had to stifle a laugh at the unamused look on Ivan’s face when the lab tech handed him a paper bag with a sample cup inside.
“Down the hall, to the right,” the tech said, gesturing that direction. “Pick a room. Read the instructions in the bag or on the posters on the wall. After you give your sample, tighten the lid, write the time on the label, put the cup in the bag, and drop it off at the sample window. Once that’s done, you’re free to go.”
“Is he serious?” Ivan hissed when we were out in the hallway. He stared at the bag in his hand as if it were filled with something offensive. “They want me to...” He couldn’t even finish the thought. “Here?”
Taking his hand, I smiled coyly and tugged him forward. “Come on.”
“Erin,” he protested but followed along anyway.
“It’s going to be fine,” I assured him. “You’ll see.”
He grumbled something in Russian I couldn’t make out and trudged behind me until we reached one of the rooms reserved for giving a sample. I pulled him inside and locked the door behind us. Leaning back against it, I grinned. While I had been prepping for our first visit, I had joined an infertility group on Facebook. It was filled with lots of great information and tips for moments like this. Worried that Ivan would be uncomfortable in a setting like this, I had ordered something very special and new for the occasion. I was pretty sure he was going to like it.
He had stopped in the center of the room. His entire stance was tight, as if he were ready to bolt from the room and never come back. He grimaced when he noticed the TV mounted on the wall in front of a low couch covered in a shiny, easily cleaned navy blue vinyl. “I am not watching porn and stroking one out on a couch that squeaks.”
“I can’t do anything about the squeaky couch,” I said, still leaning against the door, “but I can help with the other part.”
Ivan’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “How?”
Wordlessly, I reached down and grasped the hem of my black pencil skirt. I had worn a typical work outfit today—pencil skirt, silk coral wrap blouse, and heels—but underneath I had a hidden secret. Holding his piqued interest, I pulled the hem of my skirt higher and higher, not stopping until it was bunched around my waist. Ivan’s heated gaze burned right through me as he swallowed hard at the sight of my black thigh highs and the matching garter belt. The tiny panties were barely-there mesh.
When I untied the silk ties at my waist and opened my shirt to reveal a balconette bra, he tossed the paper bag onto the couch and stalked toward me. I giggled excitedly against his lips as he captured my mouth and then moaned when he lifted me into his arms and cupped