Jack pulled into his driveway in the best mood of his life. That was mostly, but not entirely, because he had gotten word from his boss today that he had been picked for a major promotion.
The financial firm Jack worked for was a small operation, family owned (by Jack's half-uncle) and almost exclusively catering to the agricultural clients around the small town. Opportunities for growth tended to be limited, but Jack's wife had flatly refused to move out of her hometown, and honestly Jack didn't particularly mind. His coworkers were good friends, he could forego some pay and a title for the great work environment and honestly very light workload.
But one of his coworkers was retiring next month, leaving a senior position open; Jack wasn't the oldest candidate, which was usually what determined promotions, but he was very well-liked and did good work, so they had chosen him. It was a big deal, a huge increase in pay, and just thinking about it made Jack smile to himself.
This also came at the perfect time: his wife, Melanie, was due with their first baby in just about two weeks. He would transition out of his current role right before going on paternity leave, have several weeks away from work entirely, and when he returned it would be to start his new senior position. And the salary bump would certainly help with all of the expenses associated with a new baby.
Speaking of his wife, he was anxious to see her and tell her the good news. He turned off the car and stepped out into the hot, hot, summer day. The sound of his neighbor's lawnmower droned, competing with the background buzz of cicadas in the trees. There was a car he didn't recognize parked on the street right in front of his house, a red sedan.
'Strange,' Jack thought to himself, but hurried inside, not wanting to spend any more time than was necessary out in the sweltering heat.
He opened the front door to the sound of his wife's voice: "No way she said that! She's such a... Oh, hi honey!"
Jack and Melanie's home was spacious, but only one floor, and the living room was directly adjacent to the small entryway right inside the front door. Melanie was sitting on the couch, reclined back with her feet up on an ottoman. One hand rested on her huge belly. At the other end of the couch was Kara, her best friend since childhood, who lived just a few streets over with her husband.
Melanie and Kara were as close as any two people could be, but they were also quite the contrast to each other. Melanie had long, full brown hair that she liked to wear down, an elegantly arched nose, a full-lipped mouth made for smiling, and big emotive brown eyes. She was 5'9" and curvy even before her pregnancy.
Kara, by comparison, was maybe 5'4" with a persistently bright attitude matched by bright blue eyes and a ponytail dyed white-blonde. She was fit but not skinny, even though she looked somewhat pale and thin in the vicinity of the pregnancy glow that almost visibly radiated from Jack's wife. At the moment, the only noticeable similarity between them was the fact that they were both wearing bright, pastel-colored sundresses in the heat, Melanie's blue and Kara's yellow.
Jack didn't quite groan when he saw Kara there, but he was disappointed. He was looking forward to an evening alone with his wife, both to celebrate the promotion and to have some much-needed sex. Melanie's pregnancy had come with a lot of heightened needs - she was more emotional due to all of the hormonal changes, she increasingly needed help to get chores done around the house, etc. But the biggest one was sexual; her sex drive had been running full-speed since even before the first positive pregnancy test. Rarely did a day go by that they weren't intimate together, and Jack could give her several orgasms in a row with his mouth or hands and she wouldn't get tired. Right now, though, it had been a couple busy days in a row and they hadn't had time. Jack knew his wife must be horny as hell and desperate for some alone time. Kara's visit looked like it would delay their release even further.
"Hiya, Kara. What brings you over today? And where's Chris?" Jack asked, smiling easily. Even if he wished she weren't there right now, he liked Kara. They had always gotten along well, and Kara's husband Chris was a good friend, too.
"Stuck out in the fields again." Kara smiled at him. "I couldn't tell you what he's doing, but it seemed important."
"Always something, I guess." Jack answered. Chris was a farmer who had taken over his father's land after the old man had tragically died of a heart attack a year or so back. Chris often had to work long hours.
He walked over and gave Melanie a kiss, holding it just long enough to give her a hint that he wanted some action tonight without it being inappropriate in front of Kara. Melanie seemed to take the hint and smiled at him.
"How's the little man doing?"
Melanie pat her belly, "Been kicking a lot this afternoon. Kara can confirm, he's got some power in those legs."
Kara laughed a little, "He just wants out, I think. Wants to meet his mommy and daddy."
Jack chuckled as he undid his tie, "Well, he doesn't have long to wait." Jack sat down on the couch between the two women, putting one arm around his wife. "So tell us, Kara, when can we expect an announcement from you and Chris? It would be great to have some little ones running around together...."
Melanie inhaled, and Kara looked down and away from them. Jack guessed he had said something wrong, but wasn't quite sure what. He opened his mouth to apologize, but Kara started to talk first. "We... we've actually been trying. Ever since Melanie told me she was pregnant, I had the same thought. Starting our families together would be a dream" She looked up at Jack, apparently on the verge of tears but holding it in. "After six months with no luck, we went to see a doctor. He... he said it probably won't be possible for us. Chris's sperm count is remarkably low, they don't know why but suspect it's a genetic thing." Now the tears started to fall, but her voice kept mostly steady. "We started looking at some options, but they're all so expensive... and even with something like IVF, we might need to use donated sperm." She fell silent and wiped at her eyes.
Jack felt terrible for bringing it up so flippantly. He couldn't imagine the difficulty of wanting a family and knowing it would never be possible naturally. That would be... really, really hard. He glanced over at Melanie and found her own eyes wet with sympathetic tears.
"Oh. Kara..." His wife said softly. "I'm so sorry. We didn't know. If there's anything you two need, anything we can do..."
Kara sniffled once more, but then straightened up, clearly trying to take the pain off her face. "Thank you. Really, I mean it. You two have been fantastic friends to us for years, you have no idea how much it means to me that I can trust you with this. But... I don't think there's anything you can do. We'll have to figure it out, and... and keep hoping."
Abruptly, she got up, wiping away a fresh wave of tears. "Sorry, I'm... going to use the bathroom."
Melanie looked over at Jack as soon as Kara left the room, her eyes distant. "How sad..." she whispered. "To not be able to have this... this wonderful, incredible gift. " She rubbed her belly as she spoke, "I wish I could do something - anything..."
Jack just rubbed her shoulder. He felt bad, too, but what could they do? Kara was right, it seemed like a problem the two of them would need to figure out on their own. Suddenly Melanie cocked her head and pulled slightly away from him.
"What?"
