It's a fairly improbable scenario, but I had fun writing it.
Disclaimer: Themes of betrayal and adultery here. If not your thing, then best to avoid this story.
*****
OUR STORY, PART 1 - SEAN
I met Rose fresh out of high school. We were both taking general education courses at our local community college, a throwaway year I suppose, while we figured out what we wanted from life. We both sat at the back of our essay writing class and spent the whole time flirting and occasionally getting in trouble from the doubtlessly underpaid and overworked English teacher.
I saw her slight build, long dark brown hair tied in a ponytail with a black scrunchie. awkward demeanor, and I was instantly smitten. She was pretty in a girl next door kind of way, the one you look at once and convince yourself you're going to marry them. Which is what I did. We flirted for a couple weeks before I scrounged up the courage and asked her out.
For our first date, we went to the movies. She wanted to see Magic Mike XXL, and I was keen to please her so I of course said yes, and then sat there in stony silence while a parade of semi-nude and utterly ripped men danced around for two hours. Honestly, the movie wasn't bad, but I came out of the movie with my confidence in the toilet. Rose must've seen the expression on my face because she turned to me and said, "You're handsome," propped herself on her tiptoes and gave me a kiss on the lips. Not a bad first date after all!
We walked on to a small coffee shop and sat there for three hours, talking about the movie, and then our lives. I told her about my older brother, Sam, who had been in and out of juvie, and who now lived in my parents' attic smoking weed and almost trying to find work. Rose told me about her younger sister, Grace, whom she described as the jacked version of her. Where Rose was slight, Grace was big: Tall, big breasts, big hips. She showed me pictures, and there was an unmistakable family resemblance, even as their statures were so different. Same hair, same smile, same eyes.
From then on we were inseparable. We hung out every day at school, and went out together every weekend. She loved making out, and she had a devilishly long tongue, which I loved almost as much as her. Beyond making out, however, we were curiously chaste. After two months, we hadn't gotten any further than second base.
Despite the lack of sex, things progressed great. She met my family, and they loved her. Even my brother Sam came down from the attic to meet her, and thankfully didn't smell too much like pot. She was kind and charming as usual, and won them all over. I met her family, and we got on even better. Her mom thought I was the perfect gentleman, and her dad just loved that there was another car enthusiast to chat with. I wasn't actually into cars, but before meeting him I boned up on his favourite car shows so we could bond. Grace and I were instant BFFs. We talked endlessly about movies (which I was ACTUALLY into, and not just pretending), and had a trove of in-jokes after knowing each other for only a few hours.
I left her parents' house that night in high spirits, but Rose seemed particularly subdued.
I took her hand in mine as we walked.
"That was a good night," I remarked, looking for an opening.
"It was," Rose replied softly.
"What's wrong? You seem... off," I asked.
"Can we sit down for a minute?" Rose asked, and gestured to a bus stop bench.
My stomach clenched in knots as we walked over to the bench and sat down. Rose had the expression I'd seen before only once, on a girlfriend just before she made me an ex, combination of apprehension, fear, and sadness.
I gulped, a lump in my throat, "If you're going to dump me, rip the band-aid off fast."
Rose broke into a smile, "No, I'm not dumping you. Sean, I love you. I'm convinced you are the one for me. I'm just not convinced I'm the one for you."
My fear turned to confusion, "I don't understand."
"I know, I'm sorry," Rose sighed, "I've been enjoying our relationship as it is so much that I was avoiding this step." Rose took a deep breath, squeezed my hand, and continued: "I can't have sex."
I blanked for several seconds, "Sorry, what?" Tears started streaming down her cheeks.
"I can't have sex, Sean. I am incapable of it," she sniffed, and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I have MRKH syndrome. It affects the uterus and genitals. Intercourse is extremely painful. Believe me, I have tried everything. It won't even fit a pinkie finger."
The months of making out suddenly made sense.
"There's more, Sean," she went on, "I have no menstrual cycle." She paused to let it sink in, "I can't have children."
My world spun upside down. I was only eighteen, but I knew I always wanted to have children someday.
We sat on the bench holding hands for a long time. She went on into the details of her condition, describing it as "Mayer..." something something. I was only half listening. I was thinking about what I wanted for the future and trying to imagine that future without Rose. The fact was, I couldn't.
*****
OUR STORY, PART 2 - ROSE
I remember the feeling of terror deep within me when I confessed to Sean about my medical condition. I remember with fear the expression on his face as I revealed that sex, and children (for me), were off the table. His eyes got far away, like he had stopped listening to me. I pressed forward, as I feared I'd throw up from anxiety if I stopped talking, and then I'd never finish.
I finished saying my peace and then sat, eyes downcast, waiting for a reaction.
Sean took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry," he said, and my stomach did a somersault. "I'm sorry that you've had to go through life with this condition. I'm sorry that you were afraid to tell me. I don't know what the future holds for me, Rose, but I know you're in it."
I looked up into his eyes, at this moment the kindest eyes I'd ever seen. "I love you, Rose," he said, "Whatever we have to do to make this work, we will do."
I had found a keeper, for sure.
*****
We got married shortly after finishing school. I studied nursing and Sean, to my father's delight and to my and my sister's endless amusement, ended up getting bitten by the automotive bug and became a mechanic. Turns out all those hours watching car shows sparked something long dormant. He got a good apprenticeship right out of trade school, and by the time I was done with my nursing program he had fast-tracked his apprenticeship into a great job.
We dated exclusively. There was never any question among our friends who was going to get married first. Everyone saw us as the perfect couple. And in 99% of ways we were. We laughed at the same jokes. We liked the same kinds of movies. Most importantly, we had similar life goals. We wanted to stay in our home town, buy a home, and raise a family. We just hadn't figured out quite yet what that would look like.
Sexually, we tried absolutely everything we could try. I told him nothing was off the table apart from vaginal intercourse. We tried anal a couple of times, but it didn't really do anything for me, and my disinterest turned him off. We did sexy role-play, we watched porn together. Mutual masturbation worked well, and we loved to sixty-nine. Those were our go-to ways to finish together.
But still I felt guilty. Guilty that Sean had never had intercourse, and never would. Guilty that Sean would not have biological children of my own, something I had long ago made peace with for myself.
So when I approached him with the idea of finding a surrogate, he was thrilled.
"Are you sure?" Sean asked me, concerned, "Are you certain you'd want to raise a child that's not biologically your own?"
"I've had a lifetime to prepare for this possibility, Sean," I reassured, "I want to raise a child with me, regardless of its DNA."
Finding somebody willing to be a traditional surrogate was extremely difficult. A gestational surrogacy, where embryos are implanted, was extremely expensive, but traditional (where the surrogate mother's own eggs are used) was just as challenging. The few women we talked to about it were concerned that the genetic bond would be too painful to give up after birth.
I finally vented to my sister about it, when she asked me about how the process was going. I confessed it wasn't going well. Grace, ever generous, immediately volunteered.