Chapter 40

A few days have passed and Karen was getting anxious. She hadn't heard from Dr. Johnson and was beginning to think it was going to be bad news. She still wanted a baby with Sidney and if they had to adopt they still would. The new season was nearing quickly and the home opener was now two weeks away. It was also two days passed from when she should have heard from Dr. Johnson. Karen was about to sit Sidney down and tell him what was going on when her cell phone rang.

"Hello."

"Hi Karen, this is Dr. Johnson. How are you?"

"Going a little crazy waiting to hear from you."

"I know and I'm sorry. I had a couple emergencies that popped up. I do have your test results."

Karen sat down and took a deep breath "and?"

"It's just what I expected, your ovaries are healthy and have produced a few eggs. We can help you produce a few more and I don't see a problem of taking your eggs and fertilizing them for surrogacy."

"Really?" she asked excited as the tears in her eye trickled down her cheek.

"How about we make an appointment for next week?"

Karen got up and looked at the team's schedule for practice "when did you have in mind?"

"I have two openings, one on Monday at 2p or Thursday at 11a."

Karen saw where Sidney had practice Monday but was off with nothing on Thursday. Even though she could wait until then, she wanted to get it talked about as early as possible so they could start finding someone to carry their baby. "I'll take the Monday one."

"Good. I will see you and your husband on Monday afternoon and then we can go over all the options for you both."

"Alright, thank you" they hung up and Karen finished letting the tears fall "now the only thing is to tell Sid" she told herself sitting back and wondering how to bring it up to him.

An hour later, Sidney came home from practice and saw Karen sitting on the couch lost in thought.

"Hey baby, what's going on?"

"We need to talk Sid."

Getting a little scared "what's wrong?" he said sitting beside her "did I do something wrong?"

Karen's face softened "sorry, it's nothing like that. Um, I had something done a few days ago and waited to hear the test results before I talked to you."

"You had something done and are telling me now?" Sidney said somewhat angry.

"Please don't get mad. It wasn't major surgery or anything like that."

"That makes it a little better but you should have still told me after it happened. What did you have done?"

"Before I get into that, let me start from the beginning. When I went in for my annual physical, Dr. Newman and I talked about a few things. I had mentioned that we were thinking about adoption and she told me there could be a way we might be able to have our own baby."

"How is that possible? Doesn't a hysterectomy take away your uterus?"

"It does, but I still have my ovaries. To make a long explanation shorter, my ovaries are still producing eggs because the hysterectomy didn't put me into early menopause. She sent me to a fertility specialist that same day and she ran some tests on my ovaries and eggs. They are still healthy and she might be able to take my eggs, fertilize them with your sperm and implant them into someone else's uterus to carry our baby to term."

"So wait, we would just need a, what do you call it, a surrogate mother?"

Karen nodded her head "yes. Someone who is healthy and we absolutely trust to carry our baby." Karen saw the thoughts processing in his head "well?"

Sidney sat there before a smile formed on his face "I think that would be the ideal way to have a baby, our baby."

"Dr. Johnson, the fertility specialist, would like to talk to us on Monday at 2p. You'll be home from practice before then right?"

"If not, I will talk to Coach Dan and I'm sure he'll understand to let me go early. We can have our own baby, I can't believe this is a possibility."

"I know, me either. Could we maybe keep this to ourselves until we know for sure?"

"I wouldn't want it any other way baby" he said bringing her in for a kiss.

"The only real question would be, who could we get if this all works out?"

"I don't know Sid, I really don't know."

Before long, it was Monday and Karen felt anxious all morning. She and Sidney decided to meet at the arena and head to the hospital for their appointment from there. Karen had taken the day off and tried to clean the house and do some other things before going in to meet with Sidney. At noon, she got something light to eat and then piddled around until about 1:30, leaving to go to the arena.

When she got to the arena, there were only a few cars left and Karen parked her car besides Sidney's going inside to find him. As she walked in, she saw him standing there talking to Max, who smiled when he saw Karen.

"Hot woman alert" he said pointing behind Sidney.

Sidney whipped around and smiled but then turned and hit Max on the arm "hey baby" he said giving Karen a kiss.

"Ok, what was that about?"

"I guess your hubby is still affected by being alerted to hot women that are pointed out to him."

"Is that right?"

"I knew he was talking about you before I turned around baby" Sidney said putting his arm around her as Max just walked away laughing.

"So Maxwell points out a hot woman and you just happen to whip around to see her huh?"

"Don't do this Karen. I love you alright" he said in almost a whining tone to not make her mad at him.

Karen started laughing "calm down stud. That just makes it better knowing if you do it, I can still do it." She leaned up and kissed him "and I love you too. Are you ready to go?"

"Definitely baby." They headed out and both got into Sidney's car. There were a few people out and Sidney stopped the car to sign a couple autographs before pulling out of the lot.

"I can't believe the first season at CONSOL is finally underway."

"I know, me either."

"You sound too calm there studly."

"I have other things preoccupying my mind right now."

"Are you ok with all this?" she ask cautiously.

"Karen, we have a chance to make our own baby. One that is part you and part me, not from someone we don't have any clue who their parents’ were."

"What if we spend time and a lot of money on this and it doesn't happen?"

"What do you mean?"

"If they get some healthy eggs and can fertilize it, there's no guarantee that whoever we get to carry it, it will conform to their uterus and become a baby. We have to know there is a 50/50 shot here."

"Ok, it's your turn to calm down. We can't think ahead of ourselves and wonder all the negative possibilities about this."

"I know, sorry." Sidney pulled into the parking lot of the hospital, turning the car off and grabbing Karen's hand "let's just go talk about it, hear what the doctor has to say and then go from there." Karen just nodded and kissed him before they got out of the car and headed inside.

They walked into the office and Karen signed in as Sidney went to sit down. The nurse came out a minute later to get them and showed them to the office to have a seat waiting for the doctor.

"Hi Karen" Dr. Johnson said coming into her office.

"Hi. Dr. Johnson I would like you to meet my husband Sidney."

"Sidney Crosby, wow, it’s nice to get to meet you" she said shaking his hand.

"A Pen's fan I assume?" he asked smiling.

"A huge one at that. My husband won't believe I met you. So, are we ready to discuss this?"

"I think we are" Sidney spoke up.

"I know Karen explained some things, but I'm still confused how this can happen."

"If a woman is not in menopause or anywhere close to it, age wise, her ovaries are still able to produce eggs. Since Karen had a hysterectomy, they only took out her uterus. From her check up with her own doctor, there was never any damage to the ovaries when she miscarried all those years ago. You with me so far?"

"Yes, go on."

"I ran a few tests on Karen last week and saw where she is still producing a few eggs but I want to put her on a fertility drug to help her produce a little more. After a time period, I will test her again and if there are plenty of eggs, I will extract them from her ovaries and we'll freeze them until we are ready to fertilize them with your sperm. This will also give you time to find someone to be your surrogate."

"Ok, I have a question. If you get a good amount of eggs, how many will you use for one time?"

"It depends on how many we get, but we do have both ovaries to pull from. We implant about 5 to give a chance that one will attach to the home uterus."

"So even then, it might not work" Karen ask worried and held onto her tears.

"Karen, I know this seems bleak and maybe hopeless to hear but there have been many cases out there of successful tries."

"We will do it as many times as we need to, to make it successful" Sidney said getting a look from Karen.

"Karen?" Dr. Johnson looked to her for her answer.

She looked to Sidney who nodded and squeezed her hand "yeah, I'm up to try this."

"Great" Dr. Johnson said with a smile "but I first need to test Sidney's sperm just to make sure there's no problems." She saw the look on his face "it's painless Sid and strictly routine. I know you're young and healthy and very fit so there shouldn't be a problem. Then after that, we can get you going on the fertility drug Karen so you can start producing more eggs, ok?"

"Ok."

"I'll let you two have a moment while I see if we have a room open for Sidney." Dr. Johnson excused herself leaving them alone.

"I didn't think I would be involved today."

"It's so they can tell you're fine."

"I know, but I figured it wouldn't have to be done until they were ready to implant it."

"You'll go in and either watch a video or look through a magazine and be done with it."

"Maybe she'll let you help me?" Sidney said kissing her.

"Why don't you try the other way first...just think of me."

Dr. Johnson came back in "alright Sidney" handing him a cup "if you could go into room 4 and fill to the line, we can go from there."

Sidney took the cup and gave Karen a look before going out of the office and finding room 4, walking in and locking the door behind him. The doctor talked to Karen about the pill she wanted her to take and the side effects that could come with it. She told her that they needed to abstain from sex and if possible, Sidney to refrain from masturbating until the procedure. Karen just laughed and said them abstaining is one thing, but keeping an eye on Sidney would be another. As they talked, a nurse came in and told the doctor that Sidney was asking to see Karen.

"I think he's having a little trouble. Would I be able to...”

"Yes, he's not the only one to go through this so you can help him."

Karen got to the room and lightly knocked waiting for Sidney to answer. He opened the door and pulled Karen into the room. "What's the matter?"

"I can't do this. Not that I don't want to, but it's not happening."

"Maybe I can help."

"She's going to let you?"

"I think they take it as a way to help the process along" Karen said stepping up to him and kissing him. She let her hand go down and rub over the crotch of his jeans. She moved up to unbutton and unzip his jeans, moving her hand inside "is this better?" she whispered.

"Oh god yes" Sidney said moving his hands over her body.

"Easy there stud, I can't help you that way."

Sidney removed her hand and pulled his jeans and underwear down before jumping up onto the table. Karen got in between his legs and kissed him as her hand found his cock again. She began to massage over him for a little bit until they broke the kiss and he lightly pushed on her shoulder to make her go down. Karen knew what he wanted and obliged. She leaned down and took him into her mouth, moving her head up and down on his cock. Sidney wrapped his fingers into her hair and grabbed ahold, helping her movements. After a few more minutes, Karen felt Sidney get thicker in her mouth and knew he was almost there. She removed her mouth and replaced it with her hand, moving it quickly over him. She saw a little bit of liquid start to emerge and found the cup. Sidney pushed her hand away and took over as he came hard, filling up the cup. Karen saw his breathing slow down and she took the cup from him, putting it aside as he pulled her in for a kiss.

"Thank you baby."

"Anything for you stud. I'm going to go take this to Dr. Johnson so you can calm down and get dressed."

"Ok" he said kissing her again before letting her leave him.

Karen took the cup and handed it off, as Dr. Johnson went and took it to run her tests. She told Karen to wait in the office and she would be back in a few minutes. Sidney came in to join her a few minutes later.

"I hope that satisfied you for a while."

"Why?" Sidney said in a 'not sure he wanted to know' tone.

"We have to abstain from sex until I finish the fertility pills she's giving me."

"Well, not like we can't do what we just did a few minutes ago."

"Um, yeah, we can't do that either."

"Damn baby, I thought this was going to be a visit full of good news."

Just then Dr. Johnson came back in "well Sidney, everything looks great on your side, so we just need to increase Karen's egg production and then go from there. Do either of you have any other questions?"

"I have one more."

"Go ahead."

"Instead of taking only a few eggs to fertilize for this first time, is it possible to take them all, freeze them so if this time is a success then we already have the eggs for future pregnancies?"

"If that is the way you want to go, yes we can freeze all of them, take only what we want and house the rest until you guys want to try for another baby."

"So, we can have our own child not only this time but in a year or two or later?" Sidney asked surprised.

"Yes, that's correct. Freezing eggs is a lot more common nowadays for couples who want kids later and not now. This increases the chances of pregnancy if couples have trouble on their own."

"Oh wow" Karen said shocked that they could have their family when they wanted it.

"If there's nothing else" she asked and both Karen and Sidney shook their heads "then here is the prescription for what I want you to take and when you are three pills away, call me Karen and I will make an appointment for you to have you retested and see from there."

"Thank you so much Dr. Johnson."

"Yes, really thank you" Sidney reiterated the sentiment.

"It was my pleasure and we will see each other again real soon. Sidney, it was great to meet you and hope the team has an amazing season this year."

"Thanks, we appreciate the support." They all shook hands and headed out. When they got to the elevator, Karen just stood there in disbelief.

"You ok baby?"

"Yeah, it's just seems so surreal that this could happen for us."

"Well, before we get too far ahead of ourselves we need to think about who to find to carry our baby."

"Yeah, I know. Who can we ask that we can trust?"

"We'll talk about it later baby." They got out of the elevator and went to the pharmacy that was in the hospital to get the pills Karen needed. After they were done, they headed to the parking lot and walked to the car. The ride back to the arena was quiet and Sidney didn't want to press anything until she thought everything through. He pulled up beside Karen's car and she leaned over and kissed him before getting out and into her car. Sidney let her go first and followed her home. When they got home, things were quiet as Karen went to start dinner.

"Baby, did you forget we made plans to have dinner with Max and Natalie? We made them a couple weeks ago."

"Yeah I guess I did."

"We could cancel."

"No, it’s alright we can go. Maybe getting a friend's advice on all this might be good."

"I thought you didn't want to tell anyone."

"I think Nat and Max could keep our secret. I know you will be there for me with everything that happens whether good or bad, but I need an impartial friend's ear as well."

"I understand baby, I might need Max to talk to as well. Might be good to have two to lean on."

"Yeah. I'm going to go get ready so we can head over."

"I need to grab a shower anyway...I feel so used and dirty" he said making her laugh. They both headed upstairs and got ready so they could head over to Max's apartment for dinner.

After getting to Max's, Karen and Natalie were in the kitchen finishing dinner as Max and Sidney were talking about the home opener and hockey in general.

"Well, we lost them Nat" Karen said as she watched the hand movements of both guys and knew what they were talking about.

"I don't think we've ever not lost them to the game. Max and I could be have the most romantic time and he finds some way to incorporate something hockey related into it."

"So, I have to ask this...did you and Max, um, incorporate the Cup into a sexual act when he had his day with it."

"Doesn't everyone?" Natalie just looked at Karen who was staring at her with a sly smirk on her face "oh alright. Max first took some, let's just say, explicit pictures of both of us with the Cup and after that, the moment just felt right." She looked at her friend when she heard her laughing "what?"

"It’s just funny how it never changes with them."

"Because that's what you and Rick did with it."

"Yeah but the only difference was he took the pictures, this time around I surprised Sid with them." They both smiled and finished dinner so the four of them could eat.

"So Sid, I have to ask. First a wedding, then winning the Cup, moving into a new house, a Gold Medal...what's next buddy?"

Sidney looked at Karen before answering "a baby."

Max and Natalie both stop eating mid chew and looked at their friends "are you serious Sid?"

"I am. We've both thought about it and we both want kids."

"Then why not later Karen? You just got married, isn't this rushing it a little?" Natalie asked her friend.

"Maybe, but I've always wanted kids Nat, you've known this."

"Karen, but with what happened in LA..."

"I won't be able to carry the baby, but through IVF they can take my eggs and fertilize them with Sid's sperm and implant them into a surrogate."

"And where do you plan to find one?" Max asked concerned "You'd have to find someone that hasn't heard of you" he said pointing at Sidney.

"Well that rules out Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas" Natalie said.

"And any city that has an NHL team" Max added.

"And that pretty much rules out all of Canada" Karen said getting a look from Sid.

"Are you three done?" he said getting a laugh out of all of them.

"Really Sid, I don't think we'll be able to find someone to trust that either doesn't know you or could keep it a secret" Karen said.

Sidney saw the concern in her eyes "I know baby, but there's got to be someone out there. We'll be picky enough and have a damn good contract."

"I think you should guys should slow it down and really make a good choice" Natalie offered.

"Natalie's right Sid, take some time and really think about who you want. The wrong choice could be damaging to not only your private life, but your hockey career."

"Look Max, I know you and Nat mean well but Karen and I know what we're getting into" he said grabbing her hand and squeezing it.

"Alright Sid, but just know I have your back and the first negative thing I hear, I will be kicking some ass."

"Thanks Max, I know I can always count on you" Sidney said as they all laughed then finished dinner. After dinner, they sat around talking and decided on a movie. When the movie was over a couple hours later, Sidney and Karen told their friends goodnight and headed home.

Getting home, Karen went into the kitchen and Sidney followed her. He saw her pick up her prescription and stopped her.

"What's wrong?"

"Could we maybe wait and you start those tomorrow?"

"What's going on?"

"I don't know. I guess just from today and everything, maybe it won't hurt having one last night together."

Karen just stood there "well it's not like we're really wasting anything. I mean you are young and healthy."

"That's my girl" he said pulling her to him and kissing her.