Free Expecting: A Novel by Ann Lewis Hamilton

Adelaide. According to Megan, the girl playing Miss Adelaide, Jyll, got the part because she told the director her father had cancer and his dying wish was to see his daughter in a UCLA musical, and even though Jyll is tone-deaf and dance-challenged, she got the part anyway. And Megan has heard some of the Hot Box girls talking about how the stuff with her father having cancer is bullshit.
    So Megan is busy with her play and whenever Jack talks to her, all she wants to do is complain about Jyll, and Jack has never liked musicals anyway and seeing this one sounds especially awful. Medea wasn’t bad though; he was surprised he liked it. But musicals give him the creeps. People suddenly bursting into song for no reason. Who does that? Life isn’t Glee .
    ***
    Why won’t Normandie have sex with him? Because she wants to be sure, she says. Is she seeing anybody else? No, of course not. Would she care if she knew about Megan? Maybe. Would she care if she knew about the money he’s borrowed from the party fund? Would she loan him money? He’s not willing to go that far. Potential sex outweighs a loan. At least for now.
    ***
    After dinner, Carter comes in with a keg he’s liberated from another fraternity and even though the beer tastes flat, “What’s that expression about a gift horse?” Carter says, so they finish the keg, and when Jack goes back to his room, he’s a little light-headed, but checks his email messages and sees an email from Westside Cryobank asking if he could come in for an interview next week. Ka- ching , he thinks. He might be a failure at graduating from college on time or picking a major. Dating two girls at the same time could be considered some kind of failure too. And being forced to borrow money from your fraternity—wait, he refuses to go to the dark-cloud-hovering-over-his-head place. Golden, that’s what his life is now, isn’t it?
    Yeah, look on the bright side—somebody wants his sperm. Woo-hoo, he’s finally good at something.

Laurie
    Dr. Julian wasn’t surprised when none of the tests revealed anything. “With a high percentage of miscarriages and infertility issues, we never find the exact problem,” he tells Laurie and Alan.
    Not especially reassuring. Laurie was hoping he’d say something like drinking iced green tea three times a day would do the trick.
    Alan has some motility issues. “Slow swimmers,” says Dr. Julian. Probably not directly related to the miscarriages, but Dr. Julian will monitor the next pregnancy closely, starting with the conception process. “To make sure you have the best chance of getting pregnant and staying pregnant, with no worries.”
    No worries. Laurie wants to laugh. What would that be like? she wonders.
    “It’s not as if we’re moving into the heavy-duty stuff,” Dr. Julian says. “No in vitro. At least not yet.” Is he making a joke? Dr. Julian doesn’t seem to have a great sense of humor. And he’s too old for his jazz patch. You’re only allowed to wear a jazz patch if you’re under twenty-five or play an instrument. Dr. Julian gives them a booklet about “the next step.” It’s called “Everything You Want to Know About IUI.” Laurie isn’t sure she wants to know anything about IUI (intrauterine insemination), especially after Alan starts making jokes about it.
    “Insemination Under the Influence, ha-ha,” Alan says. They’re driving home from the doctor’s office and Alan is chipper. He’s been very chipper lately, and she wonders if he is covering up his anxiety about another potential pregnancy.
    “Insanity Under the Influence.” Alan grins at Laurie. She manages a small grin back.
    “Do you want to have lunch?” Laurie asks him. “Grace found a Greek place near our office. They have great chicken souvlaki and grape leaves. We could go over everything Dr. Julian talked about.”
    “I’d love to. But I should get back to Palmer-Boone. Everything goes to hell when I’m not there. Rain check?”
    She looks at