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Through the Looking Glass -Chapter 3
| Title: Through the Looking Glass Chapter: 3 Rating: PG-13 Summary: Luke and Noah begin their search for a surrogate mother. Characters: Luke Snyder and Noah Mayer Genre: Drama Warnings: Disclaimer: This site is no way associated with "As the World Turns", CBS, P&G, or Van Hansis and Jake Silbermann. This is not for profit. No copyright infringement is intended. Authors submit and write their own work. The surrogate mother search definitely wasn’t going to the way Luke had planed. They had put in applications with a few different agencies that matched potential parents with surrogates. Luke and Noah had very specific criteria. First and foremost for Luke was finding someone with dark hair and blue eyes. He had hoped to find a female version of Noah but it wasn’t going so well. Luke hadn’t bargained on their first candidate being a little too flakey. She also gave off this weird, creepy vibe that Luke couldn’t quite shake…like she would change her mind and decide to keep the baby. Noah had also picked up on it, deciding that she was a definite “no”. And then the next three candidates turning them down because they were gay had been hard for Luke to swallow. Thankfully Noah had been able to talk Luke down off the ledge after each rejection. After that, Luke had found a service that was gay friendly. But so far they hadn’t heard anything from it. Luke knew that they weren’t the only gay couple out there that wanted to have a baby so they were probably up against some stiff competition. Determined to cover every base, Luke preformed another Google search just to be sure they hadn’t missed a Web site that could help them out with their search. “How’s it going?” Noah asked, coming up behind him. He rested his hands on Luke’s shoulders, slowly beginning to massage the tension out of them. “Not good,” Luke sighed, allowing his head to fall back and rest against Noah’s stomach. Life would be so much easier if Noah had a twin sister willing to have a baby for them. “Don’t worry. We’ll find the right woman. It’s only been a couple of months.” Luke rolled his eyes, unconvinced. A couple of months could easily lead to a couple of years. How could Noah be so nonchalant about this? Maybe he didn’t really… Noah spun the chair around so that Luke was facing him. “You don’t think that I want this as much as you do,” he said, placing his hands on Luke’s thighs. “Do you?” “I didn’t say that.” “But you’re thinking it.” Hiding his thoughts from Noah was almost impossible at this point. He didn’t know why he still bothered trying. “Do you?” Luke asked, needing to know that he wasn’t alone in this battle. “You have got to relax,” Noah said gently. “I do want to find the right woman to have our baby. But we can’t rush it. This is a huge decision.” Noah was right. Luke didn’t want just anyone to have their baby. She needed to be special. She needed to believe that they were doing the right thing…that a baby could grow up just as healthy and happy with two daddies as it could with a mommy and daddy. They also needed to be confident that she could give up the baby too and not change her mind at the last minute. “I know, but it feels like it’s never going to happen,” Luke sighed. “It’s only been a couple of weeks since our last interview.” “You mean our last rejection,” Luke corrected him. He’d never forget the hatred in the last applicant’s voice when she heard Noah’s voice over the phone and realized that there wasn’t a Mrs. Snyder. “Hey…stop it,” Noah said, rubbing Luke’s thighs. “I will not let you get down about this. You need to get your mind off of the great surrogate search for awhile. Let’s go to dinner at the Lakeview.” “I don’t know…” Although Noah had a good point, Luke still felt compelled to man the e-mail. “My treat,” Noah added, blinking his sapphire eyes at him. God…it was almost criminal how Noah could be so utterly adorable. A smile crept to Luke’s lips. “How can I say no to that offer?” Noah grinned slyly. “You can’t?” “No, I can’t. But I want to check my e-mail real quick before we go.” Noah rose to his feet. “Okay, but, Snyder, you’ve become obsessed with your e-mail.” Luke spun his chair around so he was facing his computer screen. “It will just take a second.” He was already clicking on his Yahoo! e-mail account. Quickly he scanned the subjects, eyes traveling past Google alerts, Spam, an e-mail from Faith…then he saw it…YOUR SURROGATE MOTHER INQUIRY. His heart nearly stopped. “Oh, Noah.” “What is it?” Noah asked, peering over his shoulder. He pointed to the unopened e-mail. “We might have another candidate.” “What are you waiting for? Open it.” “What if it’s another dead end?” Luke didn’t know if he could handle another disappointment. Noah placed his hand on top of Luke’s, which was resting on the mouse, and forced him to click on the e-mail to open it. Luke took a deep breath and read the message aloud, “Dear Mr. Snyder, I think we found a match that will be suitable for your needs. Please find Olivia’s bio attached. If you’d like to set up a phone interview with her please contact me. Sincerely, Phillip Patterson.” Phillip was the man who ran the latest surrogate mother site that they had put in an inquiry. This site also catered to gay couples which made Luke hopeful that this could be the right match. “So far, so good,” Noah said, patting Luke’s shoulder. Luke refused to get his hopes up. “We’ll see.” He clicked on the attachment which revealed the potential candidate’s information. “Let’s see here…her name is Olivia. She’s 30…single…lives in Chicago…” “It looks like there’s another attachment.” Luke clicked on the .jpg file which was a photo of Olivia. She was very attractive…long dark hair, deep blue eyes, and a nice smile. “She’s pretty,” Luke said, fighting to keep the excitement out of his voice. She looked promising. “Yes, she is. We should definitely do a phone interview.” “Okay,” Luke said, taking a deep breath and composing a reply to Phillip saying that they’d like to proceed with the next step. “Please let this work out,” he breathed after hitting SEND. Noah placed a kiss on Luke’s cheek. “I have a good feeling about this one, Snyder.” “Hope so,” Luke murmured, eyes glued to the computer screen. “Come on,” he said, giving the chair a shake. “I still owe you a nice dinner out.” ******** Dinner at the Lakeview had been just the break Luke needed. Noah had done a good job of keeping Luke’s mind off the upcoming phone interview. Instead they had chatted about Noah’s documentary. Noah was focused on having the film finished by the summer so he could submit it for the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. When they returned home, Luke marched directly to their office to see if there was an e-mail from Phillip about setting up their phone interview with Olivia. A grin crept to Luke’s lips when he saw that there was indeed a message. The interview was tentatively scheduled for 7pm tomorrow if they were available. “Noah!” “Yeah?” he called from the other room. “Will you be able to talk to Olivia at 7pm tomorrow?” “Sure!” Luke typed his response and then joined Noah in the kitchen where he was making hot chocolate. “Okay…I told Phillip we’re a go for tomorrow,” he said, slipping his arms around Noah’s waist. “That calls for a celebration then.” Noah turned around and handed Luke a steaming cup of cocoa topped with whipped cream. “Hot chocolate…you really know how to get all wild,” Luke teased. “Hey…I put whipped cream on top.” “I can think of some places to put whipped cream,” Luke playfully countered. Noah smiled mischievously. “I didn’t use it all. There’s still some left.” Although Luke loved the idea of escaping to their bedroom with a can of Reddi Wip, his paying job called. “It’ll have to keep…at least for now. I have a movie I need to watch tonight. My review on it is due tomorrow by 5pm.” The word “movie” made Noah’s ears perk up. “Which movie is it?” “It’s a remake of A Summer Place,” Luke replied, wrinkling his nose. He’d been dreading this one ever since he received the screener in the mail. A few years ago he’d watched A Summer Place during one of their movie nights. Noah had explained that the movie was pretty scandalous at the time due the sexuality in the film (which is pretty tame by today’s standards). Luke had enjoyed the overwrought melodrama of it…old lovers are reunited but each is married to someone else. Ken Jorgenson (Richard Egan) to a wicked social climber and Sylvia Hunter (Dorothy McGuire) to a rich man, who was now broke and a drunk. Their children Molly (Sandra Dee) and Johnny (Troy Donahue) meet and fall in love when the Jorgensons spend their summer at the Hunter’s Inn on Pine Island. Luke had found himself pulling for the old lovers to find a way to escape Johnny’s drunken father and Molly’s tyrannical mother as well as for the young love of Molly and Johnny. Luke had realized he was just a sucker for love. Noah always teased him about his love for the over-the-top romances. And Luke was always quick to remind him that it was all Noah’s fault because he was the one who introduced him to all of those old films. “Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman are playing Johnny’s parents and Ben Affleck and Cameron Diaz are playing Molly’s parents. It looks like a couple of unknowns are playing Johnny and Molly,” Luke explained. “Sounds like a train wreck,” Noah winced. “Why does Hollywood keep insisting on remaking the classics? Aren’t there any good ideas left?” “I guess it’s up to you come up with a brilliant idea.” “You’re the writer. I’m just the director.” “Right now, you’re both,” Luke said, taking a sip of his hot cocoa. He was still reaping the benefits of Noah’s college job at Java. Not only did Noah make amazing coffee, his hot chocolate was quite delicious too. Noah shrugged. “Just until I’m discovered…if I’m discovered.” “You will be,” Luke assured him. Deep in his heart he honesty believed that Noah had the talent to make amazing films. And it wasn’t just because he was insanely in love with him. Throughout college Noah won awards in various film festivals. Noah’s films definitely came from the heart and it showed in the final product. He also had a tremendous eye for detail…meticulous about setting up each shot and then capturing it from a variety of different angles. When Noah was behind a camera he exuded such an air of confidence that he sometimes lacked in other aspects of his life. Although, Luke could see that Noah had come quite a way since that afternoon he arrived late and flustered at WOAK. “First, I need to get my documentary finished and then we’ll see,” Noah diplomatically replied. His tone might have been neutral but the determination that burned in his eyes didn’t go unnoticed by Luke. “Were you going to work on it while I watched the movie?” “I was hoping to watch the movie with you if you didn’t mind.” Luke grabbed the notebook that he used to scribble down notes when he watched a movie. “You’re a glutton for punishment,” he chuckled as he strolled out of the office. “I know how much you despise remakes.” “We haven’t been able to see much of each other in the last couple of days,” Noah said, trailing after him. “I don’t care if it’s the most god awful movie ever.” “You’re really taking the ‘for worse’ section of our wedding vows seriously,” Luke teased, snatching the DVD off the end table and placing it into the player. He settled onto the sofa, putting his notebook and pen on the arm of it. Noah grabbed the remote from the coffee table and pressed PLAY. Then he stretched out on the couch, resting his head in Luke’s lap. “Comfortable?” Luke asked, a smile curling to his lips. He loved it when Noah laid like this. It was better than having a Cocker Spaniel. “Very.” “Try to keep your smart ass remarks about the movie to yourself. I have to at least try to give this movie a shot.” Luke snaked his fingers through Noah’s hair and began to play with the strands. Already the film was more tolerable. Now and then Noah would snort or grunt, subtly showing his displeasure with the movie. Usually it was when Luke had stopped playing with Noah’s hair and jotted down some notes. Luke had to give the Noah credit for pretty much keeping quiet. The movie was long, tedious and just plain awful. Scenes that were shocking in 1959 were almost laughable forty-five years later. If they wanted to surprise the audience with the remake they should have changed Molly’s name to Manny, turning the couple into two guys. Now that would be something. The two unknowns cast in the Troy Donahue and Sandra Dee parts lacked their charm. And Aniston and Affleck had absolutely no chemistry together, which made it hard to want them to leave their respective spouses so they could be together. Although Jason Bateman had pulled off the drunken husband to a tee, it wasn’t nearly enough to save this monstrosity of a movie. Luke tried his hardest to focus on some of the positives in the movie…the cinematography and musical score were both well done but that was about it. Luke was about to give the movie two stars when he heard Noah start to snore. He scratched out his rating, changing it to one and a half stars. Any movie that put Noah to sleep definitely sucked. At least it was over. Tomorrow he’d write up the review and the film would be a distant memory. Most likely it would quickly disappear from the box office too. Another bad movie quickly banished to DVD in just a few months. Not wanting to disturb his sleeping husband, Luke just sat quietly twining his fingers through Noah’s hair. He relished moments like this where they were just together, even if Noah was asleep. They’d come so far over the years…Noah struggling to come out, Luke’s paralysis, Ameera, family issues…even betrayal. There were times when Luke feared he’d never hold Noah again. But they always fought for each other…loved each other. Luke’s thoughts then drifted to their surrogate search. He tried to remain positive, hoping that this Olivia woman would be the one. Silent prayers were said. He wanted to have faith that their search would soon be over. “Is it over?” a groggy Noah asked. “Hun?” Luke asked, still a bit lost in his thoughts. “The movie,” Noah yawned. “Is it over?” “Yeah…it’s been over for a little while.” “You should have woken me,” Noah said, turning so he was looking up at Luke. “I love you too much.” Luke trailed his finger along Noah’s lips. “And I rather like having your head in my lap,” he mischievously added. Noah grasped Luke’s hand, placing a wet, sloppy kiss on it. “You are my favorite pillow.” “Still…your time tonight could have been better spent working on your documentary.” “It’s not going anywhere.” Luke studied Noah’s eyes, searching for an iota of regret. He knew that sometimes Noah got frustrated because he couldn’t devote as much time as he’d like to his documentary because of his full-time job at WOAK. Instead of going to Los Angeles or New York, Noah had agreed to stay in Oakdale with Luke because he knew how important Luke’s family was to him. And Luke was very grateful, making sure that Noah had state of the art equipment so he could work on a movie in his spare time. But sometimes he wondered if Noah ever regretted not heading to California or New York to try to break into the film industry. “You look like you’re trying to read my mind,” Noah chuckled nervously. “Maybe I am,” Luke murmured. “What do you want to know? You can ask me anything.” Luke swallowed. “Okay…I want an honest answer.” “Luke, we’re always brutally honest with each other…even if it’s something you don’t want to hear,” Noah reminded him. Yes, they were. Luke could remember a few times when Noah’s honesty had been something he hadn’t wanted to hear. But it hadn’t stopped Noah from telling Luke like it was or doing the right thing. “Do you regret not going to California or New York?” Luke blurted out. Noah crinkled his brow. “Why would you ask that?” “I know how important making films is to you but you haven’t been able to spend much time on it because you stayed in Oakdale,” Luke said, his fingers finding their way back into Noah’s hair. “I understand what you sacrificed for me so that I could stay close to my family and - ” “Whoa…wait a second here.” Noah sat up so that he was eye level with Luke. “I didn’t sacrifice a thing.” “Noah, Oakdale is hardly the hotbed of the film industry.” “Nowadays you don’t need to be in LA to direct films. There are plenty of directors that live outside of California…Kevin Smith, M. Night Shyamalan, Ron Howard…just to name a few,” Noah explained. “You don't want to spend the rest of your life working on Oakdale Now. And it hasn’t left you much free time to work on your documentary.” “No, it hasn’t,” Noah admitted, running his fingers through his hair. “But I’ve learned so much from it. And I am the director of a TV show…granted, it’s a local show but still…it’s something and I’m proud of the work I’ve done on it.” “Noah, I didn’t mean that Oakdale Now is a shitty job,” Luke quickly explained, wanting to smack himself for making it sound that way. Sometimes the words were out of Luke’s mouth before he realized what he was actually saying. “I know you don’t and I know what you’re saying,” he assured him. “You don’t have to worry. I’m happy with my work.” “Okay.” Luke nodded. “I just wanted to be sure before we started a family. I didn’t want you to have any regrets.” “Luke, you weren’t the only one who didn’t want to leave your family. When I was a little boy I dreamed of having a real family…with a mom and dad, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins…the whole kit and caboodle. But I didn’t have that so I had to get my fill of family craziness from Cheaper By the Dozen…the original, not the remake…Yours, Mine and Ours…the one with Henry Fonda…even Leave it to Beaver and The Brady Bunch reruns. “But when I met you, your family welcomed me and quickly made me feel like I was a part of it. I didn’t want to leave our family either. And I wanted to start our own family here. I want our son or daughter to have the kind of childhood I only saw in the movies or on TV.” Noah took Luke’s hand, giving it a squeeze. “Living my dream with you, Luke Snyder, is hardly a sacrifice.” Luke blinked back the tears. Noah may claim not to have a way with words but more often than not he did a damn fine job with them. “I love you so much, bubby,” he sniffed. Noah placed a tender kiss on Luke’s lips. “I love you too. And you’re going to make a great daddy.” “What if she isn’t the one? What if we can’t find anyone?” “We will…we will,” Noah assured him. ******** Seven o’clock never took so long to arrive. Luke sat at his desk, nervously tapping it with his pen while Noah had his chair pulled up next to him, scanning the list of questions they had for Olivia. This interview had to go well. It just had too. He felt a reassuring arm drape across his shoulders. “Relax, Luke, you look like you’re ready to jump out of your skin.” Luke leaned into Noah. “I feel like it,” he murmured. When the phone finally rang, Luke almost fell out of his chair. “Shit,” he breathed, reaching for it. “Take a deep breath.” Luke did so but he wasn’t sure that it had done any good. He answered the phone. “Hello.” “May I speak to Luke Snyder or Noah Mayer?” “This is Luke Snyder.” “Hi, I’m Olivia.” “Hi, Olivia. Do you mind if I put you on speaker so Noah and I can both talk to you?” Luke asked, reaching for Noah’s hand. Noah slipped his fingers through Luke’s. They were in this together. “No, not at all.” “Hi, Olivia, I’m Noah…Luke’s husband,” he said after Luke pressed the speaker button on the telephone. A wave of warmth flooded through Luke. This always happened when Noah proudly referred to himself as Luke’s husband. “It’s nice to meet both of you,” she said. “I suppose you have a few questions for me.” Luke took a deep breath, hoping to quell his nervousness. “I hope you don’t mind but I’m going to cut right to the chase.” He glanced over at Noah, looking for support. Noah squeezed his hand and Luke continued, “Are you really okay with possibly having a baby for a gay couple?” “Yes, I am. My older brother was gay. I was going to be a surrogate for him and his partner once they were ready to start a family. But he was killed in a car accident before we could ever go through with it,” Olivia explained. “I’m so sorry to hear that,” Noah said. “Me too,” Luke added. He couldn’t fathom possibly losing one of his siblings in the prime of their life…or Noah for that matter. “Thanks. Losing my brother, James, was very difficult. We were very close. I know he’d want me to help out another gay couple if I could.” “Do you really believe that you’ll be able to give up that baby once it’s born?” Noah asked. “I know you said you were going to do this for your brother, but in that case you’d still be able to see the baby…with us that wouldn’t be the case.” “Yes, I would,” she assured them. “Personally I don’t want to have children of my own. I’m a career girl.” “What do you do?” Luke asked. “I’m a freelance photographer so my job constantly has me on the go…no time for raising a family.” Olivia sounded sincere. She could be just the perfect surrogate that they’d been searching for. Luke glanced at Noah, hoping that he was getting the same vibe from her. Noah seemed to pick up on Luke’s unspoken thoughts. “Do you have any questions for us?” Noah asked. How long have you been together?” “We’ve been married for just over two years but we’ve been together for seven,” Luke replied. He left out the odd break or prolonged fights that occurred because they were never apart for long when they happened. And they had taken their marriage vows quite seriously. There wouldn’t be any “breaks” or whatnot when things got tough between them. Over the years they learned how to stick together and work through their issues. “We’re very family oriented,” Noah quickly added. “Luke’s grandmother is our neighbor. His parents also live close by as well as brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles…cousins.” “Sounds nice. Do both of you work?” “Yes,” Luke said, “but I work for the local newspaper so I’ll be able to work from home a lot once the baby is born.” “And I work at the local television station. But if there’s a time we both have to been at work, there are more than enough family members to help out. We have a large support system here,” Noah assured her. “Would you like to come to our home and meet us?” “I think it would help us all get a better feel for each other,” Luke said. “And if we all agree that this is the right thing for us we have documents drawn up that you could take home to go over and have your lawyer check out as well.” “I agree,” Olivia said. “You both sound like nice men but I think meeting is a good idea. I’d like to see where the baby would be raised. It will help me make sure that I’m making the right decision.” “Are you available this weekend?” Luke asked. He probably should have cleared it with Noah first but he was so anxious to meet Olivia. “How about Sunday?” “Sunday is great,” Noah said much to Luke’s delight. They exchanged e-mail address and phone numbers. Luke promised to send her their address so she could do a Mapquest to the farm. Noah had suggested that once she got into the city limits she should call them and they could direct her to their place. After they hung up the phone, Noah gathered Luke in his arms. “I have a really good feeling about this,” he murmured into Luke’s hair. “Me too.” They’d just taken a step closer to becoming parents. And three days from now they might be even closer. |
Grinder1833 |
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, Feb 16 2009, 7:49 PM EST
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| Grinder1833 | FIC - Through the Looking Glass (Chapter 3) | 8 | Jul 9 2009, 10:45 PM EDT by Grinder1833 | ||
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Thread started: Nov 16 2008, 4:46 PM EST
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Here's the latest chapter in my Luke and Noah future fic. Originally this story was going to be 4 chapters long but it's grown a little bit so it looks like it will end up being 6 chapters when all is said and done.
Thanks for everyone's support! :) |
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