5: FIVE

When the morning came, she woke up to her alarm and Brad barging into her room. "Sweetie, I hope you don't mind me saying, but no matter how much sleep you get, ain't nothing gonna fix that face."

She sat up, throwing a pillow in the direction of the voice. "You're an asshole." She reached over, turning off her phone alarm.

"What do you want for breakfast? Cereal, pancakes?"

She sat up, hugging her legs to her chest. "French toast with the edges cut off." She smiled to herself as Brad simply laid out her outfit and walked downstairs, calling Tala with him. She missed him, she realized. Why? She didn't know, but she grabbed her phone and asked Siri to call Grey. As the phone started ringing she brought it to her ear. When she got voicemail, she internally sighed.

"H-hi. Sorry for bothering you...I-I just wanted to say I hope you have a good day." She's such an idiot. She hung up, and fell back onto bed, groaning into her hands. After a few minutes, she got up, got dressed, brushed her teeth, and then realized that her period, in fact, did not come.

When she walked into her kitchen, she could hear Brad talk to someone. "Marisol."

She smiled, happily. "Grey."

Brad squinted his eyes. "Why did you say his name like that?"

"Like what?"

"You know like what," he said, setting French toast on a plate. Marisol ignored him, going to Grey.

"I didn't get it. Not yet."

"We can reschedule the appointment then. When you do get it, call me immediately and we'll head over. I'm here because I wanted to take you to the appointment but that clearly cannot happen, so I can drive you to work instead."

Smiling, she nodded. "I'd like that."

"You sound like a schoolgirl," Brad laughed.

She groaned, reaching to wack Brad, but missed. Instead, she took her plate and started eating. "Are you hungry?"

"I had breakfast," he said. She nodded, finishing her breakfast. Once she was finished, she grabbed her purse and walked to Grey's car as usual. He sat in the back with her, but she could feel someone else was near as well.

"I never introduced you– this is Nolan. He's a business partner."

Marisol smiled, holding out her hand. The man took it with a strong grip. "It's a pleasure."

"Likewise. I was with you for a few meetings with Grey."

"I could sense you, but you hardly spoke. I thought you were mute," she joked.

"No, Grey just made sure I knew he wanted time with you."

She could hear someone groan as if someone hit someone else. She shrugged it off because of what he had said. "Time with me?"

Grey nodded, although she couldn't see. "Yes."

As soon as the car came to a stop, she barely had time to respond. Emilia opened the door and grabbed her boss's arm, helping her out. "Marisol, shit just went down."

"What?" She asked, clearly caught off guard. She straightened out her pencil skirt as Emilia ranted on.

"The O'dare contract fell through and Adams is pissed. He wants you and Cooper to redo the entire thing."

Marisol groaned, frustrated. Adams was her boss who always rode her harder than anyone else at the firm. "Alright, alright." She turned back to the car, waving where she could. "Bye, Grey. I appreciate you giving me a ride."

Emilia immediately pulled Marisol away and into their office building. She barely had time to put her things on her desk when Cooper came in with a stack of files, slamming them on the desk.

"Adams is pissed."

"I heard," she said sighing. "Let's rewrite the contract and send it to O'dare. What exactly did he not like?"

"He disagreed with the clause about sanctioned items."

Marisol nodded, sitting down. She wished she could have spent more time with Grey, but she had work to do. So she worked through the afternoon and evening. By the time they had rewritten the contract, it was well passed 9. Emilia had gone home a while ago, and Cooper left a few minutes ago, leaving Marisol by herself. It was alright with her; she didn't want to seem like she needed to be cared for. Besides, she had gone home by herself numerous times. Her phone rang, and she knew immediately her Uber was here to take her home. She turned off her office light and grabbed her purse, making her way out of the office.

"Marisol, are you leaving?"

She turned towards the voice, knowing immediately it was her boss. She nodded, clutching her purse.

"Have you finished the rewrite?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. If you ever want to become partner, you must work harder."

"Sir, I've been here since 8 this morning. Everyone else has already left..."

"You either have to work harder to get what you want or give me something to give you what you want."

It was no secret that Marisol received certain attention others in her firm did not. She was the only female on the board which made it difficult at times. She knew deep down that her boss wanted her in an inappropriate way, but she would never tell anyone or complain about him. He could destroy her career, and it wasn't worth it. She could deal with it. Being honest, she tried to convince herself he was just being polite and didn't know boundaries. "Yes, sir," is how she responded. She found the door as quickly as she could and walked out to the Uber.

❥

The morning came quickly, and as usual, Marisol went to work. Today was a bit different as she had to go to court for a defense. As she listened to the prosecutor, her eyes widened. She just knew instantly that her period had come. She cursed internally. She couldn't leave now. She wouldn't be able to be dismissed for hours still. She suffered through it as best as she could, delivering her defense. Tala whined at her feet, sensing her discomfort. She lightly pat her sweet dog on the head. When the court dismissed for the day, she wobbled to the bathroom.

She washed her hands and dried them before grabbing her phone. She called Grey.

He answered almost immediately. "Marisol? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just got my period..."

"Where are you? I'll come pick you up. I can call the doctor and we can go over."

"I'm at the courthouse. I am fine, please don't rush."

He hung up. She was almost certain he was losing his mind trying to get here. A part of her found it endearing. She walked out of the bathroom with Tala by her side. Her guide dog led her outside where she sat on the courthouse swing. She didn't mind. It was a little cold out, but she enjoyed hearing the cars and the sound of the wind through the trees.

Her skin bristled as she heard his voice. "Marisol."

"Grey," she smiled. Tala howled and Marisol gently pet her head.

Grey gave the dog a look. He gently took her arm around his. She smiled as she was led to the car. She got in with Tala before Grey. Tala made sure to rest her big head on Marisol's lap. As the drive became longer, she held back a groan from cramps.

"Are you okay?"

She turned toward Grey, nodding. "I just have cramps."

"Do you need anything?"

"No, I am okay."

She couldn't see, but Grey gave her a look before telling his driver something she couldn't decipher. Minutes passed before the car came to a stop. She started to take off her seat belt but Grey put his hand on hers.

"Wait here."

"What? Are we not at the doctor's?"

Before she could move, he kissed the top of her head, stepping out of the car. Both stopped to think about what just happened. Grey shook it off and went inside the building while Marisol smiled to herself. She liked it. She liked being cared for.

When he came back, she could hear the sound of plastic ruffling. He told the driver to continue and undid the cap to a water bottle. Grabbing her hand, he put two Ibuprofen in her palm.

"What is this?"

"Medicine. For your cramps. Here's water to take them."

She smiled, taking the pills. She could hear something else open.

"Do you like chocolate?"

She nodded, enthusiastically.

"Open your mouth."

She listened and could feel the sweet taste of the rich chocolate on her tongue. She smiled, thankful that he went through all this trouble just to make her feel better. He wanted to take her into his arms, but Tala sat right in between them. He rolled his eyes at the wolf and he could have sworn Tala snickered.

As the car came to a stop again, Grey helped Marisol out with Tala. They walked into the office and were immediately escorted into the exam room. She went and sat on the bed, waiting for Dr. Meredith to come in.

"How was work? I heard your assistant say something about a contract."

"Yeah, I had to stay late yesterday and my boss is riding my ass relentlessly. He's a little..."

"A little what?"

"Um," before she could answer the doctor came in.

"Hello, you two. How is everything going?"

"Well," Grey responded. Marisol was almost certain that he was still somewhat distracted.

"I'm okay."

Meredith smiled, grabbing latex gloves on. "Your cycle began today, yes?"

"Yes, it did."

"How are your cramps?"

"They're a little bad," she admitted.

"I'm sorry. The good news is you won't have to deal with periods for the next nine months."

"Yeah, just birth," Marisol joked.

"Yes," Meredith chuckled. "I've developed a medication that must be injected into you every day for the next two weeks. You can choose to come here every day to get it administered or I can teach Grey and he can do it for you."

"I'll give it to her."

Marisol blushed, immediately thinking dirty thoughts. Meredith smiled, nodding. She went to a nearby fridge to take out the injection. She asked Marisol to stand up. "Turn around and put one leg up. We have to inject it into your butt cheek."

Marisol unzipped her pencil skirt and pushed it down her thighs so Meredith could properly clean the area. She inhaled deeply, realizing she should have chosen prettier panties than her plain pink ones. Faintly, Marisol heard Meredith explain the procedure, but she was distracted by the sheer embarrassment. Meredith gave her a warning before injecting it.

She whined somewhat as Meredith rubbed the area and put a small bandaid on. "I gave you a luteinizing hormone, LH for short. It's a natural supplement to encourage your body to produce more eggs. That way when we fertilize, there's a higher chance of conception. Try to get the injection every day around the same time. On the 14th day, so 13th after today, you'll inject the trigger injection which gets the eggs ready for retrieval. We will schedule your next appointment the day after the last injection. At that appointment, we will retrieve your eggs and take them to the lab for fertilization. Just to let you know, Mr. Weston, on that same day you'll be asked to produce sperm, so be prepared."

"Be prepared?" Marisol asked. She could kick herself once she realized.

"Yes," Meredith chuckled. "If you find it difficult to ejaculate more than once a day, I suggest not masturbating or having sex the day before. This just ensures the best sperm can be collected. All of this that day will take no longer than 30 minutes and you'll be able to walk out the same day. Marisol will be asleep for the retrieval so she won't feel a thing during."

"When do I..."

"Once we have both the egg and sperm, we'll take them to a lab where we will create the perfect circumstance for an embryo to develop. After five days, we'll call you to let you know if the embryo can be successfully implanted. I should warn you that, in some cases, the embryo isn't viable. But considering both of you are young, healthy, and have taken the necessary measures, the transfer should be successful."

❥

Marisol and Grey were quiet as they drove back to her house.

"Your boss," Grey started.

"What?"

"You said your boss is a little....what? You never finished your sentence."

"Overwhelming," she said, not wanting to tell the complete truth. She didn't want to bother him. He could tell that she wasn't saying the complete truth, but he didn't want to push her more than he was already doing so.

"If you ever need anything, tell me."

She smiled, nodding, though she would never use that privilege. When they got to her house, he walked her inside and said his goodbyes.