Chapter 8

 

Russian Bride

 

 

Courtney waited in Aaron’s examining room disrobed from the waist down with her bra opened in the back. She turned her head to get a view of herself in the mirror, having gone through extra pains to look beautiful. Her hair cascaded to her shoulders in curls with the light from the ceiling accentuating its golden highlights. Her lips were full and dewy, and her green eyes sparkled with the look of an ingénue.

Aaron knocked on the door before entering. Standing tall and dark and wearing all white, he looked heroic. Aaron broke into a radiant smile to see Courtney waiting for him. With his presence, a beam of sunlight came in through the window, and graced the room with luminous embers.

“Well, my little sister-in-law, there you are ready for me, I see,” Aaron commented with a look of waywardness on his brow.

“So tell me, how long have you been trying to conceive?”

“We’ve been trying since we got married in June.”

He took his pad and jotted down, “June of 2007. So it has been around five months now. All right, let me take a look at you.”

Courtney’s body felt sweaty beneath her seat as she eased downward to put her feet in the stirrups. She felt a nervous kind of excitement, clearly inappropriate for the circumstance. Nonetheless, the undertone of familiarity made the examination an unusual phenomenon.

Aaron tried to put her at ease by making small talk the entire time. He examined her with the impersonal demeanor of a professional. Afterward he placed his warm hand upon her immaculately shaven leg and coaxed her to sit upward.

“Your skin is so soft,” Aaron commented, sounding flustered by the intimacy of the moment as well.

Courtney wondered if he meant the skin of her leg or the creamy flesh of her breasts, which he had just gently examined. Woman’s intuition told her. Aaron is attracted to me also. It’s obvious by his tender touch.

Aaron cleared his throat awkwardly. “I will be waiting in my office to discuss everything with you.”

Courtney hurriedly put her jeans back on. She had worn the best-fitting ones in her wardrobe, and paired them with a formfitting black top.

 

Courtney walked into Aaron’s office and took a seat across from him at the mahogany desk.

Aaron’s voice became serious. “Courtney, I just want you to know the tests for Seth came back the other day, and he wanted me to discuss them with you. It appears there is a little problem with Seth’s sperm. It has decreased motility, in other words, it’s a slow swimmer.”

Courtney patiently listened while Aaron went on.

“I know you’ve been using the ovulation test each month. Let me ask you, have you been ovulating every month?”

“Yes,” Courtney interjected, “I ovulate every month like clockwork.”

“That’s good. Many times I have had success with artificially inseminating women in situations similar to yours. I’m sure you must be familiar with how the procedure works.”

Courtney shook her head affirmatively while Aaron elaborated, “Injecting the sperm directly into the uterus is sometimes all the help you need. We will need to closely observe your time of ovulation, and Seth is advised not to ejaculate for a few days before the procedure to ensure a higher sperm count. Seth’s sperm will be collected in the office in a sterile collecting cup and must immediately be washed, a process which separates the most active sperm for the insemination and takes around twenty minutes. Most pregnancies with insemination occur in the first three or four attempts. We can always try in vitro fertilization later on if we aren’t successful, but I’d like to start out conservatively.”

“Whatever you think will be best,” Courtney said in easy compliance.

“As you know, insurance doesn’t cover for any of these procedures, but I can’t put a price on my future niece or nephew. It’s my pleasure to help you and Seth become parents.”

“Thanks, Aaron, I appreciate it and know Seth will also.”

“By the way.” Aaron smiled intimately. “There’s just one thing I have to remind you of. Remember at your wedding when I asked you if you were planning on perpetuating the family name?”

“I do.”

“When you conceive, notice I’m not saying, if, because I’m confident you will. You must promise me, if the baby is a boy, you will give him the middle name of Stein.”

“Of course, it’s the least we can do to repay you if we’re lucky enough to have a son.”

Aaron smiled in self-satisfaction as Courtney said goodbye. The strong sunlight of the winter day imparted grace upon Courtney’s hopes. She felt exhilarated to be under Aaron’s care now that she had gotten past the initial embarrassment. In fact, she looked forward to her next appointment. Courtney reviewed how it felt to have Aaron’s hands examine her flesh, even if it was only for the purposes implied, trying to read something into it.

Courtney recalled nuances of his demeanor. She then remembered his saying her skin was “so soft,” a compliment, which seemed out of place in an office setting.

This is ridiculous for me to be dwelling on what is merely Aaron’s job. Even Seth told me once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ’em all.

 

When Courtney returned home, Edith looked anxious to hear the prognosis. She was sitting by the warmth of the fireplace and sipping a cup of tea, while staring at the orange-tipped flames.

“Come,” she motioned for Courtney to sit next to her and poured her a cup from the teapot.

“A cup of strong green tea is just what I need.” Courtney found the hot tea exhilarating.

“So tell me, what did Aaron say?” Edith curiously asked.

“Aaron suggested we try artificial insemination,” Courtney simply stated.

“Very good,” Edith turned her head to look over at Courtney. It seemed as if she could see right through her. Edith then lowered her teacup and smiled smugly, while she watched Courtney’s reaction. “Did you know Aaron is getting married?”

“No! What are you talking about?” Courtney asked with her heart going into somersaults.

“Aaron didn’t want to tell anyone, but the reason why he went to Russia over the summer was to meet his new bride. They have set a wedding date for the fall.”

“Are you serious? Aaron didn’t mention a word of this to either me or Seth as far as I know,” Courtney said in breathless horror.

“Well, it’s kind of under wraps for now. Just between you and me, if I don’t confide in someone, I’ll burst. Aaron had been going on Jdating.com, a dating service where Jewish singles advertise themselves online. While surfing the web, he came upon Russian Brides and logged on out of curiosity. I don’t know if you’re aware how beautiful the Russian women are, Courtney, I know I wasn’t,” Edith continued while Courtney listened in dismay.

“The poor economy of Russia makes these young women set their hopes on marrying American men. Many of the women are accomplished and fluent in English, and they’re willing to marry older men. Anyway, Aaron became very intrigued. He began to look through the photos just for fun when a young lady caught his eye. Come, let me show you her picture,” Edith said excitedly.

Courtney followed Edith to the computer room. She felt completely off kilter as Edith logged onto Russian Brides and narrowed her search to the age eighteen to nineteen, blonde hair, and blue eyes. Courtney became too stunned to even remark when a page of exquisite blonde-haired beauties came on the screen.

“There, that’s her, Natasha Krilova.” Edith clicked the photo of the most extraordinary creature Courtney had ever seen.

The smiling girl had teeth as white as porcelain and skin as flawless as a newborn. Her golden hair contrasted strikingly with her black cowboy hat, and her electric blue eyes shone through the screen in Technicolor. Edith scrolled down her biography revealing the eighteen-year-old would consider a man up to the age of forty-five.

“Natasha’s photo will be removed from the site at the end of the month. She and Aaron have been writing letters, and they’ve made plans for Natasha to come to America.”

Edith smiled at her son’s good fortune. “We’ll be one happy family. She looks like such a lovely girl!” Edith exclaimed while waiting for Courtney’s response.

“That’s wonderful news.” Courtney tried to sound joyful as the room whirled around her head, and she envisioned Aaron showing off his new bride with an air of superiority.

The truth is I feel devastated Aaron is getting married, and as an added whammy, I’m old enough to be my future sister-in-law’s mother! I hadn’t taken Aaron’s rivalry seriously, but I can’t say he hadn’t warned me. Aaron certainly can’t make a life of envying his brother’s wife! No, he had to do one better and surpass Seth.

 

Courtney lay sleepless and distraught about Aaron getting married. Seth reached over to hug her, but the vision of Aaron examining her body flashed before her eyes. She yearned for Aaron’s touch with the same passion she now detested in Seth as he reached over and tried to kiss her.

“Not tonight.” Courtney pulled away in haste.

“You want to have a baby so badly, but in the meantime, half the time you say no.” Seth sounded hurt.

“I’m sorry, but I’m just not feeling up to it.”

I have absolutely no desire to make love to Seth. How can I even fantasize about Aaron with his upcoming wedding? Now even my erotic fantasies are ruined.