Chapter 8

Jake's endurance was tested. Never in all his years did he imagine falling into his present state. He looked back. Sure enough, there was no one coming. "Ma'am, what are you doing?" Jake lowered his voice.

"What does it look like?" Iris blinked. "Isn't this your term and condition to what I proposed? You will only make babies the natural way. So, I'm going with it," she said.

Jake's shoulders slumped. He cursed under his breath, slapping a hand across his face in exasperation. "This is not what I mean," he wanted to explain himself.

"There's no point going back and forth. It is a simple sacrifice compared to getting needled now and then for procedures that have failed me in the past."

"Needled?... Christ," Jake gasped. After beating himself down about it, he straightened up and took a much-needed breath.

Iris' expression was robotic when the young man walked up to her. She did not flinch or show signs of repugnance. 'He's going to do it?' Her words were sealed in her head.

J