The Daddy Decision by Donna Sterling

muttered.
    â€œWould anyone like another drink?” Steffie inquired a little too brightly as she took the broken brandy glass from Cort’s hand and nudged the shattered pieces from the hearth into the fireplace with her foot. “Or two? Or three?”
    â€œMercy sakes alive!” Tamika planted her hands on her hips. “Isn’t artificial insemination expensive?”
    â€œA little,” Laura admitted, “but—”
    â€œThen why do artificial insemination?” A puzzled frown knit Rory’s blond eyebrows. “Save the cash, man. If you guys are sure you want a kid, just go upstairs and—”
    â€œWhy don’t you shut up and play that damn guitar of yours?” Cort suggested to him quietly, ready to strangle Rory with his own ponytail if he finished verbalizing that thought.
    â€œFletcher’s right,” Laura proclaimed. “It’s no one’s business how we choose to accomplish our objectives. I
shouldn’t have even told you.” She glared at every face—except Cort’s, which she avoided entirely. “I don’t want to hear any more discussion about that aspect of our plan.”
    Only when everyone looked sufficiently abashed did her expression mellow. “Think instead about the end result. A baby! Don’t you see how perfect this will be? Fletcher and I have been friends for fifteen years. We know, really know, how the other thinks and feels about the important issues of life. We’ll be giving our son or daughter a sturdy base that won’t be ripped apart by emotional upheaval or divorce.”
    â€œOh, God,” Steffie groaned, burying her face in her hand. “I should have known you’d resort to something like this.”
    â€œI’m going to ask one more time before I start busting heads,” Tamika warned. “Are you two getting married, or not?”
    â€œNo! That’s the beauty of it. Our parenting alliance will be based on mutual respect, not...whimsy.” Laura’s color deepened, and she added, “Or, worse, sex.”
    An invisible hand tightened around Cort’s throat. She hadn’t as much as glanced his way, but he felt as if she’d pointed at him as an example of a past sexual disaster. She’d used the word whimsy earlier to describe the lesson she’d learned from him.
    Was he to blame for this? Had his callous dismissal of their affair set her against sexual relationships altogether? Had her disillusionment at such a young age turned her to science to father her child— and to Fletcher ? The hand around Cort’s throat squeezed with a vengeance.
    â€œWe’ll go on living the way we have been.” She settled down onto the sofa and Fletcher sat beside her. “Friends and partners. We’ll share custody and live within walking distance of each other, as we do right now. And we’ll bring
up our child in the faith we both happen to share. What can be more perfect?”
    â€œA happy marriage?” suggested Steffie.
    â€œOh, come on, Stef,” Laura admonished softly. “You know how rare an animal that is.”
    Steffie flushed, unable to argue. She had, after all, just come through a divorce herself.
    â€œAll of us know how painful it can be for a child growing up in a broken home,” Laura said, “or with parents so resentful of each other that they spend all their time trying to spite the other.”
    No one could deny that she had a point. They’d all come from families whose relationships were less than blissful. Their lack of satisfying family ties had been the common denominator that had drawn them together in the first place.
    â€œWell, call me old-fashioned, but I believe in love and marriage,” Tamika declared, “and having children in wedlock.”
    â€œOf course you do,” Laura replied patiently. “You’re one of the rare, lucky few who are happily married. But that’s