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It was after they'd been married for a year that they'd decided to start trying for a baby.
Kati had never imagined herself having children, but then, she'd never imagined herself getting married either, and look how that turned out. There are some things, Kati has come to realise, that you just can't predict.
Especially if those things have red hair and a grin that's as inexplicably charming as it is annoying.
Unfortunately, though, six months down the line, and all manner of positions, timings and vitamin supplements later, Kati and Patrick are no closer to conceiving than they had been before.
So, that morning, Kati had gone to visit a gynaecologist to get herself checked out, while Patrick had gone to a clinic to get himself checked out too.
After a number of tests, Kati was given a clean bill of health, which means...
She's been home for an hour now, but Patrick still hasn't returned from the clinic. Not that Kati's that concerned; she would be a fool not to have already considered an alternative. In fact, it may just work out to be...
The front door opens. Kati hears Patrick put his keys down, followed by a slow trudge of footsteps, which is rare. Patrick normally bounds in to see Kati when he gets home, but today...
The door to the living room is pushed open.
"Kati..." Patrick's voice is unusually quiet, "am I not a real man?"
Kati turns around to see Patrick looking so dejected that her heart almost breaks. She pats the sofa beside her. "Come here."
Patrick does as he's told, kicking off his shoes, climbing onto the sofa, and almost burrowing into Kati's side, his face pressing into her shoulder.
Kati wraps her arms around him. "How did it go?"
Patrick huffs. "Giving a sperm sample isn't anywhere near as sexy as I thought it would be."
Kati can't help but laugh at that, but then Patrick looks up at her with these doleful eyes, and it makes her feel as if she's just kicked a puppy. She presses an apologetic kiss to his hair and waits for him to continue.
"They said I wasn't a real man."
Kati hugs him tighter. "I'm sure they didn't say that."
"Kati, would you still love me if I was infertile?"
Kati rubs his shoulders. "Of course."
"But! My sperm's all wrong! I... you.... we can't..." Patrick's hands fist in her blouse. "You should have married that Graham Acre. I bet he could give you kids. I bet he's got fucking super-sperm or something! The bastard."
Kati chuckles again. "But I don't want to be married to Graham Acre. I want to be married to you."
Patrick looks up. His eyes are red. "Really?"
Kati smiles and kisses him. "Of course."
Patrick smiles in return, briefly, before he remembers himself and pouts again. "But we can't have children..."
"Yes we can," says Kati. "Have you ever..." she braces herself for his reaction, "considered adoption?"
"Adoption?" Patrick frowns. "Why would we want some random-ass kid?"
"Because I want to raise a child with you."
Patrick looks up at her. "Kati..."
"And it won't be random. I know this place; they have a little girl. She's..."
"A little girl?" Patrick is silent for a few seconds. Kati holds her breath. She can almost hear him thinking.
Eventually he whispers, "I've always wanted a little girl."
For some reason, Kati's heart is racing. "Should we go visit her together?"
"Yes," says Patrick, and when he looks up at Kati, he's smiling again. "Yes. Let's raise a little girl together, Kati!"
Kati smiles in return. She hugs him, then kisses him, then pushes him down on the couch and starts undoing the buttons of his shirt.
"Wait," says Patrick, as he struggles to get up. "We can't... are you sure you want to...? Even though I've not got..."
Kati smiles at him, warmly. "You really are an idiot, aren't you?"
***
Kati had found out about the institute when one of the doctors was called to give testimony as part of a case she was working on. He'd told her about a pair of twins that would soon be ready for adoption, and by that point Kati had already been having enough doubts about her ability to conceive that she'd gone to visit the place, just out of curiosity.
What she'd been met with there were two beautiful little children with purple hair and bright smiles. She'd been told that the little boy had already found adoptive parents, but the little girl...
The little girl was called Anew. And she needed a family.
"Anew's a strange name," says Patrick, but he holds his tongue as they step inside the building.
They're shown into a waiting room, and are left there until a nurse arrives to tell them that they can go through.
Patrick has been silent for at least the last ten minutes, which, for him, is very odd behaviour indeed. Kati gives his hand a reassuring squeeze, and, when he turns to look at her, Kati realises that she's never seen him look as nervous as this before.
"Shall we go meet her, Patrick?"
Patrick swallows audibly and nods. "Yes."
They step through a door from the waiting room, into a large warmly lit space that contains a number of toys and books stacked in neat piles. In the middle of the floor is a small red table.
And there she is. Sitting, drawing something on a white sheet of paper with wax crayons. Her tongue is sticking out in concentration. It's nothing short of adorable.
"Anew, Mr and Mrs Mannequin are here to see you," says the nurse.
Anew looks up and smiles in recognition when she sees Kati, then she turns back to continue drawing a blue line across the paper.
"Do you want to talk to her?" Asks Kati.
"Er..." After a brief pause, Patrick nods uncertainly, and walks over.
Kati follows him with a small smile. She's never seen him approach anything with as much trepidation as this before. It's oddly endearing.
Patrick carefully crouches down until he's at Anew's eye-level.
"Hello," he says.
"Hello," she returns, without looking up from her picture.
Patrick watches her for a while, as she carefully selects a green crayon and uses it to draw a large circle.
"What are you doing?" asks Patrick.
"Drawing."
"Drawing, er..." Patrick stares at the paper, then tilts his head and tries to look at it from another angle. "...What are you drawing?"
Anew puts down the green crayon and picks up a yellow one instead. "A large hadron collider."
"Oh." Patrick turns around to look at Kati with a look that's both confused and terrified. Desperately, he mouths, 'What's a large hadron collider?'
Kati just shrugs; their time here is too limited for her to explain something as complicated as that to Patrick now.
"Er," Patrick turns back to Anew, "that's... nice." He watches as she outlines some parts with an orange crayon. "The colours are very pretty."
Anew stops what she's doing, turns around, and presents him with a sunny smile.
Patrick smiles in return. "My name's Patrick," he says.
Anew nods in acknowledgement and turns back to the paper.
"Um," Patrick points to part of the picture, "this bit might look good if you coloured it blue. What do you think?"
"No." Anew carefully pushes his hand out of the way. "The dipole magnets can't be the same colour as the quadropole magnets."
"Oh... I see. Um, how about red?"
"Ok." Anew smiles and reaches for the red crayon.
The sound of footsteps alerts Kati to the fact that the officer in charge of Anew's adoption has arrived. Kati gives Patrick's shoulder a squeeze, then follows the officer back out into the waiting room to ask a few questions.
Ten minutes later, when Kati is busy finding out about the enhanced security checks, Patrick comes bounding in through the waiting room door.
He's sporting the largest grin he's worn all day.
"She's wonderful!" he exclaims. "We'll take her! Oh, but," he stops and looks thoughtful, "we should have bought a child's car-seat first, and..."
"Wait, Patrick," Kati can't help but chuckle; Patrick's enthusiasm is contagious, and she's more than a little relieved that Patrick seems to like Anew so much. "We can't take her home just yet. There are forms to be completed and checks to be carried out before they'll let us adopt her."
Patrick pouts. "What? But how long is all that going to take?!"
At this point the adoption officer steps in. "About four months," she says, "give or take."
"Four months?!" Patrick looks sullen. It lasts for all of ten seconds before he brightens instantly. "Four months!" He grabs Kati by the waist and pulls her into a tight hug. "Kati, we're going to have a daughter in four months!"
Kati disentangles herself from his arms. "Yes." She smiles. "Hopefully we will."