I am in the reception room of an in vitro fertilization counselor’s office, waiting for her to arrive for an appointment I have scheduled with her. In my hand I am holding a clear plastic, zip-lock sandwich bag. Inside it is a tiny, ovoid egg about 1/8″ to 3/16″ in diameter, with the color and finish of a white pearl.
It is my wife’s egg from one of her ovaries. We do not have any children — the dream situation is odd because in real life my wife is retirement age, and I am not far behind.
Also inside the sealed plastic bag are two other items. One looks like a grain of buckwheat, or perhaps a grain of sand, and is brown in color, but I do not know what it is.
The other is a very small flower at the end of a green stem, like an embryonic miniature. The flower is about the shape of a rose or tulip with a creamy, blended color that has a bit of a swirl pattern, going from yellow to orange to red. The green stem forms a loose “S” shape, with two or three tiny leaves spaced along its length. In total, the flower and stem are not much more than an inch long.
Even though I have never wanted children, I will be asking the counselor if we can make a baby from the egg.
Before the counselor arrives, however, I find myself in another room of the office. There are two babies there, one of whom is a little girl. She reaches out to me to be held, and I am about to pick her up…
…but the scene then shifts back to the front office, as the counselor arrives. We talk for a few moments just outside the front entrance to her office, which is on the second floor, with a view looking down from the walkway onto the office building’s main public foyer. The counselor is warm and empathetic, but we do not get to talk long.
Before we have determined what we can accomplish, I wake up. I smile to myself, thinking of my wife.
