"Mrs Starshine?"

Goldie focused back on her screen, and continued working. Clearly somebody needed some help from somebody.

Then the voice was next to her. "Excuse me, are you Mrs Starshine?"

Goldie turned her chair, and immediately realised what was going on. "Yes, I am. Terribly sorry. I'm just not used to this, you know. I've been known as Goldie Skylight for so long that I'm still getting used to the fact my name has changed."

"No problem," the man said. "The manager wanted to speak to you, that's all."

Goldie internally sighed, but knew that she couldn't show this outwardly. "I'm on my way. I'll just finish inputting these numbers and then I'll speak to him."

Once she was done, she checked her calender as she stood up. Argyle had recently graduated from his course, and as such could now legally stick the letters PhD at the end of his name. Not to mention call himself Doctor. Goldie suspected he wouldn't, though- he was far too modest for that, and besides there was always the fear he would be confused for a medical doctor.

That meant they would soon be moving. Argyle had found a place he thought would be ideal. The house search had been awkward, with some rather unpleasant pigsties. Argyle's objection to one place being messy was met with the landlord suggesting Goldie clean it.

They didn't take that one, obviously.

But Argyle had found one place and clearly fallen in love with it. It was in a small town called Falmouth, in Cornwall. The property was an old lighthouse keeper's cottage with three bedrooms and a kitchen, living room, and a decent bath. The lighthouse itself, a rather tall thing painted red and white, was also part of the deal, though apparently it wasn't operating. Argyle had talked about getting the lighthouse back into working order, and thanks to the help of Goldie's father they had acquired the property outright- no mortgate to worry about! Luckily, VivaRail had an office in Plymouth, so it wasn't the worst commute in the world.

Finally, Goldie arrived in her bosses' office. He looked up. "Gloria Starshine, you've got some explaining to do."

"What seems to be the problem?" Goldie asked.

"It appears you took time off without securing it beforehand," the boss said, turning the screen. "That Friday you weren't in."

Goldie sighed internally. No doubt the system was out of date again. "I can explain. I took time off work so I could attend my own wedding. Here's the form, with the required signatures." She handed a copy of the required paperwork over. "I can only assume they haven't logged it in the system yet."

"This isn't you."

"I'm pretty certain it is. Gloria is my given name."

"But the person who signed this is a Gloria Skylight. You are Gloria Starshine."

Oh, this is preposterous, Goldie thought to herself. "Skylight is my maiden name- the name a woman has before she gets married. I signed under that name as that was my name at the time I signed the form. I couldn't have signed as Gloria Starshine as that wasn't my name at the time, and therefore couldn't have used it."

"Then who is Starshine?"

"Starshine is my husband's surname. I couldn't have used it at the time as he wasn't my husband before the wedding."

"What's your employee number?"

Goldie thought for a second. "02121973."

The boss punched the number in, and found the record. "Gloria... Starshine. Ah, so you are the same person as Gloria Skylight."

Goldie nodded. "Indeed."

The boss looked very embarrassed. "Sorry. I'll set about getting those updated."

Goldie was silent for a moment. "Thank you." Goldie knew better than to say what she actually thought, but he couldn't stop her from thinking it.

A year passed, and the couple were settled into their new home at the end of Dockyard Road in Falmouth. The home had been prime real estate, given its easy links to the town. That and the railway station was an easy walk, and with its regular train service commuting to Truro and Plymouth was a doddle.

Not only that, but the University, but some strange coincidence, had a vacancy for a Professor of Art History. Argyle had secured the job, as it turned out that a younger chap was precisely what they were looking for. He'd also brought Salty with him, and had colonised an old engine shed in which to work on him. With only limited tools and time it was hard going. But the couple knew they had it a lot easier than many others in their position.

Not only that, financial support from the families had put them in a very strong position. Which meant thinking turned to something else the couple had been considering.

One evening, just as they had finished washing up the plates, Goldie made a comment which caught Argyle slightly by surprise. "Argyle, this may seem like a slightly strange comment... but I was thinking we should possibly try for a child."

Argyle popped the plate down and looked over. "Really?"

"I've done some thinking and run the numbers. "We're well settled here, we've both got reasonably well paying jobs, no mortgage to worry about, and good financial reserves to draw on. We can definitely afford it."

"That's good to know," Argyle said. "But it's not just a financial consideration, it's an emotional one too."

"I know," Goldie said. "And I feel I'm ready to take on that responsibility."

Argyle nodded. "I feel the same. Here's hoping we're good parents."

Goldie smiled. "I know you'll be a great father." Besides, she was before the age her fertility plummeted off a cliff. How difficult could getting pregnant actually be?

Unfortunately, it proved to be rather more difficult than either of them could have anticipated. After a year of trying it became clear something was wrong. Goldie knew not to expect instant results as pregnancy relied on a lot of variable factors, but she began to suspect something else was going on.

So, she booked an appointment with a fertility specialist to try and get to the bottom of what was going on. Unfortunately, the news was devastating.

"I've finished analysing the data," the specialist said, adjusting her glasses as she did so. "And I'm sorry to report both of you have fertility issues." She pushed two sets of paper over to them. "Results are outlined here, but the short version is that your chances of conceiving naturally are very slim."

Argyle looked crushed as he read over the results, whilst Goldie couldn't quite believe what she was seeing. It seemed one of the things she wanted in life was something she couldn't have. "Are there any ways we could have kids?" she asked.

"There is one possibility," the specialist said, as she turned back to a screen and pushed a button. This activated a projector. "I assume you're both familiar with IVF?"

"I did a bit about it in biology class at school, but apart from that I have somewhat limited knowledge of how it actually works," Argyle admitted.

"If I recall correctly it involves planting pre-fertilised eggs in the hope they implant," Goldie said.

"Correct," the specialist replied. "I will warn you it is a rather invasive procedure and there's no guarantee it will work. But it does have a reasonable chance of working."

"I'll take a reasonable chance over no chance at all," Goldie said.

Argyle looked over. "As will I. I know how much this means to you."

"And I know how much this means to you," Goldie replied. "Let's go for it."

True to the specialist's words, the procedure was rather invasive. But both of them felt it was worth it if the ends justified the means.

Now they just had to wait and see if Goldie started showing symptoms. Though the nature of the procedure did leave her with one concern- the possibility of twins. Not that she was opposed to this, she just felt raising two children at once would be quite the handful.

They'd supplied her with a list of symptoms to keep an eye out for.

Sure enough, about eight weeks after the procedure, Goldie started feeling ill. This included all the expected symptoms- soreness, exhaustion, and of course the numerous trips to the bathroom. Goldie knew what this meant, and as such went to secure a pregnancy test. It was all a bit surreal, as having been through IVF she'd rather been waiting for the symptoms to start as confirmation the process had worked.

And sure enough, Goldie decided to tell Argyle the news one evening. "Argyle," she said, "we need to talk."

Argyle nodded. "Has something come up?"

Goldie reached into her pocket and handed him the test. His eyes widened in amazement as he saw the result.

Positive.

Goldie smiled, trying to hold back tears. "Argyle... I'm pregnant. You're going to be a father!"

Without hesitating, Argyle pulled her into a hug. "And you're gonna be a mom!" he said, smiling.

Both of them knew the next 30 weeks or so would be challenging. But they would face it- together.

Author's Note

The opening segment is inspired by my mother's experiences, as apparently getting used to having a new surname was quite the adjustment. Something similar happened in a hockey tournament she participated in (my parents both played hockey at university and continued with the sport long afterward). My father, who was team captain, was busy delegating positions and switched back into autopilot as he called my mother by her maiden name.

The anecdote about the landlord suggesting my mother clean a messy apartment? That actually happened. Not surprisingly they didn't take that property.

The discussion of fertility issues is actually, again, drawn from my own family. IVF was a massive medical breakthrough which allowed thousands of women struggling to conceive to have children. According to medical data published in 2023, about 12 million children have been born with the assistance of IVF and similar medical technology.

I'm one of them.

Without such treatments, I in all likelihood would not exist (and wouldn't be typing these words).