World Tour

Brisbane V

They were sat in their studio, later that day, working side by side. They'd already shot a couple of videos, but as usual nowadays there was still a never ending stream of stuff to arrange. 
Brett was looking at the screen of his laptop, narrowing his eyes in concentration. Eddy smiled. He loved seeing focussed Brett; completely absorbed in making Twoset bigger, better. He couldn't even imagine ever doing this without him, or without his talent for getting shit done. Brett was incredible at getting shit done.
He quietly nodded to himself now, because he knew exactly what he had to do. Brett had opened a topic of conversation a few days ago, and they hadn't talked about it since. He knew why, as well. Brett was giving him time to process everything and come back to it (or not) in his own time. 
He'd thought a lot about it, and he thought he knew where he wanted to go. So it was time to do the research. 
He glanced at Brett, who was still absorbed in his screen, and quickly typed the words into Google. 

     'Surrogacy in Australia'

Within half a second his screen filled up with hits. He discounted the top ones: they were ads, of course, and read a bit further down the screen. 
         
      'Commercial surrogacy is illegal in all States in Australia. This means the surrogate and her partner cannot be paid for carrying a baby for someone else. Whilst surrogacy is altruistic, the intended parents must cover the surrogate's expenses in relation to surrogacy, pregnancy and birth'

Whoa. So they'd have to find someone who just wanted to do this out of the goodness of their hearts? How would you even find someone like that?
He quickly clicked on the next link, the answer to the suggested question: 'how much does a surrogate cost in Australia?'

      'You can expect the surrogacy in Australia will cost anywhere from $15,000 to over $100,000. The major variable is the cost fertility treatment, which will depend on what sort of treatment you require, and the success of any treatment and when the surrogate falls pregnant.'

He hadn't realised Brett had gotten up and was stood looking at his screen until he heard the sharp intake of breath behind him. When he turned around Brett's face was ashen. 
¨Hey! You okay?¨ he asked, his own voice shakier than he would have liked. 
Brett didn' t answer. 
¨Hey!¨ he said again, getting up in a swift movement and putting his arms around Brett, pulling him close to his chest. ¨Hey, what's happening? Talk to me?¨
When Brett lifted his head and looked at him his eyes were brimming with tears. Eddy waited for him to start talking. 
Brett sniffled, and then he said, so quietly he wouldn't have heard him had he not had him right there in his arms:
¨You... you were googling.¨ 
He looked up at Eddy through his eyelashes, a tear overflowing down his soft cheek. 
¨You really want this? You want it that way?¨
Eddy smiled, and despite the severity of the conversation he had to stop himself from humming the Backstreet Boys song. Then he breathed deeply and spoke. 
¨Of course I want this, I said I did and I meant it. And... well, I guess, yeah, I'd prefer it if the child were biologically related to at least one of us, yeah. You?¨
Brett sighed deeply, swiping away the tears on his cheek. 
¨Yeah, to be honest I think I would too. But I've looked into it a bit and it's not easy. Someone has to do it willingly for us, and how would you even find someone like that?¨
¨I don't know. I don't even know where to begin.¨ Eddy said. ¨But I mean.... just imagine a little Brett Yang running around, hey?¨
Brett smiled. ¨Or a mini Eddy Chen? Filled to the brim with musical talent?¨
Eddy huffed. ¨As if you have no musical talent.¨
¨Let's face it, not as much as you.¨ Brett said, and he kissed him softly on the cheek. ¨I love that you're looking into this. I love it.¨
Eddy nodded. ¨I'm a little sad that we can't have a child that's half you, half me... biology sucks.¨
Brett smiled crookedly. ¨I've known biology sucks since I was thirteen, thank you very much.¨
Eddy laughed out loud. Brett always knew how to break the tension. 
He pulled Brett back into the hug then.
¨I'm sure we'll work it out.¨