His Surrogate For Hire: A BWWM Pregnancy Romance (10 page)

"Did you say pregnant?"

Diana nodded.

Clay did a two step, almost turning around in a circle. "You
said you are pregnant? Confirmed?"

Diana reached in the pocket of her jeans and pulled out the sonogram.
Slowly, she offered him the black and white picture. A look of pride,
beaming, Clay was speechless.

"I'm right at seven weeks. Halfway through the first trimester."

"But I thought the in vitro did not work the first time around."

Diana sat quietly, waiting for him to understand the time line. She
could see him thinking about it and then the light bulb came on.

"Oh. Wow. You? We?" Clay looked back at the sonogram.

"Yes," she simply replied.

Clay closed his eyes, as if he was deep in thought or meditating. It
looked like the kind of thing that should not be disturbed, so Diana
sat quietly waiting for his response.

"So we made this baby together?" Clay stared at her, asking
a question that was truthfully more rhetorical in nature.

She nodded, unsure whether he was happy about it or exactly how he
was feeling.

Clay took a seat next to her again. "This is great news."

When he responded, Diana felt like she could finally exhale.

"I did not know how you would respond."

A reassuring hand on her back, Clay tried to comfort her.

"I am so very happy right now. So very happy. Why would you
think otherwise?"

Diana shrugged. "I don't know." She could see the opening
for the conversation that they needed to have for so long.

"I was not sure what was going on between the two of us. Like
where do we go from here? Or from where we were when we were on
vacation?"

Clay recognized what Diana was trying to say.

"We have not talked about that. I guess we need to."

Clay turned to her. "Please know I have been thinking about all
of this. It's not like it has not been on my mind."

He paused, just long enough to know he had her full attention. "I
gave up on finding love. Completely was over it. I always wanted the
wife and the kids to come home to. But the more I worked, the less
that seemed likely. It did not seem like I would ever find the right
person to start that family with. So I thought about adopting, but as
a traveling businessman, no matter how much money I had in the bank,
it was hard to find an agency that would let a single man who lived
life on the road adopt. So I opted for surrogacy. That seemed like
the right option, especially because I wanted my child to be my own
flesh and blood.

"And then it was a lot harder to find someone than I thought it
would be. Then I found you. You were perfect. And then well, as you
know, so much more happened than I anticipated. More than I think we
both anticipated. I was not prepared to fall for you, Diana. But I
did and I have to ask you to forgive me because I did not know how to
approach the subject. So I just went back to work instead of
addressing it sooner."

To hear him finally admit what he had been thinking and feeling was a
relief. It made her more comfortable with the way she felt. Finally,
it felt like she could disclose all that she had been feeling for
Clay as well.

"Hearing that makes me feel like I am not going crazy. I was not
sure if we shared the same sentiments and it was difficult to figure
out how to deal with what I was feeling." Now that she had his
attention, she thought it best to divulge all she had been thinking
as well since they were laying everything out on the table.

"This was nothing more than a job for me. A gig that would help
me make some changes in my life. Something that would help me to get
to where I would like to be in my life for once. To know I could
relieve some of the stress in my life by the sudden windfall would be
great. To boot, I thought it would be nice to give someone something
they really wanted in life. It's not too often that you get the
opportunity to do something like that for someone, especially
something of this magnitude.

"I thought you would be some kind of pompous jerk that was
incapable of carrying on a decent conversation without talking about
himself and himself only. That was not the case. You were sweet and
kind and seemed to genuinely care about talking with me. I had not
met anyone like that in quite some time. Talk about refreshing."

Clay laughed. "I get what you mean. Most people think I'll be
some kind of arrogant jerk. They are usually pretty surprised to find
out I'm not."

"I have to admit, I was glad to know you were someone that was
easy to talk to. So when you invited me on vacation. I thought it
would be a great opportunity to get to know each other more,
especially with the arrangement we have made. Well, to find out there
was some kind of attraction between us, I was not expecting that. Not
from you and not from me."

Clay took her by the hand. "Now that we are on the same page,
what do you think should happen next?"

Diana shook her head. "I'm not sure. Usually I have the answers
to these kinds of things, but I don't know what to think. This is a
bit more complicated than just dealing with a relationship."

Clay's forehead wrinkled. "I'm not sure that it has to be."

"I don't understand." Diana wanted to hear him explain
further. She did not want to assume anything that Clay would be
thinking or feeling.

"Well, I'm thinking we need to go with the flow and let things
work out the way they work out. If we both have feelings for one
another, then let's be okay with that and let those feelings lead us
wherever they may lead us. I know, once again, that may not feel like
a definitive answer, but I don't think any one of us has all of the
answers when it comes to love and relationships."

"I can agree with you there, Clay. It's really hard to deal with
the unexpected and when it comes to relationships, I have not been
the best in making decisions or choosing the right person."

Clay squeezed her hand, holding on tightly. "Diana, I think the
two of us have made the right decision and I think we know it. Maybe
the problem is we are fighting it and that is what is causing the
confusion."

"Or maybe the fact that the baby was conceived the natural way
and not through insemination makes it more complicated."

Clay gazed into her eyes. "Why would that make it complicated?"

Diana dropped her eye contact, trying to find the right words to
describe what she was trying to say.

"The insemination would make it less personal. Don't you think
it was something to the fact that the insemination was not
successful, but the two of us had sex and the baby you want so badly
was conceived?" Diana posed the question, hoping Clay would get
the point of why she was so confused. It was a fact that she had been
pondering since that morning.

"Since the moment you told me, I've been thinking that."
Clay held up the sonogram.

"I've wanted a child of my own for a while now. Whether or not I
had the woman to complete my life was in question. But now I get a
child and the mother of that child happens to be a good woman, I
woman I am interested in, and potentially falling for, I think it is
okay if the program changes a bit. In fact, I think it has to."

Diana could feel the tears pooling up. She was not sure how she could
hold them back, but she managed.

"Thank you, Clay."

"For what?" he asked with a smile.

She rubbed her hand on his cheek. "For being such a good guy and
for changing this girl's life."

Clay tilted her chin up, their eyes meeting. His lips brushed hers
lightly with a kiss. He smiled.

"Since we are giving out thank you's, I guess one is in order
for me as well."

"For what?" Diana asked.

"For changing my life as well."

Nine months did not fly by as quickly as Diana thought it would. In
the beginning, the months went by rapidly. The first and second
trimester were gone before she knew it. The third trimester was the
one that made her go crazy. Gaining weight, uncomfortable, and
irritable, Diana kept reminding herself she was in the homestretch.

She had not seen her feet in weeks, and there was not enough to eat
as far as she was concerned.

The best part was Clay decided to slow down and come home more often
to be with her. He was there for the majority of her doctor's
appointments and she loved the fact that watching the baby's growth
made him smile. He asked questions during the doctor's visits and was
attentive at home, seeing to it that she had all of the things that
would make her comfortable.

Clay had done everything he could to show that he was supportive to
her. Diana began to forget she was a surrogate. The two of them
agreed to make sure they discussed the next steps in their
relationship after the baby was born. Clay told her he wanted to make
sure she stayed healthy and experienced the least amount of stress
possible.

It was almost a week before the baby's due date and the countdown had
been on for the past month. All had gone as planned and Diana had
been a bit antsy about the birth being so close.

Clay made sure she had prenatal massages and the environment was
calm. Charlotte was on hand for anything she needed. Diana had even
finished her accounting classes and after the baby was born, she
would take her final examination for her first certification.

She met Clay for dinner, which these days was hard enough to leave
her suite and waddle down the hallway to the dining room.

He greeted her with a kiss on the cheek when she entered the room.
Pulling her chair out, he offered her a seat and she sat down to
their meal.

"I hope this is the right time to do this."

"What are you talking about?" Diana asked.

Clay got up and brought some papers over to where she sat.

"These are the papers you signed for the surrogacy. I want to
rip these up." He went about tearing the papers in half.

"These are now voided."

"Wait. What does that mean, Clay?'

His expression softened. "When you are having a baby with a
woman you care about, there is no need to have paperwork like this.
So I drafted up something more appropriate."

He sat the papers in front of her. "This basically says that as
the mother of my child, you are entitled to living a life of standard
that is pretty close to mine. I want to take care of you and the
baby. Now I don't know if you're prepared to take care of a baby
after all of this time, but I want you here and since the baby is
mine and yours, I thought we should go about this life together."

Diana was not sure how to respond. It was an amazing thing to get
what you asked for.

"I think that would be wonderful, Clay."

Full of joy, he kissed her full on the lips. "I was hoping you
would say that. You have plenty of time to look over it with a lawyer
if you would like, but I want you to know that you and the baby are
taken care of."

Tears spilled over. Diana could not believe what she was hearing from
him. "Clay, I don't know what to say."

"Please say you will never leave me and you will stay here and
we will be a family, Diana."

A sudden pang emanated through her lower back, followed quickly by
two more with intensity.

"Yes, I'll stay, but you have to get me to the hospital. The
baby is on the way."

*****

Clay held her hand the entire way and tried his best to coach her
through the labor and delivery. Having him there was a comfort.
Neither one of them wanted to know the baby's sex prior to the
delivery, so when they were surprised with the birth of a son, both
of them were full of joy.

Clay held his son in his arms proudly, tending to the baby as well as
Diana. Everything happened so quickly and the nurses helped her to
her room where she would get some rest after the labor.

Diana was not even aware she dozed off. When she opened her eyes, she
saw Clay sitting there with their son.

"This is the greatest gift, Diana. Thank you."

She smiled, sore but elated. Clay brought the baby to her, placing
the newborn in her arms gently.

"So you really think we can make a go of this family thing?"
she asked. Looking the baby in his eyes, she could see the perfect
mix between herself and Clay.

Clay gently stroked the baby's head and then leaned over and kissed
Diana. "I know we can. That is if you want to make a go of it
with me and this little one here."

"I would love to. I think we can make it work out perfectly."

"So do I." The baby started crying and Clay was there,
bottle in hand. "Please let me. It looks like you need to get
your rest."

Diana was so tired she was in no mood to protest. She let Clay take
the baby and she watched as he fed the baby.

Fortunate could not even begin to describe what she was feeling. She
thought what she was feeling must be what it was like to hit the
lottery. One day your life was one way, the next, things had changed
to an exponential power that was well beyond what you could dream of.

She'd finally won in life and Diana could not be more proud. Life
could not get any better, but she'd said that when she first met Clay
and things had gotten better. Fortune had a way of making things
better and better with time. She closed her eyes to rest. The amazing
part was, when she awoke, her new life would be real and not a dream.

The end.

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