I called Dad to confirm our Sunday dinner plans and then spent a few hours writing. I was a frequent contributor for a variety of travel blogs, and I quickly became absorbed in outlining the next article I was writing.
I’d always been a book nerd. In elementary school, I had looked forward to the days the teacher would pass out the flyers for that month’s Scholastic Book Order. I always had a rough idea of when it was coming, but I never knew the exact day. The promise of new books to read, or some months even the promise of new flyers to peruse, was like a small dose of Christmas morning that came several times a year. Sometimes, I was even more excited for it than for Christmas.
Waiting to hear from Donovan felt like that. Like watching for a new Book Order. Actually getting a phone call from him was tantamount to a trip to the bookstore. Books had the power to soothe and excite me at the same time. Donovan West had that power too.
When his name popped up on the caller ID, all thoughts of my article evaporated.
“Hello?” God, is that my voice?
“Hey, gorgeous. How’s your day been?”
Just the sound of his voice was enough to make me giddy. There was a deep sort of rasp in each word, and it was appealing even over the phone. My smile was the brightest it had been since he’d texted me good morning earlier that day.
“Pretty good. Miranda was over for a while, and then I was able to get a little writing done. I thought you had to work tonight.”
“Yeah, I’m on break. We’re pretty busy tonight, and I keep screwing up orders because I’m thinking about you instead of my job,” he chuckled. “My boss told me to take a few minutes to get my head on straight.”
“And you’re using your break to call me,” I grinned in satisfaction. “I’m not sure that’s the best way to get me off your mind.”
“Just as well, since that’s the last thing I want to do. So, you talked to Miranda?”
“Yeah. You know, I thought she and Gabe would have a problem with us dating, but she was all for it. Said Gabe was on board too.”
“I know. I talked to him earlier. I think it might be the first time he’s ever talked to me like a big brother.”
“Let me guess. If you hurt me, they’ll make you regret it.”
“Something like that,” Donovan laughed. “He warned me that Miranda still keeps that bat in her car.”
“That doesn’t surprise me at all. I should’ve asked to borrow it for tomorrow night,” I said wryly.
“What’s tomorrow night?”
“Family dinner. I really can’t put it off any longer.” I knew my tone resembled something like gallows humor, but I couldn’t help it.
“That bad, huh? Do you need backup? I’m working a mid tomorrow, so I’m free in the evening.”
“A ‘mid?’”
“Oh, sorry. Restaurant lingo. A midday shift, which means I get to skip the opening and closing routines, but I cover lunch and get the kitchen ready for the dinner rush.”
“Ah. Makes sense. Well, to answer your question… I really appreciate the offer, but I try not to subject people to my mother if I can avoid it.”
“I promise not to let her scare me away,” he replied, his smile audible in his tone.
“It’s not that.” Okay, it’s partially that. “I’m sure you’ll get to meet all of them at some point, but I’m already dropping a pretty big bomb on them tomorrow.”
“Been a while since you brought a guy home?”
“Years.”
There was a rustling noise on the other end followed by muffled voices, and I could tell he was talking to one of his coworkers. A moment later, he was addressing me again.
“Hey, I’d love to talk more, but my break’s over. I won’t be off until after midnight, so I’ll check in with you tomorrow?”
“That’s fine. Thanks for calling. It was… nice to hear your voice again.” I hoped I didn’t sound as much like an infatuated teenager as I felt. His reply was almost a purr, and the sound of it made my heart stutter.
“The feeling’s mutual. Sleep well, beautiful.”
* * *
Sunday
I rolled my shoulders back as I walked the short distance from my car to my parents’ front door. Palma Ceia is an affluent suburb located on the southwestern side of Tampa and is widely considered one of the best areas to raise a family. The thriving commercial districts give the area an urban quality, but the expensive and well-kept residential areas make it feel like a tightly knit community.
My parents moved us there around the time I started kindergarten, having chosen the area for its highly rated school district. They’d stayed in the house I grew up in, even after both Eli and I had left the nest, but I knew age and failing health would probably force them to downsize at some point.
The smell of pot roast and warm bread permeated the air, and I inhaled appreciatively as I stepped into the foyer and shrugged out of my jacket. For all her faults, Virginia Brighton was indeed a wonderful cook.
“Hey, sweet pea,” my dad called out from the living room.
I followed the sound of his voice and wasn’t surprised to find him watching the evening news from his favorite recliner. At sixty years old, his hair was more gray than brown, but his sharp wit still gleamed behind the blue eyes he’d passed down to both of his children. He looked comfortable in a pair of jeans and a navy blue t-shirt bearing the Coast Guard emblem. I bent and kissed his cheek in greeting.
“Hey, Dad. Eli’s not here yet?” I asked, praying that the absence of my brother’s car didn’t mean he wasn’t coming.
“Not yet, but he said he and June would be here. How are things?”
“Great. Buzzfeed picked up a couple more of my articles, so my blog traffic is up quite a bit.”
“I’m going to smile and pretend to know what that means,” he chuckled.
“More money.”
“Now, that I understand. Good job, kiddo.”
I was slightly relieved when he didn’t ask for more details. The articles I’d sold had been related to surrogacy, and the blog that had seen the increase in traffic was the new one I’d started to document the surrogacy experience in general. I consciously put off going to the kitchen to say hello to my mother and instead chose to get Dad talking about his latest golf outings. Unfortunately, Mom had heard my arrival and soon appeared in the doorway.
“Do I not get a hello?” she asked, her tone neutral but her smile a bit strained.
My mom was an attractive woman, but I’d always felt she tended to place a little too much importance on appearances. She was fashionably dressed in low heels, dress pants, and a silk top, though the apron she had donned made her appear slightly less polished. Her graying auburn hair was swept into her preferred French twist style.
“I just got here,” I replied evenly, crossing the room to hug her. “Dinner smells amazing.”
“Thank you. I’m glad to see you’re feeling better than the last time you were here. You barely ate anything, and you looked pretty green.”
“Um… Yeah, just a stomach bug, I guess. I brought my appetite tonight, though.” I smiled inwardly at the unintentional joke. Aunt Kennedy’s little bug…
“Hmm, well,” she leaned back to appraise me. “Not too much, dear. You’ve gained weight since I saw you last.”
I nodded and turned away before rolling my eyes. My mother communicated primarily in well-meaning criticism and backhanded compliments, and I’d long since learned not to engage. The front door opened again, and my brother’s voice was a welcome distraction.
“Anybody home?”
“We’re in the living room,” I called back.
Eli strolled into the room with a weak smile and lines of fatigue around his eyes. I observed him curiously as he greeted each of our parents with a hug. The absence of his wife was as conspicuous as his flattened demeanor.
“Where’s June?” Mom asked, always the first to pounce.
“Working. She said to tell you all hello.”
<
br /> Something about his tone made me suspect there was more to it than he was willing to admit, but Mom seemed to accept his response. I exchanged a glance with my dad and could tell he wasn’t so oblivious, but neither of us challenged Eli’s excuse.
A short while later, the four of us were seated around the dining room table, cutting into our roast and buttering dinner rolls. The conversation was polite and neutral, mostly related to Eli’s work for Dad’s best friend, Rowan Pierce. Rowan had been around for as long as I could remember, and he was mentoring Eli at his construction company. He and his late wife had never had children of their own, and they’d always treated us like family.
Eli’s mood seemed to pick up a little as he talked about his current projects, and I listened attentively for as long as possible before daring to change the subject. When we’d all reached the point that our plates were mostly empty, I took a fortifying breath and forced myself to speak.
“I have some news,” I began, cringing a little as everyone looked at me expectantly. “You guys remember my friend Miranda?”
“The one who married the Mexican?” Mom asked. I pursed my lips in irritation, and I saw Eli roll his eyes.
“He’s an American, Mom. And his grandparents emigrated from Honduras. Not Mexico.”
“Po-tay-to, po-tah-to,” she shrugged, as usual caring very little about cultural sensitivity. Dad cleared his throat with a meaningful look at his wife and spoke up.
“We remember, Kennedy. He’s a great guy, and Miranda’s a sweetheart. What’s the news? Are they doing all right?”
“They’re doing well. Great, actually. They’ve been trying to have a baby for a few years now, and they finally decided to try surrogacy. Their baby is due at the end of August.”
“That’s wonderful,” Dad replied with a genuine smile. “They’re good people. I’m sure they’ll be wonderful parents.”
“I’m sure they will too,” I agreed, bracing myself slightly. “Which is why I was so happy to help them. I’m their surrogate.”
Seven
Kennedy
A stunned silence followed my announcement, and everyone stared at me in disbelief. Predictably, my mother was the first to recover her voice.
“Are you out of your mind?!”
“Far from it.”
“But… You…”
“For two years, I watched my best friend struggle, watched her heart break a little more with every negative pregnancy test. I had the ability to help her, so I did.”
I tried to keep my expression neutral, but I could hear the frustration in my own voice. Mom stared back at me as though unable to recognize me as her own daughter. Her green eyes were wide with incredulity, and the rise in her blood pressure filled her cheeks with color.
“Surrogacy is all fine and good, Kennedy, but I don’t understand why it had to be you.”
“Why not me?”
“You’re only twenty-six, for heaven’s sake. You’re single, and you don’t even have children of your own yet. You’re going to go through the hell of pregnancy and childbirth, let it ruin your body, all for a baby that’s not even yours? They had no business putting that on you. Why the hell would you agree to such a thing?!”
Her voice had risen with anger, and I found myself responding with equal fervor. It had always been like this between us. Neither of us could resist rising to the occasion. Dad and Eli watched us with nervous chagrin, their eyes following the exchange like spectators at a tennis match.
“Actually, it was my idea!”
“What the hell were you thinking?! Are they paying you? Is that what this is about? Because if you were having financial trouble, you know we would’ve helped you. There was no need to get yourself into this ridiculous mess. Why didn’t you come to us about it first?”
“So you could talk me out of it?”
“Yes!” she shouted, throwing her hands up in exasperation. “We would’ve talked some sense into you, since you obviously weren’t thinking. How far along are you? Maybe it’s not too late…”
“That’s enough,” Dad interrupted, raising his voice to our volume.
But the damage was done. I was speechless and barely breathing, stunned by my mother’s response. I’d expected the criticism, but I’d never imagined she would go so far as to suggest I abort the baby. My stomach churned with revulsion, and I curled my arms around it instinctively as I stared across the table at my mother. Eli was wearing a similar expression of disgust, and Dad was frowning in disapproval at his wife.
“I’m sure Kennedy considered everything very carefully before she went through with it,” he added in a quieter tone.
“Clearly, she didn’t, or we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now, Lee!” Mom sputtered, turning her angry gaze back to me. “Was it because they paid you? How much did you get by selling yourself like this? God, please tell me this is all just a big joke… What are people going to think when you’re walking around huge and pregnant? You’re obviously not married. What are our friends going to think?!”
“Who the fuck cares?” I shot back, ignoring her reflexive chastisement of my language. “This pregnancy has absolutely nothing to do with you or your stuck up, judgmental friends. Miranda has dreamed of being a mother her whole life, and it just wasn’t happening for her. I saw a way to help, so I offered. Don’t fucking insult me by assuming I’d let someone manipulate me or that I’m selling myself. That’s disgusting. You’re turning something beautiful into—”
“Beautiful?! Right. You wait and see how ‘beautiful’ you feel when you’re huge and swollen, and nothing fits, and you feel like shit all the time!”
“Fuck this.” I practically growled with exasperation as I shoved back from the table and stomped from the room.
“Don’t walk away from me, young lady!”
“Enough, Ginny. Let her go. You’ve said your piece.”
I could hear my mother continuing her argument, the glass patio door muting her voice only a little as I stepped outside and closed it behind me. Tension and anger seemed to radiate from every inch of me. Even the cool, February air didn’t calm me. A few moments later, the door slid open and shut again, and I knew who it was without turning around.
“That was quite a show,” Eli commented, his tone lightly teasing as he wrapped his arms around me gently.
“Are you going to yell at me too?”
“No. I support you no matter what. You know that. It was unexpected, of course, but the more I think about it, the less surprising it is.”
“Really?”
I turned to face him and pulled back to gaze up at his face. The dim patio light threw his features into sharp relief, making the shadows beneath his eyes even more pronounced. Still, I took comfort in his unwavering support.
“Really. You’re the most selfless person I know, Kenn. Don’t worry about mom. She’ll get over it.” I raised my eyebrows in disbelief, and he shrugged in concession. “Eventually.”
“Maybe when hell freezes over,” I muttered. Eli sighed, not bothering to contradict me.
“I’m sorry for not speaking up in there.”
“No, that would’ve just made it worse. I’m sure she’ll be calling you to bitch about me on a regular basis until after the baby comes. Even if it’s just to remind you not to disappoint her like I have.”
“Well… Hopefully, she’ll figure out sooner rather than later that this doesn’t really affect her. It’s not like you ever cross paths with her friends anyway, and even if you did, you said it best. ‘Who the fuck cares?’ They’re a bunch of hypocritical old prudes.”
“I know.”
“But seriously, if Mom gets to be too much for you to handle, let me know. I don’t want you stressing out, especially now.”
“Your brother’s right,” Dad seconded, having overheard the tail end of our conversation as he stepped out of the house. “You need to take care of yourself. I’ll try to keep a muzzle on your mother as best I can.”
“Go
od luck with that,” I snorted dryly, smiling a little as Dad pulled me into a hug.
“You were right, sweet pea. What you’re doing is a beautiful thing, and I’m so proud of you.”
“Thank you,” I murmured into his shoulder. Tears of gratitude welled in my eyes, but I managed to blink them away. After a moment, he released me and clasped my shoulders.
“Now, I’d be slacking in my dad duties if I don’t at least ask… You had a lawyer look over the paperwork, right? You’re getting your medical bills and other necessities covered?”
“Yes, Dad,” I nodded, giving him a true smile this time. “We got all of the legalities squared away, and they’re covering all costs that may come up in relation to the pregnancy. They’re even going to cover my bills while I’m recovering from the birth, but I’m hoping I won’t be out of work for too long. It’s not like I can’t write from bed if I have to.”
“And there’s no chance of them changing their minds at some point and you ending up with responsibility for the baby?”
“Definitely not. Genetically, it’s their baby. I’m just carrying it.”
Dad nodded, his concerns suitably appeased, and the three of us talked for a few more minutes before calling it a night. Mom had gone to sulk in her bedroom without saying goodbye to either me or Eli, and I was grateful for her absence. Eli walked me to my car and hugged me tightly.
“Call me if you need anything.”
“Same to you,” I replied, brushing his auburn hair out of his eyes. “I know something’s going on with you, but I get the feeling you’re not ready to talk about it yet.”
“Not yet,” he agreed, avoiding my eyes. I sighed but decided not to push him.
“Okay. At least get a haircut, yeah?”
Chance Encounter (Fates Aligned Book 1) Page 6