“Not yet,” I said.
“I've heard about this place you’re going to. I heard it was where Brad and Angelina had the procedure to have the twins.”
“Sounds like I’m in good hands then.”
“No man on the scene?” he asked. I pursed my lips. Nothing wrong with a little curiosity but it was none of his business and I told him so. “Hey, I don’t mean any offense. My brother’s gay and he and his husband had a lady carry their baby for them. I think it’s a beautiful thing.”
How much did they pay her, I wondered. A beautiful thing? Sure, but I had slightly more practical reasons for doing it. We arrived and I walked into the building. The outside didn’t prepare me for what was inside. I walked into the cool, beautifully decorated reception and waiting area. It looked nothing like any medical center I had been to. Throw a couple of racks with some wedding dresses in there and it would pass for a bridal boutique. It was all white and light blue and the woman behind the desk looked like an Instagram model.
“Hello? Hi, I’m Brenna Andrews. I’m here for a meeting with a client?” I said to her. She smiled and told me to wait one moment after giving me a number. I settled into one of the plush white couches. I was sitting there just long enough for my initial, very minor nerves to expand tenfold. This was it. I was about to look fifty thousand dollars in the face. Who was the person standing between me and the money? Like some sort of belated realization, a montage of me actually getting pregnant and carrying a baby to term played through in my mind.
This wasn’t a joke. I was going to have a baby. I was going to have a baby for a stranger.
“Number 17?”
That was me. I got up and followed the beautiful nurse to a door. She opened it and let me through. It wasn’t an office. It looked like a small conference room. There was a large table with chairs arranged on three sides of it. At one end was an older woman in a suit, the man next to her was also in a suit. Blue eyes, blond hair, a light tan. I could have sworn it was…
Oh my god.
I stopped mid-stride. He looked at me and his eyes widened. I knew those eyes anywhere.
“Ms. Andrews is everything okay?”
I cleaned my throat and shook my head. “Yeah, yeah sure.” I walked into the room and sat across the table from the woman and Charlie.
Charles Hampton. The man I lost my virginity to. The man who turned the best summer of my life into the worst one in a matter of days. I was so sure I’d never see him again. What were the chances? I knew that he was based in New York but in a city of eight million people what were the chances that we would run into each other? And at a place like this for that matter. I felt my heart start to pound and I felt hot even though the room was airconditioned.
Damn, he still looked good. Shit, why couldn’t he have lost all his hair?
“Brenna Andrews?” the woman in the suit said. “I’m Rachael. Thank you for coming to join us on such short notice. What we want to do today is simply talk you through the surrogacy process here at Nova Fertility with both parties present.” I nodded because she had stopped talking, not because I actually heard her say anything. I studiously avoided Charlie’s gaze.
The thought that I was going to be carrying his child chose to hit me right at that moment and I would have passed out if I wasn’t already seated. This wasn’t real. I didn’t really submit myself for surrogacy services. No way. Why would I do something as crazy as that? This was an alternate dimension where ridiculous things happened. It had to be.
“So, are we clear so far?” she asked.
“Huh?” I asked. I hadn't heard a single word out of her mouth. Charlie cleared his throat.
“Sorry, what was that?” he asked her.
“I said there is going to be a delay in the implantation process because we are yet to secure an egg donor for you.”
“No. No delays. I want this as soon as possible,” Charlie said.
“Sir, it’s not something we can avoid. We can expedite it as much as possible but egg donor screening is even more rigorous than surrogate screening. This person is going to be your child’s biological mother. People usually spend a lot more time selecting for the egg donor because their baby will be inheriting half of her traits.”
Charlie leaned in over the table looking at me. “I don’t want to wait. I’m willing to pay a substantial amount more if Ms. Andrews is willing to donate the egg.”
I swallowed. “I beg your pardon?”
He didn’t break eye contact. “I said, Brenna, I want your egg.”
5
Charles
My heart slammed so hard in my chest it almost hurt. I couldn’t breathe. It was her. Brenna Andrews, in the flesh in front of me. This wasn’t a dream.
She was the woman who was going to carry my baby and if that was the case then it wasn’t enough. I hadn’t seen her in seven years.
Seven long years and this was the way she walked into my life.
If I wasn’t so overwhelmed, I’d laugh. I swallowed because my throat had dried out.
“I was only interested in carrying the pregnancy, not in donating an egg.”
“No, I want your egg,” I said. Her eyes widened and I realized how I sounded; like a maniac. At the moment I was insane. I would lose my mind if I let Brenna Andrews walk out of my life again. It was a lot to spring on someone I hadn’t so much as spoken to for seven whole years but I could explain later. I needed to make sure she didn’t walk out that door without the reassurance that I’d see her again.
“I’m willing to offer a very generous sum of money for you to do it.”
“I really don’t think this is something I can put a dollar amount on,” she said.
“How much do you want?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I can’t…”
“A million dollars. All yours if I can have your egg and you carry the baby too.”
She was visibly shaken. I didn’t like stressing her out but I had to do it. I couldn’t let her go without asking. What were the chances that she was in front of me again after so long? Almost as low as the chances that we would remain in touch if she walked out that door again.
“That much?” she asked. Her voice was strong despite her obvious shock.
“Considering you adhere to a number of stipulations, yes.”
Her eyebrows raised. “What stipulations?”
“Mr. Hampton, we…”
“First of all, this has to be a matter of the utmost privacy. You’re going to have to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Nobody but you and I will know that you are having this child. If the press finds out, I will know that the only possible leak was you.” We completely left Rachael in the dust. This was a far more personal matter than she realized.
Brenna nodded then crossed her arms. “What else?”
That one was already a given. I didn’t want anybody to know that I was expecting a child. The identity of the surrogate would be kept secret no matter what, but the story was mine to tell, if and when I decided to reveal it. The press, especially the British press would have a field day if something like this came out. My family was known and this would reflect poorly on them. They didn’t deserve to get heat for my decisions. The next couple of stipulations, I had just come up with.
“I am going to cover all the costs, naturally. That’s medical, maternity clothes, supplies, food, everything. If you want money to buy nachos at three AM, I’m covering it,” I said. Brenna nodded again. She was giving me something priceless, inconveniencing herself in the most profound way. Whatever she needed, it was my responsibility, which brought us to the next stipulation. Something told me she wouldn’t be so agreeable to it when she heard.
“You are going to move into my townhouse in Chelsea so that I can make sure you maintain health standards throughout the pregnancy.”
Rachael coughed loudly. We had ignored her this whole conversation. Brenna’s mouth fell open and for a second, I thought that I blew it.
“Your first and s
econd stipulations, I can understand but this one, I simply cannot get behind,” she said.
“It’s in my best interests that you’re doing as you say you will be doing.”
“I am a grown woman who is perfectly capable of maintaining a healthy lifestyle without your supervision.”
“It’s one million dollars. One million dollars for nine months of work. That is the offer on the table, provided you move into my townhouse and live with me for the duration of the pregnancy.”
She panicked. I pushed too hard. She was going to shut it down and walk away. I couldn’t pay her enough to get her to do this for me. Back to the drawing board. They were going to set me up with someone else. This meeting after seven years would mean nothing.
She looked at Rachael, then she looked back at me. I had her, almost but something was holding her back. I wanted it to be weaker than the thing pushing her to say yes. Greed, desperation, a combination of both? It didn’t matter. I wanted Brenna Andrews to be the mother of my child in every way. All she had to do was say yes.
“Okay,” she said, finally.
“Okay?” Rachael asked, shocked.
“Okay. I’ll do it. But I have some stipulations myself,” she said. I could have cried, this was such good news but I kept my composure.
“What are your terms?” I asked her.
“I will donate an egg and I will carry the pregnancy. I agree to your terms, but I won’t do it without a down payment upfront. This kind of thing goes wrong all the time and I don’t want to get left in the cold in case something does,” she said. Nothing was going to go wrong and even if it did, I’d never leave her hanging. Money was a strong motivator for her in this, I realized. I didn’t care because I’d give her more than the million I had offered if she asked for it. Now, I was just curious. What had happened since the last time we met that would get her to a place like this?
“Fine,” I said. “Anything legal, my lawyers will figure out. Do we have an agreement?” I asked, holding my hand out for her to shake. She looked at it with something I thought was contempt. I didn’t want her to think of me like that but I wanted her in my life any way I could get her.
She took it. A spark ran through my hand and up my arm from the touch of her skin.
“Deal,” she said. “Are we done here?” she asked. Rachael said that we were and they would be in contact in case they needed anything else. Brenna thanked her and walked out of the room without a glance backward. I slumped down in the chair, leaning back and looking up at the ceiling. I couldn’t believe it. I laughed. Brenna Andrews was going to be the mother of my child. If someone had told me that would be the case just this morning, I wouldn’t have believed them.
“Mr. Hampton?” the woman said. I sat up and looked at her across the desk. “Now that the agreement has been reached, our percentage is one hundred thousand dollars.” I laughed again. I’d pay a lot more than that to get Brenna back into my life.
“You’ll get it,” I said. “Anything else?”
Nope, that was all.
I walked out of the center feeling physically lighter. Talk about killing all the birds with one stone. I was going to have a child and finally get my mother off my back but most of all, some twist of fate had sent Brenna Andrews back into my life. She was having my baby and she was moving into my home. Nothing was getting better than this. Nothing.
6
Brenna
I saw red. I walked away from Nova Fertility fuming. Of all the fucking fertility clinics in the world, he had to choose this one? Of course, he did. It was the most expensive one in the city. He had a million dollars to throw away just like that. That was enough to get the girl you humiliated seven years ago back into your life for the next nine months with no repercussions.
I got on the train and got my phone out.
Leaving soon? Happy hour? I texted to Maggie.
Do we have something to be happy about? she texted back. To be honest I was so mad, the energy coming off me could power the city for a week. I hit her back with the shrugging emoji and she sent me back the laughing crying face.
Meet you at Hysteria at the end of the block? she asked. It was an establishment that served alcohol, really any would do right now. I told her to meet me there because I’d probably get there before her. I needed a tall, stiff one. Something terrible was happening. Some awful cosmic punishment was being put on me for something I did in a past life. That had to be it. What the hell were the chances that I saw Charles Hampton again, much less that he would be needing a surrogate and I would be broke and desperate enough to be offering my services as one?
I sat at the bar and ordered a shot of whiskey. Memories of that night together came flooding back. He was my first. I wasn’t being precious about giving my first time up to someone special, but at the time, he was someone special and I felt good about having sex with him for the first time. I felt like he wouldn’t hurt me or make me feel bad about it afterward. He would make sure it was as good for me as it was going to be for him. He wouldn’t just pump and dump me.
So much for thinking the best of people. I threw back my shot and ordered another one. A little communication on his part would have been nice. Just a dash of human decency to tell me that he didn’t feel the same way about me as I felt about him. Why was that so hard to do? Who was holding a gun to his head telling him that he had to make me think we had something that we didn’t?
“You started without me,” Maggie said, walking up to me.
I shrugged and threw the shot back, then winced as it burned down my throat. “You were too slow.”
She perched on the stool next to me. “Is something wrong? Does this have to do with whatever happened this afternoon? Slow down would you?” she said when I signaled the bartender for another drink.
“Gotta get it while I still can. Pretty soon I’ll be forced into sobriety.”
“Why? What are you talking about?” she asked.
“Well, it’s generally frowned upon to do shots while pregnant so…” I took down the third shot.
“You got it? Lucky they never asked about your alcohol tolerance,” Maggie said, patting me on the back when I coughed. I looked over at her. Her expression fell.
“What happened during that meeting at the clinic?” she asked.
“I’m supposed to be sworn to secrecy, but I haven’t signed the NDA yet,” I said.
“You know I’m not going to say anything.” Ordinarily, I would tell Maggie anything, but I had a healthy fear of men who could throw around millions of dollars without blinking an eye. She knew I was going to be a surrogate though and she knew where I went that afternoon.
“Okay, no names. Don’t ask me who this dude is, I can’t tell you. He’s rich though. Very rich. He wants to have a baby with a surrogate for god knows what reason, but get this. I know him.”
“Who is he?” she asked.
“I told you I can’t tell you,” I slurred. “He’s this guy I spent the summer with right after high school. Seven years ago.”
“So, he’s not a stranger. Isn't that a good thing?”
“No. He broke my heart,” I said, cringing at how petulant I sounded.
“What happened?” she asked. It wasn’t like I wanted to remember but at the same time, I had never ever forgotten. It was hard to forget your first and worst heartbreak. The summer that we spent together, I hadn’t had any expectations of us going the distance, but I never thought I’d heal after the way things ended. Maggie didn’t really know the story, just that my first time had been with a guy I liked who turned out to be an asshole. It was embarrassing to think about. I didn’t have many regrets in my life but that was one of them
“He was a lifeguard and I was working the snack shack. It was Dana Point Beach. He was a couple of years older; everyone was and I felt really out of place but he always reached out and tried to make me feel comfortable. We were friendly and then it turned flirty. He ended up being my first.”
“How did it go? Was i
t good?”
“I loved him. Honestly. I knew the chances that we would actually get to be together after the summer were slim to none but it was nice. It was special. It actually meant something with him. It made me think that there might have been some hope. But then the summer ended. His mother… his mother told me to stay away from him.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“I swear to god. It was like an episode of Dynasty or something. She told me I was worthless. I was trash and her son was too good for me.”
“What did you do?”
“I wish I told her that that wasn’t what he said when we were having sex but I was nineteen. I was scared and ashamed and confused, I just let her win.”
“What did he say?”
“Nothing. Not a damn thing and now here he comes with a check for a million dollars asking me to have a baby for him. I’m good enough for that but not good enough to be with him somehow,” I said with a scoff.
“Wait, wait. One million dollars?” she repeated.
“He upped the price because he wants to use one of my eggs instead of finding an egg donor,” I said.
“Oh, honey, I didn’t realize. Why are you doing it then? Couldn’t you say no?”
“To a million dollars?” I said.
“I know you need the money. You wouldn’t have to worry about your mother’s bills anymore but the odds aren’t stacked in your favor. He’s got the upper hand in every way. It might get dicey for you is all I’m saying.” I laughed. Oh, she hadn’t even heard the worst of it yet.
“It gets worse. He offered the one mil, right? And of course, that amount of money could fix most of my problems. I wanted in, but he had all these stipulations. He was like, you have to sign an NDA and that wasn’t even the bad part. He wants me to move in with him for the whole pregnancy.”
“What the hell? Move-in with him? What kind of psycho asks their surrogate to live with them?”
Admit You Miss Me: A Surrogate Pregnancy Romance (Irresistible Billionaires Book 1) Page 4