by Cj Howard
Kelly watched her silently without judgment or opinion expressed on her face. She just listened.
“Well, when we both said it we realized that we’ve both wanted each other, and we’ve both been holding back all of this time, and we kissed again. More this time.” She smiled widely to herself as she thought back to it. “It was so nice.”
She looked back at Kelly. “We both agreed that we don’t know where this is going to go, but we are glad that it happened, and that we were able to admit to each other that we’ve been interested in each other that way. It’s freeing, and there’s a good feeling of release that I don’t have to hold it in anymore and try to repress what I wanted. So, that’s where we are now and neither of us knows what’s coming next.”
Jasmine took a sip of her drink and stopped talking, waiting for Kelly’s response.
Kelly gave her head a shake and set her glass of tea on the table. “I’ll tell you what’s coming next honey. There’s a baby coming next. There’s a baby and there’s also another woman who is carrying one of his babies. Remember her? You are not alone in this, and if he is taking such good care of you and your baby, I’m sure he’s taking just as good a care with her and her baby. Who knows if there’s anything going on between them.”
Jasmine frowned and her shoulders sank down. “I do think of her from time to time. Her name was Eva. Eva Cruz. I haven’t told Cameron that I know about her, and he hasn’t brought her up which makes me think that he doesn’t want me to know about her. I don’t know why he’s keeping her a secret otherwise, unless it’s just about the babies for him and he’s keeping it all a secret. I don’t think that he would have told her about me either, and she doesn’t know that I am carrying his baby because I never told her that.
When she asked me who the father was, I just said it was a businessman in Silicon Valley. I didn’t tell her who it was. She chose to tell me who hers was, and when she did I didn’t speak up and tell her that we are pregnant with the same man’s kids, so she probably has no idea that we’re both carrying babies at the same time for him. The only way that she would know is if he told her about me, and since he hasn’t told me about her, I’m sure that he hasn’t told her about me.” She still felt sick about it, but she tried to push it aside and focus on the good things going on.
Kelly leaned forward and took Jasmine’s hands in hers. “Listen to me, sister. You are pregnant right now. Your body is one giant hormone factory right now, and all those little hormones are raging all over the place, and I’m sure that’s why you are sniffing around Cameron, interested in kissing and all kinds of other natural things. That’s just the way that pregnancy works, but I want you to think with your head and not with your body or your heart.
You are his employee. You are being paid to carry his child, and you are going to hand his child off to him and disappear from the picture. That’s how this works, and you know that, but you’re letting yourself forget it. Not only is this a temporary job, you already know that there’s another woman and another baby involved, and he hasn’t seen fit to tell you about her, even though he and you are getting closer. Now, it might just be me, but that doesn’t sound right to me at all.”
“Jasmine, my dearest, you have to be careful. You cannot afford to be hurt in all of this. You are going to have to look out for yourself and protect yourself. Put yourself first in this. Keep your head out of the clouds. You don’t know where this is going to go, and you need to keep your eyes open about that. Don’t get all caught up in a romance that is going to end in you walking away. Be careful. Be true to yourself.” Kelly leaned back then and watched Jasmine.
Jasmine pressed her lips together thoughtfully. “I know that you’re right. You are. I do have to think ahead here. I have to be careful. I do like him though, and there’s no denying that.” She wished that it was easy, but Kelly was right. She had to be true to herself, and in being honest with herself she had to face the fact that she liked him and she did want him romantically.
Chapter5
Jasmine saw Cameron about once or twice a week for different things; outings to the park to walk, dinner out, movies, classical music concerts. Every time they saw each other they grew closer, holding hands, holding each other, and kissing; sometimes just a little, and sometimes when there was no one else around, a bit more, leaving them thinking about things beyond kissing.
They didn’t talk about where it was going, or what they might want beyond it, but they both savored the time that they shared and each other’s company, and both of them were glad and relieved that they had admitted it to each other and had found that they both wanted to share it with one another.
She reached the middle of her fifth month, and went see Dr. Clayton alone even though Cameron had mentioned going with her to one of the appointments. She wasn’t ready for him to find out that the child that she was carrying was a girl.
Jasmine had begun talking with him about the possibility of having a girl be the heir he was looking for, but every time she brought it up he said that he was focused on having a son, and she realized just much it meant to him. She felt like she needed more time to convince him that it could be fine another way.
She went to the appointment on her own, and Andrew was happy to see her, and though he was professional with her concerning the baby, making sure that they were both healthy and that the baby was growing as it should, when the appointment was done, he brought up the possibility of dating her again.
He spoke with a kind tone, his eyes steady on her as they talked. “Jasmine, I’m going to ask you again because you haven’t told me no, and I don’t want to lose the chance that you might at some point say yes, but have you considered dating me? Have you given any thought to it?”
She sighed. She wasn’t at all surprised that he was asking her again, and in fact she had suspected that he would bring it up again, but she still wasn’t sure that she wanted to date him, especially since things between her and Cameron had changed the way that they had.
“Dr. Clayton,” she began and he stopped her with a smile, holding his hand up.
“Andrew, please. Truly, at this point, you should be calling me Andrew.” He spoke with a friendly tone.
She sighed a little and nodded. “Okay, Andrew, I know you’re interested in me, and I know that you’re a good man and that you’d probably be a good person for me to date, but it’s just a little strange for me, thinking about being with you on a date. Besides the fact that you’re my doctor and I’m your patient, I’m pregnant with another man’s baby that you put inside of me. It’s just… a little strange, that’s all. I can’t seem to get past that to get to the idea of dating you, though I know that it would probably be fun and I’d probably enjoy it quite a bit. Do you see what I mean?” she asked, hoping that he could somehow see her side of it.
He gave her a thoughtful nod. “I do understand that, and I can definitely see your point, but there are some extenuating circumstances here. Yes, I am your doctor, but only until this baby is born. After that I won’t be your doctor anymore, and that’s only a few months away. In addition to that, you might be pregnant right now, but you aren’t keeping the baby; the baby is going to be gone, and then you’ll be on your own. No baby, no man, no pregnancy, and it would be just you and me like we were any other new dating couple. So, there’s that to think about.
The other thing is that since Mr. Elliot doesn’t want a girl and he only wants a boy, you might wind up with this child and if you do then I want you to know that I’m glad to be around for that. I don’t mind dating you if you have this baby and keep it. That’s not a turn off for me or a deal breaker. I’m in the business of babies because I love them. Babies don’t bother me. I’d really like it if you gave this some serious thought.”
She gave him a nod. “I’ll think about it. You make some good points, but when it comes down to brass tacks, I just really feel like I’m not ready for anything like that right now.”
He sighed and gave her a half s
mile. “I can respect that. I don’t want to push, but you haven’t really said no, and I don’t want to give up on you if there is any chance at all that it might happen. You’re worth going after, and you’re worth getting, and I’m going to keep trying until I either succeed with you, or you kick me to the curb.” He laughed a little then and she laughed as well.
“For now, you and the baby are both doing really well and that’s the priority. Keep up the good work with the lifestyle that you’re leading right now. Everything that you are doing is working really well for you both, so keep it up.” He gave her a wink as he headed out of the door. “I’ll see you next month, unless you call me first.”
She readied herself to leave and was just heading into the lobby when she saw Eva Cruz come in; the other woman who was pregnant with Cameron’s other baby. She froze in mid-step when she saw the lovely woman walking in, and she managed to recover before the woman looked up and saw her.
Eva blinked when she saw her, and smiled as she waved. “Hello! It’s Jasmine, right?” she asked coming toward Jasmine with her hand extended.
Jasmine shook the other woman’s hand. “Yes, good memory. Eva Cruz, correct?” Jasmine asked, wishing that the other woman’s name hadn’t been emblazoned on her memory.
“Yes, that’s right!” Eva grinned at her. “How’s your pregnancy going?”
Jasmine smiled. “It’s going very well.” She placed her hand over her belly and thought of the little girl beneath her palm. She looked down at Eva’s belly. It was becoming more round. She wondered if Eva was carrying the son that Cameron so desperately wanted.
“And you? How is your baby coming along?” she asked in return.
Eva grinned and patted her belly. “Everything is perfect. Healthy and happy.” She stopped then and held her finger up to Jasmine as if she had just come up with an idea. “You know, I’m glad that I ran into you. I just started taking a birthing class, and it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done. Maybe it could be of some help to you! If you like, I’ll give you my number, and we can go to lunch and I’ll tell you all about it. I’d love to chat with you. Would you mind? Would you be interested in going to lunch with me?”
Her bright smile and beautiful eyes were set on Jasmine, and Jasmine felt as if she didn’t want to say no, as there was really no reason in the world why she should. She might wind up being friends with the woman at some point, and she could use the help of a birthing class, and she thought to herself that if she was to have lunch with Eva, she could ask her about the gender of her baby without seeming nosy.
“Yes, that sounds great! Let me give you my number. I’d be glad to go out and have lunch with you.” Jasmine recited her phone number for Eva as Eva put it into her phone, and then sent Jasmine a text.
“Oh, that’s me. That’s my number. So just call me when you have some free time and we’ll go have lunch and talk! I’d be so glad to visit with you!” Eva beamed at her and Jasmine gave her a wave as she walked out of the door and Eva took a seat to wait for her appointment.
She went out to dinner with Cameron that night and told him about the doctor visit, leaving out the details that her doctor was still keenly interested in taking her out on a date, and that she was having a girl. Neither one of those subjects was anything that she wanted to discuss with Cameron. Instead they talked about just about everything else.
When the evening was done, he took her home and stood on her front porch with her, holding her close to him and kissing her, pausing now and then to feel the baby moving inside of her. As their kisses grew more heated and longer lasting, and they both began to realize that they wanted more, Cameron looked at her and sighed.
“We’re going to have to see about this. I don’t know how many more times I can walk away from you, when all I want to do is stay with you and kiss you until the sun comes up.” He gave her a smile and told her goodnight, heading back to his car.
She knew what he meant, as she watched him drive away she thought about Kelly’s words of warning to her, and she wondered if she was letting it go too far, or if it was going to go much further, and if so, just how far she was willing to let it go.
A few days later, on a Friday morning, Cameron called her. “I want to do something really special for you. I want you to pack a bag for the weekend this weekend. Come away with me. Spend the whole weekend with me.” He sounded anxious as if he was hoping beyond hope that she would say yes.
Jasmine thought of saying no right away, of not going with him and spending that much time with him, or being that close to him for a whole weekend, but if she was being true to herself the way that Kelly had told her that she should be, then she knew that she would actually love it, and that she would want to do something fun like run away with him for a weekend, and spend those days holding his hand and kissing him often.
“Okay, I’ll go. Will you tell me where we’re going?” she asked curiously.
He sounded as if he won a prize that meant everything to him. “No, I’m afraid not. It’s a surprise, but it’s a good surprise, and I think you’ll love it. So, pack your bag and get ready and we’ll leave on Friday night. You’ll want clothes for the coast; so, layers and a swimsuit if you think you might get into water.”
“That sounds like a lot of fun. Should I bring anything nice to wear? Dressy?” she asked feeling the excitement in her grow as they talked about it and he hinted at what they were doing and where they would be going.
“I would.” He suggested with a coy laugh.
“Alright then. I’ll be ready to go on Friday. And Cameron, thank you so much. I appreciate all of the things that you do for me.” She meant it. She knew that a surrogate pregnancy for just about anyone else would never have gone the same way that this one had with him, and she was glad that she was one of the ones he had chosen to carry his children, though sometimes she wished that she had been the only one, and that he would at least tell her about Eva.
They ended the call and she was able to spend the next two days dreaming about what his weekend away with her was going to consist of.
Saturday came and Cameron arrived at her door to pick her up. He looked like a boy on Christmas morning, he was so excited to take her on their weekend trip. He helped her with her overnight bags and then he drove them to a train station not far from where she lived. He parked and she smiled at him and raised an eyebrow.
“We’re taking a train?” she asked interestedly, “But you won’t tell me where we’re going?”
He shook his head. “No, it’s a surprise. Think of it as a flower bud that’s blooming open and enjoy the bloom.” He winked at her.
“I like your flower analogy. Enjoy the bloom.” She smiled as she walked with him to the little station house to wait for the train.
It was an old-fashioned train station, , one that had been there a long time, and thought it looked like it was vintage, it was well kept up. They sat on a curved wooden and iron bench, glad for the shade that held off the warm summer sun. There were old, intricately designed iron lamp posts around the station, and she thought of the way that they glowed at night, looking like they were shining in an old silver screen movie from the 40’s.
There were trees around the station, and plants and flowers. People were standing there, waiting for various trains to come through. Most of them weren’t going very far and only had day bags or bicycles with them to use when they arrived at their destinations.
A few trains came and went, and Jasmine paused in her conversation with Cameron to ask him about them. “Are we early or is the train late?”
He laughed lightly. “It’s a little of both, but I like to make sure I’m on time for things, even if they are running behind, so we were here a little early, and the train should be here soon.”
Only a few minutes later, a train pulled up and he ushered her onto it. He spoke to the porter and the man took them through a few cars until they got to a private bunker car. They went into their cabin and she was impressed to see that h
e had rented a car with beds, a sofa, and their own private bathroom.
“It’s not a long journey, but I did want you to be comfortable, in case you wanted to sleep or anything like that. There’s a dining car and we can go in there any time that you like. There’s also a viewing car, if you’d like to sit in it and watch the scenery go by. That’s nice.” He put her bags in the storage bin for her.
She gasped as she looked around and laughed. “This is incredible! I’ve never seen one of these cars. I’m so excited!”
He looked as if he couldn’t be more thrilled that she was happy. “I’m so pleased to hear that,” he told her with a smile.
They sat in their car for a few minutes to enjoy it and to look around, but then she wanted to see the rest of the train so he took her on a little tour.
“I take this train sometimes for business when I’m going up and down the coast, if I’m able to take my time and I’m not in a rush. I enjoy it. It’s an easy-going and pleasant way to travel, and it’s better for the environment, and I love the scenery and the service.” He walked with her through the window car where the windows were nearly like walls, going all along the sides and up to the roof of the train, curving upward so that there was even a view of the sky.