Mr. Gray

by Hazel Parker

“You could always teach,” Grant suggested. Kelly made a face. He laughed at that. “So I guess that’s a no?”

  “That’s a no,” Kelly agreed. “I just don’t think that’s for me.”

  “Understandable.” Grant was going to say more, but Kelly’s name was called. They got up, making their way back to the doctor’s office. Kelly took a seat, settling in one of the chairs across from his desk. Grant took the one next to her.

  “I’m sorry that you have to do this without Monica,” she finally said, now that they were in private. Grant shrugged.

  “I’m handling it for her. She’d approve of that.” That sounded weird. Did he not want a baby too?

  “Did you meet her in college?” Kelly tried to keep the conversation light; she hoped that he was not too sensitive about discussing their relationship.

  “Oh no. I met her after I got into the business field, if that tells you anything.” Grant said the last part in a darker tone. Kelly was beginning to get a picture of their life. Somehow, she suspected that love was not the only thing that was keeping them together.

  “Have you wanted children long?” she asked carefully. She reminded herself that it was only fair. If she was going to give them a baby, she did want to know it was going to have a good home.

  “Pretty much since we got married,” Grant shrugged. “Monica has been very passionate about it.”

  Yet not passionate enough to be here, Kelly thought.

  “She really has baby fever.” Grant appeared to be trying to cover up his previous statement with something less awkward. “Maybe that just comes with her age—or seeing her friends having their own. But we’ve been going through this so long, I don’t feel much like the father. It’s more like I’m the sperm donor for the accessory to her life.”

  They fell into silence. Kelly wondered why he had felt the need to confide in her about that. Was he unhappy being married to Monica? Would they have this baby, and then Monica would take it and leave him? So many thoughts were rushing through her head. She didn’t know how to respond, but she did know that she felt bad for him. He had everything: money, looks, a great personality—yet he seemed to be lacking a real connection to his wife. Kelly did not think that was a way to live—ever.

  Fortunately, she was spared as the door opened and the doctor joined them.

  “Hello. I’m Dr. Landis.” He held out his hand to Kelly. He was a middle-aged man with a receding hairline.

  “Hi, I’m Kelly Wilson.” She shook his hand.

  “Nice to meet you.” Dr. Landis offered his hand to Grant.

  “Grant Stone.” Grant shook it.

  “Very nice to meet you, Mr. Stone.” The doctor sat down behind his desk. “This will be your baby…and your wife’s?”

  “Yes.” Grant smiled apologetically. “I do have to apologize that my wife isn’t here. She had a previous engagement.”

  “Of course. I’m sure that she’ll make all of the other appointments. Besides, this is all just information.” Dr. Landis leaned back in his chair. “So what can I tell you?”

  “Well,” Kelly began, “from what I read online, it’s a fairly easy procedure.”

  “Yes. Now from what I understand, we will be using one of Monica’s eggs and Mr. Stone’s sperm to make our embryo.” [SBM1]

  “Correct.” Grant flinched a bit at the clinical terms. But he reminded himself this was not about intimacy. This was about creating a child. He and Monica had tried intimacy—and it had not worked.

  “Which is where you come in.” Dr. Landis smiled at Kelly. She nodded firmly.

  “Yes.”

  “So you’re ready to make this type of commitment?” The doctor looked at her seriously.

  “Yep. I’m ready to give them a baby.” Kelly looked over at Grant and smiled.

  “You’re sure?” Dr. Landis repeated. “You’re very young, and this is life changing.”

  “I totally understand.” Kelly hoped that she did.

  “Ok then.” Dr. Landis shrugged. “So basically, we will run all of the necessary health screenings to make sure that you are physically up to becoming pregnant. After that, we will get you scheduled for an in vitro fertilization procedure.”

  “I could have multiple babies?” Kelly wanted to know. Dr. Landis nodded.

  “Yes. That’s always a possibility with IVF treatment. More than one embryo can take, resulting in twins, or even more. Are you prepared for it?”

  “Sure!” The prospect of multiple babies excited her more than it should.

  “Great, now Mr. Stone, are you and your wife prepared if there is more than one baby conceived from this procedure?”

  Grant had not thought of that part. He wondered if Monica had considered it.

  “Yes, of course we are.” That made Kelly feel better. She had heard so many horror stories of parents not wanting one or more of the babies.

  “Other than that, it’s just a basic pregnancy?” Kelly wanted to know.

  “Yes. Even with multiple babies, it would be very normal. You are young, and from my observation, healthy. I cannot imagine that you will have any issues.”

  “Of course.” Kelly nodded. “But I’m not worried about it either.”

  “Good.” Dr. Landis looked at them. “Anything else? Any other questions that I can answer?”

  They chatted for a few minutes longer. Kelly brought up her concern about privacy. Dr. Landis assured her that they could tell no one without her permission.

  At the receptionist’s desk, the clerk gave Kelly prescriptions for bloodwork and other lab tests, along with a collection of paperwork on surrogacy and in vitro.

  “So thanks for coming.” Kelly gave Grant a bright smile as they stepped outside.

  “Thank you, Kelly.” Grant returned her smile. “You have no idea how much this will mean to us. Monica is going to be so thrilled.”

  He was so good looking. He did not look like any businessman that she imagined. She had always pictured stuffy, older men in three-piece suits. Maybe because he was so young. Both times that she had seen him, he always looked nice, but so casually put together. And he wore his hair in such an interesting fashion. It was long for a business man—bushy almost. She loved how it curled up around the base of his neck. It looked so lush and full. She wondered just what it would be like to run her fingers through it.

  The smile fell off of her face as Kelly was jolted back into reality. Where in the hell had that come from? She was going to have his baby for both him and his wife! It was totally inappropriate for her to be thinking about running her fingers through this man’s hair!

  “Kelly?” Grant was looking at her curiously. She wondered if he had been talking to her, and she had missed his entire conversation.

  “I. Uh.” Kelly flushed. “I better head back to campus. I have a few things to work on today.”

  “Of course! You go on! Don’t let me stop you from getting your schoolwork done.” Grant pulled his phone out of his pocket.

  “Okay,” Kelly smiled. “I’ll see you soon, Grant.”

  “Yes. You too, Kelly.” He gave her another smile, but Kelly was turning to avoid it.

  Chapter 4

  Grant went back to his home office to wait for Monica. He wanted to tell her all about the appointment. He also wanted to think.

  He had no idea why he had decided to say so much to Kelly. She was a sweet girl—and so pretty. As much as he hated to admit it, there was a connection between the two of them. He had to wonder if she had felt it too. Was that why she had run off so quickly?

  But at the end of the day, he was married. It was not right for a married man to say such personal things to a young woman that he barely knew. Actually, it was wrong for a married man to say all of those things to ANY woman. He would have to be better from now on.

  Grant turned on his laptop. He stared at his emails, beginning to click blindly through the business messages. Now that he was thirty, it was so hard to re
member what it was like to be around college girls. Hell, that felt like a lifetime ago for him. Now when he was around them he felt his age rather than feeling like the young frat boy that he once was.

  Regardless, there was a connection between the two of them. There was no point in denying that to anyone. But maybe it was a good thing. Maybe that was a way of knowing for sure that she was the right person to carry their baby.

  Grant heard the front door open downstairs. He wondered if Monica would come up on her own, or if she would make him come search her out. He listened to the rustlings from downstairs, and finally heard her footsteps. Good. She was coming up.

  “How did everything go?” She appeared in the doorway of the office.

  “Fine,” he nodded, turning around to face her.

  “And you think Kelly is responsible?” Monica had been a bit nervous that Kelly was so young. He supposed that he could not fault that.

  “I think she’s going to be just fine.” Grant forced himself to smile at his wife. He had to remind himself that he was married. While things may get shaky sometimes with Monica, he was devoted to her. Besides, what couple did not hit the occasional rocky spot? He and Monica were going to finally have a baby together. Maybe that would be the connection that they needed.

  “Good.” Monica nodded. Grant tried to remember her how she was five years ago when they had gotten together. She had not been much older than Kelly. Hell, neither had he.

  “Try not to worry about it.” He knew that she would. Monica worried about most things that were out of her control. “How was your day?”

  “The usual,” she sighed distractedly.

  “We missed you today.” Grant glanced up from his computer, turning to look back at her.

  “Well, I’ll be there the next time. And at all of the other appointments.” Monica was calling to him as she headed down the hallway.

  Grant merely shook his head. He knew that Monica wanted this baby—that was not in doubt. It was her all-consuming desire.

  A new email window popped up on his computer. Grant frowned, seeing that it was from the fertility clinic. He clicked on it.

  It was a notice that they had scheduled a date for a month out for the implantation—assuming that all the tests came back well. Grant had to smile. At least he had that to look forward to. And that was what his focus had to be—his new baby, and his family. Not a pretty, young, college girl.

  Grant opened a work email, settling himself into working on the problem contained within. He allowed himself one last thought: damn, Kelly was a pretty girl.

  Chapter 5

  As expected, Kelly’s tests went perfectly. She was young and healthy, and all of the tests confirmed that. The date of the implantation stayed firm. This was really going to happen.

  Kelly was nervous. It was a big procedure to have by herself. Well, she was not fully alone: She had Monica and Grant. But they were not family, and she did not want to bring in her friends to this situation. She did not want to risk anyone saying too much.

  She had been emailing with them up to the day of the procedure. They seemed like a nice couple. And they were rich enough that they could take care of both her and this baby. Kelly was excited for them. While she knew that she had gotten involved in this for the money, she was glad that she could give this gift to them. Their family would be because of her. Not many women could start out their lives saying such a thing.

  The morning of the procedure, Kelly arrived at the doctor’s office. Monica and Grant were already waiting.

  “Hi sweetie.” Monica gave her a big hug. Kelly was a bit surprised, but embraced the other woman in return.

  “Hi Monica. Hi Grant.”

  “Hi Kelly.” Grant refrained from hugging her. Kelly did not think that was a bad thing. She could not stop thinking about how awkward she had been at their initial consult.

  “So you’re all ready?” Monica asked. Kelly nodded.

  “As I’ll ever be. Hopefully this goes well, and we get you guys a baby.”

  “That’s exactly what we’re hoping for,” Monica cooed.

  Kelly left them then. She followed a nurse back to the room, where she changed into one of the flimsy paper gowns. As she lay back on the table, she fought her nerves. She reminded herself that she was doing this for the right reasons, and that everything would be just fine. Her mother would never know.

  “It’s good to see you again, Kelly,” Dr. Landis entered the room. Kelly gave him a nervous smile.

  “Hi Dr. Landis.”

  “Are you all ready?” He sat down on a stool next to the table.

  “I think so,” Kelly answered firmly.

  “Well that’s good.” Dr. Landis handed her a clipboard. “Now I just want you to sign these forms, and we’ll get started with the implementation procedure.”

  Kelly took the clipboard. She signed her name across the lines that were marked with “X”. She noticed that her hand shook slightly. Maybe she was more nervous than she realized.

  “All right. Now that we’ve taken care of that,” Dr. Landis glanced through the forms, “I’m going to give you a mild sedative to get us started. It’s a state called twilight sleep and it’s very routine.”

  “Ok.” Kelly took a deep breath.

  “Nervous?” Dr. Landis raised his eyebrows questioningly.

  “I…guess I am,” Kelly admitted.

  “It is totally understandable.” Dr. Landis tucked her paperwork beneath his arm. “But really, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. This will be over and done with before you know what happened.”

  His confidence made her relax a bit. Kelly was able to lay back, and focus on calming herself for the moment.

  A nurse came in then. Kelly offered her right arm for the nurse to insert the needle. Almost immediately, she began to feel sleepy. Her eyes wanted to close, and she did not fight them. She was out cold.

  The next thing Kelly knew, she heard voices above her. Immediately, she tried to get her bearings. Her head felt hazy from the procedure. Kelly groaned slightly, forcing her eyes open.

  The first sight that she took in was not at all what she was expecting. Grant and Monica were leaning over her. Grant’s jaw was set in a mass of tight muscles. Monica’s lips were pressed into a tight line. Their eyes were locked on one another. Kelly could practically feel the tension between them. What had she just interrupted?

  “I…uh….”

  Two sets of eyes snapped down. They looked down at her, appearing startled.

  “Well hello there,” Monica purred. She reached out, pressing one hand to Kelly’s cheek. It felt so odd: the other woman soothing her. Monica was not that much older than her.

  “Hey,” Kelly raised one hand. She rubbed her eyes wearily. “Um, how did things go?”

  “Everything went just fine.” Grant’s hand moved down to pat hers. Kelly opened her eyes, looking up at him. For some reason, Grant’s comfort felt that much better. Monica’s was just…awkward.

  “Really?” Kelly smiled. “So am I pregnant?”

  “We certainly hope so.” Monica moved her hand from the girl’s cheek to take her hand. “But of course, we won’t know right away. The doctor advised that you take a home pregnancy test in about a week. Some of them are so advanced that they can pick up quickly.”

  “I’ll do that.” Kelly felt slightly more nervous now. What if it was positive? The thought was thrilling and terrifying at the same time.

  “Would you like some water?” Monica’s eyes were filled with sympathy.

  “Sure, water would be okay.” She had not been able to eat or drink earlier due to the sedative. While she was not currently hungry, her throat felt exceptionally scratchy.

  “Of course.” Monica moved to pick up a plastic pitcher and a cup from the table next to the bed. Kelly allowed herself to bask in the fact that Grant’s hand was still on hers. She should not have been enjoying it so much.

  “Here y
ou go.” Monica turned back to them. Immediately, Kelly felt Grant’s hand withdraw. Was that what the two of them had been fighting over? “Can you sit up a bit?”

  “I think so.” Kelly eased herself into a sitting position. She felt Grant’s hand rest on her back. She reminded herself that he was helping her sit up, but she was enjoying it too much. “Thanks.”

  She took the cup, her hand shaking a bit. Kelly sipped down the cold water.

  “The doctor wants you to rest for about a half an hour.” Monica sat down on the bed beside Kelly. Kelly nodded.

  “And then what?”

  “After you’re feeling up to travel, we’ll take you home.” Monica assured her. “And then we’ll get you back into bed so that you can rest.”

  “Monica is right.” Grant’s hand patted her back with his words. “You need to rest for the remainder of the day. And no studying.” Kelly laughed.

  “I need to read a chapter in a history book, but I can do that in bed.”

  “As long as you don’t get overly tired,” Monica fussed. “You’ll have to learn how to keep your grades up while taking it easy.”

  “I’ll do that.” Kelly smiled. “I promise.”

  It was not long before Dr. Landis returned. Kelly assured him that while she was still a bit sleepy—and starting to get hungry—that she felt fine. Dr. Landis told her that she could get dressed, gave her a handful of paperwork, and repeated the advice to rest of the remainder of the day.

  “Are you missing any classes today?” Kelly was seated in the front seat of Grant’s Mercedes, and Monica was leaning between the seats to talk to her.

  “Monica, please stop bothering the poor girl.” Grant got into the driver’s seat, starting the car.

  “I’m just worried about her.” Monica’s hand rubbed her arm. Kelly smiled faintly.

  “It’s okay, Grant, really. And no, Monica, today was my off day. And I only have a four o’clock tomorrow. So I’ll get a lot of rest.”

  “Well, that’s what I like to hear,” Monica relented, finally settling back into the car’s back seat.

  The ride to Kelly’s dorm wasn’t long. Monica and Grant wanted to walk her upstairs, but Kelly was insistent that she could do it herself.