Sister Surrogate

by LaChelle Weaver

  Nick looked baffled and confused. He ran his hands down the front of his wet, stained shirt, shaking his head. “You need to calm down, Savannah,” he said, through gritted teeth, glaring at his sister-in-law.

  Savannah charged him again, but Ivy prevented her from making any more physical contact with him.

  “Savannah, please,” Ivy begged. “This isn’t the time or the place.”

  Just then, two burly security guards came rushing up, a younger white man and an older black man.

  “What’s going on here?” the black security guard with a stomach that looked as big as two football fields, plunging over the top of his black uniform pants, inquired; Sizing them all up.

  “There’s just been a little misunderstanding,” Nick said, his eyes glued on Savannah as if he wasn’t sure if she’d go on the attack again.

  The second of the two peered at Savannah, who was panting and had tears streaming down her face. Ivy held on to her sister, hoping she calmed down. She looked like she wanted to claw Nick’s eyes out and Ivy had no doubt she would have if given the chance.

  “Ma’am, are you all right?” he asked Savannah.

  “She’s fine,” Ivy answered instead.

  “We were called up here because of some sort of altercation. As you all know, this is a hospital and we can’t have these types of disturbances. I’m going to have to ask y’all to leave,” the second one said.

  “I’m not going anywhere. Our sister is here and we’re here to see her. If anybody is going to leave, that piece of sh—,” Savannah yelled, trying to break free from Ivy’s grip to charge at Nick again, causing the second guard to stand between the three of them.

  “Ma’am, I’m going to need for you to calm down,” the security guard warned.

  “Savannah, stop this. You’re going to get us thrown out of here. Is that what you want?” Ivy chided.

  Savannah buried her face in her sister’s chest and sobbed. Ivy hugged her tightly, she felt like a fragile child in her arms.

  “I’m sorry, but again, I’m going to have to ask that you all leave. At least until everyone has calmed down and tempers aren’t so high,” the second security guard said.

  Nick shook his head, and without another word or glance at his two sisters-in-law, he left the waiting area, turning the corner to head to the elevators.

  “Savannah,” Ivy spoke gently to her sister. “We’ll go and do your radiation treatment, and if you’re feeling up to it afterwards, we’ll come back to see Bridgette.”

  Savannah didn’t respond, but continued to sob. Ivy glared at the two security guards still standing there waiting for them to leave. She led her sister out of the waiting area, herself shaken up by everything that had happened. Both of her sisters were heartbroken, and it pained Ivy. She knew that they were going to need her, and for the first time in their sisterhood, she was going to have to be the anchor. A role she wasn’t familiar with. She didn’t know how she was going to do it, but she had no choice. As she held on to her sister, she prayed for strength not only for herself, but for all three of them.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  I

  vy’s mind reeled as she sat in the waiting area in the cancer unit of the hospital while Savannah received her last radiation treatment. She still couldn’t believe what had gone down. She knew it was early, but she needed a drink, and not her usual red wine—something strong and stiff. She had a bottle of Belvedere vodka chilling in her freezer at her condo and it was calling her name, but for right now she decided to head down to the cafeteria and grab something to eat. Not because she was hungry, but she just needed different scenery. Everybody sitting in the waiting area looked morbid—she included.

  Ivy hated hospitals and what they represented for her. As a youngster, she was made to believe that they helped cure and fix people, that is until she’d lost both of her parents in this very hospital and thus, her confidence in the medical industry. And now, her sisters were here and it made her uneasy. She’d preferred to be anywhere else, like a beautiful beach in the Caribbean with one of those fruity, colorful cocktails, but she didn’t have much of a choice. She was now going to have to be responsible for someone other than herself, and that made her want to drink even more.

  After purchasing a turkey sandwich and bottle of water, Ivy found a table in the cafeteria amongst the lunchtime crowd that was starting to form and sat down. She thought about calling Bridgette to check on her, but decided to wait. It would be better to see her in person, especially since they hadn’t been getting along lately. She could only imagine what she was going through. Ivy knew her big sister was blaming herself and feeling bad about losing Savannah’s baby. She’d probably be carrying around a lot of guilt for a long time.

  Ivy still wasn’t sure if Bridgette had made the right decision in the first place to make such a sacrifice, but whatever her reasons were, Ivy couldn’t help but to respect her even more. She’d always said she’d do anything for them, and she’d certainly proved it being her sister’s surrogate and putting her own life, health and marriage at risk. But, that was who Bridgette was. Ivy thought back to one of the scariest times in her life, two years ago.

  Ivy had been dating Lawrence for about nine months when she found out he was married and then she abruptly ended it. She’d moved on with her life, and hadn’t thought much more about him, that is until his wife showed up at her front door three months later on a cold November evening, two days before Thanksgiving. Bridgette had been there because they were finalizing the details for their feast since it was Ivy’s turn to host that year.

  “Are you Ivy Alston?” the woman inquired, staring Ivy up and down.

  Ivy frowned at the woman standing on her front porch. “Who wants to know?” she asked.

  “I take that as a ‘yes’,” the woman said, shoving past Ivy into her foyer.

  “What do you think you’re doing? You can’t just come in my house uninvited,” Ivy said, surprised at the woman’s boldness.

  “I think I have every right to since you’ve been sleeping with my husband.” She turned and snarled at Ivy, causing her to backup a few inches. The woman was standing so close in her face, Ivy could feel her breath.

  “Who is your husband?” Ivy asked.

  The woman snickered in disgust. “Don’t play games with me. I’m not one to be toyed with, honey. And you’ll see that soon enough.” The woman glared at Ivy with cold, steely eyes that made her blood chill.

  Instinct told Ivy that something wasn’t right about this woman and here she was cornered between her and the front door in the small space of her foyer. She began forming an escape plan in her head.

  “Who are you and what do you want? I don’t want any trouble,” Ivy said, keeping her eyes on the woman who looked like she was going to scratch Ivy’s eyes out at any second.

  “My name is Karma. And you know what they say about her. And today, you’ll get yours,” she said, pulling out a box cutter from the back pocket of her jeans.

  Ivy screamed. Bridgette came running from the kitchen where they’d been prior to Ivy answering the door.

  “Ivy, are you all right?” Bridgette shouted before seeing what was unfolding.

  The woman turned in her direction, surprised that someone else was there.

  “What the heck is going on? Who are y—,” Bridgette’s voice trailed off at the sight of the sharp blade of the box cutter.

  Both she and Ivy seemed to be frozen in place. Ivy’s heart was pounding so hard, she could hear the thumping in her ears. If the woman was bothered by Bridgette’s unexpected presence she didn’t show it. In fact, she seemed unfazed, as she stepped closer to Ivy.

  “I’m going to teach you a lesson about opening your legs to married men. When I’m done with you, my husband nor any other man is going to want you for that matter,” the woman snarled, aiming the blade at Ivy’s vaginal area, causing her to let out a bloodcurdling scream.

  But before the crazed woman could follow through with her
plans to give Ivy a female circumcision, Bridgette came to her rescue.

  She eased up behind the woman and grabbed her arm, wrestling with her to get the box cutter out of her grip, but the woman was stronger and turned the deadly weapon on Bridgette, almost slicing her thumb off.

  Ivy screamed in horror as she watched blood spew out of her sister’s hand and drip down onto the hardwood floor, but Bridgette kept fighting even though she was badly injured. When the woman charged at Bridgette again, Ivy snapped out of her panicked state, realizing that her sister was in grave danger and could lose her life trying to save hers. She would never be able to forgive herself if something happened to her sister because of something she had nothing to do with.

  Ivy grabbed the only thing she could use as a weapon at her disposal, her large sorority umbrella from the holder by the front door and began hitting the woman with it, not caring where her blows landed, catching the woman off guard and causing her to lose her grip on her weapon. When it hit the floor, all three women lunged for it, but Bridgette got to it first. Now, defenseless and outnumbered, the woman made a hasty escape out the front door, pushing Ivy into a table on her way out, causing her to wince in pain from the impact to her back.

  Ivy had walked away with minor bruises, but Bridgette had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance for her severely injured hand where she received several stitches and would have a permanent scar. Luckily, she didn’t have any nerve damage, which was a blessing.

  After filing a report with police, Ivy found out who the woman was. Tessa Baxter was her name and she was indeed Lawrence’s wife. She was apprehended a few days later and charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Even though Ivy had broken things off with Lawrence months before, Tessa had just found out about her a few days prior to her showing up at Ivy’s townhouse, and she became enraged, and thus on a mission to “teach her a lesson” as she had threatened during her attack.

  During Tessa’s subsequent trial, it came out that Ivy had been one of many women Lawrence had omitted telling that he was married and they’d all had to deal with the wrath of Tessa after she’d found out about each of them. There were a total of six, including Ivy. The only difference between them and Ivy is that she hadn’t attempted to mutilate them. Apparently, Ivy had been her breaking point.

  Ivy couldn’t help but to feel some sympathy for Tessa. She was a woman who thought she had married a good man, but he’d turned out to be just the opposite. Now, she’d be spending time in jail and away from their four children all because her husband couldn’t honor his wedding vows. It was sad, and only confirmed what Ivy had been saying all along about marriage and why she’d never had visions of white dresses and baby rattles. It was useless. Who wanted to end up like Tessa Baxter?

  Ivy’s iPhone buzzed from an incoming text message, breaking her from the bad trek down memory lane. It was Kean.

  Looking forward to seeing you, pretty lady.

  Ivy felt bad because she was going to have to cancel. They’d made plans for a brief getaway to the North Carolina coast and were going to stay at her family’s beach house. He was planning to fly in late that Friday afternoon and they were going to make the drive to get there by that evening.

  Ivy loved that beach house, and it would be the perfect reprieve from life in Charlotte right now. She had a myriad of great memories from childhood to the present of spending time there with her family, which was a tradition they’d kept even after their parents passed away. They’d purchased the property right after Bridgette was born, and now, Ivy and her sisters co-owned it. They had done some major remodeling a few years ago, each adding their own personal touches to it while bickering through the entire process, but it had turned out beautiful. Ivy had looked forward to spending time there with Kean, if only briefly, but now, she wouldn’t be able to. She had to be around for her sisters. She hoped he’d understand.

  Chapter Thirty

  “I

  got here as soon as I could once I received Savannah’s message,” Julius said, hugging Ivy and then joining her at the table she was sitting at. He’d texted her when he hadn’t been able to reach Savannah. “I explained to the judge that I had a family emergency, so Winston will continue on without me today.”

  “I’m sure it’ll comfort Savannah to see you,” said Ivy. She noticed the worry lines etched in his face, and she knew learning of Bridgette’s miscarriage had to be just as hard on him as well.

  “How is she?” he asked.

  “Not too good. There was a little altercation.”

  Julius frowned. “With who? Bridgette?”

  Ivy shook her head. “No. Nick. And it got ugly.”

  Julius stared at Ivy in bewilderment as she relayed to him what happened between his wife and brother-in-law.

  “I regret I wasn’t here to prevent that. I feel like I should call Nick to apologize. It’s obvious Savannah is stressed over this because she would never behave that way otherwise,” said Julius.

  “I know. It took me by surprise too, but she’s been through so much and I guess this was just one more thing that sent her over the edge. We all have our breaking points,” said Ivy, finishing off the remains of her bottled water.

  “True. I hope Bridgette will be okay. I know how much she wanted to do this for us.”

  “I know my sister, and she’s going to blame herself because she always feels like she has to be responsible for everyone,” said Ivy.

  “You’re probably right, but she shouldn’t. It’s just unfortunate, but things happen,” Julius lamented.

  Ivy could hear the sadness in his voice. “How are you feeling about all of this, brother-in-law? It was your baby as well.”

  He shrugged. “It sucks, but I’m more concerned about Savannah and how she’s going to handle it. I’m afraid she’ll sink back into a depression, and I certainly don’t want that to happen.”

  “I understand. I’m worried how this will affect both of my sisters. Like you said, it’s an unfortunate situation,” said Ivy, running her fingers through the soft curls of her short, pixie-cut hairstyle.

  They both sat silently for a few minutes both in their own thoughts.

  “I haven’t told anyone just yet, and you’re the first, but I received a call from my agent a few days ago for an opportunity to work on the set of a new movie directed by Ava DuVernay. But, considering everything that has just happened I think I’m going to turn it down,” said Ivy, breaking their silence.

  “Wow, Ivy. That’s pretty major. Are you sure you want to do that?”

  “I don’t think I have a choice right now. I can’t take off somewhere for another couple months when my sisters are both dealing with such tragic losses. I feel like I need to be here for the both of them.”

  “I’m sure they both would love that,” said Julius.

  As much as Ivy had been looking forward to working with one of her idols, her sisters were now her priority. She couldn’t believe it herself that she was even considering turning down such an opportunity because up until today, she wouldn’t have given it a second thought. Good money was always her first choice, but as she was learning, it wasn’t everything—her family was though.

  ***

  Savannah rushed into her husband’s arms when she saw him and Ivy in the waiting area after her treatment was complete. She’d been a complete mess the entire time, crying on and off and causing great concern for her radiation therapist. It had to be one of the worst, miserable times of her life. She couldn’t help thinking what she had done to deserve all the terrible things that had been happening to her lately, despite hearing her mother’s voice warning her against such negative thoughts.

  “It’s okay, baby,” Julius whispered as she buried her face into his chest. She didn’t care that people were looking at them. He led her out of the waiting area and away from the curious stares with Ivy following close behind them. When they reached a more private area of the hospital in a sitting area, they sat down next to each other on a couch. Ivy excus
ed herself to go make a call to give them some alone time.

  “I really wanted this baby for us, Julius,” Savannah said, gazing at her husband through tear-filled eyes. Julius swiped her tears with his thumb, but they kept coming.

  “I know, sweetheart. We both did, but we can still be parents. There are plenty of children who need good homes. That’s something we can always consider in the future,” said Julius.

  “Would you really be satisfied with raising someone else’s child?” Savannah asked because she didn’t think she would be as much as she loved children.

  “I know I could, and I’m certain you could too. Think about all of those little faces you’re surrounded by daily, and imagine them in need of someone to love and take care of them. You would do it without hesitation,” said Julius. “That’s who you are and why you chose the profession you’re in.”

  Savannah pondered her husband’s words, but she just wasn’t as convinced as he seemed to be, and she felt disgusted with herself for her selfish thoughts, especially as an educator of young children. But, it didn’t change how she felt deep down inside—she would always want a natural child, and that brought more tears to her eyes because that chance had been snatched away from her—again.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  A

  few hours later, flowers surrounded Bridgette, and normally, she loved them. Her favorites were calla lilies and peonies. Her mother used to always say that flowers should be enjoyed while we’re living, but today, she hated the sight of them. She felt like she was in a funeral home, and they made her feel dead inside. She wanted them gone. They were too much of a reminder of her loss. She summoned the nurse into her room.

  “Is everything okay, Mrs. Harper? Are you feeling any pain?” the young, blonde nurse asked her when she entered the room and approached her bed.