by Simply BWWM
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 smile. “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 wher
e 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 he 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.
The train trundled along the tracks, swaying gently and clicking softly as the hills and roads and sea went by. He took her to the dining car and they got a table. He ordered lunch for them and she looked out of the window and took in all that was passing by outside.
“We’re headed south.” She said with a wink at him and he nodded.
“Indeed, we are. That’s a clever observation.”
The food arrived and they enjoyed their meal, served on pretty porcelain plates with crystal glasses and a fabric tablecloth and napkins.
It felt to her like they were in a real restaurant, though they were in a car on a train that was cutting through the California countryside. She loved it.
“You spoil me so much.” She gave him a grateful smile.
“I like to; you’re worth it, and the baby’s worth it.” He nodded down to her growing belly.
She rubbed her hand over the large bump and nodded. The baby was indeed worth it.
They enjoyed their meal and then walked back down to the window car, where they sat and looked out at the view as they slowly passed by. She held his hand and laid her head on his shoulder. He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand and she felt that she had never been so lucky as she was at that very moment.
It was perfect, she thought to herself, that one single moment out of her life, resting on the arm of a man she liked so much, carrying his baby in her body, and slipping along down the coastline of California, watching the Pacific Ocean and the hills pass.
The train wound in and out of small towns along the way, stopping to let some passengers off and to bring others on. The people around them changed as much as the scenery.
They went back to their private car and she lay down and fell asleep for a while, taking a nap as the train gently rocked her. When she woke, she saw that Cameron was sitting in a chair opposite her, watching her.
She raised her head and smiled at him. “What are you looking at?” she asked sweetly.
“I was watching an angel sleep… an angel with my baby inside of her. It was like a dream. It was a very sweet dream,” he answered her, kneeling down beside where she was sleeping and leaning over to her to kiss her. “I’d have sat there and watched you forever if you hadn’t woken up.”
She chuckled a little and wrapped her arms around his neck, tipping her face up to kiss him. She loved his kisses; the feel of his warm soft lips moving over hers. It made her feel as if the entire world had somehow slipped away and there was nothing and no one in it but just the two of them, wrapped around each other.
It wasn’t long after that he pulled her bags down and told her that it was time for them to get off the train.
When the train slowly pulled into the next town, she followed him off of the train and out into the warm evening light. There was a car waiting for them, and he helped her into it while the driver loaded their few bags for them.
A short while later, the car pulled up to a big old Victorian house that was nestled into a hill overlooking the beach and the ocean below.
“This is a bed and breakfast?” she asked, looking up at it happily.
“It is…” he said with an uncertain smile. “I only booked one room, and it has one bed, but I made sure that she has availability if you want your own room.” He walked up to her and stood before her, reaching his finger up to trace it down her cheek. “Do you… want your own room?” he asked, gazing into her eyes.
Her heart skipped several beats and her mind finally clicked into gear as she realized just what their weekend away was about, and what he was hoping for. For a moment, she wasn’t sure what she wanted. For a moment, she pan
icked a little and thought about how close she was getting to him, and how after the baby was born she wasn’t going to be close to him. She wasn’t going to be around him at all. She thought about how her heart might hurt, and how she would have a harder time letting go later if she got too close to him along the way.
But then she gazed into his sweet brown eyes and saw his earnest compassion and dedication to her, and she felt the stirrings in her that she had been trying to push back since they had begun kissing one another and getting closer, and she sighed.
“You know what, we still don’t know where this thing between us is going, and we haven’t really talked about it. I know that there may be difficult decisions ahead, but just for now, for this weekend, for this brief time with you, if I’m being true to myself, then I have to admit that I do want to share a room with you, and a bed, and much more than that.” Her heart began to race as she spoke, admitting everything that she was thinking to him,without inhibition.