Bear My Babies

“Nothing, I just needed to gush to you about Mr. Handsome out there. Whoo girl, that smile.”

Tilly had been a good friend of Melissa’s for a very long time. She was the opposite of her in most every way and they’d always just clicked.

“He wants a baby,” she laughed as Tilly fanned herself with the clipboard and started typing the things she’d written about Thomas in the computer.

“I’d be happy to help him with that.”

Tilly didn’t miss a beat. It was safe to say Melissa was the more reserved of the two.

“Calm down, you horn dog. You’re married. This is our chance, it’s a chance to use what I’ve spent the past three years working on. We can finally see how it works and if it will be successful.”

“Did you tell him the risks?”

“I didn’t.” She felt a bit ashamed. “When he picks the right girl, I’ll talk to them both and tell them what the risks are for the baby and for her.”

“You will?” Tilly raised an eyebrow.

“Of course I will!” Melissa tried to look appalled. She would never willingly let someone do what she wanted them to do without telling them that there was a risk of losing the baby and there was a risk of some pain.

“He asked if I would do the treatment on myself,” she said quietly, but Tilly heard her.

“What did you say?”

“I said I would, of course, give someone a chance to have a baby that was a part of their line, their heritage. I’d never thought of it until he asked me. Once we prove this works maybe I could be a surrogate for a paranormal family, think of the possibilities.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. You have to prove it works and get Mr. Dashing to find a good candidate.”

“He said like seventeen people or something had tried with him.”

“I don’t doubt it looking at him, honey. You know, you could do with a good bed partner, maybe you should consider why he asked if you would do it.” Tilly started to walk out of the room.

“Don’t be silly. He was accessing the risks through my willingness to do it,” she yelled after her and went back to typing in her computer. The truth was she wasn’t sure why Thomas had asked that question, and she also wasn’t sure when she’d stopped calling him Mr. McMillian in her head.

This was something she’d dreamed about for a long time. It was going to be amazing to be recognized for her work. She’d not told him she hadn’t been able to save the woman. It wasn’t something she was medically able to do at that time. It had tortured her for a long time, but she thought if this was something she could do successfully, then she could really make a difference in the paranormal world.

She didn’t realize it had gotten late as Tilly moved about turning off the lights and getting the building ready to close up. She’d been lost inside her head thinking about the possibilities. Luckily, she hadn’t scheduled any more appointments for the day, so she was able justify not keeping her focus on work.

“Are you going to your mom’s tonight?” Tilly asked.

“I am. Probably need to stop somewhere and get dinner.”

“Go ahead, I’ll close up.”

“I love you, Tilly.” Melissa shut down her laptop and headed to her car. She really hoped her mom would be having a good evening.

***

Thomas sat at his kitchen table waiting for a phone call from Blair. It was getting later and he thought Blair would be a lot quicker than he was. He was eating some take-out leftovers and having a glass of wine while reading one of the many magazines he kept meaning to cancel the subscription for.

The knock on the door took him off guard. No one ever came to his apartment unannounced. He slowly walked over and peeked into the hall to see Blair’s distorted face looking back at him.

“Let me in, I have news.”

“What the hell? Why couldn’t you just call me?”

“Because this is much more dramatic, don’t you think? Do you have a nice scotch?”

Thomas got up and went over to fix a drink, mostly because he wanted to know what Blair had found out and if it would be to his advantage. Once he’d gotten his drink and taken a sip, Blair pulled out a folder that looked really thick.

“Is that all the information about her?”

Blair blinked and stared at the folder. “Oh no, I have another meeting after this.”

“You’re a strange person, Blair.”

“So here’s what you need to know. Her mother is currently very sick and she’s paying for her treatments because the insurance isn’t cutting it. She’s also going through a messy divorce with a fairly crazy man who is costing her a lot of money as well. Throw in lots of school loans and the cost of living and it’s a mess. It’s great news!” Blair beamed.

Thomas gave him a scolding look.

“Okay, well, it’s not great for her, but it does mean she needs money and that means you will be able to entice her.”

“Yes, now you just have to help me figure out a way to offer it without letting on that I know, and without it seeming really unsavory.”

“I feel like no matter what you do, it’s going to be unsavory. Hopefully, you’ll get some weird and kinky make a paranormal baby s*x out of it.” Blair wiggled his brows and plopped down on the couch.

“You’re no help at all,” Thomas said and sat next to him to think.

“Hey, I found all the information you needed, I’d say I’m heaps of help. Personally, I think you’re brave wanting to have children at all. What a crazy responsibility, and you can’t sleep with whoever you want. No, thank you.”

“Actually, this will be an arrangement where we aren’t in a relationship. I can actually sleep with anyone I want to.”

“You truly think a chick is going to allow you to impregnate her and not want a relationship?” Blair had stood up and bent down in his face.

He pushed him back, almost causing him to fall over the coffee table. “Yes, I do. When you establish the rules early on, then it can be successful. Like any good arrangement, you know what the expectations are going in and you don’t get hurt. Piece of cake.”

“Oh, that’s brilliant.” Blair laughed. “I’m taking bets on this at our next cigar party.”

“That’s really mature, Blair.”

“It’s perfect; this will be the most fun I’ve had betting on someone’s life.”

“You realize how insane that sounds?”

“I do, but don’t worry, I’m going to take a gamble and bet that it will work out just the way you think it should.” He was counting numbers on his fingers with his tongue out. Thomas just let him do his thing.

“Thanks, buddy.” Thomas got up and fixed a drink, hoping his college buddy would leave soon. He was always too much to handle after a certain time of the day.