His Surrogate For Hire

The warm air felt good against her skin. It would be fall very soon and she would miss the summer weather. The baby was due in early spring, giving her plenty of time to get a plan in order for her life post partum.

Diana thanked the chef when he brought her lunch to the gazebo. Steamed vegetables, grilled salmon, and roasted potatoes. She asked to skip the wine and opted for sparkling water instead.

Alone with her thoughts and the roses, Diana ate her lunch in peace. The sun felt invigorating on her face as she closed her eyes and held her face up to the sun. She decided it would be good to go over and lounge on the swing for the rest of the afternoon with her tablet so she could catch up on some reading and possibly surf the internet to get enrolled in some of the classes she wanted to take.

Diana decided she would like to keep this kind of pace in life. There was no reason for her to have to give up the calm she now felt. Being here at the mansion showed her she could do anything if she put her mind to it. Clay told her the story about how hard he worked and how often he had to go against the naysayers.

There would be a lot of hard work, but she had to do it. To have such a great opportunity at hand and not take full advantage would be insane. Numbers had always been a passion of hers and she wanted to go ahead and get some classes under her belt for accounting. Nine months would be plenty of time to get some classes completed.

Sitting on the swinging chaise, Diana got a great view of the entire backyard. The land, with expertly manicured lawns and the topiaries in the gardens, the gazebo down by the pond, all of it was breathtaking. It was the kind of just reward for the kind of hard work and sacrifice Diana knew Clay put in.

Right then, the desire was there to make a life for herself, a life bigger than what she originally had in mind. Diana logged off of the tablet, sat back and rocked on the swing.

She could see the gardener turn around to talk with someone. Craning her neck to see, she saw Clay walk up behind the gardener. The two men spoke for a moment and then Clay looked up, seeing her across the way on the swing. Clay threw his hand up, waving to her. She returned the greeting, waving back.

Clay made his way across to her. Her heart began racing just as she realized she would have to tell him she was pregnant. Not knowing exactly what to say, she thought it best to just start a regular conversation and take her time divulging the information.

“This is the perfect place to be right now. The weather could not be more beautiful.” Clay smiled as he took a seat next to her on the swing. The spicy scent of his cologne floated on the warm breeze. It had become a comforting scent around the house.

“It is a beautiful day. That’s why I thought I should have lunch outside. Then it was too nice to go in, so I sat out here, reading and relaxing.”

“Relaxing. Just what I need you to do.” His smile was wide, full of happiness.

“I have learned to do that so much more. Thank you.”

They sat swinging, neither of them talking about what was on their minds. The words were welling up in Diana’s throat, on the verge of spilling forth. She knew he would be happy to know she was pregnant. That was what he wanted so badly in the first place. Why was it so hard for her to just say it?

Clay looked at her, and it was as if his green eyes were seeing right through her.

“Diana, come on, out with it. It looks like you have something you want to tell me.”

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Is it that apparent?” she asked, opening her eyes to look at him. Nervously, she brushed the hair back that was tumbling in to her eyes.

“Kind of,” he chuckled.

There were all types of thoughts running through her head on how she could explain to him that she was pregnant. On television, the woman always did something cute to get the man’s attention and let him know she was pregnant. She was all tapped out of ideas here. This would just have to be very simple.

“I went in to see Dr. Carroll today to prep for another round of in vitro.”

Clay inched closer to her, taking her hand in his. His expression was hopeful, eyes sparkling with a glimmer of optimism.

“So? How did everything go?”

Diana squeezed his hand. The trouble with telling him she was pregnant was not so much about how he would react to the news. She knew he would be happy about the pregnancy. It was the part where he figured out the conception occurred the natural way that made her wonder how he would react.

“Everything went just fine. I’m healthy. Dr. Carroll gave me a clean bill of health.” Diana hoped her response came across cool and calm.

“That’s great. So when do you go for the next round?”

“That’s where the good news comes in.”

An eyebrow raised, Clay asked more questions.

“Good news? What good news?”

Diana could not figure out another way to say what needed to be said. All she could come up with was simply blurting out the answer.

“So,” she paused, drawing out the word as she spoke. Seeing the anxiety showing on Clay’s face, she went ahead and blurted out the news.

“I’m pregnant.”

He looked stunned, then when the words sank in, his eyes widened and he bolted upright from the swing.

“Did you say pregnant?”

Diana nodded.

Clay did a two step, almost turning around in a circle. “You said you are pregnant? Confirmed?”

Diana reached in the pocket of her jeans and pulled out the sonogram. Slowly, she offered him the black and white picture. A look of pride, beaming, Clay was speechless.

“I’m right at seven weeks. Halfway through the first trimester.”

“But I thought the in vitro did not work the first time around.”

Diana sat quietly, waiting for him to understand the time line. She could see him thinking about it and then the light bulb came on.

“Oh. Wow. You? We?” Clay looked back at the sonogram.

“Yes,” she simply replied.