His Surrogate For Hire

Chapter 9

Nine months did not fly by as quickly as Diana thought it would. In the beginning, the months went by rapidly. The first and second trimester were gone before she knew it. The third trimester was the one that made her go crazy. Gaining weight, uncomfortable, and irritable, Diana kept reminding herself she was in the homestretch.

She had not seen her feet in weeks, and there was not enough to eat as far as she was concerned.

The best part was Clay decided to slow down and come home more often to be with her. He was there for the majority of her doctor’s appointments and she loved the fact that watching the baby’s growth made him smile. He asked questions during the doctor’s visits and was attentive at home, seeing to it that she had all of the things that would make her comfortable.

Clay had done everything he could to show that he was supportive to her. Diana began to forget she was a surrogate. The two of them agreed to make sure they discussed the next steps in their relationship after the baby was born. Clay told her he wanted to make sure she stayed healthy and experienced the least amount of stress possible.

It was almost a week before the baby’s due date and the countdown had been on for the past month. All had gone as planned and Diana had been a bit antsy about the birth being so close.

Clay made sure she had prenatal massages and the environment was calm. Charlotte was on hand for anything she needed. Diana had even finished her accounting classes and after the baby was born, she would take her final examination for her first certification.

She met Clay for dinner, which these days was hard enough to leave her suite and waddle down the hallway to the dining room.

He greeted her with a kiss on the cheek when she entered the room. Pulling her chair out, he offered her a seat and she sat down to their meal.

“I hope this is the right time to do this.”

“What are you talking about?” Diana asked.

Clay got up and brought some papers over to where she sat.

“These are the papers you signed for the surrogacy. I want to rip these up.” He went about tearing the papers in half.

“These are now voided.”

“Wait. What does that mean, Clay?’

His expression softened. “When you are having a baby with a woman you care about, there is no need to have paperwork like this. So I drafted up something more appropriate.”

He sat the papers in front of her. “This basically says that as the mother of my child, you are entitled to living a life of standard that is pretty close to mine. I want to take care of you and the baby. Now I don’t know if you’re prepared to take care of a baby after all of this time, but I want you here and since the baby is mine and yours, I thought we should go about this life together.”

Diana was not sure how to respond. It was an amazing thing to get what you asked for.

“I think that would be wonderful, Clay.”

Full of joy, he kissed her full on the lips. “I was hoping you would say that. You have plenty of time to look over it with a lawyer if you would like, but I want you to know that you and the baby are taken care of.”

Tears spilled over. Diana could not believe what she was hearing from him. “Clay, I don’t know what to say.”

“Please say you will never leave me and you will stay here and we will be a family, Diana.”

A sudden pang emanated through her lower back, followed quickly by two more with intensity.

“Yes, I’ll stay, but you have to get me to the hospital. The baby is on the way.”

*****

Clay held her hand the entire way and tried his best to coach her through the labor and delivery. Having him there was a comfort. Neither one of them wanted to know the baby’s s*x prior to the delivery, so when they were surprised with the birth of a son, both of them were full of joy.

Clay held his son in his arms proudly, tending to the baby as well as Diana. Everything happened so quickly and the nurses helped her to her room where she would get some rest after the labor.

Diana was not even aware she dozed off. When she opened her eyes, she saw Clay sitting there with their son.

“This is the greatest gift, Diana. Thank you.”

She smiled, sore but elated. Clay brought the baby to her, placing the newborn in her arms gently.

“So you really think we can make a go of this family thing?” she asked. Looking the baby in his eyes, she could see the perfect mix between herself and Clay.

Clay gently stroked the baby’s head and then leaned over and kissed Diana. “I know we can. That is if you want to make a go of it with me and this little one here.”

“I would love to. I think we can make it work out perfectly.”

“So do I.” The baby started crying and Clay was there, bottle in hand. “Please let me. It looks like you need to get your rest.”

Diana was so tired she was in no mood to protest. She let Clay take the baby and she watched as he fed the baby.

Fortunate could not even begin to describe what she was feeling. She thought what she was feeling must be what it was like to hit the lottery. One day your life was one way, the next, things had changed to an exponential power that was well beyond what you could dream of.

She’d finally won in life and Diana could not be more proud. Life could not get any better, but she’d said that when she first met Clay and things had gotten better. Fortune had a way of making things better and better with time. She closed her eyes to rest. The amazing part was, when she awoke, her new life would be real and not a dream.

The end.