The Surrogate

Esther watched her from the living room, still grateful to have her daughter home. Grace was such an easygoing girl, and it made Esther’s life a million times easier. It was moments like this she felt undeserving of her child, but the swelling of pride was suddenly popped like a cheap balloon when Grace finally asked the one thing they hadn’t discussed.

“So, do I know this guy? You say he’s an old friend you knew when you were young, right?”

Esther just came out and said it, “It’s Archie, Grace.”

Grace stopped in her tracks, forgetting to press the start button on the microwave for a long moment. Esther waited with bated breath as Grace did not really react. She just stared at nothing for a seemingly long moment before saying something.

“I thought you said you didn’t want to see him.”

Grace’s tone was not mad. She wasn’t even frustrated, but Grace had annoyed her mother for years about reconnecting with Archie. Grace had always been curious about her childhood sweetheart, especially once puberty came around. The idea of boyfriends brought a new allure to the idea of Archibald Macarthur.

“Well, he kind of insisted we meet, and we had some dinners where he finally convinced me. I never liked the idea of having a kid I wasn’t part of raising, and this way I will be involved more. It seemed like a good fit for us both. Are you upset I didn’t ask you?”

“Um, no, It’s just so satisfying to feel vindicated after all these years,” Grace replied with an quick little impish smile on her face.

Esther rolled her eyes. “Yes, Gracie, you were right. I was wrong.”

“I want that embroidered on a pillow!” Grace exclaimed finally bringing back the food from across the living space and sitting back down on the old couch. Pulling a throw over her feet and picking up her cup of wonton soup, she said, “I want that on a large banner I can hang in my dorm room at school. I was right all this time. Seeing Archie was a good idea because now I get to have the sibling I always wanted. Santa Claus never got me one, but now Archie has finally fulfilled my long-lost wish.”

Grace continued with her dramatics. Letting her carry on, Esther was just glad that Grace was not actually upset she had not been consulted. Esther’s eyes wandered out toward the window where she admired the lamplights and could hear people laughing as they walked down the street. The glimpse of the park trees could be seen in the darkness, bringing out a warm scene for the city. However, nothing was as warm as seeing Grace before her. Her pride swelled back up again, and she just kept smiling.

Esther patted her feet through the blanket. “Yes, you’re a very clever girl. You get a gold star, but unfortunately I am actually out of gold stars.”

Grace laughed. “I’m going to be a big sister. This is cool. My sibling is going to be rich. We’re going to go on crazy great vacations together, and shopping sprees all the time. Man, I wish you had the baby of a billionaire sooner.”

“Are you all right with going to visit your grandfather this Saturday? I want to tell him in person too.”

Grace nodded. “Yeah, of course. I love going to see Grandpa. All the food there is so soft. It’s like a holiday for my teeth!”

“Not because you love Grandpa?”

Grace rolled her eyes playfully as she scoffed with, “Duh, that too.”

Grace stopped, hearing the hum of the phone from her pocket. She looked at the screen, reading a text before typing with a new kind of smile on her face.

“Who’s that you’re texting?” Esther asked.

“Just some guy,” Grace blushed. “He wants to talk. He just got back to his place in Maine.”

“Does Mr. Maine have a name?”

“Xavier.”

“Well, don’t stop me from your conversing. We’ve got the rest of the week to talk.”

Grace grinned, taking the rest of her soup to her room with her phone in hand.

“Thanks, Mom. Love you!”

“I want to see you before you head to bed!”

“Okay!” Grace called back, and then quickly shut her door as the muffled sound of conversation came from her room.

Esther began to clean up their dinner, chewing on a fortune cookie with a little too much vanilla flavor. The music still playing in corner of the room turned to a love song from a Broadway show that Esther knew but could not name. However, the words made her wish for Archie to be there. She did not know the time in Japan, but she knew regardless that he would be busy.

Esther instead pretended in her mind Archie was there to listen, and she told him how excited Grace was about the baby. She gushed to nobody about how it made her that much more excited about this new chapter of her life. It was there in the quiet that Esther realized how much she missed Archie after only a few days, but suddenly her daydreaming gave her pause.

Where was Archie going to be when this baby came? Where was he going to be when she really did need him, and not just wanted him there?

The questions nagged her as she put away the leftovers and headed for the shower, but even there she could not wash away the bad feeling that had been bugging her long before that night. She knew it had been giving her reservations from the beginning, but there was no turning back. She had to face it all come what may.

Esther just had to hope for the best.