The Surrogate

Archie laughed lightly. “You’re so much more than that, Essie. Anyway, I was thinking that you could move into the brownstone for a few months. It’s fifteen blocks to the doctor, so you could walk to Dr. Winston anytime, and there is a wonderful grocery store not far from the house now. Plus, all the best shops are within a few blocks. You would have everything you need at your fingertips there.”

Esther looked down at the leaves crunching under their feet. The orange and brown hues scattered across the gray asphalt path. Bikers passed them with a slight breeze in neon spandex. A family was spending time in the nearby grass, letting their dog and children run free in the haphazardly fenced space. She looked up to the towers edifices of the classic Manhattan skyline surrounding the park. The famous towers belonged to people like Archie, and one day they would belong to people like her child.

“Sounds too good to be true.” Esther sighed as she responded to her own thoughts more than to Archie’s words.

Esther had worked so hard for her life. This child coming to life inside Esther would have everything at his or her fingertips. She remembered the rotten teenagers who were in her classes at George Washington University. She remembered the so-called friends Archie had. They threw good parties, but they still sucked.

She and Archie spent a lot of time laughing over their pathetic shallow problems. If all else failed, she knew Archie was not a spoiled priss like those other awful people. However, he still never knew hunger or worry over money. He lived in a bubble regardless of his humility. Even his status as an educated white man gave him more affluence than many people in the world around them, and Esther was not so sure just how much Archibald realized about his situation in life. Everything about his existence seemed normal to him, and as he talked Esther knew that his beautiful life also came with nobody ever really refuting him.

Archie spoke like it was already set in motion as he told her, “You could move in this spring. It would give you plenty of time to make arrangements, and I guess whenever you were ready…

“I could move out,” Esther suddenly knew where this was going.

Archie was not a fool.

She saw the sadness in his eyes. She knew the memories that this conversation were bringing up. She chose not to reflect herself. Archibald sighed deeply, and took the tone of an optimist.

“That’s a long time off,” Archie offered himself a glimmer of hope with his words before continuing. “We do not have to think about that just yet. How about we set up a nursery in each home, and then we won’t have to worry!”

Esther nodded in agreement, still letting her excitement linger a little bit longer.

“How do we know we will live well together, Archie?” She looked up at him with a small smile on her face with honest curiosity.

“We practically lived together when we dated.”

Esther’s voice was soft as she replied, “We are not those kids anymore.”

He nodded. “True. I wish I still had that body. I’m not even a dad yet, but I am getting soft already.”

Esther laughed lightly. “I don’t know. I like the way you look now.” She took her free hand and brushed his loose curl back behind his ear where it belonged. “You need a haircut.”

“I’ll get that scheduled then.” He smiled, looking into her eyes with a love that Esther remembered oh so well.

“So Archie, how will we know that we won’t kill each other after the first month?”

“I don’t think that it we’ll be a problem, but what do you have in mind?” Archie asked, noticing that Esther was leading up to something.

“What do you for Thanksgiving?” Esther asked trying to be sly about her intentions.

“Nothing really. I’ve visited cousins or spent it with girlfriends. I don’t care much for it.”

Please with his answer, she asked, “Why don’t we spend it together?”

Archie grinned. “I do have a dining room table built for fourteen people.”

“Well, it would be us and Grace. My dad would come down from Connecticut, and I know my mother in-law wants to come. You’ll love her though, and she cooks an amazing thanksgiving dinner.”

“I was going to offer to have my private chef that I have on retainer prepare something.”

“No!” Esther exclaimed. “Thanksgiving is my day to shine.”

Archie looked happy surprised as he admitted, “I did not know you like to cook.”

“Well, it was something I picked up in grad school. I lived near a farmer’s market, and Hillary was dating a chef back then. The hobby stuck. I actually don’t have much of an excuse to cook big meals with Grace gone.”

“Hillary?”

“My best friend. We found each other in graduate school.”

“Oh yes, Hillary! She’s your partner now, right?”

Esther nodded. “I would be nothing without her.”

“Do you think she would like to come?”

“She has a husband and three boys. It’s probably a great relief not to feed them.”

Archie smiled. “We have a dining table to fill, and if it helps to sweeten the pot I have a standing invitation to sit in the VIP boxes at the parade.”

“Of course you do!” Esther shook her head. “Should I even ask how?”

“I used to be involved with one of the executives who runs the parade. And I am technically related to the Macy family. They are fifth cousins or something. Father explained it a long time ago.”

Esther shook her head again. “Of course, why wouldn’t you be?”

“Well, I’m started to get excited about this!” Archie bounced a bit on his feet as they walked along, passing a pair of teenagers staring down at their phones and some Japanese tourists. “I have not hosted a Thanksgiving… well, ever!”

Esther grinned. “This will be fun.”

For a moment, Esther wanted to kiss Archie. It would be easy to let her lips find his. Her dreams had been haunting her more and more as she spent more time with Archie. The phantom sensations were verging on driving her wild. She wondered if his lips tasted like his morning cup of coffee and sugar from the doughnut he ate. She wondered if she kissed him that she would have the ability to stop. It would be even better if the feeling of his chest pressed against hers would give her the same pleasure.

In the beginning, she blamed the hormones.

After the events of the morning, it felt almost like they were something. It felt like that they could be a pair, and everything could be perfect. Just shy of crossing the lines she had drawn herself, Esther remembered that real life was not perfect.

Instead, she looked up to the clouds in the sky, and asked, “Do you want to get something to eat?”