The Surrogate

“Esther, I am so sorry. Did we have an appointment? It’s been murder while my office is being renovated. Working out of my own study had been sending everything into chaos.”

“I know how you like your ducks in a row, Archie, which is why I actually am the one to blame for the unannounced visit.” She laughed lightly, taking a step forward.

“Is everything okay?” Running his fingers through his fading blonde hair, Esther could see the strands of silver starting among the gold. “Did the doctor call?”

“Um, not exactly.” Esther sighed as her fingers grasped her clutch purse still in her hands. She knew her body language was making him brace for the worst, but her nerves were trapping the information in her throat. As they tried to break free, Archie came to her. Her heart slowed as she finally got to clinical facts in her head.

“Dr. Winston called. She said the fertilization was successful.”

Archie had stopped breathing, and suddenly deflated like a balloon. All his anxiety rushed out as it was replaced with joy. Like a child at Christmas, he was unable to help himself. He beamed brightly, smiling as hard as he could. His eyes were lit up like a firework display. They said women glowed during pregnancy, but Archie seemed to be taking that to a new level.

He wrapped his arms around Esther. Her cheek was pressed to his chest. She smelled the fine scent of his cologne mingling with a hint of sweat and steak. He must have gone out for lunch. Dr. Winston had said that she would be craving new things now, and the smell of him and the smell of red meat had those cravings on edge. She wanted to devour a whole Porterhouse now, but more so she wanted to devour him. Esther was better than her urges though. She knew how to keep them at bay, but let the emotion linger as she breathed in the smell looming off the crisp suit.

She felt his lips brush her cheek, and the soft scrape of his five o’clock shadow. A bit startled, Archie pulled back with embarrassment. The man who seemed so sure of himself typically all at once lost his aura of confidence in that briefest second.

“Essie, I hope that did not cross a line.”

“No.” Esther smiled. “It was nice. It was very European of you.”

Her response reassured Archie’s confidence. Looking at each other, the pair both laughed lightly, diffusing the tension building in the air around them. With a sigh of relief, Esther felt the own tension within herself subside, but the longing remained in a long-forgotten corner of her heart. No matter how desperately she wanted to deny it, Esther could feel the pang resided there inside of her.

“I wonder what our mothers would think of us now,” Archie mused. “Two sorority sisters, a big and little pair, now get to share a grandchild.”

“They would love it, and probably hope that it’s a girl.”

“Oh, of course, my mother would have been buying everything purple and trying to figure out how to make roses masculine just in case.”

“It would have been their best winter holiday get-together yet.”

Archie nodded and sighed. “You know, since we began this arrangement, I have thought a lot about those holiday trips. You and your mother coming from Westchester for a couple weeks after the school let out for winter break.”

“We would always go ice skating.” Esther added, her fondest memory flooding her thought.

“I would like to do it again sometime.” Archie smiled softly as he took her hand.

Esther held his hand back, lacing her fingers through his. “Why not tonight?”