The Surrogate

Finally, she got up and cleaned herself off in the new bathroom. Archibald had done a wonderful job with the house. It seemed only partially a shame that she had ruined his almost tour of her home… no, their home. The clawfoot tub and marble countertops were to die for, but as much as she wanted to fawn over the attention to detail her heart longed to be back beside Archie.

After haphazardly washing up, Esther tiptoed back to the bed where Archie still laid. His breathing had evened back out, but his cheeks were still flushed.

“This might be one of the best nights of my life,” Archibald told her as she got under the sheets with him.

“Really?” Esther grinned.

“Essie, I am a father. I mean, besides this right now. All this time, I have been a father.”

“But Archie, she doesn’t know. I wanted to sit down with her in person. After her big concert, we can tell her there.”

“Oh, that’s right!” He grinned harder. “I’m going to my child’s concert. I get to sit there with all the other tired parents and listen to a long concert that I am obligated to be at.”

Esther rolled her eyes. “You should not be so excited about that, Archibald. It’s odd.”

“It’s new for me.”

“Well, I am glad you are happy.”

He looked down at her and added softly, “I am the happiest man in the world right now, and I will always be indebted to you for that.”

Esther could not help but blush a little. They kissed, but now it was soft and familiar. Lust no longer controlled them. Pure love was the only emotion that remained.

“I love you, Archie,” Esther whispered as he rested her head in the crook of his arm.

After all the excitement and anticipation from the night faded away, Esther realized how tired she was. Archie too looked as she felt. They both had not expected the night to end like this, and it was sometime around midnight already. Her eyelids were heavy, and her body sank into the soft bed like a stone.

Archie replied as Esther’s eyes began to close, “I love you too.”

That night Esther did not dream of the past. She did not dream of fairy tales or other worlds. Her sleep was not dreamless however. Instead what she saw was her family.

Esther wore soft denim dress that felt like a cloud around her with her hair pulled back into a bun. As she stepped out into the backyard, Grace was there sitting at the end of the dock with friends. Grace waved to her mother and stayed where she sat with her toes in the water. Esther’s father relaxed in a hammock tied up in two ancient trees, swinging slowly with a soft smile on his face. He looked happy to be home.

Turning and turning, she called out his name, but their eyes only met when Archie came from around the corner with a baby in his arms. Esther could not tell who looked happier: Archie or the infant. The little one was swaddled up in an ivory blanket Esther remembered once using with Grace. Archie held his child tightly, and brimmed with pride as he looked down at the baby.

The sky was a brilliant blue. The grass seemed a perfect shade of green. Everyone felt happy. Everyone seemed to glow with a golden aura from their own respective delights. For the first time, Esther knew she had found what she had been searching for after all this time after coming back to New York.