The Surrogate

Chapter 12

Esther was rubbing cocoa butter on her stomach when she heard Archie’s car pull up in the drive. Arriving the morning before in the bright yellow Fiat that had come from Italy Archie had purchased just for her, she had spent her day making shopping lists for the nursery upstairs. Left as a blank canvas by Archie on purpose, Esther sketched and sketched, having two completely distinct designs based on the gender of the baby.

She was never big on gender roles, but dark moody florals just did not seem to go with a boy. If it was a boy, she had a design of stars and a grassy rug instead. His nursery would be a perpetual camp out with teddy bears and a play tent in the corner. As Esther looked at her designs further on the dining table, she like the starry ceiling a bit more, and it seemed neutral enough.

Archie pressed the keypad, smiling at her through the window. When he got the front door open, he took off his knit hat and pulled off his scarf.

Archie called as a cliched joke, “Honey, I’m home.”

“Hi, Archie,” she said, smiling at him before looking at the pages and wallpaper swatches again that she had pulled out from her work bag.

She felt his strong arms wrap around her growing waist at he kissed the back of her neck. Her outfit of yoga pants and a bra was not the most elegant ensemble, especially with her curls up in an unkempt bun, but Archie did not seem to mind it. It was the gesture and touch that she had craved for so long. After everything, it was not lust she had been hiding from, but intimacy with the man who had seen her through her whole life.

Now, Esther was living on a cloud as her reality became better than her dreams.

“Are you going to be half dressed every time I come home?” he asked her cheekily.

“Well, I just got out of the shower, so I was hot. But since you let the arctic air inside, I’m getting a bit cold.”

“We can’t have that!” Archie exclaimed, pulling away.

She turned to see him taking off his cashmere sweater, leaving him in a fitted gray t-shirt. Pulling it over her head, she smelled the fabric of the luxuriously soft garment.

“Mmm, it smells like you and plane travel.”

Archie smiled pulling her close as he joked, “There is nothing more romantic than stagnant airplane smell.”

She laughed lightly, closing her eyes to find his lips against hers. It was so familiar to kiss him again, and the house did not feel like home until he was there. Even though she had grown up in the house, it looked so different that she was not accustomed to the feel of it. His touch however made anywhere and everywhere feel like home.

“Is this new?” Esther finally asked as they both had to stop kissing in order to breathe properly.

Archie nodded. “I got it from my cousin as a thank you gift when I saw her in London.”

“Why?”

“Because I gave her my job and my controlling shares of the company.”

Esther stopped. Eyes wide, it took her a moment to process what Archie had just revealed.

“Ummm.” Esther could not find any useful words.

He sighed. “I’ve decided to retire. Not fully though. I still have a one-third stake in the company, but with company going public in the stock market and the new baby coming along I did not want to spend my time away from the family I am trying to build. It ruined my parents. I don’t want it to ruin us. Besides, my cousin Zoey has been with the London branch for so long. She runs it like a ship, and that place is her baby. Other than her life partner and three dogs, the company is her world, and she was more than ready to take it on with the stipulation that my children would be the ones to take over if they chose. If not, her adopted son could keep it.”

It took awhile for Esther to mull over the information. While she felt a bit miffed Archibald had not asked her about it, the surprise was nice, and at the end of the day it was his decision to make. As in love as they were, both Esther and Archie were independent people. Their lives outside of their relationship had always been important, and it had been prioritized enough to keep them apart. For Archie to end that chapter of his life was a big step, and Esther felt a swell of pride inside herself to know he was willing to give that part of him up.

Finally after a thoughtful deliberation in her head, Esther finally concluded aloud, “It will be nice to have you at home. It will make things easier.”

Archie tried to sweeten the deal by adding, “We won’t need nannies or butlers if I am here, but I would like to keep the cleaning lady for this place if you don’t mind.”

Esther waved her hands, quickly casting aside any doubts. “Oh no, Vivian is great. I want to keep her forever. I’ve never seen someone so good at folding sheets.”

“I think she’s great too.”

Esther waited for a long moment before finally asking, “So what are you going to do?”

“I’ll still be a board member at my mother’s charitable foundations and for the company, but I would like to be primarily a stay-at-home Dad. Maybe I can be like that former U.S. President and take up painting dogs!”

“You? Painting?” Esther laughed loudly.

“Okay. Okay. It’s not that hilarious!”

“It definitely is!” Esther said as she tried to calm herself. “Sorry though. You could be a very good painter.”

“I wouldn’t, but you’re kind for saying that, Essie. However, I would like to invest in small businesses. Maybe be a partner in some restaurants or a certain design firm ready to grow?”

“You mean me and Hillary?”

“If you two make a plan, just say how much you will need to hire new people or renovate or whatever. It’s not like the money I just made selling that percentage of the company is all mine anyway.”

Esther remembered the short and stocky lawyer who had a lunch meeting with her before. Over an overpriced soup and salad, he explained to her in basic terms that she was becoming legally bound to the Macarthur estate, sharing all properties and wealth upon signing with Archie. He also explained that Archibald’s will was being edited to make her and after any descendants the heirs of all that fortune.

Looking at he numbers alone on those documents nearly faint, but after the quick signature of a waitress playing witness it was all said and done. Once again, life with Archie was surreal, and she did not fully believe it until a courier came the next day with a package from that same stout lawyer man. Esther’s wallet was now heavier with a new checkbook and several cards to high-end bank accounts that part of her felt afraid to even use.

“Let me talk it over with my firm partner and I will get back to you in the new business year.”

“Deal,” Archie agreed, and looked down at Esther’s project on the table. Letting her loose with one arm, he pointed to the drawings. “What are these for?”

“The nursery here,” Esther explained. “I have this dark floral rose wallpaper from a boutique vendor in the city that the girl’s nursery would be built around, but I’m starting to love this boyish camping design more.