The Surrogate

"Where's Joyce?" Cole asked Christy when he got home and couldn't find her anywhere. He could usually find her in the living room.

"She left early this morning. She said she had a hair appointment, but that was hours ago. I saved dinner for you. would you like me to dish it out?"

"No thanks, I'm not hungry."

"Okay, then if you don't need anything Mr. Mason I'll go to my room."

"Wait a minute, what's with the last name?"

"Mrs. Mason said it wasn't proper for me to call you by your first name and told me I had to call you by your last name."

"Oh God, I'm so sorry about that, she had no right."

"Actually she does, she's your wife."

"I don't care, it's up to me who calls me either by my first or last name. I want you to call me Cole, okay?"

"Well, why don't I call you that when she's not around?"

"Alright, but I still don't like it. I'll be in to see you in a few minutes to examine you."

"I think it's better if from now on we do it out here," she said, knowing he was going to question her about it.

"Let me guess, my wife, she put you up to this."

"Cole, I can understand where she's coming from. No wife would want their husband going into another woman's bedroom for whatever reason."

"I don't think of it that way. What's next? Is she going to say I can't go see a female patient when they are in their hospital room? When she comes home I'll have a talk with her, and about the name thing."

"Please don't, it's not worth fighting over."

Not wanting to upset her he finally agreed not to bring up the subject, but he was still fuming when he went to bed. What time Joyce came home he'll never know since she had moved into the other bedroom.

It was time for Christy's doctor's appointment, she was now ten weeks pregnant and was due to have her first scam. Cole was supposed to go with her but he had to perform an emergency surgery so he asked Joyce to go with her.

Christy was glad that Joyce was finally starting to show some interest in the baby. When it came time to leave she couldn't find her anywhere.

"June, have you seen Mrs. Mason?"

"Yes dear, she left an hour ago."

Hearing this Christy was shocked. "But she was supposed to take me to my doctor's appointment today. Cole was going to but he had an emergency and asked her to take me and she said she would."

"I would take you but I don't drive and my husband is out of town and won't be back until it's time for me to leave. Is there anyone else you can ask or could you take a cab?"

"I'll call Gina, I don't think she's working today." She picked up her phone and dialed Gina's number.

"Christy, is everything okay?"

"Not really. Mrs. Mason was supposed to take me to the doctor but she went out and hasn't come back yet. I really hate to impose on you but is there any way you could take me?"

"Of course, I can, I'll be there as soon as I can. If you want I can go in with you?"

"It would be nice to have someone with me. I really appreciate you taking me. I'll see you soon."

On the drive to the hospital, Gina kept putting Joyce down. "That woman is so inconsiderate, and I never liked that cold heartless bitch. I bet you anything she went out on purpose knowing it was time for your appointment. I don't know how you can live under the same roof with that woman."

"It's not that hard since she's never there."

After being examined it was time for her scan and Gina stood and watched, seeing it would be good practice for when she became pregnant. They both stared at the screen when the doctor pointed to the baby.

"That's your baby," Dr. Morris said, pointing to where it was."

Christy felt the tears welling up in her eyes and wished that Cole was with her. She just knew that this was something he would want to see for himself. "Can you tell if it's a boy or girl?"

"It's a little too soon for that, but we will be able to tell with the next scan we do on you. Everything looks good, the heartbeat is strong and the baby is growing as it should be. I'll leave you to get cleaned up and remember to make your next appointment before you leave."

After leaving the office the two of them went and had lunch at a nearby restaurant. Even though Cole couldn't be there in person she had gotten them to give her a picture so that she could give it to him.

Gina held the picture up and kept staring at it. "This is so amazing, just think that in a few short months he or she will be born. I was wondering if I could ask you a question?"

Christy took the picture from her and looked at it. "You can ask me anything."

"It's very personal."

She put the picture in her purse and looked up at Gina. "We're friends, so you can ask me anything."

"Is it going to be hard for you to hand over the baby once it's born? It's just that I can't imagine carrying a baby for nine months and then to give it up. I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

"When I first went into this I didn't think it would be, I knew I was doing it for a good reason and giving a couple the chance to be parents. But as I feel it growing inside me I have to admit that a part of me feels very sad. I just want to make sure that this baby is loved and cared for, then I will feel much better about it."

"Do you really think that Joyce is going to be a good mother?"

"I don't know anymore, it seems like all she and Cole do is argue. Well they don't really argue, more like snarky comments between them. But it's mostly on her part, it's almost like she doesn't like being married to him and that's what got me worried."

"Cole seems to think that having a baby will bring them back together," Gina said without thinking.

Christy's head jerked up and looked at Gina. "Wait a minute, are you telling me that they don't have a good marriage?"

Gina knew that she had said too much. "I really can't say."

"You can't or you won't? I really need to know if they are having marital problems. Please, tell me what you know."

"I shouldn't be telling you this now, and if I had known you before I would have warned you not to do it."

"Warn me about what?"

"Their marriage is on the rocks, it has been almost from the start. She tricked him into marrying her, all she wanted was a rich doctor and all the perks that go along with it. When he found out that she wasn't pregnant and being the type of man that he is still wanted to make his marriage work. He did try and is still trying, but she's not making it easy on him. She's never home and I suspect that she's been cheating on him for years."

Christy rubbed her forehead, she could feel a headache coming on. "Oh my God, what have I done? If I had known this I would never have agreed to be there surrogate. How am I supposed to live with myself knowing that I handed over a baby to them knowing what I know now? I kind of suspected that something was wrong, but I never thought it was this serious."

Gina reached over and patted the top of Christy's hand. "Maybe Cole is right and that this baby will bring them together. You're upset and I never should have told you."

"I'm glad you did. I just don't know what to do about it. I don't want to leave the baby with them but I've signed a contract and there's no way I'll be able to get out of it. Even if I did I have no money and no place to live so how would I be able to bring up a child on my own?"

When she got home she went to lay down and placed a cool cloth over her forehead. She would have to talk to Cole when he got home and find out if his marriage was as bad as she thought it was.

By the time he got home from work he was beat, but he was curious as to how the appointment went. Of course Joyce was nowhere around so he went to Christy's room and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?"

He stood outside the door and said it was him and asked if he could come in.

Not wanting Joyce to find him in her bedroom again she called out to him. "No, I'll meet you in the kitchen." She got up and took the picture from her purse and placed it in her pocket and walked out.

Cole was drinking a cup of tea when she entered and offered her one which she accepted.

"So how did it go today?"

"The doctor says that the baby is growing as it should be and that my blood pressure is down so there's really nothing to worry about."

"I really wish I could have been there," he said with sincerity.

She reached into her pocket and took the picture out as she sat down. "I know how much you would have loved to have been there, so since you couldn't I had them print out the picture."

He looked at the picture and smiled even though there wasn't much to see. But just knowing that this was his baby filled his heart with joy.

She couldn't stop her heart from melting when she saw the look of pure happiness on his face as he stared at the picture. There was no doubt in her mind that he was going to love this baby and would be a wonderful father. If only she could feel the same way about Joyce.

"How did Joyce react when she saw it on the screen?"

"She didn't go with me."

He looked up at her and frowned. "What do you mean she didn't go with you?"

"It's like I said, she didn't go with me. When it was time for my appointment I asked June where Mrs. Mason was and she told me she had left an hour before we were to leave." She could see a hint of anger in his eyes as he stared back at her.

"How did you get there?"

"I called Gina and she took me, she also went in with me while I was getting the scan."

"Christy, I am so sorry that my wife bailed on you after she promised me she would take you. I'm glad that you had somebody with you. I should have been the one to go with you." He was going to make a point out of having a talk with Joyce and letting her know exactly how upset he was with her.

"Cole, there's something we need to talk about and it's very important."

"Go ahead, I'm listening."

"In the time that I've been here I have noticed that things are not right between you and Mrs. Mason. You two don't seem to be getting along very well and I have to be honest with you, I'm really worried about what kind of a life this baby will have. I would never have agreed to doing this if I thought you're marriage was on the rocks."

Judging by the look on her face he knew that if he lied she would know it. "Things have not been good between us for the last few years. I can't blame everything on her. When we first got married I was building my career as a doctor and I was never home. I think she was lonely and felt neglected and we started arguing and the more we argued the more I stayed away."

"Do you love your wife?"

He hesitated before answering. "No, I tried to love her."

"Then why would you stay married to a woman you don't love?"

"I was raised to believe that divorce was out of the question. We have a loveless and sexless marriage but I am willing to try and make it work and I'm hoping that I will fall in love with her. I only married her because I thought she was pregnant, it was the right thing to do."

"Yeah but she wasn't pregnant."

"No she wasn't, I'm hoping that having a baby will bring us together. I'm beginning to think that I was wrong and I am so sorry that I dragged you into this."

"Tell me something, do you really want this baby?"

He looked over at her and placed his hand over the top of hers. "Whatever happens I will love and take care of this baby. I'm sure that once Joyce holds the baby in her arms she will fall in love with him or her."

"I think having me living here is a mistake, it's better for the both of you if I find somewhere else to live."

"I told you that you need to be here so I can keep an eye on you."

"Do you honestly think that me staying here and seeing and hearing what's going on is not stressing me out? No, I'm going to start looking for somewhere right away. You could still check on me and go to the appointments with me, even Joyce if she wants to."

He didn't want her to go, but he also didn't want her to be stressed. First thing he was going to do was confront Joyce about today and then help Christy find a nice apartment. Then he would try to work on repairing his marriage.

She got up and put her cup in the sink and turned to look at him. "June has supper in the oven, take it out in about 20 minutes."

"Aren't you going to have any? I mean you have to eat for the sake of the baby."

"I had something before you came home and if I get hungry later I'll heat up some leftovers. But I'm tired and I'm going to bed. Good night."