The Surrogate

Monday morning she was standing in her closet, trying to decide what to wear to court. She was also nervous as hell, not wanting to say or do anything that might make it worse for Cole. When he appeared at the door she looked at him. "I have no idea what to wear."

He went over and stood before her. "Sweetheart, it doesn't matter what you wear."

"I just want to look appropriate."

He reached for a blue sundress and held it up. "This one is nice."

She looked at it and took it from him. "Okay, I'll wear it. I'm really nervous about talking to the lawyer and judge. What if I say something wrong?"

He cupped her face in his hands. "You'll do fine, now stop worrying. Do you need any help getting dressed?"

She couldn't help smiling at him, he was always looking for an excuse to see her naked. "No, I can manage so go wait for me downstairs."

"Okay, I'm going so you can stop pushing me," he chuckled when she started shoving him towards the door. He knew she was always on to his tricks of trying to get her out of her clothes so that he could see her naked. He couldn't blame her, every time he did it always led to sex.

When they got to the courthouse and he parked his car they sat there for a few minutes. Neither one of them wanted to be here but they didn't have a choice.

He looked over at her and took her hand and held it. "It's time to go in."

She let out a sigh, nodding her head. "I hate the thought of coming face to face with Joyce. The last time I saw her she had so much hate in her eyes for me."

"Just ignore her and remember that no matter what happens we have each other."

It gave her confidence when he held her hand as they walked up the courthouse steps and inside where his lawyer was waiting for them.

"Dr. Mason, Miss Grant, the others are inside the judge's chamber."

"So what happens once we get inside?" she asked nervously.

"Mrs. Mason's lawyer will go over what she wants from the divorce. I will in return put forth what doctor Mason is willing to pay. Mrs. Mason will be able to tell her side of the story and why she wants a divorce."

"Why she wants a divorce? I was the one that asked for a divorce," Cole snapped.

"Dr. Mason, I just learned that she is claiming she asked you for a divorce. Never mind that now, we can argue about that once we get started. It's time to go in now."

Cole turned to her and touched her cheek tenderly. "Are you ready?"

"I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

When they walked into the room the judge was sitting at the end of the table, Joyce and her lawyer were at one side. Cole and Christy sat across from them with their lawyer.

Christy could feel Joyce's eyes burning into her with hatred. It boggled her mind as to why the woman hated her so much. It's not like she was the cause of their marital problems.

Joyce's lawyer was the first one to speak while the judge sat back and listened. He was not going to speak or make a judgment until both sides said their peace.

"Mr. Mason, my client Mrs. Mason is suing you for divorce on the grounds of adultery and mental abuse."

"That is such bull, I never once cheated on her nor did I abuse her in any way."

Cole's lawyer placed his hand over his arm. "Cole, let him finish and then you can reply."

"Mr. Mason, is it not true that you invited Miss Grant into your home without consulting Mrs. Mason?"

"I didn't have time to consult with her because she was away on vacation with her friends. Miss. Grants apartment had a fire and she had no place to go. She had agreed to be our surrogate and I couldn't very well leave her out on the street."

"Isn't it true that you and Miss Grant began a physical relationship as soon as she moved into your home?"

"Absolutely not, there was no physical contact between us at any point."

"But isn't it true that when Mrs. Mason returned home from her vacation she found you and Miss Grant in her bedroom?"

Cole could feel his anger rising, Joyce was twisting everything that was said and done when Christy first moved in. "Two weeks after she was inseminated we found out the procedure worked and she was pregnant. It also became known that she had high blood pressure and that this was going to be a high risk pregnancy. I made a point of examining her and taking her blood pressure every night to make sure that it wasn't getting worse."

Joyce's lawyer scoffed. "And you had to do that in her bedroom while she was wearing a nightgown, why not do it in the living room?"

"Her doctor recommended bed rest, that is the only reason why I went in to her room."

"So you were just being a good doctor and making sure that she and the baby were okay."

"That's right."

"So was taking Miss Grant out to dinner, going to the flea markets part of the usual doctor and patient relationship? Is going away with her to a cabin for the weekend alone also part of being a good doctor?"

Cole's lawyer spoke up. "Since when is it a crime for two people to go out to dinner or to a flea market? As far as the trip to the cabin goes, that was way after Mr. Mason and his wife were separated. It does not mean that they were having an affair then or before."

"I'm just pointing out the mental stress that Mrs. Mason had to go through while she was out of town." Joyce's lawyer looked back at Cole. "Isn't it true that you were having an affair with your surrogate even before she became pregnant? Isn't it possible that you yourself impregnated her and it had nothing to do with the insemination?"

Cole banged his fist on the table and got to his feet. "I told you that Miss Grant and I never had a physical relationship. The procedure worked and that is how she got pregnant."

"Cole, sit down," his lawyer told him.

Mr. Hart, Joyce's lawyer smirked. "From what I understand there's no possible way to prove that it worked?" When Cole didn't answer the lawyer asked him once again.

"Mr. Mason, isn't that correct?"

Cole sat down and crossed his arms and glared angrily at Mr. Hart. "No, I guess not, but I am telling the truth."

"Tell me Mr. Mason, are you in love with Miss Grant?"

He glanced over at Christy, it broke his heart to see her looking so pale and nervous. He looked back at the lawyer and a smile broke out on his face.

"Yes, I am very much in love with her. How could I not have fallen in love with her? She is the most kindest and sweetest woman I have ever met."

"So you were cheating on your wife."

"No, we weren't sleeping together and I never told Miss Grant how I felt about her until after I asked Joyce for a divorce and she was out of the house. FYI, I was the one that told Joyce I was divorcing her."

"But isn't it true that shortly after your wife left the home Miss Grant moved her things into your bedroom and is now sleeping there with you?"

Cole could feel the judges eyes staring at him and he had to wonder how in the world did Joyce and her lawyer know that Christy had moved into his room.

"I asked you a question Mr. Mason."

"It was weeks after Joyce and I separated that Ms Grant moved into my bedroom."

"So you were intimate with her for quite some time now."

"When she first moved into my room we were not intimate with each other. We were in love and just wanted to hold each other. I told her that until I was divorced and a free man that we shouldn't engage in sex and she agreed."

"But you're not divorce yet are you?"

Cole's lawyer interrupted. "This line of questioning is getting ridiculous, can we please move on?"

Mr. Hart looked at Mr. Miller, Cole's lawyer. "Yes, I believe that we have proved of Mr. Mason's infidelity. Let's move on to the mental abuse."

Cole rolled his eyes. "If anyone was mentally abused it was me and not Mrs. Mason."

"Isn't it true that you were always sending your wife on trips and never bothering to go with her? Isn't it true that you were always working and rarely came home? And when you were home you never attempted any kind of intimate relationship with her."

"Oh you got to be fucking kidding me," Cole yelled out, he couldn't control his temper.

Judge Gibson raised his hand and pointed his finger at Cole. "I will not tolerate that kind of language in my Chambers. If you can't control your temper I will grant Mrs. Mason everything she wants."

"I'm sorry your honor, I promise it won't happen again," Cole said, he could tell that the judge was serious and didn't want to risk losing everything and letting Joyce win.

"You will get your turn but right now it is Mrs. Mason and her lawyers turn. Proceed," he said as he nodded his head to the two lawyers.

"I'm a very busy doctor and I do have to spend a lot of time at my job. As far as me sending her away on trips that's far from the truth. Joyce decided when and where she went and never even bothered to ask me to go with her, nor did she want me to go with her. But she had no problem using my money to fund her trips with her so-called friends. It's true that I didn't spend a lot of time at home, I'm in high demand. As far as being intimate goes, I tried but she always had an excuse. She was either tired or drunk or just wasn't in the mood. So after a while I gave up. Besides, she was never home."

"Isn't it true that you didn't like any of her friends and that you were always putting her down, calling her names, telling her she was nothing but a useless excuse of a wife? Don't you think that's why she always wanted to get away from you?"

"How could I like or dislike her friends when I never met any of them. I never once called her names or put her down."

"If you were so unhappy with her and your marriage why didn't you ask for a divorce years ago?"

"Because I'm a man who didn't believe in divorce, when I got married it was supposed to be for life and I thought we could make it work."

"Oh, you didn't believe in divorce but now you do. I find that a little bit strange, or is that because of the relationship you have with Miss Grant?"

Cole looked at Joyce's lawyer. "I tried everything to make it work with her, but there comes a time when you know nothing will work. I will admit that Miss Grant might have helped to change my mind. She made my house a home, a place where I now look forward to."

"So are you still going to try and convince us that you and Miss Grant are not carrying on an intimate relationship while you were still living with your wife?"

"That's right."

"Well then let me just show you some pictures that will prove to everyone here and the judge that you are nothing but a liar and a cheat." He opened up a folder and took out a bunch of pictures and tossed them on the table.

Cole's lawyer picked up the paper and looked at them and then handed them to his clients.

Christy and Cole looked at them in shock. They couldn't believe that Joyce had hired someone to follow them around and take pictures. There were pictures of them kissing, holding hands and walking through the flea market. There were some that were taken at the cabin they stayed in for the weekend, one was of them laying down on the grass passionately kissing.

"These were all taken after Joyce and I separated," Cole said, tossing the pictures back down.

Joyce's lawyer picked them up and handed them to the judge to look at. "That may be so, but it does show how affectionate you were with each other, almost as though it had been going on for quite some time. I do believe that Mrs. Mason has suffered with your abuse and your adultery right from the beginning of your marriage. It has to make one wonder how many other affairs that you've had through the years." He looked at the judge. "Mrs. Mason is a victim of her husband's infidelity and his cruelness towards her. For five years she tried to make her marriage work, overlooking his faults. Now it's time for her to move on and start a new life."

Judge Gibson looked through the pictures and then he turned his attention to the others in the room.

"I think it's time we take a half an hour break and when we come back I'll hear from Mr. Mason and his lawyer."

"But your honor, I haven't had a chance to speak with Miss Grant?"

"Is that really necessary?"

"I believe it is your honor. By questioning her we will all see what kind of woman she really is and that hooking herself a rich doctor was what she had in mind all along."

Cole was about to stand up and argue when his lawyer grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.

"I said we are taking a break and when we come back you may question Miss Grant."

They all stood up when the judge did and walked out of the room. Joyce and her lawyer quickly got up and left the room. The smirk on Joyce's face did not go unnoticed by the others as she looked at them before walking out.