Page 4 of The Green Card Baby Deal

Their parents were out of their seats immediately. They practically leapt across the table to hug Dawn and her husband. They were elated, ecstatic, and Clara should have joined them. Her sister had warned her, but Clara had said that any good news Dawn had would only cheer her up. That should have been true. Clara was determined to make sure it was true.

“How far along are you?” she asked.

“Three months.” Dawn cocked her head with a sympathetic look.

No matter how hard she tried, Clara was never going to be able to hide her feelings from her sister. So she tried to imagine what it would be like to have a little niece or nephew to babysit and spoil rotten. She imagined shopping for them, taking them to the zoo and the library. She imagined answering all their silly little questions with the utmost sincerity. Cuddling together on the sofa and watching the latest animated movie and not feeling like a fool for actually liking the damn thing. Seriously, why did those movies always make her cry?

Clara wiped a tear from her eye and stood to hug her sister. “Oh, Dawn. I’m so happy for you,” she said, and it was true. All she’d ever wanted for her sister was the very best, and the universe had not let her down in that respect. It was just…

She envisioned a little girl running to her, throwing her arms around her neck, and squeezing her tight. The little girl looked exactly like Dawn, but when she spoke, what she said was, “I love you, Mommy.”

Dawn pushed her away to look into her eyes. “Are you okay, Sis? You look like you could use a breath of fresh air.” Clara knew what that meant. It meant a private conversation out back on the swing set like they’d done since they were children.

The evening air was crisp, and Clara found herself clutching her jacket closed at the collar by the time they got to the swing set. They both sat down on their respective swings, Clara on the right side and Dawn on the left, and were quiet for a minute or two.

Finally, Dawn spoke. “I know you’re happy for me,” she said.

“I am!” Clara insisted as though Dawn had just said the opposite. “I swear I am. I don’t know why it’s hitting me like this.”

“I do.” Dawn dragged her feet along the ground and then pushed off to swing. “Ever since we were kids, all you’ve ever wanted was to be a mother. I remember wanting to play so many other games with our dolls — roller derby, beach day, murder mystery.” She laughed and Clara joined her. “But you only ever wanted to play family.”

Clara bowed her head, swinging in a significantly smaller arc than her sister. “Because I lacked imagination.”

“No, you dork.” Dawn reached over and playfully punched her in the arm. “You have plenty of imagination. You just knew what you wanted from an early age. There’s nothing wrong with that. Unless, of course, you can’t seem to get it, which sucks.”

Clara laughed bitterly. “That’s an understatement. I wish I didn’t have to rely on a man to make my dreams come true, but I do kind of need that second source of DNA, don’t I?” She sighed.

Dawn shrugged. “I mean not really, right? You need the DNA but not the man. Lots of women use donors.”

“What?” Clara snorted. “I really don’t think that’s the answer.”

But Dawn was dead serious. “Why not?”

Clara sputtered, trying to come up with a valid reason why getting a sperm donor would be a really bad idea. “I mean… I don’t really want to be a single mom. It’s a lot of work, and I’ll need to have a job. Have you seen the cost of childcare these days?”

“Oh, you won’t have to worry about childcare.” Dawn grinned, and Clara squinted at her trying to figure out just what she was getting at. Finally, Dawn answered her unspoken question. “I’ll watch your little goblin myself. You know I will. Stan and I have decided to go traditional with our family. He’s the breadwinner, and I’m going to be the very best homemaker in the world. They’ll have to give me the Number One Homemaker award for sure. I’m going to be a shoo-in for it. I’m writing my acceptance speech in my head right now.”

There was no chance Clara was going to let this act of pure kindness get to her. Not at all. But before she could stop it, she felt her eyes well up, and her arms reached for her sister. Dawn hugged her back, the two of them stretching the chains of their swings to reach each other.

“I mean I’m going to need you to take the kids on the odd date night,” Dawn amended. “You know what they say. Happy husband, happy life.”

“That’s not what they say.” Clara backed away and rubbed her eyes with a chuckle. “You really mean it, though?”

“Of course I do. Listen, we’re a family, and families look out for each other. Also I want to be an auntie, too. Aunties get to have all the fun and never have to be the bad guy. We’ll have a spoil-off, see who can corrupt whose kids the fastest.”

Clara stood, and wrapped her arms around her sister’s neck. “You’re the best sister ever,” she said.

Dawn squeezed her back. “I’m the only one you’ve got.”

“Then I got lucky, didn’t I?”

“You definitely did.” Dawn winked. “Let’s get back inside before Dad eats all the cake.”

CHAPTER 3

LUIS

Luis Morales wove through the crowd with a half-full champagne glass in one hand and a miniature crab cake in the other. Crystals hung from every chandelier and from every woman in the room. The men were all dressed to the nines in bespoke tuxedos, and each one of them had a swagger to match.

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