Page 38 of Her Baby His Gift

“I just have a lot to process. That’s all.” Harlem conceded. She laid her head on her mom’s shoulder. “That’s why I came home.”

“This has to be tough. I can’t imagine, but honey . . .” Elaine took Harlem’s hand in hers and squeezed it. She spoke softly as she pulled Harlem into a loving embrace. “I know that Damian checks all of your boxes and plans for your life. He’s a handsome and successful black man. In your mind, you have the perfect guy, and now you want the 2.5 children, the dog, and the house with the white picket fence. But, let me tell you, life is not perfect. Sometimes things don’t always go the way we plan. It can sometimes be messy, and one must adjust. My prayer is that you figure out whatever has you hung-up and you make the best decision that is not only good for your relationship, but foryou.”

Chapter 20

It was good being home for a few days. It had given Harlem some much-needed time to catch her breath and put things into perspective.

She looked around the dining room table to make sure everything was perfect. Damian had invited Carter over for dinner.I can’t believe we’re actually going to do this.

She walked into their chef’s kitchen to check on the pasta.This is crazy. Sheer madness.Harlem said to herself, “What are your options?”Do you really want to live a life without Damian?She’d asked herself that question a million times. “Could I? Yes. Do I want to? No.”

Damian walked into the kitchen as if this night wasn’t going to change their lives. “It smells good in here.” He went to wrap his arms around her waist as she stood in front of the stove, stirring the pasta sauce. Harlem side-stepped his embrace. She wasn’t in a huggy kind of mood. Harlem was angry yet trying not to be since nobody forced her to agree with his idea.

Damian let his arms drop. “We don’t have to do this.”

Harlem slammed the top of the pot down. “Don’t play games, Damian! If I want a child, this is exactly what I have to do unless I leave you and have a baby with someone else.”

Damian caged Harlem into his embrace, not allowing her to move. He spoke tenderly. “I certainly don’t want that. This was a hard decision for both of us, but especially you. Thank you.”

No sooner had he uttered the words did the doorbell ring. “What do you want me to do? Should I send Carter home?”

YES! Send him home.Everything inside of her felt like she was making a terrible mistake. Instead of listening to that little voice, Harlem ignored it. She sighed and whispered. “No.”

“Okay.” Damian kissed her gently on the lips. “I’ll get the door.” He walked out of the kitchen, leaving Harlem alone. She needed a minute to collect herself as she switched between anger and nerves. She took a few deep breaths, turned off the burners on the stove, and took another deep breath before walking out of the kitchen.

Carter was nervous. “Harlem.” He never looked anything less than confident. She couldn’t imagine how Damian’s conversation about being their donor went. However, Damian was good at convincing people to do things they never would otherwise.

Harlem walked slowly toward them. She forced a smile. “Carter.”

Carter had run this scenario in his head over and over again. He couldn’t figure out how to get to yes. Tonight he was supposed to give them his decision. How Damian’s crazy-ass idea even grew legs was beyond him. More importantly, he must have had magical powers to convince Harlem to go along with this madness. The mere thought of her being pregnant with his kid was enough to send him into a full-blown panic attack.

Damian looked between the two most important people in his life. It was rather obvious neither was sold on his plan. He had to do something to fix it before it completely unraveled. “Thanks for coming.”

“Yeah . . . I um . . . brought wine.” Carter handed it to Damian. He could not make eye contact with either of them.

“Thanks. It’ll go great with the pasta Harlem made.” Damian hoped to break the ice. “You know Harlem’s pretty good in the kitchen.”

“Yep.” That was all Carter could muster.

Harlem’s pained-looking smile expanded as she took the bottle from Damian. “Why wait? Let’s have wine now.” She ran-walked back into the kitchen to open it. Harlem pulled three long-stemmed wine glasses out of the cabinet. She found a corkscrew in a drawer and opened the bottle. Instead of pouring the wine into the glasses, she turned it up and took a long drink. She let the full-bodied taste of the Merlot soothe her nerves. She took a deep breath, grabbed the glasses by the stem and the wine bottle before heading back out into the living room.

*****

The three of them sat around the dinner table. If it weren’t for Damian, they would have mostly eaten in silence. Carter was prone to grunt out his responses, and Harlem could only seem to utter one-word answers.

Slowly, Carter put down his fork. He was lost in his own thoughts and had no idea what Damian had been talking about. “How in the hell is this going to work? I know I’m not the only one sitting here thinking that this shit is crazy? I’m still waiting for someone to jump out to tell me this is a practical joke.”

Harlem stabbed her pasta with her fork and dragged it around her plate, making a scraping sound. She agreed. “Nope. It’s realanddownright, batshit crazy.”

“Exactly!” Carter pointed to her. “See. You’re not even on board with this madness.”

“I didn’t say that,” Harlem said quietly as she looked up. “However, I do agree that it’s not ideal.”

Damian looked between them. “I understand that this isn’t the most conventional way to conceive, but I really do think it can work out for all of us.”

“I’ve been cautious in my last thirty-two years not to have any slip-ups. Now, you’re asking me to willingly give you my sperm to have a baby. A baby that I will have to see regularly.”

“Carter, this will be Damian’s and my baby.” Harlem frowned with worry. “Over the years, you’ve made it perfectly clear that you do not want to be a father. Has that changed?”

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