Page 8 of This Memory
Evelyn sighed. “We try again.”
“I imagine it isn’t cheap to do this procedure,” he said, glancing at me.
“I’m not paying for it,” I said, unsure why I felt the need to clarify.
“We’re covering everything as far as the medical expenses go. We’ll pay for Brystol’s prenatal care and the delivery.”
Gavin nodded.
For the rest of dinner, we talked about everything but the baby. Denny and Gavin talked about football, since it was mid-September and we were in the throes of the season, while Evelyn and I talked about the fall scavenger hunt the following weekend.
“Will the toy store be open?” Evelyn asked.
“During the scavenger hunt?” I asked, surprised.
She nodded.
“Um,yeah. I’d be crazy to close the store with everyone in town.”
Evelyn smiled. “Of course, I don’t know what I was thinking. You’ll take it easy after the implantation, though, right?”
Confused, I let out a small laugh—but she stared at me, expression serious, waiting for a response.
“The doctor said I needed to rest on Monday but could return to work on Tuesday.”
I watched as Evelyn wrung her hands, chewing on her lower lip.
“Eve, I can’t stop living my life because of this…you know that, right?”
“Of course she does,” Denny said, putting an arm around his wife. “She’s just nervous.”
Gavin obviously felt the sudden tension in the air, because he cleared his throat and said, “Why don’t you two go enjoy this gorgeous evening on the back porch? Brystol and I will clean up.”
Evelyn gave him a small smile. “Are you sure?”
I stood and motioned for them to go. “Enjoy the rest of the wine. We’ll join you soon.”
Denny stood and took Evelyn’s hand. He reached for the wine bottle, while Evelyn grabbed their glasses. I started to clear the table, picking up my plate and Evelyn’s. I reached the sink and began to rinse them off when I felt Gavin behind me. My entire body shivered with how close he stood, and internally, I cursed him that he still could make me feel this way, even after all these years.
“Brystol…are you sure about this?”
I turned and frowned at him. “What?”
He glanced over his shoulder before focusing back on me, then lowered his voice. “That is a big ask from them. You’ll be pregnant with someone else’s baby. You haven’t even…”
His words trailed off, and I knew what he was thinking. I haven’t even had my own child yet. I’d thought the same thing on more than one occasion.
“I’m well aware of that, Gavin. I want to do this for them. You didn’t see Evelyn, how devastated she was when she told me she couldn’t have kids. It broke my heart to see her like that. When they asked me if I would do this for them…”
Nowmyvoice trailed off.
“What? How did you feel when they asked?”
“I wasn’t sure at the time. I was even a little freaked out, but the more I thought about it, I knew it was something I had to do. If I didn’t, they were going to ask a stranger. I couldn’t bear the idea of someone they didn’t know carrying their child.”
He pushed a hand through his hair. “I can see that for sure. Man, this is just…huge.”
I let out a humorless laugh. “Tell me about it. My mother’s biggest concern is me growing attached to the baby.”
