Page 27 of Sassy Surrogate
By the time I’m finished explaining the entire thing to him, he’s madder than I’ve ever seen him.
“I’m going to fuckin’ kill ’em, I am.” His Irish accent is broad as he fights for control of that legendary temper of his. There are a lot of things that get Kieran fired up, but the one that’s guaranteed to get him fit to be tied is violence against women and children.
“We don’t know for sure it’s connected to him in any way. It’s just a suspicion on my part at this stage.”
“Yeah, I’m willing to bet it’s one hundred percent connected to him. But I’m happy to bide my time. For now. What’s our plan of action then?”
Neither of us notice the hours passing, nor the spectacular Cape Town sunrise as we go over our plan one more time to ensure we’ve missed nothing.
It’s only when Violet calls out a greeting from the office door that we realise how long we’ve been at it. Thank God the States is a good number of hours behind us as I’ve not only been on the phone with Graham Morgan but other associates with little regard for time.
“Good morning. It looks like it’s been a long night, Mr Heath. Can I get you some coffee?”
“Good morning, Violet. A cup would be greatly appreciated, thank you.”
“Mr Kieran?”
At his nod, she disappears down the hall.
“You going into the office today?” Kieran asks, stretching before leaning back in his chair.
“No, I don’t think I’ll be going in today. I have the meeting with Danica at ten thirty, and after that I need to make arrangements I don’t want Rebecca to be privy to.”
“Ah, gotcha. I’m headed for the shower. Let me know when you’re ready to head out.”
“Thanks, Kieran. I’m going to do the same as soon as I’ve had my coffee. We can hit the road around ten, I think. That should get us to the meeting on time.”
Nodding, Kieran heads down the hall following in Violet’s footsteps.
Nerves and excitement vie for attention as I stare down at the copious notes I’ve made throughout the night’s planning session. Who would have thought things would turn out this way when I asked Danica to be my surrogate? Deep in the recesses of my mind an alarm bell is jangling like a klaxon, warning me to steer clear – the way ahead is littered with emotional entanglement. And yet, for the first time in my life, I can’t seem to give a toss about it.
13
Graham
My call with Heath has been a fascinating, not to mention enlightening, one. It also has my blood pressure through the roof. All-in-all, somewhat of a roller-coaster of a conversation.
I still can’t wrap my head around the situation his surrogate’s father has put all of them in, and Heath is madder than a wet cat. But, being a man of action, he’s taking steps to ensure the family’s safety. The first of which is to bring them back to the States.
Soraya and I have been tasked with finding a suitable house, since he feels his apartment is too small. My wife is going to love that – shopping for a house on someone else’s dime.
Heath and I’ve been friends for a good number of years now, and I’m curious to meet this woman he’s chosen to carry his baby. Ever since things went south with Felicia, he’s been more relationship-phobic than he was before. When their marriage ended, he swore he was done with serious relationships.
It seems things are about to change – a fact I don’t think Heath’s yet fully aware of. Something about this particular woman seems to have gotten under his skin, he’s just not figured it out yet.
I’m willing to bet he has no idea how much his voice changes – softens – when he talks about her. And I’d be willing to lay even bigger odds that if anyone were to point it out to him, he’d either tell us we need to have our heads read or that we’re talking shit. I’m almost tempted to rag on him about it, just to see what his reaction would be.
I’m curious to see how the next twelve months are going to unfold.
With a million things to do and not enough time to get it all done in a day, I place a call to my wife to get the ball rolling. While I listen to the phone ring, I pray this isn’t going to send her off on another jag about a new house. We’ve thrown the idea around some, but if I’m being honest, I love the house we’re in. It’s the one we became an ‘us’ in, shared with Chloë as we became a family rather than a couple and the one we brought Lorenzo to from the hospital. The walls hold all that’s important to me, along with beautiful memories.
Before I can stroll too far down Memory Lane, Soraya answers. “Hey Manhattan, what’s up?”
“Hey gorgeous. Got a minute? I’ve got a job for you.”
“Yeah? My interest’s piqued. Let’s hear it then.”
“Heath’s heading home earlier than expected and he’s asked if we’d look around for something bigger than the place he currently has.”
