Page 28 of Sassy Surrogate
“Ooh, now that’s intriguing. Why would he need something bigger than what he already has to rattle around in all by his lonesome?”
I can’t suppress the snort of laughter. Trust my girl would zero in on that. I can almost hear the cogs whirring in her brain.
“I guess you’ll have to ask him when you see him next. In the meantime, you up for doing some online searching? He’s got a shopping list of requirements.”
“Lay it on me, dude. I’m always up for a challenge.”
Soraya’s tone of voice tells me she’s grinning, and I can only imagine what’s going through that razor-sharp brain of hers. Before she has enough time to think of a million questions to ask, in the hopes I’ll tell her why he’s looking for a bigger home, I give her the list Heath gave me.
“That it?” She asks when I finally reach the end of the long list.
“Yep, that’s about the sum of it.”
“Hmm. At the risk of repeating myself, that’sveryinteresting.”
There’s a loaded pause as she waits for me to take the bait. Again, I laugh. Nothing subtle about Soraya when she’s fishing for more information.
“I have to dash, so I’ll leave this in your capable hands. I’ll see you when I get home later.”
“Okay.” That one word is laced with her disappointment. “Later, Manhattan.”
This time I swallow my amusement. She’s liable to kick my ass if I laugh at her one more time. “Love you, baby.”
“Love you, too.”
It still surprises me how easily the words come now. After shit went south with Genevieve I honestly believed I was done with love, swearing never to say those words to another woman other than Meme. Until Soraya came along. That woman completely blindsided me – never even saw her coming.
The bing of an incoming email draws me out of my thoughts. Turning my attention back to the pile of work on my desk, I wade back in. If I want to be there in time to read the kids their nightly bedtime story I’d best get my ass into gear. And, Lord knows, I want to see the options my little bloodhound will have found by the time I get home.
14
Danica
Silicon Valley - Two Years Ago
I can’t believehow quickly time has flown by since Heath and I came to our arrangement. True to his word, the day after I called him from the hospital, he showed up at my door right on time. My head still spins when I consider how much has changed since then.
Turned out my mother had several cracked ribs, a couple broken fingers, and a concussion after my father’s loan shark sent his goons to prove to him that he wasn’t playing around. I let him know that I’d get the money to him as soon as I was able to, but that he was to stay the hell away from me in the meantime. Interestingly enough, I haven’t heard from him since.
Within weeks of what’s now being referred to as “the incident”, Heath had wrapped up his business in Cape Town and moved all four of us here to his home in Silicon Valley. I knew he’d intended to return to the States imminently, but I’d been under the impression it was still months out from when it actually happened.
He’s thought of everything to make me as comfortable as possible while we go through treatments for me to fall pregnant. It’s pretty sweet of him to consider that I’d need my family around me during this process, and he’s made it happen.
His home in Palo Alto took my breath away. Four floors of magnificence. The majority of the house consists of glass walls, allowing the light to stream into the rooms. Mom, Pop, and Grams have the ground floor all to themselves with a separate entrance as well as direct access to the main house. Heath and I share the rest of the house.
We seem to have found a rhythm that works for us without us getting in each other’s way. And the fact that Rebecca lives nearby is the icing on the proverbial cake. Who would have thought, all that time ago, that this is what my life would become? From bone-deep biting fear to a near state of stress-free.
Finally, I’ve stopped looking over my shoulder every single time I leave the house, and if it weren’t for the worry of whether an in vitro takes or not, I wouldn’t have a care in the world. Well, that’s not strictly true, I guess.
Living in the same space as Heath. Spending time with him in the evenings. Coming to know the man behind the image. I find myself having to be careful not to get caught up in the illusion of “the happy couple.” It would be so easy to fall in love with this man with a heart of gold and feet of clay.
I’ve come to the realisation that Heath is risk averse when it comes to relationships. In business he’s all in, no matter the risk as long as it’s calculated. Matters of the heart are a completely different story.
Rebecca has alluded to him being traumatised by an event that happened during his childhood but insists it’s not her story to tell, that he needs to be the one to tell me. Although she did say that she didn’t haveallthe details. Just the little bit he shared with her one night after a business event when they’d both had a few too many.
I’ve tried to keep it as impersonal as possible without being cold, but it’s difficult when he’s become so intertwined in my everyday life. He accompanies me to all my doctors’ visits, treatments, and tests. He insists on being involved, making it hard for me to distance myself emotionally. Today is a perfect case in point.
After more months of being prodded, poked, needles jabbed into me, and all other manner of unpleasant – not to mention embarrassing – procedures, we’ll find out today if this second in vitro has worked.
