Page 35 of Jasper
I sit up straighter, realizing that this is the question I knew they’d most want to know. I answer earnestly. “My grandmother raised me. She’s in a care home now. Her insurance only goes so far. I’d looked into surrogacy years ago for school, but this time it wasn’t about that. She needed help. I didn’t know what else I could do.”
I wait for him to comment or perhaps ask another question. But he doesn’t. Instead, he only nods. One small motion that gives away none of his thoughts on the matter.
I continue, desperately wanting them to understand. “I ended up not going to college because my gran needed me to stay home and take care of her. Then she needed more care than I could give her at home. I found her a good care home, but I didn’t realize the copays would be so high. It was more than Icould pay from my job at the diner. Surrogacy was the only way I could think of to preserve her care home placement.”
Onyx leans back in his chair, gazing at me. “Shit,” he says. “That’s actually a very selfless thing to do.”
“I agree,” Queenie agrees, smiling. “That was a very selfless and loyal thing to do.”
Mica speaks, “Tell me how you ended up carrying my brother’s baby.”
Jasper’s voice holds a note of warning, “Mica, we already talked about this.”
“I want to hear it from her own mouth,” Mica snaps.
Jasper begins to get up out of his seat, but I pull him back down. “I don’t mind talking about it. Originally, I contracted with a married couple. The woman was infertile, and they went with a donated egg from me because it was quicker. To say they were impatient would be a mild understatement.”
When I pause, Mica coaxes me, “Go on, tell the rest.”
“They were supposed to use the husband’s genetic material, but somehow the lab ended up using Jasper’s instead. The way they explained it to me, the husband’s sample ended in five zero eight and Jasper’s ended in five zero zero. They mistook the second zero for an eight. Anyway, when they notified Jasper, he didn’t want me to be linked with another couple, maybe one where they were both using donated genetic material.”
Onyx frowns, “Is this really polite dinner conversation?”
Mica snaps, “Shut it and let her finish the story.”
“There isn’t much left to tell. Jasper somehow got my contact information, showed up at my house and hired me to continue the pregnancy for him. I agreed because of a couple of reasons. First and foremost, I still need to pay for my grandmother’s copays. The original couple turned out to be complete assholes. They were treating me like an incubator for their heir rather than a human being and wanted me to terminate this pregnancy so I could get pregnant again with their child. They even threatened to sue me. By comparison, Jasper seemed like a downright decent human being. He also offered me the opportunity to stay involved in my baby’s life. Only a very foolish woman would have turned him down.”
After hearing my story, Mica seems to relax a little. Queenie shoots me an apologetic look. Jasper looks annoyed that his brother is giving me the third degree. I put one hand on his leg under the table and take a bite of my chicken.
Somewhere between the second helping and dessert, Queenie glances from Jasper to me. “I always wanted a grandchild, and this crazy mix-up at the lab has turned out to be a blessing for everyone concerned. I’m glad you came into our lives, Tessa, and that you’re planning to stay in Jasper and the baby’s life,” she says.
Her voice is light and casual, but her eyes are serious. It almost sounds like she’s thrilled at the prospect of having me as a permanent fixture in their lives. I like the sound of that far too much. The possibility lingers in my mind long after the words are said.
Chapter 14
Jasper
The bar is in full swing when we go back downstairs. Voices can be heard over the background music, glasses clinking, and laughter. This place is home for me. I know that some people might not get that, might think my upbringing was weird or wrong, but I’d argue that my parents were fuckin’ great role models for my brothers and me.
Tessa hesitates at the bottom of the stairs, scanning the crowd. She’s more curious than scared. I can tell because we’re holding hands right now instead of doing that old-fashioned arm loop thing we did before. Her hands aren’t trembling, nor are her palms sweaty. I don’t blame her for being curious, since she’s never been around an MC before. This is the loudest, rowdiest room in our clubhouse. It’s also the least filtered. She just spent a couple of hours upstairs being folded into the family side of the club. Down here, it’s blood, sweat, and swagger. I wait patiently for her to take her fill.
Tessa catches sight of a club girl discreetly riding a brother’s dick on one of the back pool tables. She’s wearing a full mini skirt instead of one of the tight ones. The only way you can tell what they’re doing is by their position and the slight movement of her hips. Tessa quickly jerks her head around, probably convinced that’s something she shouldn’t be seeing. I find her innocence adorable.
“You good?” I ask, close to her ear. “The brothers are kinda brazen. Don’t let ‘em make you lose your dinner.”
Her eyes lift to mine and she can clearly see the amusement on my face. That, coupled with the teasing tone of my voice, successfully drives home the fact that this is one of the many ways we play here at the clubhouse.
When her eyes go big, I say, “Try not to be so shocked. We’re all adults and we sometimes do adult things to blow off steam.”
She nods, “Have you done that, had sex out in the open?”
“No. It’s not because I’m shy about my brothers seeing my ass or anything. It’s because my ma raised me better than that. She said because we were destined to be club officers, we had to hold ourselves to a higher standard.”
“Thank God for Queenie, lest you and your brothers be true alley cats.”
I press my lips together to keep from laughing ‘cause my pretty new baby mama ain’t wrong about that.
“Ma is of the opinion that men need a good woman to keep ‘em on the straight and narrow. She calls it challenging us to keep our sword sharp.”
