Page 116 of More than Friends

Surprise flickers in his eyes as he studies me. I break eye contact and shift in my seat. I don’t want him to read too much into that.

He leans back in his chair and rubs the back of his neck. “Okay, how was this supposed to work? This sperm donor thing. From your argument, it sounded like she wanted you to keep this a secret.”

“Yeah, that was the initial plan. She had a lawyer draw up a contract that said I wouldn’t pursue custody, and she wouldn’t seek child support. We’d keep it a secret at least until the kid was old enough to ask questions.”

He nods.

“So, we tried to get pregnant for about six months. When it didn’t happen, we both went to the doctor. Her doctor found some things that he said would make it really difficult for her to get pregnant – not impossible, but really unlikely. She was crushed. Devastated.”

Will’s face softens a little. “What happened?”

“She ripped up our contract and said she didn’t want to try anymore. It was too hard on her. I understood, of course. She emailed her lawyer, said the deal was off.”

James rubs his chin for a moment and then I say, “And then, Elizabeth announced that she was pregnant.”

His face falls a little, and he curses softly.

“Maggie didn’t take it well. You may not remember, but she got really drunk that day. I took her home, put her to bed. I stayed with her to make sure she was okay. We hadn’t spent much time together after she called off the deal. I think it was too painful for her to be around me.”

He pinches his eyebrows together and nods for me to continue.

“The next day, she came over and wanted me to be with her. We hadn’t been together since we were trying to get pregnant. I asked if she was still wanting to get pregnant and she said it wasn’t like that. She just wanted comfort, I guess. To forget everything that was going on.”

“And you didn’t think you should use protection at this point?”

I shrug. “I asked if she wanted to use condoms and she said it didn’t matter – there was no point. We hadn’t been using anything for months. Neither of us thought getting pregnant was possible.”

I notice a muscle in his jaw twitch.

“She came over last week with a pregnancy test. She was so excited.”

Will cuts in. “I don’t understand the problem. She wanted to get pregnant more than anything, and then she got pregnant. Why is she upset?”

“Because I’m not a sperm donor. I don’t want to keep this a secret. I’m the father. We had no deal. The contract was voided.”

James closes his eyes for a moment. “Shit.”

“This is my baby. I have rights. I want to be the father, and she thinks I lied to her – that I tricked her.”

His eyes are still closed.

“I’m not wrong here. Am I?” I turn to Will. “You went to law school.”

Will takes a deep breath in through his nose and then says, “Yeah. If the contract was voided, then you have rights. It’s your baby too.”

I hold out my hands in his direction. “See? That’s what I said to Maggie, and she’s furious with me. She hasn’t spoken to me since she told me. She won’t return my texts. She won’t let me go to the doctor’s appointments. She told me I needed to get a lawyer. I don’t want to do everything through a lawyer. Why can’t we just work this out together?”

Will is rubbing his temples now.

“We’re best friends,” I say. “Or we were. We’d make a good team. I don’t get why she’s so angry. I know she wanted to do this alone, but isn’t having help a good thing?”

James sits up straight. “Is this even what you want?”

I glance over at Will, who is waiting eagerly for an answer.

“Yes. More than anything.”

James leans back again and looks up at the ceiling. “Goddamn it.”

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