Page 57 of Geordie

There would be an audible gasp if both of them weren't gaping, wide-eyed, at me. At least they've stopped talking for the moment while they process what I've said. Lochlan is the first to recover from the shock. He swallows hard. “Are you getting married?”

“No, let me explain. I've decided to have a child without getting married and without a girlfriend. I plan to have a child by gestational surrogacy. I'll find an egg donor, have it fertilized with my sperm, and the surrogate will carry the child.”

“Why, Geordie? Why not find a woman, fall in love, and then have a child like our parents?” Lochlan says.

“Because I don't want to wait, cousin. I didn't find a woman in Scotland, and I haven't found a woman here who I want to spend my life with, but I do know I want children.”

Kenzie pushes her hand across the table to grab my palm, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “I think that's wonderful. I've read a few articles about singles who are choosing to parent alone.”

Lochlan pushes his half-eaten dessert aside, leaning forward on the table. “You're a wealthy man. You're leaving yourself open to be taken advantage of because you want this child.”

Frustration wells up and I have to remind myself that he means well, but he doesn't understand. “Are you saying that I'm too stupid to go through this process without losing everything I possess?”

“I think,” Kenzie starts and squeezes my hand again to get my attention, while she gives a stern look to Lochlan. “We should take this conversation to a private venue.” She lowers her voice. “You two are well known in this valley. We don't know who is sitting at the next table. Let's finish our dessert and port and go upstairs to talk.”

The location of the discussion did nothing to change Lochlan's mind. He's dead set against my having a child out of wedlock. I had no idea he was that conservative. He's sounding less like Lochlan and more like Granda. Because I know Granda will be against my plans, I'm not telling him about the child until the christening.

Chapter twenty-seven

Baby's Daddy

Lily

Mollyshovesanotherhandfulof popcorn in her mouth from the large brown ceramic bowl. With each hard crunch of the homemade hazelnut-caramel popcorn, my fingers miss another key on my laptop, making it difficult to perform an internet search.

“Are you sure you need my help?” she asks before she takes another swipe at the bowl. This time, she pops the kernels in her mouth one by one.

I peer at her from across the dining room table. “I want you to view this sperm donor website with me. You said you'd help with the process.”

She harrumphs, setting her chin in her hand, eyes a glassy blue.

“I don't care how much you complain… you're helping me,” I say, typing the last bit of the web address in the search box. The page appears on the screen. “Got it,” I say, turning the laptop around to face her.

Molly stares at a website, which offers few pictures. “What am I looking at?” she asks, squinting at the page.

There's nothing to do but to pull my chair around and help her navigate the site. “This is the page that links all their matching tools.” I click a link and aSearch our Sperm Donor Databasecomes up. “This is where I can search by hair color, eye color, race/ethnicity.” I fill in a few boxes. “Look, I can even enter height and weight.”

“Why are you doing this when Stephen is your perfect match? I mean, all you need to do is go back to him and this is solved.”

“I'm not going back to him. I've explained it's over between us.”

Molly shakes her head, refusing to accept that Stephen is an ex. My best friend doesn't know the real reason why we broke up; she just thinks I'm being stubborn. “I need you to concentrate. I'm going to fill in more preliminary information, and see this section? This is an extended questionnaire about medical that I think I should check.”

“You know Stephen is worried about you. He's been going out of his mind since he dropped by your place a few times and you wouldn't answer. He finally called me to ask me what was going on.”

I hit the enter button and send the search form reeling towards the database. “Huh,” I say, realizing what she just said. “When did you speak with him?”

Molly feigns interest in the website. “I don't really remember; we just talked about you. He was really concerned.” She places her fingers on the laptop pad to move the pointer around. “Explain how this search works again?”

I push the laptop away so she has to give me her full attention. “What did you tell him, Molly?”

She reaches for the popcorn bowl. I'm faster, pushing the bowl out of her reach.

“You can't deny me nourishment. You know I'm eating for two.”

“You're not getting even one more hazelnut until you tell me what you said.”

She folds her arms and pushes out her bottom lip. “The two of you should be back together. I only wanted to help the course of true love.”

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