Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 86710 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86710 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
“My best friend’s sister offered to carry the baby for us in exchange for catering to her expenses while she was pregnant,” Susan says.
I hold my breath, waiting, hoping that it was not Ivy.
“Her name is Ivy. She’s a well-known author now. In the big leagues,” Susan says with a note of pride.
I’m glad that she doesn’t hold Ivy’s success against her. I know the whole story but it’s still fascinating to listen to it from Susan and Mike’s point of view.
“Then there was a hitch. My eggs were not viable. That had been the problem all along,” Susan said, throwing another glance at her husband. “The next step was convincing the surrogate to use her egg. She agreed.”
“In essence making the baby half hers,” I said. “Why do you think she agreed to that? I mean, it’s one thing to be a surrogate when the baby is completely unrelated to you but when you donate an egg, you become invested in the baby.”
It’s not difficult to imagine Ivy agreeing to that kind of arrangement. She’s sweet and incredibly kind-hearted. I’m sure she felt bad for Susan that her eggs had turned out to be unviable and she would have wanted to do anything to help.
Susan inhales deeply and Mike covers her hand with his. It’s heartwarming to see that their love survived all that.
“Like I told you, she was hard up for money and she really wanted to get her writing career started. She also really felt for us because we’d known each other for a long time, even though her sister, Molly, was the one I was close to.”
I nod. “So she got impregnated with the embryo.”
“Yes,” Susan says. “We were all so excited. Mike and I couldn’t believe that we would finally have the baby that we wanted so badly. It was an awesome two or three weeks while we thought everything had gone well.”
“We got a call from the hospital soon after, saying that there had been a mistake,” Mike says, a slight tremor in his voice. “They had used the wrong sperm and the baby was not related to us at all. This of course made the surrogacy agreement null and void.”
“Our first concern was Ivy and how she had taken the news. She asked for some time to digest what had happened. We were disappointed that the baby would not be Mike’s but at that point, all we wanted was a baby. The genes didn’t matter.”
When I wrote Ivy’s story, my compassion was with her and Alec, and to be honest, I hadn’t paused for a minute to consider the couple who lost the baby they had believed to be theirs. Now, my heart goes out to them, as I imagine being in that situation, with one woman holding the future of your family in your hands.
“I won’t lie. It came as a huge shock when Ivy called and said that she had decided to keep the baby,” Susan continues. “No amount of begging could change her mind. Her sister, my best friend at the time, begged her as well but she was determined to keep it and there was nothing we could do.”
“The Anderson Clinic was responsible for this mistake but they washed their hands of the whole thing apart from this apology letter that they sent us.” Susan fishes for her handbag and removes a printed letter that has obviously been reread many times.
For the next half an hour, Susan and Mike complain about The Anderson Clinic, and I ask as many questions as I can. When the hour is up, I bring the interview to an end.
Later that evening, I send the message I’d been dreading to send all day to Ivy asking her if we can meet for lunch. She replies and suggests Monday as the weekends are busy for her. I can’t wait to see Jace tomorrow. He grounds me and makes my world safe again.
Chapter 34: Olivia
I’m giddy with excitement over seeing Jace. He’s only been gone overnight but it feels like weeks. I open the oven and the scent of grilled chicken breasts hits me. I insert the meat thermometer into the thickest part of the meat. Satisfied that it’s ready, I move the oven settings to warm. Dinner is grilled chicken, and spinach salad with cranberry and walnuts. The salad is already done.
I have twenty minutes before Jace gets home. Enough time for a shower and a change of clothes. In the shower, I scrub myself and then stand under the cascading water, letting it rinse off the soap. It’s nice to finally relax after a grueling day yesterday and part of this morning. The interview write-up is done and I sent Amelia a copy this morning when I was satisfied with it.
I’ve dealt with my emotions by simply refusing to think about anything other than the context of my job. I’ve become quite good at compartmentalizing things. My relationship with Jace has nothing to do with this assignment. It’s a lie but it’s the only way I can keep going and enjoy the time that I have left with him.