Chapter 13 #2
Queenie’s eyes flick to Jasper, then back to me. “Jasper has always been a hard worker. He sees something that needs to be done and gets right on it. I’m glad you appreciate his hard work.”
Onyx leans forward with a grin. “This is the part where we pretend not to notice Jasper serving her first?”
I glance down. My plate’s got chicken, carrots, and a spoonful of potatoes that I didn’t put there.
“She forgets to eat when she’s stressed,” Jasper says, casually.
I tease him back. “Don’t act like you know me, handsome.”
That earns a laugh from Onyx, a snort from Slate, and a nod from Queenie that lingers longer than expected. I get the sense she’s filing that away somewhere, as evidence of flirting.
“How far along are you?” Queenie asks.
“Not very far. I was twelve weeks three days ago.”
She leans her elbows on the table, her expression excited. “I remember that stage. It’s right after the morning sickness stops but before you’re really showing.”
“You’ve got a good memory,” I say. “I’m starting to get food cravings and that’s been a barrel of laughs.”
“When that happens, you should call me so I can get what you need,” Jasper mutters under his breath.
That pulls another round of laughter. Even Slate cracks a grin, which feels like a small personal victory.
But Rock hasn’t said much. He eats quietly, methodically, never looking directly at me for too long.
I’m not sure if he’s giving me a chance to warm up to him or keeping a wall in place until I prove myself to him.
I flash a grin at Jasper. “Um, they’re called cravings because they’re wants, not necessarily needs.”
Queenie clears her throat and announces out of nowhere, “I made a list,” she says, trying to sound matter of fact. “Just a bunch of ideas on possible nursery themes, notes on breastfeeding versus bottle feeding. Nothing elaborate, just things I wish I’d had when I was expecting.”
I nod, trying to match her casual attitude, but failing because I’m far too interested in what she’s got on her list. I’m also feeling a bit nervous because it sounds suspiciously like how the Whitmores wanted to control my pregnancy.
But I stop myself going down that route.
Jasper is a nice man, his mom is probably trying to be kind to the mother of her first grandbaby. “That’s really sweet of you.”
She brightens, just a little. “Maybe we can meet up sometime this week and go over it together? I don’t want to take over. But when I had my boys I was all alone, so I know how having a helping hand—especially in the early days—is invaluable Maybe even a little shopping trip, if you’re up for it?”
Her words sound casual, but something more is hovering right below the surface.
This meet-up is her throwing me a lifeline.
She’s offering to show me the ropes of motherhood.
Or maybe I just hope that’s what she means.
Jasper didn’t tell me much about his parents, but the way his mom says she was alone, makes me think there’s a story there.
“I’d like that,” I tell her earnestly. “I’d like that a lot.”
For a moment, I forget how nervous I was and that I’m the outsider. But then Rock sets down his fork. He looks directly at me. I can tell he’s got something on his mind. So I give him my undivided attention.
“Why’d you do it?” he asks. “The surrogacy. Why did you offer your body to another woman, a complete stranger? That’s assuming what Jasper says is true. Why put yourself through that?”
There’s no accusation in his tone, just a plain, direct question.
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 I could 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.