The Billionaires Hired Baby Mother: When the wife and surrogate are two different people (5 page)

“
I’m so tired Roy,” Melissa
whispered.

“
You wouldn’t have to put your body
through that Mel. Someone else would carry the baby for us,” he
pleaded.

He had misunderstood her. She needed a moment to compose herself
before he understood her true meaning. Melissa took another bite of
her waffle, though it now tasted like glue to her. She could see the
excitement on Roy’s face when he seemingly came up with the
‘solution’ to all of their problems. She wanted him to be
happy but this was a lot of information to process. He never
understood that it wasn’t that she was against adoption. Not at
all. It was the sadness of not having a child of her own. Maybe that
was selfish of her. Maybe that was why she understood his desire to
have a child of his own. Would she be okay with raising Roy’s
child? With another woman?

“
This is so much to think about.”

“
Mel, I know this is a lot to digest and I
promise I wasn’t trying to blindside you with all of this. But
I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. I’ve
always wanted a big family. This could finally be the way for us to
have everything we always dreamed about. You were so happy when we
first started trying.”

Melissa looked at her husband. His plea written all over his face.
Was she wrong to give up, to give up hope without even discussing it
with him?

“
Can you let me think about it?” she
asked finally.

“
Of course Mel,” he said reaching for
her. “This is a decision we both have to make. I only want this
if you want it too.

From the look on his face, Melissa wasn’t sure if that was
entirely true.

*****

Roy didn’t bring up the surrogate for the next few days but
Melissa could tell he was anxious for her decision. She was
preoccupied at work to the point that the following Wednesday,
Courtney asked her if she was feeling well after she had to repeat
herself several times. So Melissa left work early and took some time
to think. She went to a park that she and Roy used to frequent in
their early days of marriage, sat on one of the benches and really
evaluated her decision. Roy wanted this. Wanted a child. And she
wanted their marriage to work. At one time, she had wanted the same
thing so would it really be that bad? And what about this other
woman? Would she just be okay with having their baby? But Roy had
assured her that people did this all the time. That the biological
mother would not be around after the baby was born. Could it be that
easy? That simple? She had thought she had given that dream up. That
she was resigned to it just being her and Roy, but what if there was
a way for them to have everything they wanted. She thought about Roy
and how his face lit up any time he mentioned having a family. How
that light had faded as time and time again they were disappointed.
How the first time she had seen him with that expression in a long
time was when he brought up the surrogacy. She realized Roy needed
this. And so she made her decision.

Roy didn’t want to pressure Melissa but he had wanted a baby
for a long time now. He had given her time to digest his suggestion
but he was becoming more and more anxious. He knew how Melissa
operated and knew that he just had to give her time to think. It
wasn’t the fairest solution but Melissa was so against
adoption, when he thought it would have been the perfect solution.
They had the means to change a child’s life. He wanted someone
to carry on his legacy. A friend had used a surrogate and it had
worked so well for them. He just needed Melissa on board. He wondered
how he would feel if she said no. He knew this might be their last
option for having a family.

Roy got home after and headed for the shower. When he entered the
master bedroom he was shocked to see Melissa already waiting for him.
She smiled at him and for a moment he had a glimpse of the woman he
fell in love with. He reached for her and kissed her passionately.

“
You’re home early. Is everything
okay?” he asked.

“
Everything is fine. I needed to do some
thinking, so I left early.”

Roy looked expectantly at Melissa.

“
Thinking about what we talked about?”
he asked quietly.

“
Yes,” Melissa whispered. “Roy,”
she said. “Let’s do it.”

The look of bliss on his face was worth it, Melissa thought to
herself as she embraced her husband.

Ettie took a deep breath and opened the door to Bloomfield Fertility.
Once she had done her research and made her decision there really was
no way of stopping her. It wouldn’t be so bad would it? Helping
someone else achieve their dreams of having a family. And it wasn’t
like she would be sad turning the baby over at the end of nine
months. It wouldn’t even technically be her child. She would
deal with Lily’s questions when they came. She was nervous
about Andrea’s reaction but she couldn’t think about that
right now. She knew what she had to do and as nervous as she was, she
also felt like she was doing the right thing. Not only would becoming
a surrogate bring someone else joy but it would help her solidify
Lily’s future. As she approached the desk the receptionist
smiled and came out to greet her.

“
Hello. I’m Allison Hughes. You must
be Henrietta Fraser,” she smiled holding out a hand.

“
Yes. How did you know that?” Ettie
asked slightly startled.

“
Here at Bloomfield we only see one client
per doctor at a time. You are our first appointment with Dr. Klein
today. We know what an important decision this is,” Allison
beamed.

Ettie felt better about her choice already. The doctor already had
her medical files which had been sent over the day before. They drew
blood and performed an examination. She was asked about any sexually
transmitted diseases and was screened for everything, including if
she carried the gene for the RH factor. Next they sent off labs to
determine her blood group. She was asked about any medications and
allergies. A urine test was done to determine the presence of any
illegal substances. They asked if she smoked or drank alcohol. It was
like they stripped Ettie down to the very core. Next was the
paperwork and an overwhelming amount of questions including a
psychological exam. Finally they performed two slightly invasive
procedures, a normal pap smear and a hysteroscopy, which checked how
clear her fallopian tube passages were.

Four hours later, Ettie Fraser was registered as a surrogate with
Bloomfield Fertility, pending her lab results. She knew she had a
clean bill of health despite her mother being diagnosed with cancer,
one of the intrusive questions. Now all she had to do was wait for
clearance and for someone to choose her. Allison had told her that
her file would need to be updated every six months and that it could
be some time if at all before she was chosen. The hardest part was
over. Allison also suggested that she improve her diet, adding folic
acid and iron, basically making her womb a welcoming environment. The
doctor also prescribed Ettie prenatal vitamins which she thought was
premature, but decided to take anyway.

Three weeks later, Ettie was given the all clear. She had only seven
months to be chosen. Lily’s school started in September. It was
already February and the balance was due by September 1st. She
couldn’t worry about that right now.

*****

Melissa was nervous as they looked over the files. Should they really
be doing this? Renting an egg for an instant family? And what made
these women okay to do this? Roy seemed generally interested in the
thick manila folders before them but all Melissa saw were smiling
faces that all melded together into one. They had decided to try and
find someone who had the same characteristics as Melissa so that
raising the baby would be easier. Less questions. But of course there
would be questions. That was just the world they lived in. Endless
questions by family and friends.

“
When are you having a baby?” the most
popular these days.

Roy was ecstatic. Melissa had agreed to finding a surrogate and here
they were in Dr. Klein’s office, one of the top fertility
specialists in Texas. They were led to a small but comfortable room
with cushy chairs, coffee and cookies and two computers side by side.
They had decided that to get through all of the files they would
peruse them separately and then save the ones they were interested
in. The friendly receptionist had given them instructions and assured
them that she would be able to answer any questions.

There were several questions asked before they had access to the
files. Education level, height, race, eye color. Roy noticed that
Melissa had selected several filters while he had kept all options
open. Whatever it took, he would make sure that they found some
candidates they could agree on.

Two hours later and Melissa was tired. She couldn’t find a
single woman that she wanted carrying her child. Roy had chosen six,
all of which she vetoed for some reason or another. Roy wanted to
have lunch and then come back with a fresh pair of eyes. Dr. Klein
said the process of choosing could take weeks but Roy was insistent
they find the right woman sooner than later.

They had a light lunch. Roy tried his best to make Melissa feel at
ease. He wasn’t sure she was completely on board and that
worried him.

“
Can’t we just do this another day?”
Melissa asked toying with the straw in her drink.

“
We took the day off. I was hoping we could
look at more files,” Roy said.

“
It’s just so tiring. They all start
looking the same after a while.”

“
You know Mel, when we find her we will just
know,” he said thoughtfully.

“
I don’t even know what criteria we
should be looking at,” Melissa shot back.

“
Well, we want her to be healthy obviously.
I was thinking African American so the baby looks more like us,”
Roy said.

“
Maybe we should look for someone biracial,”
Melissa said sarcastically.

“
You know what I meant Mel. You know this is
our baby right? The surrogate is just that. A surrogate. I want us
completely involved.”

“
That’s just it Roy. This is not our
baby. This is your baby, with another woman.”

Roy didn’t know how to respond at first so he just remained
quiet.

“
Mel, we don't have to do this,” he
said finally. “Do you want this? We have to be sure.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to say that she didn’t but when
she looked up and saw the hurt written all over his face she couldn’t
bring herself to say it.

“
Roy,” she said instead. “Can we
just come back on Saturday? I’m just so drained. I can’t
do this today.”

“
Yes. Of course. I’ll call the
clinic,” Roy said.

Everything would have been fine if Roy didn’t get that call the
next day. It was from his sister Kate.

“
Hey little brother,” Kate said.

“
Hey. How are you?” Roy said into the
phone.

“
We’re good. How’s Melissa?”
Kate asked.

“
Good, good. Her business is taking off.”

“
That’s good. I just spoke to
grand-dad. He’s going crazy since he retired. You really need
to go and see him,” Kate chided.

“
I see him when I can. I keep him updated
every day. Don’t let the old man fool you. I’m surprised
he hasn’t tried to sneak in. Probably would if I didn’t
take his office,” Roy laughed.

“
Must be great. I always loved the view. I
can’t believe dad and Mark just let you take it.”

“
As do I Katie. Besides dad’s office
is three times as big. He’s not going anywhere. And I have
seniority over Mark,” Roy joked.

“
You know he misses grandma. It’s only
been two years. Go see him.”

“
I will,” Roy sighed.

“
The children and I will be coming to visit
over spring break. Will we get to see you?” Kate asked.

“
Yeah of course.”

“
You know Roy, Mark is only twenty-two. From
the looks of it he’s not settling down anytime soon. Grand-dad
won’t be around forever and with me in Maine, he needs some
great grandkids to keep him busy. You and Melissa should really start
trying again. At least look into adoption.”

“
Kate don’t start that again. I
already told you how she feels,” Roy said rubbing his jaw.

“
Yes. I’ve heard. I don’t
understand it though. You’re the oldest son. Who is going to
carry on our family name? My children are Vaughns. Think about it.
And what about how you feel? I think Melissa is being very self
centered. Do you know how many children need a good home? I was just
telling Paul…”

“
Hey Katie. Sorry, I have a client coming
in. I’ll call you this week okay? Love you sis,” Roy said
quickly, hanging up.

He'd had this conversation with both Kate and his mother numerous
times. His sister and Melissa didn’t really get along that
well. They were cordial to one another for the sake of Roy. Kate who
had grown up as a southern belle could not understand why Melissa
would ever want to run her own business. He loved his sister dearly
but she was old fashioned. Kate Gardner had attended college with one
goal. To find a suitable husband. She had found that in her freshman
year when she started dating senior Paul Vaughn, from a well
connected family of lawyers. They were engaged Kate’s sophomore
year and married the next spring. Kate adored Paul but they did as
was expected of them both. She would never understand the
relationship between him and Melissa. How he loved her for her
ambition. How he was the one who had encouraged her to open her
company. Kate and his mother for that matter, couldn’t
understand why Roy, who had wanted a houseful of children, would let
a simple thing like infertility get in his way. He didn’t like
to dwell on it but sometimes he hated how his mother looked at
Melissa, something like disappointment in her eyes that she couldn’t
get pregnant.