Page 2 of My Girlfriend is Not the Father

‘I’m Kendra. Such a pleasure meeting you all.’ She propped a tablet in her lap. ‘Ready to review a few things?’

Not really. The image of the needle had burrowed deep in Lucy’s mind, and she wasn’t sure she could handle any more surprises. Still, she plastered on a smile for Drew and Mason’s sake. ‘Yep! Looking forward to learning more.’

‘Open up your calendars, please.’ Kendra pressed her stylus pen to the screen. ‘We need to complete the MMPI psychological exam, and then a follow-up with the doc. Does Friday the twelfth work for everyone?’

Lucy flipped through her calendar app. ‘Can we take this over lunch?’

Kendra chuckled, then zipped her mouth when she looked at Lucy’s scrunched eyebrows. ‘Oh sorry. I thought you were kidding. No, you’ll be here at least four hours.’

‘Four hours?’ Lucy glanced at the men. ‘For a personality test?’

‘It’s more than an internet test to see if you’re an introvert or extrovert. God, I love those things. They always seem to be so accurate, right?’ Kendra set down the pen at the edge of the desk. ‘But this one is in depth, really getting into the heart of who you are, what you need, all that good stuff. Afterwards, you’ll have a dedicated ninety-minute session just for you, and another session with you and the dads.’

Drew’s eyes widened. ‘I think we know everything about each other already.’

‘I bet you know lots, but this will dig deeper.’ Kendra turned to Lucy. ‘You still don’t have a significant other, correct? Nothing has changed since we asked you earlier this year?’

Geezus. Maybe a bullhorn could announce her status to people across the hall. Parade her around with a flashing neon sign that said: Lucy Green. Single … still!

‘Nope, no significant other, unless you count an extremely needy rescue pup.’

‘Great.’ Kendra smiled and poised the pen over her clipboard. ‘That sure is convenient, isn’t it?’

Convenient was never a word Lucy would use to describe her perpetually single status.

‘We’ll need you to sign an affidavit stating that information,’ Kendra said.

‘Stating I don’t have a girlfriend?’ So embarrassing. ‘Why?’

‘Surrogacy affects the partner almost as much as the surrogate.’

‘Really?’ Lucy said, feeling dubious.

‘Well, they won’t get swollen ankles, heartburn, or morning sickness, obviously.’ Kendra grinned. ‘But we need to confirm their beliefs will not contradict our goal. Or if they have to make any difficult medical decisions on your behalf, we file the necessary legal paperwork. They’d also need a medical evaluation to check for any STIs or communicable diseases they could pass on to you, and thus the foetus. But of course, the real reason is to make sure they’ll feed you soda water and saltines when you throw up for those first few months.’

Lucy’s stomach flipped.

‘Now, even being single, we still strongly caution you to be careful with any sexual partner, of course, but it’s required that you refrain from having sex at least six weeks prior to implantation.’ Kendra’s thumb flipped through the paperwork. ‘Have you secured lawyers?’

Mason raised a pristinely manicured hand. ‘We’ve narrowed the list down to a few that specialise in surrogacy law. Quick question. Is there any leeway in the rule regarding lawyers from the same law firm? We found a couple we really like from the same office.’

‘No, sorry.’ Kendra frowned. ‘We must protect the gestational carrier’s interests, without influence. Lucy has one hundred per cent control over her body this entire time and can make whatever choice is right for her, no matter what that choice may be.’

Kendra’s tone flipped to firm, and Lucy appreciated the intention behind the words. Since day one, this message never faltered. Lucy knew the dads trusted her. But as hyper-prepared and organised as the men were, no doubt they had a bit of reluctance giving up all control until after the birth.

Mason tugged on his crisp tie. ‘Of course. Not a problem.’

‘A few more medical evaluations, the psych exam, obtaining lawyers, and we should be good to go.’ Kendra turned her focus to the dads. ‘You can evaluate egg donor files right after we receive a passing psych exam score.’

‘Send the ones that look like Mason,’ Lucy cracked and nudged Drew with her elbow.

‘Jerk,’ Drew whispered.

Kendra’s smile dimmed. ‘You know you can’t see the donor, right?’

Oh no …

Several seconds passed as the dads communicated between themselves with their eyes. ‘We can’t?’ Mason finally asked.