Page 27 of My Girlfriend is Not the Father

‘Holy shit! I’m so sorry.’ Jade slammed her hand against her mouth. ‘I should’ve asked … I should never presume—’

‘No, no, it’s me. I … can’t.’

The heat from the kiss catapulted to the heat of embarrassment. How had she misread the signs so badly? Jade wanted to bolt from the house. This was so mortifying. And now she had probably destroyed the first friendship she’d made in years. ‘Truly, Lucy. It’s me. It’s been a long time since I … What I mean is, I totally misread—’

‘I’m pregnant.’

Jade cocked her head. One, two, three full seconds passed as Lucy’s eyes grew wider and she bit on the corner of her lip.

And … Jade burst out laughing. Pregnant? ‘Oh my God! You kill me.’ She put her hand against her chest as her belly quivered. Lucy’s humour was one for the record books.

Lucy’s gaze flicked back and forth, and it took several moments too long for Jade to realise Lucy’s mouth was absent of a smile.

Wait. No. What? Jade’s laughing halted. She scanned Lucy’s face. ‘What?’

‘I guess I’m not technically pregnant.’ Lucy fiddled with her fingers. ‘But I’m in the process of being a surrogate for Drew and his husband.’

No. Wait … no. Shit. Jade’s mouth opened. So many thoughts tumbled through her brain, but she couldn’t lock on a single one. She swallowed what felt like a boulder and stepped back. ‘Wow. I guess that’s … a big deal.’

And then, suddenly, questions sprang into her mind, filling the shocked emptiness. Questions, like ‘so does this mean you are going to be a mom’ and ‘why’ and ‘what does this mean for our budding, ah, friendship?’ But no. She couldn’t voice any of that. Those questions were all too invasive – or selfish.

‘Yeah, I guess it is a big deal.’ Lucy cleared her throat, oblivious to the storm inside Jade. ‘I actually haven’t told anyone except my dad. Well, besides the lawyer, doctors, surrogacy coordinator, receptionist, and my manager. Other than that …’ She grinned and swiped her hand across Jade’s. ‘If this is all not too weird for you, then I’d love to, ah, continue what we started here. Not to be all, technical or whatever, but I can’t do everything. But I can do some PG-13 related items …’

Jade couldn’t contain all this information. The image of Elizabeth stomping into their kitchen saying she applied for adoption flashed through her mind. Even though it wasn’t logical, even though the situations were not the same, Jade couldn’t stop her chest from filling with a mist of betrayal.

She and Lucy had been chatting for weeks, and Lucy never once brought this up. All the times when Jade said, ‘what were you up to today’, had it slipped Lucy’s mind to mention that she was having a baby? Lucy didn’t owe Jade anything, per se. But wasn’t Jade worthy of a little honesty?

After all the work Jade put in to rediscover herself, her worth, and once again the steadfast conviction that she wanted absolutely nothing to do with mothering or raising children, Jade felt her face heat. This is what happens when I let my body instead of my brain do the thinking! She wasn’t ready to date yet. Or sleep with anyone. And she especially wasn’t ready to be with someone who’d be totally focused on something else, and once again Jade would have to elbow her way into their world and take the scraps.

Sure, the irritation of all this landed unfairly on Lucy, but Jade couldn’t help it. Her back stiffened. ‘I don’t think this is a good idea anymore.’

‘It’s not like anything is broken down there.’ Lucy chuckled. ‘It’s all in working order. Even the doc says so.’

I need to leave. Jade wanted to smile but didn’t. Lucy’s grin faded as Jade reached for her bag on the counter. ‘Thanks for the food. And I guess, um, congratulations.’

Run. Run fast and far and do not look back for anything. Jade bolted to the door. When her hands gripped the knob, she took a breath and glanced back at Lucy, who was chewing silently on her lower lip. ‘It was really nice getting to know you, Lucy.’ The words felt like sandpaper against her throat, and she swallowed back the sickliness rising in her belly. ‘Good luck with everything.’ She shut the door, ran to her car, and refused to look back.

And she barely made it to a stoplight when the hot sting of tears formed behind her eyes.

Chapter 11

Lucy

The sting of rejection softened a few days after Jade’s abrupt departure. A full week down, and it had almost completely disappeared. Almost. Lucy shooed away all thoughts of Jade and blamed the longing on being extra horny from the hormones.

But Lucy missed their conversations. Sure, she and Drew talked daily, but it wasn’t the same. And yes, she had other people in her life, co-workers, acquaintances – but none that she wanted to sleep with. Ugh. Whatever. It was a fun few weeks, and now her friendship with Jade was done. And that was that.

The clock showed it was break time. Finally. She was tired. She’d been putting in some extra hours this past week both while troubleshooting a few account issues and making sure she stayed on upper management’s radar that she was a top contender for the expected manager spot next year. It sucked thinking this way, but it was reality – pregnant women were often not viewed as leadership material while pregnant. And if all goes well next week with the embryo transfer, in a few short months she’d start showing. She couldn’t afford that any of them would forget that she locked in new accounts quicker than anyone else at this branch.

Lucy gathered her lunch bag and purse and swung by Erica’s office. ‘Hey, lady, we still want to go for our walk over lunch?’

‘Ugh, sorry. There’s an issue with the Minneapolis branch, and I’ve got to do some heavy audits before we close,’ Erica said, barely looking up from the screen. When she did, though, her fingertips stopped clacking against the keyboard and she pushed her slipped frames back up her nose. ‘Hey, you good? You don’t look like your usual chipper self.’

Lucy never told Erica about Jade. Sure, Erica was her work wife, but their relationship was strictly nine-to-five. And now was not the time to talk about this low ache in her chest from how things ended the last time Lucy and Jade talked. ‘Yep, I’m good. I’ll catch ya later. Let me know if you get caught up and we’ll sneak in a fifteen-minute walk this afternoon.’

As she pushed open the door, sunshine and a slight breeze reached Lucy’s face, and she took a moment to breathe in the fresh, non-air-conditioned air. Fall would be here soon, and beautiful days like this would be scarce. She plopped down on the park bench in the bank courtyard space. She was just digging out her lunch when her phone rang. For a split second, her heart leapt – her phone rarely rang. Jade? Her dad called, but never during the workday. Unless someone was in the hospital, he always said ‘no personal calls until after five’.

Lucy pulled the phone from her purse to see Drew’s name flashing on her screen. Not Jade. She swallowed back the slight disappointment and pushed out a smile, instead. ‘Why are you calling? We have a strict texting-only friendship.’ She sank her teeth into a turkey and provolone sandwich.