Page 74 of My Girlfriend is Not the Father

Shocking, how many times random people asked this question. In her entire life, Jade had never asked anyone about an impending birth. But this woman had a kind smile, and they were in the OBGYN office, so it seemed less invasive. ‘Ah, no. She’s a surrogate for her friend. I’m just the person who rides shotgun.’

The woman nodded and returned to her knitting. A few moments passed as she wrapped her yarn, and then she glanced up. ‘That’s quite the sacrifice for you.’

Huh? No way Jade had heard her right. Lucy was the one making the sacrifice, not her. ‘She’s happy to do it. And she’s such a trooper.’ Jade almost commented about how this woman must know about sacrifice since she was pregnant herself, but Jade zipped her lips. Golden rule, learned in the most mortifying way her first year of hairstyling: unless you see the baby’s head, never assume someone is pregnant.

‘That’s lovely. But I meant that’s quite the sacrifice for you. Giving up your partner for a year, for a life that you may not have chosen, and for little to no recognition. It’s remarkable.’ She unspooled her yellow yarn. ‘Buy yourself a push gift, too.’

Wow. No one had ever said that to her before. Having a pregnant girlfriend was hard, even though Jade hated admitting it. Lucy was the one who had it really hard, with all the sickness, swollen feet, and aversion to smells. Wasn’t it selfish of Jade to think about how tough it was for her? It wasn’t right that she sometimes dwelled on an alternate reality in which, in the prime of their relationship, she and Lucy danced and travelled and did very naughty things in the bedroom. Instead, they had movie nights, long nights broken up by restless sleep, and nausea.

Jade knew what she signed up for and didn’t regret entering into this relationship. And she was happy. Really, really happy. Right? I think. Yes, definitely happy. She adored Lucy … she lov … she coughed the rest of the sentence from her brain.

Lucy exited the room with two thumbs up and an exaggerated wink.

‘Does this mean we get ice cream?’ Jade asked.

‘Yep.’ Lucy gathered her bag. ‘Clean bill of blood glucose health. Let’s get some lunch and then go shopping. I cannot wait to see us all snazzied and jazzied.’

Lucy’s purse vibrated, and she dug out her phone. She motioned Jade to follow her as she made her way to the entrance. ‘Hello?’ Lucy’s head bobbed as she listened to the other end. ‘Okay, sounds good. Tomorrow? That’s awesome. Thank you.’ She tossed the phone back in her bag and gripped Jade’s arm. ‘That was Caroline. The surrogacy article is coming out tomorrow.’

The article. Jade had had a while to cool from the unexpected, heated feelings drudged up during Lucy’s interview. After some solid soul-searching via several Ted Talks and a few Instagram reels with the right combo of heartfelt music and inspirational quotes, Jade could finally, freely admit that Lucy wasn’t trying to steal her moment. Lucy was vibrant, fun, and bubbly, and had a really cool story. She deserved her moment, too.

Jade held the car door for Lucy as she lowered herself into the seat.

‘How do Mason and Drew feel about you all becoming a three-ring local celebrity unit?’ said Jade.

‘Oh my gosh, whatever.’ Lucy stretched the seatbelt and clicked herself in. ‘There’s going to be like ten people who read the article.’

Jade went around to the driver’s side of the car. ‘You know people love feel-good stories. Especially now with everything …’ She didn’t need to ruin a good moment with a political climate chat. ‘Pretty soon, people are going to be asking for your autograph.’

‘You’re one to talk! You’re totally going to win the award and I’m going to have to make an appointment just to see you.’ Lucy dug out a bottle of water from her bag and guzzled. ‘I need to pick up an extra paper tomorrow to give to my dad. It’s a sweet story, and Drew and Mason are pretty damn cute, but unless it’s a very slow news day, I don’t think people will care.’

Jade hated to admit it. Hated it. But a part of her hoped Lucy was right.

Chapter 28

Lucy

Well, it was obviously a very slow news week.

Lucy had genuinely thought that outside of Drew and Mason’s families, and maybe a couple of co-workers, no one would care about the surrogacy story. She wasn’t the world’s first surrogate. They had entire clinics devoted to this kind of family journey. But something was in the air – maybe the upcoming dicey presidential election, or spring approaching after a gloomy winter, or the lack of any current celebrity scandals. Whatever it was, people pounced on the story like toddlers on cookies.

Lucy blinked into the ring light, trying to remove the spots messing her peripherals.

‘Dads,’ the producer called, and Drew and Mason snapped to attention. ‘Place yourselves here, one on each side of Lucy. Sorry, you’re going to have to squish in.’ He checked the frame and stepped back with a slight frown. ‘Lucy, a little forward. Dads, a tad back.’

After the Times had run the story, the weekend local TV news station had picked it up for a segment. And then a Wisconsin news station asked for an interview, and a national online news source ran the story. And now here they were, two weeks later, getting shuffled to perfection in Drew and Mason’s living room. The producer clapped his hands and motioned for the technician to attach their mics.

Mason adjusted his bowtie, Drew cleared his throat, again, and Lucy used every core muscle she had left to maintain proper posture.

‘You doing okay?’ Drew asked.

‘Totally.’ Lucy ran her tongue across the ridges of her teeth for a final lipstick check. ‘I’m ready for my close-up, Mr Deville.’

‘It’s DeMille,’ Mason whispered.

‘No. Really? Like really, really?’ Lucy cracked a smile. ‘I’ve been saying it wrong all these years.’

‘Who do you say that to?’ Drew whispered back as the make-up person added one more sweep of powder to his forehead. ‘Please say no one, ever.’