Kyle and I lay in bed after having sex for the third time. I need him to continue to be his normal loving self before hitting him with the news. He strokes my arm in a relaxing manner. I’m anything but relaxed, though. My heart’s beating out of my chest.

Needing to bite the bullet, I clear my throat. “Um, Kyle?”

“Yes, baby?” he whispers softly.

He’s still in his euphoric state, so I know this is the best time to bring it up. “That car you said you wanted…”

He stops stroking my arm, shifting a little. “Yes?”

“How about you get it? I know you’ve been wanting it for a while, and we have been saving—”

Kyle suddenly shoots up in bed, making me do the same. His face is a picture of shock. “Are you serious?” When I nod, he pulls me in for a hug. “Fuck! What did I do to deserve you? I seriously have the best wife in the fucking world.” After a few seconds, he suddenly pulls away and frowns. “Hold on a minute. You didn’t want this car because you said we needed to save for a family. What’s changed?” It dawns on him. “It’s this business with Ethan and Sarah, isn’t it?”

I see the frustration in his eyes and start to panic a little. “I just thought that if I did this for them, it’ll be another few years before we can start a family. It gives you time to enjoy your car and me to get ready for the future again.”

He snorts. “You mean this is my sweetener? A car for a baby.”

I grab his arm. “Yes, but the baby won’t be ours. It will be Sarah and Ethan’s. They are the ones who will be dealing with the nightly feedings and dirty nappies. We will still be as we are now…except you’ll have the Porsche you’ve always wanted.” I flutter my eyelashes a little at him, surprised when he laughs.

“And you’re willing to cut this shit out for a while about you and me having a baby?”

I nod. “Yes. You get the car, and I promise not to bring up a baby until you’re ready to talk about it.”

Kyle shakes his head. “I can’t believe I’m even contemplating this. You know how I feel about it.”

I stroke his arm. “I know, but I want to give this gift to them. Let me do that. Please. You know how much they’ve suffered over the years.”

Kyle grimaces a little. “Fuck, I really want that nine-eleven.”

I smile. “I know you do. Call it a gift for a gift.”

He nods with an amused smile. “You drive a real hard bargain, lady.”

My hopes soar. “You mean you will agree to me carrying their baby?”

He looks over my body, sighing. “But you’ll get fat.”

I wince, trying not to let his comment bother me. “It will only be for a few months. Within six months of having the baby, my body will be back to the way it was. You’ll see. You know how much I like to keep in shape. Even being pregnant, I’ll do as much exercise as I am allowed to do.”

I don’t know why I’m saying this. Kyle has changed over the years, but I let him walk all over me just because I clung to the hope of a family. Now I can see that probably isn’t going to happen, and staying with Kyle is proving more difficult. We have a history, though. He was my first. That’s something that is hard to break.

“I don’t want another man’s come inside you.”

Shit, I should have known this was coming. I have to come up with a lie. “Well… It doesn’t have to be that way. They could use one of my eggs and do it that way. There’s no mess then.”

He looks appalled. “I should fucking hope not.”

I laugh a little. “You know what I mean.”

“They could really do it that way?”

“Yes. I will insist on it,” I lie. I know that will be too expensive, but I have to get Kyle to agree. He doesn’t need to know about all the other stuff. At some point, I also know I’m going to have to broach the subject of him using condoms while I’m trying to get pregnant. I don’t think that will go down too well, but I’ll deal with that when the time comes. The main thing right now is getting him to agree.

“Fuck. I’ve wanted that fucking Porsche for five years. Five long years.”

I feel my heart pounding. I can’t believe he’s going to agree to this. When I look at him expectantly, he smiles.

“I can’t believe I’m going to say this,” he mutters. “Fine. Go get pregnant by another man, as long as you stick to your side of the bargain.”

I cross my chest. “Promise.”

Kyle bounces off the bed and walks toward the bathroom. “Shower with me. It’s been a while since we did that. Afterward, we’ll go eat so we can discuss my new car.” When he swaggers off, I blow out a breath.

That was a lot easier than I thought.