Chapter15
Elizabeth left the doctor’s office feeling oddly light and heavy at the same time. The tests Dr. Marchman had done had confirmed that she was, in fact, pregnant; she’d even gotten to see the tiny little blip on the ultrasound that showed there was something inside of her, though it was still too small for them to confirm absolutely that it was an embryo. They’d sent away her blood for final confirmation, but after three pregnancy tests that all came out positive--including the one at the doctor’s office--Elizabeth was willing to call it done. In nine months, give or take, she would have a baby.
She’d told Luke that she would catch up with him later; she had errands to run, things she wanted to do on her own. Really, though, she’d mostly just wanted to be on her own for a little while. Everything--everything--was going so quickly between them. She just wanted to have a few hours to be secure in the knowledge that she was pregnant and to enjoy the city on her own.
Considering the fact that you spend more than half your time alone, of course you want more alone time, Elizabeth thought sardonically. Although she and Luke were still working out what their relationship would be like while they waited for the baby to be born. They did both have lives of their own; of course, Elizabeth thought, her life was now a little curtailed by the fact of the growing fetus inside of her, but that wasn’t as much of a damper on her life as it could have been.
Dr. Marchman had said that she could have a cup of coffee a day without much ill effect--even, occasionally, two == but that if she started feeling symptoms of her blood pressure going up, she would need to be careful. The doctor had even said that if she wanted a glass of wine every now and then--no more than maybe once or twice a week, and never more than a single glass--it would be okay. But Elizabeth had no intention of taking any chances. “As for raw or undercooked fish, I will point out that Japanese women eat sushi even when they’re pregnant,” the doctor had added. “Don’t make a huge habit of it, but if you just have to have a tuna roll, eat the damn tuna.”
Elizabeth stepped onto the train and tried to focus on something other than reminiscences of the doctor’s visit she’d just left. She could go to the grocery store and pick up a few things, and maybe go on to do a little sightseeing around the Loop before she met with Luke. She’d want to drop her groceries off at home first, of course, but Luke would be happy to meet her anywhere in the city, that much Elizabeth knew.
Stop at the Whole Foods on the way back to the apartment, grab the things you need, drop them off at the apartment and then head to the Loop to find something to do, Elizabeth told herself, as she listened for the announcement of the next stop. She could--she supposed--go back to her apartment first, get her car, and use that to go to the market, but that would only encourage her to buy more things.
Fortunately, the five thousand dollars a month that Luke was paying her--along with her own income--and the rent-free apartment meant that she had more than enough money for expensive groceries.
For a moment, sitting on the train and waiting for it to get to the next stop, Elizabeth fantasized about a medium-rare steak, dressed with sautéed mushrooms, with a baked potato and maybe a salad on the side. Her mouth watered.
She wasn’t sure if it was because she was pregnant or just because she knew she was pregnant, but Elizabeth had definitely noticed that her appetite had increased. Steaks from Whole Foods would be expensive, but Elizabeth thought that since they were grass-fed and organic, it was almost worth it. Especially since she was craving it so intensely.
She got off the train and walked from the stop to the big, shining bastion of organic food and pseudo-scientific health products, reaching into her purse for her shopping bag. “Okay, Lizzie, stuff for dinner and the stuff you need and that’s it,” she told herself, walking through the doors. It was always tempting to get more than what was on her list whenever she stepped into the brightly-lit, beautiful store; it was like a Disneyland of groceries.
Elizabeth shopped quickly, thankful that she had missed one of the “rush” periods of the day; it made it easier to get exactly the steak she wanted from the meat counter, and while she did buy herself some olives and some cheese--not, strictly speaking, on her list--she managed to get the things she needed and stick to the aisles that had what she was looking for without browsing too much or finding herself going into another aisle to get around someone who had their cart parked at a right angle in the middle of the path.
She hurried a little bit going the rest of the way home, not wanting to risk the meat or other perishable items in her bag getting exposed to too much heat. Fortunately, the store was only about ten minutes away from the apartment by transit, and in almost no time, Elizabeth was stepping onto the sidewalk to take the last bit of the trek home.
“Okay, you put the groceries away, have a snack, and then get out to head back to the Loop.” She would figure out somewhere to meet with Luke, and they would talk about the doctor’s visit and how they would take the next nine months, and then she would go home and cook her steak and baked potato and mushrooms.
It sounded to Elizabeth like the most ideal night possible, especially when she imagined finishing all of it with a long soak in her bathtub and then climbing between the sheets of her bed without even bothering to put on pajamas.
“Excuse me.” Elizabeth blinked, coming to a stop at the sound of the voice. She looked around and saw a woman standing outside of her building, looking right at her. The woman was maybe two inches taller than Elizabeth, with blonde hair and blue eyes, slimmer than she was but not as curvy--of course, Elizabeth thought wryly, that would go without saying, most of the time.
“Do I know you?” Elizabeth shifted the shopping bag and her purse, feeling a little uncomfortable.
“You don’t, but I need to talk to you. It’s about Luke Johns.” Elizabeth’s feeling of discomfort intensified.
“What about him?” She was ready to find out that maybe this woman wanted dirt on him, or maybe she was working with a tabloid that covered billionaires, something like that.
“It’s kind of complicated--would you feel safe letting me come up with you and talk about it privately?” Alarm bells went off in Elizabeth’s mind, but at the same time she couldn’t help but feel curious. She knew that she shouldn’t invite a stranger up to her apartment, especially in a big city like Chicago.
“I don’t know,” Elizabeth said. “I think I need you to give me a reason to actually let you into my apartment; I don’t know you from Adam,” she pointed out.
“I have important information about Luke,” the woman told her. “And I think it’s information you need to know.”
“How am I supposed to believe that?” Elizabeth crossed her arms over her chest and looked at the woman in front of her dead-on.
“I’m Luke’s most recent ex,” she said. “And if you’re planning on having a baby for him, then you should think twice.” The woman reached into her bag and took out a newspaper clipping, handing it to Elizabeth.
She looked at it, feeling skeptical but less so than she had moments before when she had no reason to trust the woman about anything. The clipping showed Luke with the woman in front of her at some event where they were both dressed to the nines; it was some charity thing, from what Elizabeth could glean from the text, and it identified the woman who’d spoken to her as Luke Johns’s girlfriend of two years.
“Okay, that’s good enough for me,” Elizabeth said, handing it back. “Come on up.”
She let the woman into the building with her and tried to fight down the apprehension she felt as they rode the elevator up in near silence. “I wouldn’t have interfered, but I know that Luke has been looking for a surrogate to carry a child for him, and I wanted to make sure that whoever he was working with, the woman knew some things,” the other woman said as they reached Elizabeth’s floor.
They walked down the hall, and Elizabeth hesitated briefly before unlocking her door to let them both into her apartment. “I don’t even know your name,” she said, turning to look at the blonde.
“Kelly,” she said. “Kelly Lathem.”
“So, Kelly,” Elizabeth said, putting her perishables away in the fridge. “What is it that you need to tell me about Luke?”
“So, like I said, I’m Luke’s most recent ex,” Kelly explained. Elizabeth gestured for the woman to sit down at the table. Kelly sat down, and Elizabeth’s training in politeness made her want to offer the woman something to drink, but she thought she would hear what Kelly had to say first. The fact that she was Luke’s ex made her less inclined to believe whatever it was that Kelly had to say--but more interested in what it might be, all at the same time.
“Right, we’re clear on that,” Elizabeth said, sitting down as well. “And you said that if I’m thinking of having his child that there are some things I should know.”
“Yes,” Kelly agreed. “I did say that.” She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I’m sorry, it’s just that it’s a lot to talk about, and I’m actually not sure where to start.”
“Just start wherever,” Elizabeth suggested. “Wherever you feel comfortable starting.”
“He probably told you that he wants a child or something like that,” Kelly said.
“Well, generally people who hire a surrogate do want children,” Elizabeth said, as gently as she could.
“He told me he wanted a child too,” Kelly said. “He insisted on us trying, even.”
“Okay,” Elizabeth said, wondering where Kelly was going with her story.
“We tried for about three months, and finally I got pregnant,” Kelly went on. “And things were great at first. He couldn’t stop spoiling me, he wanted to do all kinds of nice things for me, all that.”
“Right,” Elizabeth said.
“And then when I was about four months in...he decided he wasn’t ready,” Kelly said. “I told him I was too far along to back out, and I wanted to keep the baby--and that we could work it out.” Her voice cracked and then, as she continued, got angrier. “He refused. He paid me off what he said was ‘fair’ to take care of the baby, a trust fund for twenty years that pays out at fifty thousand a year, and he made me sign paperwork promising I wouldn’t come after him for any other child support.”
“That...that’s quite a situation,” Elizabeth said.
“I just thought that you should know,” Kelly said. “I mean--he was all for me having a kid with him until it became a real reality. And I just think...if he really wanted a kid, he already could have one. He still hasn’t even contacted me about Mary.”
“Mary?”
“Mary is the daughter I had for him,” Kelly said. “We broke up about a year ago.”
“So, Mary is about...I guess eight months old?” That didn’t seem to quite jibe with how lean and slim Kelly was, but Elizabeth knew that there were some women who just naturally dropped the baby weight that they gained, and the woman had probably been slim to begin with.
“Yeah, she just turned eight months about a week ago,” Kelly said. “So, I mean--if he really wanted a child, you would think he would at least be in touch, right?”
“Maybe he feels like it’s too complicated with you?” Elizabeth resisted the urge to touch her abdomen, where her own baby was growing.
“I just want to make sure you’re forewarned, in case he does the same thing with you,” Kelly said. “I mean--if there’s something you know about your situation with him that I don’t, that’s what it is...but I know I wish someone had warned me.”
“Thanks, I guess,” Elizabeth said. “I don’t really know what you expect me to do with this information.”
“I would suggest that you consider backing out,” Kelly said. “I mean--what are you going to do if he backs out on you like he did with me?”
“I have a contract,” Elizabeth pointed out.
“He has lawyers. Expensive ones,” Kelly countered. She rose from the table. “I’m just saying that if you’re going to do this for him, you need to know where he stands. Don’t be like me and just think that he’s going to be great because he’s great now.”
“I’ll take it under advisement,” Elizabeth said dryly. She thought for a moment as Kelly lingered at her kitchen table. “Can you do me a favor? Could I have your phone number--in case I want more details or to talk to you about this again?” Kelly looked at her sharply for a moment and then her face relaxed.
“Yeah--yeah, sure, that makes sense. Of course you can have my number,” Kelly said. She took a pen out of her bag, Elizabeth got a sheet of paper off the pad she kept in the kitchen, and Kelly scribbled a set of numbers down for her, along with her name.
“Thanks for coming,” Elizabeth said. “I guess I’ll talk to you again soon.” Kelly left the apartment, and Elizabeth got up to lock the door behind the other woman. Suddenly, she was not interested in heading back in the direction of the Loop or doing any sightseeing in the city. She just wanted to think about what had happened and whether or not to believe the woman who had just spoken to her.
She was already pregnant with Luke’s child; if he had really abandoned one pregnant significant other already, how could she be certain that he wouldn’t end up getting cold feet about her too? She couldn’t back out of the contract, but what would happen if Luke decided not to hold up his end? She had to know.
Elizabeth went into her office and retrieved her laptop from where it was plugged in. There was one way to start getting a handle on whether or not to believe the woman, Elizabeth thought firmly. She checked the spelling on the woman’s name and began her Google searching there, determined to find out what she could about the situation--and how much of what Kelly had claimed was true--as soon as possible. Whatever the situation was between herself and Luke, it would be good to know if Kelly was telling the truth; especially now that she knew she was pregnant, she needed to be prepared for whatever might happen.