Chapter 9
To say that the following morning was awkward was an understatement. They awoke still entangled in one another’s arm, smelling of one another and unable to make eye contact.
“Oh, God. I’m so sorry, Ashley,” he said, sitting up and putting his head in his hands.
“It’s okay. Don’t sweat it,” she replied.
“No. We shouldn’t have. We are supposed to be maintaining a professional relationship if you are going to be my surrogate and here we are. I mean, I enjoyed last night. It was incredible, but . . . I fucked up.”
“Listen, don’t be so hard on yourself. We were both here and we were both willing. It was just sex. It’s not going to change anything between us. I’m not some naive little girl who is going to think you and I are now going to become an item and you’ll give me your class ring to wear on a chain around my neck. We’re just human, well, I am…you mostly are, I guess. We had a bit too much wine and did what came natural to both of us. Let’s just get ready and go to Ms. Stanford’s office to sign the contract.”
“Are you sure? This won’t change things?”
“It hasn’t, and it won’t.”
Colin nodded, looking like he wanted to say something more, but couldn’t . . . Or wouldn’t. Instead, he pulled on his clothes from last night and headed toward the door, stopping as he reached for the handle to open it.
“I’ll call Margaret and tell her that we’re coming in. I’ll let you know what time when I hear from her. What time does your flight leave?” he asked.
“Not until this afternoon. Two p.m.”
“Good. That gives us plenty of time. I’ll see you in a bit. She will send you a car. I’m come along in the rental. She’ll shit a brick if she sees us arrive together.”
“That’s fine,” Ashley replied.
Colin opened the door and left without another word. Once he had closed it behind him, she let out a long sigh. Stepping out of bed, she realized that she was extremely sore, not only her limbs but her pussy as well. Examining her body in the mirror, she found bruises from their rough play visible in odd places. It brought a smile to her face. Perhaps it was only a one-time thing, but damn, it had been fun.
After a shower, she got dressed and waited for a call from Colin. Instead, she got one from Ms. Stanford telling her the car would pick her up at nine thirty and bring her to the office to meet Colin. It was evident that he had told her they had talked a bit more and she had told him she would sign, but quite obvious that there had been no mention of what those chats had led to later in the evening. Ashley knew it was better that way and didn’t let on to anything different.
Once at the office, they finalized everything and made arrangements for Ashley to take some fertility supplements and return in two weeks for her first attempt at artificial insemination. It was timed according to her cycle and it gave her time to sort out some things with the initial payment for signing the contract, so that was fine with her. Afterward, they went their separate ways without any further mention of last night. Instead, it was all business, which Ashley found a bit disappointing in a way, but understood was best.
Wasn’t this just par for her life? She’s never had much luck with men anyway, so she could hardly fault a one night stand, which was exactly what she had shared with Colin, no matter what other business they might have together. It seemed that no one wanted to be with her for any longer than they had to. Her parents had spent much of her life with one or the other leaving home for extended periods of time and eventually, both leaving right after her graduation from high school.
So, from an early age, Ashley had learned to exist on her own. They moved to separate towns, built different lives and seemed to forget they even had a daughter. Though she had learned to be self-sufficient, to live by herself and not need anyone, it had never really been her choice. She had always wanted that kind of relationship with someone where they each cared about nothing but one another. Unfortunately, it had always eluded her. If she had anything to be grateful for, perhaps she should just be happy that she hadn’t fallen into the same bad habits as her parents, mixing alcohol and drug abuse in with her failed love life.
Pushing thoughts of those things from her mind, she focused on getting back to her place to make preparations for what was to come. Back at home, she got everything sorted out in preparation for departure on short notice if her first attempt at insemination took. The time seemed to fly by as she paid off bills and sorted things to be gone for an extended period of time. By the time she returned to New York, she was nervous, but ready to leave as required. She bypassed Ms. Stanford this trip and went directly to the clinic to meet with Dr. Bartlett, who asked some routine questions before their first attempt at making her pregnant.
“According to your charts, you should have had a period last week. I assume that happened and all was well?” she asked.
Ashley furrowed her brow in thought. With all that she had been doing to get ready for this, she hadn’t even given her period a second thought. The fact that she had missed it hadn’t even occurred to her, which just went to show how engrossed she was in everything, as that should have been right at the front of her thoughts.
“No, I didn’t. I’m usually right on time. Must just be a fluke.”
“It could be. You’ve been taking the fertility medications I gave you as directed?”
“Yes.”
“Then they may have just messed with your system. It happens. Let’s do a preliminary exam and then we’ll get on with things. If you’ll just strip off your bottoms and get on the table for me, I’ll get things ready.”
“Sounds good,” Ashley replied, removing her jeans and underwear, and climbing onto the table.
Dr. Bartlett was busy at the table nearby for a few moments and then came back over to her, positioning herself at the end of the table to begin her exam. Ashley lay on the table and looked up at the ceiling, letting her do her thing. After a moment, she pulled away and told her she could sit up for a moment.
“Can I get you to do something for me? I forgot to get a urine sample. You can use that small bathroom right over there. Do you need some water or anything?”
“No. I think I can manage,” Ashley replied, walking over to the bathroom with the robe the doctor handed her wrapped around her to cover her naked bottom half.
The doctor thanked her when she returned and accepted the small plastic container with gloved hands, taking it over to a nearby table where she put some sort of indicator into it and then continued to sort through some other small utensils there. Ashley sat back down on the exam table and waited, feeling incredibly nervous. This was it. She was going to come over here with some big turkey baster thing and squirt little life worms into her to grow into a dragon. It was a frightening and funny thought when she considered it that way.
“Ashley, I need to step out for just a moment. I’ll be right back,” Dr. Bartlett finally said, leaving the room without waiting for a response.
A few minutes later, she returned with Ms. Stanford in tow. Neither of them looked happy at all. Ashley now felt a sense of dread. What had she found? What was wrong with her?
“Ashley, there was a stipulation in your agreement that you refrain from sex with anyone before you came in for this procedure. Do you recall that portion of it?” Ms. Stanford said, her tone less than pleasant.
“Of course.”
“We put that in for a reason. It eliminates the chance of someone becoming pregnant by another partner during the time between when they agree to become a surrogate and are actually impregnated by the client’s sperm.”
“Yes. I understood that perfectly. What is the problem here? Is something wrong?”
“Yes, something is wrong, as you apparently did not understand the importance of that statement as you claim,” she replied.
“What? What are you talking about?” Ashley asked, puzzled.
“You’re pregnant,” Dr. Bartlett said.
“I’m what?”
“You’re already pregnant. I confirmed it with the specimen I asked for and will further confirm with a blood test, but you appear to already be pregnant.”
“That’s impossib . . .,” Ashley began to say, but her words trailed off as she realized what this meant.
“Apparently, it is not impossible. We’ll have to contact the client and, of course, you will be obligated to pay back all but the initial hundred dollar exam payment you’ve already received from us.”
“Wait, no. It’s not like that,” Ashley protested.
“It is exactly like that. You didn’t follow the rules and now, we can’t honor your contract,” Ms. Stanford said, her tone terse, annoyed.
“But it’s Colin’s child,” Ashley protested.
“No. You have not been inseminated yet,” Dr. Bartlett replied, seeming confused that she would think she had.
“I have, just not by medical methods. Um, the night after Colin and I met here, we went out to discuss things further. We had a few drinks and one thing led to another. We slept together. I haven’t been with anyone else, so hey…work’s done for you!” she said, trying to make light of it despite how awkward all of this was.
“Excuse me?” Ms. Stanford replied.
“It’s true. You can confirm it with Colin.”
Now, Ms. Stanford really looked angry. She stomped out of the room without another word. No doubt making a beeline for her phone. Dr. Bartlett, on the other hand, looked pretty amused.
“Looks like my work is done for me. Get dressed and go on over there for your lecture as soon as we are done here,” she said with a broad smile.
“I’m not sure I want to be alone with her. She seems pretty angry.”
“She’ll be fine. All bark and no bite. Don’t sweat it. Let me draw some blood just as a final confirmation of your condition and I’ll go ahead and write you a prescription for prenatal vitamins.”
Ashley held out her arm and allowed her to draw a small vile of blood, waiting nervously while she checked her vitals one last time. The entire time, there was a broad smile on the young doctor’s face as if she’d never been so amused in all her life. Ashley thanked her and left when they were done.