The Baby Contract

by Amy Brent

  At first, his words were comforting. Then something unfurled inside me, and I felt even more broken, guilty, and empty. I shook my head to ward off the tears and took a shaky breath.

  I didn’t have any other options at this point. I had gone in on this with him. I still thought it was the best solution to my money predicament. I could hide the pregnancy. I was fit and strong. My doctor had said I probably wouldn’t really start showing until around the four-and-a-half- or five-month mark. Even then, I was sure I could conceal the bump with the right clothes. I would probably have to reduce the amount of time I saw Heather in the last couple months leading up to the birth.

  I could do that, right?

  Ethan tightened his grip around my shoulders. His embrace assured me we could make this work. We both wanted the same things. I wasn’t in this alone. He had me, and I had him.

  “You good?” he asked, the vibration of his voice rumbling against my ear.

  I nodded, too afraid to try to speak past the tightness in my throat.

  He seemed to understand because he stayed where he was, arms still wrapped around me and his hand still stroking my hair.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Ethan

  “We gotta go, Dev,” I hollered down the hall to her bedroom. I could hear her making a racket in there and had been waiting for over half an hour. She yelled back that she would be ready in two minutes, which I interpreted as another ten minutes, so I went back to the living room and fell onto the couch.

  Things had been good for the past five months, really good, actually. I was enjoying having Devon in the house more than I thought I would, especially at this point in the game. That might have been due to the fact that she and I had been having sex nearly every day, but that was beside the point. I loved having her around.

  She was a playful spirit who greeted me happily every night when I came home from work. We ate almost all our meals together and talked about anything and everything, especially the baby.

  Devon was starting to a show a little bit now. Her physique was still beautiful, but she had a little bit of a belly that I found adorable. It suited her, in a way. Her skin was radiant and everything about her seemed more feminine, more wondrous, more sensual.

  The only downside was the toll this was taking on Devon’s friendship with Heather. She had been avoiding my sister ever since she started showing, and it was a sensitive subject around the house. I felt bad and had offered to have Heather over so we could both sit her down and tell her the whole thing together. Devon had flat-out refused, and I hadn’t fought her on it.

  We both knew full well that Heather would freak out if she found out what we had done. She was already going to freak out when she found out I had a surrogate baby. If she knew it was Devon’s … I cringed at the thought.

  Devon finally came out of her room and stood before me in the living room with her hands on her hips. She was wearing a pair of leggings and a tank top that was stretched tight across her belly.

  “Nothing fits right anymore,” she pouted. “I can’t do up a single pair of my jeans.”

  “You look good,” I told her as I stood up. “Besides, we’re just going to an ultrasound appointment. You don’t have to impress anybody there. Can we go? All this waiting is killing me.”

  She groaned but nodded, scooping up her sweater where it was strewn across the back of the couch and pulling it over her head. We left my penthouse and made our way down the elevator and out to the curb where Eddison was waiting for us with the limo. We got in, and I caught Devon tugging uncomfortably at the waistband of her leggings.

  “Hey,” I said, resting a hand on her knee. “We’ll go out this weekend and get you some clothes that fit, all right?”

  “No point,” she said rather bitterly. “They won’t fit either in a month.”

  “That’s fine. We’ll go out in a month and get you more. I want you to be comfortable.”

  She smiled at me. “Thanks, Ethan. Can you tell Eddison to step on it? I want to get this over with. I have to pee so bad.”

  I laughed, complied with her request, and endured the rest of the ride to the clinic with a stomach tight with nerves. Today, we would find out the gender of the baby.

  Devon’s fingers were entwined with mine as the ultrasound tech pressed the wand against Devon’s belly. We both stared at the black and white screen in anticipation. I hadn’t expected to be this excited. We had done this exact thing three months ago when Devon was only two months along, and even then, I’d been so wound up with nerves.

  We had listened to the heartbeat and received a photo of the baby, which looked like a tiny little white bean. That photo now sat in a silver frame on my fireplace mantle, and not a day had gone by where I didn’t pause to stop and stare at it.

  This time it was bigger, more pivotal. I was going to leave here knowing if I was having a son or a daughter.

  The technician paused for a moment and glanced up at us. “So, you’re both sure you want to know the gender?” she asked, her lips curved into a pleasant smile. I imagined this might be her favorite part of the job.

  Both Devon and I nodded. We tightened our grip on one another’s hands as we braced ourselves for the big reveal.

  “Congratulations, Mommy and Daddy. You’re having a boy.”

  A boy.

  Holy hell.

  I was going to have a son.

  I hadn’t realized I had completely zoned out until Devon planted a kiss on my knuckles. I looked down at her, unashamed of the tears that were building in my eyes, and tried to do everything possible to imprint this perfect moment in my memory.

  “Congratulations, Ethan,” Devon whispered. “You’re going to have a son.”

  The next fifteen minutes or so felt like a blur. The technician wiped the jelly from Devon’s stomach and rolled the ultrasound machine back into the corner. She left us in privacy for a moment, where we gushed about having a boy, and then returned a little while later with an envelope full of ultrasound photos. We said our goodbyes and made our way back out to the limo, grinning from ear to ear.

  When we settled in the back seat, my phone went off. The feeling of elation in my belly ebbed away as I stared at Heather’s name flashing across the screen. Devon noticed, and I saw her smile fall as well.

  “Hey, Heather,” I said as normally as possible. “What’s up?”

  “Hey, I’m at your place. I thought you’d be home. I wanted to sit with you for a while. Catch up. I need … I need someone to talk to right now.” Heather sounded like a deflated balloon.

  Devon heard Heather’s words and nodded at me that it was okay.

  “Sure thing,” I told my sister. “I’m on my way back to the house right now. Can you sit tight for fifteen minutes until I get there?”

  “Sure,” she said. “You really need to give me a key, you know. I’ll meet you outside your door.”

  I hung up the phone and met Devon’s gaze. She waved away my look of concern. “My class is a three-hour lecture. Don’t worry about it. If she stays late, just have Eddison drive me to get ice cream or something. I’ve been craving bubblegum ice cream for three days. I hate bubblegum,” she muttered.

  I chuckled and agreed. “All right. I know you’ve been thinking about her a lot lately. I’ll check in, make sure she’s okay, and let you know what’s going on with her.”

  “That would be great. Give her a hug for me. Just, you know, don’t tell her it’s from me,” Devon said. She was trying to disguise the sadness in her voice, but she was as transparent as glass.

  I tried to force my best smile to reassure her. “Don’t worry about it. Have a good lecture. And remember. That’s a baby boy you have in there.”

  My words earned me the smile I wanted to see, and I was able to drive away from her campus five minutes later feeling overjoyed about having a son.

  The hallway outside my penthouse was as luxurious as my suite, and I found Heather waiting for me on one of the plush black leather sofas with on
e leg crossed over the other, her foot bobbing in the air impatiently. When I stepped off the elevator, she got to her feet, gathered her purse from the floor, and then proceeded to flatten out the nonexistent wrinkles in her skirt. She was nervous. I could tell instantly.

  “Hey, sorry for keeping you waiting,” I said, jabbing my key into the door. “Come on in. Let me take your coat.”

  Heather handed over her jacket and followed me into the kitchen. She was silent until I offered her something to drink.

  “I have water, white wine, red wine, beer, coolers, uh, anything you want, basically,” I trailed off, looking over my shoulder at her.

  She had seated herself at the island and was playing with the ends of her scarf. “I’m okay. I don’t want anything. Thanks, though.”

  I closed the fridge and joined her at the island, leaning on it on my elbows. “You all right, sis?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” she said unconvincingly. Then she looked up at me. “You know what? I changed my mind. I’ll take you up on the white wine if the offer still stands.”

  “‘Course it does. Anything for my baby sister,” I said, grabbing a cold bottle from its stand in the fridge. I poured us each a glass and smiled approvingly as Heather took a sip.

  Then, her eyes narrowed, and she stared at a spot at the end of the counter. She stretched her arm out and plucked something silver from the counter. She held it in front of her eyes and then peered over it at me. “What’s this?” she asked.

  It took me a solid three seconds to register what the silvery object was that she was holding. When my brain recognized it as Devon’s necklace, the one with the engraved heart shape pendant, I started panicking.

  “I don’t know,” I said lamely, hoping it would buy me some time to come up with something a little more clever.

  Heather slid off her barstool, but her eyes never left me. “You don’t know?” she asked, the question sounding like more of an accusation in my ears. “What the hell is going on here, Ethan?”

  “I have no clue what you’re talking about, Heather. Just relax, will you?”

  She was having none of it. “Don’t try to bullshit me. I know when you’re lying. Is Devon the girl you’ve been sneaking around with for the past few months?”

  “What?” I said, widening my eyes and hoping she took it as genuine surprise. “I haven’t been sneaking around with anyone.”

  “You’re lying right to my face,” Heather said, and now I could hear the hurt behind the anger in her voice. “I bought Devon this necklace for Christmas. I engraved it. I know it’s hers. Screw you, Ethan.”

  She stomped down my hallway. I went after her but was unable to think of a single thing to say to try to make amends. She was furious. She was sad. I hated seeing her this way. I hated even more that I was responsible for it.

  Finally, I found my voice when she was opening my front door. “Heather, it’s not what you think. Please, wait a minute and give me a chance to explain what this is all about.”

  “You had your chance. Just forget it,” she said, not meeting my eye before she slammed the door closed between us.

  The silence she left me in was heavy. I ran my hands through my hair, blew out a breath through my teeth, and closed my eyes.

  “Fuck.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Devon

  Eddison was pulling the limo up to the curb when I stepped outside into the brisk air after my lecture. It was nearly eight o’clock. I figured Heather might still be at Ethan’s, and my stomach was begging for bubblegum ice cream. I’d stop off at the parlor and call Ethan from there to make sure it was safe to come home. Maybe I’d grab him some ice cream too. I knew he liked plain chocolate and figured it would still taste good even if it was a little melted.

  As I made my way to the car, my way was blocked by a girl in a green skirt and white blouse. I blinked, recognizing Heather but not computing that she was actually there, and drew up short.

  Heather raised her clenched fist, from which was dangling a silver chain with something on the end. I realized with a start that it was my necklace. Not only that but it was my necklace that Heather had bought for me two Christmases ago. Heather raised her other hand and pointed straight at my chest. Her chin puckered, and her bottom lip quivered. Then, she got a hold of herself.

  “What the hell is going on, Dev?” Heather demanded.

  “Heather, hang on, where did you—?”

  “Don’t bother lying,” Heather said hotly. “I was at Ethan’s. This was on his counter. I’m giving you this one chance to come clean. One chance, Dev. I mean it.”

  I looked around. A couple students were staring. “The limo,” I said, pointing toward it with my chin. “Let’s get in and talk there where it’s private.”

  Heather didn’t object. She climbed in ahead of me and took a seat where she could face me directly. She waited until I was in and the door was closed behind me before she started talking again.

  “This is Ethan’s car,” she said. “So don’t bother playing dumb with me. What’s going on? You’ve been avoiding me for months, and now I find your necklace at his place? And he has his driver picking you up from school? Dev, seriously, are you seeing my brother?”

  I held up my hands, desperate to try to get her to calm down. “No, it’s not what you think. It’s a bit hard to explain, but let me try, okay? Try to understand, okay?” I asked, before launching into the story and telling her everything that had happened since she suggested I become a cam girl to make extra money.

  When I was done, Heather’s expression was unreadable. I fidgeted with my hands in my lap and tried not to look at her. “Please say something, Heather,” I said nervously. “If you have to yell at me, then yell but please, just say something.”

  Heather shook her head. Then she slid down the length of the seat toward the door, popped it open, and got out. I followed her onto the sidewalk and tried calling her name. When she continued to ignore me, I grabbed her wrist. Hot tears spilled down my cheeks as I pleaded with her to understand.

  “Please, I’m so sorry, but there’s nothing going on. It was a business deal for both of us. It was what we both needed, and it was a coincidence that we even ran into each other. Neither of us wanted to hurt you, Heather. I swear.”

  Heather tore her wrist from my grip and lifted her tear-filled eyes to mine. “You both lied to me for nearly half a year,” she whispered. “Just leave me alone.”

  She slipped away through the crowd of students on the sidewalk, and I let her go. There was nothing else I could do.

  By the time I got back in the limo, my tears were uncontrollable. Eddison drove me back to Ethan’s, and I rode the elevator still in tears. Other residents in the building stood tensely beside me before they could get off at their designated floors.

  When I reached the top floor, I got out, went to Ethan’s door, and let myself in. I hung up my coat, left my book bag by the door, and walked straight into the living room with the intention of walking through it to get to my bedroom so I could bury my face in my pillow and cry.

  But Ethan was there. He was sitting on the couch with a beer in one hand. When he saw me, he looked up. The hints of a smile I had been too late to see lingered in the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and his mouth, but his eyebrows were drawn together with concern. He put his beer down and stood, grabbing me by both elbows and turning me to face him.

  “Dev, what’s the matter?”

  I shook my head as fresh tears sprang from my eyes. I couldn’t speak. Not yet.

  He brushed my hair off my face and put two of his fingers under my chin, forcing me to look up at him. “Hey,” he said softly, his dark eyes filling with sorrow at seeing my grief. “Talk to me. What happened?”

  “Heather caught me after class. She knows everything,” I managed to say before succumbing to body-wracking sobs.

  Ethan grabbed me and pulled me into him. I cried in his arms and didn’t care about my tears soaking through his shirt. He didn�
��t seem bothered either. He didn’t say a word. He just let me cry until I couldn’t anymore. When I was done, he held me at arm’s length and lowered himself so that he was eye-level with me.

  “Just give her some time. She’ll get over it. I promise. She loves us both too much to punish us forever. You believe me, don’t you?” he asked, his perfect eyes flicking back and forth between mine.

  “Yes,” I whispered. “I believe you.”

  “You promise?” he whispered back.

  I nodded.

  His hands gripping my shoulders were reassuring. His words were even more comforting. The way he had held me … I could still feel his body wrapped around mine like a cocoon of warmth and safety. I wiped away my tears with trembling hands, and then, before I knew what I was doing, I leaned in and kissed him.

  The kiss was wetter than normal, but I knew that was because my lips were salty from tears. Ethan didn’t seem to care, and he kissed me back tenderly, cupping the back of my neck with one hand and pulling my hips closer to him with the other.

  At first, it was nothing but a sweet kiss that erased all thoughts of Heather and guilt. Then it morphed into something more powerful, something that demanded more. It became more vigorous. My teeth crashed against his bottom lip, and his tongue pressed more desperately into my mouth. I crushed my body against him, reveling in the feeling of my swollen breasts pressing into his chest.