by Sky Winters
Stepping into room 810, she found herself facing a young woman at a desk that was equally clean. There were no papers of any kind, only a phone and a computer. No photos of family or cute little creations made by children who originated in the clinic. It was perhaps the most sterile environment she had ever been to and that bothered her in a way she couldn’t put her finger on. The young woman looked up at her and smiled without really seeing her.
“How can I assist you?”
“Mystic Carlton. I have an appointment.”
“Of course. Come with me.”
Mystic’s heart hammered violently against her chest as she followed her to an adjoining room and had a seat in front of a desk at which no one sat. The young woman instructed her to wait.
“Ms. Stanford will be with you in just a moment.”
Chapter Four
“Ms. Carlton?” came a voice from behind Mystic as she sat looking out the windows behind the desk, feeling like she might jump out of her skin at any moment and fighting the urge to just get up and leave.
“Yes,” she replied, standing and turning to see an older woman standing behind her. She was maybe five feet tall, if that. Mystic towered over her at her five-foot-ten stature. She was taller than most of the women she knew, but it was especially noticeable when standing next to someone so petite.
“Please, sit down. Let’s have a bit of a chat,” the woman replied.
It was only then that Mystic realized she spoke in what sounded like a Scottish accent. She was wearing a doctor’s lab coat and it was only then that Mystic noted the name plate said she was “Dr. Margaret Stanford.”
“I know you are very curious about what you are possibly signing up for, but I’m afraid that unless you qualify, there isn’t going to be a lot I can tell you. So, here is the bare bones of it. We are looking for a surrogate with a very special DNA sequence in their blood type. It is a rare gene that is a requirement to participate in our program. What I am going to ask you for initially is merely a blood test. I will draw a vile of blood for testing and while that is being processed, we will discuss the program a bit further.”
“I think I’d like to know a bit more before allowing blood to be taken.”
“While I do understand your being hesitant, I must insist. It is the starting point for this interview. If you are not a match, you’ll go home with a fee of $100, just for coming in. That’s more than they’ll give you for a full pint at the plasma center.”
This was all sounding incredibly weird to Mystic, but what did she have to lose. The money would pay her cell phone bill, at the very least and she could learn a bit more about what might be expected of her if she was a match.
“Okay. That’s fine.”
“Fantastic.”
Dr. Stanford pushed a button on her phone and asked someone named Todd to come in. A young man in another white lab coat came in and cleaned the crook of her elbow before inserting a needle and filling a small red capped vile with her blood. The doctor handed him some sort of paperwork and he pulled a strip from it, applying it to the vile and wrapping the rest around it. He cleaned off her arm, holding it high over her head as he applied a cotton ball and a band-aid.
“See. Not so bad,” Margaret observed as Todd left the room.
“No. What do we do now?”
“I will tell you what I can about our surrogacy program and, if you are a match and interested in going through with this, I will ask you to sign a non-disclosure agreement and contract.”
Mystic listened as the doctor began explaining the basics of how their surrogate program worked. They would provide all medical expenses, housing and personal needs for the duration of the pregnancy. Once the baby, or babies, were born, her duties would be complete and she would be paid the appropriate fees. On the surface, it sounded like a very good deal for her. She would have to worry about nothing during the pregnancy and then walk away with enough money to start a pretty decent life for herself.
“And if something happens? If I fail to conceive or if I miscarry?”
“The odds of that happening with our procedures is next to nothing, but, in the unlikely event that one of those things happened, we would discuss options. Fertilization would be attempted up to three times with no further compensation. After that, you would be given the choice to make additional attempts or walk away with a much smaller fee. It varies depending on the particulars, but would fall between $20,000 and $50,000. In the event of miscarriage, the procedure is the same. Fees would be negotiated based on whether you choose to attempt fertilization and how far along you were in the first pregnancy. Compensation would vary between $50,000 and $100,000, in addition to the full $250,000 if a subsequent pregnancy occurs to full term.”
“That’s a lot of variables to consider.”
“Yes. The thing you need to understand here, is that this is a very special circumstance and money is no object. No matter what happens, you will be adequately compensated as long as you have abided by all the rules of the contract.”
“And what are those rules?”
“Some of them can only be discussed if your blood comes back as a match, but the ones we can talk about now are essentially what you would expect with any surrogacy. No drinking, smoking, taking medications not approved by your doctors here. You would be required to keep yourself healthy and eat properly. That sort of thing.”
Mystic sat looking at her. This all sounded too good to be true and usually, things that sounded that way . . . weren’t.
“What’s the catch?”
“There is no catch, just some very special circumstances to consider.”
The conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door. Dr. Stanford excused herself to answer it, speaking quietly to someone outside and returning with a piece of paper in her hands.
“Well, it looks like we can move on to stage two of this conversation, if you are interested. It seems that your blood is a fantastic match for what we are looking for.”
“Really?” Mystic replied, shocked that something might actually work out for her, even more shocked that something about her was considered rare.
“Yes. Would you like to continue?”
Now, faced with the very real possibility of going through with this, Mystic found she was terrified. It was a lot of money to pass us, but having someone else’s child for them seemed a bit overwhelming. Her head was spinning with all the thoughts of how this might go wrong, even as she heard herself telling the doctor she would like to know more.
That meant paperwork, it seemed. Mystic found herself looking over paperwork explained to her by the doctor. It still wasn’t the contract to go through with things, but a non-disclosure guaranteeing she would not discuss what was about to be disclosed to her in the final discussion. Mystic looked over it and signed it, eager to learn more about what she would be facing if she chose to go through with things.
What she heard next was bewildering. She began to learn about things she had never known existed, like the fact that dragons exist as humans and shift into dragon form on command. Once again, she found herself unable to believe any of this was for real or suspecting that it was just a weird hoax or, even worse, some creepy experiment on unsuspecting women.
“Pardon me if I seem a little skeptical, but that all sounds really farfetched. I mean, first you are asking me to believe that dragons exist, but on top of that, you expect me to accept that there are humans that change into them?”
“Not humans, shifters. They are neither human nor dragons, but something in between. You aren’t the first one to doubt what I am saying and I’m fully prepared to demonstrate, if you’d like.”
“Yes. I think I would.”
“Follow me,” the doctor replied, leading her down the hallways to a large, empty room without windows and only two doors, one through which they had entered and another on the other side of the room. Once inside, the doctor pushed an intercom button and spoke to someone outside the room. “Could one of you step in
side for a quick surrogate demo?”
She let go of the button and smiled softly at Mystic before speaking again.
“Do not be alarmed. The dragon is perfectly harmless. He possesses all the self-control that he does in human form and is only here to show you that this is not fake or magic.”
Mystic’s eyes widened as a young man stepped in from the outer door. She watched as he quietly stepped out of the gray scrubs he wore, seeming like he was in no way embarrassed or surprised by the request the doctor had made. Mystic, however, flushed a bright shade of crimson as she tried not to stare at his ripped abs or ample endowment.
“Don’t avert your eyes. You’ll want to see all of this,” Dr. Stanford cautioned.
Mystic looked back up at the young man. He smiled at her and then, he was changing in some weird way that she found it hard to understand. His arms were raised and spread outward, his feet positioned far apart and his body was changing. Loud snapping and cracking noises reverberated throughout the room as he seemed to break apart and expand, his shape shifting into that of what appeared to be a large bird, but there were no feathers. Instead, large scales began to populate all over the huge, looming figure as a tail spread out from behind and curled lazily to one side. She gasped and let out a little scream.
It happened in a matter of seconds and then stopped. The man that had once stood there was gone and she was looking at what appeared to be a dragon. It’s large oval eyes seemed to almost glow a bright greenish yellow as it lowered its powerful looking wings slowly to the ground in a peaceful demeanor. The creature made no effort to advance on them, but stood there waiting.
“Would you like to touch it?”
“No. I don’t think so,” Mystic replied.
“He won’t hurt you. Go ahead. It will help you to process that what you are seeing is real and not some sort of illusion.”
Reluctantly, Mystic stepped toward the dragon and put her hand on one leg. It didn’t move as she ran her hand down the rough edge of its scales and touched one of the huge claws that rested against the floor. She walked around it slowly, touching it as she moved to stand beneath a huge wing, her tiny frame almost concealed between its appendage and body.
“Satisfied?” Dr. Stanford asked.
“I, I guess,” she replied, stepping out and returning to her side.
Dr. Stanford nodded at the dragon and Mystic watched as the process took place in reverse, the large creature breaking apart, losing its scales and returning to its previous human form. He quietly slipped his clothes back on and exited the room wordlessly.
“That was incredible. Are there a lot of those in the world?”
“More than you know. Shall we continue then?”
Mystic nodded, though she wasn’t sure how she felt about this now. They walked back to the doctor’s office and sat down to discuss things further.
“How are those things born?” she asked.
“Those things are shifters. They are born like any human child. You would carry the baby as a human child and then hand him over to his father, who is a shifter. During the time you are pregnant, you would live with the father, get to know him and he would protect and care for you until the baby is born. Once you’ve given birth, you’ll be transferred to a private care facility for a few days to recover and then you would be paid and allowed to return home.”
“Would I be able to visit home during the course of the pregnancy?”
“Absolutely. We have no desire to alienate you from your friends and family. However, you would take your father home with you, as it is essential that you be protected during the pregnancy. In the event that you experience problems, he will know how to best care for you and will get you here to the clinic, if necessary.”
“That seems a bit weird.”
“Yes, I can see that it would, from your point of view, but it is absolutely necessary. Our special requirements are the reason for the high rate of payment for participation in our surrogacy program. I can give you a week to think about it, if you’d like. You can call at any time prior to the end of that period to accept or decline, but you must honor the terms of the non-disclosure if you choose not to participate.”
“I think I would like to think it over and I may have more questions.”
“Here is my card and the $100 for your sample. Just give me a call to discuss anything you’d like. It has my office hours on there, as well as my private cell number.”
“Thank you,” Mystic replied, accepting the business card and crisp bill being offered.
“No, thank you. I hope to be seeing you again soon.”
“Likewise,” Mystic replied, standing and walking out of the room, still feeling more disconcerted than curious, but that began to change as she drove back to Holly’s house. Her anxiety about such a huge undertaking began to subside in favor of what felt like hope. There was so much she could do with that money. It was enough to change her life, literally.
She stopped at a thrift store and purchased a couple of large suitcases and a sizable backpack with the money the clinic had given her and then stopped by the cell phone store to pay her bill before driving back to Holly’s. She parked the car in the garage and resumed going through the boxes for anything she had missed the first time that she might want to have access to for the next year, transferring some to other boxes and putting the rest in one of the empty suitcases to take to her room.
Sitting on the bed, she took a deep breath and called Dr. Stanford. Her heart raced as she waited for her to answer the phone, which she finally did.
“Dr. Stanford, I’ve thought it through and I’d like to join your surrogacy program, but I need something from you first.”
“What is it that you need?”
“I will need a thousand dollars up front to take care of a few things.”
“I don’t see a problem with that at all. When would you like to come in, sign the final contract and meet your birth partner?”
“I’m ready whenever you are.”
“Very well. Let me give him a call and then I will call you back.”
“Thank you. I will talk to you soon.”
“You will. Goodbye.”
Mystic hung up the phone and began packing the two suitcases with things she didn’t perceive needing in the next few days. If she worked this right, she could get straight into this and get it out of the way. Turns out, she was right, as the phone rang less than an hour later. It was Dr. Stanford asking if she could meet with her, the potential father and an attorney the following morning. She agreed and hung up the phone. Now, her biggest dread was telling Holly, who was not going to like it at all.
Chapter Five
“Ms. Carlton, I’d like for you to meet Rocco Belue. He will be your birth partner, if you choose to accept the terms of the agreement.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” she replied, trying not to stare.
He was gorgeous, dark, and mysterious. Unlike the slender young man that had demonstrated his ability to shift into a dragon, Rocco was tall and broad shouldered, buff in a way that inspired her to imagine perfect abs rippling beneath his tailored suit. Her hormones felt enraged just from being near him. She found herself wishing this was a matter of conception taking place the old-fashioned way rather than with some sort of high-tech turkey baster.
“It’s nice to meet you, as well,” he replied.
“Mr. Belue has read your resume and has a few questions for you. I apologize if they seem a bit invasive to you, but we want both of you to feel comfortable with this pairing. You will also have an opportunity to ask him any questions you feel need answered prior to completion of this transaction,” Dr. Stanford explained.
Rocco proceeded to ask a dozen or so questions about her background and education, intelligence, and personal habits. At some points, it did feel very much too personal to be answering for a stranger, but she was determined to make this work. It was important to her. When he was done, she asked only a few questions of him, and most we
re in reference to the circumstances she would be residing under during the pregnancy. Anything else was of no consequence, since he would be retaining the child without her in the picture.
“Well, how are you both feeling about this? Would you each like to proceed to the next step?”
“I am very satisfied with your choice in a surrogate,” Rocco replied, much to Mystic’s relief.
“I’m on board, as well,” she replied, clasping her hands together to hide her nervousness.
“Very well. Let me get the lawyer in here with the paperwork. I’ve given each of you an overview of what will happen, but he will finalize everything with you.”
She stepped out and was replaced a few minutes later by a diminutive little man with wire rimmed glasses and a cane. He sat across from them and began to go through each section of the paperwork, asking them to initial or sign where appropriate. When everything was done, he pulled all the papers back and smiled at them.
“That’s it. Let us get each of you a copy and a check for Ms. Carlton. Dr. Stanford will oversee the final arrangements for you to begin the process.”
Everything was a whirlwind after that. Rocco left with instructions to return the following day for the first insemination attempt. There was a portion of Mystic that felt like she wanted to back out of this, but she had already signed off and she knew it was just anxiety. This was something she needed to see through. In the long run, she’d be all the better for it.
“Mystic, here is a list of instructions for what you can and cannot do prior to the insemination tomorrow. You will come here at 9 a.m. and we will begin the process as laid out in the information I am giving you. Before you leave, I am going to give you an injection. According to the information you’ve already given me, you should be at peak fertility right now, so I’m not going to administer any additional fertility treatments as we would for some surrogates. If this doesn’t take, that may become something we reconsider.”
