Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 86632 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 433(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86632 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 433(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Checking her watch, she said, “We should probably leave now. Would you like to follow me over? The clinic is in Saranac Lake.”
“If you’re okay driving with me, we could go together. Then maybe grab an early dinner?”
She eyed me as if I had a nefarious plan in the making. “You want to go to dinner with me?”
“Yeah. We’re calling a truce, remember?”
For a moment, I thought she would say no, but she reached for her purse and a light coat. “If it’s bad news, I may want a drink and say to hell with dinner.”
“I can do that too.”
Brystol glanced at me and smiled slightly. “Thank you, Gavin. I really am glad I’m not going alone.”
“You didn’t want to ask one of the girls to go with you?”
She shook her head. “Harper’s all happy and in love, and Cadie and Kian are dealing with that whole mess with her ex. And Aurora is busy with the bookstore and helping Hope. I didn’t want them all to have something else added to their plates.”
“That’s fair,” I replied, walking to the front door. I opened it and waved her to come. “Come on, then. Let’s see if you’re knocked up.”
Brystol
Gavin reached over and touched my knee, causing me to jump. His touch left me feeling like I’d been prodded with a hot poker.
“Stop bouncing your knee, Brystol.”
I lifted a hand and started chewing my thumbnail instead. When he reached up and pushed my hand down, I got up and began to pace. They had called us back into a room and we were waiting on the doctor.
“What if it didn’t work?”
“Then they’ll try again.”
I closed my eyes and moaned. “Wouldn’t I feel pregnant?”
“I’m not an expert by any means, but I don’t think so this early on.”
Opening my eyes, I looked at Gavin. He was sitting in a chair reading a magazine, looking utterly calm as a cucumber. The bastard.
The pacing started again. “They only have so many eggs, and this isn’t cheap. I know Denny and Evelyn are both lawyers, but it’s still pretty expensive.”
Gavin abandoned the magazine and stared at something on the coffee table. “It will work.”
“What is that?” I asked, following his gaze.
“It’s like a puzzle piece of the anatomy of a woman’s uterus, I think.”
“What?” I asked, as I moved closer. Gavin reached out to touch it.
Grabbing his arm, I whisper-shouted, “Don’t touch that!”
“Why? It’s here for us to learn, is it not?”
Sitting back down, I leaned in, staring at the 3D model…and drew in a breath at the sight before me. A lump formed in my throat as I imagined something that size coming out of me.
“How in the hell is that thing supposed to fit through that?” Gavin asked, pointing at the model.
I swallowed the sudden bile rising in my throat. “Do you think this is anatomically correct? The size of the baby and…vaginal opening?”
Gavin slowly looked at me. His eyes moved down my body, then back up, then to the puzzle. “Fuck, I hope not, because if it is…ouch.”
Taking hold of his arm, I started to shake him. “How is that possible? How is that head supposed to fit through there? I’m going to be ripped apart!”
A soft chuckle came from behind us, and we both jumped. Gavin must have somehow knocked into the model because it tipped over. I let out a small scream when I saw the baby falling to the floor, but Gavin caught it in time and held it up like a prize.
“I didn’t let it fall!”
The doctor standing in the room grinned. “You’ll make a great father.”
Gavin choked. “Oh, no.” Holding up his hands, he went on, “I’m not the father. I’m just a friend. Well, a friend who has been taken off the enemy list and put on the friends list, but only a little bit ago. Like an hour ago, after years of being on the not-friend list. We could actually be classified as frenemies right now, not really friends. It’s a whole new thing.”
My mouth fell open as I stared at Gavin. “How do you even know that word, frenemies?” I asked.
Gavin shrugged. “I think I heard Aurora and Cadie say it, maybe?”
The doctor cleared her throat. “Dr. Thompson had to leave for a family emergency, so she asked if I would review the blood test results with you.”
Before I knew what I was doing, I reached for Gavin’s hand and squeezed it.
“Oh wow, is this a preview of childbirth, because I’m pretty sure you’re about to break my fingers.”
Gavin pressed his mouth into a tight line and motioned with his head for the doctor to go on.
She opened the file and read something before glancing at me. “Let’s see, you’re a surrogate for your best friend, it says.”
“Yes, for our best friends, Evelyn and Denny.”