Page 179 of Say My Name

“She’s safe.”

“That wasn’t my question.”

“No. I don’t think she’s okay.”

His face hardens. “Start talking.”

I give him the truth without trying to soften it.

“Elena and I entered a known-donor and co-parenting agreement.”

He stares at me. “What the fuck did you just say?”

I keep my voice even, giving him the facts without defense. “She intended to become a mother using an anonymous donor. I offered to be a known donor and raise the child with her.”

“You.”

“Yes.”

“My best friend and her boss.”

“Yes.”

Cliff pushes away from the kitchen island. “When did this happen?”

“We began discussing it after her birthday.”

“Months ago.”

“Yes.”

“And neither of you told me?”

“We agreed to keep it private.”

“You kept it from me.”

“I did.”

He paces out of the camera’s frame, then turns back. “Explain the agreement.”

“We had independent attorneys. It included workplace safeguards and protected Elena’s authority and position. I recused myself from employment decisions involving her. The co-parenting terms addressed custody, finances, medical decisions, and privacy.”

“You wrote a contract to have a baby with my sister.”

The distinction sounds hollow even to me. “We negotiated one.”

“Dominic, that correction is really not helping.”

“I know.”

“Did you go through with it?”

“There was one clinical attempt.”

His eyes close. “Jesus Christ.”

“The relationship became romantic afterward. We ended the conception arrangement when I couldn’t accept her plan for us to live in separate households.”