Page 70 of My Girlfriend is Not the Father

Like some sort of Catholic-girl secret code, they swapped a look, then dived into stories about the creepy stairway under the tunnel they swore was used during prohibition, the locked room on the top floor that Lucy heard had confiscated Ouija boards, and the blood stain on the second-floor bathroom ceiling that had never been cleaned. Caroline was convinced it was to scare the children about the devil.

‘Tell me more about the surrogacy journey,’ Caroline said. ‘Are you nervous about the birth and handing over the baby?’

Lucy rested her hands on her belly. ‘I’m nervous about labour, sure, but handing the baby over is easy-peasy lemon-squeezy. Getting there is the hard part, and there was so much work and prep to even get to where we are today. Pushing this thing out will be the easy part.’

As Caroline peppered Lucy with questions, Jade’s smile faded. A few minutes in, she stepped back, and five minutes in, she excused herself to go to the bathroom.

As soon as she closed the bathroom door behind her, tears welled. Jade frantically blinked them away. ‘Stop it,’ she murmured under her breath, fanning her reddened face. She was being ridiculous. Surrogacy was fascinating, and Caroline was certainly not the first person to be intrigued and ask Lucy questions.

But did Lucy need to be such an open book?

Jade shook out her hands and her shoulders, taking in gulps of air. Jealousy was not a good look. This appeared to be jealousy. But this didn’t feel like jealousy. She couldn’t pinpoint the sensation pricking at her insides, but it was terrible and gross. And familiar. Jesus Christ, what was wrong with her? She’d had this same feeling multiple times with Elizabeth, this fear of being invisible and unimportant. The fight inside between wanting to shrink into the corner so no one could see her, while screaming and pounding her feet to make people pay attention.

But Lucy was not Elizabeth, not even close.

After pressing a cold towel behind her neck, Jade forced a smile and returned to Lucy, who was scribbling in Caroline’s notebook.

‘I better get out of here,’ Caroline was saying as Lucy wrapped up whatever she was writing with a flourish and handed the notebook back. ‘Our photographer has been in the car this whole time, oops. I’m sure he’s ready to head back to St Paul.’ She stuffed the notebook in her bag and swung it over her shoulder. ‘Thanks so much, both of you. Who knew it’d be a two-for-one type of night? I appreciate both your time.’

When the door swung closed, Lucy wrapped her arms around Jade’s waist and nuzzled into her chest. ‘How did it go? She was super nice. Did you answer all the questions?’

A half hour ago, Jade couldn’t wait to tell Lucy every single detail. And now, the words stuck like thick peanut butter in her mouth, and she was struggling to formulate a sentence. ‘Yeah, it went well. Sounds like …’ She cleared the tackiness. ‘Sounds like you two had a chat?’

Lucy’s released her grip. ‘Yeah, get this. She wants to do a story on me, Drew, and Mason. Crazy, huh? She’s going to talk to her editor and then get back to me next week. I gave her my contact info.’ She tapped her fingers together, her smile widening. ‘What if we have an article out the same day? Wouldn’t that be cool? I’m totally going to frame it and add a big fat, obnoxious heart around it.’

Jade tried to smile, she really did. But right now, she was using one hundred per cent of her effort just so she didn’t burst into tears.

Lucy’s face dropped. ‘Hey, what’s wrong?’

Now was not the time to dive into the inner workings of Jade’s mind – which, by the way, she could barely decode herself. Jade put her hands against her stomach. ‘Oh, uh … man, that salad I had for lunch is doing something funky to my belly. I’m so sorry. I don’t think I can do dinner tonight.’

Lucy’s eyebrows clenched. ‘Oh no. Are you okay? We can go home, order in, I can run to the store for veggie soup? Or I have a Costco-sized box of saltines in my cupboard, and a fridge full of ginger ale.’ Lucy nibbled on her lip as she glanced around the salon. ‘You still have that peppermint tea? I’ll steal some for home, but since it’s your shop and for your consumption, it’s not really stealing. But that might settle your belly?’

Jade kissed Lucy’s cheek, but her lips felt numb. ‘Nah. Thanks, though. I think I just need to head home and take a bath.’ She grabbed her keys and threw on her coat. ‘You parked out front? I’ll lock up behind you. I have to go through the back to get to my car.’

‘Oh. Yeah, um okay.’ Lucy pushed her arms through her jacket and grabbed her purse. ‘You sure you’re okay?’

No. ‘Yep. Hopefully this is just a twenty-four-hour bug thing.’

Jade held her arm out to walk Lucy to her car and then rushed back inside. She shut the lights off, locked the door, and hurried back to her office. She didn’t make it to the door before she burst into tears.

Chapter 26

Lucy

The room had a distinct, powerful sterile smell. Bleach, metals, and antibacterial soap nestled among the electric wires and freshly washed cotton. Even the first week of May’s special scents, which she’d always loved – blooming lilacs, fresh cut grass after a long winter, the budding of trees – were so acute they almost gave her a headache. For the past few weeks, Lucy had considered contacting the government to see if her acute smelling powers could lead to a part-time gig as drug-sniffing human, until she realised sniffing drugs was definitely not recommended during pregnancy.

With this new pregnancy superpower, cleaning supplies weren’t the only thing reaching her nose. Drew’s cologne and deodorant – a definite man smell she was not loving at the moment – permeated the space. She shifted the pillow under her neck and scooted up. At almost twenty-six weeks along, this proved to be more of a challenge than it had been just weeks ago.

Her bestie, who resorted to chewing his fingernails like he did back in grade school, looked on the verge of passing out. ‘Don’t be all weird now,’ she said. ‘You’re the one who knocked me up.’

‘Technically, it was the doctor, a bunch of tools, and Mason’s swimmers.’ He dropped his pinky from his mouth. ‘But I get what you’re saying.’

Someone rapped on the door, and a nurse poked her head in. ‘The other father is here. Making sure he can come in while we wait for the doctor.’

‘Yes, yes, of course.’ Lucy adjusted her cotton gown. ‘Let’s be like John Stamos, the Olson twins, and the guy who allegedly did Alanis Morissette dirty, and get a Full House up in here.’

Drew shook his head, an extraordinarily pained look flashing across his face.