AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When they were alone once more, Xavier answered her. “I just feel like it’s time. I have the patience and knowledge, and I want a child of my own to carry on the pack. And my line. As I said earlier, none of my own pack members mesh well intimately with me or my standards. The available ones that is. So, I found out about the Shifter Surrogacy and figured, what the hell? What about you?”
Sara took a moment to think. Xavier was being straightforward with her, so she may as well pay him the same respect.
“I want a baby. I’m tired of dating and going through all of that. I know I can handle raising a child, but my biggest thing is I would like to be in its life, not just carry it to term. I can feel how ready I am to be a mom, and this is what has been missing for me. So, with all that, I have to ask if that’s even possible on your end. To allow me to be as involved with the child we share as much as I can be.”
Her nerves faded as a grin stretched across his face.
“Not a problem at all. In fact, I would love that. Having a partner to raise a child is always easier, and maybe tonight, before we sign off on anything, we can discuss our ideas of parenting and wants for this fictional child. If they mesh, we let the agency know we want to proceed. How does that sound to you?”
“I think it sounds like a solid plan.”
They clinked glasses in triumph.
Their food arrived, and they spent the remainder of their evening discussing how things would work and their ideas for parenting. With all of that came the talk of their childhoods and why they believed in the things they did.
The night was effortless and filled with laughter. Sara was surprised at how easily her smiles came with Xavier.
As the night ended, he waited with Sara as the valet retrieved her car.
“I think this went very well,” he said.
She smiled back at him. “So do I. I don’t know the last time I laughed so much.”
Her car pulled up, and the valet gave her the keys.
Xavier kissed her hand again but held on to it this time. “I would like to continue getting to know you. May I take you out tomorrow for the day?”
“Yes, I would love that.” Sara reached into her purse and scribbled her address on a scrap of paper. She handed it to him and tried to refrain from a creeping blush.
“I’ll pick you up around nine.”
“Sounds good,” she replied, getting into her car.
She slowly drove off, watching as the handsome man faded into the darkness. Sara felt more positive that this had been the right choice for her. Hot or not, he was a gentleman. She glanced at her reflection in the rearview mirror and congratulated herself for not being a chicken-shit.
TWO
XAVIER
Xavier spent most of his night cleaning his entire house after his evening with Sara. “If you’re going to start a family and impress a mate, a clean house is the way to start,” he declared out loud. “Who would want to live with you in a dump?”
He was beyond thrilled that she’d spoken openly about how involved she wanted to be in their future child’s life. When he approached her in the restaurant and saw her aura, he knew there would be no other way he would have it.
Sara was his mate.
Of course, he wasn’t going to tell her that right now. No way in hell. He wasn’t sure how far she wanted to take this besides having a child together. He didn’t want to scare her away.
He wanted everything perfect when she came over later, which was his plan for after their outing. After everything that had happened last night over dinner, he wanted her to live with him. It also helped that his inner wolf was restless from not having his newfound mate by his side, so sleeping was pointless anyway.
Xavier looked around his house, then went back to the guest room he wanted her to occupy, should she agree, and decided that everything was as good as it was going to get.
He jumped in the shower to get ready for his date.
As he went about his morning routine, he smiled as he thought about how smoothly this plan was progressing. He had initially had a lot of reservations about using a surrogate, but knowing and sensing that Sara was his mate had made every decision that much easier.
“But you can’t tell her that yet. She might not really understand what a fated mate is. She’s not a shifter, after all,” he reminded himself in the shower. “Worse, she might not be interested in having one. Who’s to say it means as much to her as it does to you?”
Fated mates could be a hard thing for non-shifters to comprehend. He knew from the second he sensed her importance how he felt about her, but he also knew he’d have to win Sara over the old-fashioned way. Simply declaring her as his mate was unlikely to work.
