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After a few months of waiting, the lease ended on her tiny apartment, and she was able to move in with two other teachers. That allowed her to save enough monthly to try again at a public clinic six months later.
But by then, Vax Dolors was engaged to the other kindergarten teacher.
Barra Aynsworth was petite, blonde, and radiant with joy as she showed off baby holos of her beautiful son around the teachers’ lounge.
And these days, Chloe couldn’t look at the holograms of the baby without seeing the diamond sparkling on Barra’s finger as she held the glass.
She tried to be happy for Barra, who had never been anything but sweet to her. For heaven’s sake, the woman brought her baked goods, and the two shared lesson plans.
But some days, as she watched all her old friends become mothers and wives, it was hard not to wonder why she had been left behind.
After that, two more grueling cycles at the public clinic left her with empty arms.
And then she received a message from a friend, telling her to go to another clinic in the city with her records, and cross her fingers that they might offer her something… different.
Mother Stars had finally smiled on her, and the something different was offered - a chance to come here, to the Midsummer Center, and act as a surrogate for a male from another world.
She was told that the male’s seed would “bring her womb to life,” and she would bear him a child. She didn’t know if it was magic, or alien science she didn’t quite understand, and she didn’t care.
Chloe just knew that when she returned home again, it would be with a generous benevolence - enough credits to try many, many more times at the nicest clinic on Terra-58 to conceive a baby of her own.
And she was told that her odds of accomplishing a pregnancy would be 50% higher after her time here.
The idea of finally bearing a child, and leaving it behind was more than painful.
But after sleeping on it, and spending another day in the classroom, seeing her beautiful students and their funny, wonderful views of the world, she knew she would do anything to have a child of her own. Even if that meant having one for someone else first.
If it works, at least I’ll always know I have one child, even if I never get to see them again…
But now that she was at the center, she found herself restless. She had expected to be nervous about whether the attempt here would work.
She hadn’t expected to be beside herself about how her students were faring without her.
If only there had been enough time for her to choose and meet with her substitute.
But the center had insisted she leave immediately.
And all comms were prohibited once she was here.
She had spent three days pulling her hair out worrying about the weekly spelling test before Oberon took pity on her.
You may access the student portal twice each day, he told her, after speaking with the center’s biological staff. And if you find anything seriously amiss, you may send one comm to the school administration, but our staff will have to read and approve the message before sending.
The portal showed grades, attendance, participation, and conduct - when the substitute bothered to update it. And it was more than she had any right to ask for.
She was just glancing at her bracelet and trying to decide if she had it in her to wait until the evening to look at the portal for her second time today, when the light in the room shifted slightly.
“Hello, Chloe,” Oberon said politely. “Your prospective match’s shuttle has just arrived. You have approximately eleven minutes before you must leave to meet with him.”
Chloe dropped her knitting and shot off the sofa.
Classic that she had spent a week and a half having her hair and nails done every day, and when she finally gave up and rolled out of bed onto the sofa, her match decided to show up.
“I’ll just clean up quickly,” she replied, darting toward the corner that housed her closet and refresher, where Oberon had already started the water running.
2
JUBAL
