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Her eyes glistened. “Imagine getting to hold Britney’s child. How incredible would that be?”
My chest tightened. “Excruciatingly painful would be more like it.”
She nodded. “I guess I can see that perspective, too.”
I stuck a toothpick into an olive. “The past couple of days, I’ve felt like the star of a miserable made-for-television movie I would never willingly subject myself to.”
Leo clapped my shoulder. “I give you credit for even considering it, cousin. I think I’d have the same reaction you do, honestly.”
“I could say no to the whole thing, but…Phil and Kate lost their entire world when Britney died. They’ve been nothing but good to me. I won’t stop this, even if it tears me up inside.”
Leo nodded. “So you’ve already made your decision, then. You’re going to say yes.”
“Well, I suppose ‘yes’ is onlyonedecision. There are other things that need to be worked out.”
“Like whether you’ll father it?” he asked.
“No, that’s a given. I can’t stomach it any other way.”
“Wow.” Leo nodded. “Alright.”
Felicity rubbed her pregnant belly. “So I suppose the final decision would have to do with choosing a surrogate.”
“Well…theythinkthey’ve already found someone.”
Felicity tilted her head. “Why do you say it like that? You don’t trust their judgment?”
I flicked some crumbs away. “I don’t trust anyone who’d agree to something so fast. Apparently, they had one conversation with a friend’s twenty-five-year-old daughter, and the next thing you know, she’s offering up her womb.”
Leo poured some Prosecco. “Who is this person?”
“I don’t know much except that her father and Phil are old mates. This girl must be crazy to offer to do this.”
“I don’t think it’s a crazy thing to offer,” Felicity said. “I mean, there are kindhearted people out there. Britney’s story is tragic. I could see myself getting wrapped up in the emotions of it all and offering to help, if my life situation were different.”
“Well, you’re insane, too, then, Ginger.”
“It’s been nearly ten years, Sig. Are you ever gonna stop calling me Ginger?”
I winked. “Never.”
Ginger was a nickname I’d given Felicity back when she’d first met Leo because of her red hair. I’d called her a lot of names in jest over the years, ballbuster that I was. My cousin and I had been on a three-month jaunt around the US a decade ago when he’d met Felicity on the last leg of our trip in Narragansett, Rhode Island. (I was completely unhinged that summer, by the way. It was before I’d met Britney, and let’s just say I hada lotof fun on that trip.)
Leo and Felicity had taken quite a long road to get to where they were now. Felicity was currently pregnant with their second child, a daughter they planned to name Britney. Needless to say, I’d pretty much lost it the day they told me that. Their other daughter, Eloise, was three and a little whippersnapper. She was at nursery school at the moment, otherwise she would’ve been circling my legs, trying to get me to play with her.
Leo sipped his Prosecco. “Okay, so what’s the next step, then?”
“I have no idea.” I sighed.
“I do,” Felicity said.
I turned to her. “Do tell, Ginger.”
“You need to invite the potential surrogate here. Meet this woman and make your decision based onactuallygetting to know her, rather than assumptions.”
“She’s hardly a woman. Who the hell knows what they want to do with their life when they’re twenty-five?”
“Wasn’t Britney twenty-six when you met her? You thought she was pretty mature, didn’t you?”
