The Billionaires Hired Baby Mother: When the wife and surrogate are two different people (4 page)

Melissa's body was tired, she was emotionally drained and ready to
give up on becoming a mother. A few months after the failed in vitro
they had discussed adoption. Melissa didn't want to adopt. She knew
that sounded selfish but she wanted a baby that was her flesh and
blood. She was ready to accept that they would never be parents but
Roy refused to let it go. Roy felt guilty, thinking back to how he
had constantly pressured her to start a family these past three
years. He had thought Melissa wanted that too, but maybe it was too
much for her. Maybe she was feeling lost about not getting pregnant,
all the fertility treatments and disappointments. He didn’t
know if he should bring it up. She seemed so fragile these days. Even
when she smiled it seemed so forced. He missed her easy laughter.

Truth be told, Roy was not the only one confused by Melissa’s
behavior. She felt as if she was watching her life from the outside.
But the truth was Melissa was different. She thought she knew what it
was that she wanted out of life. She had a clear plan since she was
younger. Love, marriage, children. She just wasn’t sure if that
was still her goals. And so Melissa threw herself into her work.
Spending more and more time away from home. Lately they had been
growing even more distant. Only communicating when necessary, if
that's what you would call it. Mostly, Melissa was stuck in her own
little world and changed the subject every time Roy brought up the
baby topic. She felt bad though, about the dinner plans. He didn’t
deserve that and so she followed him into the kitchen. Roy was
already pulling open the drawer with all the takeout menus.

“
Hey honey,” she said almost startling
him. “How about that seafood restaurant you like?” she
asked.

“
They don’t deliver,” he said
turning to her.

“
Well give me about thirty minutes and we
can just go there. Afterwards come home and crack open a bottle of
wine,” Melissa suggested putting on her brightest smile.

She stood in front of him and ran her hand along his arm coyly.

“
Okay,” Roy said beaming back at her.
“Sounds like a plan.”

When they arrived at the restaurant, it was busy, a typical Saturday
night but the owner made sure to accommodate Roy and Melissa. He
quickly set up a quiet table on the veranda with a delightful view of
the stars. People turned their heads watching them, wondering who
they were to get such service. A bottle of wine was waiting at their
table. The waiter poured two glasses before handing them their menus.

They shared an order of their favorite appetizer, steamed oysters,
covered in delicious siracha sauce. Roy ordered the lobster mac and
cheese with a sirloin and shrimp scampi. Melissa ordered the almond
encrusted tuna. The food was superb, the conversation was strained.

“
So how was work?” Roy asked.

“
Fine. Work is work,” Melissa said
toying with her food.

“
I closed the deal with Harper today. Mark
was really helpful. I’m feeling really good about him taking
over the Southeast division next quarter.”

“
Hmmm,” Melissa said taking a bite of
her tuna.

“
I saw Ben at the course today. He and
Clarissa invited us to a get together on the twenty eighth. I think
we should bring the rashi wine that everyone liked before.”

“
Yes. I’ll pick some up,”
Melissa said.

“
A funny thing happened at our game. I
was...” Roy began.

At that moment her phone buzzed. Melissa reached for it, essentially
cutting Roy off.

“
Melissa Gardner,” she said. “No
Courtney, it’s fine. What happened? Okay. Yes. No, just show
them the permits,” Melissa said obviously agitated.

She looked at Roy who was now eating, his smile
wiped from his face.

Melissa feeling responsible tried to start up the
conversation again.

“
How’s that mac and cheese?” she
asked.

“
Really good. Want a bite?” He fed a
forkful to Melissa.

“
This is delicious.”

Roy just nodded.

“
Would you like to try my tuna? It’s
really good.”

“
No. I’m fine.”

The waiter came over and refilled their drinks. Melissa smiled at him
as he left and tried again.

“
So did you win?’

“
No. Good negotiating is knowing when to
lose.”

“
Work has been hectic. I have a new account,
the client is driving me mad with all of her requests.”

“
I’m sorry,” he said softly.

“
I’m just venting.”

Roy nodded.

“
This tuna really is superb. You sure you
don’t want to taste it?”

“
No. I’m not a big fan of tuna,”
Roy replied.

After a while she too become unobtrusive. She knew he wasn’t
upset at her for taking the call, there must be more on his mind. He
wasn’t being crabby but his answers were short, obligatory. She
retreated into her own thoughts. Melissa knew that Roy was only
responding to her moods and so she didn’t blame him. Not in the
slightest. She knew Roy, better than anyone and knew when he
completely analyzed his thoughts, he would finally broach the
subject. It was on the ride back home that Roy finally said what was
on his mind.

“
Melissa, is everything okay? With us I
mean. You seem so distant lately…” he trailed off.

Melissa took a deep breath, but she was still so confused in her own
mind and heart, how could she tell him any of this without hurting
him? How could she answer him when she didn’t know the answer
either? So she took the coward’s way out. Smiling she turned
towards him, bringing her hand up to caress his cheek.

“
Everything is fine, my love. I just have a
lot on my plate at work. I hate not being at one of my events even if
Courtney is there. I always worry something will go wrong. I just
feel overwhelmed.”

“
What can I do to help?” Roy asked,
the hidden plea in the back of his voice. “You know you can
take time off. Maybe we can do some traveling. I am positive my
brother could handle everything while I’m away.”

“
No. It’s busy season for both of us.
Maybe when things calm down,” Melissa replied softly.

Roy loved Melissa. He absolutely adored her. When he thought about
his future Melissa was always a part of it. The problem was that so
were children. He couldn’t understand her attitude about
adoption. They were so blessed. They had great lives. Took vacation
twice a year. Summer home in Arizona, a cabin in the Blue Ridge
mountains. They both loved going to theater and silly things like
bowling and karaoke. They volunteered on the weekends and donated to
charity. In truth, they led full and fulfilling lives. But the truth
was there was something missing. They had just gone to visit Roy’s
older sister Katherine in Maine for the holidays. He had an amazing
time. Kate had three children, all of whom he loved dearly. He had
felt complete helping them with the Christmas decorations, sharing
hot chocolate and watching them open presents. Putting his infant
niece down for her nap. It felt right. They had so much, how could
they not share those blessings with a child? But Melissa had closed
the topic. Said she didn’t want to talk about it and Roy had
complied. He wanted her to be happy but he wanted his happiness too.
As Roy drove home, he was deep in thought. There was something he
wanted to talk to Melissa about but he didn’t know how to bring
it up. He made up his mind that he would talk to her in the morning.

Melissa knew that Roy needed her more than ever. It was true she had
been distant these past few months. She didn’t know what was
wrong with her. She just didn’t feel like she was enough for
him with all this baby talk but she didn’t know how to explain
that to him without him getting defensive. She knew they needed to
reconnect and as they lay in bed Melissa laid her head on his chest
trying to get as physically close to him as possible. When that
wasn’t enough she let her fingers trail across the contours of
his chest. She ran her fingertips along his belly and then let her
hand explore further, finally finding his penis. She massaged him
expertly until she felt him grow erect. Roy lay Melissa on her back
slipped her nightie off of her, revealing two perfect dark nipples.
He took one gently between his mouth. As he squeezed and sucked on
her breasts Melissa felt herself getting aroused and let out a tiny
moan. She raised her body to meet his and his fingers explored her
wet folds. She was slick with want and Roy positioned himself
directly above her, the head of his penis teasing her until she cried
his name. Without warning, he plunged deep into her. Melissa
responded by wrapping her legs around his waist, pulling him deeper
into her. They rode the waves of pleasure until she felt Roy empty
his seed inside of her. The act so natural, animalistic but it made
Melissa stiffen. She knew he didn’t expect her to get pregnant
but ever since their journey into infertility she wondered if it
disappointed him every time he did. As Roy rolled onto his back
breathing deeply Melissa kissed him lightly and made her way to their
master bathroom. She pretended that everything was just fine but
something inside of her was breaking. She realized her feelings for
Roy were so confused at the moment. In the past she would have lain
beside him basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking but now she
couldn’t get away from him fast enough. The past year, the
resentment she had for him was building over his refusal to give up
the baby issue. Why couldn’t he understand that it was her
body? That it was her who got emotional every time the test was
negative after she was so convinced that she was pregnant. How all
the tests had drained her? As much as she loved Roy, that resentment
was starting to change the dynamic of their relationship. On one hand
she wanted him. She loved their life. On the other hand she felt
incredibly guilty for denying him the one thing he truly wanted. She
started to convince herself that maybe she was no good for him. That
maybe someone else who could give him all the things he wanted out of
life would be better for him. She felt like an incomplete woman. She
felt like a failure for the first time in her life. She was failing
her husband and failing their marriage. Melissa turned on the hot
water and sat in the corner of the tub. She cried to herself in the
shower until the water turned cold. He was so amazing. He deserved so
much more than her. She was ruining his life. When she dried off and
made her way back to bed Roy was already sleeping, snoring lightly.
Melissa watched him for a few moments before sliding in beside him. I
love you so much, I’m sorry, she thought to herself. It wasn’t
long before exhaustion caused her to fall into a restless slumber
beside her husband.

The next morning, Melissa awoke to a breakfast of waffles, eggs,
bacon and fruit . She was surprised because their housekeeper Ellen
was usually off from Friday afternoon until Monday morning.

“
Waffles,” Melissa declared. “My
favorite,” she said pouring a generous portion of syrup onto
her plate.

“
I didn’t know Ellen was coming in
today,” she said between bites.

“
I made them,” Roy said.

Melissa stopped the fork halfway to her mouth.

“
What?” she managed to finally
splutter.

“
Yeah, I wanted to have a relaxing weekend
with you and talk about some things,” he replied.

Melissa took a deep breath.

“
Such as,” she said softly.

“
Melissa, I was thinking...” Roy began
but then trailed off.

“
Yes,” Melissa encouraged.

“
Why don’t we pay a surrogate to carry
our baby?” Roy said peering at her intensely, gauging her
reaction.

Melissa chewed slowly, thinking about what Roy had said, her shock
evident on her face.

“
Roy,” she countered finally, “you
know that Dr. Blue said my eggs were not viable…”

“
I’m not talking about your eggs. I’m
talking about a surrogate.”

“
I don’t understand…”
Melissa trailed off.

“
Essentially it would be my child, our
child, but with a donor egg.”

“
I see,” Melissa said quietly. “And
is this what you want?”

“
I want a child. You were against adoption
but this child would be part me.”

“
But not part me?” Melissa asked
softly.

“
Don’t think of it like that Mel. It
will still be our child. I’m just trying to figure this out.
Look, I’ve been doing research and the birth mother would waive
her rights to the child. It would be our baby, just with my genes. He
or she would be a Gardner one hundred percent,” Roy responded
passionately.

“
Well it sounds like you’ve been
thinking about this for a while,” Melissa said biting her lip
in thought.

“
I would’ve talked to you about it
Melissa but you always get so upset when I mention having a baby,”
Roy responded.

“
And you thought this would be the way to
tell me?” Melissa snapped.

“
Mel, no. Don’t put this all on me.
You wanted this too remember? Are we supposed to just give up on our
family because...”

“
Because I can’t have a baby? Because
it’s my fault?” Melissa countered.

“
No, that’s not what I meant at all.
It’s not your fault honey,” Roy said grabbing her hand.
“This is no one’s fault it’s just the way things
turned out. But don’t you want to be parents? Don’t you
think we can share all this.” Roy said stretching his hand out
indicating their home.