Страница 70 из 98
“You’re the best shit, nut case, freaky weirdo, bestie, Auntie and sister-in-law I could wish for. I love ya so much, George. I’m so happy for ya.” We sit quietly for a few minutes.
“He wants me to move in with him.”
“Well, what’s the problem?” We break apart and I look at her, then gesture towards my suitcase.
“Tonight, now, he wants me to move in with him tonight. We’re looking at houses to buy on Thursday and Friday.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah, fuck. What’ll my dad say? What about the boys? What’s Marley go
“D’ya wa
I nod. “Yeah, I do.”
She shrugs slightly. “Then fuck ‘em, George. You’re thirty-two. You’ve had the life you had pla
“Oi, oi, you ol’ slags.” Ash walks in and throws herself down onto my bed. “What the fuck’s the matter with you two? Why you crying like a pair of princesses?”
Jimmie and I smile at each other before she says, “George’s in love with TDH.” Ash sits up on my bed.
“What like, properly in love, not just in lust, but really, properly in love?” I smile and nod my head. Her bottom lip trembles a few times before her face screws up and she lets out a sob. “Fuck, George, my heart could burst hearing that.” She throws herself back on the bed as she wipes at her eyes. “Fuck you, ya bitch. You made me full on ugly-cry then.”
Jimmie comes over and sits on the bed just as Ash sits back up and shrieks, “Oh, my God, G, does this mean babies?” My head instinctively turns towards Jimmie. I know she’s offered to be my surrogate, to carry my child for me, but I feel the panic rise up from my toes every time I think about it. What if she’s changed her mind? What if I have to go and find a stranger to carry my baby? What if they decide to keep it?
My mouth opens to speak, but no words come out and then Ash interrupts my thought trail, or lack of, “Fuck, Jim, you’re go
“Well, G, could he be the one?” she asks.
I nod my head slowly. “We’ve talked about it. He wants to be.”
A smile slowly spreads over her face; her brown eyes sparkle. She reaches out and laces her fingers with mine. “Just say the word, G. I can’t wait to make this happen.” I smile back.
“You still up for it? I know you said you would, but I mean, I would…”
“Georgia, we’re go
“Shit, I’m feeling left out. Just think, if it’s a boy, you’ll have a King dick inside you.” Ashley sits up as she speaks, Jim and I turn and look at her.
“Did she really just say that?” I ask.
“She did. She really did,” Jimmie replies.
“Fuck off, you two. I don’t like this. You two are go
“What d’ya mean, you want in?”
“I wa
“You said you didn’t. You said you didn’t want any more kids.”
“Well, I don’t plan on keeping the little fucker. Hit me up with some spunky eggs and I’ll incubate for you, but once it’s out, game over, princess; the responsibility will be all yours.” I’m stu
“You’d seriously do that for me. You’d carry my baby?”
“George, I wouldn’t fuck about with something like this. I’ve been thinking about it since we found out you had eggs.” She reaches out and takes my hand. “I’d decided right at the begi
“I know, but I didn’t think you meant it.”
“Well, I did. I do.”
“Fuck, Ash,” I whisper.
“Yeah, I know,” she replies quietly.
“I wonder if it’s allowed. If the doctors would let me split my eggs between two surrogates?”
“What the fuck has it got to do with the doctors? They’re your eggs. Surely they get no say in what you do with them,” Ash asks.
“Oh, I think they’d have a moral obligation of some kind, but I can’t see that using two surrogates will be a problem,” Jimmie, my sensible friend, states.
“Have you spoken to Marley about this?” I ask her.
“I mentioned it to him, told him that I’d be willing to do it for you, but I think he thought I was all talk. I don’t think he thinks I’d actually do it.”
“But you’re sure?” I ask.
“One hundred fucking percent. I would never mention it if I wasn’t.”
“Is he okay with it though, with Cam? Will he…?” She knows what I’m thinking and trying to say.
“George, he’s your brother. He loves you to the point where I find it a bit creepy if the truth be told, but anyway, he just wants you to be happy, and if TDH is what makes you happy, then he’ll live with that.” I let out a long sigh as Jimmie shoulder-bumps me. I smile at her. “So,” she says.
“So,” Ash and I say together.
“Are we doing this?” Jimmie asks.
I’m sitting cross-legged on my bed, my two best friends on either side of me. I look at each of them.
“Fuck yeah, we’re doing this, and Ash, just so we’re clear, there’s nothing creepy between me and my brother.”
“Whatever,” she says. “Most my brother ever did for me is give me a discount on a gram of coke. If Marls didn’t have me and the kids, he’d die for you, George. I know he would.”
“It’s not just Marley, Ash. Len’s no different and I’m sure Bailey’s the same. She’s their little sister; they’ve been raised to always protect her.”
“You’re so lucky, George, and now you’ve got TDH, all dominant and alpha, looking out for ya. Fuck, girl, your Mildred must have teeth. How’d you manage to attract these gorgeous men?” I shake my head at her, just wait till I show her the photos of Roman but I’ll save them for another time.
We have a group cry and decide not to mention any of this to the rest of the family yet. Cam and I have enough to work through without throwing IVF into the mix, but the thought that we may actually have a baby together at some stage in the future causes the strangest bubbling sensation in my belly, and for the first time, in a very long time, I allow myself to hope.
* * *
Di
The boys and my dad have been polite to Cam and have engaged him in conversation. They all seem to have enjoyed more than their fair share of my dad’s best whiskey and bourbon, and Cam definitely seems a lot more relaxed than when we arrived. He sits with his arm around the back of my chair and strokes his fingertips over my shoulder, then up the side of my neck as I tell my family about learning to surf in Australia.