Author's Note: Flipping flip flip effing eff eff explicatives in here all over the place hashtags arrobas ugh grrr ugh I hate everything! # $%(!*** !#&* *! I can't!
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Spencer pouted. "I really don't want you to leave."
Toby touched Spencer's cheek, trying to comfort her. "I don't want to leave, but I'll be back in a few days. Besides, you've been so caught up with wedding planning you won't even notice I'm gone. You can invite Hanna over and it can be like a really long sleepover."
Spencer laughed. "I love Hanna, but I think one night with her is enough," she replied.
"Okay, fine. But I'll be back before you know it," he promised. He kissed her once more before leaving.
Spencer sighed, looking all around at the empty, boring apartment. She needed to do something besides plan the wedding. Sure, she wanted the day to come and was beyond excited, but she couldn't stand thinking about it for one more second.
Finally, she came up with an idea and picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Andrew? I kind of wanted to talk to you today, if you have the time. It's about this whole surrogate thing," she said, nervously tapping her nails on the marble countertop.
Hanna watched as Tiffany ate a whole stack of buttermilk pancakes. Hanna thought, enviously, that she couldn't wait until she got pregnant so she would have a seemingly valid excuse for stuffing her face full of Oreos and Chunky Monkey.
"So did Toby tell you what this whole meeting thing was about, anyway?" Hanna asked, trying to contain the jealousy bubbling inside of her.
Tiffany shook her head. "No, but I can't wait. He's been acting so secretive about everything lately. Maybe this will finally give us some kind of explanation," she said.
Hanna nodded.
"So has Spencer picked out the bridesmaid dresses yet?" Tiffany asked.
Hanna nodded eagerly. "They're gorgeous. Though, I'm not surprised, considering I'm the one who suggested them. They're red chiffon. The top is detailed with something that looks sort of like ruching, but not exactly. It's one-shouldered. There's this really pretty band of silver gemstone-looking things on the shoulder and the skirt flows out."
"So basically, even if I'm just about ready to give birth at the wedding, I'll look fine?" Tiffany asked.
"Yeah, basically."
"I'm helping you out, Andrew, but I will walk out this door if you describe your ideal surrogate and she looks exactly like me," Spencer warned as she walked into their old house.
He ignored her comment. "You've dragged me to enough of those romantic comedies so I know how things work when women go to sperm banks. Is looking for a surrogate like that?"
Spencer was unenthused. For someone so smart, he was being so stupid. "Oh, I don't know. I'm a woman who hasn't looked into getting pregnant—nor do I suffer any fertility problems—so I don't really have the need for another woman's uterus and/or eggs."
"You don't have to get into the female reproductive system right now, Spencer. I was just asking," he answered.
"You didn't let me finish. I don't have the answer to your questions, but when my sister was trying to get pregnant, she looked into getting a surrogate because she couldn't seem to be able to conceive. I asked her to give me the name and address of the agency she was using. It's in downtown Philadelphia so I thought that we should go."
After a moment of looking at her in confusion, he answered. "I can't believe you're so nice to me after everything I did to you," he muttered finally.
She looked away. "Well, I…you helped me, too. More than anyone will probably ever know, Andrew. I think that this would really help you mature," she said before walking out the front door.
"Are you sure that this is in the right direction?" Hanna asked as she looked at their surroundings.
Sure, this was a nice area outside of Philadelphia, probably about twenty minutes. But it looked so boring. There was nothing here except for the occasional cow or two. This was how Hanna knew she was driving through what looked like the Amish country.
"I'm sure that these are the directions Toby gave me. Just keep driving for another mile and a half," Tiffany said, glancing at the directions her phone gave her.
Hanna sighed. But things started to appear again. The trees began to get less and less like a forest. Hanna gave a small sigh of relief. This wasn't like Philadelphia by any stretch, but at least it was starting to look more like the suburbs than some tiny little down with more livestock than people.
Things were starting to look up again.
Andrew opened the door and let Spencer enter the agency first. Spencer had made an appointment, anticipating that Andrew would be willing to come here with her.
When they entered the room with one of the agents, Spencer could feel the mood of the whole room change. Her stomach felt odd.
"So you're looking for a surrogate. Congratulations. Have you done your homework on surrogacy?" the agent asked after some meaningless formalities.
"A little," Andrew said. Spencer bit her tongue to keep from laughing at his expression. He was obviously lying, but the agent didn't realize that.
"Great. So are you looking for a traditional or a gestational surrogate?" she asked.
"Traditional," Spencer filled in for him, knowing Andrew was utterly clueless.
The agent raised her eyebrows, seemingly surprised. Apparently, traditional surrogacy was a lot less common than the other type. "Well, that might make things a bit easier and not quite as expensive. But you do realize what this entails, right? Not to be intrusive, but is there a problem with your eggs? The biggest concern with traditional surrogacy is that the surrogate mother may feel entitled to the child due to a genetic bond," she explained.
Spencer's eyes widened when she realized what the woman was insinuating. "Oh, no! I'm not his wife or girlfriend. I'm just trying to help him here. Andrew would really want a child, but I know a bit more about this than he does," she answered, not at all modest about it.
"Oh, I see. So how long have you been considering surrogacy?" the woman asked, turning to Andrew.
"Well, I've been wanting to have a child for months now. I've considered adopting, but…I really want a child of my own," he explained.
The agent nodded before getting a large book. "Well, here are some potential surrogates. Now, before anything is solid, I'd really recommend meeting with your potential surrogate before making any deals just to be sure on where you stand. And after your meeting where you make some sort of agreement, be sure to go to a lawyer and have them make some sort of solid contract for your surrogate to sign. With traditional surrogacy, you can do things one of two ways. The first is to have her get pregnant the old fashioned way, which is probably the easiest, least expensive way to go about this. The other possibility is artificial insemination, which does cost a lot more and might not work on the first try, but it might make things less awkward with you and your surrogate," the agent explained as Andrew opened the book.
"And these are all women interested in traditional surrogacy?" Spencer asked. She was like the legal advisor to this. After all, she did grow up with two lawyer parents her whole life.
The woman nodded. "As you can see, some of them have already done traditional surrogacy, so a breach in contract should be the least of your worries. Of course, there are others who are interested in both traditional and gestational surrogacy and more who have never been a surrogate. There are older and younger mothers, but age hasn't really changed the success rate. Some have children of their own."
"And these are their interests and facts about them?" Andrew asked as he read about one mother who graduated from NYU with degrees in engineering and physics, was a piano prodigy who played since the age of four, and also enjoyed playing tennis. She was followed by another who was originally from Ukraine and earned her BA in psychology, who was now working as a child associate.
The agent nodded. She looked over the edge of the book.
"I've gotten the opportunity to meet Valeria. She's a very sweet girl," she commented, pointing towards the page with a dirty blonde.
Spencer and Andrew both looked over at the page. The woman was stunning. She had high cheekbones, porcelain skin, dirty blonde shoulder-length waves, and beautiful turquoise eyes. Upon reading her vitals and extra information, they learned that she was 5'6", twenty seven years old (just two years younger than Spencer and Andrew), had no children of her own, and was interested (exclusively) in traditional surrogacy. They also discovered that she graduated at the top of her class at NYU, had a passion for music and the arts, and was now living in South Philadelphia. She was of Italian, English, and Danish descent (a rather odd mix which wasn't so odd the more you thought about it, Spencer realized).
"She's gorgeous," Spencer commented.
Andrew couldn't help but feel a bit nervous about this. But Spencer was there to reassure him. "You should give her a call, Andrew," she persuaded.
The agent smiled, trying to further encourage him.
Later, as Tiffany and Hanna were driving back to Philadelphia at night, they were so happy for their friends.
"I am so happy for them!" Hanna said, not even trying to contain her huge smile.
"I love Toby's idea. Oh my God, Spencer is going to love it!" Tiffany agreed excitedly.
Spencer couldn't help but feel really accomplished later on that night when she got home to the apartment.
Andrew had Valeria's phone number and was now going to call her, hoping to meet sometime soon. Spencer was happy and hoped this would work out for him (and yes, partially for selfish reasons, like so he would stop asking her to be a surrogate).
After a very relaxing bath (which Spencer oh-so desperately needed), Spencer settled into bed. She was so comfortable that she could just sit there forever.
Her cell phone began to vibrate beside her. She quickly answered.
"Hello?"
"Hey. I'm glad to hear that you're still breathing."
Spencer smiled when she heard her fiancé's voice on the other end of the line. "Somehow, I managed to get through the day without you by my side," she said.
"I'm sorry I had to leave, again. I'll be back by the weekend," he promised.
She nodded. "I know you have to work, I just…I want to keep you to myself sometimes," she confessed. "And besides that, you're like…a relaxant for me. You help calm me down. I'm going to be a ball of nerves by the time you get back," she said, biting her lip.
"Well, I'll gladly help you unwind."
Spencer laughed. She absentmindedly reached her hand out to his side of the bed. "You know, I'm going to get really lonely tonight without you here to hold me. I might have to sleep on your side of the bed. I might even have to sleep in one of your shirts," she said.
"It wouldn't be the first time," he replied.
She sighed. "Just please, come home as soon as you can."
"I will. I just have to finish getting some things sorted out and ready for the future owners of the house," he replied.
She thought about the new owners enviously. Toby told them that it was a couple who were hoping to move in together before they got married.
They were probably in his apartment together, talking about their wedding. I wish he could just be here with me, she thought bitterly, drifting off into her own thoughts.
"Hey, Spencer?" he asked. She snapped back into reality. "I have to go, but I love you. I'll be home soon."
"Okay, I love you, too."
Okay, I'm sorry, but I can't redo all of these responses all over again. I am sorry. I am just too mad and I have to go right now. So thank you for clicking on!
For those of you who asked (cough, cough, you should all pay attention), the painting was not mentioned before this chapter. Only Mr. Cavanaugh and I know what happened to it. You'll either love me or hate me (and I'm not telling you which one!) so you'll just have to find out in a few chapters! Thank you! -Kayson
