"You're pregnant?!" Lacey screamed.
"Mhmm." Regina smiled.
Lacey tearfully embraced her friend for a long time, the two mamas basically holding the other up for very different reasons.
"How have you been feeling?" Danny asked as if he didn't know her at all and hadn't hung out with her everyday for the last six weeks.
"Like shit. You're welcome." Regina laughed.
"Congratulations!" Jo sang, truly happy for them. She gave a round of hugs, "I'm gonna be an aunt!"
"The best auntie." Lacey beamed.
"I'm lost." Johnny interrupted their celebration with his usual clueless aloofness, "Danny, you're sleeping with both of them?"
"No—noo. No, Regina is our surrogate." Danny thought he was clarifying.
"So you guys like fucked once then or something?"
"No, Johnny, the doctor did this for us. It's our baby, just growing in Regina's belly." Lacey took a turn explaining it to Jo's annoying boyfriend, at least he was asking questions and not just ignoring it. That was something, right?
"Y'all are weird." He kissed Jo, "I'm out."
"Oh, already?" Jo was disappointed.
"I have things I'd like to do." Johnny casually looked Jo up and down, "Stay if you want, I don't give a fuck."
"Please stay Jo, I'll give you a ride back later." Danny interjected, he didn't like the way Johnny treated her, "We haven't done the VR duet together yet."
"It's okay, I'm gonna go." Jo shrunk a little and followed Johnny out the door, "I'm so happy for you guys!" She said as she left.
About a month after Regina broke the news to Lacey and Danny about the pregnancy, Jo showed up crying at their house.
"Hey—" Danny greeted her, "What's wrong?"
"Johnny and I had a fight."
"Are you okay? Did he hurt you?!" Danny's protective big brother side came through.
Jo shook her head no.
"Heyyy—" Lacey came down from somewhere upstairs when she heard Jo's sobs. She walked up to give her a hug, "Why were you fighting?"
"I'm pregnant." Jo wailed and flopped onto their couch.
Danny and Lacey exchanged glances and let her cry it out for a few. Of course Johnny would ruin this for her and make it seem like a bad thing. Lacey handed her some tissues while Danny rubbed her back.
"I'm going to be an uncle?!" He was actually really excited about it despite Jo feeling like her world was collapsing.
"Cousins! They'll be so close in age, this is amazing!" Lacey tried to keep the positivity going.
"Johnny flipped, he won't answer my texts."
"Well fuck him. Lacey's right this will be so much fun!" Danny hugged her tight.
"Damn, you and Regina both pregnant at the same time. What the hell do you guys do at the Pilates studio?! Maybe I should have just gotten into that, apparently it works like a charm." Lacey tried to joke.
"It makes your ass look good." Jo sniffled, "That can only help." She joked back.
Jo eventually relaxed enough to pass out on their couch and Danny headed off to find Johnny, promising Lacey he wouldn't get arrested.
"Hey Danny." One of the regular counter customers at Johnny Cakes greeted him as he walked into the diner.
"George." Danny nodded, "Johnny around?"
"Here we go, big brother time—" Johnny rolled his eyes as he came around the corner and saw Danny standing there.
Danny stormed right over to him and backed him into kitchen to avoid a scene.
"Look, Danny, I don't need this bullshit right now."
"Tell me you're not about to be a bigger sack of shit than you already are." Danny said, obviously irritated.
"Your sister's cool, okay? I'm not looking for a kid though. I know you are and best of luck to you but that's not me."
"You don't really have a choice, it's your kid—"
"Is it? Jo's pretty friendly—"
Danny slammed his fist into the wall, surprising Johnny and the guys in the kitchen. Johnny could easily take Danny, but his blind fury was a little unnerving. The kitchen guys knew Danny had money and bigger connections and didn't offer to back Johnny up.
"I know what it's like to not have a dad and I'm telling you, you need to rethink your role here."
"My role is to let her do her thing while I do my thing."
"You're a piece of shit."
"Thanks for stopping by Danny, you need to leave now."
"Just so you know, when you see your child grow and thrive without you, it'll be because of her and our family. Don't try to come back."
"Noted, thanks."
"I'm serious, leave her alone or I'll make your life hell."
Johnny believed him.
Regina's pregnancy was peaceful for all of them. After the first trimester she was feeling better and had no complications. The baby was healthy and growing.
Danny and Lacey had a blast for the next several months. They prepared a nursery and took some parenting classes. They pursued parent's groups to make sure they tapped into future childcare options and to network connections for the support they knew they would need as they figured out how to be first time parents.
They didn't know if they'd ever get this opportunity again so they did everything they could to make sure that if this was their only child it would have a happy, healthy environment.
Danny felt an overwhelming need to bond with this child and have the full experience of having a pregnant partner. Since Regina was their surrogate it took some getting used to. The three of them worked together and eventually found their groove. Danny read stories to Regina's pregnant belly and Lacey liked to sing songs and play music.
One thing they did together was take basic cooking classes. Lacey had never gotten that personal chef she had put on their future dream list many years ago. Danny only had bare minimum cooking skills from working at the diner and Regina never had to do a damn thing for herself growing up. Lacey wanted them all to be able to create heathy meals for themselves and their family and figured the best time to learn was before they were in over their heads.
They all attended Lamaze classes and took turns giving Regina back, leg and foot massages as the months wore on, anything they could think of to make Regina's life easier and more comfortable while she housed their first child.
As Regina crossed into her ninth month, Lacey and Danny were on high alert. For the last two months they had moved Regina into their home so that they could monitor her and be ready the moment it was time to go.
"She up yet?" Danny asked as he walked into the kitchen one morning, still half asleep. He walked up behind Lacey and wrapped his arms around her.
"Not yet." Lacey stopped mixing whatever she was preparing and accepted the kiss Danny asked her for.
"Last night—" He cooed into her neck, "I'm still thinking about it."
Lacey smiled big, "Me too."
The couple had been enjoying no longer feeling the pressure to get Lacey pregnant. They worked at going back to their more comfortable, yet super sizzling schedule. Their sex life had never been work, but psychologically it was difficult to know that they were failures every month after faithfully fucking daily.
Lacey squirmed around in his arms, turning to face him and snuggling into the front of his incredible body.
"You smell so good." She said, her voice sounding smaller with her face smooshed into his chest.
"What are you making here, can I help?" Danny asked, his stomach growling right on cue.
"I'm making a super heavy, cinnamon bun custard bake thing for Regina. She deserves it."
"Sounds so good. You want me to make something for us then?"
"I'd love that, thank you." Lacey released him and got back to mixing, "I have a surprise for you by the way."
"Yeah?" Danny asked only half-paying attention as he rummaged for eggs and other omelet stuff in the fridge."
"Close your eyes."
"Seriously?"
Lacey walked over covered his eyes from behind, "Alright, walk this way—" She guided him over toward the entrance to the kitchen and stopped, "Okayyyyy, open!"
Danny opened his eyes and looked all around. His eyes landed on the casing surrounding the entrance, focusing on something that looked very familiar: the height chart he had crafted as a kid that Lacey had removed from Vikram's home.
"Lacey—"
"Kyle helped me install it last night."
"Where was I?"
"Getting our bath ready." Lacey hugged him.
"I see, so last night was actually a distraction."
"Maybe a little." She giggled, "I wanted it here, I want to add to it. What do you think?!"
"I love it. I love you." Danny squeezed her tight, "Thank you."
"UUUUUHHHHHGODDD LACEYYY!" They both jumped at the sound of Regina's guttural suffering coming from her room clear across the house, "LACEYYYY OH GOD—"
"Oh my god oh my god oh my god—" Lacey began running down the hallway, Danny right behind her.
"Reg?! Hey—" Lacey flipped the lights on.
Regina was laying on her side her arms wrapped around her enormous belly.
"OOOOHHH GOD, I THINK IT'S TIME—"
"Okay, okay—" Lacey panicked, having known exactly what to do if this happened a moment ago but currently drawing blank.
"IF IT'S NOT TIME THEN I THINK I'M DYING—"
Danny sprang into action and took off to load the hospital bags and the car seat in the car. Lacey helped Regina out of bed and out into the car. They were all still in their pajamas, their abandoned breakfast sprawled out across their kitchen island.
Danny drove and Lacey sent a text to the group chat that she had established to let their family know it was time.
"IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN, NOO PLEASE PLEASE—"
"It's okay, breathe, breathe—" Lacey tried to help.
"I AM BREATHING—" She nipped back, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. It hurts so bad—" Regina cried.
The hospital was approximately 20 minutes away. They made it in 9. Danny flew into the drop off for the emergency department and ran in for a wheelchair while Lacey helped Regina out of the car. Lacey wheeled her in and Danny sped off to find a parking spot.
He had walked almost halfway back to the entrance to the hospital before he remembered that he forgot the bags in the car. He took off running, grabbed their bags and sprinted all the way back to the hospital. The girls weren't there and he couldn't hear Regina's wailing either.
"Hi—hello!" Danny worked on catching his breath while he tried to ask the receptionist where they went, "I'm the dad—I'm the dad—" Was all he could say.
The lady at the desk smiled at him warmly, "They went to the third floor, elevator is over there." She said calmly.
"Thank you, thanks." Danny took off.
Regina requested that Danny and Lacey both help with the delivery. Danny held one of her legs, Lacey held the other. As Regina worked like a powerhouse to push this baby out, the doctor got Danny in place to catch and Lacey got to cut the umbilical cord.
At 8:37 am their perfect daughter arrived.
Things had progressed quickly. The time from when Regina was admitted to the time they held their baby in their arms was twenty seven minutes.
Regina had contractions for a long time after the baby was born, too long. The doctor gave her some medications to control the cramping and also gave her a cocktail of pain and anxiety medicine to help her drift off into a peaceful sleep while her body recovered.
Regina really hadn't woken up fully after a couple hours. The doctors discovered that she was hemorrhaging more than she should and debated on surgical options while they monitored her blood pressure and administered different drugs.
Their family arrived and quietly took turns holding the baby. Lacey filled them in on Regina's condition, the nurses coming and going nonstop while they watched her. Finally one nurse said the surgical team requested the room be cleared except for Danny, Lacey and the baby. The family trickled out and promised to visit once they were settled back at home.
Ten minutes later a surgeon came by to explain they had to do something to stop Regina's bleeding and the only option was a hysterectomy. Regina was not conscious enough to sign off on the emergency order. She had made Lacey her power of attorney during her pregnancy exactly for a moment like this.
At the beginning of their journey, the three of them had talked about the risks and the potential complications and Lacey agreed to be the one to make the decisions if anything happened. Now that something was actually happening Lacey was very upset. Was this the right thing to do?
The doctor explained that they didn't have time to wait. Lacey did what she believed would save Regina's life and signed the papers to have the surgery done.
"You did the right thing." Danny tried to console his partner when they were left alone with the baby in Regina's empty room.
Lacey got choked up again.
They fed the baby, gave her the first bath, changed her diaper and tried their best to stay positive about Regina after she had given them the greatest gift.
A few hours later, Regina was out of recovery and back in the room. The nurses explained that the surgery went well and that she'd probably be asleep through the day and would be in the hospital for a couple days.
The baby passed all of her newborn tests and the doctor said that as long she remained stable throughout the night that they could bring her home the next day. Danny and Lacey took turns feeding the baby every three hours and tried their best to get some sleep.
The nurses were in and out, but largely left them all to rest. In the very early hours of the morning, Regina had been stable for long enough that they removed her from the monitors. The nurses checked on her manually every hour instead.
At 7 am it was Lacey's turn to feed the baby. She rolled off the tiny vinyl loveseat cushion that Danny and Lacey shared. It made them giggle that after everything they had been through, they ended up basically sleeping on another air mattress together.
"Hi." Lacey said gently as she peeked into the bassinet beside her.
The baby made tiny noises and had her eyes open, reacting the moment she heard her mom's voice.
"You have your Daddy's eyes, huh?" Lacey smiled and ran the back of her finger over the baby's cheek before pulling out the supplies she needed for another diaper change, "Are you hungry?" She asked as if her baby would answer her.
Lacey glanced over at Regina, the dim light filtering through the shades casting a shadow over her bed. She did a double take when she realized Regina's eyes were open too.
"Hey!" She whispered, smiling at her friend as she took a step toward the bed, "Wait until you see th—"
Lacey stopped short when Regina finally came into focus. She was blue, eyes open and staring vacantly in her direction, her lips parted slightly. She was dead.