Chapter 9
Shelby woke up the next morning and sat down at the breakfast table.
I hope Rachel didn't hear the part about the contract…or think that I'm going to force her to choose to live with me. I don't want her to feel pressured. I know her. She'll run at the slightest inkling that I'll pressure her to choose me.
After two cups of coffee, she walked out to her car and drove to the hospital to see Rachel. Hoping not to run into Leroy and Hiram, she slipped into Rachel's room.
"Hi, honey. How are you feeling this morning?" she asked.
"Better. Thanks for asking. Mom…what was that contract you were talking about with my dads?" Rachel asked.
Oh, crap. Shelby thought. She rose from her seat and closed the door.
"Well, honey, about seventeen years ago, I wanted to go to New York. I didn't have enough money to go there, though. I read the newspaper and saw an ad for a nine-month job here in Lima, Ohio. I lived in Lima then and figured it couldn't do any harm to see what the job was. I met your dads at a restaurant. They told me that they wanted a child and needed a surrogate mother. The pay was more than I'd ever imagined…"
"Wait…my dads placed an ad for a surrogate mother in the newspaper?"
"Yes, Rachel, they did. Anyway, the pay was enough for me to stay in New York a couple of years and try to establish myself on Broadway. I remember the day you were born very clearly. I'd been talking and singing to you since I was six months along. Your dads took me to the hospital. I didn't get to hold you very long, a second at the most, before they took you away to clean you off. But I remember seeing you look at me as the nurses cleaned you. You had a great smile even then. I took my pay and signed the contract. This contract stated that I couldn't have contact with you until you turned 18. The only way I could see you was to make you wonder who I was and want to see me…"
"Why did my dads make you sign that contract?"
"I don't know, sweetheart. Maybe it was because they wanted you all to themselves, I just don't know. But that's why I had Jesse give you the tape. It was the only way I could think of to whet your appetite. I knew you wouldn't be able to sleep until you found me once you heard the tape. Anyway, after you were born and given to your fathers, I left for New York. I couldn't establish myself on Broadway. After almost all my pay was gone, I used what was left to fly back to Lima…"
"And you didn't even think about me or want to see me?" Rachel asked; the hurt showing in her eyes.
"Honey, you have no idea how much I wanted to see you. I thought of you constantly. I marked every milestone in your life. From every birthday, to first days of school, I marked everything on my calendar. Your 18th birthday is circled on my calendar in green and has a gold star on it."
"Really? You have a gold star on my 18th birthday? You know me so well, mom!" Rachel said, letting a chuckle escape.
"Well, like I told you when we sang Poker Face, gold stars are kinda my thing."
The two shared a hug that showed everyone that, regardless of the years apart, they still had a bond that only a mother and her daughter can share.