The Surrogate

by Freida McFadden

In the next twenty-four hours, I will be arrested for first-degree murder.

Sam lifts his brown eyes to meet mine. Sam has really kind eyes. They say the eyes are the window to the soul, and if that’s true, my husband has the best soul of anyone I’ve ever met. He has a lot of good qualities, but it’s his kind eyes that made me fall in love with him. And I know just from looking into those eyes that something horrible has happened.

“It’s a lot to ask of someone… I mean, we’d be using their egg and their uterus, so we’d be asking them to get pregnant with their own child just to give it up.”

Shelley peers at me over the rim of her Diet Coke. She’s thoughtful for a moment. “You know, I’ve seen her listening outside the door to your office.”

I thank her again, but as I put down my phone, there’s something tugging at the back of my mind. Something not entirely right. But that makes no sense. Mrs. Johnson was perfectly nice, especially given what we’re proposing to her daughter. Nothing she said raised any kind of red flag. So what is that nagging feeling that I’m missing something?

Mrs. Johnson lives in Indiana. Her phone number was an Indiana area code, and she told me she was “born and raised” in Indianapolis. I grew up a Red Sox fan—I went to all their games when I was a kid. I could never put on a Yankees cap. They’d never let me come home!

Wow, this baby thing is really going to happen. I’m going to have a baby. I can’t believe it.

But here’s the weird part: when Sam unlocks the doors to the car with his key fob, Monica immediately jumps into the shotgun seat.

And thanks to Monica’s generosity, we’re going to be parents soon. I don’t know why I’m getting so paranoid.

Monica smiles at Gertie—this time a genuine smile. “Thanks, Mom,” she says.