In The Middle

Thirteen: Meeting The Wife

Ari's POV...

Mr. Sato and I were seated at a rectangular table in a beautifully decorated room when a gorgeous woman wearing a long, flowy, black, sequin dress walked into the room. Her lips were painted with a deep red lipstick and her shiny long black hair hung down her back.

"Sorry for being late." She turns to me and says, after pecking Mr. Sato on the cheek. He stood from his seat, then pulled out a chair right beside him.

"Ms. Lambert, this is my wife, Hina Sato." He introduced her to me while sitting back down in the seat beside her.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Mrs. Sato. My name is Ari Lambert." I greet her with my right hand held out toward her.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, and again I apologize for being late."

"Don't worry about..." I was saying when a short Asian woman walked into the room carrying a tray of empty wine glasses in one hand and a bottle of champagne in the other one.

"Ms. Lambert, do you want a glass of wine, or would you prefer something else to drink?" Mr. Sato asked me when the young woman began to fill his glass.

"Since I'm driving, I'll have a glass of water."

"Instead of a plain glass of water, how about a glass of ice tea?" Mrs. Sato asked me after taking a sip of her champagne.

"If it's not too much of a bother, I'd love that, Mrs. Sato."

"Ms. Lambert, I'll be right back with a large pitcher of iced-sweet tea." The young woman says at the same time, another young woman strolled into the room pushing a cart with food on it.

"Do you plan on settling down and starting a family in the future?" Mrs. Sato asked me as soon as the waitress exited the room.

"Maybe I'll think about it after I find the right man and get my finances in order. Until then, I'll just work on becoming financially stable and enjoying life with my family and friends."

"How do you feel about being a surrogate mom?" Mrs. Sato asked me with her right eye raised.

"Honestly, I never thought about it or entertained the idea until a few days ago."

"Well, how do you feel about it now?" She probed, lacing her fingers together and leaning back in her seat.

"I'm a bit worried about the whole pregnancy process. To be honest with you, it terrified the heck out of me when I first checked into it."

"What's so terrifying about carrying a bundle of joy inside of you?" Mrs. Sato asked me, leaning forward in her seat with her eyes trained directly on me.

"From the research I've done on becoming a surrogate, I've learned that there are some serious health risks that can occur."

"Please enlighten my husband and me on what are these scary risks you're talking about."

"The health risks that could potentially occur are developing hypertension, an infection, gestational diabetes, and cramping. Not only that, but there's also the possibility of my reproductive organs being damaged in the process, slight bleeding could form, and I could have a miscarriage. Next, there's the emotional risk of falling into depression and dealing with the feeling of loss I may develop at the end of the process. Last, there's the legal risk."