Scream at the drunken moon

Chapter 44

I hear Charlie at the bathroom door, but I don't want to upset her further so I make sure I'm done with crying before I go back to bed. She's sound a asleep by the time I get in there, so I carefully climb in, trying my hardest not up wake her. It works. I wrap my arms around her and hold her to me as I try desperately not to cry again. I close my eyes and eventually sleep takes me away once more.
I wake up and glance at the clock. It's just past midday. Charlie must have got up already, as she's not in here with me. I go to the bathroom before dressing and going downstairs, only to find she isn't down there either. I start to panic slightly. She can't drive at the moment because of her legs so where the hell can she be? I grab my phone and try calling her but I am diverted to voicemail before it even rings.
"Charlie, it's me. Can you call me back as soon as you hear this?" I say.
I pace around frantically for the next hour or so, having left several more messages. I've drunk two coffees and ate some toast and she's still not back or replied to my messages. I'll try once more before ringing around the guys.
Just as her voicemail is about to kick in, I hear a car door shutting outside. I run to the front door and see Charlie stood there and Alysha's car driving off. She turns to me, the sad look in her eyes enough to break my heart. I walk over to her and wrap my arms around her.
"I was so worried, princess. Where did you go?"
"I needed to talk to Alysha. We went to see the doctor to see what options were there for us now" she whispers. I kiss her forehead and gently pick her up. When we are back inside, I settle her on the sofa, make us both a coffee and she tells me what the doctor said.
"The main option is adoption. IVF obviously won't work because I can't carry a child or there's asking someone to be a surrogate. Fostering is also an option but that's more of a short term thing, rather than having our own child" she says, a sad tear rolling down her beautiful face.
"Do we have a set time in which we have to decide?" I ask.
She shakes her head. I pull her into my arms and hold her to me as we both cry a little more. We are both mourning our baby boy still and Charlie is still mourning her parents, so a good cry will help us let some emotions out. We hold each other for a good hour before the doorbell ringing makes us both jump. I gently place Charlie back on the sofa and jog to the door. Mike and Alysha are standing there.
"Come in" I say, and they walk towards where Charlie is sitting.
"I have a proposition for you both" says Alysha.
We both look at her as Mike holds her hand.
"Obviously I was with Charlie earlier at the doctors and I've been thinking and I have spoken to Mike about this and I would be honoured if you would let me be a surrogate mom for you both. It will be your baby in every way as they will use your fertilised eggs Charlie. All I'll do is look after him or her until the birth."
I look at Charlie, stunned. She looks as stunned as me to be honest, so I'm assuming it's an idea that Alysha thought of after she dropped Charlie off earlier. Mike has the biggest smile on his face and I can't help but smile at his pride in Alysha for thinking of such a beautiful gift to offer.
Charlie stands up on her shaky legs and walks over to them both and with no words, wraps her arms around them both and hugs them, silent tears rolling down her face. I stand up and join in this group hug and tears are flowing faster than a waterfall off all of us.
"Thank you both so much" I hear Charlie whisper after what feels like an eternity of hugging and we all break away from the group hug to sit down.
"How do we go about this?" I ask, having no idea how it all works.
"I'll ring Dr Shaw tomorrow and see what she advises" Charlie says, a look of hope in her beautiful eyes. I pull her into my arms and she kisses me lightly. I see Mike staring at us and it makes me feel weird, knowing that they slept together. But I don't say anything as I'm pretty sure Alysha doesn't know and at the moment, her offer to carry our baby is something I don't want to jeopardise.
We sit around and chat for a couple of hours before Mike and Alysha say they're going to head off home. Charlie stands up and once again hugs them both before they go and tells Alysha she will call her tomorrow.
I walk into the kitchen to make us something to eat and Charlie follows me through. I lift her onto the counter and turn to raid the freezer, not sure what to make. I find some chicken and hold it up to Charlie who nods. Part one. What to put with it?
We settle on chicken, rice and vegetables which doesn't take long to sort out.
I carry Charlie over to the table and fetch our food and drinks and when we are done, I sort the dishwasher and we go back through to the lounge.
Charlie puts the TV on and finds a film to watch so we cuddle up on the sofa, a fluffy blanket over us.
I'm tracing the tattoo on her arm without even realising and Charlie emits a soft moan. I look down at her and see her eyes are closed but she's smiling at what I'm doing. I pick her up and carry her upstairs to our room, the smile on her face growing bigger.