Slow Love

Anticipation

Anticipation

I sit with my elbow on the desk, cupping my chin in my hand, propping myself up as we await the call to cue in on my laptop. He is primping his afro making sure it is perfectly round, patting stray hairs so it looks good. I swear that man is more vain about his looks than I am. I open the desk drawer and hand him a mirror. "Here Sweetheart, now you can see what you are doing." 

It may be 'his' desk but I commandeered a drawer for some of my stuff, considering I work more in this office than he does. "Thanks Baby." I watch as he peers into the mirror checking his hair, makeup and teeth." 

I take my finger to his chin, turning his face toward me, "Lemme see ya. Mascara, check. Under eye cover, check. Smokey eyeshadow, check. Eyeliner, check. Hair, check." I lean quickly to kiss his pursing lips, "Lips, umm, double check. You're good to go Sweetheart."

He cracks up laughing that deep belly laugh. [pfft] I smirk and giggle. "Baby, you are too funny. Bring your lips over here. I need to make sure they have enough sugar." Wrapping his arms around me in a sideways embrace, a kiss so delicate as a feather...sweet and tender. We hear the call cue come in and quickly part, before he clicks to receive it, "Baby, sugar kiss, umm check." 

He clicks as I give a jovial chuckle. "Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Nelson. I am Marlon Martinez, your VIP case specialist at New Beginnings. It's my pleasure to arrange this video conference call with your potential surrogate, Charity Wagner. I will click her in shortly, but I wanted to know if you had any questions before we begin." 

We both shake our heads no but my husband verbally states, "No. Please call me Prince and my wife Gigi." 

Marlon nods, "I will go dark, only listening in on the call should you need me for any clarification or have questions as the call progresses. Well, without further ado, I will click Charity in for you to meet her..." 

He clicks her in and disappears from the screen after the introductions. Charity starts by saying, "Hello Prince and Gigi. Please call me, Chari (she pronounced cherry). Prince, it's been awhile since we last spoke. I can see you're happily married to your best friend. How could you keep this lovely lady a secret all those years? I have answered all your questions on the questionnaire I received from you. I hope I have answered them all to your satisfaction. Do you need any clarification or have additional questions you wanted to ask me in person?" 

He looks over at me and I nod to go ahead. He proceeds to ask, "Good to see you again, Chari. We have a few more questions for you today. Before I get into them, Gigi and I are so happy you accepted us to be our gestational partner and carry our child. We cannot begin to thank you enough. I never dreamed meeting you several years ago we would be sitting here and discussing having my baby this way, via surrogacy. [He says with a smirk as I squeeze his knee, out of sight, in an attempt to stop his jesting. Shooting me a smile, he continues.] What are the three biggest things that influenced your decision to be a surrogate?"

Chari takes her time to answer this question. "As you know in my business, I am very close to the celebrities and entertainers I work with. I witnessed a lot of people I know in my network that was either unable to have children or because of their workload, did not have the time. I gave birth to two beautiful children easy, without complications and thought that was the way the process of having children went until my sister had terrible complications in attempting to have children of her own. I desperately wanted to help her and my brother-in-law but her troubles with having a family sadly ended their marriage. At this stage in my life, I figured I could have a few more pregnancies to help others that were challenged to have a family, so I decided to sign up with New Beginnings agency. Knowing my business in the entertainment industry, they immediately matched me to a celebrity. It made me eternally happy to be able to help a couple that wanted to be a family. I cannot begin to tell you the wonderful feeling and gratification I received being in that position to help. My parents instilled in me as a young child that when you give, you receive back two-fold. By giving of myself to carry a child for another couple, I feel I received more than I gave. I genuinely hope I can assist you to fulfill your life's hopes and dreams. When I read your letter of intent, after everything you did for my husband and myself, I'd like to 'pay it forward' and repay the favor back to you by giving you the family you desire."