SURROGATE : Conception (+18) BOOK 1 (COMPLETE)

| 19 | The Need of Another ||

"Hey man you want to uh, you want to talk about it?"

"Nope." Liam said returning his golf clubs to their home in the carrier after losing miserably to his friend and colleague, Kirby Linesman.

"How are things going with the baby creation stuff?" Kirby didn't have details on the arrangement, but he knew they were using a surrogate.

"Fine." He grumbled not feeling like he had the energy to talk about it. Seemed like he dodged a bullet after consulting with the doctor but that's only because the rest of the bullets were shot at him using a silencer. One of them was bound to hit a major organ. Frida had been docile the past few days since. Liam knee she was coming up with something.

The other man grunted. "That bad, huh?" Kirby yawned and stretched his arms over his head after putting his cubs in the back of the golf cart with Liam's. "Don't worry man. It'll happen. Once it does, your wife will be happy and things will go back to being great, until the little monster comes."

Liam slid into the golf cart with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh yeah," Kirby said through another yawn, which made Liam yawn too and he didn't feel tired. Weird how yawns work. "They scream, and cry all the damn time. You won't get any sleep for the first year at least, and by that time, your wife will want another one." He yawned again.

Liam looked away when Kirby pulled them away from the last hole just when mid morning was starting to warm things up. They just had their second child and it was apparent that fatherhood was wearing on the man. He always looked tired, exhausted was more like it. "We should get brunch here. They have a really good benedict."

Liam scrunched his face up before he could think it through. What he really wanted was some home made honey biscuits and bacon, but the odds of that weren't very high. "Nah. I'm going to go home, shower, probably get some rest."

"Ah, yeah, I forgot you had that meeting early this morning. How'd it go?"

"A lot to chew on, presenting in a couple more days as a follow up. You know how it goes."

The man nodded. "Well, okay, man. See you same time next week?"

"You bet." They pulled the cart to the cart return where a young girl came to return it to the garage for them.

Thursday morning golf with Kirby was something that calmed Liam. He knew it was guaranteed, he enjoyed it, and he liked spending time with Kirby. When he was golfing, he was focused on that one thing, well, that's how it usually was. This week he was all off and his game suffered because of it.

He tossed his clubs in the trunk and got into the vehicle. Maybe he'd take the boat out this weekend. Sailing was always a good relief. Boats made Frida sick so she never went out with him, which actually turned out to be perfect.

The ride home was too short, as was typical lately. He was mostly in his head about the meeting he had and the next one he was planning for. That was safe and he needed safe at the moment.

Liam walked into the house, quiet. Were they still sleeping? He was startled from his thoughts when he heard Frida call his name. Apparently not.

"Yes, honey?" He toed off his shoes at the door and set his suitcase down.

"Can you come into the living room for a moment?"

Oh, shit. He thought. What now? "Mhm, just a minute. I'm going to run to my office real quick and jot down a quick thought that came to me in the car."

"Don't be long. Penny will be down in a minute."

He frowned. "What's going on?"

"Just a little family meeting is all." Frida said in a measured and calm voice. The voice where he couldn't tell what the maddening woman was thinking. Was she sweet Frida or atomic Frida?

"Mhm." He said, feeling a knot tighten in his gut. What was the woman up to?

He ventured in the office to put down his things and take a breath. What was he going to write down? Ah yes, the points he wanted to bring up during his conference call coming up with his client overseas in a few short days. He wanted everything to be flawless since this was the first official remote meeting.

He loosened the tie around his neck and unbuttoned the top two buttons allowing himself to finally relax. He ran his fingers through his hair as he thought how he was going to word the questions.

A soft knock on the door made him look up. He cursed the swimming feeling inside his chest when Penelope's deep sun kissed skin met his eyes.

"Frida asked me to grab you on my way down."

He grumbled. "Do you know what this is about?"

"Nope. But it seems awfully official."

He grunted but pushed up from his chair. He didn't mind following the woman down the hall. Her usual coconut almond oil blend was tainted with chlorine.

He smirked. She was in the pool again.

She looked back over her shoulder addressing him as they came out from the hallway into the open kitchen space that pooled into the living room and formal dining.

"Work go well?"

He smiled. "Mhm. I see you and the pool were spending some quality time."

A brilliant smile captured him like a deer in headlights. "Mhm. He gets jealous when I don't set aside some time for him."

He laughed feeling the joy in his gut.

"Please, sit." Frida said when they walked into the living room.

The mood switched to somber and he donned his anything-can-happen-at-any-moment face.

Penelope set in a single chair at an angle from Frida and he perched on the coffee table between the two.

Frida took a deep breath and looked up to meet their eyes. "I went to see Doctor Schagermeister like you suggested Liam to talk through my anxiety and after meeting with Doctor Maysum the other day, I've decided to go away for a while. About six weeks, maybe a little longer to give you two time." His insides tightened for some odd reason and he glanced over at Penelope who looked unaffected by the news. Was this the first time she was hearing it? "While I'm gone I want you two to really just make this your own. I-I think this is probably the best route to take. I know I've been difficult to both of you and for that I apologize. Hopefully this mental time away will help all of us."

Yeah, he thought. Help us stay focused on the task at hand, your task. Liam kept those words to himself. "If you think that's best." He said to his wife.

"I do." She stood up and made her way over to him and perched on the coffee table next to him. When he turned to face her he had an unobstructed view of Penelope. He blinked and brought his attention to his wife when she grabbed his hands. "I need you, Liam. I know I don't always express that fact, but it's true. I need you here. I need to know you'll be here."

His eyebrows quirked and he felt a deep gut gripping sentiment for her. He nodded and pulled his wife into a hug letting his chin rest on her hair. "I'll be here, okay? I will."

|:|A/N|:|

*Watches her characters pile up all the trash and drench it with lighter fluid before striking the match.* LMAO! -- I do have a very vivid imagination!

Oh the fun we can have in a six week window, but we have to get there first! You ready?

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Come September things are going to get very busy as I'll be teaching college courses (for the first time ever!) YAY! Saying that to say, I'm working diligently to complete this story for y'all before I get too busy with a very full FALL/WINTER. 

See you soon,

Alex