Читать книгу Secret Millionaire For The Surrogate - Donna Alward - Страница 11

HARPER HELD HER breath as she sat on the closed toilet in the tiny bathroom at her photography studio. Juny hadn’t yet arrived for the day, and everything was still and quiet. Harper had wanted the few minutes of privacy to do the pregnancy test. Now she felt like she might throw up, and it had nothing to do with any potential morning sickness. It was nerves, plain and simple. A lot was riding on these three minutes of pee on a stick.

Two minutes had already passed. One more to go before she could look at the stick and know if she’d be giving her best friend, Adele, good news or bad news.

She desperately wanted it to be good. And yet the idea terrified her, too. Being a surrogate for Adele and her new husband, Dan, was something she’d really wanted to do. Adele had had cancer at a young age and couldn’t have children of her own. It had taken eight long years for her and Dan to reconnect and commit to each other, even though they knew they might never have the family they both yearned for. Harper had a completely healthy uterus and no relationship to speak of. There was no reason why she couldn’t carry a baby for the woman who’d made such a big difference in her world. The woman who’d made her finally feel as if she had a home and some roots to put down.

But now, with the seconds ticking away, Harper was afraid. Carrying a baby was a big thing. She’d attended medical appointments with Dan and Adele, had combed through research, had sat with her feet in stirrups. There had been little that was glamorous or sentimental about the whole procedure, but it hadn’t been frightening.

Until now.

Today, if the plus sign showed up on the stick, there was no going back. She either was or she wasn’t. And if she was...she’d be carrying a little human in her body for the next eight and a half months. Her mouth was dry as she tried to swallow. Thank God Adele wasn’t here now, waiting. Harper wasn’t sure she could have taken the pressure of Adele’s heart being on the line while they waited. Better to know now, get her wits about her and decide what to say. The doctor had said this was a long shot, and probably Adele and Dan’s only chance at using Adele’s eggs. Either way, there would be big news for her friends. Either a second chance or the end of this particular road, and moving on to plan B.

She checked her phone. The seconds ticked down from ten...

But she didn’t wait. She reached for the stick and stared at the result.

It was a plus sign.

She was carrying her best friend’s baby—the most precious cargo in the world.