CHAPTER 48
Alex
When Knight told me he had a surprise, I’d never imagined what it could be. After we had left the airport, it looked as if he was taking me directly to his home in the mountains.
I crossed my arms. “I really don’t want to live with your brother, Knight. Can’t we wait until we find a place of our own?”
He didn’t say anything. He just gave me his half smile and looked straight ahead. When he’d passed his place, my heart sped up. I stared at him. “You’re kidding me. Right?”
He said nothing.
“You mean you built it? Our place? Even though I’d left you? Even though you’d given up on us? You couldn’t have built it in six months.”
Pulling up to the most modern, elegant home I’d ever seen, he’d already had my car sent over. It was waiting for us along with his corvette and his motorcycle.
The house was even more beautiful than the plans we’d drawn up so long ago. I was speechless.
Bounding out of the car, I jumped him. “You’re amazing. I couldn’t be more surprised and happy in all my life.”
Holding me, he said, “I couldn’t let go of our dream. When you left, I built it anyway and when you never came back, I didn’t have the heart to sell it. Come on. I’ll show you what we’ve done. Your eye for color is amazing. I did everything you’d planned.”
He walked me through the living room and throughout the three floors. It even had two children’s bedrooms—one for a boy and one for a girl. I pointed. “How do you know we’ll have some of these?”
He shrugged. “We can always redecorate. I believe in positive thinking.”
Laughing, I kissed his cheek. “One can dream.”
By the time we got downstairs, I noticed a huge mural picture of us on the sunken living area wall.
“What is that?”
“A picture of us.”
“You know I’m not like Chiandra. I don’t like seeing myself every day.”
He took my hands, trying to placate me. “But I want to show you off to everyone. Won’t you let me do that? The artist did an amazing job on it. You look so beautiful. And it’s different from Chiandra’s pictures. This is more artistic. I thought you’d like it.”
When I didn’t say anything, he added, “Please let me keep it. I think it looks great in here.”
I heaved a big sigh. He looked so cute pleading with me like that. “Is that how you got away with everything growing up? Giving people your puppy dog eyes. You think that’ll work on me?”
“It’s gotten me this far, I figured it couldn’t hurt.”
Rolling my eyes, I said, “Oh...all right. But if one person says it looks lame, it goes.”
Changing the subject, he got out his phone and said, “We need a picture of us in our new home.”
“Fine. But it does not get enlarged and end up on our hallway wall.”
“You’re the boss.”
He took about five hundred pictures. That would be a source of conflict down the road, I could tell. I hated sitting for pictures. I remember my dad loving to take pictures and I never could sit still long enough. I guessed I’d never grown out of that. But it would come in handy with a family. Without Knight wanting pictures, I’m sure our children would grow up too fast and we’d forget what they looked like.
I pointed at one of the many pictures he took. “You can blow that one up.”
He laughed. “Yeah, because I look like an idiot.”
“You said it, not me.” Remembering my sister, I said, “Hey, while you have the phone out, give my sister a ring. She said she had some important news for me and I know she’ll want to see the house.”
The following day, Bri and Ben came by for dinner. I hired a chef since I still couldn’t cook more than grilled cheese and Knight was horrible in the kitchen. I’d cooked for Bri back in the day but she was a kid with kid tastes. Now that we’re adults and I’d lived in the city for most of my adult life, I usually didn’t cook.
“So, what’s this news you wish to share? Am I going to be an uncle soon?” I asked. I knew that had to be the news. They’d been trying for years.
Bri fiddled with her hands for a moment then pointed at herself. “I want to offer you my services. Ben and I have talked about it and we want you to use me as a surrogate for your child. I know you two want to start having children right away and we didn’t want you to go outside the family.”
I shook my head. “No way am I going to let you do that, Bri. Having a child puts stress on your body. How could I selfishly put you at risk when it’s not even yours?”
Ben chimed in. “It isn’t without benefit to us, Alex. Bri is having a hard time conceiving and we’ve both been checked. There’s not a good biological reason for this. But in many cases, once a woman has a child whether by artificial insemination or other means, her body is primed, so to speak, and she can conceive naturally. Please allow us to do this. We want to. It would be good for both our families.”
When he put it that way, a huge weight lifted off me. “You mean it? You really think it would help?”
“I do,” Bri said. “And even if it didn’t help me, I want to be a part of your child’s life. What a privilege for me to have. And it’s a way for me to thank you for raising me, Alex. Please let me do this for you.”
“What do you think, baby?” Knight asked. “I’m ready if you are.”
“I guess it’s worth a shot.” I felt as if things were flying at light speed and I was chasing the mother ship. I had no idea how any of it was going to work since we’d just got married and would need to adjust, but I did want to start a family soon. And if it helped Bri get closer to conceiving her own child, who was I to put on the brakes?
Two weeks later, at our housewarming party, Bri flew over to me, wide eyed and excited. “Guess what? You’re going to be a father!”
Freaking out, I hugged Bri and said, “Oh my God. I can't believe it! Thank you, Bri...thank you for doing this.” I was humbled by her happiness. She was the best sister anyone could ever have.
Turning to Knight, I suddenly felt the weight of what we were going to embark on. “Congratulations, Papa. How are you feeling?”
Peering into my eyes, Knight said, “I feel like you’re going to be the best parent any kid could ever have. I can’t wait. I love you.”
Author's note: I want to say a huge thank you to designer RABOOSKI for designing Knight and Alex's home. It has everything they will need in the years to come and will be the legacy home (although things might happen down the road to change this...we'll see!)
If you want to download an amazing designed home that can house two kids and has a wonderful modern feel, here it is: KNIGHT & DAY.
If you want to download an amazing designed home that can house two kids and has a wonderful modern feel, here it is: KNIGHT & DAY.