The Story of Me (Carnage #2)(101)

“He wants me to move in with him.”

“Well, what’s the problem?” We break apart and I look at her, then gesture towards my suitcase.

“Tonight, now, he wants me to move in with him tonight. We’re looking at houses to buy on Thursday and Friday.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah, f*ck. What’ll my dad say? What about the boys? What’s Marley gonna say?” She frowns as she looks at me.

“D’ya wanna move in with him?”

I nod. “Yeah, I do.”

She shrugs slightly. “Then f*ck ‘em, George. You’re thirty-two. You’ve had the life you had planned ripped out from under you once, so grab hold of this second chance and enjoy the ride. I’ve always thought you two were good together. I thought perhaps he would be the one too; well, he was the one for a while, you know, before?” She pauses and looks me over. “I’m not gonna go there, but I think that you and him had something really good before, and given the chance, I think you would’ve made a go of it. Things worked out different, but just look, here you are and I couldn’t be happier for you.” I wipe at another tear under my eye just as my bedroom door flies open.

“Oi, oi, you ol’ slags.” Ash walks in and throws herself down onto my bed. “What the f*ck’s the matter with you two? Why you crying like a pair of princesses?”

Jimmie and I smile at each other before she says, “George’s in love with TDH.” Ash sits up on my bed.

“What like, properly in love, not just in lust, but really, properly in love?” I smile and nod my head. Her bottom lip trembles a few times before her face screws up and she lets out a sob. “Fuck, George, my heart could burst hearing that.” She throws herself back on the bed as she wipes at her eyes. “Fuck you, ya bitch. You made me full on ugly-cry then.”

Jimmie comes over and sits on the bed just as Ash sits back up and shrieks, “Oh, my God, G, does this mean babies?” My head instinctively turns towards Jimmie. I know she’s offered to be my surrogate, to carry my child for me, but I feel the panic rise up from my toes every time I think about it. What if she’s changed her mind? What if I have to go and find a stranger to carry my baby? What if they decide to keep it?

My mouth opens to speak, but no words come out and then Ash interrupts my thought trail, or lack of, “Fuck, Jim, you’re gonna have a bit of TDH inside you. For the first time ever, I’ll actually be jealous of a pregnant lady.” She throws herself back down on the bed as Jimmie and I just look at each other.

“Well, G, could he be the one?” she asks.

I nod my head slowly. “We’ve talked about it. He wants to be.”

A smile slowly spreads over her face; her brown eyes sparkle. She reaches out and laces her fingers with mine. “Just say the word, G. I can’t wait to make this happen.” I smile back.

“You still up for it? I know you said you would, but I mean, I would…”

“Georgia, we’re gonna do this. When the time’s right, we’re gonna do this.” I wrap my arms around the most beautiful person I know. Jimmie has been my voice of reason and my conscience for most of my life. If there is such a thing as soul mates, then I think Jimmie might actually be mine.

“Shit, I’m feeling left out. Just think, if it’s a boy, you’ll have a King dick inside you.” Ashley sits up as she speaks, Jim and I turn and look at her.

“Did she really just say that?” I ask.

“She did. She really did,” Jimmie replies.

“Fuck off, you two. I don’t like this. You two are gonna have this bond and I won’t be part of it. I want in.”

“What d’ya mean, you want in?”

“I wanna go. I wanna have a baby for you as well.”

“You said you didn’t. You said you didn’t want any more kids.”

“Well, I don’t plan on keeping the little f*cker. Hit me up with some spunky eggs and I’ll incubate for you, but once it’s out, game over, princess; the responsibility will be all yours.” I’m stunned.

“You’d seriously do that for me. You’d carry my baby?”

“George, I wouldn’t f*ck about with something like this. I’ve been thinking about it since we found out you had eggs.” She reaches out and takes my hand. “I’d decided right at the beginning really, if for any reason things didn’t work out with Jim, then I’d offer, but while you were away, I had a good ol’ think about it and decided that, if you’ve got enough eggs to go around, I want to do this for you, too. I did tell you I’d do it the other week on the phone.”

“I know, but I didn’t think you meant it.”

“Well, I did. I do.”

“Fuck, Ash,” I whisper.

“Yeah, I know,” she replies quietly.

“I wonder if it’s allowed. If the doctors would let me split my eggs between two surrogates?”

“What the f*ck has it got to do with the doctors? They’re your eggs. Surely they get no say in what you do with them,” Ash asks.

“Oh, I think they’d have a moral obligation of some kind, but I can’t see that using two surrogates will be a problem,” Jimmie, my sensible friend, states.

“Have you spoken to Marley about this?” I ask her.