The Billionaire's Surrogate: A BWWM Pregnancy Love Story (23 page)

Max laughed out loud;
Christine felt like she hadn’t seen him laugh so much as he’d
been doing in the last few days in all of the time she’d known
him.

“
I’m
not lying. You’re glowing…there’s just something
about you,” he shrugged staring at her.

“
You
mean tiredness from waking up six times a night, leaking breasts and
uncombed hair?”

Max’s threw back
his head and laughed. “Yeah, all that. And the hemorrhoids and
everything else that you’ve been complaining about. It's all
beautiful.”

“
You
are so high on baby poop it's not even funny,” Christine said
watching him with an indulgent smile. She could see him wanting to
burst into laughter again. Martha came into the room and she was
carrying a tray with a bowl of porridge on it, a plate of waffles,
and a flask of cocoa. On the tray was also an envelope.

“
You
have mail,” she said.

“
Who
writes snail mail anymore?” she asked taking the envelope.

“
Your
mother apparently,” Martha said putting the tray down on the
foldout chair.

Christine moved her
hand away from the envelope. “What does she want now? She
already burned through that fifty k I gave her?” she asked
slightly petulantly.

“
Why
don’t you read the letter and avoid speculation?”

Christine sighed. “I
don’t know if I have the strength for her bullshit yet.”

“
Cordelia
said she went off to better herself. Maybe this is a progress
report,” Martha said.

Christine snorted her
disbelief but Max picked up the envelope from the tray and read the
return address. “Jackson Mississippi? Why there?” he
asked passing the envelope to her.

She shrugged, but her
curiosity was piqued and she opened it. A single sheet of paper fell
out and they both stared at it.

“
Well?
Aren’t’ you going to read it?” Max asked.

Christine sighed and
picked up the paper and straightening it out to read it.

Dear Chris,

I hope this letter
finds you well and healthy. I just heard from Uncle Andrew that you
gave birth to a baby daughter and it filled me with such joy and pain
I was compelled to write you. I don’t know if you will read
this, I won’t blame you if you don’t. I know I haven’t
earned the right to expect anything from you. I left you with my
mother when you were very young. I suppose in your eyes, it was
abandonment. In my eyes, at the time, I was doing what was best for
you. My mother is much better at this mothering thing than I am. I
think we both can agree on that.

But I digress. This
letter wasn’t meant as some sort of self-justification for my
decisions. It was prompted by a sort of nostalgia for you and for the
child you’ve just borne. I remember holding you in my arms. You
were the most precious thing I had ever beheld, and you stared back
at me like you knew who I was. I just wanted to protect you. I wanted
the best for you.

Now you have a child
of your own. Maybe you can understand a little bit that instinct to
protect. That instinct to put your child’s needs before your
own.

Christine snorted with
derision. “Wow. Talk about revisionist history,” she
said.

“
Keep
reading,” Max said leaning back on the headboard, his hand on
the baby’s head.

Christine sighed but
went on reading.

That instinct to put
your child’s needs before your own. To sacrifice for them and
protect them.

Christine grimaced at
Max who gestured for her to continue.

So I may be late,
but I hope I’m not too late. I don’t know if you know but
I dropped Kevin. He’s gone from my life as are all the toxic
men I used to choose. I’m making better choices because I want
to be better for you. I’m attending a cooking school here in
Jackson. It's run by an old friend of mine, and I’m doing well.
He has a job for me at his restaurant here if I pass all of my
certifications. Your mama gonna have a legit job; that’s
something right? It’s a start at least. I want to start loving
myself more, so I can love you better. You and my grandbaby. Kiss the
little girl for me. Tell her I’ll see her soon.

All of my love.

Mom.

“
What
the fuck am I supposed to do with this?” she asked Max.

He shrugged. “Hey,
at least your mother is willing to make an effort. My mother just
complains and intrigues and tries to play games.”

“
There’s
no guarantee these are not games.”

“
There
are no guarantees in life Chrissy dearest,” Max said.

“
Have
I told you I really hate those nicknames you give me?”

“
Several
times,” Max said picking the baby up quickly as she started to
move around in preparation for fussing and crying. “We have to
come up with a name for this little one before we give her a
complex.”

“
Gwendolyne,”
Christine said.

“
A
real name,” Max replied with a side smile.

“
How
about Gina?” she suggested.

“
Gina…hmmm.
I like it.”

“
You
do?”

“
Yes.
Don’t tell me it was one of your joke names.”

“
No,
I actually like that name.”

“
Great.
Gina it is.”

“
Gina
Richards-Lestrange,” Christine said trying it out on her
tongue. “It’s a good name.”

“
Yes.”

“
Ethew,”
Gina said and they both stared at her in shock.

“
I
think that was agreement,” Max said.

“
I
think it was too,” Christine agreed. “Now if only all our
decision making was that easy.”

“
Decision
making about? Your mother? My mother? We ignore them until they grow
up.”

“
High
five,” Christine said. They high fived to their decision and
then Max leaned forward with a laugh and kissed her.

“
Speaking
of decision making…” he said against her mouth.

“
You
are a randy French bastard you know that?”

“
Hey…I’m
not a bastard; my parents were married when I was conceived,”
he retorted.

“
Oh
really, well mine definitely weren’t so I guess
I’m
the bastard,” Christine said.

“
Can
females really be bastards? I’m never sure,” Max said
thoughtfully.

“
The
number of things you’re never sure of could fill a small
country,” Christine scoffed.

“
Don’t
be mean,” Max sulked.

“
Aww,
my widdle baby,” Christine said pinching his cheeks. “Did
I hurt your feelings?”

“
I
don’t know about my feelings but you’re definitely giving
me blue balls with your gratuitous display of boobage,” Max
said looking down at the offending organ.

Christine smiled. It
was true that she’d exposed her breast as soon as Gina awoke
because she knew it was a matter of time before she would be pining
for some nourishment.

“
You’re
going to have to get used to that.”

It was a total accident
that they met. Max was in New York for a Formula One business
meeting. The meeting had wrapped up early and he’d returned to
his hotel to pack. He’d been invited to go out for the evening
with the other executives but he was in a hurry to get home and see
his wife and child. Gina was about to celebrate her two month
milestone and Christine had just started to feel like her old self
again. The inflammation on her left breast had subsided at last and
Gina was only waking up three times a night now. They were finally
finding a rhythm again and he figured it was time for them to get
back to a sexual rhythm. He’d picked up a beautiful diamond
necklace in the hotel gift shop that he was intending to give her as
a two month milestone present as he persuaded her to spend some
quality one on one time with him. Not that he thought he’d have
to do a lot of persuading…he saw the way she looked at him
when she thought he wasn’t looking.

He was walking out with
his bag packed heading to check out when he saw him. He had seen Rudy
maybe twice in his life but he wasn’t likely to forget. He
stopped short, staring and then before he knew he meant to, his feet
were taking him toward the man. He was sitting in the hotel bar,
looking like he was waiting for someone.

“
Rudy
Sinclair as I live and breathe,” he said coming up to the man
and invading his personal space.

Rudy turned around to
look at him in puzzlement. “Do I know you?” he asked the
taller man.

“
Probably
not,” Max said inkling his head to the side, “but you
might remember my wife, Christine.”

Rudy tensed visibly and
Max smiled. “Ah, I see the name rings a bell,” he said.

Rudy put up his hand,
“Look, I don’t want any trouble.”

“
Oh
you don’t? For someone who ‘doesn’t want any
trouble’ you sure do go looking for it.”

“
Hey
listen, I didn’t even
want
to speak to your wife that day. Your mother put me up to it.”

Max stared at him, “I
beg your pardon.”

“
That
day…at the Ritz…I wasn’t gonna try anything, I
swear. I was just minding my business when your mother got in touch
with me and asked me to seduce Christine again. She offered me too
much money to turn down. My family keeps me on a tight financial
leash,” Rudy explained in a tone that could be described as
whiny. “I couldn’t really turn that down.”

Max was frozen in
shock. He’d approached Rudy maybe to just intimidate him, maybe
to give him a piece of his mind – he hadn’t been sure.
And now the guy was throwing all this information at him that he
hadn’t been expecting and hardly knew what to do with. His
mother had paid Rudy to seduce Chris? That would explain the timing
and the pictures. The Ritz wasn’t known for entertaining
paparazzi. If he hadn’t had such a visceral reaction to those
pictures he might have figured out that something about the set up
smelled, a lot sooner.

“
Look,
weirdo. I won’t tell you again. Stay away from my family. If I
see or hear of you anywhere near my wife again, there will be
consequences and I guarantee you won’t like them.”

Rudy looked around.
This was a five star hotel and security was tight; it wasn’t
like they would tolerate bar brawls. He smiled at Max. “And
what will you do if I don’t?” he challenged.

Max smiled. “Well
let’s see. I’ll start with that cute little B&B you
own in the Catskills; run it out of business. Then there is your
adult entertainment distribution network. The backbone of your
family’s wealth isn’t it? How would you like it if I
dismantled that as well. Your chain of fast food restaurants? I’ll
run them into the ground. Do you think I can’t do it? Try me.”

Rudy stared at him.
“All this over a piece of tail?” he sneered.

Max’s eyes
narrowed. “Now, I was going to let you go without administering
a beat down because obviously you’re a pathetic low life who
isn’t worth the oxygen it takes to keep you alive. But you know
I can’t let that pass right?” he said.

Rudy opened his mouth
to say something obviously ill advised.

Max did not let him.
Before he knew it, his hand had balled into a fist and he was
connecting solidly with Rudy’s right eye. The shorter man flew
out of his seat and landed hard on his bottom, breathing hard and
looking shocked. Hotel security began to close in and Max turned
quickly, hands above his head and walked to reception as their eyes
followed him.

“
I’d
like to check out now,” he said to the receptionist. She looked
extremely flustered but took his black card and ran it and then
returned it to him. A porter was waiting with his bags and a driver
had already been summoned to take him to the airport. Max added a
generous tip for the ‘damage to the bar’ and then walked
out of the hotel and left. Nobody tried to stop him.

*****

“
Honey
I’m home!” he called as he came in the door. They had
moved to a five bed-roomed bungalow in its own compound when
Christine was five months pregnant and they’d only just
finished moving in properly. He walked through the living room
looking for his wife but the house was silent. It was only as he
crossed right over to the other side that he saw them through the
floor to ceiling windows, sitting outside on the grass. Gina was
lying on a blanket, kicking her legs and gargling to herself while
Christine sat cross legged next to her, doing some light yoga and
watching her daughter.

“
Hey
beautifuls,” he called through the window.

Christine turned around
and beamed at him.

“
Hey
you. Back so soon? I wasn’t expecting you till tomorrow.”

“
Disappointed?”
he asked leaning on the door jamb.

“
Not
even a bit,” she said with a grin. He stepped through the door
and walked to them, dropping to the ground on the other side of his
daughter.

“
Hello
darling,” he said leaning down to kiss Gina on the forehead.
She gargled happily, looking up at him like she was really pleased to
see him. Max ran his fingers through her curly brown hair and smiled.
Then he looked up at Christine.

“
Hello
darling,” he said and leaned over his daughter to kiss his
wife.