Page 15 of Doctor Daddies

She presses her fingertips into her temples, still not entirely sure to make of this crazy proposition. I scan her face, trying to readinto her expression, to make sense of just how it is that she feels about this. Confusion, anger, and intrigue all mesh together in her eyes, and she glances to me, catching me staring.

“Yeah, but why would you want to do it with me?” she wonders aloud. “You said it yourself—you have all of this, you wouldn’t want to go with someone you know has done this before…?”

“We needed someone we could all agree on,” James replies. “And trust me, you’re the only girl who’s ever been able to handle all three of us.”

Her cheeks suddenly flush a bright pink, and she looks away, shifting in her seat. Her reaction is visceral, impossible to ignore, but I can’t help but feel charmed by it. There’s something about her when she’s nervous, despite the circumstances, that makes it hard for me to think of much else.

“Well, that aside,” she replies. “Does Matt know about any of this? I mean, about anything that’s happened between us…”

“No,” Cole replies bluntly. “No way.”

“So what would we do about that part?” she points out.

“That comes after you decide whether or not you want to do this.”

She pauses again. “No, but the issue with Matt is part of it,” she protests. “He’s my brother. And if he found out about this?—”

“Then he would know that you’re going to be getting the very best medical care in the world,” I add. “And that we’re going to be paying you exactly what you deserve.”

“He would be pissed, you know.”

“He’d get over it,” James replies with confidence. “He’s never been one to hold a grudge.”

“You don’t think your best friend would take issue with you impregnating his little sister?” she points out, raising her eyebrows.

“You make it sound like we’re going to be dating you,” Cole remarks. “It’s a procedure, that’s all. Something that we would use to get what we want while you make the money you deserve.”

I can see that she’s starting to shift on it slightly now, her mind beginning to tick over the possibilities. The money we’re offering her, it’s way above the usual price for this kind of work, but I would double it before I questioned it. I know it’s a huge undertaking, especially a pregnancy with potential multiples like we’re hoping for, and I don’t want her to feel for a second like we don’t appreciate everything she’s doing for us.

“One year,” she mutters. “That’s how long the contract is supposed to last, isn’t it?”

“All things going to plan, yes,” Cole replies.

“And then I’m done? I mean, I don’t have to be involved in the care of the babies, I don’t have to stay involved with the three of you…”

“You can just take the money and run,” James assures her, flashing her a grin.

Her lips part slightly as she smiles back, the first genuine one I’ve seen from her since she stepped through that door.

“I didn’t mean that,” she protests slightly, but it’s clear, on some level, that she did.

I tap my fingers in a tuneless pattern on the table. I don’t know how I feel about that. I mean, I could be looking at the mother of my children right now—I would want her to be a part of my life, if only so we could keep up with her in the years that followed…

“I know we’re asking for something huge,” Cole assures her. “And I can tell that you’re nervous. But I promise you, if this is something you decide to go through with, then we’ll do everything in our power to make sure this is the easiest, most comfortable pregnancy anyone has ever been through.”

“You have my word on that too,” James agrees.

I nod as well. I feel like I don’t need to say it out loud; she already knows just how much I care for her, even after all this time.

She looks down at her hands for a moment, calculating the pros and cons of accepting an offer as enormous as this one. It would change her life, no doubt about it—two million dollars, no matter who you are in the world, is the kind of money that can give you the chance to start over, to begin again when everything feels like it has fallen apart.

But then, the pregnancy will change her body for life, and going through childbirth is not exactly something that can be taken on lightly either.

“Jesus,” she mutters, putting her head in her hands for a moment. “I…I’ll do it.”

The three of us just sit there for a moment, none of us sure how to react, or even if we should. It’s like, if one of us speaks, we risk breaking this moment between us and sending it crashing to the ground before it can become solid.

But then Millie looks up, glancing around as though she’s concerned about our lack of response. “Did you hear me? I said I’ll do it.”