No sooner had he uttered the words did the doorbell ring. “What do you want me to do? Should I send Carter home?”
YES! Send him home. Everything inside of her felt like she was making a terrible mistake. Instead of listening to that little voice, Harlem ignored it. She sighed and whispered. “No.”
“Okay.” Damian kissed her gently on the lips. “I’ll get the door.” He walked out of the kitchen, leaving Harlem alone. She needed a minute to collect herself as she switched between anger and nerves. She took a few deep breaths, turned off the burners on the stove, and took another deep breath before walking out of the kitchen.
Carter was nervous. “Harlem.” He never looked anything less than confident. She couldn’t imagine how Damian’s conversation about being their donor went. However, Damian was good at convincing people to do things they never would otherwise.
Harlem walked slowly toward them. She forced a smile. “Carter.”
Carter had run this scenario in his head over and over again. He couldn’t figure out how to get to yes. Tonight he was supposed to give them his decision. How Damian’s crazy-ass idea even grew legs was beyond him. More importantly, he must have had magical powers to convince Harlem to go along with this madness. The mere thought of her being pregnant with his kid was enough to send him into a full-blown panic attack.
Damian looked between the two most important people in his life. It was rather obvious neither was sold on his plan. He had to do something to fix it before it completely unraveled. “Thanks for coming.”
“Yeah . . . I um . . . brought wine.” Carter handed it to Damian. He could not make eye contact with either of them.
“Thanks. It’ll go great with the pasta Harlem made.” Damian hoped to break the ice. “You know Harlem’s pretty good in the kitchen.”
“Yep.” That was all Carter could muster.
Harlem’s pained-looking smile expanded as she took the bottle from Damian. “Why wait? Let’s have wine now.” She ran-walked back into the kitchen to open it. Harlem pulled three long-stemmed wine glasses out of the cabinet. She found a corkscrew in a drawer and opened the bottle. Instead of pouring the wine into the glasses, she turned it up and took a long drink. She let the full-bodied taste of the Merlot soothe her nerves. She took a deep breath, grabbed the glasses by the stem and the wine bottle before heading back out into the living room.
*****
The three of them sat around the dinner table. If it weren’t for Damian, they would have mostly eaten in silence. Carter was prone to grunt out his responses, and Harlem could only seem to utter one-word answers.
Slowly, Carter put down his fork. He was lost in his own thoughts and had no idea what Damian had been talking about. “How in the hell is this going to work? I know I’m not the only one sitting here thinking that this shit is crazy? I’m still waiting for someone to jump out to tell me this is a practical joke.”
Harlem stabbed her pasta with her fork and dragged it around her plate, making a scraping sound. She agreed. “Nope. It’s real and downright, batshit crazy.”
“Exactly!” Carter pointed to her. “See. You’re not even on board with this madness.”
“I didn’t say that,” Harlem said quietly as she looked up. “However, I do agree that it’s not ideal.”
Damian looked between them. “I understand that this isn’t the most conventional way to conceive, but I really do think it can work out for all of us.”
“I’ve been cautious in my last thirty-two years not to have any slip-ups. Now, you’re asking me to willingly give you my sperm to have a baby. A baby that I will have to see regularly.”
“Carter, this will be Damian’s and my baby.” Harlem frowned with worry. “Over the years, you’ve made it perfectly clear that you do not want to be a father. Has that changed?”
“No.”
Damian chimed in. “This situation will be an adjustment. It might even be weird at first, but I trust that we can do it.” Damian pleaded with Carter. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but will you gift us with an opportunity to have a baby?”
Both Damian and Harlem were looking at Carter intently, waiting for an answer. He felt like he was suffocating. He pulled at the collar of his button-up shirt.
Carter was sweating.
The moments dragged on as they waited for an answer.
He couldn’t do it. “Damian, I just don’t know.”
“I would do this for you without any hesitation.”
Carter did have one of Damian’s kidney’s in his body. Damian had already made a huge sacrifice for him.
Damian continued. “You have my blood running through your veins, and I love you like a brother. If you do this for us, it would be as if it were my baby.”
Carter was quiet for a while. Finally, he inhaled and held it for a few seconds before blowing it out, making a big whooshing sound. “It’s kind of impossible to say no.”
“Not impossible,” Damian said.
Carter looked heavenward. “Get the legal paperwork together, and once that’s all set, let me know where to make the deposit.”
Chapter 21
Harlem sat at her desk, feeling not only queasy but uneasy. Did I make a mistake? Her emotions were all over the place, and it wasn’t just because of the IVF treatments. Seeds of doubt started to
