I had never seen those two speechless before. But they were most definitely speechless now. “I know. It’s really big.”
“And he askedyouto carry them?” Sheree asked. “I mean, isn’t that kind of a big thing to put on a person?”
I shook my head and plopped the file onto the breakfast room table, opening a new package of Thin Mints. “No, of course he didn’t ask me. But these surrogates are not suitable.”
Philip laughed. “They’re not raising the kids. They aren’t even donating an egg. They’re ovens, Amelia. I wouldn’t let it keep you up at night.”
I handed them Greer’s journal entry, and, three minutes later, Sheree was sobbing and Philip was clearing his throat repeatedly.
“That is literally the most heartbreaking thing I have ever read,” Sheree said, handing the paper back to me.
Philip nodded. “I agree. And don’t you kind of owe him your life?”
I thought back to that day on the beach. I did.
“So, are we on board? I mean, you’re the other two-thirds of my throuple. You’re going to be dealing with my mood swings and food cravings and crazy hours and morning sickness.”
“Nothing new there,” Philip said under his breath. Then he squeezed my wrist. “I’m kidding. I’m kidding.” But he was only half-kidding: it didn’t happen often, but when a doctor switched up my hormones or I couldn’t refill one of them on time or my general dosage needs had just changed and took a while to get back on track, I was more than a little off. My friends knew that better than anyone.
Sheree shot him a look. “What Philip means to say is that we are here to support you in whatever you choose, no matter how absolutely insane it seems. But, Amelia, I urge you to take a few months to think about this. You just had the biggest two bombs of your life dropped on you. I don’t think now is the time to make a huge decision.”
I knew logically she was right. This wasn’t the time to commit to something so monumental. But at the same time, I felt that tug that I had felt a lot lately, the one that meant I was ready for a new challenge. I wanted to do something more with my life. Something important. Greer McCann had left behind this whole huge legacy when she died at thirty-two. What had I done? How had I made the world a better place? And no, giving birth wasn’t the most creative or brand-new way to change the world. But it was the best thing I’d thought of in some time.
“Oh, oh!” Philip piped in. “If you decide to go through with it, can I be there when you tell your mom? Please, please, pretty please?”
Sheree cringed. “Not me. I wouldn’t touch that with a ten-foot pole.”
They began imitating my mother, arguing over what they thought she would say. But I was somewhere else, wondering how Parker would react. And, for the first time in my entire life, I realized that, despite what I had always been told, I might, one day, feel a baby growing inside of me after all.
ParkerSOUTHERN CROSS
IN THE BACK OF THEUber after the party, I knew I was going to be exhausted at work tomorrow. I knew I should have left earlier. But I also couldn’t stop doing something I hadn’t really done in a long time: smiling.
The day, the dancing, the laughing. Had I imagined it? Or had there been a moment between Amelia and me as we said goodbye? Everyone in Cape Carolina knew I had always had a soft spot for Amelia—well, maybe everyone knew except for Amelia.
Once, I had believed that maybe she had a soft spot for me, too. Our mothers threw an epic end-of-summer party every year on the beach in front of the Oyster, the beach’s oldest hotel. They invited all their friends, and they insisted that Robby, Mason, Amelia, and I be there every year.
But the summer after I graduated college, Robby was onhis honeymoon and Mason had wormed his way out by claiming he was sick. (Hungover was more like it.) So that left Amelia and me as the only two members of the under-fifty crowd.
We had exchanged hellos and caught up briefly. But then the sea of revelers wanted to ask me about my postcollege plans and to ask Amelia—much to my dismay—about potential wedding bells with her boyfriend. As it started to get dark and the tiki torches were lit and bonfires stoked on the beach, Amelia caught my eye across the party and gestured with her head out toward the sand.
I nodded, grabbed a bottle of champagne from the bar—the bartender protesting mildly—removed my shoes, and followed her down the beach, to a quiet spot away from the party. She sat down, wrapping her arms around her knees, and I followed suit.
“Don’t get views like this in New York, do you?” she asked, smiling.
I shook the champagne just a little. As the cork popped and the bubbles exploded into the night, Amelia squealed. I handed her the bottle. “Ladies first.”
She took a swig and handed it back to me.
I looked up. “There is nothing like a Southern sky,” I said. I hadn’t been alone with Amelia, this close to her, since the summer before I left for college. As I took a swig of the champagne and handed the bottle back to her, I told myself the jitters in my stomach were from the drink, not her.
“How’s Daniel?” I asked casually.
She looked at me, rolled her eyes, and took another sip. “Between you and me?” I nodded. “Daniel cheated on me with the bartender at HMF.”
HMF was one of the bars at the Breakers. “He did not.”
“Oh, I assure you, he did.”
