The Surrogate Proposal

Chapter Seven

Maria Mcgregor walked into the church quietly, church service was going on. She knelt down on the last pew and waited. She can't remember the last time she ever went to church or knelt down to pray. It has always been work. She felt ashamed for being there just because she's in need, not only ashamed for coming to the church, but for remembering an old friend and....
She sighed and stood up for the lord's prayer.
After the service, she waited outside while the priest greeted those that came to church. He saw her and was surprised, he gave her a smile and continued with the greeting. When he was done, he walked to her with a big smile. Maria smiled too and they hugged.
"Father Raymond", Maria said while she hugged him.
"what do I owe this visit?", Fr. Ray asked still surprised while Maria just smiled.
"has it been thirty years or more?", he said laughing, "you've not changed at all, come on", he said holding her shoulder as they walked through the bricked street, to his office, stepping on the dead leaves.
"you've gotten old", Maria said and they laughed again,
"well, the years are running", he said as they walked into his office, he brewed some coffee for two.
He held his hips as he sat down,
"when did you get so old?", Maria said with a funny face, actually surprised, she idn’t expect him to be inthat state, the Raymond in her head is still young and vibrant.
"I've been growing since you left, why, you thought I'll still be young Ray forever?", he said laughing with a crooked voice, he hit his chest to get his voice back to normal.
Maria stared at his face, trying to recognize the Raymond he left over thirty years ago, it was one of the hardest decision she's made, one of the many.
"how have you been?", Fr. Ray asked shifting her cup of coffee towards her.
"good, you?", she asked bringing the cup of coffee to her mouth, she sipped it making a sound, Fr. Ray laughed and Maria stared at him her mouth still on the cup,
"you still do that", he said and Maria dropped the coffee and wiped her mouth, suddenly feeling nauseous again
"what brought you here?", he asked, Maria took her coffee with shaking hands and drank it all, he stared at her and lay back on the sofa and clutched his fingers together.
"is this about the inheritance?", he asked, but Maria stared at him surprised and more nauseous, he knew after all.
"where is she now?", she asked tightening her hand on her bag, he shook his head sitting up,
"I can't tell you Maria", Fr. Ray said standing up, Maria followed behind him,
"why?",
He turned to her, "she doesn't want us to",
"what?", she walked to him taking his hand,
"Ray you have to help me",
"why? Because of an inheritance? I know you Maria, but this is not right", he held her hand which is on his,
"I would've tried if you came with good intention, am sorry but its for the good. Thirty years is quite a long time for anyone to grow a conscience", he removed her hand from his revealing a deep mark. Maria stared at it, blinked severally trying to get the memory back to where it belonged, in the past, then she walked out of the office.
Fr. Ray stood there staring at nothing, remembering what happened years back. He stared at the mark on his hand, he touched it and the memory flashed again, then a knock came on the door, startling him.
______________________________________

Seth reached for his phone on the bed, he answered the call and dropped it on the desk,
"what's good?", he asked looking at the mirror trying to get his tie right,
"hey man, forget about what's good, check the net", Liam said and cut the call.
Seth opened his tablet and frowned his face in anger for two seconds, then dropped the tab on his bed and called Liam back.
Gina was at the door, it was open, she knew he saw her and wanted to knock anyways but saw his face and withdrew her hand,
"have you seen it?", Liam asked,
"yea", Seth said still dealing with his tie,
"wow! Your sister is something else, in fact your whole family. How could she fake her own marriage, then try to hide the groom’s identity, does she think anybody is going to buy that? Is hse crazy?",
"she can do whatever she wants, I don't care", Seth said and looked at the door to find Gina still standing there,
Can she not see that am busy?
What does she want now?
"well, you're in for a fight, don't you want to know what the others are doing? Since Tricia got married out of the blue, what about the others? They might start claiming they have children somewhere or something", he said but Seth didn't reply,
"well it’s up to you. When are you making the trip?",
"now", he said finally done with the tie. He checked it, not actually satisfied and she's still standing there.
"okay, drop by at Simons when you're back, let's hang out", Liam said and dropped the call.
Seth closed his brief case and looked at the door again, Gina was still standing there,
"what do you want?",
Gina shuffled in and saw his brief case, "are you going somewhere?", she asked pointing at the case.
"why are you here?", he asked again, Gina smiled at the thought of him leaving,
"oh, uhm... I just wanted to tell you that the test is tomorrow, the pregnancy test", he nodded and took his brief case to leave,
"when are you coming back?", he stopped and looked at her,
"you shouldn’t be asking me personal questions remember? It’s not what you’re paid for", he said and left the room, Gina stood there, embarrassed and ashamed, he walked in,
"get ready by twelve tomorrow, I'll pick you up", he said and left again.
Gina rolled her eyes and sat on his bed, she lay on it, feeling how good it is. She got up and started walking around the room. First to his drawers, nothing interesting until she opened the last drawer, there were pictures, she took them out, one by one.
First picture showed when he was a baby, someone was carrying him on his shoulders and a woman, she guessed they were his parents.
She saw a few more, a fat guy and a lady, then another with their friends but a pen was drawn all over it.
"what are you doing there?",
"oh my god!", Gina shouted in surprise scattering the pictures all over the floor,
"am sorry, I didn't mean to-", before she could finish her sentence, Seth dragged her out of the room,
"don't ever come near my room ever again", he said and slammed the door.
Gina stood there for few seconds, her heart slamming against her chest.
She walked to her room and curled herself up in her bed. Tears threatenin to stream out but she blinked them away. She thought of the text she had sent to Nicki.
Could she have replied?
She bit her nails wondering what could be going on at home. Maybe her mom have filed for a missing person already?
And nora, she's not the type to sit quiet and not try to do something hateful. Nicki must be worried too, or maybe she must've heard from Liam.
Ofcourse Liam
She had forgotten about him.
She got up from the bed and went to the kitchen, where Rosa often is, doing this or that.
She saw her scraping potatoes, she didn't say anything, she just lay her back on the wall, looking at her slice each into cubes.
Rosa looked at her for a second but didn't stop cutting. After some seconds, she stopped,
"do you want anything young lady?", 
Gina looked at her, she liked the woman, but her face always scares her.
"no, nothing", Gina said and turned to leave,
"do you read books?", Rosa asked and Gina nodded,
"I can get you books, you can pass time with that", she said and continued with her cutting,
"thank you ma'am",
"call me Rosa", she said with a wink,
"okay", Gina said chuckling,
"come and sit down", she said and Gina obeyed.
She scooped some meat soup with a bowl of rice and fresh corn and green peas and placed it in front of her.
"thank you", Gina said excited,
"go on and eat fast, he might come back any minute",
"thought he went on a trip?",
"guess it was canceled, he didn't leave with his brief case", Gina nodded, enjoying the hearty food.
When she was done she wiped her mouth and thanked Rosa. She took the plate from her and started washing. Gina watched her back, it reminded her of her mum.
"have you sent a message back home?", Rosa asked,
"no", Gina answered, wondering how she read her thought,
"do you want to?", Rosa asked her while she cleaned the sink.
Gina stood up and walked to her
"are you going to help me?",
"am not going to help you", she said walking out of the kitchen, Gina followed behind,
"what?",
"I can get you to a place where you can send them a message, but I have nothing to do with it, you get me?",
"I promise", Gina said all excited,
"change into something else and follow me".
Gina rushed to her room and changed into another of her big night dress and ran out to meet Rosa standing by the door.
"we'll follow the back door",
"but...", Gina tried to say,
"what is it?",
"can't I do it with your phone?",
"what phone?",
"your phone",
'I don't have a phone, now if you're having a change of mind, you'll do me good by staying back",
"am sorry".
Gina followed her to a tiny game shop, it was filled with people, all on headphones. Rosa took her to the shop owner and requested for a special treatment. She was taking to a smaller room with one computer on a desk, it looks like an office. The shop owner powered the computer and Gina logged in.
"do whatever you want, but be fast, I'll be outside", Rosa said and left.
Gina exhaled and typed into the computer. She texted Nicki first. It didn't take a minute, Nicki texted back.

"girl what the hell!", she texted and called. Gina took the video call.
The screen showed Nicki in her car with a worried look.
"girl what happened, you left me worried, so worried, what the hell happened, where have you been, why ain't you even calling?  Your line has been switched the fuck off!",
"calm down Nicki! Am sorry, its not my fault",
"what?!",
"listen, I don't have enough time, did you receive my message?",
"yea I did, what's going on Ri?",
"did you send the message to my mum?",
"no, the hell I didn't, I thought you were kidnapped, trafficked or something, i couldn’t reachh the deal guy nor you, so I didn't, I had to verify first but really I even thought of telling her the truth so we'll start looking for you, now tell me, what's happening?",
"nothing much, I've done it. Nicki my mum must be worried",
"yea, she so damn is, your snitch of a sister has been on my tail, so why, what is happening? Talk to me",
"well, I’ve done the surrogacy, though we are yet to confirm the pregnancy. I signed a contract before that, I didn't get to read all of it, so my stuff was confiscated, I can't make any calls, leave the house or do anything at all without telling him, I just sneaked out thanks to Rosa",
"who's Rosa?",
"Nicki there's no time, I just want to know how everything is at home",
"where are you first?",
"New york!",
"really? I didn't know that, I mean the Liam guy…he didn’t fill me in",
“seriously, you gave me away without any information?”,
“I was busy you know and everything happened so fast”,
"fine, I just need my mum to know that am fine",
"well, tell them you got the job, been busy to call, she'll hype of course, but she'll cool down, she's been giving me the eye every time I see her though",
"alright, I'll see if I can get to them",
"first where in New york are you?",
"Nicki i don't know, i'll try and talk with you again, bye",
"wait-", Gina cut the call before she could say anything again. She called Nora next. She called her twice before she answered it,
"Gina?",
"Nora",
"Gina!", she screamed,
"shhh, why are you screaming?!", Gina tried to calm her so their mum won't hear,
"where the hell have you been?", she sounded like their mom back in the days,
"how's mom?",
"oh... You still remember you have a mother, really?",
"don't give me an attitude Nora, I've been busy ",
"you've been busy, busy to even call in to know how your own mom is doing, for how many weeks?!",
"shh, I know okay, I got the job and has been busy since, I just had this little spare time so-”,
“is that your office?”, she asked but Gina ignored her,
“how's mum?", Rosa opened the door,
"we have to leave", she whispered,
"who's that?", Nora asked,
"nothing",
"now", Rosa said again and Gina nodded.
"Gina where are you and what are you doing there?",
"okay, Nora, send my greetings to mom, I need to get back to work. I'll call in soon, take care of mom",
"Gina where the hell-",
"is that regina?!", Gina heard her mums voice and cut the call and logged off immediately.
She followed Rosa out of the office and through the small room, its filled with more people now and out into the street, its already getting dark, it surprised Gina.
______________________________________

Seth walked into the bar and Liam waved. Seth walked to him, removing the loose tie from his neck completely. He sat beside Liam while he ordered for a drink.
"how did it go?",
"as it should",
"as it should?",
"man am exhausted",
"well who won't be in your situation", Liam said and ordered for another glass of whisky,
"so, what you gon' do about Tricia?",
"what am I supposed to do?",
"it’s clear she got married for the inheritance",
"she didn't get married", Liam raised his eye brows,
"how'd you know? you'll be surprised on that day. Plus, I guess she's going to get pregnant too, if she hasn't already", he said scoffing,
"heard she'll take the pregnancy test tomorrow", Liam asked shaking his glass for for another round of whisky,
"yea",
"at least you're getting somewhere, ahead of them all, I guess", Liam said and flew his head,
"what about your first aunt, she never married, is she going to get married too?", Liam said and burst out laughing, Seth smiled and downed his drink.
"am leaving",
"what, already?", Seth took his tie and stood up,
"what about the get together, you going?",
"no", he said and walked away.
______________________________________

Rosa and Gina were in a taxi, its almost dark, Rosa was tapping her feet on the floor of the car, thinking of how she'll lose her job. Gina sat quietly, twisting her hand, feeling she had gotten Rosa into trouble and worst of it all, the look that will be on Seth’s face when he sees them makes her heart sink.
Immediately the taxi turned towards the house, they got out. They saw Seth's car drove in through the gate. Rosa held Gina and they walked in through the back door. Rosa brought out dinner and set it in the microwave while Gina sat quietly on the dinning table breathing hard, her hand trembling.

Seth walked in,
"good evening sir", Rosa greeted him, normally,
He walked to the fridge and took a can of water and drank half of it. When he took it down, he noticed Gina sitting quietly, he looked at her for a moment and then closed the fridge,
"we'll go to the hospital tomorrow morning", Gina nodded, Seth found it a little weird but didn't care to know, he just walked away. Gina exhaled, she walked to Rosa and hugged her,
"thank you very much",
"I'll never do that again", Gina smiled and walked to her room. She tried to recall her moms voice. She never knew she'll get to miss that voice, ever.