“Hello, Aundrea. Thanks for calling back,” Polly says politely.

“No problem. Sorry I missed your calls. Is everything okay?”

“No worries, and yes, everything’s fine. I wanted to catch you because we’ve found you a potential match.”

Say again.

I fall onto the couch, stunned.

“Um … uh … excuse me?”

“I know this is a big surprise. Trust me, I’m equally surprised, but we had a surrogate whose contract ended up falling through early this morning. I want to be clear: it was nothing on her end. She’s great and quite sad about the contract ending. The intended parents decided to wait a while longer.”

“Um …”

“The thing is, Aundrea, she’s ready to go. Her implantation was set to take place next Friday. She’s started on the drugs to prepare her uterus and if we miss that window, you’ll have to wait another month. Of course, that’s fine, too. But if you and Parker are interested in next Friday, we’d have to move fast.”

“Um …” Wow. “Wait, aren’t there, like, other families ahead of us, waiting?” As much as I want this to be for us, I also can’t help but wonder about all the other families that signed up before us.

“Yes, of course, but we work with locations and compatibility. We have IPs—intended parents—that come to us from all over the state requesting surrogates in different locations, but the surrogates also have a desired location. We have many families, but none that currently match Wendy’s profile. She’s in St. Paul, requesting to be with a family within one hundred miles. That’s you and Parker.”

“Oh, wow.”

“I know this is a lot sooner than discussed, but she’s the one, Aundrea. She’s the match for you and Parker. As I said, though, I understand that you two may want to wait a while. I know you were expecting longer to prepare.”

Wait a while? I don’t think that’s an option for us.

“No! Just give me a minute, please. I need to talk to Parker.” I can’t pass this opportunity up. At least, not without talking to Parker. Shit, is it hot in here? It’s hot in here.

I fan myself with my hand. When that does nothing, I take a throw pillow from the couch and use it as a fan.

The room starts spinning. Or, maybe it’s my head. I can’t be sure. This is happening so much faster than we’d anticipated.

“I understand. Why don’t you call me in the morning and let me know what your thoughts are? If you want to proceed, I’ll set up a meeting with Wendy. If you want to wait a while longer, that’s okay too. I’ll be here until noon.”

“No … um, I don’t think we want to wait.” Do we? “I’ll talk to Parker and call you right back.”

We hang up and I can’t move.

“Aundrea?” Parker asks concerned. “You okay?”

I will my brain to send a signal to my mouth to speak, but it doesn’t work. I’m still too shocked. My fingers begin to shake.

He sits next to me. “Babe?”

Turning a little, I meet his worried gaze. Behind him is an alarmed Genna.

“They found us a match.” It comes out as barely a whisper.

“I’m sorry? What?”

“Circle of Life,” I say louder, clearing my throat.

Parker breathes a sigh of relief next to me. “You mean?”

“Yeah. She’s ready to go. Next Friday. I guess her contract with the intended parents fell through and we’re a match. Polly wants to know if we want to proceed now, or wait a month ... or longer, if we’re not ready.”

“I don’t want to wait.”

“I don’t think …” Fuck, spit it out! “I don’t think I want to wait either.” It’s the truth. As fast as this happening, I don’t want to put it off. “Let’s set up the appointment to meet her.”

Holy shit!

“When did she say we could meet her?”

“She said she’d call her in the morning and set something up once we told her our decision.”

He takes my phone.

“What are you doing?”

“We don’t want to wait, right?”

“Right.”

“Then I’m calling her back and telling her to set up the appointment. We’ll make it work.”

I don’t even hear what Parker says to Polly.

I feel weightless. A tingling sensation begins to creep over me and I can’t be sure if this is a dream or reality. Thinking about Parker and me having a baby brings such a feeling of wholeness. It’s as if everything around me has come to a halt and nothing else matters. It’s the one dream I’ve never thought could be possible, and it’s simply astonishing that I’ve found someone who wants to give me that dream.

“We meet her Thursday,” Parker says calmly, ending the call.

Someone else in the room sighs with relief. Genna’s standing next to the couch, her eyes closed and her lips quivering.

I forgot she was even here.

When she opens her eyes and looks down at me there are tears trailing down her cheeks. Her eyes are soft. “Dre …” She trails off. But she doesn’t need to finish. I know what her unspoken words are.

My bottom lip quivers as I try to hold back my own tears.

“We’re going to have a baby!” Parker says, scooping me up and pulling me into his lap. “That was fast.”