A Baby For Dana

DANA

“Oh, my God, Dana, have you completely lost your mind? If you want a baby, then find a husband first. Or at least go and get fertility treatment. You can’t have a random stranger impregnate you.”

Dana Jones was sitting in her friend Millie’s modest two-bedroom New York apartment. The sweet scent of sauce and cheese of the homemade lasagna filled the kitchen, making Dana’s stomach growl.

Millie’s husband, Todd, had returned from his business trip. Having been on the road for several days, he’d returned looking forward to his wife’s delicious homemade cooking.

She, herself, couldn’t cook to save her life. She was just never taught and, as she got older and busy with school and work, she never had the time.

Millie wasn’t just her friend. She was also her boss who owned the flower shop she worked in.

So, although Millie was only four years older than Dana, she tended to act more like a mother to her than a friend at times.

Dana sat twisting her fingers around the gold chain she wore around her neck and looked down at the newly laid tiles that she’d helped to install.

When she could take it no more, she rubbed her forehead. “Don’t you think I’ve considered doing that? But it costs thousands of dollars per treatment. You know I don’t have that kind of money.”

“So, what is your plan exactly? Are you going to sleep around till someone knocks you up?” Millie slammed the oven door shut a little too hard.

“No, Millie, I plan on waiting till I find the right kind of man. He has to be smart and good-looking but dead set against wanting a wife or children.

“He also has to be willing to walk away and never look back once I’m pregnant.”

Millie scoffed. “Well, good luck with that. What man in his right mind would agree to impregnate you and then walk away without expecting anything in return?”

Dana took a sip of the red wine that Millie had poured for them; it tasted bitter in her mouth when she swallowed.

“I don’t know, but I have to try,” Dana answered.

Millie lifted her wine to her lips, staring over the rim at Dana with pity in her eyes.

Dana had experienced so much pain and horror in her young life. The worst of those still plagued her with nightmares, though she was careful not to inflict them on others by sharing the details.

Out of the oven, the aroma of the lasagna filled Dana’s nostrils with delight. Todd’s, too, apparently, for the smell seemed to draw him out from the bathroom.

“Did I hear you, right, Dana? You want to have a baby?” Todd had a worried look on his face as he slid into his seat at the table.

Dana reached over and moved the lock of blonde hair that had fallen across her right eye. She’d always liked the feel of his thick but soft golden locks.

Dana and Todd had met years ago; they’d even dated for a brief period, though it was never serious. When he got with Millie, Dana was nothing but delighted for them.

“Yes, I do. So, please, don’t give me a hard time about it. I know it sounds cold but I don’t want the donor in our lives.”

Dana saw the glance the couple gave each other. “What?”

Todd cleared his throat. “I have this friend, Stan. He works for Allen Clay, a lawyer. Stan was telling me about this client who stands to inherit twenty million dollars if he gets married.”

Dana squinted at Todd. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Well, I thought, since you want a baby so much, that he could be the perfect man for your needs.”

Dana laughed and threw back another gulp of wine. “I don’t want to get married.”

Todd took Dana’s hands in his. “That’s the thing. The client doesn’t want to be married either, nor does he want kids. But apparently, he won’t inherit the money without getting married first.

“He is willing to pay five hundred thousand dollars. For that money, you won’t even have to sleep with him. You could afford the fertility treatment you mentioned.”

Pulling her hands out of Todd’s, Dana played with the hem of her dress. “I don’t know. Who is this man? What if he’s some kind of weird freak?”

Millie poured them all another glass of wine as Todd leaned forward.

“His name is Jake Rayburn. He’s one of New York’s finest and youngest criminal lawyers. Thirty-two years old. I’ve been told that women find him hard to resist.”

“So, I would only have to be married in name only?” Dana asked with a weary look on her face. It seemed too good to be true.

Todd shook his head. “There are a lot of sick people out there. This is the safest way for you to go about getting pregnant. Let me get my buddy to run it past the client and see what he says.”

Feeling suddenly restless, Dana walked over to the window and looked down at the people below while Todd scooped another bite of food into his mouth.

“Millie, no one but you can make lasagna taste this good,” he half spoke, half moaned.

With her back to her friends, a tear fell from Dana’s eye when she saw a mother pushing a baby carriage. “Okay, Todd, I guess it couldn’t hurt just to check it out.”

The next two hours were spent in idle chit-chat, with Millie doing the majority of the talking. They didn’t even notice the sky had darkened until they heard the first loud bang of thunder.

When the lights went out and Millie and Todd went to retrieve some candles, Dana collapsed on the sofa and leaned her head back onto the cool leather.

Is there really no other way?

She already knew the answer. It would be damn near impossible to find a man who would give her what she wanted and go along with her terms.

Perhaps this lawyer really was her only way to get what she’d always wanted so badly finally. A baby. Someone to love and to love her back.