—Blake—

I paced the living room anxiously, scouring the area for any hint of dirt, anything less than perfect. Everything had to be perfect. Our dog, Piccolo, danced around my feet with a whine.

“Blake,” my husband said gently from the couch. He stood up, gave the pibble a soothing pet, and took my hands, forcing me into stillness. “You need to relax. You’re winding yourself up.”

“I know,” I admitted. “I can’t help it. Maybe I should take my earrings out…”

“Babe.” He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed tight. “Remember, we’re the ones who are supposed to be interviewing her.”

I laughed weakly. “You’re right. I know you are. I just…”

“Want to make a good impression.” Danny tugged me down onto the couch and put his arm around me. “Just relax, Blake. Breathe.”

I forced myself to take a deep breath and slowly let it out, then did it a few more times. The urge to panic slowly faded. We’d contacted an agency, and they’d sent us files of potential surrogates. We’d pored over them for ages to narrow the pool down to a few. Today we were beginning the interview process. I really had no idea what to ask these women or what they’d want to ask us.

I nearly leapt off the couch when the doorbell rang.

“Breathe,” Danny murmured to me again as he rose to answer the door. After a couple calming breaths, I told Piccolo to stay and got up to join Danny.

The woman who stepped inside was around my age; she had a kind, somewhat nervous smile on her face.

I offered her my surprisingly-steady hand. “I’m Blake Casillas, this is my husband, Danny Forrester. You must be Wanda Hartman.”

She shook hands with both of us. “I am. It’s nice to meet you both.”

I showed her to a seat and sat down beside Danny. I looked over at him, suddenly at a loss for what to say.

Before I could grab him, Piccolo bounded over to Wanda, tail waving faster than eyes could track. “Piccolo, no! I promise, he’s not dangerous. He just likes people.” Just because I knew he’d never hurt a fly didn’t mean she’d believe me.

She just smiled and scratched his ears. “It’s alright. I love dogs.”

I felt a smile come to my face and some of the tension eased out of my shoulders. If she liked dogs—especially pit bulls—how badly could this possibly go?

Forty-five minutes later, I showed her out of the house. I knew we’d still interview the other women we’d narrowed it down to, but Wanda would be a tough act to follow.

As I resumed my seat next to Danny, he echoed my thoughts. “I like her.”

“Me too.” Liking the surrogate was important. We had to trust her with our baby, and we’d be around her all the time so we could be as much a part of the pregnancy as possible.

My phone started to buzz. Irritation spiked as soon as I saw the caller ID. Naturally, my day had just been going too well.

“What do you want, Brad?” I asked by way of greeting.

“Is that any way to say hello, little brother?” Without waiting for a reply, Brad continued, “I need a favor. Could you loan me a couple thousand dollars?”

“There’s no way you just said what I think you said. Are you out of your fucking mind?”

“Come on, Blake,” he cajoled. “We both know you’ve got it to spare. Fancy businessman and all. Mom didn’t have enough, and I need a car.”

“Fuck. You. You think Mom doesn’t need all the money she’s wasting on your worthless ass? I’d sooner burn every cent I own than give it to a piece of trash like you, Brad.”

I hung up angrily and stood up. “I need to go see Mom. This is getting fucking ridiculous.”

Danny frowned and rose to his feet as well. “Do you want me to come?”

I shook my head. “No, it’s fine. I just need to get through to her. I’ll be back later.” I gave him a quick peck on the lips and left the house. Mom was going to lose everything she’d worked for if I didn’t get through to her.

A short while later, I walked into Mom’s small house.

“This is a pleasant surprise,” she chattered as she waved me into the living room. She stood and turned towards the kitchen. “I was just fixing to see about supper.”

“Where’s Brad?”

She slowed to a stop. “A friend of his came by a bit ago and they went out.”

“How much did he bum off of you for that car he wants?”

She sighed heavily. “Blake…”

“No, Mom, this has to stop. Can’t you see that he just doesn’t care? He doesn’t care about anybody but himself. He’s using you.”

Mom looked stricken. In a small, tearful voice, she said, “Who can blame him? Do you think that being Huy’s ‘golden child’ was really any less abusive? I failed my son—I failed all of my kids, but I failed Brad more than anyone. Brad is this way because I didn’t save him from the ideas Huy put in his head. It’s my fault he’s like this.”

Hearing my mother so upset was like a punch to the gut. “Mom…no.” I crossed the short distance to her. “He’s a grown man. You did the best you could.” There were times I’d been angry with her—even still, rarely, I’d feel those old resentments flare up—but I knew that she’d done her best when we were growing up.

She shook her head. “How can you say that? After everything.”

“Because look at me, Mom. Look at Bri. We’re both fine. You didn’t fuck Brad up. He’s like this because he wants to be. He chooses everyday to be this person. All you can do is keep him from taking you down with him.”