carolina
“Williams Construction and Design,how can I help you?”
“Uh,” the voice on the other end of the phone sounded very confused. “May I please speak to Carolina Moore?” My eyes fell on the receiver of the office phone, and I realized I’d answered my cell phone.
“Shoot, this is her. Sorry, I’m in work mode.”
The voice on the other end laughed good-naturedly, “Oh, good. I thought I’d called the wrong number there for a moment.”
“Sorry, how can I help you?”
“My name is Eve Thurston. I work at the fertility clinic.”
“Oh.” It was weird that they were calling me. My care had transferred to my OB two months ago, and besides a thank you note I intended to send after the baby was here and I could include a picture for the wall, I didn’t expect to hear from them again.
“It’s come to our attention that there was a mix-up in the lab when the embryos were created.” My heart sunk into my stomach, worried what they were about to tell me. “Apparently, there were two clients from Sage River at the clinic at that time and your husband’s—”
“Ex-husband,” I said reflexively.
“Your ex-husband’s sperm was switched with the other client’s.” The walls suddenly seemed to be closing in around me as my heart raced and my breathing grew unsteady. “We are so sorry this happened, Mrs.—Ms. Moore. The client did request in his file that he was open to meeting the family who chose him as the donor, so I’m happy to pass on that name in case you wanted to reach out to get more family history. But we’d also like to offer you a small reimbursement for this inconvenience. Again, I would like to express the clinic’s sincerest apologies for this mix-up.”
Eve continued to speak, if only to fill the silence as I tried to ground myself back to reality. This donor … did he want anything to do with the baby? Had I unknowingly signed a contract with a man I didn’t know? Surely, he couldn’t demand something like that as a donor.
“If you have any questions, feel free to reach out, and we’ll try to navigate this with you as best as we can.”
“Wha—what’s his name?”
“The donor’s?” The sound of papers rustling came from Eve’s end before she returned, “Owen Williams.”
My eyes snapped to the window, staring out into the lot where Owen was currently bent over beside a machine, twisting a wrench with some force.
“I have a contact number for you.”
“That’s—that’s fine. I …” I swallowed hard. “I have his number already.”
“Oh, well, that’s wonderful.”
Wonderful was the last thing I was thinking. I was knocked up by my boss, who was thirteen years younger than me. The same one I’d been having fantasies about for months. Oh, God.
“As I said, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out.”
The line clicked after a few moments when Eve realized I wasn’t going to be answering her. Understandably, this was an awkward call for her to make. But I was still reeling. I needed someone to tell me this was all going to be okay.
I looked down at the cell in my hand, opening my favorites and hitting my sister’s name. The odd Italian number appeared under Arizona’s name, and it began to ring as it connected me to someone far, far away.
“Hey, Care. How are you? I miss you.”
“I … miss you too …” I said robotically, my eyes once more finding my boss and watching him climb like a monkey up the side of the machine to get into the cab.
I wanted him to climb me like a monkey. Gah! Focus, Carolina!
“Listen, I need to tell you something …”
“Anything. You know I’m always here. Even if I am halfway across the world these days.” I could hear her smile through the phone, and it pleased me to no end knowing that she was so happy and Malcolm was taking such good care of her. I missed her all the time, but Arizona had never been this happy with Duncan, so if leaving us to go to Italy is what she needed … I’d support her to the end of the earth.
“I’m five months pregnant.” I probably should’ve told her, or anyone, sooner. But I was nervous with how many miscarriages I’d had and all the failed attempts. And I was waiting for my twenty-week ultrasound to finally announce it to the world.
“You’re pregnant? No way!”