Lies and Deceit
She knew she had rendered him speechless as she sat waiting several long seconds for him to respond.
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“I don’t know,” she drew her fork through the potatoes and grimaced. “I can’t begin to understand their minds. They lied to me so much it bordered a work of fiction.”
“What do you mean?”
“For starters, I thought they were from Pittsburgh. I had no idea they were from out of state.”
“Mindy was originally from Pittsburgh. He met her when he’d gone to a football game.”
“I knew how they met but I didn’t realize he had simply been visiting.” She shuffled, “they told me his brother’s name was Rick.”
“Rick?”
“Rick. You are not a Rick.”
“No, I am not.” He laughed lowly at her comment. “What else did he tell you?”
“He told me he was a lawyer.”
“That was true. He was a damn good criminal attorney. He worked in defence for the men in the community where we had grown up.”
“He told me his last name was Brown.”
“What?”
“Yeah. Brown. He and Mindy, both told me their names were Brown. Perhaps they worried, I’d change my mind on the baby and try to keep her, so they gave me a fake name.”
“Brown was her maiden name.” He exhaled slowly.
“They moved me into their house. She gave me an elaborate story of how they bought the house on a whim because of the yard and how they could see their children playing there. I stayed with them day and night for six months. At least one of them attended every prenatal assessment. They even met Bram, though he doesn’t remember them much. He was out of it most of the time. He was twelve almost thirteen, back then.”
“Bram is your brother?”
“Yes.”
“What else did he lie about?”
She bit her lip, “I can’t.”
“Please.”
This one was going to hurt, her more than him, she was sure. “They promised me I would be part of the child’s life. We didn’t sign any legal documentation when I agreed to be a surrogate and she had jokingly said to me I couldn’t afford to go against them in court anyway. I did it because they were both hurting. I could tell they were in pain, and I needed a distraction from the real possibility of losing Bram. Your brother paid all his medical bills and even left a sizeable lump sum to be allocated to Bram’s care. He said we were family now and it was what family did and he would take care of us. He promised, though nobody would ever know I was her biological mother, I would be updated on how she was. I could be invited to birthdays as a special friend. He promised me I could be part of her life.”
“Then why weren’t you?”
“I don’t know. Something changed. About three weeks before she was born, Mindy changed. She was angry and sullen. Prince told me it was because I was giving him something she couldn’t and was going through a bit of jealousy. It made sense but it hurt. She stopped talking to me for a solid two to three weeks right up until the day before I went into labour. I had considered moving out of the house and back to my apartment because it had gotten so uncomfortable, but Prince insisted, I stay in case I went into labour early. Then the day before I delivered, she was back to normal and hugged me and said she was sorry for being so bitchy.”
“Prince told me once Mindy was sometimes a bit volatile and emotional, but he always laughed it off. Mom always said there was more to it but nothing we could ever corroborate with either of them.”
“Well, I had front row seats for nearly three weeks. For the months before this, the two of them were doting. They would crawl into my bed with me and talk and sing to my belly. She would rub my belly with cocoa butter and Prince would brush my hair. She helped me in and out of the bath and he tied my shoes. Then for three weeks everything he did to help me, she snapped at him. I got stuck in their over-stuffed sofa and couldn’t get out of it and she left me there. I had to pee, and they had a huge fight because she had left me there on the sofa and he came in as I was rolling off it onto my knees to get up. I was huge.” She remembered the day well, “and then a few days later she was acting like none of it ever happened.”
“Then what changed? Why did they cut you out?”
“I have no idea. I had complications during my delivery. They drugged me well in the hospital. Prince and Mindy were in the room when she was born. The staff all knew I was a surrogate and I agreed in writing at the hospital, as her parents they would be making all decisions regarding the baby’s care in hospital. They pulled her from between my legs, wrapped her, and I started to hemorrhage. I remember Prince telling them to do whatever it took to save my life, but it is the last thing I remember of him. Because I started to bleed, they took the baby out of the room and the doctors worked on me. While I was sedated, they left with her to go to the nursery. I had her at eight-thirty at night and she was discharged from hospital by seven the next morning. I never even saw her face.”
“They just left?”
“Yes. I stopped by the house the day I was released from the hospital. I had to stay three days because of the complications, and they didn’t stop in even once. All my belongings had been put in storage according to the landlord who was waiting for me. The locker would be paid for as long as I needed but Mr. and Mrs. Brown were gone. Thank heavens I had kept my apartment I had shared with Bram. It was a rental house. Prince had never owned it. The fairytale never existed. I’d been duped. I knew though, I knew deep down in my heart, she was going to be loved. They wanted her so desperately. I couldn’t afford to have her. I had the ability to give someone a gift and truthfully, even if I had known they weren’t going to let me part of their lives, I still would have done it. Mindy deserved to be a mom and it was so important to her the child be biologically connected to Prince. She refused completely to discuss adoption. It was her who suggested they find a surrogate.”
“I have to ask,” he said softly, “did you and Prince ever fool around? Could this be why she was angry?”
“No,” she denied it. “I knew he loved her. I would never have crossed such a line. I was a bit attached to him because he really laid it on thick with the belly rubs and prenatal care. He was funny and kind, but I knew his love was for his wife. Mindy jokingly asked me one day whether the crazy sex hormones had kicked in and said if they had, Prince could help but both of us were horrified by her suggestion. As much as I liked him as a person, I never felt a romantic connection to him. She made a lot of weird comments, but I knew she was quirky.”
“It was one of the reasons she and my mother butted heads a lot,” he spoke softly. “She would make random remarks which would set everyone up in a tizzy and then sit back and watch people go off on each other. Prince said she had grown up relatively sheltered and was bad at conversation so she would blurt random facts or thoughts. For her, it was her contribution to the topic and then she would retreat.” He took a breath, “they were together twelve years, and it took my mom at least five before she could hold a real conversation with her.”
“And you?”
“I talked to her but usually I was with Prince at the family gatherings, or we would play ball or go bike riding. He rarely complained about her. He had what he wanted. A wife and a kid.”
“Speaking of the kid, where is she now?” Curiosity was killing her.
“On her tablet with her headphones on. She called my mother earlier and now she’s resting in the big bed.”
“The big bed?”
“Yes. Keshaun suggested I not drive home tonight considering my temper. We took a hotel suite but instead of the child getting the pull-out couch, she took the king-sized bed and I’m on the sofa.”
“It’s only fair,” she laughed lowly. “What was wrong with your temper?”
“I broke things off with Ambrosia. It’s been a long time coming but her behavior today in front of Precious solidified the ending. I can’t have the level of toxicity around her. She went so far as to say she expected me to give Precious up for adoption.”
“Wow,” she was surprised.
“I would never. My brother entrusted her to me for a reason.”
She looked at the time on her phone, “my break is up. I need to get back to work.”
“I really need you to consider what I said today, Famke.”
“What?”
“She needs her mom.”
She groaned, “you don’t get it. I was never meant to be her mom. She was the child of Prince and Mindy, and I was simply a vessel. You’re asking too much.” She saw Alina wave at her, “I have to go. Bye Royal.” She hung up on him and tossed the remnants of her dinner into the garbage and scrubbed her hands.
Oddly she felt lighter. She had never told another living soul about what had truly happened with the Browns, or the Robinsons as she now knew. Her brother knew she had acted as a surrogate but the finer details she had never shared. Sharing them today had felt strangely cathartic. With luck, she had made him understand. She needed to return back to the reality of her life as it was. Anything else was a fantasy which would only end in her heart breaking and this time, she didn’t think she would recover.