“You were auctioned off? Is this some kind of sex-trafficking operation?”
Dammit, how does she manage to always make my entire life sound like crap? My sister is the one making poor choices, not me. “No, of course it’s not. This was a legitimate auction. I’m just a surrogate. I was impregnated in a med lab. I’ve been treated wonderfully by the Hyrrokin.”
“You’re pregnant right now?”
“Yes.” I smile. Sometimes I forget to pause and remember that this remarkable thing has happened. Bergelmir’s baby is growing inside of me right now. I’m carrying a tiny Hyrrokin life inside of me. It’s amazing.
She frowns. “Who’s the father of your baby?”
“His name is Bergelmir Touchstone.”
“Burrrglemur?”
“Bergelmir.”
“Burrrjelmeeeur?”
I exhale and shake my head. She’s driving me crazy with this. “No. It’s Bergelmir.”
“Berg?”
I nod. This is acceptable.
Her head is bent, and I can tell she’s tapping on another screen while we talk. Suddenly she lets out a squeal of terror. “Holy fuck Chloe, I just looked up this Hyrrokin species and this planet they live on. Do you know those beings look like Satan?”
I can’t help the snort-laugh that escapes my mouth. “Yes, I know.”
I swear I think my sister is hyperventilating.
“Don’t laugh,” she pants. “These beings are terrifying. You have to get out of there right now. You can’t live with those monsters.”
I frown because I don’t like the tone of her voice. What’s weird is that when I first met Berg, through that vid screen in Riley’s kitchen, I was terrified too. Like, I couldn’t speak. Riley had tried to tell me that the Hyrrokin looked like our version of Satan. That they had red skin and black horns. They’re bald, with no hair on their bodies. And they have sharp fangs and claws. And they have black, barbed tails and they breathe fire.
You’d think this would cause me to stay away. That I’d want nothing to do with the beings on the planet Tarvos.
You’d be wrong.
“They’re scary at first,” I admit, “but you get used to them. They’re actually very nice.”
“Chloe, they breathe fire! And they look like demons from the pits of hell.”
“Well, yeah…”
“You can’t give birth to one of their babies. How will you survive?”
“The doctors assured me that it is just as safe as if I were carrying a human baby. In fact, they claim it’s safer because of all their advanced medical technology.”
“What about the horns and the fangs and the claws…? Won’t that baby tear you apart as it exits your body?”
I wince. “Hyrrokin are born without their claws, fangs and horns, those grow in soon after birth. Same thing with the flames.”
“Flames? You’re going to have a fire-breathing baby? Oh gods. This sounds like a terrible idea.”
This is nothing new. Lucy always thinks everything I do sounds like a terrible idea.
“Come home,” she insists. “I can find someone to marry you. You don’t have to leave the planet to find a husband.”
My shoulders slump. This is the story of my life. I’m always considered the desperate one, looking for a man to give me a second glance. It’s ridiculous. My hands fist. “I’m not doing this to find a husband.” That was always Lucy’s focus in life, but that’s not my focus. I don’t need a man to care for me, I can take care of myself. If I ever marry it will be because I’m in love. That would be the only reason. “And anyway, I signed a contract and I’m already pregnant. So this is a done deal.”
“You’re going to carry this male’s demon-baby to term, give birth to it, and then give it up to him, giving up all your rights?”
I swallow. “Yes.”
“Well, what are you going to do there after you give birth to this male’s offspring and then give it up to him?”
Fuck, I have no idea. But I’m not going to admit that. “I’m not sure. I have a one-year work visa, so after that expires, I’ll either continue to stay here and make a life for myself, if they’ll let me, or maybe I’ll move on to Omega 9 and try out something different.” I make sure to paste a smile on my face while I say this, trying to act like the idea of possible eviction from Tarvos is no big deal. But it is. It so is.
“Okay. So, where are you living while you carry this baby to term?”
I chew on my lip. “In his house.”
“You’re living in this male’s house, carrying his baby and yet you’re not married? Chloe, are you having sex with him?”
“No,” I gasp. “No. We’re just friends, and he’s not even here. He had to leave on business. I’m house sitting for him.”
“You’re carrying this male’s offspring and also house sitting for him? Hmm. I hope he’s paying you a lot of currency.”
She has no idea. It’s so much currency, I feel embarrassed to talk about it. But it’s what I needed to pay for Lucy’s marriage and to keep our family house.
Lucy finally grows bored with this line of talk and switches over to start talking about herself. She tells me all about how handsome her new husband is and how loving. “…but everyone calls me Mrs. Chang,” she complains.
“Well, you’re married now. Isn’t that what they’re supposed to call you?”
“His family is just so…traditional. His parents and grandparents live with us. Two different sets. And the grandparents have all the say, they are the authority. Do you know he lives with his entire extended family? The grandparents want us to have children right away. And they expect Xi to work his ass off and provide for everyone…”
Only my sister would marry a man first without realizing all of this up front. She met him at a dance, found out he was wealthy, handsome and single, and the next week they were engaged. In reality, Xi is a good catch—this is why my sister lured him with her throaty laugh and…whatever else she sneakily did with him at that dance. She made the right choice though with this wealthy butcher and his stable extended family. This is just going to end up being more adulting than she’s used to. My little sis is going to have to finally grow up.
“You’ll get used to it,” I say.
She doesn’t know this, but his family hates her. They hated her so much they were ready to force him to call off the whole marriage. I had to sell our house in order to give them the first payment on the exorbitant dowry they demanded. This surrogacy is actually the reason I’m able to stop paying rent to the new owner of our home (who was set to evict me for a higher-paying tenant), buy back our small family house and make the final payments on the dowry. In the final balance I’m doing this for Lucy. Not just for myself and for Berg, but for my sister’s future. I have to believe my parents would be proud.
“Chloe, are you ever moving back? I know that Mom and Dad left you their house in the will but…”
“Fuck, no,” I blurt out.
“Oh, well, I didn’t know you hated it here so much,” she pouts.