Buzz –Buzz – Buzz.  The quiet vibrating of her cell phone on the nightstand woke her from a soft sleep.  She reaches her right arm over, swiftly putting the phone on silent and leaning over to read the text message.  9 a.m.?  She types back a quick reply and then puts the phone back down on the nightstand.  She slowly slides out from under his arm, which is still wrapped around her waist so that she doesn’t wake him as she gets out of bed. 

He stirs and turns his head over to the other side of his pillow, but doesn’t open his eyes.  Once he settles back in she slinks towards the closet, quietly snagging a change of clothes.  She tiptoes across the bedroom and heads down the hall, not wanting to wake him by changing in their room. 

She slips her pajamas off and throws on jeans and a t-shirt.  She frowns realizing she had forgotten shoes and needs to go back to retrieve them.  She makes her way back to their room, careful to not wake him and snatches a pair of flip flops, keeping them in her hand to prevent making the flopping noise upstairs.  She makes it back to the doorway when she realizes her cell-phone is still sitting on the nightstand.  Crap.  She creeps cautiously back towards the nightstand and reaches out for the phone.  Without warning, he reaches his arm out across the bed and grabs her wrist.  She jumps from the unexpected movement. 

“Come back to bed…” he groans, pulling her back down to the mattress.  “Where are you off to?”

She sighs, “I have some errands to run...”

He nods, sitting up against the headboard.  “I have meetings through the evening, but I could be home by 9?”  He runs his hand through her long brown hair.  “We can do something, anything you want.  It’s a late morning tomorrow so I am all yours tonight.” 

She smiles, running her hand through his hair.  “Alright, Justin, maybe we can have a movie night?”

He leans over and kisses her on the forehead, “I’ll call you on my way home.”

She grabs her cell-phone and waves as she heads out of the room and he slowly slips back down under the covers. 

**

She walks into the café and her eyes dart to the left where she sees him sitting alone at a table in the corner.  She nods at the hostess and motions towards him, passing by her as she makes her way to his table.  He is fidgeting nervously while he texts and nurses a large coffee.  She makes it to the table and smiles softly as he looks up. 

“Whitney, thanks for coming,” he says, with tired eyes that indicate he has not slept well.

She takes a seat across from him, setting her purse down on the chair beside her.  “Of course, I’m just sorry I couldn’t meet up with you until this morning.”

The waitress stops by the table.  “Can I get you something?”

“A hot chocolate.  Thanks," she smiles as the waitress nods and walks away. 

He smiles at her order and then runs a hand nervously through his blonde hair.  She slides her arm across the table and puts her hand on top of his.  He turns and makes eye contact with her again.  The waitress returns with her mug and she thanks her again before turning her attention back to him.

“So, what happened?  I thought everything was all set,” she says, stirring the contents of her mug with a spoon. 

“I guess she changed her mind.  We were ready, but she just backed out and I now I don’t know what to do.  Jake is making some calls and consulting our attorney, but I just…” he stops, feeling himself getting emotional.  “…I was just so ready; we were so ready…now I don’t know what to do.”

She takes a sip from her mug, already knowing what he is planning on saying to her before he starts to speak again.  He had already brought it up to her once before more casually, but Jake had known someone else and the two hadn’t discussed it further.

“I don’t even know how to ask you this,” he says, exasperated.

“Lance, it’s okay.  I’ll do it,” she says, almost surprised by her own decisiveness in this moment.

“Really?  Are you sure?  You can think about it, I don’t want you rushing into making the wrong decision here,” he says, but she can read the excitement and the hope in his eyes and there isn’t a chance that she’ll take it back.

“You and Jake have been good friends to me.  This is something I can do for you.  I want to,” she says with a confident smile. 

“I have to call Jake…I….we’re thrilled,” he says, dialing Jake frantically.  “Yes, I know, she’s going to, I know, it’s incredible,” he chats back and forth as Whitney sits sipping her drink lost in thought.  It is exciting, but it is also making her nervous.  But it’s the right thing to do and she can do it and she should do it for her friends.  “Oh, I don’t know if she -,” Lance lowers his phone for a moment.  “Whitney – shouldn’t you talk to Justin?  Did you talk to him about this?”

She sighs and puts the mug down on the table.  “This is about you two.  It’s not about Justin and I.  We’re going to talk about it tonight, but don’t worry about it.”

Lance raises the phone back up, “Jake, yeah I’ll call you, yes, I know it’s very exciting.  Bye,” he hangs up and sets the phone back down on the table.

She slides her engagement ring up and down her ring finger, toying with it.  She suspects that Justin will not be on board with this, but she feels like it’s the right thing to do and it’s bigger than the two of them. 

“I mean, I know he doesn’t want to have children.  He did say that, didn’t he?” Lance says, knowing she is thinking about Justin.  She stops sliding the ring up and down and looks up.

“I…we…we never really discussed children,” she says, feeling her cheeks reddening.

“This is just such a wonderful thing, I cannot thank you enough,” Lance says, quickly changing the subject. He waves the waitress down for another refill.  “Is it going to affect the wedding?”

She stares back down at the diamond ring on her finger.  “We still haven’t set a date.”

**

Whitney adjusted the dress she had put on, glancing over at the clock.  It was nearing 9:30 p.m. and she knew he would be home any minute.  She had spent the remainder of her day trying to plan a perfect romantic evening at home for them, partially because she wanted to have a romantic evening with him and partially because it would be the necessary setting to break the news to him.  The kitchen wafted with the smell of the pot roast that was cooking in the oven and she had some jazz playing in the background on the sound system.  She uncorked a bottle of red wine and sat down on one of the stools waiting for him. 

Everything needed to be perfect.  He needed to be in the perfect mood.  She wasn’t sure how she was going to actually tell him.  There would be no ideal moment during the course of the evening, but she was hoping he would be in good spirits and everything would fall into place.  She was prepared to surrender her choice of which movie to watch so he would be settled in and complacent before she broke the news.  She knew Justin well enough to know that he would not like this arrangement, but he would not object.  He knew it would not be his place to.  Still, she did not want to have any sort of spat over this and she hoped he would listen to what she had to say and accept it. 

As the door clicked open, she sat up, pouring a second glass of wine for him.  He made his way into the kitchen.  “Dinner smells delicious,” he said, as he reached for the glass of wine.  She smiled at him as she slid her oven mittens on and pulled the roast out of the oven. 

They headed to the dinner table and ate quietly.  He talked about how his day went, how his meetings were and what the rest of his schedule would be like for the remainder of the week.  After clearing the table, they headed to the living room.

She sat down next to him on the sofa and he ran his hand up and down her leg.  “You’re being quiet, what’s going on?” he asked, sensing her nerves.

“I met up with Lance for coffee today,” she said.  She noticed his eyebrow rise.  His mind was already wandering, wondering why she hadn’t told him ahead of time.  Wondering why Lance had called her and not him. 

“And…?” he waited for a response, crossing his arms.

“Alright, it’s a long complicated story.  The bottom line is that their plans fell through and I told them I would be their new surrogate.”  She stopped, watching the words sink in.  He frowns, but she can tell he is trying to keep it together.  She takes advantage of his silence and continues.  “They are friends and they need me and if I can help someone have a child, how can I not?  I could keep defending this situation, but I know that you know that this feels right…” she stops now, waiting for his response.

He remains silent, scrunching his mouth like he wants to say something, but his body is stopping him from opening his mouth. 

“Did Lance set this up?  I cannot believe he would drag my fiancée into this without speaking to me first,” he says.  She can sense the agitation in his voice. 

“Jake and he are in a tough situation and we had talked about this before back when they were first planning this.  All of this unfolded last night and Lance reached out to me.  Don’t be upset with him, please.  He didn’t pressure me or anything.  I want to do this,” she watches to see if her words are calming him down. 

“I have my reservations about this,” he says, itching at his shirt collar.

“If you and I were in their position, I would do everything and try everything I could.  It would only be natural to reach out to all of the people in our lives who could help.  Wouldn’t you do the same for us?” she asks.  She is trying to read him, to see if he will take the bait and talk about their future and marriage and the possibility children. 

“Alright, fair enough.  I am not going to try and stop you,” he says. 

She is disappointed at him dodging another opportunity to discuss their future, but takes his reluctant agreement as a start.  "Justin, I just really need you to support me through this.  And the guys," she looks at him, trying to read his face again.   

“I am going to need some time, Whit.  And I’m going to speak to Lance and Jake in the morning,” he says slowly. 

She nods, “Alright, you can do that.” 

“We’re going to have a lot of things to discuss,” he says.  “But, I guess I am going to try and be on board for you.  Now, let’s try and enjoy the rest of our romantic evening.”

She is relieved to have avoided an argument with him this evening.  The gravity of the situation is starting to hit her and the nervous excitement hits her.    

“Well, this changes my movie choice for our evening,” he says, getting up and heading towards the movies lined up on the shelves to the side of the television set.  He makes his selection and heads to the DVD player and slides the disc in.  He heads back to her and slides his arm around her back as they settle in. 

“What movie did you choose?” she asks.

“Knocked Up,” he says with a grin and she laughs nervously in response. 

Justin headed off to another day of tour preparations.  His new North American tour was starting in November so he had a little over three months left to prepare.  It had been almost 3 years since his last tour and expectations were higher than ever.  Always the perfectionist, he was working out every detail.  Everyone had suggested he slow down with some of his other side-projects, but he had ended up increasing his workload tremendously instead. 

He often did some of his best thinking while driving, but on this particular day he was not thinking about his tour or his music.  Instead, he was lost in thought about Whitney, pregnancy and Lance.  He had tried to be supportive; to appear collected.  But he was freaking out on the inside.  He needed to talk to Lance about this immediately.  He decided to set up a meeting with Lance later so that he could clear the air and his mind. 

**

“That’s right, we’ll need the booking for the 27th.  I’ll send over the details.  And your direct extension?  502?  Thanks so much,” Whitney said as she hung up the phone.  She glanced at the clock and noted she had about ten minutes of downtime before her lunch appointment.  She slid in her office chair closer to her laptop and sat up straight as she typed “surrogate pregnancy” into the google search page.  She started scanning through, landing on a frequently asked questions page which she studied intently. 

Knock.  Knock.  Knock.  Whitney looked up from her computer to her half-opened office door to see Tori standing there.  Tori was Whitney’s long-time friend and business partner.  The two had met fresh out of college and worked in the event planning circuit in New York before moving to California three years ago and eventually starting a firm of their own together. 

“Ready to go to lunch?” Tori asked, peeking her head in. 

“Just a minute,” Whitney said.  Tori nodded as she tucked her short brown hair behind her left ear and toyed with her blackberry.  Whitney closed her laptop and grabbed her purse as she stood up from the desk and met Tori at the doorway. 

“What details are we discussing today?” Tori asked, as Whitney closed the door behind them and the two headed down the hallway.

“The ballroom has been confirmed for the roaring twenties party at the end of October, so today we are going to finalize cocktail and menu options.”

“I do love a working lunch.”

“I knew you’d be satisfied with our assignment.  Sometimes, I feel like we have the best job in the world.”

**

Lance slid his aviator sunglasses up to the top of his head as he cautiously headed into the TennMan Records building.  The short conversation that had transpired with Justin on the phone earlier had been anything but encouraging.  He made his way down the corridor to reception and waited.  He tapped his foot nervously on the ground as he toyed with his phone to distract himself. 

About ten minutes later he was escorted to the office down the hall.  He closed the door behind him and met Justin’s cold stare from across his desk.  He stood frozen in place waiting for a cue.  Justin continued to stare at him silently until Lance finally decided to speak. 

“Hey Justin, I’m glad you called…” he said, with a half-smile.

“Have a seat Lance,” Justin said in the same short tone he had used on the phone with him earlier.

Lance sat down obediently and clasped his hands together anxiously.  He waited to hear what Justin had to say.

“Now look,” Justin started, crossing his arms.  “Whitney wants to do this and I respect her decision.”

Lance smiled wider.  “Justin, that means so much to me-“

“-Hold on.  I respect her decision, but I have my own reservations.  She is my fiancée and if this is going to happen, I want you and I to have an understanding.”

Lance nodded slowly, but remained silent.

“Obviously, I am concerned for her health.  So, I want to make sure that while I am on the road for the tour that you and Jake are taking care of her and managing her medical care.  Is the primary doctor in Los Angeles?”

“Well, Jake’s filming in L.A. through Christmas.  We’re going to stay here through the holidays and then head back to New York.  The specialist here has recommended someone to take over in January once we’re back on the East Coast, if everything goes according to plan.”

Justin nods.  “That sounds reasonable.  My main concern is that this does not turn into a media circus.  I mean it, Lance.”  He gives him another stare.

Lance squirms in his chair with discomfort.  “Obviously, I want to keep this as quiet as possible.”

“This stays silent.  And if and when it needs to go public, I want full control of all press,” Justin says, leaning back in his chair.

“Jake and I just really want to have a child, Justin.  Whatever is going to make this easier for everyone is fine with me.  I just want to make this work.  Please.”

Justin sits up and his look softens for the first time.  “I’m sorry Lance.  I just get protective…”

Lance nods.  “It’s okay.  You should be.  She is your fiancée, after all.”

**

“And here we have a trio of chocolate desserts,” the head caterer said as she placed the tasting plates in front of the ladies. 

“Dessert was always my favorite part of any meal,” Tori said as she excitedly slid her spoon into the mousse first. 

Whitney drummed her fingers on the white linen tablecloth.  “What are we planning on pairing this with?”

“Well, the dessert cocktails are supposed to coordinate with the flavors,” Tori said as she motioned to the glasses on the table.  “Bellini?”

“No,” she put her hand up in protest, “I can’t.”

“Suit yourself.  Since when do you turn down a glass of bubbly?”

“I’ve got another appointment this afternoon.  No room for a lunchtime cocktail.”

“Oh, which client are you seeing?”

Whitney pursed her lips.  “I…well…it’s a new event.”

Tori put the spoon down and crossed her arms.  “What’s going on?”  She raised her eyebrow.  “You don’t just add new clients or plan new events without telling me.  What are you hiding?”

“Alright,” Whitney said as she resigned herself to telling Tori everything.  “I’ve agreed to be Lance and Jake’s surrogate so I am heading to the first doctor appointment this afternoon with Lance.”

“Whoa, this is huge.  That’s amazing.”

“Thanks, I hope it all works out.”

“Justin must be freaking out.”

“Well, I think he’s adjusting to the idea.”

“How is this going to affect the wedding?”

“Well, I want to get through the pregnancy before we tackle the wedding.  After all, what’s the rush?  We live together already, it’s not like it’s going to really change things.” 

“Whit, you are the only event planner I know that’s last priority is planning the huge event that is their own wedding!”

“I know, we’re just so busy and Justin is getting everything together for the tour and now the pregnancy; I think its better pushing plans aside for now.” 

Tori started to say something, but was interrupted by the ring of Whitney’s phone. 

“Hello?  Oh, hi Lance.  Yes, I’ll meet you there.  Twenty minutes?  Perfect.”  Whitney put the phone down.  “All set?”

Tori nodded and grabbed her bag as the two headed out of the restaurant. 

“Well, this is very exciting.  Give Lance my best,” Tori said as she gave Whitney a hug. 

“Thanks Tori.  Wish us luck!” 

**

“Are you nervous?” Tori asked, as she came in and plopped down in the chair across the desk from Whitney.

Whitney looked up from her computer, sliding her chair back.  “I’m definitely a little anxious about tomorrow.”

Tori nodded, clicking a pen out of habit.  “Well, I’ll go with you, you know.  I can just work from my phone.”

Whitney smiled, “I’m going to be there for hours though, Tori.”

“Well, I could at least come for part of it.  Keep you company, get your mind off things.”

“Sure, Lance and Jake are going to each stay for part of it, too.  The more company the merrier.”

Tori raised her eyebrow, “No Justin?”

“He’s working on tour preparations all day, but he’s going to come home early so we can spend the evening together.”

Tori drummed her fingers on the desk.  “You know, if it was my fiancé, I would want him to be by my side while I was going through in vitro fertilization for hours.”

Whitney crossed her arms, “Well, then it’s a good thing he’s not your fiancée!”

“Fine, sorry.  So what is the game plan for tomorrow, anyway?”

“Well, Jake is going to pick me up.  Lance is going to meet us there later.  Essentially, they are going to transfer the embryos into me and we’re going to keep our fingers crossed.  They said it’s not too painful, but it just takes a long time, so I am supposed to bring some reading material to pass the time.”

“I’m sure Jake can pass the time with all of his crazy stories.  He’s too much.  I swear, if he wasn’t gay…”

“…but he is,” Whitney said with a chuckle.

“Can’t we find a nice boy for me?”

“Maybe we’ll meet someone at the doctor’s office tomorrow.”

“Yeah…I’m sure all the nice single guys are hanging out at the fertility doctor!”

Whitney laughed.  “True…

**

Whitney slid her jacket on as she snatched her keys off the side table and headed out the door, locking it behind her.  She made her way to the car parked at the top of the driveway.

“Mornin’ sunshine,” Jake said, flashing her a grin while he ran a hand through his chestnut brown hair.

She smiled as she settled beside him in the passenger seat.  He put his foot on the accelerator as they headed off to the appointment.

“Now, I know that we have quite a few hours to kill.  Just in case my stories aren’t enough to entertain you, I also packed you a few things,” he said, motioning to the tote bag in the backseat. 

She smiled again as she pulled the bag into her lap.  Inside was an issue of People Magazine, a paperback copy of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and a copy of Lance’s own Out of Sync: A Memoir. 

“Seriously, you packed Lance’s book for me?” she laughed. 

He smirked, “Well, I figured while the baby is forming it wouldn’t hurt to be thinking about us fathers.  Plus, I figured you could use a good laugh.”

“Jake, sometimes you are so ridiculous.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.  Now, how is everything going with you?”

She sighed, looking out the window.  “Everything is going alright.  Lots of things going on at work, but busy is good.”

He nodded, “I know how that is.  Filming this movie is seriously draining.  I am counting down the weeks ‘til it’s over.  How is Justin?”

“He’s fine.  Really busy with all the tour preparations…”

“Right.  So what is the plan with that?  I know we had discussed being on the East Coast after the holidays.  Is that still going to work?” he managed a glance at her before turning his attention back to the road.

“Yeah, I think that will be best.  Since he’ll be on the road, I can spend some time with my family and friends.  It’ll be nice to be in New York.”

He nodded, “I am ready for winter in New York.  Once this movie wraps, it’ll be the perfect change of pace and then Lance and I can really focus on preparing to start our family.”

She nodded as she continued to stare out the window. 

**

The procedure had gone smoothly, but now Whitney had to stay for observation while lying down for hours.  It had only been about fifteen minutes and she was already feeling a little restless.  She was about to reach for the magazine when she heard a faint knock at the door.  “Come in.”

Jake walked in.  “Alright Whit, I’m glad to see that everything went okay.  I’m off to set, but I’ll leave you in the capable hands of this guy,” he said, placing a peck on her forehead and motioning over to Lance, who followed him carrying flowers.  Jake headed back out the door.  Lance placed the flowers down and sat in the chair beside her.

“Thanks for the flowers,” she said, shifting her head to make eye contact with him.

“Flowers are the least I could do,” he said, beaming.  “Now, how are you doing?  Do you need anything?”

“I feel okay.  I could just use some distractions to get through the next few hours.”

“Alright, well, I will try to be the best distraction I can be.  I’m sure Jake was more entertaining though, that one always has stories from set,” he laughed heartily. 

“Yes, he does entertain.”

“Isn’t this all…crazy?”

Whitney peered at him curiously, “Which part?”

“It seems like just yesterday we met.  And now here we are sitting and hoping you’ll be able to be the surrogate for my child.  It’s all kind of surreal,” he smiled, his mind wandering.  “Not to mention that I did introduce you to your fiancé.”

She nodded, “Yes, I remember that evening so vividly.”

His eyes close for a moment, trying to remember that night.  “Yes, I remember being at the event.  I think that was the third time we had crossed paths.  You had this great dark blue dress on and, of course, you were circling the room to check up on things.  And Justin spied us talking and approached, making his way into the conversation.”

She closes her eyes for a moment, replaying that night in her head.  “That gala was so much work.  I was a nervous wreck the whole evening, managing every detail.” 

Lance continues to speak, but her mind wanders as she recalls the events of the fateful night.  The first few hours of that evening were a fast-paced blur.  She remembers stopping at the end of the bar, taking a quiet moment for herself and gently sliding her glass back and forth on the counter to ease her nerves.  “A gin and tonic,” she hears a gentle male voice order and then he moves from behind her to the stool beside her.  He drums his fingers on the counter slowly and then turns to her, his blue eyes locking hers for a moment.  As the bartender returns with his drink, he takes the glass to his lips and then gently places the glass back on the counter.  He looks at her curiously as he stirs his drink.  She is nervously running her fingers through her hair, her eyes shifting around the room before meeting his once more.  “Are you having a nice time?” he asks, running his right hand through his short dark brown hair.  She nods shyly.  “This sort of thing is a little stuffy for my taste, more of a chore to go out than an experience to enjoy…” he shyly smiles, awaiting her response.  Her dimples show as she smiles wider, but someone taps her on the shoulder before she can respond and she’s ushered away.  She heads to the kitchen, where the catering staff is having some sort of melodrama, but corrects it with ease.  She makes her way back into the main room when she feels a hand on her arm and turns to see Lance, smiling and offering his hand.  He congratulates her on the event and they make small talk for a few minutes, before they are interrupted by Justin.  “Oh, Justin, this is Whitney…” Lance motions between the two, making introductions.  He puts his hand on her shoulder as they make conversation.  Lance excuses himself and the two are left to themselves.  He asks if she’d like a drink and then moves over to the bar.  After a few minutes, he returns to her with a glass in each hand and a friend behind him.  She smiles as she realizes his friend is the same man that was at the bar with her earlier.  “JC, this is Whitney, the event planner,” he smiles, as he hands her one of the glasses.  JC’s cheeks redden, most likely from remembering the statements he had made earlier about the event.  He shakes her hand and then excuses himself and she is left with Justin once more.  He tells her he’s in town for a few days and asks if she might want to attend a party with him that she’s not working.  She smiles and accepts the offer. 

“Whit?” Lance interrupts he train of thought. 

She blushes, “Sorry, I was spacing out.”

“What were you thinking about?”

“Just that night again.  Can you do me a favor?  Could you text Justin and let him know everything went okay?  I know he’ll be wondering…” she said. 

He nodded, pulling out his cell. 

**

Tori sauntered into the room.  “How’s my girl doing?”

Whitney smiled, “I’m doing okay.  Just getting a little restless.”

“Laaaaaance, give me a hug!” Tori said, grinning. 

He obliged and then turned to Whitney.  “Alright, Whit, I need to head off.  But, please call me if you need anything.”

“Oh, Lance, did Justin get back to you?” she asked.

He looked at his phone, “No messages, sorry.”

“Okay, well, thanks…I’ll call you later.”

He nodded as he waved and headed out. 

**

She was half asleep in bed when she heard the vibrating of her phone.  She sighed as sat up and stretched her arm out to retrieve it from the nightstand.  She eyed Justin’s name popping up and leaned back against the pillow as she took the call.

“Where have you been?  I’ve been trying to reach you,” she said, with exasperation. 

Silence.  She was becoming more irritated by every silent second that slipped by. 

“Well,” she started, her words dripping with sarcasm, “My day was just fine, thanks for asking.”

“Uhh…Whitney,” a different male voice said into the receiver.  Her eyes widened as she realized it was not Justin on the other end of the line.  “Hey, it’s JC.”