Their first meeting.

"You're really doing this?" Nate asked his best friend as they alighted the vehicle. The sun overhead was pale and barely warmed the air around them. He shivered and followed after Seth who took long determined strides towards the Clinic.

Benson's IVF clinic was well known for its reproductive and fertility services. They stood tall and proud, with white hospital walls that smelled like disinfectant.

Seth scrunched his face as he walked in, trying to allow his nose to adjust to the horrid hospital smell. He, like pretty much all normal people out there, hated hospitals. The smell, the memory, the sick people, a shudder rippled through him as he thought about them.

"Seth?" Nate called behind him looking rather befuddled.

He chuckled. He would be confused too if his friend woke him suddenly with a call asking him to accompany him to a darned fertilization clinic.

"I mean this, man." He explained, feeling pretty energetic at the thought.

Seth's plan was simple. He would donate his sperm, and get the hospital to hire him a surrogate mother. Preferably a beautiful woman who didn't know who he was since he couldn't risk his only child looking as ugly as heck. And then allow her to have his baby. Once the baby was weaned for three months, he would pay her off and collect the child from her.

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. People did that kind of stuff all the time.

"You want a baby?!" Nate exclaimed, his face morphed into one of horror. He was the complete opposite of his friend when it came to looks. His hair was dark as night, his face square with a Roman nose. His eyes were a stark black that sometimes scared the crap out of Seth when he stared too intensely. He was huge and more muscular. If Seth was the image of a Greek god, then Nate was a Roman gladiator.

Seth gave him a furtive glance. "Yes, I want a baby. What's so horrible about that?"

Nate stopped abruptly. "I don't understand. If you want a baby, why not shag a woman and have it like a freaking normal person?"

Seth sighed and turned around to face him. He stretched his hands out in the air. "Because I don't want the woman, Nathaniel. Get it now?"

Nate didn't get it. He watched as his friend turned around to keep walking. Seth could have any woman he wanted at the snap of his fingers. Heck, Nate had seen him cause a woman to orgasm with just an intense look, it was crazy. Why the heck did he need the doctors to help him get a woman pregnant?

"I still don't get it." He told Seth as they approached the doctor's office.

Seth shrugged and pushed the door open. It didn't matter if people understood or not. He knew what he wanted and he was going to have it.

"Hello, Mr. Allen," The doctor, a middle-aged man with his black hair tied in a ponytail, greeted them. He looked Hispanic, dressed in suspender flowery pants and a white shirt.

The duo backtracked to take in the sight.

"I thought doctors were supposed to wear all white or something," Seth muttered.

The doctor giggled. "And I thought billionaires were supposed to be smart."

The heck?

Seth glanced at Nate who looked like he was ready to bail. When his secretary had booked the appointment for him, he had no idea she was setting him up to meet a gigolo. Feeling annoyed, he pinched his nose to calm himself and gave the doctor a placid look.

"Let's just get this over with, shall we?"

***

"That was weird! More reasons to never come here again," Nate spat as they exited the doctor's office.

Seth arched a brow. "We'll be coming back in four months to check in the surrogate."

Nate snarled his lips in disgust. "And how do you know they'll find one? What if it doesn't even work?"

"Oh, it'll work." Seth grinned manically. "It had better worked. I didn't jerk my wad into a bottle for nothing."

All would go according to his plan. This was the only way to end his mother's tirade and satisfy her. She wanted a grandchild, she would get one. He would make sure of it.

"It's either this or-" He was cut short by someone smacking into him. The impact caused him to double over and he groaned in pain. "Right in the stomach."

"Why don't you look where you're going?!" A feminine scream caused him to glance up.

A woman glared down at him with such venom in her brown eyes that he wondered if he had shagged and dumped her before.

"Do I know you?" He asked, straightening until he towered above her.

She scoffed, flipping her black hair over her shoulders. "Not in the least. If I was going to know anyone, it wouldn't be some pervert who goes around bumping into women on purpose! Absolutely disgusting!"

His jaw dropped to the floor and he glanced behind him in wonder. Was she referring to someone else?

"Me?!" He asked, bewildered.

The black-haired woman gave a harsh laugh and glanced at the brunette beside her. "And now he plays dumb. Classic act, don't you think?"

"Isa, calm down-"

"Are you kidding me? You bumped right into me. Are you crazy? Why would I want to bump into you?" He snarled, feeling anger burn in his veins. She wasn't even crazy beautiful! Heck, he had seen and banged better!

Her hair was black and didn't inspire his imagination. She was dressed in a ridiculous clumpy sweater and some long boring skirt that he'd bet she weighed four hundred pounds. Her eyes were brown and dull and lacked lustre. She was definitely not on the list of women he wanted to bump into!

"Of course. You're despicable! The whole lot of you are!" She spat and pushed past him.

Her friend looked at him apologetically. "I'm sorry. She's going through tough times-"

The crazy black-haired growled. "–Anna, stop apologizing to the enemy and let's go!"

Nate burst into laughter while Seth glared at her.

"Go screw yourself!" He fumed.

She flipped him the finger and retorted. "I intend to. That's why I'm in a crappy fertility clinic!"

And with that, she turned around and strutted into the doctor's office he had just exited. Seth frowned, "Was that a swing to her hips in her skirt just now?"

Nate exploded into more laughter at the look on Seth's face as he watched the woman go.

When Isabella got into the doctor's office, she let out the breath she had been holding and sunk into a chair. Anna closed the door behind her, giving her a pointed look.

"What the heck was that?" She demanded.

Isabella groaned. "He was so gorgeous, Anna. Did you see those eyes? Did you see him, Anna?"

"I'm not blind, Isa. What I don't get is why you threw a shitty tantrum out there. "

Isabella pouted, feeling the tension that had built up inside her slowly dissipate. "It was either that or swoon at his feet."

"I'm right here but it's okay. Go on like I'm not here. This would make a good show." A foreign voice intruded and the duo turned to look at the hippy doctor.

Anna sighed wistfully. "And I thought this day couldn't get any weirder."

Isabella chuckled. "As long as this gets me a baby without some meddling man attached, I'm good."

The hippy doctor smiled and picked up a file from his desk. "Then you're at the right place. It says here that you booked an appointment last week. And this week's your prime time for ovulation."

Isabella nodded, clasping her hands together on her thighs. Anna stood beside her, squeezing her shoulder in comfort.

"Then you know that you'll have to come here for six cycles before pregnancy is assured."

She nodded again and crossed her fingers. They had declared her fertile when she had taken the test the past week, but Artificial Insemination was only 40.5 percent accurate. That didn't leave much to hope for.

"Perfect then. I'll have a nurse escort you to the ward where the insemination will take place. Just relax and enjoy the ride." The doctor announced and went ahead to ring for a nurse.

Anna leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Are you sure about this, Isa? There's no turning back once you get there."

Isabella closed her eyes, reflecting on how the past ten years ahead worked out for her. She had lived with high hopes that she would one day find a man who would treat her with the love, care, and respect she deserved. All she got in return was heartbreak, pain, and anger.

Of course, she was ready. She would start a new life with her child. She would love and cherish and pamper him or her.

Opening her eyes, she glanced up at Anna, smiling softly. "I'm ready, Ann."