The announcement.

LEAH

“I'm sorry to inform you, but…” the doctor's words trailed off as he spoke. I didn't need to listen to the rest of his words to know what he would say. I had heard this all too often.

Five years of trying, and giving my best, just to get the same news repeatedly.

I tried pulling myself out of my thoughts and tried focusing on him.

“As I said earlier, your uterus is not fit for childbirth,” he explained, and I could swear I heard my heart crack.

I wiped my eyes with the back of my palm. My lips quivered but I couldn't find the words to speak.

My husband, Lucas, wrapped his arms around me. “I'm sorry, baby. I'm sorry this is happening to you. Please don't cry, please stop crying.” He muttered the words into my ear.

For some reason beyond explanation, his words only fueled the tears. The dam broke even further and my vision blurred as the tears poured fiercely.

Last time, I had promised myself that I wouldn't cry if I lost another baby, but here I was bawling like a baby.

“How can I be barren?” I asked him, knowing he couldn't possibly have the answer, “how can I be fucking barren, Lucas? My mother was almost barren, and now, look at me. I am worse than her. I can't even bring out one child from my womb! Not even a dead one! My womb kills anything that tries to grow in it! What did I do to deserve this?” I wailed.

Lucas was taken aback for a moment, but I watched him recollect himself immediately. “Baby, you did nothing wrong,” he tried to soothe me, but I pushed his hands off.

I knew it was just as hard on him as it was for me, but I couldn't resist the rage within me.

“You don't get it,” I blasted, “I am an only child. The only daughter. The heiress to the entire Irving company. My parents need a grandchild, they need an heir. Anyone. My parents have given me everything I could possibly ask for, and the one thing they demand from me, I can't give it to them. Why can't I have my own children? Why can't I be a mother? I want children of mine.”

Lucas sighed deeply. “We can always adopt,” he suggested, but I hissed.

“You're not getting it. I don't want to adopt. I want my own child, from my womb! Don't you want a child?”

He sighed, again, not saying a word.

“Great, you're tired of me too!” I screamed. Everyone was so tired and disappointed in me and I couldn't blame them. I had failed everyone.

He pulled me closer, placing my head on his chest. “Leah, I want you to listen to me when I speak. I have never been tired of you, I am not tired of you, and I will absolutely never be tired of you. Not now, not ever. Not in a million years. We started this journey together. I am your husband. I understand how you feel, and how horrible life is to you, but that is why I am your partner. We will survive this together.”

His words did more than I thought they would. I was soothed. “Thank you,” I whispered silently to him,

“You never have to thank me for being the right man in your life.”

I sighed.

The doctor, after watching my third outburst, began his session. “Mrs Irving, once again I would strongly suggest surrogacy. As we all know, your father's health isn't in its best condition and I know you don't want him to die without seeing a grandchild. Moreover, you know how the board acts about having a successor.”

Doctor Ross had been our family's consultant for an extremely long time, and I could understand his sympathy. My parents were his lifelong friends, and he tended to take me as a daughter, and not as a patient.

“I don't want surrogacy. I want to be a mother.” I ground out.

“And you will be a mother,” he replied. “The child is still yours. It's your egg, and your husband's sperm.” He kept trying to convince me.

I hated that we kept on having this conversation repeatedly despite my wishes. I didn't want surrogacy. The one time I had decided to try it, the woman signed off the contracts two days to the date. Why would I want to get my hopes high again?

“What if the real mother decides to run off with the baby?” I asked,

“You will be the real mother. It's your genetics. And there is absolutely no chance of the surrogate mother running off. She could live with you if you can both come to that conclusion.”

I raised a brow. What kind of woman would want to live with a family she didn't know?

“Baby,” Lucas called my name, “I don't want to pressure you into doing anything you're not comfortable with, but please consider your parents. You are all they have. You are their only shot at getting a grandchild. We can raise the child together, and make a happy family. No one even has to know the child was birthed through surrogacy. You can call all the shots. I'll be with you.”

His words were reassuring. I looked in his eyes, and I saw that as much as he was trying to hide it, he wanted this child just as bad as I did. I owed him that. He had changed his surname for me. He was willing to be under my father's scrutinizing eyes.

I owed him a child.

“Fine,” I sniffed. “We can try surrogacy.”

Lucas' eyes beamed in ecstasy. “Thank you baby,” he kissed my forehead.

I picked my bag, “I want to leave,”

He rose up immediately.

“I'll reach out to Mr Lucas so we can proceed with the surrogacy arrangements and whenever you're ready-”

“No.” I interrupted, “I want to be in charge of everything. I am the mother.”

Doctor Ross clamped his lips shut.

I walked out with Lucas behind me. I wasn't comfortable here. I was never comfortable at a hospital, I had too many bad memories present.

We were about to leave when my eyes sighted two strollers pass beside us. We moved out of the way, giving the paramedics a chance to save the couple.

I watched in horror as an oxygen mask was placed over both their faces. Blood was dripping from the bed.

The nurses soon approached the patients and I watched the paramedics speak.

“The patients are Seventy five and seventy of age. Both found in a car crash, not yet IDed. Blood pressure is currently at 45mmHg. Patients are unconscious and-”

My attention diverted as I sighted the toes of one of the patients. The index toe had been severed off. My heart skipped a beat. My mother's index toe was severed off.

I tried moving towards the nurses, but they pushed towards the emergency ward.

I turned around, clutching my chest.

“Please call my mom.” I said to Lucas,

“Why? What's wrong?”

“Just call her,” I grounded out.

Lucas brought out his phone, and as it rang, my mind raced to three hundred dimensions. I didn't want my fears to turn out true.