Stealing the Show (PolyAm Fam #3)

Chapter 14

fourteen

leo

My fun romp with Raine did lead to actual information, and after she left, I called up my buddy Beau Garrison at the university police department.

“Hey, Katz, how’s it goin’? Haven’t seen you on the beat in a while,” he answered.

“I’ve been on nights, feels like forever now,” I complained. “Only two weeks, but you know how nights are.”

“Fuck, we don’t do that bullshit here. It’s days or nights, not both. I guess I’m the lucky one—means I have to go to all my kids’ sports and shit.” His laughter bellowed down the line. “What can I do ya for?” his thick Southern Indiana accent rumbled down the line.

He knew I wouldn’t call just to shoot the shit. “Gotta friend who’s a grad student in the theater department, studying costume design. The department’s trying to bill her for some expensive jewelry set that was with a costume she checked out of the wardrobe department—it’s like twelve thousand or something insane. She swears she never saw it. She had it checked out for a few days, and it was in the lab during the time. I wondered if you guys have video surveillance in there? I’m guessing you do, or at least outside the door.”

“Costume department…in the theater building? I gotta check and see, man. Hold on.” He put me on hold, where I heard a delightful message about calling campus security if you need a ride home from a party if you’re drunk, or if you think you’re being followed. Then Garrison came back on the phone.

“Yeah, man, there’s a camera in the actual lab, one in the costume storage area, and one in the hallway where both of the rooms are. Do you have the dates?”

I rattled off the info Raine gave me. “I can also text you some photos of the costume and the missing jewelry. Does that work for you?”

“Sure, man, let me give you my cell number.” He read it off, and I entered it into my phone, then fired off the photos Raine sent me.

“I don’t have much time, and I’m getting ready to go off-shift, but I’ll look into this as soon as I’m able to,” Beau promised. “Anything else I can do for you?”

“No, man, just that. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem, brother. Take care.”

I hung up. That was one thing crossed off my list. Now I planned to make a tasty dinner for my wife, who would be home shortly.

maggie

The house smelled absolutely divine when I arrived home from work, and my handsome man was there to greet me at the door wearing nothing but his apron. Then I found out he’d grilled salmon for dinner.

“You went out on the deck in nothing but that apron?” My gaze roved up and down his manly body.

“I may or may not have had a pair of shorts on then.” He chuckled. “Didn’t want to rile the neighbors up too much. I already have my fair share of beautiful ladies to satisfy. Old Mildred over there is just gonna have to find someone else.”

“Oh my god, her name is not Mildred!” I teased him. “I think it’s Joan… Isn’t it Joan? And she’s not that old!”

“She’s every bit of seventy!” Leo fired back.

“Well, when’s this dinner happening that I smell because my stomach is growling? I didn’t get a chance to eat lunch today.” I set my purse on the little desk area in the kitchen where I always kept it and stepped out of my heels.

“Oh, I guess you were too busy playing with yourself in your office to eat lunch?” Leo waggled his brows at me as he went to stir something on the stove.

“Well, maybe… Damn it, those pictures were so fucking hot. I almost had to go do it again after you sent the ones of Raine. Who gave her the right to be so goddamn beautiful?” I began setting the table, plates and silverware clinking as I arranged them on the placemats.

“I don’t know about you, but I enjoyed myself immensely.” He plated the parmesan potato and veggies he’d roasted in the oven.

“I mean, it would have been more fun to be here in person,” I admitted, “but someone has to go to work.” I got out two wine glasses and chose a pinot noir I’d been saving for a while. It wasn’t exactly a special occasion, but we were getting close to finalizing our agreement with Raine.

And maybe in nine months or so, we’d be popping the champagne to celebrate the birth of our child!

“How’s the contract coming along?” Leo seemed to read my mind, as usual. He carried over the platter of potatoes and veggies and followed that with the tray of salmon he’d already grilled.

I took out the loaf of bread he’d popped into the oven after the potatoes and transferred it to a bread basket. I was so hungry, I wanted to cram the entire loaf in my mouth, after smothering it with butter, of course.

“It’s almost done. I should have it ready for Raine to look at by the end of the week. I hope she has a lawyer or someone to review it. I don’t think any of it will be contentious, except maybe the payment.”

Leo gulped down a mouthful of wine. “Is it what we talked about?”

I nodded. “It’s slightly less than we would pay if we were going through the agency and had to pay for the IVF out of pocket. So, it’s still a great deal for her too.”

“I’m trying to help her with the missing jewelry the university is trying to bill her for. I talked to my buddy in their PD today, in fact. He’s going to review some security video footage and see if anyone pilfered the jewelry. I just don’t want Raine to have to spend our money on that. I want her to use it for herself, you know?”

“Leo, do you think she would still do this for us even if she didn’t need the money?” It was a question that had been knocking around inside my head ever since the first time we spoke to her about it.

“Does it matter?” was his profound response. When I just gave him my lawyer’s glare, he chuckled. “I’d love to think of her as purely altruistic too, but it’s not very realistic. Why would anyone give up their body for nine months if they weren’t getting something out of it?”

“You don’t think she’ll have any issues giving up the baby…do you?” That was the main fear that’d been keeping me awake at night. “I mean, it will genetically be hers and yours. I won’t really have any claim to it.”

“That’s why we have the contract,” he reminded me. He swallowed down the rest of his wine. “And, besides, I do think she’s a good person. Did you ask Noah if he knows anything about her? You’ve known Noah for a long time.”

It was true—Noah had been my client ever since he started his practice several years ago. But I hadn’t talked to him about Raine. He only knew her through Danielle, his girlfriend, so I wasn’t sure how much he could offer, and I didn’t want to put him on the spot. It was up to Leo and me to vet her, after all.

I’d like to think that with me being a lawyer and him being a cop, we were both good judges of character. We’d certainly seen enough bad seeds in our day. And Raine didn’t strike me that way at all.

“Why don’t you set up a date with her?” Leo suggested. “Our date today was impromptu and a bit rushed, but go out and have a girls’ night. Enjoy each other’s company. I am sure the more time you spend with her, the better you’re going to feel about this arrangement.”

“You’re probably right…” My voice drifted off as I swallowed down the rest of my wine.

“Probably right? Can I get that in writing?” My husband winked.

“I love you so much.” I looked across the table at him, his handsome features illuminated by the soft glow of the light fixture hanging above our table. He had that outline of scruff on his jaw that I loved so much. It always made his eyes look extra dark and brooding. He wasn’t brooding, not really, but he had that sexy swagger. If you just saw him, before he opened his mouth, you might think he was a bit rough and demanding. The biggest surprise was that, under that muscle and intimidating exterior, he was a cuddly teddy bear.

And I loved that about him so much.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” He leaned forward, elbows on the table, licking his bottom lip.

“I’m thinking about ripping that apron off you and finding out if I can smell Raine’s pussy on you…”

He smirked. “I took a shower, but you can go exploring down there anyway if you’d like…”

“Still horny even after your romp this afternoon?”

His lips spread wider. “For you? Always.”

raine

Visiting Danielle at her polycule’s house always felt like coming home. Since I didn’t really have family of my own nearby, and neither did she, we had both been adopted into Cynda and Jason’s polyam fam.

Cynda greeted me at the door, slinging her arms around me like she hadn’t seen me in years. “Raine! Welcome home, baby girl. I just got dinner on the table. You’ll join us right?” She didn’t even wait for me to answer before she called out, “Get another chair. Raine’s staying for dinner.”

Then Danielle ran down the hall and practically bowled me over with her hug. “Hey, lady! Great to see you!”

“Wow, you guys are all in a great mood!” I glanced around at all the smiling faces.

Then Jason and Cynda’s boyfriend, Darth, wandered out from their bedroom. “I’m in a bad mood. There, does that balance things out a bit?” He was always a contrarian, so I didn’t think much of his statement.

“Hi, Jason. Hi, Noah. Where’s Aris?” I looked around for the handsome nurse with his striking Greek god physique and sexy manbun.

“He’s at the gym, but he’ll walk in right as we sit down to eat,” Noah said. “He times it perfectly.”

Danielle grinned. “It’s truly a gift. C’mon, let’s go get seats next to each other.”

“I brought the contract,” I shared with her as we sat down at the table. “I wanted you guys to look over it, make sure there’s not anything bad in there.”

“What contract?” Cynda’s ears apparently perked up as soon as she heard the word.

“It’s our surrogate contract,” I explained as everyone began to take their seats. “I’m not sure if Dani told you, but I’ve agreed to be a surrogate for Leo and Maggie. You know the Katzes. They were here for Dani’s cast-off party a couple months ago.”

“Yes, yes, Noah’s lawyer and her very handsome husband.” Cynda waggled her eyebrows.

“Down, girl.” Jason shot her a teasing glare. “Don’t you have enough man meat at your disposal?”

“Shut your mouth,” Cynda shot back, “ain’t no such thing!”

We all laughed. I loved being here so much. I probably wouldn’t see these guys too often after Noah, Aris and Danielle found a house.

“Well, anyway, I brought the contract Maggie drew up, and she advised me to have someone with legal and/or medical expertise look it over. I know we at least have medical expertise here.”

“I’m happy to take a look at that aspect,” Noah offered.

“And I used to be a paralegal,” Cynda said. “So I can take a gander too.”

“Damn, woman, what haven’t you done?” Danielle exclaimed, in awe of the polycule’s venerated mother figure.

“I just want to make sure I’m getting a fair deal,” I explained, “and that they are too. I want everyone to be happy, to get what they want. If I can help them, and they can help me—it’s a win-win as far as I’m concerned.”

* * *

A couple of hours later, the contract had made the rounds. Noah seemed impressed at how the medical end of it was addressed. “She definitely did her research, but I shouldn’t be too surprised. I’ve known Maggie for a while, and she never takes shortcuts. She always does her due diligence.”

“I don’t see any issues from a legal standpoint.” Cynda lifted her reading glasses to rest on top of her gray-tipped corkscrews. “It seems fair. It’s very well laid out. There are reasonable steps if amendments need to be made, and any of you can back out before pregnancy is confirmed.”

“So you think I should sign it?” I glanced around the room. Aris had indeed joined us, just exactly when the first bites of Cynda’s delicious dinner were about to be consumed. Darth had left our gathering to play video games in his room. So, it was me, Dani, Cynda, Noah, Jason and Aris.

The consensus became apparent as all five heads began to nod.

Dani rushed into the kitchen and ran back to where we were gathered in the living room. “Here’s a pen.”

I was surprised to see the pregnant lady move so fast. “Oh, you think I should sign it right now?”

“Yes!” She clapped her hands together. “Then we can celebrate with a toast!”

I took a deep breath, held the pen against the line for my signature, and inscribed my full name,

Raine Elizabeth Rivera

Then I dated it.

It was done.

Danielle was already breaking out the champagne and sparkling grape juice for her. I took a sip of my champagne, wondering if maybe I should be drinking the juice as well. After all, I’d been with Leo twice since I went off the Pill, and I hadn’t gotten my period yet. I wasn’t sure what to expect now that I’d stopped taking the hormones.

My phone buzzed, so I glanced down. I had an incoming email from my brother. My heart leapt as I read it:

Hey, Raine,

Sorry for the delay getting back to you. I’ve been traveling out of the country and didn’t have access to this email account. Your message was a little vague, so I hope you’re well and nothing bad is going on for you health-wise. I am sorry to say I don’t have a lot of family medical information other than that, as far as I know, we’re a pretty healthy bunch.

I know you didn’t want her info when we first started, but now maybe you would. I’ll give it to you, and then you can decide if you want to reach out.

Our mother’s name is Reina Clarke, and her phone number is 517-555-2752. Yeah, I thought it was weird you guys have almost the same name.

Anyway, best of luck to you, and I hope you will keep in touch.

Tyler Clarke