I want to tell Dr. Wong she’s got it wrong, but I can’t quite get the words out. All of a sudden, I get this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. I can imagine Monica telling the doctor that Sam is her husband—that seems consistent with her recent behavior. But Sam would never have gone along with it. If the doctor had asked him, he would have told her that he wasn’t Monica’s husband. He would have corrected her.

Wouldn’t he?

Chapter 21

When Monica comes into my office this morning with my coffee, there’s no denying it anymore—she is really visibly pregnant. People at work are going to start noticing very soon, if they haven’t already.

It’s not surprising. She’s now seven months along. It’s amazing she’s managed to hide it this long, even with her creative fashion choices. I heard some snarky secretaries in the ladies' room whispering about how Monica needs to “cut back on the chocolate.” I’ve heard still others joking about who the father might be. The gig is definitely up.

“How are you feeling?” I ask her carefully.

She rests her hand gently on her belly. “A little tired, but generally pretty good.”

“That’s great.” I chew on my lip, considering my next words carefully. “Do you, um… want to have a seat?”

Monica gives me a funny look, but she settles into the seat across from me. I get up and close the door so we can have some privacy.

“Listen,” I say to her as I settle down into my leather chair. “I’m sure you realize that it’s becoming very obvious that you’re pregnant.”

“I guess so,” she says.

She bows down her head. I notice for the first time that even though Monica has jet black hair like I do, her roots are pale. One of the selling points when she suggested being a surrogate for me was our similar appearances, but now I’m not sure anymore she’s a natural brunette. Does Monica dye her hair black?

Why on earth would she dye her hair black?

I clear my throat. “So per our arrangement, I think it’s time to resign. I can start looking for replacements for you right away.”

Her eyes fly open. “Resign?”

“Yes,” I say tightly. “That was the agreement. When you started showing, you would resign.”

She stares at me for a moment, her mouth hanging open. “Is this because I came up with a better idea than you at that meeting with Cuddles?”

Ouch. Admittedly, I’ve felt a smoldering resentment toward Monica because of that meeting. Ever since then, Denise has been acting like Monica’s the new office prodigy. I can barely remember the last time I got that kind of mentorship from Denise. At a meeting yesterday, Denise told Monica that she was “really going places” at Stewart Advertising.