They sat in the conference room for about an hour, discussing every possible thing that came to mind. They laughed, they joked and they conversed like long lost friends. Both Faith and Daniel had smiles on their faces for the whole time, seemingly entranced my the woman who they thought were simply perfect.

Lilly repetitively spoke of how lucky she was to find such a perfect couple on her first try. She was beaming, contentedness evident in her pale blue eyes.

Faith was telling Lilly about how she met Daniel, when Jason reentered the room with another man by his side. The man's expression was stern, and his face held lines which one would assume that he was around fifty years old. His domineering stance indicated that he was a man who exuded power wherever he went.

Faith's brow rose when Lilly stood. Seeing the confusion, Lilly looked from the man to Faith.

"This is my lawyer, Rowan Vaz," she announced with a warming smile.

Faith and Daniel immediately stood, reaching out to the man with outstretched hands.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you," she smiled, firmly shaking his hand and watching as Daniel did the same with a curt nod.

"Well, let's get down to business, shall we?" Jason exclaimed as he moved to take a seat.

Every one sat as both Jason and Mr. Vaz explained the intricacies of the surrogacy procedure. Although Faith had thoroughly researched and educated herself on the matter, she was still reminded of certain protocols to consider during the surrogacy process.
Since they had opt for gestational surrogacy - using her egg and Daniel's sperm - they had been reminded that the baby would be biologically related to the two intended partners and would hold no biological connection to Lilly, whatsoever. The process of implanting the sperm and egg into Lilly's embryo would be achieved by a process called 'In vitro fertilization (IVF)' which is the intended medical procedure for the succession of the process.
Both Felix and Vaz was vivid in explaining the legal and monetary compensation Lilly would need, which included her medical expenses, travel, counseling etc.

But it seemed nothing mattered to Faith at that moment, because she was concocting images of how her baby would look like once everything was done with. The surrealism of the whole experience had her heart soaring, a smile set on her face as a means of communication for her unfathomable joy.

That smile broadened when Daniel reached for her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Looking into his eyes, she could also see the happiness that swam in it. Ever since they met, couple months in the relationship he had been insistent about starting a family with Faith, but when the dreaded truth of Faith's inability to conceive presented itself, it had broke his heart but still, he hadn't been willing to give up on his dream or his future with her.

Now, here they were, staring into the face of the woman who would grant them both a joy that was undescribable.

"A medical examination can take place in a few days to clarify the candidate's fitness, after which the IVF can take place," Mr Vaz spoke, his voice like thunder.

"Ohh Kay," Jason dragged on as he flipped through some papers. "Sign here and all of this will be official," he stated, looking Faith in the eyes as if to see if this was really what she wanted.

When she eagerly got ahold of the document and signed, Jason knew that was that. Daniel and Lilly later signed, everyone smiling.

"Well congratulations, it's now official!" Jason mused, smiling briefly at the couple.

Faith grinned, reaching out to Daniel and hugging him like he was life itself. Everyone then stood, signaling the completion of the meeting. Mr Rowan Vaz shook their hands before he left, leaving the others to celebrate, with the exception of a very awkward Jason.

Lilly was beaming as she excitedly went towards Faith and hugged her.

"This was amazing," she said, looking into Faith's eyes. "I can't wait to present you guys with your own bundle of joy."

The mere prospect of it had Faith close to tears. "Thank you so much!"

Lilly nodded as she reached into her bag, pulling out a pen and a notepad. "We should totally exchange numbers," she grinned.

"Yes of course," Faith immediately agreed as she wrote down hers, smiling as she gave them hers which Daniel was enthusiastically punching into his phone.

"I'll be in touch," she mused cheerfully before moving towards the door. "It was nice getting to know you guys."

After the farewells, then there was three. Faith and Daniel was expressing profound pleasure in the eventfulness of the day, while Jason was arranging his files and looking at them under his eyes.

He paused when Faith approached him, smiling...as always. "Thanks for everything, punk."

That earned a smile from him. "Don't mention it big head," he said as he pulled her into his arms and gave her a warming hug.

"I'm happy for you," he said as he pulled apart, gazing down at her flushed cheeks.

Faith reached up a kissed him briefly on the cheeks. "Thank you, I'll see you later. I better go call Kaylyn to tell her about the good news," she said as she grabbed her purse and walked towards the door with Daniel by her side.

He paused. "Honey, why don't you go ahead, I'd like to have a brief chat with Jason."

Faith looked at them both, then shrugged. "OK, I'll call Kaylyn while I wait," she said as she left the room.

Daniel slowly approached Jason, who was oblivious to why Daniel wanted to speak to him. For some passing seconds, no one said anything, until Daniel cleared his throat, briefly looking behind him at the closed door.

"I er... I just want to thank you for everything you're doing for Faith, man... For us," he began respectfully. "She's happy and I'm happy and that is partially because of you- you're a real good friend."

Jason was momentarily befuddled. "Ah..." He scratched his head. "Yeah, sure thing man. Faith is one of my closest friends and I'd do absolutely anything to see her happy," he exclaimed, but realizing how the last bit sounded and how Daniel's brows knitted, he cleared his throat and added, "As I would do to all my close friends."

"Oh, yeah of course. I er... I'm planning on asking her to marry me," he informed lowly.

Jason's mouth fell, his throat instantly feeling parched. "I ah- you um..." he raked a hand through his hair and forced a smile. "That's great."

Daniel grinned. "I know right, she just really makes me happy man, and with a baby in the near future, I can't think of a better person to spend my life with."

Jason swallowed the lump that had seemingly been stuck in his throat. "She'll definitely say yes," he managed out.

Daniel beamed. "You think so? Thanks man, that's all I needed to hear," he said, patting Jason on the shoulders. "Anyway, I better get going," he said as he moved towards the door.

He turned as he opened it. "And Jason, can you please keep this a secret? I want this to be a surprise."

Jason quickly nodded, watching as the man smiled before he left. He immediately plopped down on a chair, trying to process everything he had just heard. Out of all the things he had expected Daniel to say, marriage to Faith was certainly not one.

In utter frustration, he raked his fingers through his hair and muttered a sharp curse, reaching for his cell phone and then dialing a number.

"Hey Kayla, it's Jason. What do you say about going out with me for a dinner tonight and a possible night cap after?"

He grinned when he got his desired reply. "Great, I'll pick you up around seven," he said as he disconnected the call.

He was frustrated and quite frankly, sex with an old friend would possibly do him some justice.

__________

They arrived home in less than thirty minutes, Faith having called Kaylyn earlier to inform her about the good news. Faith was glad when her best friend's squeals had rang out through the phone along with her very enthusiastic regards. Faith had been smiling sheepishly then, but promised Kaylyn they would meet to further discuss everything.

Having showered and changed into a house dress, Faith moved into the living room, where she saw Daniel, seated on the sofa, elbows on knees whole his face rested in his palms.

Faith's brows furrowed in concern. "Hey hon, are you OK?" she asked, taking a seat beside him and trying to get a glance at his face.

He immediately eased up, flashing her a smile. "Yeah."

Faith skeptically assessed him. "Come on, don't lie to me, I know something is wrong."

Daniel sighed lightly before turning to give Faith his complete attention.

He sighed. "It's just that, I feel useless, you know," he admitted, hanging his head.

Faith was confused. "W-why?"

"I want to contribute to making our baby possible, and I just feel completely useless now that this promotion is taking longer than expected. That deal the company has with Massey's distribution is my only hope at the moment and I'm not even sure about that," he explained in defeat.

Faith reached for his hands, enclosing it in hers. "Everything will be fine, I told you that," she began softly. "I have just enough to cover everything, but when you land that deal and get your promotion, we can put that in his or her college fund," she smiled reassuringly.

Daniel managed a smiled, as he pulled her into his arms. "I love you so much."

"I love you too and don't worry too much, OK?"

Daniel smirked against her neck. "I won't."

________________

Author's Note:

Hey guys, how are you all doing? Everyone OK?

If you enjoyed this chapter, you know what to do ;)
Tell me what you guys think!

Until next time...
Keep safe and warm.
Laters baby!
Xoxo
Juju ❤❤❤