18. 'May I offer a suggestion?'

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Natalia

Lia points at the TV on the wall in the corner, so both Phillip and I can see the slides, but no one walking by the glass wall would. "Let's begin with the term. Sounds like six months is what all parties have agreed to. With a re-evaluation and potential extension if the results are not clear yet."

"The results?" I pull my hand from under Phillip's.

"If the pregnancy hasn't occurred." Kit watches me with caution in his gaze. I don't say anything and he proceeds. "If it did, then part four section C will go into effect immediately."

Lia flicks to a new slide. "But if there has not been a viable pregnancy by then, you will both have to decide if you'd like to try longer or terminate the agreement." Lia emphasizes 'terminate' with a side nod of her head. "Both parties agreement at the time of the reevaluation will be required."

Six months is plenty of time to get pregnant. A beginning of a headache pulses a warning at the back of my head. I ignore my fluttering stomach and the statistics about women my age that scroll through my mind. Mom managed to do this the very first month her and Dad met. I have good genetics on my side. "I'm good with it."

"Same," Phillip says.

We go over two pages of term and conditions before we get to the one Phillip and I could not agree on over the email.

"Expenses." Lia slides identical pages to Phillip and me. "Sounds like Nata would like to contribute equally to the child support fund that the child's expenses will be coming out of, while Phillip prefers it be based on the income percentage. Which you don't agree to?" She looks at me.

I pick up the paper and glide my finger over the edges. "I don't ever anticipate to earn the same range of a salary as Phillip." I didn't go into science for the big bucks. "Unless his company goes under, he'll always be earning considerably more." I let our a you-get-it puff of air. "I don't want to have any disputes in the future where the parent who earns more is somehow enjoys the upper hand in any potential custody negotiations."

"We have provision H that addresses that." Kit points to a line on the document in my hand.

"No." I flip the page over and set my palms over it. "I won't be comfortable spending Phillip's money."

Without turning to Phillip, I sense his disapproval seeping out of him as he remains silent.

"You won't be spending them on yourself." Managing to sound both soothing and commanding, Lia plants her hands on the table. "You will only be spending them on the child's needs and expenses."

Her intimidation tactics won't work on me. "If I have to spend Phillip's money, I'll feel indebted to him." I cross my hand on my chest. "No," I say it louder this time. "I can't agree to that." I face Phillip and address the last words to him.

"But don't you want our child to have everything money can afford them?" Phillip's eyes narrow.

Our child. My heart stumbles as the words hit. Less theoretical than when I was combing through the documents. So real. Too real. I breathe in as deeply as my crossed arms allow me. Our child. We'll have a baby we both will take care of. Something we'll share till the end of our lives. Our child.

"You say like this is a good thing." I let my hands slide to my knees. "I didn't have all the money in the world and I turned out okay."

"Did I turn out that badly?" He raises his eyebrows and cocks his head.

I bite my lip. "Not what I meant."

"What's important here is that you both contribute the amount that is commensurate with your income." Lia sounds like a referee. "That's standard practice with divorces. We both advise you follow this logic." Lia glances to Kit for reinforcement.

"What we could agree on is a cap on Phillip's contributions, where they'll be sent to a trust fund that the child can have access to at a later time." Kit flips through the stack in front of him and pull a smaller stack of papers stapled together. He sends it our way across the table. "This way the money you use for the living and other child-rearing expenses are not that disparate, but we'll create a nest egg that can be used for property purchases, education, or other dedicated expenses we can build into the trust in advance, so it isn't spent in an irresponsible way."

"A trust fund baby." I scan the words that talk about the possible uses of the funds in even more detail.

"Think of it as extra security," says Kit.

Security. The agitation in my gut subsides. I like the sound of that. More security is never a bad thing. I set my hands back on the table and make the decision. "I can go with that."

Phillip recaptures my fingers and squeezes them. In thanks? In victory?

"What's next?" I keep my gaze on the lawyers.

"Living arrangements." Lia flips to another slide on the TV.

I don't remember that being a point of contention. "I thought we agreed that we have to live within twenty-mile radius from each other and any moves need to be agreed on by both parties."

"That seems to be something both of you want." Kit's gaze ping-pongs between me and my future baby-daddy. "But Phillip has something he wanted to offer you." Kit nods at Phillip.

I turn to see the soft gray of Phillip's eyes hyper-focus on me. "What if we live in the same house?"

"No."

"Hear me out." I barely resist rolling my eyes at his sales-person-of-the-year cajoling tone. "The child can have a room. We'll each have our own spaces."

"No." I lift box arms and form a giant X in the air. "I'm not sharing a house with you. This is non-negotiable." I haven't lived by myself the last ten years. With all the loneliness of my temporary quarters, I've also never felt as free as since I moved out.

"We could use Dad's house." Phillip tries to take my hand but I shrug his fingers off. He sets them on his thigh. "You'll never need to see me if you don't want to."

The way they keep ignoring me every time I say no, I might be speaking a foreign language. I'm an adult. I know what I want and what I don't want. "No." I slap the table.

Phillip's jaw ticks. So he isn't only grins and platitudes. Good.

I face Lia and Kit. "Next."

Lia raises her hand. "May I offer a suggestion?"

"That's why you are here." My snark escapes with the words.

With a tight smile, Lia gestures my way. "You're currently living in the townhouse owned by VdH."

"Temporarily and I'm paying rent. I—"

She lifts her palms up facing me in a placating gesture. "Not what I meant at all. But"—she pauses with a pointed raise of her eyebrows—"what if Phillip moves in into the other side of the duplex. It's currently vacant, is it not?" Lia looks at Phillip.

"I'll have to ask my assistant, but I believe so."

Kit nods. "When I was checking on Nata's living situation, the information I was provided was that the other side of the building is currently vacant."

Lia's face shows a genuine smile. "This way you could each have your space, but still live at the same address."

Phillip reclines on his chair and sighs. "It's a basic apartment. Nothing I'd usually stay at."

"There are other options," Kit chimes in, "where you could share a duplex somewhere else, or even houses next door to each other."

A sour taste fills my mouth at the thought of how many years I'll need to work for before I can afford a house. "Sharing the duplex doesn't sound too bad."

Lia, Kit, and I stare at Phillip. He runs his hand through his hair and makes a popping sound with his lips. "Fine." He sits straight. "We can do it for now as long as we can find better accommodations in the long run."

"Maybe something to add to part seven that can be cemented when the child is born?" Lia makes notes on the margins of the paper in front of her.

"Fine." Phillip and I say in unison.

"Excellent." Kit moves on to the next item. And the next. So many details to comb through and decide on. Why did I think this will be simple? At least I know the rules of the deal now. There is a plan, and we both are agreeing to it. No way Phillip can back out and just change his mind. He can't pull a Samson on me. My stomach rolls over. I set my hand on it. I'll be okay. This is progress. I've learned from my mistakes.

Two hours later we complete the last outstanding point.

"Now what?" I glance around the room.

"We take a break." Kit stands. "We'll get everything printed, including the corrections we added, and you sign."

"Today?" I startle at the screechy rattle in my voice.

"Unless you'd like to wait." Lia stills at the door.

Wait? That's the last thing I want to do. "No. No waiting."

When Kit and Lia leave the room, sweat trickles down my back, as if I were running a race and not talking in dry legaleses, trying to make sure very word in this contract supports my vision of the future.

"Our first parental task done." Phillip's words are bright with humor I don't feel.

I recline in my chair. "We'll be tied together for the next six months."

"Hopefully for the next nineteen years." He sounds so confident. "Al least."

"Aren't you scared?"

"Aren't all future parents? Having someone you'll be in charge of for a long time is scary. I think it would be weird if we were not scared."

"Are you going to tell your dad about this?"

"You and the baby?" He says it as if I'm already pregnant, as if this potential child of ours is an inevitability. I should be glad that he's so sure, but the scientist in me burdened by the research I've done offers a heap of potential negative outcomes.

"Us and the contract." I cut through the softness between us. This is business and not pleasure. "The less people know the better, in my opinion."

Phillip shakes his head so hard, I his hair falls on his forehead. "I don't want to lie to my father." He brushes it off with one swift move. "He's never lied to me in my life, and I don't want to start."

I have no intention to tell my parents until there's no way to hide it. When they find out, they'll be calling me every day with old-country advice on everything. They always know best. "You don't think he'll be against you doing...this?" I wave my hands between us.

"I don't think there's anything I can do that Dad would be against. Believe me, I tried." Phillip's lips stretch in a smile but his eyes remain serious. "He's a good guy. The best." Phillip picks up a pen and rolls it between his fingers as if it's a cigarette. "He'll be happy for us if this is what we want." He stops his fidgeting and makes sure our gazes meet again. "This is what you want. Right?"

"Right." My vocal chords echo him.

"You can tell me if you want out." Phillip leans forward and places both his hands between mine. The heat from earlier returns and covers my chest, crawls up my neck, and a "DANGER" sign flashes in my mind. I extricate my hands from his and create the space between us that lessens his effect on me. Philip's smile falls. "I won't be mad. This was a hypothetical when you mentioned the idea. I'm the one who proposed to follow through." He pauses. "You can still say no."

"I know." I draw a line on my palm with my fingernail.

Phillip settles his hands on my shoulders and makes me look back at him. "This is very, very serious for me, Nata. And I don't want to push you into anything you don't want." His face loses any trace of a hope that was lingering there all afternoon. "You might think I'm an irresponsible playboy, but—"

"I'm here." I roll my eyes. "I know what I'm doing. I want to do this. You're not making me do anything." Not I'm being dramatic. "Relax."

His thumb grazes my chin, and my skin is aflame. "I promise I'll take care of you and the baby. We'll have a good life."

I believe him. Every word. I want a good life even if it's not a traditional family unit.

"I'm in," I say.

The glass door squeaks open, and Lia and Kit return with a stack of papers. "Ready?"

Phillip's hand drops from my face. "We are."

I take one of the two pens Kit sets in front of us and sign the six months of my life away.

3.16.23

Author's Note

Posting a day early because the chapter's done and because I have no patience (not because I'm trying to make up for all the times I posted late, lol).

Reminder: this is a mature story and we are heading into that territory in a handful of chapters, so...read at your own risk. (I know it because I just finished writing a second steamy scene and it's only the beginning). Not the steamiest you'll ever read but the steamiest out of my current stuff on Wattpad.

Let me know what your expectations for Phillip and Nata's first time are. I have that scene written and I think it's pretty perfect.

If you're ready to see how this contract between Nata and Phillip plays out, hit that vote button.

Love,

GR


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