The Last Option

Examinations carried out on Margaret indicated she was completely healthy and in a favorable condition to procreate, so Dr. Holloway began the entire procedure for fertilization.

Due to the above procedures, Dr. Holloway had cryopreserved several blastocyst stage embryos from Nathan and Norma and, after selecting the one with the best quality and development, deposited it in Margaret's uterus, hoping it would be attached to it and continues its development smoothly. After three days the result was positive, and Nathan and Norma exploded with happiness.

Although Margaret was happy to move into the new apartment, Bernard still had reservations; she because she needed to carry the pregnancy to fruition and did not want to worry about anything, and he precisely because he was worried about the pregnancy and getting everything Nathan had promised him. Although he had given him confidence in his words, Bernard did not quite believe him, since he was not in the habit of obtaining things without effort, and because he thought that when something sounds too good to be true, maybe it is not.

He expressed his concern to his wife, and she reassured him a bit by telling him there was an effort involved, hers, and that carrying a baby that was not his inside was as great a responsibility as working, only in in this case the "job" would only last nine months.

To finish reassuring him, she reminded him to ask Nathan to put everything on a contract, and he promised to tell him the next day.

But he didn't tell him. At least not in the morning. He felt that if he said something to him, he would take it the wrong way, after all he had done for them. The apartment was very comfortable, and what about the BMW! In addition, he had made an initial deposit in his account of ten thousand dollars to guarantee them resources at the time of an emergency (which was an excuse for them to accept them, since he knew that when he had one he would be there to attend to it with diligence), and that afternoon he asked Bernard to take him shopping with his wife Norma, filling his pantry with provisions for about a month, and buying maternal clothes for Margaret, who agreed to accompany them ashamed, although afterwards she looked happy and comfortable trying on the garments under the watchful and expert eye of Norma as far as fashion was concerned, even in maternal clothes.

That's why Bernard didn't feel like telling Nathan about the contract. He thought he'd better tell him the next day, maybe. But it was Nathan himself who the next day brought up the subject as they headed to work, which freed him from the pressure that overwhelmed him.

"As you know, Bernard, we want to keep the pregnancy completely secret. Today I called my lawyer to discuss the matter, and see how we can draw up a contract to ensure that we all comply with what was agreed. He would be the only one in our circle of trust who would know this secret."

Hearing about the 'circle of trust', Bernard was flattered, but he also thought about what he had said about 'ensuring that we all comply with what was agreed' by means of a contract and for the first time he realized that not only this man and his wife were obliged to give them, as they have begun to do, everything they had been promised, but he and Margaret also had to give them what they expected: a healthy baby, so now he saw everything from a new perspective, where there were commitments on both sides, unavoidable commitments, so he decided to put aside all his doubts and see the matter as a negotiation, as Nathan had told him, where the win-win principle should be present at all times. "Sounds good to me, Mr. Hicks, that would give everyone security and confidence. Don't you think?"

"Absolutely, my friend, especially you, who I know you have your reservations, especially when it comes to what the two of you are going to win, as you have shown well on some occasions. So I tell you not to worry, everything will be fine. Margaret is a healthy and strong woman and she will have our son without problems."

This time Bernard felt ashamed. He supposed from his experience and dealing with hundreds of people in terms of business, Nathan knew how to identify those who in some way felt doubtful or with some uncertainty when they negotiated and took advantage of it or not, according to their interests.

"Is it so noticeable?" Bernard asked with a nervous laugh.

"And it not only shows, but you have said it on occasions. That is why I asked you not to reject what I was offering you anymore. It's not good for you to deny yourself everything that corresponds to you."

"Very good, Nathan. I'll be quiet then. Not a word more."

"Remember that you are working. "

Saying that Nathan sounded blunt, and Bernard didn't know whether to take it as an order or not.

"Yes, Mr. Hicks," he said, embarrassed again and assuming his role as chauffeur. "Excuse me."

But despite discussing the matter with his lawyer, that day they did not reach an agreement on how to draw up the contract, and they left it for another day. In the meantime, Nathan would make sure to keep up with his end of the deal, although there was another point that made him very uneasy, so he brought it up to his lawyer, a man in his sixties by the name of Phil Wilcox:

"As soon as the baby is born I want to change my will," Nathan said. "I'll leave everything to him and not to my sister, as it is written now."

"Very well,” Phil said, “and I also imagine you will keep it a secret, although when everyone sees that you have a child they will assume it by natural logic."

"Of course, but until the day of birth you won't change it and you will keep it in reserve."

"Do you think there is a problem with the pregnancy? You just told me the carrier is a very healthy woman."

"I'm not saying it for that, Phil, you know what my family is like, they are capable of doing anything if they find out that I'm going to be a father and they won't be my heirs. My cousin is always crouched in the shadows waiting for the right moment to strike me deadly, and my sister, in order to follow her lifestyle at the expense of our fortune, could also use legal or other devices to ensure that no one else is left with all of this. So all this secret. When my son is born and protected, they won't be able to do anything against me or him."

"Very good, Nathan. You know you can count on me. I will keep everything as before so that no one in my firm suspects anything and gets to screw up by commenting on what they shouldn't. The less they know the better." "Thanks, Phil, you're a good friend; you were my father's, and now you are mine. And a good man."

"You don't have to thank me, your father was a very special man and he raised a very special son, so I'm convinced that you will also raise your son very well." "Thanks, Phil."

Nathan got up from his chair and held out his arms to Phil, who also got up and hugged him warmly. When Nathan lost his father, Phil was always there for him, regarding him as a son, and Nathan also saw in him the father figure he had lost early on.

Although Nathan did not realize it, on more than one occasion Phil saved him from his own family, intervening in company affairs when he saw they were about to do some damage to his father's inherited estate, starting with the will, which his cousin and sister wanted to change fraudulently by offering him bribes, which he firmly rejected, threatening to send them to jail if they continued to try. For that reason Phil was not the saint of his family's devotion. They hated him, and he hated them.

Perhaps if they had drawn up a will at that time conditional on the baby's birth, they would have avoided all the bad things that would come to Bernard and his wife.