The Perfect Mother - Caroline Mitchell Page 0,14

nonchalant. ‘It’s easier to say she. Makes no difference to me.’ I kept my eyes on the screen, but in reality, I’d felt like I was expecting a girl all along.

‘Do Sabrina and Felicity go to round two?’

I clicked the button in agreement. For now, they were going on my favourites list. They wouldn’t be contacted yet – not until I sent a message to confirm I’d like to know more.

‘How come these ones don’t have a picture?’ Dympna scrolled on to a couple named Julie and Glenn. A tiny diamond motif twinkled in the top right-hand corner where their profile picture should have been.

I paused mid-yawn, lowering my outstretched arms from above my head. ‘Oh my God, I’ve got a diamond couple.’

‘What’s a diamond couple?’

I stared at the screen, excitement stealing my breath. I had to move quickly. This was too good to be true. ‘I can’t believe it,’ I whispered. This was everything I wanted. An opportunity reserved for the very few.

‘What? What’s it mean?’

‘Diamond couples are loaded. They pay twice the amount of everyone else.’ A grin spread over my face as the implications sank in. ‘They’re a stable couple, medically tested and in perfect health. They’ve been together at least seven or eight years, have more than one home, and a net worth of . . .’

‘What?’

‘Over a million pounds. They’re millionaires. I’ve got millionaires interested in my child.’

I shifted position, staring at the screen. I wanted to savour this moment just a little longer. Dympna would never understand how it felt for me to come close to arranging something so wonderful for my baby. It was about far more than money. It was the opportunity to give my little one the life I’d never had.

‘Why can’t we see what they look like?’ Dympna asked.

She scratched her hair before tossing it to one side. Her long red curls would look beautiful on a child of her own one day. When her time came, everything would be done by the book. But things were looking up for me as I read Julie and Glenn’s profile page.

‘They could be celebrities, politicians, anyone in the public eye. Can you imagine it? I can’t believe they’ve contacted me. Look where they’re from!’

‘New York,’ Dympna squealed. ‘With properties in LA and Europe.’

Taking a breath, I steeled myself as I tried to find the right words to reply. They were the only diamond couple who had shown interest in me and my baby, and I was not about to blow this. I flexed my fingers before placing them on the keyboard.

Hello,

Thank you for your interest. I’d like to talk to you some more, should you wish to progress things further.

All the best,

Rosalind

‘Best to keep it short and simple,’ I said, my heart giving an extra beat as I prepared to press send.

I chewed my bottom lip, telling myself that this was just the first contact. No point in worrying about it. It may not get any further than this. But from what I’d read about the site, the couples who used it meant business. They did not like to wait around. My finger froze mid-air as I debated my next move.

‘Oh, for God’s sake,’ Dympna said, before reaching out and pressing send. ‘What?’ she said, as I glared at her in disbelief. ‘If you don’t snap them up, someone else will.’

She was right, but now the ground was beginning to feel like an escalator that was moving a bit too fast. Was I doing the right thing? I could not afford to stand still. This baby was not going to wait.

CHAPTER EIGHT

ROZ

I groaned as I strode down O’Connell Street. The tips of my socks were damp where puddle water had seeped in through my suede boots. My emotions were playing tug of war with me, and I questioned myself with each step I took towards the coffee shop. I was developing a bond with my unborn child already. But how on earth could I keep her, when I couldn’t even afford a decent pair of boots? The decision was agonising, and by meeting my mother, I was grasping at straws. There was little point in dreaming of a fairy-tale reconciliation. But what if I told her about the baby? Shouldn’t I at least consider the possibility of keeping it, providing I had her support? I thought of my home in Ferbane. Mam’s second husband, Tony, had sold his own property and injected the profit into doing the place up. They would surely