It was the hardest thing that I had to do. If I had kept holding on, I would never have been able to move on. I've always regretted not keeping the call on until they died, but it would've made things worse. So says my psychiatrist. As someone who minored in Psychology, I knew he was right. That didn't make it any easier.

Amy wiped her eyes, they were full of tears. Rory just had a look of horror on his face. I guess I'd hidden my pain quite well. I just sat in silence. I didn't know how to continue the conversation. So I cleared my throat and spoke up.

"I still have the brochure from the surrogate agency somewhere in a box. I'll fish it out for you when I get home. A very well equipped staff. And extremely hospitable to your needs. It's the only agency that cares. And believe me, Clara and I searched everywhere. Even in the state of Virginia and New York."

Rory spoke up as a took a drink from my glass, "Yeah, yeah that'd be great Jarrod. Spot on."

"I'm so sorry." Amy had finally broken her own silence. "I'm so sorry Jarrod. I never would've guessed. You know if there's anything we can do, Rory and I, -"

I had to cut her off, "No Amy. That won't be necessary. I've done my fair share of weeping these last few years. I know that sounds incredulous, but it's how I work. I love them to this day, but to keep hashing it over and over, it makes things worse for me. It wouldn't be healthy. But thank you for your offer, it is deeply appreciated." I just couldn't handle re-living that event.

Amy started to wipe her eyes again, they were starting to get red, "Okay. I completely understand."

"Thank you. Very much." I looked at my silver watch, it felt late. "Well, I think I'll be off, I kinda want to take a walk. For the health. I'll get the check." Amy and Rory both started to protest, but I cut them off, "Oy! I'll get it you lot. Besides, who's the one with the check in their hands? Me, so I win! Amy, it was nice to finally make your acquaintance. Rory, I'll see you tomorrow at work. Cheers!"

As quickly as I could, I gave a slight nod, and briskly walked to the cash register. I payed the check, and almost ran out of the pub. I needed some time alone. Being friends with Rory, it felt like I was doing this a lot lately. Their happiness reminded me that I used to have that...

Well as the weeks progressed, Amy, Rory, and I just couldn't find a suitable, nor affordable surrogate mother. All of the candidates seemed to think that it was okay to move in with Amy and Rory, take care of their basic needs, and to pay them a large sum of money on top of that. It was incredulous in all honesty. But the agency had hundreds, if not thousands of willing and able surrogate mothers. One day, Amy texted me and told me to meet her and Rory at the pub that night, she had an idea for a surrogate. After work I arrived to see Amy and Rory talking closely and rapidly.

"Hello there! What's all the hush hush about?"

"Um nothing! Listen, Amy had the idea of.. Well... This is gonna be odd, but we have an idea for the surrogate."

"Go on."

"It's gonna sound completely mad, and it is if you think about it, but we'd like to... Um..."

Amy burst out, "We'd like you to be the surrogate Jarrod."

I was completely stunned. Me? A surrogate carrier? Why hadn't I thought about it before? It was so obvious!

"Really? I'd be honored!"

"Oh good, we thought that it'd be weird, since your Rory's friend and all. To have that kind of burden, are you sure you can do this?"

"Can't I? I could use some time off! Never thought I'd be on maternity leave!"

So it was settled. Amy and Rory payed me, a bit too much actually, and we did the procedure. In all honesty, I thought it was going to be more painful, the in-vitro that is. That wasn't bad. What was bad was being pregnant. The morning sickness. The random cravings (chocolate, definitely chocolate, and crackers, and Nutella, and biscuits, and well, you get the idea). The hormonal imbalance, oy, that was terrible. But it was worth it. Towards the end of the pregnancy, my memory starts to get foggy. I remember when my water broke, and I told Amy and Rory it was time. Then I remember something about not being able to have painkillers, and the pain. Oh the pain. Worst pain I've ever felt in my life. But completely worth it.

As I turn my head from the cradle, I look into Amy and Rory's tear-filled eyes. I had brought joy to someone, and it felt great. In some ways, it helped me too. Rory still didn't believe it could've hurt that bad.

"I mean, come on. Sure it's 'childbirth', but getting kicked in the balls is a lot more pain. Childbirth is meant to happen, being sacked, in the well, sack, is not supposed to happen."

"Look Rory, I've experienced both, and childbirth is like getting hit in the sack twenty times every minute."

We just laughed. It wasn't a debate, we were just having fun. That's when it all changed. Rory and I, had just had a little talk about who was tougher, so we had a mini-wrestling match. We didn't finish (I totally won), because something interrupted us. All of a sudden, the ground started to shake. It wasn't an earthquake, but it was something massive. Rory and Amy just looked at each other, conversing rapidly with their eyes.

"What is it you two?"

"Nothing!" They both said. How odd.

We went outside, to see what the fuss was about, and there were ships, hundreds of ships in the sky. Well not exactly. I think they were trying to teleport from somewhere else, and they were in mid-transmission. It was truly a sight to behold. Then before I knew it, I was being transported.