Surrogate Father

"About time, you two," Shanti said, "What were you doing?"

"Uh, nothing," I lied. Five minutes later Neha and I would have been under the sheets. "Just going over the colours."

"Hi, Mom," Neha said brightly as she came over to give her mother a hug. My wife took a look at her, and I detected a slight nod from Neha. "Look at you," my wife said, a relieved tone in her voice. "You have the look of a newly-wed. Have you been naughty with your father, Neha?"

To say I was shocked would be an understatement. I have always wondered since then why I had not succumbed to a heart-attack at that instant. Shanti and Neha started laughing at the blank expression on my face. "Priceless," Shanti said as she almost doubled over with laughter. Did she know, I wondered? How much, then? Would she -

Neha put her arms protectively around me and drew me closer to herself. I could smell her scent, and I had to fight even harder to keep my hands from grabbing her. "Daddy," she muzzled lovingly. "It's alright, Mom knows."

"God, how?"

"You remember I told you I wanted a family of my own. Well, I went over prospective chromosomes and decided that the best ones belonged to you. So I asked mother about it. Of course, since I didn't know how you would feel about it, I was planning on invitro - "

"But I told her that it was too costly," my wife interrupted. "There were other cheaper, far more interesting ways to get your sperm into her body. Besides, no clinic with ethics would permit the father's sperm for fertilisation - leaves them open for lawsuits later on. You won't believe how quickly Neha agreed to the suggestion. I mean, all I had to do was mention it and she was ready to jump on your bones then and there itself."

At this, Neha blushed. "So what you are telling me," I asked, putting on a show of self-righteous indignation, "Is that you two have planned this from the start."

My wife was not impressed with my acting. "Don't give me that tone, old man, all you had to do was carry her to your bedroom and spin the daylights out of her, but instead, you chose to be the prim and proper father. Neha was getting worried that you might reject her. She desperately wants a loan from your sperm bank, Dipak, so maybe you should start on the paperwork right now."

Neha started to lead me back into the bedroom, and I absently followed her. As we walked into the bedroom, I could sense my wife's amused eyes following us. Neha shut the door and we plunged into 'work...'i]k