Chapter 3: Delivering My Breast Milk

EILEEN POV:

I snickered. “This is the best joke I have heard all day!” I chuckled.

If the job was legit, it would check all the boxes. Lucy knew my struggle. I pumped that morning because I was sore and had to put the bag in the freezer. Bethany was weaning and slowly transitioning into soft foods. In the last few months, I cut down on nursing, leaving my breasts feeling sore and engorged constantly.

“I think it’s a joke. Who has wet nurses in this day and age?” she laughed and rolled her eyes. “But in this part of the world? Rich people do weird shit,” she whispered as she picked up her phone. “The curiosity is killing me. So, I’m going to call and see what the fuss is about!”

“Lucy, no!” I hissed as she dialed the number. I reached over to snatch the phone, but she turned away and put distance between us.

Her shoulders shook with laughter. I saw the call going through. “Where is your sense of adventure? You need to have some fun, sis!”

“Hang up right now!” I said through clenched teeth.

“Hi!” Her voice was completely different from seconds before. “I saw your listing for a wet nurse and wanted to inquire the details.” I had to give it to her… she sounded professional and genuinely interested.

She stayed quiet as she listened to the person on the other end speak. “Well, I was calling on behalf of my sister.”

I shook my head vigorously, but Lucy had her back turned to me.

“Oh, that’s a shame,” she muttered under her breath. In that moment, I wished she had put the call on speaker. “Oh, wow. I will check with her, but I think she is available and can make it.”

Lucy leaned over the kitchen counter and hastily scribbled down some numbers before hanging up.

I sucked in a breath.

“Lucy, what the hell?” I asked with my hands on my hips. “You told some random creepy that I could make it?” Did I have to give my adult sister a lecture on stranger danger?

“It’s not what you think,” she explained, holding her hand over her head in surrender. “It wasn’t some creepy guy… It was a woman. She put up the listing because her nephew is allergic to all baby formula and can’t keep anything down. She is willing to pay a thousand dollars for your time and a few bottles. I figured that you had all that in the freezer and you could just give it to her.”

I bit my lip. “Women can be creepy too. You never know…”

“She sounded legit. Concerned. I don’t think this is some weird shit.” Lucy sighed. “A thousand dollars would really help, you know.”

I stared at her in silence. I shouldn’t have entertained the idea, but that amount of money was difficult to pass up.

I started to tear up.

“It would. I would have the first half of your tuition,” I whispered.

“Does that mean you are doing it?” Lucy questioned hopefully.

“I don’t know… It seems too good to be true,” I said, chewing on my lip.

“How much would you pay to save Bethany?” Lucy questioned out of the blue.

“I would give up everything I have,” I replied without a second thought. “But a thousand dollars? That is a lot of money… especially in this economy.”

“The address she gave me is from the hills. The people who live there use a thousand dollars to wipe their butts. She must be stinking rich.”

I picked up the paper and stared at her scribbles, still apprehensive. “I can’t believe I am really thinking about doing it.” I groaned before tapping my finger on the counter with finality. “One hour. If I don’t call you back in an hour, call the cops and tell them where I went.”

Lucy’s smile was blinding. “Don’t worry. I won’t let you die. And I will surely inform them that you were lured away with a fifty-year-old man with a breast milk fetish, and he probably locked you up in his basement to milk you like a cow,” she joked. Then she turned serious. “Jokes aside, the aunt said you have to tell the security at the gate that you have a parcel for Harry.”

‘Who the hell is Harry? The creepy old man?’

She saw my face contort with worry, but pressed on. “Trust me, I have a good feeling about this.” And Lucy had a keen gut, which made me think there was some magic left in her that didn’t pass on to me.

My cellphone had run out of date. And didn’t those YouTube finance bros always say to cut out small costs and save money to become a millionaire? Yeah, so I didn’t renew the pack, so I could only write down the directions before I left the apartment.

The directions were easy to follow, but thirty minutes later, I found myself at the incorrect location. The houses were grand… the size was beyond my imagination. Every house had security surrounding it. A uniformed guard was stationed outside in a small house overlooking the mansion I was standing in front of. I pulled up to the gate hesitantly.

“Miss, you can’t stop here,” the guard said, peering out of the window.

“I… I have a delivery for Harry,” I stumbled out the words, feeling stupid. This was definitely a prank, and I would have the cops called on me for being dumb and believing it. I imagined explaining to the cops, who inevitably arrested me, what brought me to the house.

‘Officer, I was just delivering my breast milk.’

I was about to put the car in reverse and flee when the guard nodded. “You can go up the driveway. Park anywhere in the circle.”

My brain glitched for a second as I processed the information.

I drove up the long driveway and gasped when the most beautiful house I had ever seen came into my view. The word ‘huge’ was not a good descriptor for it. It made the palaces in movies look shabby in comparison. I wondered how many people lived inside and what they did to afford such a place. Surely it was not rented.

I parked my car and cringed at how it looked like a used diet coke can in comparison to its surroundings. I took a cleansing breath and slid out. I tucked the small insulation bag under my arm before I rang the bell.

I expected a servant to answer. Instead, it was a woman in her early thirties. She had beautiful red hair that framed her face, and her blue eyes were a stark contrast to her perfect skin. I couldn’t help but smile back at her.

“Oh god, thank you for coming. I’m Leigh, by the way. Please come inside?”

I knew it wasn’t a good idea, but the grandeur of the place had diminished my self-preservation. I nodded slowly before I entered the house. I tried my best not to stare in awe at the décor.

She must have noticed my expression because she jumped to explain, “This is my brother’s house. His… girlfriend has a… unique aesthetic sense.”

I nodded dumbly, unsure what to do in response.

“Again, thank you so much for coming. I didn’t think anyone would respond. It’s an odd request, but we don’t have any other option remaining.”

Again, I nodded blankly. An awkward silence fell between us before Leigh spoke again. “Is that it?” she inquired, pointing to the insulation bag I was carrying.

“Yes. I brought it in a cooler. You… you need to run the bag under warm water first,” I explained.

“I remember,” Leigh said.

My brows furrowed in confusion, and she continued, “I have two daughters myself, but they don’t nurse anymore. I would have offered to feed Harry if I had a supply.” She sighed with a wistful look on her face.

“Let’s get down to business, shall we? Follow me into the study.” She motioned to a smaller room to the left of the foyer I was standing on.