And Babies Make Five / At Long Last, a Bride: And Babies Make Five. Judy Duarte

       AND BABIES MAKE FIVE

      JUDY DUARTE

       AT LONG LAST, A BRIDE

      SUSAN CROSBY

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      Dear Reader,

      I love creating romances for Silhouette Special Edition, and I love reading them, too. Who can resist a heart warming story with real-life characters a reader can relate to? But I especially enjoy taking part in a series like The Baby Chase.

      There are times when writing can be a lonely profession, but working on a six-book continuity allows me the opportunity to be in close contact with the other authors, each one a dedicated professional who has become a friend over the years.

      The editors come up with the series idea, the characters and the conflicts. Then it’s up to the authors to make those characters come alive, to develop stories that jump off the page and to make sure the subplots line up.

      So as you settle into your easy chair and take another trip to Boston’s Armstrong Fertility Institute, you’ll meet Samantha Keating and Hector Garza. I hope you enjoy their romance as much as I enjoyed writing it.

      Happy reading!

       Judy

      www.JudyDuarte.com

       AND BABIES MAKE FIVE

      JUDY DUARTE

      About the Author

      JUDY DUARTE always knew there was a book inside her, but since English was her least favourite subject in school, she never considered herself a writer. An avid reader who enjoys a happy ending, Judy couldn’t shake the dream of creating a book of her own.

      Her dream became a reality in March of 2002, when her first book was released. Since then, she has published more than twenty novels.

      Her stories have touched the hearts of readers around the world. And in July of 2005, Judy won the prestigious Readers’ Choice Award.

      Judy makes her home near the beach in Southern California. When she’s not cooped up in her writing cave, she’s spending time with her somewhat enormous but delightfully close family.

      To the other authors in The Baby Chase series:

      Marie Ferrarella, Nancy Robards Thompson,

      Susan Crosby, Lois Faye Dyer and Allison Leigh.

      Thanks for making this book so much fun to write.

       Chapter One

      Samantha Keating was on top of the world. Just forty-five minutes earlier, she’d been at her obstetrician’s office, on edge and waiting to hear that everything was just as it should be, even though her ever-enlarging baby bump was proof that it was.

      She’d been lying on the exam table, her belly exposed and slathered in gel, as Dr. Chance Demetrios ran the ultrasound scanner over her womb.

      “Congratulations,” he’d said with a grin. “The babies look good, Mom. And we’ve got at least one boy.”

      “But are the others doing okay?” she’d asked. “They aren’t too small for you to tell?”

      Dr. Demetrios had chuckled. “They’re the right size, and they’ve got their fingers and toes, but the other two aren’t in a position where I can see the telltale signs.”

      “It really doesn’t matter,” she’d said. “I’ll love them no matter what.”

      And now, with the good news still ringing in her ears and in her heart, she couldn’t be happier.

      Four months ago, at the world-renowned Armstrong Fertility Institute, a leading biotech firm that specialized in areas of infertility and genetic testing, she’d had her procedure done. Dr. Demetrios had transplanted three embryos into her womb, hoping that one would take. It had been so clinical, so unpredictable.

      “Now all we have to do is wait,” Dr. Demetrios had said afterward.

      But Samantha had been too eager to sit around at her mother’s house and twiddle her thumbs. So before the clinic could run the official lab work, she’d taken a home pregnancy test and had been thrilled to see the results were positive.

      Then, at her first follow-up appointment at the clinic, she’d learned that she was expecting triplets, which was awesome. But it was worrisome, too. There were so many things that could go wrong.

      Thank goodness she’d made it through that difficult first trimester. With each month that passed, as the babies grew and developed, she felt more content, more hopeful. And now that she was well into her second trimester and knew that all three babies were healthy and thriving, she could finally relax and enjoy her pregnancy.

      And she could finally move back into the house she’d once shared with Peter, the house she’d left after his death. The house that had been a mansion compared to the home in which she’d grown up.

      Of course, things would never be the same—and she didn’t expect them to be. Her life was about to change dramatically—again—but this time in a wonderful way.

      She didn’t harbor any unrealistic expectations, though. It would be difficult raising three children alone. She’d realized that going in, and she fully accepted the challenge. This was a choice she’d made five years ago, a decision she would never regret.

      A lot of the women who went to the Armstrong Fertility Institute were unable to conceive, but Samantha’s circumstances had been different. She hadn’t been infertile. Instead, she’d needed medical help to conceive her late husband’s babies.

      In those dreadful days after Peter had been fatally injured in a tragic car accident, she’d sat at his bedside, grief-stricken and heartbroken, watching a myriad of bleeping machines keep him alive and realizing her hopes and dreams for a family were dying with him.

      He’d already made the decision to be a donor, so while plans were being made to harvest his organs for transplant, she’d made a spur-of-the-moment decision to extract his sperm—a secret no one knew, not even her in-laws.

      Samantha glanced in the rearview mirror at her smiling reflection, saw the maternal glimmer dancing in her eyes, the healthy glow of pregnancy on her face.

      Of course, she realized that there still could be complications up ahead, that the pregnancy was considered high risk, that the babies would probably come early. But Dr. Demetrios didn’t foresee any problems at this point, so Samantha refused to dwell on what could go wrong.

      Instead, she would focus on eating well, getting her rest and making sure she had plenty of fresh air and sunshine.

      Of course, she wouldn’t be getting any sunshine today. She glanced at the sky, with its storm clouds growing darker with each city block she passed.

      As she neared Primrose Lane, she spotted a moving van turning ahead of her and realized that her furniture would arrive on the tree-lined street just as she did.

      She wasn’t sure where she’d put the new things, since she’d taken very little with her when she left after the funeral and had gone to stay with her mom. She planned to do a bit of redecorating over the next few months and would probably get rid of more than she kept.

      There was a lot to do; she’d locked up the house after Peter’s funeral and hadn’t been back since. She’d managed to orchestrate all the ongoing maintenance work and landscaping from a distance. And just last week, she’d hired a cleaning crew to get things ready for her return.