The Family They Chose / Private Partners. Nancy Robards Thompson

drew more blood and said he’d have to send it out to be analyzed to see if her ovaries were still producing eggs. If they were, he advised that they harvest as many as possible for future in vitro procedures because, according to the files, they’d used up the rest of her harvested eggs in the last procedure. There was still plenty of Jamison’s frozen sperm—and more where that came from—but for a future procedure to be possible, they’d need more from her.

      If not, their best chance at a family was adoption.

      The thought made her feel queasy. Not so much the thought of giving someone else’s child a home as much as the implications that it meant she would be barren.

      Either way, Chance promised to put a rush on the lab and set an appointment for her at nine o’clock in the morning on December 31.

      New Years Eve.

      On the last night of the year she would learn her fate. The last night. Her last chance.

      Olivia left Chance’s office with a heavy heart, but a firm resolve to think positive. Chance had told her to discuss the options with Jamison—as if that was going to happen—at least not in the near future, and that made things all the worse.

      As she started to tear up again, she reminded herself firmly that it wasn’t over until it was over. Right now, she just had to believe the best would happen.

      She didn’t want to see anyone as she was leaving. When she left Chance’s office, she’d mustered every ounce of calm self-control she possessed so that he wouldn’t commit her to the psych ward or make her go to the Coach House Diner. Not that there was anything wrong with the diner. She’d been there on several occasions, but today it was the last place she wanted to be. Rather than sobbing her heart out in public, she wanted to be in her own house, surrounded by familiarity and the things she loved. Maybe she’d bake some bread today. She could take it to the Children’s Home tomorrow. She was on the board of directors and was due for a visit.

      Her shoes echoed loudly on the cold, barren hallway floors of the institute, and there was no hiding when she rounded the corner and came face-to-face with her brother Derek.

      “Olivia? What are you doing here?” Derek was Paul’s twin, but the two couldn’t be more different if they came from different mothers. Where Paul was warm and personable, Derek was steely and calculating.

      Olivia’s shaking hand fluttered to her face and she swiped at her eyes. She must look a mess.

      She opened her mouth to answer him, but instead, she choked on a sob.

      “Livie, what’s wrong?” Derek demanded. The change in him was instant. One second he was the cold professional sporting his “work face,” the next he was big brother to the rescue. When he switched into that mode, Olivia automatically regressed into the role of little sister.

      The next thing she new, Derek had whisked her down the hall and into his office. Behind closed doors, she found herself blubbering and confiding in him, sister to brother, divulging the bleak prognosis Chance had just leveled and confessing her marital woes.

      Even though she wasn’t particularly close to Derek, he always managed to get her to open up whether she wanted to or not. He had a way of getting her to confess things she didn’t even share with her closest friends. Maybe it was because they were a bit removed from each other, therefore there was no risk of disappointing him or being judged.

      “Jamison doesn’t even know I’m here today.”

      Derek regarded her with a frown from across the desk, his eagle eyes sharp and piercing.

      “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Liv. Based on what you’ve told me, his not knowing might be the best thing. He wants you to wait to get pregnant, but obviously waiting might not be an option and if he won’t even discuss it … well, that gives you free rein to take matters into your own hands. Who is he to dictate what you can and can’t do with your body?”

      Olivia felt sheepish. “Well, he is my husband.”

      Derek slapped the desk. “I know that, but he doesn’t own you. If you want a kid, then you should have a kid. Especially you. If we were talking about Lisa, I’d be singing another tune, but you were born to be a mother.”

      Heat spread across Olivia’s face and she felt every bit the old-fashioned, 1950s housewife. Their sister, Lisa, ran with the big boys. Even though she was the baby of the family, she had no trouble matching her brothers move for move.

      “I mean if Demetrios is right—and I’d stake my own reputation on him—then you have no time to waste.”

      Olivia chewed on her French manicured index fingernail, hoping to stave off another wave of tears before she could speak. Once she’d composed herself, she said, “Going on what Dr. Demetrios said, if we’re not able to harvest my eggs, this is all a moot point. So please don’t hold it against Jamison, Derek.”

      Derek frowned. “I thought we’d stored your eggs?”

      Olivia shook her head. “We used them up in the last in vitro attempt.”

      Derek squinted at her, a look that concerned her because when he pulled that expression he’d usually latched on to an idea that wasn’t always conventional. Then he turned to his computer and started tap-tapping on the keys.

      “What are you doing?”

      He didn’t answer her, but instead donned a pair of reading glasses and focused intently on his computer screen. A moment later, he said, “I’ve pulled up your file. I see we still have plenty of Jamison’s tadpoles frozen away. Reports indicate that they’re healthy and viable.”

      Olivia shifted in her seat. “Yes, but they’re no good if I can’t bring my half to the table.”

      “Not necessarily.”

      Derek pursed his lips and pinned her with his intense gaze. He had his work face on again and was firmly back in professional mode. But she recognized something else in his expression.

      Olivia knew from experience that her brother’s line between right and unethical was sometimes a little blurred. She had a feeling that what he was about to say next might be a little speculative.

      Even so, she heard herself asking, “What do you mean?”

      Derek didn’t answer immediately. He paused as if giving her a chance to retract her question and get away. But she sat there as if bolted to the seat.

      Derek folded his hands and rested them on his desk. Then he leaned in.

      “How would you feel about using donor eggs?”

      Olivia cocked her head to the side, “I couldn’t do that.”

      Derek moistened his lips. His eyes darted from side to side. Then he pinned her with his steely gaze.

      “Why not? Demetrios could fertilize a donor egg with Jamison’s sperm and the zygote could be implanted in you to carry it to term. Voilà! You’d have your baby. Problem solved.”

      Olivia pulled back as if her brother had offered her poison.

      “Derek, it wouldn’t be my baby.”

      “Olivia—” his tone mocked her “—no one outside this room has to know.”

      “Chance Demetrios would know. Do you remember me telling you that we were just talking about how my biological cupboard is bare?”

      Derek rolled his eyes.

      “Wonder boy doesn’t know everything that goes on around this place. You have no idea the secrets we keep in here. There’s a whole section of classified files to which only a select few have access.”

      His maniacal expression made her uncomfortable, and for a moment she wondered if he’d gone a little mad.

      “If I tell Demetrios we have a special emergency stash of your eggs, he’ll believe me.”