Nine Months with Thomas (Surprise, You're Expecting!) - Softcover

Hailstock, Shirley

4.3

89 ratings by Goodreads

9780373861101: Nine Months with Thomas (Surprise, You're Expecting!)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0373861109 ISBN 13: 9780373861101

Publisher: Harlequin Kimani Romance, 2009

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Social worker Meghan Howard lived to help others. But she's the one in need after being downsized out of her job. Now the only way Meghan can get her life back on track is to accept an out-of-this-world offer from wealthy, widowed businessman Thomas Worthington-Yates.

They've decided: after Meghan fulfills her part of the agreement, she will go her own way. But workaholic Thomas is proving to be a caring, sensitive man underneath his hard-driving ways. And Meghan is finding it harder and harder to resist their growing attraction—or the sweet promise of a future, and a family, together....

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About the Author:

Shirley Hailstock likes to explore new worlds and visit exotic places. As an author, she can visit those places, and be the heroine of her own stories. The author of over thirty novels and novellas, Shirley has received numerous awards. Her books have appeared on BlackBoard, Essence and Library Journal bestseller lists. She is a past president of Romance Writers of America.

Something was wrong. Or at least different. Thomas Worthington-Yates pushed his dinner plate away and sat back in his chair. His gaze swung from his mother-in-law to his father-in-law and back again. The table was set with exquisite china and fine linen. The food was excellently prepared and beautifully presented. He'd arrived on time and Adam and Nina Russell greeted him with the same welcoming arms they had since he first appeared on their doorstep nine years ago, head over heels in love with their daughter, Ruth. Nothing was out of place or unexpected. Except the weird vibe that permeated the room.

"You don't like the food?" he asked.

Both of them looked at their plates, but neither took a bite to eat.

"The food is fine," Adam said.

"Then why aren't you eating it?" Thomas paused. "Are you feeling all right?"

"We're fine," Nina replied.

"What is it then?" he asked.

Nina lifted her eyelids to look at him, then quickly dropped them to stare at her plate of uneaten food.

"Nina? Adam?" he prompted.

"Thomas, we want to talk to you..." Nina stopped.

Thomas steeled himself. Never had his in-laws had a problem talking to him about anything. They were friends. More than friends. They were family. Nina and Adam weren't the stereotypical in-laws. They were more like his real parents. He was glad to have them. Since Ruth died, he'd remained close to them.

"What do you want to talk about?" Thomas asked, sitting back the way he did in his office overlooking the Baltimore Harbor.

"About a grandchild." The words came out in a rush.

Thomas closed his eyes for a moment and waited for the feeling of loss to wash over him. It came each time he thought of Ruth and what her death had robbed them of. The feeling of loss was there, lighter in intensity than it had been at the beginning, but still present. His chest felt hollow, as if his heart had been buried with his wife and was no longer part of his anatomy.

"I'm sorry," Thomas said, "I can't get pregnant right now."

"I know you meant that to be funny," Adam said. "But we're serious."

Thomas sat up in his chair, leaning forward on the table. His father-in-law's expression was serious, without a flicker of amusement. "What do you mean? You know I'm not seeing anyone seriously."

"We do," he said.

"And you know adoption is the only way I could possibly provide you with a child and that could take years."

"There's another way," Nina stated.

"What?" He looked from Nina to Adam. "What other way?"

That day two years ago came back to him. It was a perfect day. It was supposed to be a happy day, but it ended tragically, taking his wife, his unborn child and his ability to ever father another child. His in-laws knew that. They were the only ones who knew it.

"Thomas, don't get upset," Nina warned. She placed her hands on the table, straddling her plate, as if she needed to hold the mahogany wood to the floor.

Thomas waited. It took her a while. He wanted to shout at her to get it out, tell him what she was talking about.

"Surrogacy."

She'd spoken so softly, he could hardly hear her. "What did you say?"

"She said surrogacy," his father-in-law supplied, his voice strong and confident.

"Absolutely not!" Thomas exploded. He shot up from the chair, throwing his napkin on the table and leaving the dining room. The emptiness in his chest had become a rock. Now it weighed him down, forcing him to review what could have been, but now could never be. He needed a drink.

Thomas knew the Russells' home as well as he knew his own. He went straight to the library and subsequently to the bar. Filling a highball glass with ice, he added scotch and slung it to the back of his throat. Seconds later, his in-laws followed him.

"Think about it, Thomas," Nina continued. "This is the last chance we have of being grandparents. And it's your only chance to father a child of your own."

"Don't you think I know that?" He was rarely angry or harsh with the Russells, people he loved. While he'd never called them Mom and Dad, they were ideal in-laws, never butting into his marriage or pitting their daughter against him. When Ruth died, they were there supporting him, even though they were grieving as well. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I didn't mean to sound so bitter. It's just that without Ruth..." He stopped, unable to finish the sentence.

"We met someone who is willing to be a surrogate." Nina said after a moment. "She doesn't want children of her own, and will sign a contract to carry your and Ruth's baby. You can even be at the birth then you take your baby home."

Thomas heard the hope in his mother-in-law's voice. He also realized they'd thought about this for a while. They'd even researched it to the point of finding and interviewing a surrogate. He wondered how long this had been going on and how many women they had talked to.

"If you don't want the child, we'll raise it." She offered him a solution to what she thought might be his misgivings.

"I would be part of my child's life," he said.

Nina's shoulders dropped in relief. He knew she thought her argument had been won. "Of course, you would. And you'd be a great father."

Thomas raised his hands, stopping whatever else she was about to say. "I don't want a surrogate."

"We'd stay in touch with her. We'd answer all her questions, go with her to doctor's appointments."

"She could even stay here with us," Adam suggested.

"I won't have it," Thomas said. "The two of you know you don't need that kind of stress in your lives."

"We can handle it," Nina told him.

"Like you did with Ruth?" He took a moment to gaze at both of them. "You were on pins and needles every day of each of our attempts to get pregnant. And Ruth had a better chance of success because she had several embryos that we froze. What would it be like with a surrogate and only one frozen embryo left?"

"Thomas, what about the embryo?" Adam asked. "You can't just let it sit there."

"I can," he said. "I don't have time to babysit a surrogate right now."

"We understand that you're a busy man," Nina said. "Adam and I are willing to take care of everything. You don't have to be involved if you don't wish to."

He stared at them both, then took another swallow of his drink. "You can't," he said.

"We know we can't do anything without your permission," Adam said. "But once that's given—"

"I'm not giving it." He slammed the glass down on the bar. Nina jumped slightly. Thomas saw the look of disappointment on their faces.

"Give it some time," his father-in-law said. "Give yourself time to get used to the idea. Talk to the woman. Think about holding your own child."

"Adam, Ruth and I tried for years. You know that. The doctors say you need more than one embryo to assure success and there is only one left. It would be foolish to have a surrogate, with all that entangles, when the chances of the embryo surviving are so low."

"They're low, but they're not zero," Adam said.

"Thomas, it's the only chance we have." Nina's voice was low and desperate.

"Promise me you'll think about it?" Adam asked.

"All right," he said. "I'll think about it. But don't get your hopes up."

Nina smiled for the first time that night. Thomas felt a little happier, too. He loved his in-laws the same way he had loved his parents. Nina and Adam both had heart conditions and Thomas didn't want anything to happen to them. He'd lost his parents—first his father to cancer and then six months later his mother died of a heart attack. After seven years of marriage, Ruth had died in a car accident. He had to admit his in-laws made some good points. He felt his heart beat a little faster.

"By the way, who is the surrogate carrier? And why'd she agree to do this?"

"Her name's Meghan Howard," Adam answered.

Thomas finished the rest of his drink with a single gulp. Could this night get any worse? he wondered. He had to fly to London in three hours and now he was dealing with people who wanted a legacy and wanted him to spend his free time with a woman he didn't know.

"How old is she?"

"She's thirty. Ruth was twenty-nine," her mother reminded him. "She would have been thirty when the baby was born."

If she had lived, Thomas thought. Her birthday was a month away when the accident happened. She was three months pregnant. Longer than any of the other pregnancies had lasted. And then the accident had taken everything. Or so he thought.

But now, there was a chance. One last chance. Should he take it? He hadn't thought about the last embryo. He'd known it was there. The promise of life he and Ruth had created. When she died, Thomas had given up. His unborn child had died with his wife. But now there was a chance. A slim chance. One last possibility. What would Ruth want him to do? He'd be a single father. Was he ready for that? he wondered.

Thomas poured another drink and took a sip. He focused on Ruth's face in his mind. He missed her. They'd had such plans. And life had played an awful trick on them. But she'd left behind one last chance for them. One embryo remained viable. His in-laws had brought the idea to his mind. He could still father Ruth's child, but did he have the courage to do what she'd want without her?

Day thirty of her job search, Meghan Howard thought. It was nearly noon and she was finally dressed. At least today was better than the last twenty-nine. And she had no job interviews to be humiliated by. Every company seemed to be downsizing. She was having less and less luck finding positions and even worse luck getting interviews. Social workers were not a necessity it seemed. If she didn't find a job soon, she'd have to move out of the city, maybe even the state. Everywhere she went, people just weren't hiring.

She'd had one "job offer" from a middle-aged woman and her husband. Meghan shuddered, refusing to think about them. Their proposal was too outrageous to consider.

Who approaches a stranger in an office and asks them to have their grandchild?

Well, they weren't exactly in the office. She'd stepped into the office to ask for directions to her next job interview. Even though she'd lived outside of Baltimore all her l...

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