The Doctor's Pregnant Bride? (15 page)

She looked…lost. He wanted her to confide in him, to break down in his arms if that was what she needed. He wanted to be the only man with the right to do that.

He wanted to make babies with her. Maybe he already had. And he didn’t want any child of his to grow up without both parents in a loving home.

“Marry me,” he said.

She jerked back. Her expression was one either of shock or horror. “What?”

“Marry me. Please.”

“Ted, please. I can’t deal with this right now. Everything is too raw.”

“Raw? In what way? You can’t deal with a marriage proposal?”

“Not right now. I have to go. Please leave me alone for now. I have a lot to think about.” She rushed out, leaving him standing and staring and bewildered.

Chance came in before the door had closed all the way. “What’s going on with Sara Beth? It’s like she didn’t even see me.”

“She’s upset about something.”

“That call from her mother?”

“I would assume, yes.”

Chance laid a hand on Ted’s shoulder. “And what’s your excuse? You look like hell.”

He spoke without thinking. “I proposed to her. She didn’t seem to appreciate it.” An understatement, he thought.

“Proposed? I didn’t know you were dating.”

“For a month or so. She could be pregnant, Chance.”

Chance dropped into a chair. “You’re the last person I ever would’ve thought might accidentally get a woman pregnant.”

“I’m a little stunned myself.” He sat down next to his friend. “I don’t want anyone to think we had to get married. I want her to marry me so there’s no question about it.”

“So you want to marry her whether or not she’s pregnant?”

“Yeah.” It struck him like lightning then. He loved her. Forever-after loved her.

“So,” Chance drawled. “Knowing you as I do, I’m going to guess that you proposed without the trappings.”

“Trappings? I don’t know what you mean.”

“The traditional big deal, Ted. The roses and candlelight and perfect meal. The pledge of undying love. The special moment she’ll want to paste in her mental scrapbook forever. Those trappings. The bare essentials.”

He hadn’t even come close. He hadn’t even told her that he loved her. They’d been standing in the research lab. He should have told her. “I screwed it up. Big-time. No wonder she didn’t appreciate it.” Well, that and whatever her mother had said to her. His lack of sensitivity wasn’t anything new, he supposed, but she was different. He’d noticed she was upset, but hadn’t taken it into consideration, just forged ahead with his proposal as if her feelings hadn’t mattered. He wasn’t usually so egotistical.

“It’s not too late,” Chance said. “It’ll just take some planning. If you’re interested, I’ve got some ideas.”

They came up with a plan, which was good, because Ted liked plans he could follow. Then he made phone calls to set the works in motion.

He was planning more than the bare essentials, but would it be enough?

T
he beautiful house where Sara Beth had spent a good deal of her childhood seemed cold now, and unwelcoming. She climbed the steps and rang the bell, her heart heavy, her legs feeling like she wore concrete shoes.

The door opened. Sara Beth thought she might get sick right there on the landing.

“What are you doing here?” Emily Armstrong asked, her tone haughtier than usual.

“I need to talk to you. Please.”

“We have nothing to say.” She started to shut the door.

“Don’t make me create a scene. I will try, if I have to, to be loud enough that…Dr. Armstrong could hear me.”

“Blackmail? How lovely.” But she allowed Sara Beth
inside, took her to the dayroom that was Emily’s personal space, a sunny, feminine room. “Make it fast.”

Sara Beth hadn’t been invited to sit, so she didn’t. “My mother told me everything this morning.”

“I thought she would.” Emily took a seat in a flower-upholstered wingback chair that looked like a throne.

“I only want one thing, Mrs. Armstrong. A chance to talk to Dr.—my father. Just once. Then I’ll leave you both alone. And in return you have my promise to keep the secret forever.”

“And quit your job.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Then, no deal.”

“What do you expect to gain by telling everyone about me? About your husband’s affair? How is that better than me simply keeping the secret?”

Her eyes turned icy. “He broke his promise to me. He said he would never see her alone again.”

“So, it’s revenge? What will it gain you?”

“Sympathy, I imagine.”

“I understand he broke your trust. I would be furious and hurt, too. But telling the world will only hurt your children.”

She picked a piece of lint off her sharply creased pants. “The casualties of war.”

Sara Beth decided her mother was right. Emily was bluffing. She would not hurt her children that way.

“Until I was fourteen,” Sara Beth said, “I loved you like a second mother. I thought you were so elegant, such a lady. And I always appreciated how you let me
hang out here, and let Lisa spend the night with me, how you accepted me as part of your family. When that changed—when I was fourteen and you found out about me, I guess—I was devastated. I didn’t know what I’d done. I cried about it a lot. Lisa’s and my relationship faltered until we both started college, and she didn’t have to account for her whereabouts anymore.”

Sara Beth approached Emily, understanding how hurt she’d been that her husband had strayed—and with a woman whose child she’d accepted almost as her own, not knowing the connection. “Thank you for what you gave me. I appreciate it more than I can say. But I’m not leaving the institute. It’s my home and my passion.”

She walked out of the room, hoping Emily would follow her, to say it would be all right for her to see her father.

It didn’t happen. She wasn’t hailed back. And when she got home, there was no message on her answering machine saying she’d changed her mind, and to please return.

The silence was devastating.

Now what? It wasn’t worth going back to work for the short time that remained of the workday, to try to pretend that her world hadn’t just been turned upside down. She didn’t want to see Ted, either—

Ted. He’d asked her to marry him.

Where had that come from?
Marry me
, he’d said. That was all.

She wasn’t pregnant—well, she didn’t know if she was pregnant—so why had he bothered? If he’d loved
her, he would’ve said so. And then there was the issue with his parents, who had plans for their son. Plans that didn’t include a woman who couldn’t admit that the famous family tree she’d come from had to be kept secret—and who was also the result of an affair, anyway.

Not exactly parent-pleasing credentials.

She wanted to cry, to throw things, to stomp and wail and rend clothing. Instead she crawled into bed and pulled the quilt over her head. It didn’t stop the thoughts from swirling. She needed to get out of the house, focus on something else for a while—

As if she could really be distracted. Right. Sure.

Sara Beth flopped the bedding away from her face, ready to take some kind of action. Ted loomed over her.

She gasped, her heart pounding. She couldn’t scrape out a word.

“I want to take you someplace,” he said quietly, gently, sitting beside her.

“Okay.”

A beat passed. “That was easier than I expected.”

He hadn’t known her thoughts. He’d just come along at the right time, a lifeguard tossing a float to a drowning victim.

He held out a hand to her, helping her stand up. She saw him look her over, and take note that she was still wearing her shoes while in bed.

“Want to talk about it?” he asked.

“Not yet.” Maybe not ever. She didn’t know if she would ever tell another living soul what she’d learned
today. “You proposed to me,” she said, deciding to jump that hurdle before it blocked their way.

He smiled a little. “Let’s just shelve that for now, okay? Let’s just go have some fun.”

Startled, worried that they
would
have to talk about it, she agreed instantly. “That’s a deal.”

She finally noticed he was wearing a suit—and a crisp white shirt and red tie. Red? It was so un-Ted-like, she ran her hand down it, then patted his stomach. He sucked it in.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“It’s a surprise.”

She studied his face and the tender expression that she didn’t dare try to interpret. “I’m guessing I should dress up?”

“That dress you wore on my birthday brings back fond memories, especially what you wore underneath.”

“You mean my fabulous muscle tone?” The fact she could joke said a lot about how comfortable she felt with him. His expression changed, too, from concerned to relieved.

He slid his arms around her waist, moved his hands down her rear, bringing her hips to his. “Anytime you need to talk, I’m here, Sara Beth.”

“I know that. For tonight, this girl just wants to have fun.”

He kissed her before he let her go, the softest, most tender kiss he’d ever given her. Tears pricked her eyes. She hugged him hard, then she went to make herself
look beautiful, figuring that at some point he would either repeat the proposal or apologize for it.

She wasn’t sure which she wanted to hear, was ready to hear. It was all too much at once….

Which was a lie. She wanted him to repeat it.

“First a limo and now a private jet?” Sara Beth stared out the car window at the sleek jet with the stairs leading up to it. “How did you swing this? And why?”

“I wanted to wine and dine you in style. Something wrong with that? The plane belongs to an old friend, Rourke Devlin. A fellow Eagle Scout, by the way. It’s how we met.”

“I like him already.” She smiled, took one last bite of a strawberry, then finished the sparkling cider in her flute. She hadn’t commented on the lack of champagne, knowing he was just looking out for her in case she was pregnant, which meant he was as aware of the possibility as she was. She’d accepted the glass without a word.

The limo driver opened the door and helped her out. Ted followed, took her hand and led her up the stairs into the plane. “This is so much fun!” she said. “Thank you.”

“The night has just begun.”

She wouldn’t have guessed he had a lot of romantic gestures in his arsenal, and maybe she was being hit by every one of them tonight, but it didn’t matter if it was a one-time adventure. She wanted the memory.

Tomorrow she would have to face her future—whatever Emily Armstrong decided to do—but tonight she would enjoy herself.

“So are you going to tell me where we’re going?” she asked, when she was buckled in.

“New York City.” He presented her with another glass of sparkling cider and a tray of appetizers—prosciutto-wrapped asparagus, a variety of cheese and crackers, more strawberries. “To tide you over.”

There was so much to talk about, yet neither of them did much talking. They looked out the window, tried to identify cities and landmarks, kept things light and simple, while beneath the surface, emotions bubbled, at least for her.

She caught him staring at her, his expression so serious that she cupped his face and kissed him before he said anything to change the happy mood.

Another limo awaited them. They were whisked away to Central Park, where a carriage took them for a long spin around the park, the night cold and clear. She couldn’t remember them ever saying so little. Until now, they’d always had things to say.

By the time they reached the famous Boat House restaurant, tension had wrapped around them. They were seated at a table overlooking the lake.

She didn’t think she could eat a thing, she’d gotten so worked up. Whatever had made her think she could just have an evening of fun with him? She’d learned today that her mother had had an affair with a man Sara Beth had known all her life, without knowing he was her father. That his wife was justifiably angry about it, but planning to take revenge on Sara Beth, the innocent victim in the whole affair.

And the man she loved had parents who would never accept her. Yet if she was pregnant, she wanted to marry him….

She wanted to marry him anyway, but she didn’t want to burden him with the fact she was not just a child of artificial insemination, lacking the knowledge of her father’s identity, but instead the child of an illicit affair, her father a wealthy, powerful man to rival Ted’s own.

“You’ve stopped having fun,” Ted said, after the waiter had taken their order for Caesar salad and grilled swordfish.

“I’m sorry to ruin the beautiful evening you planned. It’s wonderful, truly. I’m just…” Her burdens came crashing down. She couldn’t keep them at bay for much longer. She was ready to fall apart, ready to cry.

She’d put off reacting to everything she’d learned—had it just been today? Now she had to pay the consequences.

Ted gave her a long look then signaled the waiter and whispered something to him. He returned in a moment with a silver covered dish and presented it to Sara Beth, pulling off the lid, revealing a nosegay of white roses.

Ted reached for her hand. “I love you, Sara Beth.”

She pressed her face into the fragrant bouquet, her eyes stinging, her throat burning, heart racing. When she lifted her head, Ted was beside her, on one knee, holding an open ring box with a gorgeous diamond and sapphire engagement ring.

“I love you. I want to spend my days and nights with you. Please marry me.”

She looked into his hopeful eyes and saw true love there. More than anything she wanted to say yes, but what came out was, “I can’t.”

S
tunned, Ted watched Sara Beth run off. Everyone was staring at the man on bended knee, the meaning of which couldn’t have been lost on anyone. In that scenario, however, usually the woman smiled, misted up, said an enthusiastic yes and threw her arms around the man.

Chance had been wrong. Even the trappings hadn’t mattered. She didn’t love him—yet—in return. He should’ve waited for her to say it first. Now he’d embarrassed them both.

Ted canceled their dinner order, since he was sure she wouldn’t want to sit there and have dinner as if nothing had happened. He dropped the ring box in his pocket. She’d taken the bouquet with her.

“Sir?” The waiter leaned close to him. “We think your companion needs you.”

Ted sprang up. “Where is she?”

“The ladies’ room, sir.” He pointed. “Through there and to the right.”

Ladies’ room? How was he supposed to help her there? “Did she ask for me?”

“No, sir, but she is apparently having some difficulty—”

Ted took off running. He didn’t hesitate when he got to the restroom but slammed the door open and rushed in. He found her on a small sofa, crying like he’d never seen anyone cry before. It broke his heart.

“Sara Beth,” he said softly, soothingly.

She went silent for a moment. “Go away.” She started crying again, trying so hard not to that her whole body shook.

“I’m not going away.” He looked around for some tissue, found a box and passed her a few, then he sat beside her.

The door opened. A woman looked inside, saw them, then backed out.

“You’re in the ladies’ room,” Sara Beth told him, wiping her eyes.

“There’s a first time for everything.”

“Dr. Armstrong is my father.”

He almost didn’t catch what she said. She had the tissues pressed to her nose and wasn’t looking at him. After a moment the words sank in.

“Is that what your mother told you today?”

She nodded. “I said I wouldn’t tell anyone, but you’re a doctor. You have to keep secrets.”

He didn’t remind her that she wasn’t his patient and this wasn’t a medical issue, because it didn’t make any difference. He would never share her secret.

“So, Dr. Armstrong was using his own sperm to help impregnate the women who came to the clinic?” he said. “That’s happened before, unfortunately.”

“No, Ted. They had an affair,” she whispered.

Ted felt his jaw drop. Because she started to cry again, he wrapped his arms around her and didn’t let go as she told him the whole story, including how she’d gone to see Emily Armstrong.

After a while, a knock came on the door, and the manager came in, saying that if they needed a private place, he could let them use his office.

They decided to return to where the limo waited for them. She clutched the bouquet, but barely made eye contact with Ted.

The driver took them to a building on Park Avenue.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“Rourke’s penthouse. He’s out of town. In Boston, actually. He said we were welcome to use it tonight….” Of course, Ted had thought they would be celebrating.

“I didn’t bring anything with me to stay over.”

He’d had fun buying something red and lacy, but now didn’t seem to be the time to bring it up. “It doesn’t matter. You must be tired.”

She nodded, although her spirits seemed to be on
the mend. He took advantage of the moment, in case he was right.

“One question first, please, then I won’t bring it up again.” Tonight, anyway. He wrapped her hands in his. “Do you love me?”

She didn’t say anything for a few seconds, then finally, as if she was in pain, “Yes. With all my heart.”

Relief struck first, then he dug for patience, usually easy to find. “Then why can’t you marry me?”

“If I’m pregnant, we’ll talk about it again. Maybe I should take a test. It might give us an answer.”

“I don’t want to know. I don’t care. It doesn’t make a difference to me if you’re pregnant or not. I want to marry you, no matter what. Right now.”

She swallowed. He thought he’d finally gotten through to her, until she said, “Have you thought about your parents?”

“What? What about them?”

“They have big plans for you. They want you to marry a woman of your own kind.”

He almost laughed. “My own kind?”

“You know what I mean. Not the daughter of—” She shook her head. “I’m so used to not knowing half of my parentage. Now, instead of thinking I was conceived scientifically, I have to remember I was conceived when my father cheated on his wife. What do you think your parents will think of that?”

“It’s none of their business. That’s what I think.”

“Well,
I
think they love you and want you to marry the right person.”

Her logic, or lack thereof, was starting to make its own kind of sense. “So, let me get this straight. You love me, but you won’t marry me, even though I don’t care whether you’re pregnant or not, because you think my parents might disown me or something?” He waited for her to confirm it. When she didn’t, he cupped her face, making her look into his eyes, willing her to see what was in his heart. “Marry me. Tonight. We’ll take Rourke’s jet and fly to Las Vegas. I want to have the right to show that I love you in public. And if you happen to be pregnant already, I’d rather no one know we jumped the gun. Not for me, Sara Beth, but for you, and our child, if there is one. Let me protect you from the gossip, please. Marry me tonight.”

“Okay.” Her voice was breathless and full of joy. “I love you, Ted.”

He grinned and finally kissed her, said he loved her again, then dug into his pocket for the ring. He slipped it on her finger, pressed his lips to the soft skin above it, then tucked both of her hands in his lap.

“We’ll need witnesses,” he said.

“Lisa.”

“Will you be able to handle that, knowing what you know now?”

“She’s both my best friend and my sister. She’s the only one I want to stand up with me. How about you? Chance?”

“Yeah.”

She took a deep breath. “Our parents.”

He shook his head.

“We can’t not invite them, Ted. If I were a parent, I
would be so hurt not to be invited to my child’s wedding. It’ll be their choice. They can say no, but we can’t leave them out. What kind of beginning to our marriage would that be? Your parents would blame me for denying them the chance to see their only child get married. My mom would blame you. It could take a long time to soothe those particular hurt feelings. At the very least we have to tell them before it happens, not after.”

He thought it over, saw the hopeful look in her eyes. “My parents are in Toronto.”

“I can’t believe you’re making excuses. That suggests to me that you do think they’ll object to—”

“No. I don’t, Sara Beth. I just want to get married without making a big production of it.”

“I wouldn’t call this wedding a big production.”

She was right. “Okay, I do see your point. So, it looks like we have a lot of phone calls to make.” He touched her hair. “Are you upset about not having the big, white wedding? Is it something you’ve dreamed about?”

“Maybe a little, but that was a girlhood fantasy. The reality is just fine.”

“You are one incredible woman,” he said.

She smiled and kissed him. “Don’t you forget it.”

It was the strangest, most wonderful whirlwind of Sara Beth’s life, full of joy and surprises. First came the phone calls to Boston. Lisa whooped so loudly that Sara Beth had to pull the phone away from her ear. It was so hard not to blurt out that they were sisters, but Sara Beth had talked it over with Ted and decided to keep it
to herself for now. Maybe the right time would come, but it wasn’t today.

Chance came next but he’d been called in for a difficult delivery of triplets, plus he had no one to cover for him. He was disappointed that he couldn’t attend, but promised to throw Ted a postwedding bachelor party.

Sara Beth called her mother next, inviting her to join them at the airport, to fly to the wedding, to be part of it. Sara Beth had held her breath, waiting for a question or an “Are you sure?” It never came. She said she’d be there with bells on.

Ted hadn’t called his parents in front of her, and all he said was they’d try to make it. Sara Beth wanted to delay the event until they could, but Ted slowly shook his head.

Sara Beth refused to be hurt for herself, but she was sorry for Ted.

Ted’s friend Rourke Devlin insisted on coming along and being the best man. When he climbed onto the plane,
his
plane, Sara Beth recognized him, remembered seeing him at Shots with Ted and Chance, solving that mystery. Then a new intrigue began as Rourke and Lisa made eye contact and went still for a few seconds. Lisa glanced away first, but Sara Beth caught them sneaking looks at each other the whole flight to Las Vegas.

It didn’t matter that their flight landed in the middle of the night. The city was lit and teeming with tourists. They checked into the Bellagio, had something to eat, got a few hours of sleep, then Sara Beth, her mother and Lisa shopped for a wedding dress, finding a stunning white sheath scattered with a few beads to give it sparkle.

She felt beautiful.

At high noon, she linked her arm through her mother’s and moved to the top of the aisle, ready to marry the man she loved, who looked at her with such love in return that it stopped her stomach from churning.

Then she saw his parents sitting in the front row, and joy filled her, warm and satisfying, completing her beautiful day. They stood, were smiling at her, as was Ted, who’d changed his tie to one she’d bought him covered with teddy bears. She carried the bouquet he’d given her in New York.

The processional music started. Lisa gave her a thumbs-up. Rourke cupped Ted’s shoulder and said something that made him smile. Holding hands, Ted’s parents eyed him as Sara Beth and her mother came down the aisle, Ted smiling at her. She beamed back.

He was right. Whether or not she was pregnant, this was good—perfect, in fact.

The ceremony was short but memorable, their I-dos followed by a kiss she would always remember. They didn’t walk back up the aisle but greeted everyone where they stood. Got hugs from Lisa and Grace. Congratulations from Rourke.

Then Ted’s parents approached.

Penny took Sara Beth’s hand. “All his life, I’ve been wondering who he would choose, hoping he would find his soul mate, as I did mine. You make him happy. I’ve never heard him sound so carefree, and he’s obviously so much in love. Thank you for bringing that to him.” She kissed Sara Beth’s cheek.

“Thank you,” Sara Beth whispered, close to tears. “He’s truly a gift in my life.”

“Sara Beth,” Brant Bonner said.

She waited, not expecting anything but kind words now. Still her pulse pounded in her ears as she waited for what he had to say.

“I know I didn’t have the privilege of watching you grow up, like I did my son. I’ll bet you were a beautiful, mischievous child.” He smiled and looked to Grace for confirmation, receiving it in a nod and return smile.

“I know you didn’t have a father around to make your life easier in ways that fathers can. But I want you to know that I’d be honored if you called me Dad.”

Tears started to fall from Sara Beth’s eyes, blurring her vision. “Thank you. Yes, I’d like to do that. Dad.”

Everyone laughed a little shakily, then Brant pulled something from behind his back, a soft brown teddy bear with a red heart sewn on its chest. “Welcome to the family, daughter.”

Sara Beth reached for it, this amazing symbol, such a small thing to bind people together. “You told him how much I ached for a father,” she said to Ted, brushing at her tears. “About the teddy bear.”

“Yes. And I won’t apologize—” Ted emphasized.

She put a hand to his mouth, stopping the words. “No one’s ever done what you’ve done—anything so kind, so thoughtful,
so loving
for me—and that’s saying a lot, Ted, because I have a lot of great friends, and a wonderful mother.”

Their guests had walked away, giving them a mo
ment. “I am the luckiest woman alive. I love you so much.” She went up on tiptoe to kiss him.

And the absentminded scientist gave her his single-minded attention, a silent promise that she would always come first.