by T. S. Ryder
“Thank you for all your help, Mom.” I hugged her tightly as I felt movement inside of my stomach, giggling aloud at it. Our daughter was active already. Mom pulled back and looked at me with a curious smile as I pointed to my stomach. “Someone else is getting involved in the party.”
“As she should,” Mom beamed as we looked down at my stomach.
We walked out and Lainie rushed by me to take her place at the end of the aisle. It was made with various flower petals to look like the flowers in the meadow. I didn’t want to settle on just one color. I wanted them all. Dad joined me as Mom walked quietly to her seat. I peered around the corner and saw Mason headed down the aisle with our rings. He looked so handsome in the tuxedo that matched his daddy’s. He was so happy about this. It made me want to cry but I held it in, taking a deep breath.
I waited for the music, feeling my heart pounding and my baby dancing away inside of me. I took Dad’s arm and held my colorful bouquet in my hand as we stepped into the view of the crowd.
It was a perfect August day with a slight breeze, enough to keep it cool for all of us. I felt the light veil blow down my back as I smiled and looked at my son, standing so proudly in front of Carter. I smiled at him and then glanced up to see Carter’s handsome face. It was full of emotions. One look and I knew we’d both be crying through this. It felt like we went through so much to get to this point. I walked to the sound of the music, looking ahead to the future. I was getting the future that I always wanted and I smiled as Carter stared into my eyes.
I was happy now. I was complete.
*****
THE END
Paranormal Shifter Romance: The Shifter's Secret Twins
Description
What do you do when your one-night stand turns out to be your new shifter doctor?
Single mom Lana Flores needs a distraction. Badly. So when she meets a hot and bossy guy twenty years her senior at a ball, she doesn’t think twice. Shame she’ll never see him again after their hot night together.
Until she meets her new doctor.
Simon Wolfe is a world-renowned doctor leading a breakthrough study using shifter blood. Plus he’s a shifter himself. An incredibly gorgeous one. In the bedroom, he is king. The only women he doesn’t sleep with are his patients. That would be so unprofessional.
Until Lana.
She’s way too young for him. Not to mention his patient. But she makes his Wolf howl.
She needs his help though. And not only because he’s the best doctor. Her cute little twins have starting shifting into wolf pups. Apparently the sperm donor was a shifter. Maybe the doctor can help track him down?
But Lana and Simon are in for a surprise. And before they know it, all bets are off…
Chapter One – Lana
When did walking start being so difficult?
Lana dragged her feet up the sidewalk to her step-sister's modest bungalow, feeling like a puppet that had its strings cut. After the day she had just had, she was surprised that she had mustered up the strength to drive back there. All she wanted to do was curl up in bed and cry. She had known something was wrong, but this . . . This was exactly what she had been praying would not happen.
The roses under the bungalow's windows were all in bloom, and Lana took a moment to soak in the life around her before squaring her shoulders and entering the house. Kari might have been ten years older than her, but she was still emotionally fragile, and it wasn't going to be easy to tell her. And the girls . . . She needed to tell them, too. But how could she explain cancer in a way a three-year-old would understand?
Kari was in the kitchen, wrapping up the little handmade soaps that she liked to make as gifts for the neighbors when Lana entered. The room was perfumed with mild floral scents. Kari smiled brightly, though worry was in her eyes.
"Hey. How was the doctor's?"
Lana wasn't ready to tell her what the diagnosis was right away. She had already cried herself out at the doctor's and felt too tired to say it out loud. "She's referring me to a specialist."
Kari's eyes widened. "It's that bad?"
"Were the girls good?"
"Little angels, like always," Kari said after a beat. "They're just watching TV right now. I know you don't like them having a lot of electronic time, but we just got home from the park and we were finger painting all morning. They looked about ready to go to sleep but wouldn’t lie down, so I let them watch some old Care Bears."
"I bet Peter loved that," Lana said drily, referring to Kari's three-year-old son.
Kari shrugged. "That's what the girls wanted to watch, and he didn't fuss about it."
It was odd to hear about all three children agreeing on something. Normally Evie and Elaine were at each other's throats about everything. For some reason, they thought they should do everything together, including eating the same foods and wearing the same clothes. Yet, the two of them couldn’t be more different. Evie liked science as well as discovering things and preferred sensible clothing. If Elaine had her way, she'd wear princess dresses all the time while playing in the mud and telling stories about how she was actually a fairy godmother. Why they thought they always had to match was beyond Lana. As for Peter, he was easily overstimulated and the twins could be exhausting for him.
Kari set her soaps aside and grasped Lana's hands. "Okay, we're finished beating around the bush. I can see something's wrong. Don't try to change the subject. What did the doctor say? Why are you being sent to a specialist?"
Lana's stomach churned. She took a deep breath, hoping that her emotions would stay in place long enough to get this out. The last thing she wanted was to be a wreck and scare the children. "It's cancer."
The already tense atmosphere got even tenser. Kari slapped a hand over her mouth, eyes watering. Lana swallowed hard. This was what she didn't want to feel right now. She'd already cried; she was already exhausted. She didn't want her girls to see their mother in this emotional state. She needed to be strong for them.
She opened her mouth to reassure Kari that the prognosis so far was encouraging, but couldn't get it out. Lana's mother had died of breast cancer when she was twenty-six, three years younger than Lana was right now. Her mother found out right after Lana was born. The pregnancy had made her case worse, and though she fought, eventually she had lost the battle.
"We caught it early," Lana said, repeating her doctor's words. "It's stage one breast cancer, and it's practically a hundred percent survival rate over five years when it's caught this early. I'm just glad I insisted on getting more tests."
Kari put her arms around her stepsister. "It's going to be okay. You've caught it, right? That's the first step. And you're being sent to the specialist. He'll know what to do."
Her voice shook, and Lana squeezed her a little harder. Kari's mother and Lana's father had married almost nine years after Lana's mother passed away so she never knew Lana's mom, but it was still a terrifying thought even if she didn't know anyone who had passed from cancer herself. Lana shuddered.
"Stage one," she repeated. "I have good odds."
"What are you going to tell your girls?"
Lana pulled back and forced a smile to reassure her sister. "Just that I'm sick right now. Until we learn more."
Kari wiped her eyes and turned back to the soaps she was wrapping. Her lips wobbled but, fortunately, her voice remained steady as she continued. "Who are you being sent to?"
"Dr. Something Wolfe. I don't remember his first name." Lana snorted.
"What's funny?"
"His name. Dr. Wolfe. I did some reading up on him in the doctor's office. He's a world-renowned doctor leading a breakthrough study on improving cancer survival rates with shifter blood. And he's a shifter himself. A Wolf shifter."
Kari broke down into giggles, the irony breaking the heavy tension. Or at least, allowing a small distraction. "So Dr. Wolfe is a Wolf? That's a bit on the nose, isn't it? What, did he change his last name to be ironic or something?"
"I don't know.
He's supposed to be doing some groundbreaking work, though. And with the money Dad left me, I might just be able to afford his treatments. It's not going to be cheap, though."
She reached out to help with wrapping the soaps. Part of her wanted to say that she had already decided to have it removed surgically even if Dr. Wolfe suggested they just try chemo and radiation. She wasn't going to risk leaving her girls behind without a mother just for her body's sake. Besides which, she had enough money to get plastic surgery to reduce the scar that would be left. Being the daughter of a multi-millionaire who left half of his money to her and half to her sister had its perks for sure.
"I'm more worried about the girls than anything else," she said, her eyes darkening as she considered what this meant for them. "My mother got breast cancer and now I have it. That's a pretty heavy coincidence. I'm going to have to make sure that they know about it and that they make sure they keep an eye on their health in the future."
Kari nodded, looking troubled. "If I had known this would happen, I never would have asked you to surrogate for me and Robert."
"If I didn't have the girls, I probably would still have cancer. It was a crazy mix-up, but I don't care. I love them and I wouldn't give them up for anything."
They lapsed into silence, and Lana smiled as she remembered how her twins came into her life. Four years ago, Kari had approached her, asking her to be an egg donor and surrogate so she and her husband could have a child. They'd been trying everything they could ever since they married to get pregnant, but nothing was working. How it was supposed to work was that Lana would donate her eggs, since Kari's were declared to be 'unaccepting' of the process, and they would be joined with Robert's sperm and implanted back in Lana's uterus.
Somewhere along the line, something had gone wrong. Instead of being fertilized by Robert, Lana's eggs had been fertilized by 'Donor 431.' By the time the mix-up was discovered, Lana was already pregnant with the twins. She had already been having doubts about giving up the babies to Kari, and, after the fact, it was discovered that Kari had miraculously gotten pregnant herself. The sisters came to a mutual agreement that Lana's children would be raised by her.
How the mix-up occurred, Lana was never able to find out, but it actually came as a relief. The tension caused by the planned surrogacy had caused a strain between the sisters. But the shared pregnancies and the agreement that Lana's babies would be hers was all they needed to smooth out their relationship again.
"Do you want to move in with us while you're having the treatments?" Kari asked, breaking the silence again.
Lana shook her head. The bungalow was nice, but as close as she and Kari were, she always felt like an intruder in her home. She wanted somewhere with lots of comfort and memories, somewhere she could be at ease. She chewed her lip. Kari hadn't been back to their old home since their parents had passed away in a car accident just before the children were born.
"I was hoping that we could move into the mansion together. I know that it's still painful for you, but I just want be some place where I can have all the wonderful memories of being a family. It's bigger, too. More room for the kids to be kids. Please?"
Kari hesitated a moment but nodded with a sigh. "I'll talk to Robert about it."
Lana embraced her again, grateful for her sister's willingness to go back home. She never told Lana why it was so painful to be in the house where their parents lived, but her discomfort was evident. It felt like a weight had been lifted off of Lana's shoulders, though. Now that their living arrangements were decided – or, at least, being considered – she could focus on the more difficult discussions that her diagnosis brought up.
"I need you to do something else for me."
"Anything. You know Robert and I are here for you. Always."
"I know. And so if something happens, if the treatment doesn't work, or if I'm part of that one percent that just doesn't make it—"
Kari squeezed her hand. "Don't talk like that. You're going to be fine. The odds are in your favor."
"I know. I know they are." Lana looked at her seriously. "But I need to make sure that you'll look out for the girls if everything goes wrong. I'm a single mother and you're my only family."
"What?" Kari pulled back, eyes wide. "How is that even a question? Of course I'll look after the girls. I love them and Robert loves them. I'd never let anything happen to them."
Tears flooded Lana's eyes. "I know. I just needed to hear you say it."
Kari embraced her again. "Of course. Now, are you still going to come to the benefit ball tonight? It might be good for you to get out and have some fun – forget about your troubles. You do look fabulous in that dress you bought. It really shows off your—"
She cut herself off, but Lana nodded. She poked her breasts, frowning at them. "Yeah, I'll go. These girls don't look good that often, and I've got to take them out before it’s too late, right? Even if they are dirty little traitors."
"That's one way to put it." Kari wiped her eyes and smiled brightly, though it was clearly strained. "But I'm glad. No need for life to grind to a halt, right?"
"Right." Lana swallowed hard. "I'm going to go watch the show with the girls."
Kari nodded. "Yeah. And Lana? I love you."
"Love you too, sis. Love you too."
Chapter Two – Simon
Benefit balls. Good places to meet women – bored trophy wives eager for a little illicit fun, young women high on life who wanted an attractive older man to show them the ropes, even middle-aged prudes eager for a night of being someone other than themselves – but not much else.
Dr. Simon Wolfe sipped a glass of champagne, amusing himself by idly watching the various women in their tight-fitting, low-cut dresses and picking out which ones looked the most desperate. He used to despise these charity events until he learned the secret of picking out the weaknesses of rich people who were so far removed from reality that it was laughable. These people getting drunk on champagne and eating caviar by the spoonful while the people they were raising money for were out in the streets, starving, freezing.
He had to come to these so he could continue to get funding for his research, but he'd rather have just taken every cent that was spent on such balls and give it to the charity. Every event he went to featured the same faces, but each time they had different clothes, different hair, different jewels.
And in some cases, different body parts.
"Mrs. Miller has gotten some breast work done," he mumbled into his glass, just loud enough for his companion to hear.
Clint Webb was the head of the nursing staff that Simon employed in his clinic. There weren't many male nurses available that suited his qualifications, but after his former nurse, Marta, sued him because he refused to turn their sexual affair into a real relationship, his lawyer had suggested that he have all-male employees.
She had then suggested he get a new lawyer, and that was the end of his tryst with her.
"Mr. Applebee's got a new nose," he gestured with his glass and laughed. "This one looks worse than the last one."
"Why am I here again?" Clint asked, annoyance clear in his voice.
Simon grinned at him. "To be my wingman, of course. I learned long ago that they don't like it when I come to these things alone, even if they do keep asking me. I'm going to need you to run interference with—"
"If you say husbands or mothers, I swear to God, I quit right now," Clint interrupted. "I could be home with my wife right now. Instead, here I am, expected to help you ruin more marriages."
"I have never ruined a marriage. I don't hit on married women. They hit on me. And if their husbands aren't giving them what they need, who am I to deny a lonely lady?"
"You're disgusting." Clint narrowed his eyes.
Well, there was truth to that.
Simon didn't respond to the accusation as at that moment, a lovely older lady, the widowed Mrs. Victoria (call me Miss Vickie) Howell approached with two unfamiliar faces. Streaks of silver were in Vicki
e's hair, giving her a queenly look. So she had taken his advice and stopped dying it. She was still tall and regal, the fine lines at her eyes and mouth adding an imposing aura to her. She looked like a distinguished matriarch, the kind that led with wisdom and a gentle power.
Why some men always went after young women rather than those with more experience, he'd never know. He himself didn't discriminate. Old, young, middle-aged. They all brought something different and exciting to the bedroom. But then again, considering his own salt-and-pepper hair combined with his approaching fiftieth birthday, perhaps he was the older, more experienced one now.
Vickie beamed at him when she approached. "Simon, I want you to meet my dear cousin's two granddaughters, Lana and Kari."
"Pleased to meet you." Simon's nostrils flared as he inhaled their scents. The dark-haired one smelled of a happy marriage – at least, there was the strong scent of a man on her.
The blonde, Lana, scented of baby shampoos and toddler spit-up. His eyes heated as they trailed down her body. She wore a stunning white dress with green embroidery upon its deep v-neckline and matching skirt insert. It clung to her in all the right places, her breasts high and perky. Her skin was alabaster in every sense of the word, and his mouth watered as he imagined tasting it. Her makeup was done in a natural palette with only a faint glimmer on her cheeks and eyelids. Her lips were full and pink. Simon was reminded of bubblegum.
This woman was a natural beauty. He would put her in her early to mid-twenties. Normally too young for his tastes, but the scent of motherhood surrounding her made her more appealing. In his experience, mothers were always more eager in the bed, cutting loose in a way they refused to allow themselves in their daily lives.