CHAPTER ONE
A SURGE OF JOY shot through her and her eyes blurred with tears. “I can’t believe it. This is so…” But she couldn’t put her feelings into words. After so many years of living on her own, she was finally going to have a family again.
“Here,” Dr. Milburn said, reaching over to hand her a tissue.
“I’ve never been happier,” she said at last, wiping her wet cheeks with the tissue. “Thank you.”
He sighed. “I hope you’ll still feel that way when you hear what I have to tell you.”
Apprehension fluttered through her. “What?”
“I was hoping we wouldn’t need to have this discussion,” he began, then took off his bifocals and folded them in his hand. “But I’m afraid it’s unavoidable now.”
Her fingers gripped the armrests as she prepared herself for another roller-coaster ride. “Please just tell me, Dr. Milburn. Is something wrong?”
“There was a problem with the insemination procedure. A mistake, actually.”
“A mistake?” she echoed.
“Nothing to be too alarmed about,” he assured her. “My office discovered it when the clinic sent a copy of your records here.”
“I still don’t understand.”
He hesitated for a long moment. “It turns out that you were not inseminated with the donor sperm you selected, Rowena.”
She stared at him, trying to make sense of his words. “How can that be possible?”
“I wish I knew.” He closed her file. “In my experience with the Orr Fertility Clinic, they have stringent verification procedures. That’s one of the reasons I recommended them to you. Unfortunately, a fluke occurred in your case, due either to human error or some kind of computer malfunction. I’ve contacted the clinic and they’re naturally very concerned and trying to discover the source of the mix-up.”
She didn’t care about the Orr Clinic. She cared about her baby. “So who is the donor?”
He lifted his narrow shoulders. “That’s something that may remain a mystery. Apparently, there is no profile available on the man. At least, not one that has been discovered yet.”
She looked at him in disbelief. “You don’t know anything about him?”
“I’m afraid not.”