The Lies Uncovered Trilogy (Books 4, 5, and 6 of The Dancing Moon Ranch Series) by Patricia Watters Page A
Authors: Patricia Watters
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have to face the possibility that he too could be sterile from chemo. He knew he'd have to have himself checked before committing to any woman, especially Sophie, who wanted lots of kids. Looking at his father, he said, "Talking about having kids, how much chemo did I have before my cord blood transplant?"
"Only enough to empty your bone marrow and suppress your immune system," Sam replied, "but you were only three, so your reproductive system was still undeveloped."
"Enough chemo to suppress an immune system is enough to do serious damage to a reproductive system, even if it is undeveloped," Rick pointed out.
Sam reached out and patted Rick's arm. "I'm sure you're fine. You went through a normal puberty."
Not satisfied, Rick said, "What was the name of the hospital where I had the cord blood transplant? I could look into getting my medical records and see what my prognosis was at the time." His father didn’t reply, but the look of alarm on his face told Rick something was drastically wrong. "You’re hiding something from me," he said.
Sam sucked in a long breath, and said, "It was a stressful time in our lives. You were dying and needed the transplant, and when Adam wasn't a match I thought we'd lose you."
"Then they didn't think Marc could be a match?" Rick asked, baffled. Marc looked nothing like Adam, but as fraternal twins they came from the same DNA pool.
"Marc hadn't been tested yet," Sam replied. "The boys were born a few hours apart."
"So, when Aunt Grace was in hard labor with Marc, they'd already tested Adam?" Rick asked. "I thought the tests took longer."
Sam's eyes shifted nervously, and he said, in an uncertain voice, "The laboratory... umm... rushed things because you were so sick."
"Can they do that with cord blood? Rush things?" Rick asked.
When Sam nodded vaguely and offered nothing more, Rick was certain he was holding something back and he was determined to learn what it was.
And then it came to him. The color of Marc's eyes. Changeable. Shades varying from hazel to smoke gray to green depending on the light, but never brown like both of his parents...
The same color as his mother's eyes.
Which explained why a woman who didn't want children in the first place would not only turn her firstborn over to live with his father when the marriage split up, but would also give up Marc to be raised by his aunt and uncle when she became pregnant a second time. But that didn't explain how his mother got pregnant with Marc in the first place, since his father was already sterile by then. Unless she'd had an affair and nobody wanted Marc.
Across the room, Rick's cell phone rang. Rick rushed over and picked it up and saw Sophie's cell number on the LED, which sent a shot of adrenaline rushing through him.
"What's going on, Soph?" he asked.
"I'm behind some bushes near your mother's place," Sophie said, in a panic-stricken voice. "Something terrible happened..."
CHAPTER 4
The instant Rick pulled to the curb in front of the fitness center, Sophie rushed out from the shadows where she'd been standing and got in the truck. She said nothing, and Rick didn't pump her for an account of what happened, but as the scene she'd witnessed began to fill her mind, she started trembling. Rick glanced over and saw what was happening and pulled the truck to a halt. Placing his hand over hers, he said, "What's going on?"
"Please don't ask what happened," Sophie said.
"You're shaking like a leaf," Rick replied. He slid from behind the wheel and took Sophie in his arms, and she let him hold her while she tried to collect her thoughts, but feeling Rick's arms around her was like releasing a torrent of emotions that went beyond what she'd witnessed. It was like the culmination of everything that happened in the past two days, and suddenly tears started coming, as if her body was filled with giant sobs that captured all the air in her lungs and forced copious quantities of tears from her eyes, and stopped up
"Only enough to empty your bone marrow and suppress your immune system," Sam replied, "but you were only three, so your reproductive system was still undeveloped."
"Enough chemo to suppress an immune system is enough to do serious damage to a reproductive system, even if it is undeveloped," Rick pointed out.
Sam reached out and patted Rick's arm. "I'm sure you're fine. You went through a normal puberty."
Not satisfied, Rick said, "What was the name of the hospital where I had the cord blood transplant? I could look into getting my medical records and see what my prognosis was at the time." His father didn’t reply, but the look of alarm on his face told Rick something was drastically wrong. "You’re hiding something from me," he said.
Sam sucked in a long breath, and said, "It was a stressful time in our lives. You were dying and needed the transplant, and when Adam wasn't a match I thought we'd lose you."
"Then they didn't think Marc could be a match?" Rick asked, baffled. Marc looked nothing like Adam, but as fraternal twins they came from the same DNA pool.
"Marc hadn't been tested yet," Sam replied. "The boys were born a few hours apart."
"So, when Aunt Grace was in hard labor with Marc, they'd already tested Adam?" Rick asked. "I thought the tests took longer."
Sam's eyes shifted nervously, and he said, in an uncertain voice, "The laboratory... umm... rushed things because you were so sick."
"Can they do that with cord blood? Rush things?" Rick asked.
When Sam nodded vaguely and offered nothing more, Rick was certain he was holding something back and he was determined to learn what it was.
And then it came to him. The color of Marc's eyes. Changeable. Shades varying from hazel to smoke gray to green depending on the light, but never brown like both of his parents...
The same color as his mother's eyes.
Which explained why a woman who didn't want children in the first place would not only turn her firstborn over to live with his father when the marriage split up, but would also give up Marc to be raised by his aunt and uncle when she became pregnant a second time. But that didn't explain how his mother got pregnant with Marc in the first place, since his father was already sterile by then. Unless she'd had an affair and nobody wanted Marc.
Across the room, Rick's cell phone rang. Rick rushed over and picked it up and saw Sophie's cell number on the LED, which sent a shot of adrenaline rushing through him.
"What's going on, Soph?" he asked.
"I'm behind some bushes near your mother's place," Sophie said, in a panic-stricken voice. "Something terrible happened..."
CHAPTER 4
The instant Rick pulled to the curb in front of the fitness center, Sophie rushed out from the shadows where she'd been standing and got in the truck. She said nothing, and Rick didn't pump her for an account of what happened, but as the scene she'd witnessed began to fill her mind, she started trembling. Rick glanced over and saw what was happening and pulled the truck to a halt. Placing his hand over hers, he said, "What's going on?"
"Please don't ask what happened," Sophie said.
"You're shaking like a leaf," Rick replied. He slid from behind the wheel and took Sophie in his arms, and she let him hold her while she tried to collect her thoughts, but feeling Rick's arms around her was like releasing a torrent of emotions that went beyond what she'd witnessed. It was like the culmination of everything that happened in the past two days, and suddenly tears started coming, as if her body was filled with giant sobs that captured all the air in her lungs and forced copious quantities of tears from her eyes, and stopped up
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