My Baby, Your Child

by Nikki Benjamin

PAPERBACK

249 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Nikki Benjamin was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, but after living in the Houston area for almost 30 years, she considers herself a Texan. She attended Notre Dame High School and graduated from the University of Missouri–Columbia with a degree in secondary education. She worked in the circulation department of the Houston Public Library and as the executive assistant to the president of an international marine engineering company prior to embarking on her writing career.

Always an avid reader, Nikki was encouraged to write by a good friend, a fellow reader and writer. They discussed story ideas and critiqued each other’s manuscripts, and eventually sold their first books a few months apart. During the early years of her writing career, Nikki especially enjoyed being able to work at home while raising her son, now attending college in Montana.

Nikki has also had the opportunity to travel extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Western Europe. She has sailed along the Dalmatian coast on a 42-foot charter boat, and in recent years, she lived for several weeks at a time in such exotic places as Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Jakarta, Indonesia. Currently, she enjoys sailing on Galveston Bay, where she crews regularly on a friend’s 42-foot sailboat. She attends the Houston symphony and Stages theatre, likes to pot garden on her patio, and often cooks lavish meals to share with friends. She is still an avid reader, and she continues to enjoy traveling, especially to western Montana, either on her own or with her equally adventurous friends.

Reviews

[Shirlene]

Julie and Philip Drake had adopted a child, Jonathan, who was now 10 and very sick. He needed a liver transplant and due to his rare blood type, AB negative, they were working on tracking down his birth mother. Philip had convinced the adoption agency to release her name due to the circumstances.
Tess had gotten pregnant at 18 and Bryan Harper didn't stand by her as she thought he would. She couldn't depend on her alcoholic mother for support and her father abandoned his family when Tess was a baby. She chose adoption as the best choice for her baby to have good life.
Julie's brother, Will Lawson, worked for the Houston Police Dept. and agreed to help. Will found Professor Mary Theresa McGuire, Tess, working at St. Scholastica in San Antonio. He approached her and asked if he could meet with her at her home that evening to discuss a private matter. She first noticed him standing outside her office door and was instantly attracted to him. She and her two assistants were grading the semesters final exams and then she would be free for the summer. She was curious and after checking out his credentials with the local DA, agreed to meet him. Will noticed how kind and compassionate, and attractive, Tess was. Tess immediately agreed to He was tested to see if she was a donor match. Will offered to pay her and she refused.
Will came back the next day and picked up Tess and gave her a ride to the hospital in Houston. He visited her every evening during the week before the surgery while she was being tested. She was confirmed to be a match. Will was drawn to Tess even though he knew his sister didn't want Tess to develop a relationship with him or Jonathan. Will just couldn't stay away from her. He was there to support her and was worried about her. He didn't hide his relationship with Tess but he didn't tell his sister details of his relationship with Tess either. He got permission to take her out of the hospital for a day after she completed all the tests. He took Tess to Galveston for the day and they had a wonderful time.
Jonathan asked to see Tess before the surgery and she reluctantly agreed. Julie was worried but allowed it and it seemed to calm Jonathan. Will told Julie that Tess wasn't a threat to her but he could sense her reluctance and did the best he could to get her to relax.
While in the hospital, Tess met and made friends with a few other patients. There was the senator's daughter, Lydia Davies, who had a benign brain tumor. Her mother was a news anchor and they didn't seem to have time for her. Ina Boggs, whose family owned half the real estate in the Galleria and was known as the grande dame of Houston. She had eye surgery and Tess read romance novels to her. Harry Gamble had broken his leg and was in traction. Harry was the owner of Technotech, one of the largest computer-software companies in the world.
The surgery went fine. Jonathan had a minor complication and had to have a second surgery. Tess was given permission to go home. Will took her back to San Antonio after taking her to see Jonathan one last time. He dropped her off with her promise to call him when she came back to Houston for her check up in a month. Tess promised with no intention of keeping her word. She felt that she needed to break off the relationship because of Julie's attitude and she was scared. She knew she was in love with Will.
Will tried calling her a few times and she never answered her phone. She missed her appointment with Dr. Wells so Will went to San Antonio and picked her up. He took her to see Dr. Wells and got his permission to take her to Galveston for a couple of weeks. He called his boss and asked for time off and it was granted. He called his sister and gained her permission to stay at her vacation house on the coast. He told Julie that he was taking Tess with him. Julie reluctantly agreed.
They spent the first couple of days separated. She stayed on the second floor and he stayed on the ground floor. The third day was stormy and Tess was afraid of storms. Her mom was drunk when she was ten and locked her out of the house one night when it was stormy. She spent the night sleeping under a bush in her yard. She had been afraid of storms ever since.
The storms frightened her and Will noticed. He was outside watching the storms because he loved watching them build over the ocean. He went to Tess and they finally kissed and ended up spending the night together. Tess decided that she wasn't as afraid of storms so much anymore.
They spent all their time together for the rest of the two weeks of Will's vacation. He took Tess back home and told her that he was going to quit his job in Houston and move to San Antonio. She wanted to believe him but after he dad leaving her and then Bryan, she found it hard to trust him. He told her that he would call her every night and come visit over the weekend. She knew that Jonathan's tenth birthday was Saturday and that Will would never come spend the weekend with her. He called every night and she kept expecting him to tell her that he wasn't coming. That never happened.
Will went to see Julie on Friday and gave her the gift he had for Jonathan. Julie was surprised and Will told her that he was going to see Tess and ask her to marry him. Julie was reluctant to accept her but decided it was for the best if she wanted to maintain a relationship with Will. She wished him luck, he gave his present to Jonathan and headed to San Antonio.
Julie was surprised when the doorbell rang and it was Will. They quickly ended up in bed together and Will asked her to marry him. Tess accepted and they were married three weeks later. Philip, Julie and Jonathan were just over ten minutes late but they arrived. There had been a wreck on the freeway and then they had gotten lost. They were there to support Will and Tess though.

[Jen_C · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was six years since Tess McGuire had seen her baby... and now a courteous Texan stranger was bringing news of the son she'd never known. Soft-spoken, good-looking Will Landon was asking for her trust... asking for her help to save the life of a little boy he loved as his own. — Tess knew from the moment she laid eyes on Will that she'd do his bidding. In an instant, her past and her future were equally at stake. She'd risk everything to save the family she never had...and gamble the future she and Will were destined to share....