Mixed Blessings

After the wedding of Diana Goode and Andrew Douglas, Diana teases that they will make a baby on their honeymoon. But long afterward, she is still not pregnant. As Diana and Andrew wait out each month only to be bitterly disappointed, they are forced to question just how much they are willing to go through to have a baby. Charlie Winwood dreams of a house filled with children. His bride, party-girl actress Barbie Mason, has other ideas. When he discovers he is sterile, Charlie has to rethink his deepest values -- and his marriage to a woman who shares none of his dreams.After ten years of living together, Pilar Graham, a prominent Santa Barbara attorney, marries Judge Brad Coleman, who is nineteen years her senior and father of two grown children. They are happy with their comfortable life together, à deux, until Pilar begins to wonder if she will someday regret not having a baby with Brad. Are they crazy to begin now -- with Brad about to become a grandfather and Pilar with a busy career, and in her early forties, possibly putting herself at risk?Through the lives of these couples, Danielle Steel shows us the mixed blessings we face as we build our families and live our modern lives. She touches us with the triumphant people who prevail, their victories, their defeats, their tragedies and joys, their compromises, their lives. After the wedding of Diana Goode and Andrew Douglas, Diana teases that they will make a baby on their honeymoon. But long afterward, she is still not pregnant. As Diana and Andrew wait out each month only to be bitterly disappointed, they are forced to question just how much they are willing to go through to have a baby. Charlie Winwood dreams of a house filled with children. His bride, party-girl actress Barbie Mason, has other ideas. When he discovers he is sterile, Charlie has to rethink his deepest values--and his marriage to a woman who shares none of his dreams. After ten years of living together, Pilar Graham, a prominent Santa Barbara attorney, marries Judge Brad Coleman, who is nineteen years her senior and father of two grown children. They are happy with their comfortable life together, deux, until Pilar begins to wonder if she will someday regret not having a baby with Brad. Are they crazy to begin now--with Brad about to become a grandfather and Pilar with a busy career, and in her early forties, possibly putting herself at risk? Through the lives of these couples, Danielle Steel shows us the mixed blessings we face as we build our families and live our modern lives. She touches us with the triumphant people who prevail, their victories, their defeats, their tragedies and joys, their compromises, their lives. A powerful novel of three couples who face decisions about having children, which will test them as lovers, partners and friends.Diana Goode and Andrew Douglas are a California couple who seem to have it all, and after their wedding, Diana teases that she will make a baby on their honeymoon. But long afterwards, she is still not pregnant. As they wait out each month with anticipation, only to be disappointed, they are forced to question just how much they are willing to go through to have a baby, and at what cost to their marriage. Charlie Winwood, having grown up as an orphan, dreams of a house filled with children, but his bride - fun seeking actress Barbie Mason - has other ideas. Their marriage is strained, but Charlie is convinced a baby will solve it all. Pilar Graham, a prominent attorney in her early forties, astonishes her friends by marrying Judge Brad Coleman, a man in his sixties and the father of two grown children. Pilar begins to wonder if some day she will regret not having a baby with Brad, but it will not be easy for them as they encounter the world of high-tech medicine and the bittersweet rewards it brings.