MR. DECEMBER

Instant Father: Former detective Joe Dana had a weakness for beautiful women—not pudgy babies!

Earth Mother: Sophie Bayard knew all about natural childbirth—she just didn't expect a handsome stranger to practically deliver her baby in a vegetable garden!

Little Miss Fatcheeks: Could this tiny dynamo hook Sophie a husband?

Joe planned to hightail it back to Texas once he retrieved an heirloom from the brand-new mother, but before this bachelor knew it, he was strutting around like the proud papa. Uh-oh! And now these designing women were trying to turn this nonmarrying man into Father of the Year!

MAN OF THE MONTH: Beneath his tough exterior beats a tender heart.