[CrimsonTide4]

Angela Bassett & Hubby Expecting Twins
Monday Dec 05, 2005 2:00pm EST
By KC Baker
CREDIT: PETER KRAMER / GETTY

Angela Bassett and her husband, fellow actor Courtney B. Vance,
are going to be parents, PEOPLE has learned.

"They are expecting twins via a surrogate," says a source close to
the 47-year-old star of How Stella Got Her Groove Back and What's
Love Got to Do With It.

The source adds: "The babies are due in a couple months."

A publicist for Bassett had no comment.

The two have been a couple since the fall of 1996, when Vance (The
Preacher's Wife) ran into longtime acquaintance Bassett at a play in
Los Angeles, PEOPLE reported in early 1997.

Vance and Bassett began talking, went out on a few dates and quickly
fell into a serious relationship. "We're like old friends who all of
a sudden looked up and said, 'Hmmm...,' " Vance, now 45, told PEOPLE
back then. "Gradually it dawned on us that we like each other."

They must have. That December they announced their engagement. And
while Vance never revealed details, he did say that he made his
proposal "down on one knee – the normal way."