very kind of you,’ Sara said weakly, slightly overwhelmed by the man’s ebullient personality. ‘Have you been to Britain before?’
‘Oh, many times,’ he said with a broad smile. ‘My plane could probably fly here by itself, it’s been so often. So don’t you worry about your sister missing out on being an aunt to those kids of yours.’
‘Oh, that’s very—’
‘And don’t you worry about anything,’ he added, dropping suddenly to a confidential tone, his shoulder turned so that neither Zara nor Dan were privy to what he was saying to her. ‘First, I’m going to make sure she’s fully recovered, then she’s going to get her shot at stardom, but somewhere down the line I’m going to do my best to persuade her that she’d like to marry me and have some kids of her own.’
He stepped back and caught Zara’s hand to tuck it in his elbow. ‘Now, I know this is only a flying visit, but you just send us the pictures when these two decide to arrive and let us know when the christening is. We’ll be back for it.’
Sara’s last secret fear—that because she’d agreed to carry these precious babies as a surrogate for her sister, Zara might have a claim on them—had just been completely demolished.
She met Dan’s eyes to ask a silent question and his smiling nod gave Sara the answer she needed.
‘She’ll have to come back for the christening,’ she announced softly, knowing her next words would send her sister the signal that all had been forgiven, ‘because she’s going to be their godmother … if she wants to?’
The hug they shared was awkward but heartfelt and Zara took advantage of the closeness to whisper, ‘Oh, Sara, I’m so, so sorry for everything. I was such a blind fool.’
Stepping back, she managed to find a tremulous smile. ‘Rather their godmother than their mother,’ she joked, but Sara caught the gleam of determination in Zach’s eyes.
The next day Dan and Sara had just finished decorating their very first Christmas tree together and were about to settle down to tea when there was a phone call from someone in Human Resources.
‘That’s ridiculous!’ Dan muttered impatiently when the call ended. ‘There are some papers I’ve got to sign … something about insurance cover for you and the babies now we’re married … and they want me to come in to do it today.’
‘Today?’ Sara’s heart sank with disappointment. They’d had some rather interesting plans for the rest of the day and some of them involved stoking up the fire in the fireplace and just leaving the lights on the Christmas tree while they … Later, she reproached herself, silently. We’ve got all the time in the world.
‘Well, I suppose it’s good that they’re getting everything sorted out now, rather than later,’ she conceded. ‘It shouldn’t take you long, should it? We’ll still have the rest of the evening … and night.’
‘You needn’t think you’re staying here, tucked up all cosy and warm. There are some things for you to sign, too, so you’d better get something warmer than that robe on.’
Sara groaned and held her hands out so that he could help her to escape from the embrace of his blissfully comfortable settee. Unfortunately, it had never been designed for an easy exit for a woman heavily pregnant with twins.
They were just walking into Reception when Sean hailed them from the other side, his red hair a beacon in spite of all the tinsel and glitter on the enormous tree beside him.
‘Hey, you two! Have you come to say hello to the gang?’ he asked as he came across to kiss Sara’s cheek.
‘Several of them were asking how you were after I saw you at the wedding. They were complaining that haven’t seen you since you started your maternity leave.’
‘We’ve actually got to see someone in Human Resources about some paperwork,’ Dan said with a grimace. ‘Can you believe they phoned us on a Friday afternoon this close to Christmas?’
‘Ah, sure they can wait a few minutes,’ Sean said dismissively, beckoning them in the direction of A and E. ‘The department’s quite quiet at the moment so you’d better take advantage of it. By the time you’ve finished with the paper-pushers, we could be rushed off our feet.’
Dan and Sara both knew just how true that was, so they didn’t need any more persuading, but they hadn’t realised that the whole thing was a complete set-up until they walked into the staffroom to a shower of confetti and a united chorus of ‘Surprise!’ and found the room packed with waiting colleagues.
‘They couldn’t be there for the ceremony but they weren’t going to miss out on the reception, even if they had to lay it on for themselves,’ Sean told them with a broad unrepentant grin. ‘Can’t have A and E missing out on anything this special!’
‘And the appointment with Human Resources?’ Dan asked wryly, wondering how they could have been so gullible.
‘That was the only ploy we could think of to get you out of your love nest,’ Sean said with a teasing wink that had Sara blushing, remembering just what they’d had planned for the rest of the day. ‘Now, has anyone got a spare suture trolley somewhere? Because you look as if you need it to carry some of that weight around for you.’
The thought of Sara wheeling her bump around in front of her on one of the department’s trolleys … ‘Suitably decorated for Christmas, of course,’ Sean had added … was enough to have them all laughing.
It wasn’t until Sara and Dan had circulated for an hour, greeting each of their colleagues as one after another they managed to snatch five minutes between patients, that they finally felt they could reasonably make their farewells.
‘A final toast,’ Sean announced, holding up a plastic goblet of something fruity and strictly non-alcoholic that almost exactly matched the carroty colour of his hair, apparently having appointed himself master of ceremonies. ‘To paraphrase an old Irish toast—May the road rise up to meet you, the rain fall soft upon your head, the wind be always at your back, and may you get to heaven half an hour before the devil knows you’re gone! To the bride and groom!’
‘The bride and groom,’ the rest chorused amid laughter, saluting them with similarly colourful glasses, but when Sara went to raise her own glass in return, she felt a sharp pain somewhere deep inside and gasped.
‘Sara? Are you all right?’ Dan asked, and tightened his hand around her shoulders, instantly aware that something had happened.
The sudden cascade of fluid onto the tiled floor told him everything he needed to know.
‘They’re over two weeks early,’ she whimpered as she gingerly sat in a wheelchair that had appeared from nowhere.
‘That’s par for the course with twins,’ Dan said reassuringly, then bent closer to whisper in her ear. ‘And it’s probably due to our enthusiastically thorough consummation of our marriage. They say that the application of male hormones can set things going. And, anyway, Christmas is the perfect time for the very best gift of all … new life.’
Sara hoped it was that same delightful application of male hormones that had been responsible for an absolutely textbook-perfect delivery, with one healthily squalling little boy following the other out into the
