Nick, who had been, till that moment, had anyone bothered to ask, against home births, for all the obvious reasons, found himself outside the obvious and so deep in the moment that, yes, he thought about breaking the rules and having his babe at home.
‘We need to go to the hospital.’ He was reluctantly practical. ‘We really need to go now.’ He climbed out of bed and wanted to climb back in, but he went and got the car out of the garage and rang the hospital, and helped her down the stairs.
She could feel the salty air on her lips and the cool of the morning, and she knew they’d left it a bit late, because the sun was peeking up and she was so, so ready to bear down.
The first bus of the morning was idling, passengers climbing in, and she hoped they all looked around to their fellow passengers and maybe met the person that bettered them, that every one of them could be as lucky as her.
‘We’re going to get told off,’ Nick said as they pulled in at Maternity a little later.
‘You’ll get told off,’ Alison said, really trying not to push. ‘You’re the doctor!’
But they didn’t get told off, because everybody loved Nick.
And, yes, they’d spoken briefly about it once, but Alison had quickly declined. There was no way she’d let him deliver their baby, no way on earth, except the birthing suite was all dark and lovely, and if she closed her eyes she could almost be at home. The midwife was just glorious, just so calm and non-invasive, but Alison was glad she was there, and just very glad to hear Nick’s voice.
‘Come on, Alison, one more and the head will be out.’
It was the midwife holding her leg and Nick holding their baby’s head, and it had all happened so naturally, far, far nicer than she could ever have envisaged. And she pushed as hard as she could till he told her to stop and, yes, it hurt, but in a moment her baby was there and it was Nick who had delivered her.
Her, because he couldn’t help himself from saying it.
‘She’s perfect.’
She was.
Blonde and long limbed and completely her father’s daughter, because with one look Alison’s heart was taken, and like it or not there could be no holding back—she already loved her.
‘Some souvenir!’ Nick smiled a little while later, when holding his daughter for the first time.
‘More than you bargained for?’ Alison asked, but Nick shook his head.
‘More than I could ever have envisioned.’ He tore his eyes away from his daughter and towards Alison. ‘And I did.’
‘And in these visions,’ Alison checked, ‘did your daughter have a name?’
‘Martha.’
‘Martha?’ Alison went to shake her head, but stopped because, as she was starting to trust, this was his dream too.
Here was their biggest adventure.
Temporary Doctor, Surprise Father
Lynne Marshall
“Beck,” she whispered. “Please try to understand.”
He took hold of her neck and drew her closer to him. “Understand what? That you ran away from me?”
“I didn’t run away. My mother sent me.” She covered his mouth with a cold hand. Tears glimmered in her eyes. “Beck, I was pregnant.”
He swept her hand away and rose up onto his elbows, a sucker punch pummeling his chest. “Pregnant?”
She nodded as tears glistened and flowed over her lids.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” He shot up to sit. “We could have worked something out. I had plans for us.”
“You don’t understand.”
A torrent of mixed-up feelings swept over him—anger, grief, frustration—they swirled together, making him queasy. He jumped off the bed, fought for balance and set off pacing the floor. “You were pregnant with my child and you didn’t tell me?” He bit back the wave of nausea that pressed against his stomach and threatened to move up his throat. “How could you not tell me?”
Praise for Lynne Marshall
‘A page-turning read with passion and romance.’
—Cataromance on PREGNANT NURSE, NEW-FOUND FAMILY, Medical™ Romance
LYNNE MARSHALL has been a registered nurse in a large California hospital for twenty-five years. She has now taken the leap to writing full time, but still volunteers at her local community hospital. After writing the book of her heart in 2000, she discovered the wonderful world of Medical™ Romance, where she feels the freedom to write the stories she loves. She is happily married, has two fantastic grown children, and a socially challenged rescued dog. Besides her passion for writing Medical™ Romance, she loves to travel and read. Thanks to the family dog, she takes long walks every day!
Dear Reader
When I sat down to write this book, TEMPORARY DOCTOR, SURPRISE FATHER, I had the image of a formerly bubbly, beautiful young woman, who had changed drastically in the thirteen years since she’d met and fallen in love with her high-school sweetheart. He’d left for boot camp, been chosen for Special Forces, become a Green Beret medic, travelled the world, and carried on with his life. She’d made a painful decision, harboured a huge secret, and paid a devastatingly emotional price. And it had changed her life. The choices we make in our youth often come back to haunt us.
As this reunion story unfolds, I hope you’ll fall in love with my gorgeous hero, Beck, as much as I did. And I suspect, once you’ve scratched the gruff exterior of my heroine, January, you’ll want to be friends with her.
A bit about Special Forces medics here. They are first on scene in the battlefield, and what they do for the injured can save lives. Their training is intense, and in all my years in nursing I haven’t come close to doing many of the procedures our medics learn in their Special Forces training. Hats off to those who volunteer for this difficult job. There is only one word to describe them. Heroes!
I love to hear from readers. If I’ve struck a chord with you in this book, let me know. Or if you’d just like to say hello, you can visit me at my website: www.lynnemarshallweb.com. And if you enjoy blogs, a group of us Medical™ Romance authors have got together for Love is the Best Medicine, a blog which we update every week. You can link to it from my website.
Thanks
