The Baby of Their Dreams (Contemporary Medical Romance)

by Carol Marinelli

  ‘He knows you’ve got an antenatal appointment?’ Gemma checked, and Cat nodded. ‘Well, surely he knows they don’t run like clockwork...’

  ‘Mike was always—’

  ‘That was Mike,’ Gemma said.

  And this was Dominic.

  ‘Hey, Cat,’ Gemma said as she went to go. ‘When you saw him again, did you still fancy him?’

  ‘Moot point—I don’t fancy married men.’

  ‘Did you still fancy him?’ Gemma persisted.

  ‘Yes,’ she admitted, ‘but that’s for this office only. The day I sit crying to my friend about whether or not I sleep with him because, of course, he and his wife never do it, or I start saying, he’s going to leave his wife after Christmas...you have my permission to shoot me.’

  ‘I shall and can you tell him from me that he’s an utter bastard,’ Gemma said.

  ‘Oh, I shall.’

  Trust Gemma to make her laugh, Cat thought as she walked the short distance to Oliver’s. She was calmer than she’d expected to be as she stepped inside.

  There was Dominic, sitting with a glass of wine and looking rather more rumpled than he had that morning. His tie was off, the top button of his shirt undone and his eyes were black with loathing as Cat made her way over.

  She didn’t expect him to stand for her.

  Very deliberately he didn’t.

  It was a bit like walking into the headmaster’s office, Cat thought, but refused to be rattled. She shook off her coat and put it on the low bench opposite him and then took a seat.

  ‘Sorry, I’m a bit late. Gemma was running—’

  ‘It’s fine.’

  Cat blinked at the ease of his acceptance.

  It wasn’t her timekeeping that was Dominic’s concern!

  ‘How was the appointment?’

  ‘All’s well,’ Cat said.

  ‘She’s a good friend?’ Dominic asked, and Cat nodded as she bristled in instant defence.

  ‘Are you going to ask if that’s wise?’ she checked.

  Dominic said nothing and she continued.

  ‘Everybody seems to question whether or not I’m sensible to be seeing a friend, but—’ Only then did he interrupt.

  ‘You’re a consultant and, from everything I heard at my interview and everything I’ve seen, you’re meticulous and thorough, possibly a bit obsessive about certain details. I’m quite sure you’ve given your choice of obstetrician very careful thought. I’m sure your friend and you both discussed the pros and the cons of having her. I don’t think there’s anything I can add that you haven’t already thought through.’

  Cat felt the little bubble of indignation that she had around that topic deflate a touch.

  ‘She’s excellent.’

  ‘I’m sure she is.’

  ‘Have you heard from Andrew?’ Cat asked.

  ‘Nope,’ Dominic said. ‘I’m not really expecting to hear positive news. I’m quite sure you’ve had, or will be having, a quiet word in his ear...’ He watched the colour mount on her cheeks as a waiter poured Cat some water and gave them menus. ‘Though, if you haven’t already, please think long and hard before you do. I assume you live close to work?’

  ‘Sorry?’

  ‘I’m just thinking for handovers and things.’

  ‘Handovers?’

  ‘Access visits, or whatever they’re called.’ Then he raised his voice just a fraction and the pink on her cheeks moved to a burning red. ‘If we work at the same place, then it might make it a little easier when I want to spend time with my child!’

  ‘I was going to tell you—’ Cat attempted, but she didn’t get very far.

  ‘When it turned eighteen?’ He shook his head. He clearly didn’t believe her and she couldn’t really blame him a bit for that. ‘I don’t think for a moment that you were going to tell me. In fact, I’m quite sure you’d already got what you needed from me that weekend.’

  Cat’s mouth gaped open. ‘You think I deliberately got pregnant? What? That I’m some psycho going around pricking holes in condoms?’ She shook her head and then met his eyes. ‘I shouldn’t be surprised. My mother thinks the same. Well, not quite that scenario but she seems to think I got bored one weekend and popped off to the sperm bank.’ She dragged her eyes from his and looked at the menu as she spoke.

  ‘I never set out to get pregnant.’

  Dominic sat there and images of them making love danced before him—her hand rolling on a condom, another time, about to take her from behind, it had been Cat who had grabbed one and handed it to him.

  If anything, it had been he who had been about to be careless, so ready had he been to take her.

  It wasn’t the best thought to be having right now and he reached for a wine and gave a small nod.

  ‘Fair enough.

  ‘And I did try to contact you. I spoke to some cheery woman in Glasgow who said that Dom had moved on...’

  ‘It would have taken an hour tops to find me if you’d really wanted to,’ he said.

  ‘Have you told your wife yet?’ She smirked as she read through the menu. ‘Or were you hoping it wasn’t yours?’

  ‘Well, given my wife is all seeing and knowing now, I’d assume that she already knows.’ He watched her frown. ‘She’s dead.’

  Cat looked up.

  ‘She’s been dead for more than two years.’

  ‘And you didn’t think to tell me?’

  ‘Don’t even go there, Cat. You’re the one keeping the big secret. Anyway, I chose not to tell you.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because I didn’t want that look.’

  He didn’t get to elaborate—the waiter was back and Cat ordered steak and a tomato salad and rolled her eyes because she really wanted seafood but it was on the list of noes that Gemma had given her. ‘I’m never going to get my paella.’

  ‘I’ll have it for you,’ he said, and ordered it.

  ‘Bastard,’ Cat said, even if she managed a small smile, but it soon faded as they got back to the serious talk once the waiter had gone.

  ‘I didn’t tell you at first because I wanted to make sure all the tests were okay...’ The water she took a sip of seemed to burn as it went down. ‘They were.’

  ‘That’s a poor excuse, Cat, because if they hadn’t been okay, a bit of notice that I’d be arranging my life around a special-needs child would have been appreciated.’

  Again, his reaction surprised her. He didn’t jump on results or demand facts. He had but one question.

  ‘When’s your due date?’

  ‘The nineteenth of April.’

  ‘Cat, I nearly bought a house in Spain last month. I was offered a job and that was going to be the starting date.’

  ‘You can still take it,’ Cat said, but rather quickly wished that she hadn’t as his finger pointed in her direction and he shot out one word.

  ‘Don’t!’

  He was doing his very best to stay level and calm but that she’d happily wave him off to Spain incensed him. ‘I was pointing out how bloody late you’ve left it. I know!’ Dominic said. ‘How about you have the baby, I take it to Spain and you can see it during your annual leave?’ He watched as her pink tongue bobbed out and she licked nervous lips. ‘Yeah, not a nice thought, is it, Cat, so don’t suggest the same for me. You need to get used to the idea that I’m not going to be some distant figure in my child’s life. I’m going to be there, not just for Christmas and birthdays. I’m going to be doing the school pick-up and homework and I’ll be there each and every parent-teacher night. You might not want me there and I fully get that we can’t stand each other, so we can do it through lawyers if you prefer...’

  ‘When did we get to not being able to stand each other?’

  ‘Oh, about the ti
me you started snooping through my wallet, about the time I found out that you’d deny me knowledge of my own child...’

  ‘I thought you had a wife, maybe a family...’

  ‘Even if I had, I still should have been told.’

  Their food came then and she stared at his rather than hers.

  ‘That was really horrible of me,’ he admitted as he looked at his large plate of paella, especially as it looked seriously nice.

  ‘Hopefully you’ll have a massive allergic reaction.’ Cat, less than sweetly, smiled.

  ‘Yes, and no doubt you’ll take ages to find the adrenaline pen so I’ll be dead and that will take care of that...’

  There was a tiny silence.

  ‘When you said you didn’t want to tell me you were a widower because of that look,’ Cat said as she cut her steak. ‘What did you mean?’

  ‘Things change when you tell people that you’re a widower...’ He scooped out a mussel and then pulled a misty-eyed face that made her smile reluctantly. ‘I can’t really explain it. Honestly, since Heather died I’ve had more offers for sex than a rock star. Which sounds good but women seem to think I want to make love, or that I’m comparing them to my poor late wife, or even that I must want a wife... They don’t get I just want to get down and dirty.’

  ‘So we weren’t making love?’ Cat pouted and he smiled. ‘Dominic, it was supposed to be a one-night stand.’

  ‘And now we have to deal with the consequences.’ He got back to his food. ‘Did you find out what we’re having?’

  The ‘we’re’ was very deliberate.

  ‘I only just found that out now,’ she said. ‘A girl.’

  She watched as his fork paused midway to his mouth and then he put it down.

  The past ten days, since he had seen the maternity cover position being advertised, since he’d started to suspect she might be pregnant, had been spent in a whir of fury and concern. Now, in the midst of anger and change, he got a moment in the quiet centre of the storm.

  A girl.

  A daughter.

  He just sat there as the news sank in and somehow, he had no idea how, it changed things, because, in that moment, he went from none to having not just one but two ladies to take care of and he looked at the bump of the little one and then into the eyes of her mum.

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘I know,’ Cat said. ‘I thought I was having a...’ She was about to say another boy but she quickly changed. ‘A boy.’

  Yes, she understood Dominic a little better than he knew because she didn’t want to be the recipient of that look.

  Baby two after such a turbulent baby one was a private pain, one she could barely share with Gemma, let alone a man whose bed she’d been in for a single night.

  No, he didn’t need to know all about her.

  There was a lot to talk about but they finished their meal in silence, lost in their own private thoughts.

  ‘Have you thought of names?’ Dominic asked as they put their cutlery down.

  ‘I was leaning towards Harry till tonight.’

  ‘I never thought I’d be running through baby names,’ Dominic said.

  ‘Didn’t you and...?’ She hesitated. It was none of her business whether or not he and his wife had planned on having children.

  Dominic was grateful that she didn’t finish the question. No, he and Heather hadn’t got around to thinking of children. And he didn’t want to share his wife with this virtual stranger.

  ‘Do you want a quick coffee? Then I’m going to have to go,’ he said, ‘if I want to make my flight.’

  ‘You’re going back to Scotland tonight?’

  ‘No, I’m going to Spain for a few days. As I said, I’m in the middle of relocating there and I’ve been looking at homes. Given that the baby is mine, there’s a lot to do there. I’ll have to withdraw my application and I’d like to do that in person, and I want to tell my parents face-to-face what’s happening.’

  ‘Will they be disappointed that you’re not moving there now?’

  ‘I don’t think so. I wasn’t exactly going to be living next door to them or anything. I expect they’ll be surprised about the baby and then pleased.’

  ‘Where are you flying out from?’

  ‘Gatwick.’

  ‘Good luck with your luggage,’ Cat said, and gave a low laugh. ‘I’ll drive you.’

  ‘I can take a taxi.’

  ‘You’re the one banging on about how we need to talk.’

  He conceded with a nod.

  ‘And no coffee for me, unfortunately.’ Cat sighed. ‘It gives me hiccoughs. I’m stuck with tea. I miss champagne, I miss coffee, I miss seafood...’

  ‘I’ll buy you the biggest bottle of champagne and have paella delivered to your hospital bed once the baby is here.’

  It was a very nice thing to say, Cat thought. It was a nice thought to have because, even if they were the odd couple and doing this on the run, at least they weren’t at each other’s throats now.

  ‘How did you find out about the baby?’ Cat asked a little later as they walked to her car.

  ‘Well, I keep an eye on jobs and things and I saw one come up in your department. I remembered something you said about being the only female consultant...’

  She flashed the lights of her car and they walked over to it.

  ‘I told myself that I was being ridiculous. You could have been married or anything...’

  ‘Would you have cared if I was married that weekend?’ she asked.

  ‘No,’ he admitted.

  ‘I don’t like you,’ Cat said, but he just laughed.

  ‘You don’t have to like me. Anyway, I’d never have cheated on my wife, but that weekend, had you been cheating...’ Dominic shrugged. ‘Anyway, it’s all hypothetical.’

  ‘But very telling.’

  ‘Do you want me to lie to you, Cat, just say the right thing?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Anyway, back to how I tracked you down—the dates for the leave all added up and...’ They stopped talking as they got in but once they were pulling out of the car park the conversation resumed. ‘I was going to call you but then I decided to surprise you.’

  ‘That wasn’t very nice.’

  ‘No, I know that it wasn’t,’ he said. ‘I wasn’t feeling very nice at the time, but...’ He didn’t continue, they just drove in silence, but as the airport came into view conversation started again. ‘You haven’t chosen badly, Cat. I might have been a bit of a bastard the way I landed on you and some of the things I’ve said tonight but I’m not going to be a negative in your baby’s life. And,’ he added, ‘I’m sure you don’t need my opinion of you but when I think of some of the women that I could have been having this conversation with, I’m very happy that it’s you. I think you’ll be a brilliant mum and I’m quite sure we’ll do this right. We’ve still got a couple of months to work things out...’

  ‘We do,’ Cat said.

  He went into his wallet, pulled out a business card and wrote a few things on the back and Cat frowned when she read them.

  ‘Why would I need your social network details? I’m not going to be checking up on you...’ Then she went pink when she recalled how he’d caught her going through his wallet.

  ‘Or me you,’ Dominic said. ‘But if you update about the baby and things...’

  ‘I’ll call you if there’s a problem.’

  ‘I meant for day-to-day stuff,’ he said. ‘I don’t need formal emails and progress updates. Soon you might want the same...’

  ‘Sorry?’

  ‘Well, she won’t stay a baby. My family lives in Spain.’

  ‘You’d take her on holiday? No.’

  She was adamant, her response was instant. ‘You’re not taking her out of
the country.’

  And Dominic was about to respond that his lawyer would see to it but he held that in. He could see the conflict in her eyes and he knew that she was struggling with the concept.

  Cat was. She had glimpsed the future.

  There would be pictures of her child with her father in houses she never set foot in. Holidays spent apart.

  ‘I just sent a friend request,’ Dominic said. ‘Up to you whether or not you accept it.’

  ‘Here...’ She went into her bag and wrote down her number, then she remembered the recording.

  ‘What’s this?’

  ‘I had an ultrasound today. If you want to see her...’

  ‘Thanks.’

  He went to get out of the car. ‘I am sorry for not telling you, Dominic.’

  He gave her a grim smile. ‘Yeah, well, I don’t accept your apology—I’m not that magnanimous. Call me when you need to...’

  ‘I shan’t.’

  ‘Oh, I’m sure you’ll have questions.’

  ‘I won’t.’

  But even before she got home Cat had found several.

  Would he want to be at the birth?

  The very thought filled her with horror!

  Cat did her best to stay in control and the one place she was guaranteed to lose it was in the labour ward.

  No, she did not want arrogant, surly Dominic seeing her swearing like a sailor and breaking down.

  No way!

  And what were they going to tell people at work?

  Her mind was darting as she stepped back into her home.

  She put some washing on and, completely wrecked from a long and difficult day, wrestled off her boots, which was very hard with a stomach like a basketball, and then had a very quick bath and went to bed.

  Except, though tired, she couldn’t sleep and she picked up her phone and, sure enough, there was his friend request, which she accepted.

  His status was given as single and Cat frowned, wondering why he didn’t say he was widowed.

  Oh, that’s right, he loathed that look.

  Then she smiled when she read his status. A little cryptic note that she was sure was aimed at her.

  You can run but you can’t hide.