‘Well, well, well,’ the first one said. ‘Looks like someone was in a hurry to be born.’
And then it was action stations as the paramedics took over. Sebastian slipped out from behind Ginny and Callie relinquished her post, and they stood watching the proceedings. One of paramedics double-clamped the cord and let Brad cut between the clamps, and the other slipped a saturation probe onto Ginny’s finger and took her blood pressure.
Neither Callie nor Sebastian said anything to the other but Callie was hyper-aware of him. His biceps occasionally brushed hers, the feather-like touch coursing electricity through her entire body until it was practically humming. And his male scent blasted towards her on the waves of heat radiating from his body, intoxicating her already elevated mood further.
How had it taken her so long to figure out what was now patently obvious? Had determination alone so blunted her to the possibility of falling in love that she hadn’t even recognised it when it had slapped her in the face?
She could pinpoint the exact moment it had happened. That night in the restaurant. Facing down a superior yuppie to champion a homeless man.
Her hero.
No wonder she’d gone home with him.
Although maybe it had happened even before that. Earlier that day, on the bridge. There had been an unmistakable connection as they’d clashed. An instant awareness of him that she’d never had with another man. It had been easy to dismiss as irritation given his steely resolve that day but maybe, even then, deep down she’d known something in her gut.
The baby protested as it was taken from Ginny to be snugly wrapped by one paramedic as the other expertly sited an intravenous cannula in the back of Ginny’s hand.
Callie slipped her hand over her abdomen. Deep inside her, beneath her palm, her own baby grew.
Their baby grew.
Another, more intimate connection with Sebastian.
And her love for him intensified again. She’d only been aware of it for the last ten minutes but just like that it had doubled…trebled.
She’d been so busy pretending they were having an adult relationship that didn’t need romantic, messy things like love and happily-ever-afters to define it that she hadn’t realised she’d gone and fallen in love anyway.
Deep, foolish, messy love.
‘Okay, let’s rock and roll,’ the paramedic said as they helped Ginny onto the trolley and strapped her in. Brad passed the swaddled baby to Ginny and she took the bundle as if she’d just been handed the secret to eternal life and the Holy Grail combined.
‘What are you going to call her?’ the paramedic asked.
Ginny looked at Sebastian and Callie. ‘Well, I think after all that’s happened we’re going to have to name her after our impromptu midwives, Seb and Callie.’ Her gaze switched to her husband and she held out her free hand to him. ‘What do you think about Sallie?’
Brad took her hand and smiled. ‘I think that’s really pretty.’
Ginny smiled. ‘Sallie it is. Is that okay with you guys?’
Callie nodded because the lump in her throat had also trebled and she didn’t think she could speak without bursting into tears. Sebastian grinned. ‘It’s perfect,’ he said.
‘Congratulations, you two,’ the paramedic said as he slapped Sebastian on the back. ‘You’ve just been immortalised.’
Sebastian chuckled. ‘We’ll try not to let it go to our heads.’
‘Rightio, let’s shake a leg.’
Callie and Sebastian followed the procession to the front door. ‘Would you mind locking up?’ Brad asked, absently handing his keys over, eyes only for his wife and daughter.
Sebastian took them. ‘Of course. Go, don’t worry about it. We’ll bring the keys up in a bit once your girls are settled.’
Brad looked at Sebastian then at Callie. ‘My girls…’ He shook his head. ‘I’m a father,’ he said, his voice full of wonder and pride.
Callie smiled. Both Ginny and Brad were sporting that strange mix of exhaustion, astonishment and elation, like they were the only two people in the world to have ever performed such an amazing feat.
‘Go,’ she urged as Ginny and the baby were loaded into the back of the ambulance.
Brad didn’t need any further encouragement and Callie and Sebastian watched as he practically ran to the waiting ambulance.
Sebastian laughed. ‘That is one proud daddy.’
Callie smiled. ‘I’m so happy for them.’
The paramedic shut the back door and Callie turned to go back inside, her gaze falling to where the neatly packed hospital bag had been before.
‘Sebastian,’ she said urgently. ‘The bag. It’s in our car. She’ll need it.’
Sebastian nodded and took the stairs two at a time. Callie laughed at him this time, her heart overflowing with love and all the beautiful things she had witnessed today.
She could hear her phone ringing from inside the house and she dashed into the lounge room to get it but it rang out just as she picked it up. It was Geraldine’s number. Callie threw the phone back into her bag—she’d ring her boss in a bit.
The couch area looked like a war zone and Callie set about picking up the packaging the paramedics had left strewn around. Donning another pair of gloves, she gathered the soiled linen. She could hear the low rumbling idle of the ambulance and saw Sebastian chatting to one of the paramedics through the window.
She picked up the towels in the hallway as well and made her way quickly to the laundry. Now the excitement was over she was nervous and activity gave her something else to do other than think about Sebastian and his wild promises from earlier today.
And the baby.
Callie threw the towels into the washing machine, added soap powder she found in a cupboard and started the washing cycle. She made a mental note to remind herself to let Brad know that the towels would be waiting for him when he got home.
After that was done she gathered the linen that hadn’t been used and put it back in the linen cupboard. One item remained. A soft baby-pink muslin wrap. Callie looked down towards the end of the hall to where the pink glow beckoned.
She turned towards it, the wrap clutched to her chest, her feet not under her conscious control. A mere hour ago she’d wanted to flee the nursery so badly she’d practically run from it when she’d had the chance. But now it called to her.
Like a homing beacon.
She reached the doorway and hesitated for a moment before tiptoeing into the middle of the room. It was so… pink. Yet what had seemed too much an hour ago suddenly seemed just right. The perfect room for a perfect baby girl. Even the pink unicorns didn’t seem over-the-top now.
Callie lifted the muslin to her face and inhaled deeply. The soap and powder smell was intoxicating and she dragged in another enormous lungful of pure baby essence.
‘Smells good, doesn’t it?’
Callie startled, dropping the wrap as she whirled to face the door. ‘Sorry, I didn’t hear you.’
He crossed to her and bent to pick it up. He put it to his own nose and sucked in his own lungful before handing it back to her. ‘It’s been a big day,’ he murmured.
Callie turned back to face the cot. All during Ginny’s labour she’d deliberately tried not to think about the baby. Their baby. But standing in this pink room, next to this man, looking at the cot, it was impossible not to.
Sebastian watched as Callie’s hand fell to her belly, the fingers spreading down low. He moved closer until he was standing behind her. ‘Are you thinking about the baby?’
Callie dragged in a breath. It would be easy to play dumb and pretend that Sebastian was talking about Sallie but they both knew what he meant.
Callie nodded. ‘I think she’s going to be tall.’
Sebastian, who had been holding his breath, let it hiss out. ‘She?’
Callie pressed her hand against her belly harder. ‘I know it’s strange but somehow I just know it’s a girl.’
Sebastian’s heart thumped so loud
ly he felt sure that Callie must be able to hear it. He didn’t move; he barely breathed, for fear that Callie might scare. ‘I’d love a little girl,’ he said quietly. ‘She’ll have your amber eyes.’
Callie swallowed and swayed. It was easy to lean against him, the emotion of the day combining with the baby fragrance to cocoon them both. ‘And your gorgeous hair,’ she whispered.
Sebastian shut his eyes as her body settled against his, lightly at first and then with more confidence. His heart thumped hard against his ribcage—surely she could feel it against her back?
‘I thought…’ Sebastian didn’t know what he’d thought. He hadn’t dared hope. His fingers itched to slide around her waist. He could see down her front to where her hand absently caressed her belly and he wanted to join his hand with hers, cover their baby together. ‘What happened today?’
Callie heard the roughness, the uncertainty in his voice. She smiled. ‘We delivered a baby.’
Sebastian tensed, opening his eyes as her closeness had a predictable effect. Pinned close like this, he wanted her very badly but he wanted all of her, not just the bits she was prepared to give.
There was so much at stake.
‘Yes, we did,’ he said cautiously.
Callie felt his heat seep into her back. His fragrance joined the baby powder aroma to make a potent, irresistible mix. ‘And I fell in love.’
Sebastian was mesmerised by the slow stroke of her fingers against her abdomen. ‘With our baby?’ he asked.
Callie nodded. ‘And you.’
Sebastian didn’t move for a moment. He didn’t think. He didn’t speak. He didn’t breathe. It seemed like an age before he released the pent-up breath on a slow husky exhalation.
Even then it was a while before bodily function returned. ‘May I?’ He moved his hand tentatively around her waist.
Callie lifted her hand eagerly, bringing his around, pressing it low down against her belly and covering it with her own. ‘We won’t be able to feel anything for ages,’ she murmured.
Sebastian tightened his hand for a moment as a massive surge of emotion took hold. Earlier in the day, driving with her in the car, he’d known he loved her in his bones. Known it automatically. In that logical male way.
But standing here with her now, their baby living and growing beneath his hand, it was more than knowing. It swelled in his heart and bloomed in his chest.
Now he felt it.
‘I love you,’ he whispered, dropping a kiss in her hair.
Callie felt an answering well of emotion as tears pricked her eyes. ‘Are we being crazy? Is this just about the baby?’
Sebastian shook his head vehemently. ‘No. Absolutely not. It was the bridge for me. You were so damn pushy.’ He smiled and dropped a kiss on her temple. ‘I know hardened criminals that wouldn’t have dared speak to me the way you did. But you were so…ballsy. I’m just sorry it took me so long to figure out.’
Callie smiled. She had been pretty annoyed that day. ‘It was the restaurant for me. The homeless man. It was such an ugly scene and you were so…heroic that night. But I guess I just wasn’t wired to think like a normal woman. I was comfortable with being on my own. It never occurred to me that I’d find my one…my soul mate so late in life. It was easier just to think of you as a sexual attraction thing.’
Sebastian grinned. ‘Hey, no complaints from me.’ He turned her, kissing her forehead, her eyes, her nose and finally her mouth. ‘And just think,’ he murmured against her mouth, ‘we wouldn’t have our little girl if you hadn’t ruthlessly exploited the sexual attraction thing.’
He pulled away from her slightly, his hand returning to cradle her stomach again.
Callie swallowed at the sight. His big hand gentle against her. ‘I think actually, deep down, that was the main reason I avoided getting involved in relationships. Because I knew that eventually I’d want the whole shebang. A wedding ring, suburbia, a white picket fence and babies.’
She looked at him, his face so concentrated on their baby it took her breath away. ‘And I couldn’t disregard my family legacy. My mother being bipolar, Andy’s schizophrenia…How could I expose a tiny baby to all that potential?’
Sebastian returned his gaze to her. ‘Does it still worry you?’
The thought tore at her heart. She would never want a child of hers to go through the rigours of mental illness. ‘Of course,’ she whispered. ‘Looking after Zack all those years, worrying if he’s got more than his father’s athletic ability…it frightens the hell out of me.’
Sebastian’s hands crept to her face, cupping her jaw, his thumbs stroking the hollows beside her mouth. ‘Don’t,’ he murmured. ‘We wipe the slate clean. You and I.’
‘But what if—?’
‘Shh.’ Sebastian placed a thumb against her lips. ‘There are no guarantees in life, Callie. You and I both know this child could get any number of horrible illnesses. So could we. But we can’t live our lives like that—in constant fear. We just love our kids and we love each other and we hope like crazy it all works out. And no matter what’ we’ll deal with whatever life throws us.’
Callie’s hands came up to grasp Sebastian’s wrists. He was right, of course he was. Life was for living—they both knew that, probably better than most. ‘I love you,’ she whispered.
Sebastian smiled, using his thumbs to tilt her jaw back. ‘I don’t think I’m ever going to tire of hearing you say that.’
‘Good,’ she murmured, ‘cos I’m not ever going to tire of telling you.’
Sebastian dropped a kiss on her upturned mouth. And then another. And another, until they melded into one and they were clinging to each other and their harsh breathing and low moans were the only sounds in the room.
‘Just promise me one thing,’ he said, pulling away while he could still think coherently.
Callie sucked in a breath, her head spinning from the kiss. ‘Anything.’
He looked around. ‘Can we not have a nursery quite this pink?’
Callie laughed. ‘Actually, it’s kind of grown on me.’
Sebastian groaned. ‘Well, can we at least have yellow ducks?’
She nodded. ‘It’s a deal.’
And sealed it with a kiss.
Recent titles by the same author:
VALENTINO’S PREGNANCY BOMBSHELL
ALESSANDRO AND THE CHEERY NANNY
A MOTHER FOR MATILDA
NAVY OFFICER
TO FAMILY MAN
EMILY FORBES
About the Author
EMILY FORBES began her writing lire as a partnersnip between two sisters who are both passionate bibliophiles. As a team Emily had ten books published, and one of her proudest moments was when her tenth book was nominated for the 2010 Australian Romantic Book of the Year Award.
While Emily’s love of writing remains as strong as ever, the demands of life with young families has recently made it difficult to work on stories together—but rather than give up her dream Emily now writes solo. The challenges may be different, but the reward of having a book published is still as sweet as ever.
Whether as a team or as an individual, Emily hopes to keep bringing stories to her readers. Her inspiration comes from everywhere: stories she hears while travelling, at mothers’ lunches, in the media, and in her other career as a physiotherapist all get embellished with a large dose of imagination until they develop a life of their own.
If you would like to get in touch with Emily you can e-mail her at [email protected], and she can also be found blogging at the Harlequin Medical™ Romance blog—www.eharlequin.com
Dear Reader
This book is my fourth linked tale—I seem to be developing a habit! You might recognise my heroine Juliet from my last book, DR DROP-DEAD GORGEOUS. She was the heroine’s sister, but she was having her own interesting experiences and was demanding that I tell her story too. I have never started a book knowing it’s going to be the first in a series, but somewhere along the way my secondary characte
rs develop to a point where I can’t abandon them. So it was with Juliet.
She has had a rough eighteen months. A divorce, surgery and chemotherapy have taken their toll on her, and now she’s a single mother to two young children and about to undergo more surgery. Juliet would love to turn the clock back a few years—wouldn’t all thirty-something women?——but she knows that’s impossible, and she’s just hoping for a brighter future. I wanted Juliet to have that bright future, I wanted her to be happy, but the trouble was I’d already divorced her from the love of her life. Could I help her to find love a second time, or had her luck expired? Answering that question became my goal.
Juliet and Maggie are the second pair of sisters I’ve written about. That is no surprise to me, because I am lucky enough to share a close bond with all my siblings, including two sisters, and I enjoy giving life to characters who share that same relationship. It’s a fabulous thing to have a person in your life who loves you unconditionally, and I hope that everyone reading this has someone—be it a sister, friend, daughter, cousin or mother—you know will catch you if you fall or will let you catch them. This story is for all the women of the world.
Best wishes
Emily
This book is dedicated to two women without whom this book would still be just an idea in my head. Belinda, my sister, and my editor Lucy
CHAPTER ONE
JULIET entered the courthouse, passing through the security screening area and into the foyer. Her unfamiliar heels clicked on the marble floor, echoing in the space, as she strode towards the notice-board on the opposite side of the atrium. She rarely wore heels any more, not since she’d given up a career in law for a career as a university lecturer, but she knew adopting a power-dressing approach would give her some much-needed confidence today. She’d deliberately chosen one of her old suits—she’d barely worn it and hoped it still passed inspection?and she’d teamed it with the confidence-boosting heels. At five feet two inches she needed all the help she could get in the height department and a couple of extra inches immediately improved her self-assurance.
Rescued by the Dreamy Doc / Navy Officer to Family Man Page 16