Once in the kitchen, she opened a cupboard and started to reach for a glass. John jumped between her and the glassware and got one down for her. “Water?”
“Yes, please.”
“Sit. I’ll bring it to you.” He pointed toward the table and she obeyed.
Since she’d been on maternity leave for the last two weeks, with twenty-four hours a day of intense attention from John and a uterus that felt ready to explode, no one was more anxious to deliver the babies than she. Babies. Yes. Two. A boy and a girl. She pinched herself. It wasn’t a dream. Polly liked to blame those pink and blue booties for the twins. Maybe if she’d stuck to one color she wouldn’t feel as if she had a small crowd inside her. But with John’s loving care, the four of them had been getting along beautifully over the past nine months.
If she didn’t count the constant acid reflux and a diaphragm so under pressure that taking deep breaths was almost impossible, she’d say life was perfect.
Polly sat on the kitchen chair, and John was quick to pull out another so she could elevate her feet, then he handed her the water. Just as she swallowed her first sip, Callie and Sterling decided to take a run around the indoor gym and pool.
“Oh!” She quickly set the glass on the table and sat straighter.
“What is it?” John jumped to his feet again then dropped to one knee in front of her. The poor man hadn’t had a moment’s rest since she’d announced with pride he’d made her pregnant again. And Polly had never felt more wanted and cared for.
She couldn’t talk as pain escalated like she’d never experienced before. Her eyes bugged out and she held her breath.
“Don’t forget to breathe, dumpling, remember what the birthing coach told you.” John looked at his watch. These days she really did feel like a dumpling.
The labor pain began to let up and she relaxed into the chair. “How far apart are we now?”
“Four minutes. Are you ready to go to the hospital yet?”
She shook her head. “Let’s walk a little bit first, okay?”
She loved her evening walks along the East River, even though it was hotter than usual this July. The last thing she wanted to do was show up at Labor and Delivery when she hadn’t even begun to dilate, and a walk by the river might just be the ticket to moving her labor along. Dr. Bernstein was thrilled she’d carried the pregnancy the whole nine months, but with John’s tender loving care she wasn’t the least bit surprised.
John didn’t look convinced that a walk during early labor was such a great idea but, as with almost everything else in their life together, he wanted to please her. “Okay, then, let’s go.” He helped her to her feet and they headed for the door.
By the time they’d reached the street, Polly was having another contraction. She stood perfectly still and tried to breathe. John rubbed her shoulders and lower back as she did.
“This time it was three minutes,” he said. “Change your mind about going to the hospital yet?”
The contraction had lasted longer and felt more intense, and even though John was a doctor she wanted to be around the trained midwife and OB nurses when she delivered. She nodded. “Okay, call the hospital and let them know we’re coming in.”
John’s eyes went wide as he dug out his cell phone and pushed autodial. “It’s really happening?” He squeezed her hand, excitement and fear registering in his gaze.
“Yes. Maybe you should get my suitcase.”
“And leave you alone?”
“Marco can watch me until you get back.”
John hesitated, but when Marco got a chair for Polly to sit on while she waited, he dashed back into the building, heading for the elevator.
Ten hours later …
John watched his wife snuggle with their newborns. Her hair had grown thicker and curlier with the pregnancy, and the sight of her holding the twins, well, she was never more beautiful. In awe, he looked on. The babies had tiny fingers and toes, and nostrils that couldn’t possibly pass enough air to keep them alive. Amazing. Nothing short of a miracle.
His kids. His wife.
If he’d performed back-to-back hip replacements, he couldn’t have been more exhausted, yet being with his new family energized him. Polly had worked like a trouper during labor, and he’d been by her side every step of the way. The sight of Caledonia entering the world had brought tears to his eyes and when he got to hold Sterling seconds after his birth, he’d thought he might pass out for fear of dropping or injuring his son.
What a team they’d been, Polly in mid-contraction breathing and pushing, John holding her hand, cheering her on. You can do it. Don’t give up. Like a fearless warrior she’d gone through labor fighting her way to victory, eager to get to the prize. Now, watching his children with their mother, the abundance of love and blessings welling in his heart made his eyes go bleary. Nothing could ever match this most special moment in time.
“We did it,” Polly said. “We made beautiful babies.”
He cupped her face and saw his children squirm in Polly’s arms. “With me as their father they only had a fifty-fifty chance of that beautiful part, you know.”
She grinned and shook her head. “They’ll be strong and smart because of you.”
“And they’ll always know they’re loved.”
“Yes. Just like I do.”
After all the losses John had experienced in his forty years on the planet, through Polly he’d learned to trust that life could still bestow wonders and joy, too. She’d complained he was way too protective of her, but she’d slowly gotten used to it. She’d had no choice.
“Now I’ll be on triple duty, watching over all of you,” he said, pride ringing from each word.
“You poor man, you’re bound to wear out!” She feigned worry, but he knew she was delighted he’d promised to always be there for his family.
“Never.”
He snapped a picture with his phone and sent it to Brooke to share with the hospital staff.
“We’re going to have to work as a team with these little dumplings,” she said.
He’d been warned by younger colleagues that nothing was more difficult than being a parent.
“We’ll be the perfect team,” he said. “You. Me. Callie and Sterling.”
John gazed at his family in the hospital bed while reeling with ever-expanding love in his heart. Since meeting and opening his life and love to Polly, becoming a husband and now a father, he knew one thing deeper and better than anything else in the world. No matter how many curve balls life threw at him, as long as Polly and the kids were by his side he would survive anything.
All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.
All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II BV/S.à.r.l. The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
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First published in Great Britain 2013
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited.
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br /> Harlequin (UK) Limited, Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road,
Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
© Harlequin Books S.A. 2013
Special thanks and acknowledgement are given to Lynne Marshall for her contribution to the NYC Angels series
eISBN: 978-1-472-00311-9
Table of Contents
Excerpt
About the Author
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Epilogue
Copyright
NYC Angels: Making the Surgeon Smile Page 16