Midwives On Call: From Babies To Bride. Kate Hardy

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СКАЧАТЬ style="font-size:15px;">      ‘I was going to ask you the same thing.’ There was a smile in Aiden’s voice as he eased himself free. He didn’t let go of Sophia, though, and she found herself rolling onto to her side, with her head cradled against his chest. ‘You’re amazing. You do know that, don’t you?’

      She could feel the edge of his nipple against her lips as she smiled. ‘I do now. You’re pretty amazing yourself.’

      He pressed his lips to the top of her head. ‘Maybe it was the combination.’

      ‘Mmm.’ Post-coital drowsiness was enveloping Sophia. She could feel herself relaxing into sleep and the thought that she would wake in Aiden’s arms was blissful.

      But he moved, just a little. ‘I should go,’ he murmured. ‘I wasn’t kidding about the early start.’

      ‘You don’t have to.’

      The soft sound was regretful. ‘But I know exactly what would happen if I stayed and I only had one condom in my pocket.’

      The temptation to say something was even stronger this time. ‘You don’t need to worry about me getting pregnant.’

      He moved enough to break the contact between their bodies. ‘Don’t take it personally but I’ve never relied on anyone else for contraception and I’m not about to break that rule.’

      ‘Oh …’ Sophia could feel the chill of exposed skin. And then she felt the dip of her mattress as Aiden sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

      He turned then but it was too dark to read his expression. ‘I’m never going to have kids,’ he said quietly. ‘I had to be a father to Nate when he was growing up and that was enough. More than enough.’

      There was a world of pain behind those words. But there was also a warning note. He’d shared more than his body with her tonight. He’d shared a lot of his personal life but there were limits. This wasn’t something he was ready to talk about.

      He leaned towards her and gave her a swift kiss. ‘I do have to go.’

      ‘Okay.’

      Sophia listened to the sounds of him getting dressed again. She sat up, pulling the duvet around her like a shawl.

      ‘It was the best half-date I’ve ever been on,’ she told him. ‘Thank you.’

      The glimmer of his smile gave her the impression she’d said exactly the right thing. Not pushing him to talk any more about his ‘rules’ or the reason they were so iron-clad.

      He came close and this time the kiss lingered.

      ‘Just as well it was a half-date,’ he said. ‘That means we still have one left.’

      One.

      Sophia’s heart sank.

      ‘Would it count as a date if we didn’t go anywhere? Like—if you came round for dinner one night or something?’

      Something like a chuckle rumbled in Aiden’s chest. ‘I don’t reckon it would. Do you?’

      ‘No.’ Sophia injected complete authority into her voice. ‘I’m quite sure it wouldn’t. Give me your phone number and I’ll text you when I’ve had time to go shopping.’

      Finding time to go grocery shopping wasn’t so hard because there were supermarkets that regularly stayed open until at least midnight.

      Finding time to cook something as amazing as Sophia wanted it to be was another matter. With what felt like a blinding flash of inspiration, a couple of days later she remembered the slow cooker tucked away at the back of one of her kitchen cupboards. Perfect. Getting up a little earlier to get ready for work, she had time to sear meat and brown the vegetables and then all she had to do was push the button and let the cooker work its magic while she worked with Flick for another busy day of home visits.

      The concern about her student was still there but had been pushed into the background. Flick had dismissed her reaction to coffee after that Caesarean case as being due to a bit of a tummy bug and Sophia had been embarrassed that she’d blurted out the first suspicion that had sprung to mind—that Flick might be pregnant. The fact that she’d been pale and quiet for a few days after that fitted with her having been off colour and if she still seemed on the quiet side now, that could well be due to the extra studying she was doing. Flick seemed determined to learn everything about her chosen career and today was a great one for introducing her to things she hadn’t done before.

      It was good for her to have her teaching to distract her, as well. If she hadn’t had Flick in the car with her as she negotiated the heavy traffic in places, she might have been tempted to wonder about how that meal was progressing as it simmered gently.

      Or notice the desire that was simmering a little less gently deep in her belly. Would they go to bed again? Or maybe the real question was when and not if. Before or after dinner?

      The car jerked a little with the firm pressure of her foot on the accelerator. ‘What do you think is the most important thing about the postnatal care we give for up to six weeks after birth?’

      ‘Support,’ Flick answered promptly. ‘Help with things like breastfeeding and bathing baby and how to cope with fatigue.’

      ‘And?’

      ‘Monitoring the health of both the baby and the mother. Especially after a Caesarean in case of infection. And making sure they don’t think that breastfeeding is a reliable form of contraception.’

      Hmm. Expanding on that topic was not going to help her stay focused. ‘Good. What else do we do?’

      ‘Watch out for signs of postnatal depression?’

      They discussed the kind of signs that could be important as Sophia drove them to their first visit of the day but their first mother—Judith—seemed to be coping extremely well, having had a home birth two days ago.

      ‘I’m lucky I’ve got Mum staying. I’m getting plenty of sleep between feeds.’

      ‘Looks like baby’s getting plenty of sleep, too.’ Sophia smiled at the tiny, perfect face peeping from the folds of blanket in Judith’s arms.

      ‘I’ve been a bit worried about today’s visit, though. I’m not sure I want her to have the test.’ Judith’s voice wobbled. ‘It’s going to hurt her, isn’t it?’

      ‘They usually cry,’ Sophia said gently. ‘But I think it’s more about having their foot held still than any pain. It’s a tiny prick. And the crying helps. It makes the blood come out faster so the test is over quickly.’

      ‘It’s important, Jude.’ Their patient’s mother was sitting nearby. She looked over at Sophia. ‘There’s all sorts of diseases it can test for, aren’t there? Treatable things?’

      ‘Absolutely. More than twenty different disorders, in fact.’

      ‘Like what?’

      ‘Maybe Flick can tell you about some of them.’ Sophia smiled encouragingly at her student.

      ‘There’s СКАЧАТЬ