Her Festive Doorstep Baby. Kate Hardy

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СКАЧАТЬ you in a minute so you’ve got my number. And I’d better give you some money for the baby stuff.’

      ‘We’ll sort it out between us later,’ he said. ‘Is there anything you need from the supermarket?’

      ‘Thanks, but I did all my shopping yesterday,’ she said.

      If Josh had done that, too, instead of feeling that he was too tired to move after a hard shift, then he wouldn’t have been walking through the lobby when Amy had found the baby, and he wouldn’t have been involved with any of this. Though he instantly dismissed the thought as mean. It wasn’t the baby’s fault that she’d been abandoned, and it wasn’t the baby’s fault that caring for a baby, even for a few minutes, made it feel as if someone had ripped the top off his scars.

      ‘See you in a bit,’ he said, relieved to escape.

      * * *

      Amy looked at the sleeping baby.

      A newborn.

      Eighteen months ago, this was what she’d wanted most in the world. She and Michael had tried for a baby for a year without success, and they’d been at the point of desperation when they’d walked into the doctor’s office after her scan.

      And then they’d learned the horrible, horrible truth.

      Even though Amy hadn’t had a clue and it hadn’t actually been her fault that her Fallopian tubes were damaged beyond repair, Michael had blamed her for it—and he’d walked out on her. She’d hoped that maybe once he’d had time to think about it, they could talk it through and get past the shock, but he hadn’t been able to do that. All he could see was that Amy had given him an STD, and because of that STD she was infertile and couldn’t give him a baby. He wouldn’t even consider IVF, let alone adoption or fostering. Even though Amy hadn’t had any symptoms, so she’d had no idea that her ex had given her chlamydia, Michael still blamed her for being too stupid to realise it for herself.

      The injustice still rankled.

      But it wasn’t this baby’s fault.

      Or the fault of the baby’s mum.

      ‘Life,’ she told the baby, ‘is complicated.’

      And then she wished she hadn’t said a word when the baby started crying.

      Pick her up and cuddle her—that was Josh’s advice. Except it didn’t work and the baby just kept crying.

      He’d also suggested singing, as a last resort. But what did you sing to a baby? Every song Amy knew had gone out of her head.

      It was Christmas. Sing a carol, she told herself.

      ‘Silent Night’ turned out to be a very forlorn hope indeed. It didn’t encourage the baby to be quiet in the slightest. ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’ was more like ‘Hark the Little Baby Screams’.

      This was terrible. She really hoped Josh came back with supplies soon. There was bound to be a massive queue at the checkouts, and what if the supermarket had run out of nappies?

      Maybe a Christmas pop song would help. She tried a couple of old classics, but the baby didn’t seem to like them, either.

      If only Josh had let her toss a coin. As a maths teacher, she knew the probability was fifty-fifty—but she also knew that actually there was a tiny, tiny weighting in favour of heads. She would’ve called heads and could’ve been the one to go out for supplies. And Josh, who seemed far better with babies than she was, would’ve been able to comfort this poor little girl much more easily than Amy could. And how could someone so tiny make so much noise?

      ‘I can’t do this,’ she said, trying very hard not to burst into tears herself. ‘I don’t know how to make everything better, baby. I can’t even fix my own life, so how can I possibly fix yours?’

      The baby was still crying when there was a knock on her door. To her relief, it was Josh.

      ‘Having trouble?’ he asked on seeing the red-faced, screaming baby.

      ‘Just a bit,’ Amy said dryly. Though it wasn’t fair to be sarcastic to him. It wasn’t his fault that she was hopelessly inexperienced with babies. ‘I tried singing to her. Let’s just say she doesn’t like Christmas carols. Or Christmas pop songs. And I’m out of ideas.’

      ‘OK. Let me try.’ He put the bag on the floor, took the baby from her and started singing ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’.

      Immediately, the baby stopped crying.

      ‘Clearly you have the knack,’ Amy said.

      He laughed. ‘Maybe she just likes the song.’

      Or his voice. He had a gorgeous singing voice, rich and deep. The kind of voice that made your knees feel as if they were melting. To cover her confusion, she asked, ‘How did you get on at the supermarket?’

      ‘Ready-mixed formula milk, a couple of bottles, a pack of newborn nappies, some baby bath stuff, three vests and three sleep suits,’ he said, indicating the bag. ‘Oh, and my milk and bread.’

      ‘Do you want to put the milk in my fridge for now?’ she asked.

      ‘Thanks. That’d be good.’ Then he grimaced. ‘Um. I think we’re going to have to give her a bath sooner rather than later.’

      Amy could see the wet patch spreading on the blanket. ‘And wash that blanket?’

      ‘Maybe leave the blanket until the police say it’s OK to wash it, but we can’t leave the baby wet. Is it OK to use your bathroom to clean her up?’

      ‘Sure. I’ve got plenty of towels.’ She found the softest ones in the airing cupboard and placed one on the radiator to keep it warm while Josh ran water into the bath. This felt oddly domestic: and it was almost exactly as she’d imagined her life being with Michael and their baby.

      Except, thanks to Gavin, she couldn’t have babies. And Michael was no longer part of her life. She’d heard that he’d got married and had a baby on the way, so he’d managed to make his dreams come true—because Amy was no longer holding him back.

      She shook herself. This thing with the abandoned baby was only temporary. As soon as the police had taken a statement from her and from Josh, they’d take the baby to some kind of foster home and she probably wouldn’t see Josh again for weeks. That frisson of desire she’d felt when his skin had brushed against hers was utterly ridiculous, and she needed to be sensible about this instead of moping for something she couldn’t have.

      Josh tested the temperature of the water with his elbow. ‘OK. Time for your first bath, little one.’

      At the first touch of the water, the baby screamed the place down. Even Josh looked fraught by the time he’d finished bathing her, and Amy’s teeth were on edge.

      The screams abated to grizzling once the baby was out of the bath and wrapped in the warm towel.

      ‘She’s hungry, probably,’ Josh said.

      Amy’s heart contracted sharply. ‘Poor little mite.’ And how СКАЧАТЬ