The Baby Emergency. Carol Marinelli
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Название: The Baby Emergency
Автор: Carol Marinelli
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Современные любовные романы
isbn: 9781474068840
isbn:
‘She has.’ Shelly laughed. ‘So watch yourself.’ Pulling her bag over her shoulder, Shelly swallowed hard. ‘I really do have to go. I just popped in to say goodbye. I’ve got an appointment with Dr Forbes at two.’
‘I thought Dr Lim was your obstetrician.’
‘He is. This visit is for Neil. I know it’s not going to change anything, but he just wants another opinion.’
‘Come on, I’ll walk you out to your car and say hi to Neil. It would be nice for us both to put names to faces and maybe I can answer some of his questions. His mind must be working overtime.’
‘Neil’s at work.’ She saw a hint of a frown mar Ross’s near-perfect features and instantly jumped on the defensive. ‘He can’t take an afternoon off work every time I see a doctor, he’d never get anything done.’
‘Of course not.’
There was a tiny awkward moment as Shelly turned to go. What should she do, shake his hand? A casual wave as she got to the door? Ross answered the question before it had even formed in her mind. Pulling her towards him, he held her for a moment, her bump pressing against his toned abdomen, until he moved away just enough to place his hand on her swollen stomach. ‘Look after that mum of yours,’ Ross whispered to the babe beneath his hand. ‘She’s one in a million.’
A tiny kiss was aimed at her cheek but Shelly moved nervously, his lips grazing hers for less than a second, but it felt as if they were both moving in slow motion, every tiny movement magnified, the soft warmth of his mouth on hers as unexpected as it was welcome, and Shelley swallowed hard as he pulled away, biting back tears as he squeezed her shoulder in one final supportive gesture and then he was gone. Off to his party, off on his travels again, off to the outback to impart and absorb, a million miles away from Chisholm Hospital, from the beach and the world he’d become so much a part of in the six months he’d been back.
Her lips were burning from his briefest touch and Shelly shook her head as she walked, her speed increasing as she pushed the unwelcome stirrings from her mind.
Of course Ross Bodey was going to say the right thing, he was a doctor, for heaven’s sake! He’d just spent the last six months on a children’s ward, dealing with anxious parents and sick kids. Of course he knew how to handle her, that was his job. She was being unfair, comparing his reaction to Neil’s.
Neil was the one living it. Neil was the one whose life had changed for ever when they’d found out the news.
Still…
Starting her car, Shelly pulled off the handbrake and indicated to turn right, gliding into the afternoon traffic as she headed for her doctor’s appointment, for an afternoon of scans and blood tests, an afternoon of being prodded and poked in a futile attempt to obtain a different version. A little piece of news that might brighten Neil’s day. But no amounts of scans, no amount of technology or statistics were going to change the outcome. Their baby was handicapped, and no amount of wishing was going to change that fact.
But she could still have dreams for him.
Ross’s words washed over her, a soothing interlude in an awful day. And in the weeks and months that followed they comforted her with increasing regularity, a life raft to cling to in the turbulent times that followed.
She could still have dreams for her son.
‘SORRY, darling.’ Marlene put down her basket on the hall floor and haphazardly deposited a kiss on Shelly’s cheek. ‘The match went on for ever.’
Shelly gave her mother an easy smile to show there was no harm done. ‘I’ve got plenty of time before my shift starts. Is Dad still there?’
‘Of course,’ Marlene replied crisply, with a slight edge to her voice. ‘This twilight tennis competition is supposed to be a combined effort for the two of us to get fit, yet your father undoes all of the hard work in one fell swoop. He’s in the clubhouse guzzling beers and eating lamingtons as I speak. Goodness, Shelly,’ Marlene said, finally looking at her daughter properly for the first time since she’d arrived. ‘You look nice—very nice, in fact! What have you done to your hair?’
‘I just put a bit of mousse in it in when I washed it,’ Shelly answered vaguely as Marlene gave her a rather sceptical look.
‘I’ll have to try some. Where’s Matthew?’
‘Asleep.’ Shelly rolled her eyes. ‘At long last. But I think this new routine is finally starting to work. I gave him his bath at seven, read his blessed book five times and now he’s out like a light.’
‘Oh, really?’ Marlene’s face broke into a wide grin and she gestured behind Shelly. ‘So who’s this, then?’
‘Matthew,’ Shelly wailed. ‘You’re supposed to be asleep.’
Holding up his dog-eared book, Matthew’s podgy little face broke into a wide and very engaging smile, instantly dousing Shelly’s irritation. ‘Wun, wun,’ he begged.
‘No more run, run,’ Shelly corrected, smiling despite herself. ‘The little gingerbread man is fast asleep now and so should you be.’
‘Wun, wun.’ Matthew insisted, his grin widening as he saw Marlene. ‘Nanny.’
‘Yes, darling.’ Marlene scooped her grandson into her arms. ‘Nanny’s looking after you tonight while Mummy goes to work.’ Marlene pulled Matthew closer, whispering loudly in his ear so that Shelly could hear. ‘Or at least that’s where she says she’s going, but I’ve never seen Mummy looking quite so stunning for a shift on the children’s ward!’
‘Mum,’ Shelly moaned. ‘Don’t talk like that—you’ll confuse him.’
‘I’m just teasing,’ Marlene soothed, turning her attention back to Matthew. ‘Now, give Mummy a big kiss goodnight and we’ll wave goodbye to her, then how about we go and see if there’s any nice biscuits in the cupboard?’
‘Mum.’ Shelly’s voice had a warning note to it which Marlene dismissed with a wave of her hand.
‘The biscuits are for me, darling. Why should your father be the only one ruining his waistline? I’m going to have a nice cuppa then I’ll read Matthew his story. You go off to work. Don’t worry about us two, we’ll be fine.’
‘I know,’ Shelly admitted, giving Marlene a quick kiss before lingering a while longer with Matthew’s. ‘Love you, Matthew.’ He smelt of baby soap and lotion and as she kissed him gently Shelly wondered, not for the first time, how she could bear to go to work and leave him. Reluctantly Shelly picked up her bag and, turning in the doorway, she forced a cheerful wave. ‘If one of those biscuits does happen to find its way to Matthew…’
‘I know,’ Marlene sighed. ‘Make sure I brush his teeth.’ Holding up one of Matthew’s hands, she guided him into a wave as Shelly opened the car door, the tempting СКАЧАТЬ