The Mills & Boon Sparkling Christmas Collection

The Greek Doctor’S New-Year Baby

For Annette, Grant, Amy and Lauren, With love.

CHAPTER ONE

MADISON noticed him the moment he walked into the room.

Despite the fact that the hospital’s charity ball was heaving with people, all wearing Venetian masks—and he was dressed the same as all the other men in a dinner jacket, dark trousers, white shirt and bow-tie, plus a plain gold eye mask—there was something about the tall, dark-haired man that set him apart from the others. Some kind of energy that drew her eye.

Not that she was going to do anything about it. Not tonight.

As the chair of the committee for the hospital’s fundraiser ball, Madison Gregory had work to do. Such as making sure that everything was running like clockwork behind the scenes. Being there to troubleshoot any last-minute problems. Charming people with a sweet smile and fixing any little niggles without a fuss.

But so far any problems had been minor, because everything had been planned down to the last detail. There had been a few murmurs at first in committee meetings when she’d suggested a jazz trio—a band she’d heard several times at her favourite club—but Madison had stuck to her guns. In her view, a rock band really didn’t suit a masked ball, and although ballroom dancing had become popular again, thanks to TV shows, having a string quartet playing waltzes would have felt too formal. Whereas soft, easy-listening jazz—bright upbeat numbers and slow crooning ballads that people knew and could dance to—was perfect for a ball.

Now she could even see couples mouthing the words of ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ to each other, smiling and laughing and just having fun on the dance floor. Relief flooded through her. She’d got it right. This was going to work.

With this lovely, warm, relaxed atmosphere, people would be more willing to be parted from their money. They’d buy loads of tickets for the tombola prizes she and the rest of the committee had talked local companies into donating—balloon rides, spa treatments and a chocolate hamper that her cousin and best friend Katrina desperately wanted to win and had bought so many tickets in lieu of being at the ball that Madison had decided, if Katrina didn’t win it, she’d buy her the very same hamper as consolation.

And maybe, just maybe, the fund for the new scanner would reach the halfway point as a result.

Eve, one of the senior nurses from the emergency department, came up to her. ‘Maddie, you’ve been rushing around since an hour before everything started. Why don’t you take a break?’

A little voice in Madison’s head added, And go and find out who the man in the gold eye mask is. She brushed it aside and smiled at Eve. ‘It’s OK. I’m fine.’

‘You paid for a ticket, too,’ Eve reminded her. ‘Which means you’re entitled to dance and have some fun. Just because you’re the chair of the organising committee, it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy yourself.’

‘I am enjoying myself.’ And it was true: Madison loved being in the thick of things. She’d been hard put to choose between specialising in emergency medicine and her final choice, obstetrics, because she enjoyed the buzz of being too busy almost as much as she loved those magical first minutes of a new life.

And then, as the music changed and the pianist seemed to flow seamlessly into ‘It Had to be You’, a hand touched her arm. ‘May I?’ a deep, unfamiliar and slightly accented voice asked.

Even before she looked up, she knew who it was going to be, and a shiver ran down her spine.

The man in the gold mask.

He was looking at her with the most sensual, smouldering gaze she’d ever seen: dark eyes with a hint of green and gold and grey. Stunning.

Not to mention a slow, sweet smile that actually made her knees go weak.

‘I…’ Her throat dried, and Eve gave her a shove.

‘She means yes,’ Eve said sweetly. ‘Have fun.’

Before Madison could protest, she was dancing with the stranger.

Theo had been aware of her all evening: the girl in the floaty dress with the pink and gold cat mask covering her upper face and the most incredible smile. He’d seen her talking and laughing with plenty of people, though he hadn’t actually seen her on the dance floor.

And now he was dancing cheek to cheek with her. Whoever had chosen this music was an utter genius: it had neither the formality of ballroom dancing nor the slight distance of pop. This was old-fashioned dance music, the kind of stuff his grandparents loved—and, so he’d discovered recently, his mother had loved too.

Despite his dance partner’s high-heeled shoes, she wasn’t that tall and he had to dip his head slightly to dance with her, but she felt perfect in his arms. And those blue, blue eyes behind the mask were just stunning. Like a Mediterranean sky on a late summer evening, shading to dark navy at the very edges of her irises. Her dark hair was loose around her shoulders—not perfectly straight, but not a riot of curls either. Soft, enticing waves that made him want to tangle his hands in them, feel the silkiness against his fingertips.

Even more than that, he wanted to see her hair spread over his pillow. And he really, really wanted to explore that beautiful mouth. Tease it with kisses until it opened beneath his mouth, letting him deepen the kiss.

Kyrios. He couldn’t remember when he’d last felt a pull of attraction this strong.

But right now she was in his arms, holding him close. And it felt good.

The stranger’s touch was perfectly decorous, Madison thought. And yet somehow it felt personal—intimate, even. They were dancing close enough for her to feel his breathing, hear his heartbeat. And he had a perfect sense of rhythm, guiding her round the floor so effortlessly that it actually felt like floating. She’d never been so in tune with a dance partner before.

They didn’t speak as they danced—they didn’t need to—and suddenly everyone around them just melted away. They could have been dancing on a little terrace overlooking a garden in Tuscany, just the two of them, in the moonlight…

She shook herself. Of course not. This was London. And if it wasn’t for the fact that she’d deliberately stuck to sparkling water because she was responsible for the way things ran tonight, she would’ve been sure this heady feeling was from drinking too much champagne—almost like tiny bubbles fizzing through her veins.

The fact it was all from dancing with him scared her and excited her at the same time. She’d never reacted this strongly to anyone before. Even Harry.

Part of her wanted to ask the stranger what his name was, but she knew that talking would break the spell. And right now she didn’t want it to end. Just the two of them and the music, the singer crooning and the soft jazzy piano counterpointed by the double bass and guitar.

Two and a half minutes had never passed so slowly.

Or so very, very fast.

When the song ended and his hands dropped from her body and he took a step backwards, it felt so wrong.

And then he bowed to her, lifted her right hand and kissed the pulse on the inside of her wrist.

She could barely breathe.

His eyes—dark and as sexy as hell—held hers. ‘Thank you.’

Again, that slight accent. She couldn’t quite place it, but it was incredibly attractive.

Just as her mouth started to frame a response, an introduction, a question, a different pair of arms caught her round the waist. ‘Maddie! Here’s my girl.’ She found herself spun into a hug. Into arms she recognised—Ed, the registrar in the emergency department she’d dated a couple of times, a month or so back.

Oh, help.

Ed was beaming. A champagne-induced sort of beaming, and he’d clearly forgotten that they’d agreed to be just good friends—that they weren’t dating any more.

By the time Madison had extricated herself and jollied Ed into remembering that they were just friends and she was busy tonight anyway with her chairwoman hat on, and had informed him that he’d just been incredibly rude to the man who’d danced with her by cutting in like that, Mr Gold Mask was nowhere to be seen.

The disappointment felt as if someone had just driven past her through a deep puddle, dousing her in cold water.

Which was utterly ridiculous. The man was a complete stranger. No way should she be reacting this strongly to him—a man who’d danced with her once and whom she was unlikely to see again, because she certainly didn’t recognise him as one of the hospital staff she’d chivvied into getting a table together.

Madison Gregory, you need to get a grip, she told herself silently, then went to check that everything was proceeding smoothly with the tombola.

Here’s my girl.

Well, of course a woman that attractive wouldn’t be single. Even though Theo had instinctively checked her left hand before asking her to dance and there had been no sign of a ring, he should’ve realised that she would have a boyfriend.

And a dance was just a dance. It wasn’t going to lead to anything else.

He pushed away the regret. It wasn’t as if he was looking for a relationship anyway. Wasn’t that half the reason why he’d left Greece, because his family was constantly trying to fix him up with an eligible woman and it was driving him crazy? And he was only here tonight because he was at a loose end the weekend before he started his new job. Buying a ticket for the hospital fundraiser had seemed like a good idea—a chance to meet some of his new colleagues socially, get to know people. He’d enjoyed chatting to people tonight.

But all the same he needed some fresh air. A cool breeze to bring his common sense back and give him some immunity to the sweet, seductive tones of the singer. As she segued into ‘Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered’, he allowed himself the briefest of smiles. Theo Petrakis most definitely didn’t let himself get bewitched, bothered and bewildered by anyone.

And that included a beautiful—and very much off-limits—woman by the name of Maddie. He’d go back in, buy a few tombola tickets to help swell the fundraising coffers…and then maybe he’d have an early night.

Madison kept the smile on her face for the rest of the evening. And although she allowed herself to relax in between checking that all was well and danced with a dozen different men, none of her partners on the dance floor matched up to the man in the gold mask. They didn’t have his fluidity or his intuitiveness.

It was pretty stupid even to be thinking about the man. She’d never met him before—or she would most definitely have remembered—and she probably wouldn’t meet him again.

She didn’t even know his name.

And you couldn’t fall for someone whose name you didn’t even know…could you?

She shoved the thought to the back of her mind. Besides, tonight wasn’t about her. It was about raising money for the new and hugely expensive medical equipment that the hospital trust dearly wanted but just couldn’t afford. So she was going to schmooze and schmooze and talk people into buying more tombola tickets.

When the evening was over and everyone had gone home, Madison stopped by the hotel kitchens to thank the staff for their hard work and deliver the chocolates she’d bought them to show her appreciation, then headed for the hospital. Right now, she was wide awake—and unless Katrina, as the on-call doctor, was in with a patient, the chances were she’d be free for a quick coffee-break.

When the night sister let her into the paediatric department, Madison was delighted to discover that her cousin was in her office, catching up with paperwork.

‘You missed a great evening,’ she said, settling herself on the edge of Katrina’s desk. Even though Katrina, being deaf, wasn’t over-keen on dark, noisy, crowded environments, Madison knew that her cousin would have enjoyed the ball.

‘I wanted to be there, Maddie, you know that—but we’re so short-staffed right now I just couldn’t work it.’ She looked hopefully at Madison. ‘So, did you take my hamper back to your place before dropping in? Or have you scoffed half of it already?’

Madison shook her head. ‘Sorry, hon. You didn’t win it. But you did get a full body massage and a manicure.’ She produced the vouchers from her handbag.

Katrina smiled wryly. ‘Can you see me having a manicure?’

‘Well—no,’ Madison admitted. She enjoyed doing girly things, but her cousin most definitely didn’t. Katrina was practical. Too practical for her own good.

‘Then you have them. With my love.’

Madison shook her head. ‘I can’t do that. You spent a fortune on tickets, Kat.’ And she hadn’t won a single thing—so Madison had told a teensy fib and given her cousin her own prizes. ‘Look, at least have the massage. You’d enjoy it. Really, you would. It’s really relaxing.’

Katrina wrinkled her nose. ‘Thanks, but it’s not my style.’ And she clearly suspected Madison of having had a hand in the prizes—which she had, but not quite in the way Katrina thought. ‘Look, if you really don’t want them, I’ll raffle them off in the department and you can add the proceeds to the scanner fund.’ Katrina paused. ‘Did you meet Prince Charming tonight, then?’

‘Hey, are you calling me Cinderella?’ Madison teased.

‘You’ve gone red. Aha. So you did meet someone.’ Katrina gave her a wicked smile. ‘Come on. Details. All of them. Right now.’

Madison shrugged. ‘There’s not a lot to tell. We danced. Once.’ She left out the fact that the man in the gold mask had kissed her inner wrist and she could still feel the touch of his mouth against her skin.

‘And?’ When Madison didn’t reply, Katrina asked, ‘What’s his name? Which ward is he on?’

‘No idea, to both.’ Madison forced herself to sound offhand. ‘Kat, it was just a dance.’ And a kiss. ‘And he was wearing a mask, so I didn’t even get to see his face.’

But she had seen his eyes and his mouth. She’d class both as the sexiest she’d ever seen.

‘You didn’t even ask? Sounds like you missed a great opportunity,’ Katrina said. ‘He might have been really nice.’ She shook her head. ‘You’re so picky. How are you ever going to meet someone if you never give them a chance?’

Madison grinned. ‘Says the woman who’s waiting for her prince to come and find her.’

‘I looked. I kissed some of them, even. And they turned into frogs.’ Katrina shrugged. ‘Anyway. I’m happy with my career.’

‘So am I,’ Madison said.

Katrina raised an eyebrow. ‘Honey, you’ve been broody for the last five years.’

‘Which is why I made such a huge mistake with Harry. I know.’ Madison shrugged. ‘Next time, I’ll get it right. Find myself the perfect man—gorgeous body, gorgeous mind, gorgeous heart.’

‘In that order?’

‘Colour me shallow.’ Madison laughed and spread her hands. ‘Actually, the order doesn’t matter, as long as they’re all present.’ Though she knew which ones were the most important. The two Harry had turned out not to possess.

‘I think you’re going to have to compromise somewhere,’ Katrina said.

Madison shook her head. ‘No compromising.’ Not any more. She’d compromised with Harry, and look where that had got her. Divorced and disillusioned at the age of twenty-six. Except now, at thirty, she had her bounce back again. ‘Look, our mums managed it, didn’t they?’

‘I’m not so sure our dads are perfect,’ Katrina said thoughtfully. ‘I love Dad and Uncle Bryan to bits, but they’re not perfect, Maddie. Nobody is. They’re only human.’

Madison was saved from having to agree by a soft knock on the door. ‘Kat, sorry to interrupt—I need you to come and have a look at Joseph. I’m not happy with his obs,’ the paediatric nurse said, looking worried.

‘On my way,’ Katrina said. ‘Sorry, Maddie.’

‘Hey. I only dropped in to give you your prizes. I’ll catch you later.’ Madison hugged her cousin, and left the ward.

But she still couldn’t get that kiss out of her head. It had been chaste and decorous—yet, at the same time, the hottest thing she’d ever experienced. Full of promise. If Ed hadn’t interrupted, who knew what could have happened?

‘Get a grip, Maddie. Real world,’ she informed herself. The ball was over. And she’d probably never see the stranger again, so what was the point in wondering what might have been?

CHAPTER TWO

ON MONDAY morning—the day before he was supposed to start—Theo Petrakis walked on to the maternity unit.

He liked what he saw. Everything was organised—well, as organised as you could get in a ward where babies decided to arrive earlier than expected, or made their parents wait around and worry before they finally made their appearance—and there were plenty of hand sanitation gel dispensers around, so clearly they were hot on hygiene here. And the warm, relaxed atmosphere he’d noticed at his interview was still present, to his relief. Before now he’d worked in a unit where the midwives and doctors had been practically ranged against each other instead of recognising that they were a team.

‘Can I help you?’ the midwife sitting at the reception desk asked.

He smiled at her and held out his hand. ‘I’m Theo Petrakis. Strictly speaking, I’m not supposed to be here until tomorrow, but I thought I’d drop in and say hello.’

‘Theo Petrakis—our new consultant, yes?’ She returned the smile. ‘I’m Iris Rutherford.’ The senior midwife, according to her name badge. She took his hand and shook it warmly. ‘Pleased to meet you. Especially as you’ve picked a nice quiet moment.’

‘As opposed to three in the morning, when all the babies decide it’s the perfect time to make their arrival?’ he asked wryly.

She laughed. ‘Too right! If you’ve got a few minutes spare, I can show you around and introduce you to everyone.’

‘Thanks. I’d like that.’

And by everyone, Theo discovered, she meant everyone, including the health-care assistants.

It had definitely been a good decision to take this temporary post, he thought. A six-month stint as a locum for the senior consultant, who was off on long-term sick leave. It would broaden his experience so he was ready to make the step up to a senior consultancy role. As it looked as if he’d be part of a team here that believed in working together, this job was going to be a real pleasure.

Then he noticed the slight frown on Iris’s face as they got back to her desk. ‘What’s up?’

‘I was hoping you’d get to meet our registrar, but she’s in one of the delivery rooms right now. She’s brilliant at her job, good with the mums and the babies. She’s going to make an excellent consultant in a couple of years.’

‘Ambitious?’ Theo asked, trying to read between the lines.

Iris smiled. ‘She certainly hasn’t met the man who’ll come between her and her career. But she won’t give you a hard time for taking over from Doug, if that’s what you’re asking.’

By the time Theo left the ward, the registrar still hadn’t emerged from the delivery room—and no way would he interrupt what was clearly already a difficult situation for a woman in labour—but he wasn’t particularly worried about not meeting her before he started. If she was anything like her colleagues, they’d get along just fine.

The following morning, again the registrar wasn’t there when he arrived because she was helping out with a difficult birth. But he was just making himself a mug of coffee when she walked into the ward’s kitchen.

‘Hello. You must be the new…’ She stopped dead, clearly recognising him.

Just as he recognised her.

Even without the mask, he knew her instantly. Those beautiful eyes. That mouth. The prickle of awareness that ran all the way down his spine.

Which was crazy.

Apart from the fact he never mixed work and relationships, it would be impossible here anyway. He was only here for six months, and she was involved. The best he could hope for was a good working relationship. Which meant defusing any embarrassment right from the start.

‘Doctor,’ he finished lightly. ‘Yes. I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself to you at the ball on Saturday. Theo Petrakis.’ He held out his hand.

‘Madison Gregory. Everyone calls me Maddie. Welcome to the ward.’ She took his hand.

Using her right hand. And he’d kissed her right wrist on Saturday night, touched his lips to the pulse point.

The impulse to do it again shocked him, it was so strong. He just about managed to shake her hand and then drop it again. ‘I was making coffee. The kettle’s hot. What can I get you?’

‘I’m impressed. You’re well trained,’ she teased.

He shrugged. ‘I don’t mind taking my turn to make coffee. I certainly don’t intend to pull rank and expect my team to run around after me.’

‘Doug’ll be pleased to know his department’s in safe hands—and that you share his attitude towards the team,’ she said. ‘Thanks. That’ll be a lot of milk and no sugar for me, please. And a little bit of cold water, too, so it’s cool enough to drink.’

A trick most doctors learned very early on, Theo knew. If you waited for your drink to cool, the chances were you wouldn’t even get a first sip before you were called to a patient. ‘Busy morning, hmm?’ he asked.

She nodded. ‘But I love mornings like this. When things look as if they’re going to go pear-shaped, and all the worst-case scenarios are running through your head while you’re maintaining absolute calm to stop the mum and her partner worrying—and then suddenly it all works and you end up with a new mum and dad, all misty-eyed and cuddling their little miracle. That first moment when the whole world seems brand new.’

Clearly she loved her job. And he knew what she meant: those first moments with a newborn baby always took his breath away, too.

He made the coffee the way she’d specified and handed the mug to her.

‘Thanks.’ She took a sip. ‘Oh-h-h. This is perfect. Just what I needed.’

She seemed to be about to say something else, but then her pager bleeped. She glanced at the readout, then sighed and put the mug on the draining board. ‘Sorry. I’ll finish it later. I have to go. The emergency department needs a second opinion on a pregnant patient with back pain.’

‘Can I come and observe?’ he asked.

She blinked, looking faintly surprised. ‘Well, if you really want to, sure. I’m not worried about someone senior observing me,’ she added, ‘but four would definitely be a crowd and I had intended to take my fourth-year students down with me.’

‘Your students?’

His surprise must have sounded in his voice because she admitted, ‘Strictly speaking, I suppose they’re your students, but before Doug went on sick leave he agreed I could take over the mentoring side of things. And Sanjay and Nita are doing really well—especially Sanjay, who’s blossomed since he’s been with us. I want to keep his confidence up.’

Theo raised an eyebrow. ‘I thought only consultants were mentors.’ And she was a registrar, wasn’t she?

‘Look, I’ll explain on the way down to ED. If you want to observe, we’d better not take the students with us this time—it’s not fair to our mum to have too many people in a cubicle with her, especially as she’s in the emergency department and probably panicking like anything right now. Plus Sanjay and Nita really need to meet you properly before you observe them.’

Theo had to suppress a smile at the way Madison was taking control when officially she was his junior, but he liked her confidence and the way her first thoughts were for other people’s well-being. ‘Sure.’

She stopped off at the reception desk and rang down to the emergency department to reassure them that she was on her way, then ushered him out of the department.

‘So talk me through the mentoring stuff,’ he said.

‘You know as well as I do, we have a recruitment crisis in our specialty,’ she said. ‘All the surveys say that students don’t want to work in obs and gynae because they have such a bad time on rotation—either they’re made to feel they get under the feet of the midwives, or they’re stuck in the furthest corner of an operating theatre watching a Caesarean.’

‘So they never really get to do any of the work and they don’t feel part of the team.’

‘Exactly,’ Madison said. ‘We’re organised nowadays so the team means a whole department, rather than the old way of having a “firm” of a consultant, registrar and house officers who always work together, and in a way that’s a shame because it makes it harder for junior doctors to settle into the team. I really think students need a single point of contact in a department to help them feel they’re really part of what’s going on. Yes, they have to sort out their logbooks and what have you, but they also need proper contact with patients and they need real jobs to do if they’re to get the best out of their attachment.’

‘Responsibilities for something practical, such as a departmental audit,’ Theo suggested.

That earned him another of the gorgeous smiles. ‘Absolutely. On our ward, we have two students at a time on attachment. I’m responsible for bedside teaching, and they attend my clinic and theatre sessions.’

‘Are you pure obstetrics?’ Theo asked.

She nodded. ‘Though I’m interested in foetal medicine as well.’

‘So what about the gynae work?’

‘I liaise with the consultants and the other registrars so the students get sessions with them, too—but I’m still their point of contact if they’re worried about anything, or if they want to see more of a particular subspecialty outside pure obstetrics. I also get them to spend time with the midwives, so they develop a rapport and a bit of respect for our colleagues, as well as a chance to see some low-risk births.’

‘Instead of thinking that life in our ward is all epidurals and emergency sections,’ Theo agreed. ‘That sounds good. I notice you have a sensory room here.’

‘And a water-birth suite. We want our mums to have the best, most natural and relaxing experience possible. Our midwives are fantastic, and we only intervene when we’re asked for help.’

‘Amen to that,’ he said feelingly.

The emergency registrar met them practically at the door and gave them a swift handover. Theo recognised the man’s voice—he was the one who’d swept Madison off her feet at the ball. Yet Madison didn’t greet him as if there was anything more than a professional relationship between them. And Iris had said that Madison hadn’t met the man to come between her and her career. So did that mean she was single after all?

Crazy. He shouldn’t even be thinking about her like that.

And yet he couldn’t take his eyes off her. There was something about her. Something that made him want to break all his personal rules.

Which was even crazier.

The registrar introduced them both to the patient, then left to see the next on his list.

‘Mrs Ellis, I’m Madison Gregory and this is Theo Petrakis,’ Madison said. ‘Ed called us from the maternity department. I understand you’ve been having back pain.’

Mrs Ellis nodded. ‘And it hurts here.’ She pointed to her groin, and clearly the movement hurt her because she grimaced.

‘Has it been going on for long?’ Madison asked.

‘I’ve had twinges for the last week, but today it’s absolute agony.’ She dragged in a breath. ‘Please—I’m not going to lose the baby, am I?’

‘Aches and pains are pretty common in pregnancy and they don’t necessarily mean that you’re miscarrying or there’s a problem with the baby,’ Madison reassured her, ‘but you’ve done exactly the right thing coming to see us. Do you mind if I examine you?’

With the patient’s permission, she examined Mrs Ellis gently but effectively, then listened to the baby’s heartbeat. ‘That’s nice and strong, so try not to worry too much. The baby’s doing just fine. But what we need to do is stop this pain. Do you get the pain all the time, and does anything make it feel worse or better?’

‘It’s only there some of the time. It’s worse when I’m going upstairs or getting dressed or turning over in bed,’ Mrs Ellis explained.

Given where the pain was and the description, Theo knew exactly what the problem was. But rather than muscling in, he waited for Madison, who smiled at Mrs Ellis and squeezed her hand. ‘The baby’s in absolutely no danger. What you’ve got is something called symphysis pubis dysfunction—SPD for short. It sounds a lot scarier than it is, and an awful lot of women get it. At eighteen weeks, you’re practically halfway through pregnancy, and that’s the most common time to start noticing the pain.’

She sat down next to the bed, drew a notebook and pen from her pocket, and sketched a swift diagram to show their patient. Theo liked the way she was managing this: focusing on the patient’s worries, making it easy for her to understand. That kind of empathy would make her a brilliant consultant, as Iris had said. And on a personal level…

No. No involvements. He’d made his decision years ago: he wasn’t going to settle down, get married and have children. Sure, he dated—he was only human—but he always made sure his dates knew he wasn’t able to offer anything long term. If that meant people thought he was a shallow playboy, then fine—he could live with that. As far as he was concerned, other people didn’t have to know the real reason behind his decision. He wasn’t prepared to put the woman he loved through childbirth, knowing first-hand what could happen when everything went wrong. And no way was he going to go through what his father had gone through.

He forced himself to concentrate on what Madison was saying, just in case she decided to throw a question or two his way.

‘Basically your pelvis is in two parts and it’s held together by a joint called the symphysis pubis, which is strengthened by lots of ligaments. When you’re pregnant, your body produces a hormone called relaxin, which softens your ligaments to make it easier for you at birth—but that also means your pelvis can move during pregnancy, and the movements are what cause the pain.’