Czytaj książkę: «Midwife's Baby Bump»

Table of Contents

Cover

About the Author

Title Page

Dear Reader

Dedication

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Endpage

Copyright

PROLOGUE

IT ALL BEGAN just before lunch on the beach at Port Melbourne. Felicia Lawrence, or Flick as her family and friends knew her, squinted against the midday sun’s brilliant glare. Her sunglasses, she quickly realised, were still sitting on the kitchen bench.

As her feet sank into the soft warm sand, she decided not to walk back across the beachside road, up the stairs and unlock her second-floor apartment again. The sun’s heat felt so glorious on her bare shoulders and she felt sure if she headed inside she would find chores to do or even some study and she wanted the day to be different. She wanted to step away from her routine. Normally she was up early for her daily walk and back in the shower before six, well before work, but not this day. She was attending the Victoria Hospital ball and it was the first big gala event she had attended so Flick wanted everything about the day to be special.

She was a midwife in training, and it was her final-year placement at the Melbourne Maternity Unit within the large teaching hospital. Another midwife, Sophia, had encouraged her to attend the glitzy social function and she’d agreed. Since they were both single, they would be each other’s plus one.

Flick had slept in a little longer, enjoyed a light brunch and headed out about an hour before lunch. Wearing denim shorts and a bikini top, she walked down to the foreshore, tiptoeing over the expanse of broken seashells on her way to the shallows. She was making her way along the pristine sand when she heard her mobile phone ring. Caller ID showed it was her younger half-sister.

‘Hi, Megan.’

‘Hi, Flick, hope you’re doing absolutely nothing, just like I told you last night. No housework, no study, zilch. For once in your life make the day about you, Felicia Lawrence.’

‘As instructed.’ She laughed. ‘I’m walking along the sand and getting my feet wet.’

‘Speaking of getting your feet wet, what about looking for a boyfriend while you’re out tonight? It’s been for ever since you actually dated.’

Flick rolled her eyes. ‘Sophia and I are going as each other’s date. We just want to dress up in something other than scrubs and have some fun.’

‘I guess it’s a start.’ Megan’s voice sounded a little deflated. ‘At least you’re getting out, which is a damn sight better than your usual non-existent social life.’

Flick stopped walking as she reached the water’s edge and let her toes sink into the wet sand. The tepid water rushed up to her ankles.

‘I’m studying and doing my final placement. I don’t think now’s exactly the right time to think about my social life.’

‘I’m just saying if you find a handsome prince at the ball tonight, for God’s sake, Flick, don’t do your usual midnight cold-feet bolt! Just let it happen. You might surprise yourself.’

‘I’m not looking for anyone.’

‘I know, you’ve never been looking. You’ve had a sum total of two boyfriends, which isn’t surprising since you were working two jobs to save enough money for both of us to have the chance to study. You’ve built your life around taking care of everyone else. Look at yourself, Flick, even your career is delivering other women’s babies. Plus you have that ridiculously minute herb garden, your latest time-wasting mechanism and another way to fill your life and avoid a relationship. You don’t have to hide from men or procrastinate about accepting a date. There are some nice guys in the world, it’s just that our mother never brought that type home … or married one. And just because both of your boyfriends weren’t the one, so you told me, doesn’t mean the one isn’t out there somewhere.’

Flick listened to the sisterly lecture, knowing there were more than a few half-truths. Her two boyfriends had been nice, perhaps too nice, she’d realised not long into each relationship. She had chosen both men because they’d been nothing like the type her mother would date. They’d been sensible, and stable with nice office jobs, hadn’t drunk more than light ale, and that had only been on weekends, they’d been averse to gambling and had seemed to share her dream of marriage and children.

They’d both ticked all the boxes but it hadn’t taken long to discover that being the opposite of her mother’s type didn’t guarantee love or anything close to it. There had been no spark, no chemistry, no fireworks. Something had been missing and Flick had known it wouldn’t be fair to string either one along. So they’d parted as friends since there had been no passion to incite a deeper reaction, and she’d found out that both had since married. They had offered a picket-fence ending, but Flick needed more. She wanted to raise her children in a happy family but she knew she needed to fall completely and hopelessly in love with the father of her children. She wanted to be swept off her feet by desire and spend her life with the man of her dreams. But she soon realised it was just that. A dream.

‘Let’s face it, we both had a pretty crappy childhood,’ Megan interrupted Flick’s thoughts. ‘I can’t remember one Christmas without our mother disappearing after a takeaway lunch to meet another potential boyfriend. And let’s not forget the presents she never bothered to wrap because she spent every spare minute updating her online dating profile. And then we were blamed each time a man left her. It was as if having children was a burden, preventing her from finding true love.’

‘True love isn’t often found in the front bar of the local hotel …’

‘No, but apparently both of our fathers were.’

They shook their heads in unison, neither knowing the other had done the same. There were no fond memories of their childhood, neither had met their father but at least they had each other.

‘I know you brought me up and as my big sister you don’t usually take my advice, plus I’m like a million years younger than you …’

‘Not quite a million,’ Flick cut in, laughing at her half-sister’s teasing as she stepped from the watery pool her feet had made and continued on her walk. ‘Try four!’

‘Anyway, take my little, but ever so much more worldly, sister advice and just let your stunning blonde hair down. Have just one night of fun and don’t over think it. You have been so ridiculously responsible your entire life and you need to walk a little on the wild side, even if it’s just for one night. And don’t spare our mother a second thought. Believe me, she’s not thinking about us right now.’

‘What makes you say that?’

‘Apart from the obvious, Flick, which is the fact she never has thought about us so nothing has essentially changed and never will in our lifetimes.’ She paused to draw breath after her rant. ‘She took off for Bali yesterday so if the boyfriend is spending money then we won’t hear a peep from her. So follow my amazingly insightful advice and please make tomorrow all about you!’

‘Maybe I will. Thanks, Megan.’

‘You’re welcome, big sis. Make me proud. Live a little, take a risk or two … but just don’t post anything on any social media. Whatever happens tomorrow is like they say about Vegas, it stays there … so it needs to be your secret.’

Encouraged further by Megan’s advice, Flick decided she had started the right way to make it her day. To take life with both hands for once and actually have fun. The warm breeze was blowing in from the ocean and she felt good about everything. The fact she had not finished the housework and slept in showed she could step out of her comfort zone, if only for one day. She playfully kicked some of the salty water up with her foot. Then she made a mental note. If she was going to live on the wild side for a day then she needed to paint her toenails bright red to match her mood. She smiled as she thought about the nail polish that Megan had given to her for her last birthday and which lay unused in the bathroom cabinet. She would vamp it up, just tonight.

There were joggers and people being walked by their dogs; others reading books or magazines under the shelter of oversized beach umbrellas; small children building sandcastles and squealing as they ran into the shallow waves to collect water for the moats; and a few very tanned older men in swimsuits so brief and inappropriate that it made Flick shudder a little and look away quickly. Gold Lycra, really?

She grimaced at the thought her mother had more than likely dated one of them. Then she mentally reprimanded herself for thinking about her mother again. The woman had singlehandedly deterred Flick from dating for fun after watching her many poor choices come and leave their home on a dating conveyer belt. Flick had weighed up men as potential husbands from the get-go. She was looking for the family she had never had and it coloured her choices. Megan was right. She needed to leave the drama behind. The ball was going to be about having fun and not thinking about anything too serious. And that was what she intended to do.

In general everyone on the beach appeared to be doing the same. They were relaxed and a few gave a casual greeting or comment about the weather as she walked past. Her pace had picked up during the stroll and was now brisk. Nothing really distracted her until she had almost reached home again. That’s when a striking figure on the beach demanded her attention. Suddenly she was mesmerised and couldn’t look away.

A very masculine, very toned body stripped bare to the waist was jogging towards her. Flick was tempted to shield her eyes with her hand to get a better view, but she refrained. She controlled her curiosity and continued at her brisk pace along the shallows, pulling her gaze down to the crystal blue water. The midday sun was directly above her in the sky but her body was feeling hotter from something other than that. Her heart picked up speed at the sight from the corner of her eye that she could see approaching. Even averted and with the sun’s glare, she could make out a very tanned, very taut … and suddenly very familiar man.

He was almost upon her when she looked up and realised it was the elusive and ridiculously handsome Dr Tristan Hamilton, a neonatal cardiothoracic surgeon at the Victoria Hospital. She averted her eyes again quickly. He was appealing enough in his scrubs but now, in little more than low-slung board shorts, he was mind-numbingly gorgeous. Her cheeks, she felt certain, would be pink with thoughts he was stirring. She was just grateful he had no idea who she was and he would just jog by her, completely unaware of how his body was arousing her imagination. Immediately she knew Megan was right—she needed to get out more. Her reaction was embarrassing even her.

‘Felicia?’

She froze. Her cheek colour gained momentum. He had not only recognised her, he knew her name. Flick had had no idea he’d even realised they worked at the same hospital let alone knew her by name. She had only been there on clinical placement for a few weeks.

‘Dr Hamilton,’ she said, attempting to sound casually surprised.

He drew to a halt beside her, his sun-kissed skin aglow with the perspiration from his morning run. ‘Please, call me Tristan. There’s not a patient in sight so we can throw hospital formalities out the window. I suspect you’re younger than me by a few years, but the whole doctor thing makes me feel about a hundred. So, please, stick with Tristan.’ His deep voice was raspy and breathless from the run.

Flick tried to laugh but all the while her mind was spinning and her body reacting in a way she had never experienced before. ‘Sure,’ she finally responded a little nervously, still not entirely sure about anything. ‘Tristan,’ she said, emphasising his name. ‘So you like jogging.’

She had no idea why she’d asked such a silly question. It was ridiculous and stupid in equal amounts. Of course he liked jogging and with the sweat that he had built up, he had been running for a while. She clearly liked making a fool of herself. She was grateful that he grinned and nodded and she didn’t have to address the way her body and mind were reacting.

With his rapid breathing settling by the minute, he took a sip from his metal water bottle and looked out across the crystal-clear water. ‘Beautiful part of the world, isn’t it?’

Flick was still a little surprised by his relaxed demeanour and the fact he didn’t look at her strangely after her awkward attempt at conversation. She had thought he would be a little rigid and uptight. It seemed to go with the specialist territory but he was not even close to some of the stiff, pompous specialists she had met during her other placements. Age didn’t seem to discriminate when it came to the formalities that some of them demanded. He was so different from what she’d imagined and it was unexpected. She was not normally social inept but he was upsetting her usual calm by being so unpretentious and friendly.

At the hospital, he had never acknowledged her with more than a nod. She didn’t think he had really noticed her, although she had more than noticed him. She spent a great deal of time out in the community during her placement, but when she was at the hospital she always seemed to catch sight of him as she moved about the maternity unit and the wider hospital. Her heart, for some silly reason, would always skip a beat when their paths crossed but reason told her to stay away. He wouldn’t be the marrying kind. More than likely, although there were no rumours to confirm her suspicions, she reckoned him the bachelor type with a little black book bursting with names. She wasn’t about to be listed with a hundred others under ‘L’.

‘It’s wonderful,’ she managed, still trying to control her racing pulse and not appear as nervous as she had become with him so close. She hadn’t been jogging but her heartbeat was completely out of rhythm. Logic and caring about his address book were suddenly swept away in the summer breeze.

‘I love coming down here when there’s no one around. It’s so quiet some mornings, all you can hear are the waves crashing on the shore and the occasional seagull cry,’ he said, with the appreciation of simple pleasure dressing his face. ‘It’s good for the soul to have time to just be grateful to be alive.’

Flick noticed a far-away look in his eyes. It was as if he was truly thankful. It wasn’t a catch phrase or throwaway line. She didn’t offer a reply as it was a statement more than a question. She imagined, as a surgeon, he would have lost patients and that would give him a deep appreciation of life. Being a student midwife certainly had done that for her.

‘Do you live around here or drive down from another part of town, like me?’

Flick pointed in the direction of a whitewashed apartment building with a blue-tiled roof. It stood out like a sore thumb amongst the stunning modern high-rise glass architecture that claimed most of the prestigious beach road. The building was about forty years old with a Greek island feel to it, which wasn’t surprising as her landlords spent half the year on the island of Mykonos and returned to Australia only for the summer months.

‘I live up there in one of the flats on the second floor. It overlooks the beach and I love waking up and looking out across the ocean.’ She wasn’t sure why she needed to give him that much detail. It had just come tumbling out.

‘Sweet,’ he replied. ‘Prime real estate. Although I wouldn’t have been able to run to it when I was studying… they must pay student midwives well.’

He even knew her profession. She had imagined that if he’d even noticed her he would have no idea that she was a midwife, let alone on placement.

‘It’s not as much as I imagine the modern places around here would normally cost. They’d definitely be out of my league. My apartment is quite antiquated and tiny but I like it and I just go without other things to live here. It’s a small sacrifice. I drive a twenty-year-old car but wake up to million-dollar views.’ Suddenly her nerves were abating and she felt comfortable talking to him. She noticed him smile, the most gorgeous smile, and then he removed his sunglasses and she noticed his dark, charcoal eyes with thick black lashes were smiling back at her too.

‘Wise choice, Felicia. A car for a location like this, it’s a great compromise. Who wouldn’t want to live here and wake up to the ocean view every morning?’

Flick was taken aback again. His comment resonated with someone very down to earth. He just happened to also be extremely handsome. She couldn’t help but notice a scar that ran down his chest, ending just above his belly button. Her eyes were drawn to it but she looked away quickly. It was faded and she imagined it was from an operation performed years before but it was significant in size. The fact that he didn’t hide it, she assumed, meant that the scar was perhaps by now only on the outside but she wasn’t about to test that hypothesis by making mention of it.

‘Looks like the hospital has given us both the day off … or are you playing hooky?’

Flick laughed, a little awkwardly. ‘No, not playing hooky, I’m on an RDO.’

Tristan fell silent for a moment, as if he was taking a moment to really think about his words before he spoke. Flick wasn’t sure if the lull in conversation was her cue to leave so she smiled and turned to walk up the sand towards her apartment before it became uncomfortable.

‘Don’t go,’ he called to her. ‘I was wondering if you would like to join me for a coffee or juice. There’s a café just up the road and they have the best coffee and smoothies.’

Flick turned back when she noticed that his voice seemed a little unsure. She was surprised by both the invitation and the tone. Before today, the man asking her to share a coffee had never even spoken to her. He had acknowledged her with little more than a nod in the corridor and now he wanted them to spend additional time together. She didn’t want to refuse but she also didn’t want to sit in the café in her shorts and bikini top and bare feet. She was happy to be on the beach dressed that way but would feel self-conscious in a restaurant filled with the lunch crowd while she was so scantily clad and shoeless.

‘I make a pretty good coffee too, I’m not even close to barista standard, but I can promise it won’t be instant either,’ she called back to him. ‘Would you like to come up to my place and I can make us both a cup.’

‘I don’t want to impose … or cut short your walk.’

‘You wouldn’t be doing either,’ she reassured him, feeling a warmth rush over her. She wanted to be near him. ‘I was heading back anyway and I don’t have any plans for the next hour or so and I’d feel more comfortable at home dressed like this.’

‘I suppose my gear’s not really befitting a restaurant,’ he remarked, looking down at his shorts and sports shoes as he caught up to her. ‘Although you look sensational, so there wouldn’t be any complaints from patrons or management if you waltzed in dressed like that.’

Flick smiled nervously. ‘Follow me,’ she said, half-wondering why she had suggested they head to her place. She barely knew Tristan but something about him made her feel safe. It was crazy, she knew, but her intuition was pushing her in a direction that reason would never normally have chosen. ‘And by the way,’ she said, ‘if we’re ditching protocol, my friends call me Flick.’

They talked for more than an hour, sitting on the narrow balcony of Flick’s apartment. She wasn’t fussed that she hadn’t finished cleaning. She was too relaxed to care. More than once, she joked it was more like a wide ledge than an actual balcony. The weather-beaten outdoor furniture had seen better days, but it served its purpose and allowed them to enjoy both their coffee and an uninterrupted view of the beach. Sharing the tiny, sunny space was a three-tiered planter box filled with herbs that Flick used for cooking. Basil, she told him, was her go-to herb that turned average into sensational. And oregano was her landlord’s favourite, so she would give him a small bunch every Friday morning when she paid the rent.

‘I can see you have a love of cooking and walks on the beach, but what is it that you love about being a midwife?’

Flick didn’t have to think about her reply. ‘Everything. It’s a privilege to travel the journey with a woman to the birth of her baby and then a little beyond that and see how the new family member is adapting to life. And how quickly everyone falls in love with the little person.’

Tristan noticed her face become animated as she spoke. Her love of her work was palpable.

‘Do you prefer attending home or hospital births?’

Again her answer was spontaneous. No debate needed. ‘Home births. I love working in MMU, but for me being out in the community and assisting with home births, that’s what makes it all worthwhile. It’s all about continuity of care,’ she said. ‘The mother feels safe that she knows us, and we’re like part of the family from around sixteen weeks into her pregnancy until six weeks after the birth. It’s an amazing time and I feel so blessed to be a part of such a beautiful experience.’

Tristan watched her face continue to light up as she spoke. It was definitely her calling and she’d needed no prompting as to why she’d chosen that career. They continued to chat about the hospital, their careers and the gala ball that they discovered they were both attending that night. Tristan became aware of how much of Flick’s time he had taken up and reluctantly he knew he had to leave. He didn’t want to outstay his welcome and he suspected she would want to get ready for the evening’s event.

‘Can I drive you to the gala tonight?’ he asked as he stood. ‘I could swing by and pick you up if you haven’t arranged transport.’

Tristan seldom went out socially and even less often accepted an invitation to a woman’s apartment so the day was by no means a regular in any way for him. He had met a gorgeous young woman on the beach, who he knew a little about from the hospital, he had accepted her suggestion of coffee at her apartment and now he wanted to take her out. He wasn’t sure what was happening. Logic reminded him that it wasn’t a date, she already had a ticket and he was merely offering to be a friendly chauffeur, but his heart was warming in a way that he hadn’t expected.

He’d already known before they’d shared a chat over coffee that Flick was naturally gorgeous and now he added fun, intelligent and passionate about her career as a midwife. The hour had passed like a few minutes, and he didn’t want their time together to end. He wanted more. He felt as if he had just touched the tip of a beautiful iceberg and although he had always kept his personal life very separate from the hospital, he suddenly wanted to throw that rule away and to know everything he could about her.

And his libido had also joined the debate.

‘That’s very kind of you but I’ve made plans with my friend Sophia, she’s a caseload midwife, and I’m shadowing her during my placement. I couldn’t let her down, she’s hired a limousine to take us there.’

‘I completely understand. My car, nice as it is, couldn’t compete with a limousine.’

Flick’s lips curved to a smile. ‘That’s not the way I meant it to sound.’

Tristan returned a friendly smile but his body was imagining what it would be like to kiss her. It took all of his self-control not to pull her to him and feel the softness of her mouth on his. He had no doubt her kiss would be as sweet as she was, but he sensed there would also be passion in her lips … and her body.

Reaching for the chilled water on the table beside him, he gulped the entire glass in the hope of bringing himself to his senses. He watched her walk barefoot inside her apartment and put her glass and cup in the sink. She was so naturally sexy, just watching her silhouette made him want to feel her body against his, and thinking that way was out of character for him.

Swallowing hard, he followed her lead and placed his glass in the sink on the way to the front door. He was fascinated by her. He had never felt this way in such a short amount of time. The midwife dressed like a beach bunny had definitely crept under his skin.

He walked down the outside steps that led to the road below, leaving Flick at the top of the steps, but he couldn’t resist turning back for a second. ‘Maybe I’ll convince you to dance with me before the night is over.’

Flick smiled back at him in silence. She knew it wouldn’t take much convincing.

Flick stepped from the limousine and onto the red carpet, wearing a strapless floor-length gown of midnight blue satin with a crystal-beaded bodice. The price tag had made her gasp, but she had decided that the dress she wore to her first ball would be one she would remember for ever, so she bought it anyway. Her hair was down and in loose curls that skimmed her bare shoulders. She wore kitten-heel slingbacks and small crystal stud earrings, and carried an evening purse that she had bought to match her dress. If she had already blown her budget, she decided she may as well have the accessories. She was generally careful with her money, something she had learnt to do during her studies, so she could afford to splurge once in a while.

‘Ooh, red carpet, very nice,’ Sophia said, as she too stepped out of the limousine, wearing a long cream silk gown that also skimmed her shoulders and was a stark contrast against the rich mahogany curls of her hair. Very high-heeled gold shoes were only just visible at the hemline. She was quite petite, almost six inches shorter than Flick, so had decided to teeter all night in the name of fashion, and a little bit of vanity.

Sophia walked alongside Flick, smiling as they entered the ballroom that was abuzz with the noise of the guests’ chatter and a live jazz band.

‘Let’s see what tonight brings, then, shall we?’ Sophia said as she linked her arm through Flick’s.

They were seated at a round table of eight with a vascular surgeon and his wife, two single nurses and two medical students, who were also single and more than a little smitten with the attractive nurses. Unfortunately they were only first-year students and not exactly husband material in the young nurses’ eyes, so their advances were politely ignored.