Dr Romano's Christmas Baby

Rilla murmured something, and rocked her head from side to side, but didn’t waken.

Luca sighed and hunkered down beside her. He lifted a hand to shake her shoulder, but was caught by the protective way her fingers were splayed down low on her belly.

His baby lay beneath that hand. Their baby. He shook his head at the wonder of it all and gave in to the urge to lie down beside her. He lay on his side, his elbow bent, his head propped on his hand, and gazed down at her.

He would never have thought he’d get a second chance at this. Never. When things had ended between them he hadn’t even been able to contemplate something this wonderful ever happening again. The end had been too painful, too soul-destroying for him to ever want to be here again. But he was. And he wanted to hold his baby so badly he couldn’t resist putting his hand out to touch her.

Amy Andrews has always loved writing, and still can’t quite believe that she gets to do it for a living. Creating wonderful heroines and gorgeous heroes and telling their stories is an amazing way to pass the day. Sometimes they don’t always act as she’d like them to—but then neither do her kids, so she’s kind of used to it. Amy lives in the very beautiful Samford Valley, with her husband and aforementioned children, along with six brown chooks and two black dogs. She loves to hear from her readers. Drop her a line at www.amyandrews.com. au

Recent titles by the same author:

TOP-NOTCH SURGEON, PREGNANT NURSE*

THE OUTBACK DOCTOR’S SURPRISE BRIDE

FOUND: A FATHER FOR HER CHILD

THE ITALIAN COUNT’S BABY

*Brisbane General Hospital

Dear Reader

Welcome to Brisbane General Hospital! Set in my home town of Brisbane, this trilogy explores the lives and loves of three nurses, the Winters sisters—Beth, Rilla and Hailey. And three very special doctors—Gabe, Luca and Callum.

I’ve always wanted to write a linked series, and was thrilled when my editor suggested it. I love catching up with previous characters and being familiar with a particular setting. And Brisbane General is a beauty. Being a nurse, I can tell you there’s no place quite like a hospital to bring out real emotions and make people realise what is truly important in life.

In DR ROMANO’S CHRISTMAS BABY, it’s Rilla and Luca’s turn. Rilla’s carefully ordered world is turned upside down when, after seven years apart, her gorgeous husband Luca reappears as Brisbane General’s new Director of Emergency Medicine. The seething sexual tension between them cannot be denied—and neither is prepared for the consequences. Will Rilla and Luca get a much deserved happily-ever-after in their Christmas stockings? I hope you enjoy finding out.

Wishing all my readers a very merry Christmas and the best for 2009.

Amy Andrews

Don’t miss Hailey’s story in January 2009!

BY

AMY ANDREWS

MILLS & BOON

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To my sister-in-law Emily, one of my

biggest supporters. And to all those health care

professionals who man our hospitals over Christmas

while everyone else is making merry.

Extra-special Christmas joy to all of you.

CHAPTER ONE

‘I CAN’T believe I’ve still got a month to go,’ Beth puffed disgustedly as her legs plodded on down the bushy track, her hand kneading the small of her back. ‘I feel like I’ve been pregnant for ever. Now I know how elephants feel.’

Rilla looked at her sister and stifled a laugh. She’d never seen Beth look more beautiful. ‘Pregnancy becomes you,’ she said, patting her sister’s swollen belly.

Rilla felt a rush of emotion at the firm swelling beneath her hand and a twinge in her chest that had nothing to do with the exertion of the walk.

Beth shot Rilla a don’t-patronise-the-expectant-mother look. ‘Oh, yeah. Morning sickness, heartburn, backache and varicose veins. Very becoming,’ Beth muttered. ‘And to top it off I’ve got this damn head cold.’ She blew her nose on a tissue. ‘I mean, who gets a cold in September, for crying out loud?’

Rilla laughed, startling a nearby parrot, which took to the air with an indignant cry and a blur of crimson wings. ‘You should be at home with your feet up, not trampling through the bush with me.’

‘I’m going stir-crazy at home with nothing to do. I could have still been at work but Gabe insisted I take the full six weeks’ maternity leave.’

‘He likes to fuss.’ Rilla shrugged.

‘He’s driving me mad.’

Rilla grinned at the thought of her brother-in-law in full don’t-even-lift-a-paperclip mode. She stumbled over a tree root hidden beneath a carpet of leaf litter and fell behind Beth a little. She looked up to see her sister steaming ahead, still tall and straight as a stick from behind, despite the advanced pregnancy.

So unlike her own shorter, curvier proportions. Rilla had no doubt she’d be well up to the waddling stage by now. If only.

‘Anyway, I’m sick of talking about me. Let’s talk about something else.’

‘OK, sure.’ Rilla shrugged again. ‘What do you want to talk about?’

‘Let’s talk about you.’

Rilla frowned. ‘What about me?’

‘We’re worried about you, Ril.’

Rilla looked at her older sister. ‘We?’

‘The family. All of us.’

Rilla groaned. She’d been set up. ‘So you’re the emissary, are you?’

‘Come on, Ril. We love you. Of course we worry. You’ve been working hard for years to get the NUM job but the last few months, since the position came up, you’ve been working yourself into the ground. Then there was all the stress of the interview last week. Not to mention the divorce papers and taking off your wedding ring. We all know what a big step that was for you. If you’re not careful, you’ll be heading for a breakdown.’

‘I’m fine,’ Rilla said testily.

‘You don’t sound like it. Maybe you need to talk about it? About him?’ Beth said gently.

‘I do not want to talk about Luca,’ Rilla said tersely.

She didn’t even want to think about her estranged husband. The fact that she would be working with him again in a couple of weeks was causing enough angst. Only a matter of days until her world would once again tilt on its axis.

‘Have you heard from him yet? Where’s he going to be living?’ Beth persisted.

‘I suppose back at the flat…I don’t know. And I don’t care. I have better things to do than think about Luca Romano,’ Rilla retorted.

‘Which is why we’re walking to the very waterfall where he proposed to you eight years ago,’ Beth pointed out.

‘Hey,’ Rilla protested. ‘You wanted to go for a bush walk. I’m not David Attenborough. This is the only one I know.’

Beth raised an eyebrow. ‘It just seems a little… Freudian,’ she suggested.

The irony of their destination hadn’t been lost on her either, but Rilla refused to dignify her sister’s statement with a comment. The memories of the day Luca had brought her here were particularly powerful as she walked along. So much so she could swear she caught the occasional whiff of the unique aftershave Luca had always favoured.

They walked in silence for a few moments. The smell of eucalyptus, wattle and damp earth mingled to form a unique bushy fragrance. The heavy warmth of the September day was tempered by the thick canopy above. It filtered the sun’s intensity, allowing only a sprinkle of sunlight to bathe the path.

A bellbird tinkled in the background, complementing the persistent hum of insect song. A kookaburra laughed in the distance. The track was deserted on this Friday morning but come tomorrow it would be bustling with weekend tourists and city slickers keen for a slice of the great outdoors.

‘So he starts in a fortnight?’ Beth asked.

Rilla sighed and resigned herself to a grilling. ‘Apparently.’ ‘And you haven’t heard a word from him?’

‘I haven’t spoken to Luca in seven years, you know that.’

Not since he’d gone back to Italy after they’d both acknowledged it was over. Even the divorce papers had been handled via his lawyer. ‘If Dad hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t even have known he’d applied for the job.’

Beth whistled. ‘Seven years. That’s a long time.’

‘Tell me about it,’ Rilla griped, feeling every day of the intervening years.

Beth put her arm around Rilla. ‘It’s such a big step—divorce. I know it hasn’t been easy for you, Ril. Are you OK?’

Rilla felt tears prick at her eyes. ‘Sure,’ she said huskily.

They walked in silence for a few minutes. Beth stopped to hold her stomach as she sneezed and Rilla waited for her to blow her nose and resume their pace.

‘Why now? For the papers?’ Beth asked, under way again. ‘You never really said.’

Rilla shrugged. ‘I guess it’s like you and Hails have been saying—I need closure. I think turning thirty a few months ago made me realise that I’m not young any more. I want to get married and have a baby. Seeing you pregnant had really bought that home.’

Rilla’s arm brushed against her sister’s pregnant girth and she felt a deep well of longing rise within her and tears threatened again. The miscarriage she’d had at twenty-two hurt more acutely than ever. The thought of never fulfilling her biological purpose was deeply, deeply devastating.

‘I’m just in this kind of…limbo. I think I’ve finally recognised that I need to draw that part of my life to a close and get on with the rest of it. I can’t go forward with my past dragging me back all the time.’

Rilla felt Beth’s arm tighten around her shoulders and she felt immensely comforted as they trudged along the track.

‘And so pretty soon you’re going to be seeing him every day,’ Beth stated a few minutes later.

‘Yes,’ Rilla agreed, feeling utterly miserable. The sadness and guilt and tumult as their fledgling marriage had fallen apart seemed suddenly magnified by their absolute silence over the intervening years.

She’d thought she was over their brief, albeit intense relationship. Thought she was past it. She’d finally filed for divorce, hadn’t she? But his imminent reappearance was unsettling.

‘Maybe there’s a chance you two will…’

Rilla stopped walking and turned to Beth. She felt the years slip away. All the hurt and pain coming back in one violent rush.

‘Too many years have gone by, Beth. We were like strangers at the end. We shouldn’t have rushed in like we did, and getting pregnant so soon…’

She looked at Beth’s belly, swollen with Gabe’s baby and felt a stab of jealousy mix with her despair over the loss of Luca’s baby. She wasn’t twenty-two any more and Rilla wished for the hundredth time she could go back and live that time over again.

‘We were doomed from the beginning.’

‘He hasn’t signed the papers, though, has he?’ Beth countered.

Rilla shrugged, at a loss to explain why he hadn’t. She’d been expecting him to initiate proceedings years before and she’d most certainly expected him to sign the papers and end their dead-as-a-doornail marriage posthaste.

‘Maybe he regrets the things that happened? That he withdrew from you? He was hurting, Rilla,’ Beth said gently.

Rilla knew how much her family had adored her husband despite their initial qualms over the hasty match. And Beth in particular had always had a soft spot for Luca.

‘So was I.’

Beth put her arm around Rilla’s shoulders again. ‘I know. Come on.’ She pulled Rilla along with her. ‘We’re nearly there. I can hear the water.’

They came into a shady clearing carved from the thick bush land dominated by water cascading down a massive rock face into a crystal-clear pool beneath. Big flat boulders edged the waterhole. A slight breeze ruffled the tops of the canopy and revealed glimpses of an azure sky and cotton-wool clouds.

‘Wow, this is beautiful!’ Beth exclaimed in a hushed awe.

It was lush and vibrant. The abundant foliage looked as if it had been there since the dawn of time, its dark green opulence like a magical jewel, whispering of ancient times. Birdsong echoed around the still clearing, which was like a prehistoric amphitheatre, rustling through the leaves with a resonance more magnificent than a choir of angels.

It was perfect. A testament to the creativity of Mother Nature. Rilla felt as if they’d walked into the Garden of Eden. It was hard to imagine that such a paradise could exist in the centre of a thriving city, Mt Cootha being a mere ten-minute drive from the CBD.

‘I’d forgotten how beautiful it is here,’ Rilla said, her quiet voice invading the vibrant stillness.

‘Well, Luca always did have an eye for beautiful things,’ Beth said, grinning at her sister.

Rilla smiled a watery smile and they stood arm in arm, absorbing the wild beauty for a few moments.

‘Come on.’ Rilla roused herself. ‘Let’s sit.’

Beth nodded. ‘I brought some sandwiches and cool drinks.’

They took their shoes and socks off and Rilla supported Beth as she lowered herself down to one of the many smooth boulders that formed a natural rim to the pool.

‘Oh, God, I’m never going to get up again,’ Beth sighed as she dipped her legs into the blissfully cool water. She reached into her pocket for her tissue and blew her nose again. ‘I must look like a beached whale.’

Rilla smiled. Beth was full and ripe and lush. She placed her hand over the sudden ache that had sprung from her womb. ‘Don’t moan, whale,’ Rilla teased, to disguise the bleakness inside. ‘I’ll help you.’

‘You’ll need a crane,’ Beth said.

‘Stop fishing for compliments,’ Rilla said bossily, plonking herself down next to Beth. ‘You’re blooming.’

‘Tell that to my back,’ Beth grumbled as she accepted a bottle of water from her sister.

‘It seems to be bothering you a bit.’

‘It’s been bothering me for months,’ Beth said dismissively as she took a long pull of cool water. ‘It doesn’t help that this rock is so damn hard it could put diamond to shame.’

‘You’re right.’ Rilla laughed, preparing to get up. ‘We don’t have to stay. We can head back.’

Beth put a stilling hand on her sister’s arm. ‘Are you kidding? It’s like paradise here. I want to just sit and absorb it for a while. And I need a rest.’

Rilla relented. The trek hadn’t been particularly arduous, a little uneven and rocky in places, but, then, she wasn’t walking for two.

‘I know you don’t want to talk about Luca, Ril. But being proposed to here must have been very, very romantic.’

Rilla trailed her legs through the water as she thought back to that magical day. Had it only been eight years ago? It seemed like decades. But then some days, like today, it came back to her in such vivid detail it could have been yesterday.

‘Yes, it was.’

They had been alone here that day too. She remembered the feeling of isolation, of feeling they were the only two people in the world wrapped up in a cocoon of love. And she remembered the feeling of absolute rightness. That even after only three months she and Luca were meant to be. That nothing could put them asunder.

It had been a day full of promise and hope. The future had been so bright. So positive. She’d had no inkling that only seven months later their dreams would be crushed into the dirt and within a year it would all be over.

‘Got any Vegemite and cheese?’ Rilla asked, rousing herself from the memories that seemed to have taken over her life since finding out about Luca’s return.

‘Of course,’ Beth said, passing a round of Rilla’s favourite sandwiches to her.

They sat with their legs dangling in the pool, munching on sandwiches, chatting and laughing as the water trickled down the rock, inexorably eroding the surface. They didn’t talk about Luca, or the baby. In fact, sometimes they didn’t even talk at all, familiar enough with each other to be comfortable with silence. They mightn’t share the same DNA but they were as close as any blood sisters.

‘Damn,’ Beth muttered, rubbing her back again. ‘I think I’m going to have to get up. My back’s on fire and my butt is numb.’

They packed up their wrappers and Rilla helped Beth get her shoes back on.

‘God, I can’t wait to see my feet again.’ Beth grimaced as Rilla hauled her upright. ‘Ow,’ she called, reaching out to her sister as she doubled over.

‘What?’ Rilla demanded.

‘Oh, no.’ Beth’s grip tightened as she looked down.

Rilla looked down also. To her dismay a rapidly spreading wet patch stained the front of Beth’s shorts.

‘I think my membranes just ruptured,’ Beth said.

Rilla exchanged a look with her sister.

‘Oh, boy. Gabe’s not going to be happy,’ Beth said.

Rilla couldn’t have agreed more as she stared at the fluid now leaking down Beth’s leg.

‘It can’t be happening now. I’ve still got four weeks to go. It’s too soon. What are we going to do?’

‘It’s OK,’ Rilla said, hearing the first note of panic in her older sister’s voice. She was a nurse. She’d delivered the odd baby or two, the ones that couldn’t wait. Not that it was going to come to that.

‘It’s fine. We have plenty of time. Are you having contractions?’

Beth shook her head. ‘No. Just Braxton-Hicks’ on and off the last few days. It’s mainly my back.’

Rilla gaped at her sister and bit back an exasperated retort. It seemed very likely that Beth had been dismissing true contractions for the harmless Braxton-Hicks’ variety. She didn’t want to think about the fact that they’d been blissfully walking through the bush while Beth was in labour.

‘I wish Hailey was here too,’ Beth murmured.

Ditto. Beth would have been far better off having their youngest sister here. Rilla certainly would have given anything to have someone who had delivered hundreds of babies by their side. But Hailey had declined to join them today, out searching for apartments to rent instead.

‘OK, here’s what we’re going to do,’ Rilla announced. ‘We’re going to get back to the car as quickly as possible and then we’re going to drive straight to the General. It won’t even be a ten-minute drive from here. OK?’

‘OK.’ Beth nodded.

Rilla took an arm and let Beth lean against her as they left the waterhole. They hadn’t gone ten paces when Beth stopped abruptly, practically crippled by a contraction.

‘I don’t think that was Braxton-Hicks’,’ Beth said, her voice wobbling.

Rilla felt Beth’s arms trembling and did some calculations in her head. The walk to the waterhole had taken thirty minutes. The return trip would take longer if they had to keep stopping for contractions. Her heart slammed madly like an open shutter in the middle of a force ten gale.

‘Tell me it’s going to be OK, Rilla,’ Beth gasped, her hold on Rilla tightening.

Rilla could hear the tremble in her sister’s voice. Beth who was always cool, calm and collected was looking to her for assurance. Beth, who, prior to her maternity leave, had run the operating theatres at the General like a sergeant major for years.

‘Of course it is,’ she said confidently. ‘First baby labours take for ever.’ That was one piece of information she did remember in a brain that seemed to be suddenly frozen.

‘But it’s not my first baby.’ Beth grimaced as she clutched at her stomach.

Of course—it wasn’t. ‘It may as well be,’ Rilla said reassuringly. ‘Twenty-three years is a long time. We wipe the slate clean after a while. How long was your labour with David?’

‘Four hours,’ Beth said through gritted teeth.

Rilla tried not to look too alarmed when she glanced sharply at her older sister. ‘Let’s hustle,’ she said, kicking up the pace.

But the going was still slow. The contractions increased in frequency and length over the next twenty minutes, necessitating the need for numerous stops and Rilla was becoming more worried that they weren’t going to make it to the General.

The track remained deserted and their mobile phones still had no signal. All they could do was trudge on and hope the premature baby didn’t decide to make an appearance.

Rilla judged they were about twenty minutes from the car when Beth let out a cry and gripped hard to the arm that was supporting her.

‘What?’ Rilla demanded.

‘Oh, God,’ Beth panted. ‘I need to push.’

‘No. No, no, no,’ Rilla said, shaking her head wildly. ‘No pushing. It’s not far now.’

‘Ril,’ Beth said, leaning forward. ‘I think the baby’s right there.’

‘No.’

‘Yes,’ Beth said looking her younger sister straight in the eye. ‘It is. This baby is coming. Now.’

Rilla believed her. Oh, no! It was time to go to plan B. ‘OK.’ Don’t panic. Just do what has to be done. ‘I’ll get the picnic blanket out of the backpack. I think we need to take a look.’

Rilla’s pulse thundered as she spread the blanket on the track and helped Beth to the ground. This was Beth. Her sister. And her niece. The stakes couldn’t be higher and she was scared out of her brain.

‘Hurry,’ Beth bellowed loudly.

The loud groan broke into Rilla’s escalating fear. ‘OK, Beth, let’s take a look,’ Rilla said, forced to focus as the sound of her sister’s agony echoed through the bush.

Luca Romano was taking a walk down memory lane when he heard the cry of distress nearby. He responded immediately, pistoning his strong legs and arms hard to reach the source. Someone was obviously in trouble. The cry had been full of pain and panic. The bush grew eerily quiet as he headed towards the sound, as if it too could detect the urgency of the situation.

He burst from a side track onto the main pathway, locating the problem with a quick swivel of his neck to the right. He cursed under his breath. Two women were huddled on the track. What the hell had happened?

‘Everything all right here?’ he asked as he approached.

Rilla’s head snapped up. She may have had her back to the approaching man but she’d have known that sexily accented voice anywhere. It still haunted her dreams and stoked her fantasies. She turned. Of all the men in the entire world, their knight in shining armour had to be him?

‘Luca?’

Beth also looked up. ‘Luca?’

Luca stopped dead in his tracks. ‘Rilla? Beth?’

For a few moments no one did or said anything. The entire bush seemed to be holding its breath.

‘Rilla,’ Beth cried. ‘It’s coming!’

Rilla turned her attention back to Beth, breaking out of the twilight zone they’d entered. She looked down in dismay to find that Beth was right. The head was right there. Great!

She turned to look at Luca. There were seven years of silence and a jumbo load of baggage between them, but Rilla knew that they were in the worst possible place if the baby or Beth needed any emergency care. And estranged husband or not, Luca was an emergency medicine consultant—she wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. She could ponder the fickle finger of fate later.

She swallowed. ‘Luca, get down here. I need you.’

Luca knew she hadn’t meant need him need him, but it didn’t stop the quick flare of heat he thought had been extinguished long ago. He took a beat to mentally douse the flame before he responded to the obvious urgency of the situation. He moved closer, crouching down on the rug.