LITMIR.BIZ

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least being born in the car. He’ll probably grow up to be a rally driver.’

      Flo stuck her head into the room. ‘There’s a phone call for you, Doctor.’ Max nodded to indicate he was returning to the other room, and Georgia had to smile at his mode of communication. Very appropriate for Del.

      Susie shuddered. ‘Not if he drives like his father did on the way here. The fog made it a nightmare.’

      ‘Susie’s blood pressure is up,’ Gerry said mournfully.

      ‘Mine would be, too,’ Georgia said with a smile. ‘Perhaps you could just check it again in fifteen minutes, please. I’ll go back to Del if you settle everyone and maybe offer a cup of tea in here.’

      ‘Sure.’ Gerry was happy to have something to do with all the excitement. ‘Flo’s had all the fun this morning,’ she said.

      Fifteen minutes later the ambulance arrived to take Del to the base hospital until the fog lifted, and Georgia only just finished all the transfer papers in time.

      Max put the phone down. ‘They don’t want the steroids given or any more nifedipine.’

      ‘Do they want us to check her cervical dilatation before she leaves?’ Usually patients were assessed to ensure delivery wasn’t imminent or likely to occur during the transport period.

      ‘None of those things,’ Max said with a frown. ‘I queried it but the consultant was adamant.’

      ‘Things change all the time. Must be a new study out that I haven’t heard of,’ Georgia said, but it did seem strange to her as well.

      Georgia signed and printed her name and packaged her letter and Max’s letter to the consultant stating what they’d done to go with Del.

      A midwife from the base hospital had arrived as escort, which meant Georgia didn’t have to call anyone in to cover for her.

      Suddenly the ward was quiet. All they had to do was clean up and prepare for the next person to come in.

      After all the excitement it was a bit of an anticlimax and she wished Max could stay and have a coffee with her but she didn’t ask because it felt needy.

      He waved and left and instead Flo and Gerry helped Georgia restock the trays.

      ‘This tray thing works pretty well.’ Flo repacked with satisfaction.

      ‘I wonder which one we get to use next,’ Gerry said gloomily, and Georgia laughed.

      When Max walked in after work that night, Georgia had Elsa on a rug on the floor in the lounge. Elsa was stretched out on her tummy, kicking her legs with her nappy off as if trying to swim.

      For Max, seeing mother and daughter so relaxed in his home, squeezed his heart so hard it was almost chest pain.

      He despaired of ever being a part of their closeness. He should just enjoy this now because since the other night Georgia had created a distance between them he could feel growing every day.

      At this moment she was laughing at the fierce expression on Elsa’s face as she tried to propel herself forward.

      Georgia glanced up at him with her face alight as if to say, Will you look at her? This was what he wanted. She looked pleased to see him. It shouldn’t be this hard—they were legally married. It had to be a start.

      He threw his briefcase on the lounge and gave in to the impulse to casually drop a kiss on the top of Georgia’s head as he passed.

      ‘What was that for?’ Georgia laughed up at him and he swore then he would fight for the right to be a part of their lives.

      ‘That is the new order of things. I’m home and I want to play, too.’ Then he knelt down in front of Elsa and tickled her. ‘Hey, young lady. Who said you could learn to crawl?’

      He may have spoken to Elsa, who grimaced at him ferociously, but he listened for a response from Georgia to see how she had taken his welcome salute.

      ‘Right, then,’ she said. ‘You get to stay with the naked-bottomed one and I will change, because time has slipped away, and then you can shower after me.’

      Georgia rose gracefully to her feet. She grinned at him and passed the disposable nappy she’d tucked under her arm before she sailed from the room.

      Not too bad. At least she hadn’t banned him from head kisses. ‘Mummy thinks she can boss me around. What do you think of that?’ He bounced Elsa on his hip. ‘Though it is no hardship being left with you, young lady.’

      That morning Max had shared his breakfast again with Elsa after her mother had gone to work. They’d had a fine old time and if Georgia worked the next few weeks, he planned on sharing his breakfast with his stepdaughter every day. ‘Let’s get this nappy on and we’ll have a walk out in the garden with the puppy.’

      He carried a glaring Elsa out onto the veranda and the big dog moaned with pleasure when Max bounced the baby’s toes on his back for a moment. Elsa’s frown fell away and she chortled at the feel of rough doggy hair on her feet and then Max swooped her away to walk around the garden.

      ‘See the birdies? Birdies.’ On cue, the rainbow lorikeets screamed between themselves as they fought over the flowering bottlebrush bush, ripping the fine needles of flowers as they sought the nectar.

      ‘Noisy birdies,’ Max said, and Elsa crowed and opened and shut her hands in delight. The sun was heading behind the hills and the shadows were lengthening in the garden by the time Max took her back inside. The mosquitoes would be out soon and Elsa was tiring.

      Dinner and bed for the baby. If only it was dinner and bed for Max, he mocked himself.

      He knew who he wanted to bed, though even just holding Georgia through the long nights would be heaven. Nothing new there.

      Georgia looked beautiful again tonight, Max thought soberly two hours later when they both sat down at the table. Her hair was loose and she had some flowing shirt with a deeper neckline than usual that highlighted the smoothness of her long throat.

      They’d skipped pre-dinner drinks on the veranda because of Elsa’s late settling and now he was separated by the width of the table. He just wanted to touch her.

      The sky grew inky outside, with clouds obscuring the stars, and Mrs White had retired for the night, leaving dinner in the kitchen.

      Before he’d come home Max had rung through to see which receiving hospital Del had ended up in and how the babies were. Mother and the newborn twins were stable and settled. The one bad piece of news had been the consultant who had received them—Sol Winton.

      Max still debated if Georgia should be told because he suspected the news would upset her. He knew her ex-husband had given Georgia an emotionally hard time as well as making her severely depressed.

      During the last four months Max had seen no signs of paranoia or depression—and anyone with a colicky baby could easily plead depression—so Winton had obviously had some hidden agenda.

      Still, she was away from him now and, theoretically, hearing about his hospital shouldn’t upset her too much.

      He dragged his thoughts away from his quandary and caught Georgia in the middle of a half-hidden yawn. She even looked cute when she yawned.

      ‘You must be tired,’ he said. ‘It takes a while to get used to shifts again.’

      She tucked her hand away from her mouth ruefully. ‘Not really. Do I look it?’ In fact, she looked a little crestfallen at his observation, and Max grinned.

      ‘You look positively haggard, darling,’ he drawled, and Georgia blinked before she realised he was joking.

      ‘Teaser.’ She shook her head at him and changed the subject. ‘How was the rest of your day?’

      Max tilted his head. ‘Actually, you look stunning.’ He watched her frown at him but he was darned if he shouldn’t say

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