Fiona McArthur - Midwives On Call At Christmas

Maeve looked away. ‘Conspicuous by his absence. And I don’t want to look back on this birth and regret it. I’m already regretting enough about this pregnancy. I need to have some control and I wasn’t going to get it at Simon’s hospital.’

Tara was a hundred per cent agreeable to that. ‘Go, you, for standing up for yourself and your baby.’ Tara wondered if she could offer without putting too much pressure on her.

‘There’s three doctors here who do antenatal care, and four midwives. If you think you’d be happy on a midwifery programme, you just need to pick someone. I’ve two women due in the next fortnight but apart from home visits I’m free to take on new women. You could meet the other midwives tomorrow but keep it in mind. You’re probably due for tests around now anyway.’

Maeve looked across and smiled with a shyness Tara guessed was way out of character. ‘Actually, that would be great.’

‘You sure?’

Maeve looked relieved. ‘Very. And we can talk about the labour then too.’

‘Fine. We’ll wander down to the clinic after morning tea, check you and baby out, and get all the papers sorted with the stuff you brought. If you change your mind after I’ve nosed my way through your medical and social history I can hand you on to someone else.’

‘Lord. Social history. And isn’t all that a disaster? Sometimes I feel like I’ll never get sorted. I never used to be like this.’

‘Sympathy.’ Tara smiled in complete agreement. ‘I was pretty lost before I came here. The good news is that you’re female so you’ll still come out on top.’

Maeve blinked and then smiled. ‘Okay, then. Must remember that for my clever brother.’

‘He seems nice.’

‘Too nice.’ Both girls looked at each other, were obviously thinking of their previous boyfriends who had been anything but, and laughed. Ten seconds later they heard footsteps leaping up the back stairs and Simon appeared behind the back porch screen door. Of course both of them struggled to control their mirth.

‘What’s so funny?’ The door shut quietly behind him and he looked from one to the other, brows raised, fine sweat across his brow. Obviously he’d been running.

‘Nothing.’ In unison.

He shook his head at them. ‘Okay. Girl talk. You want to go for a swim, Maeve?’

Tara saw her face change. Become shuttered. ‘No, thanks. I’m catching up on my emails.’

‘Tara?’

She could just imagine Simon in swimmers. Wouldn’t she just. ‘No, thanks.’

‘You sure?’

Maeve chimed in. ‘Go. It’s your day off. We can do that other thing when you come back. There’s hours before then.’

Tara didn’t understand the wall Maeve had erected between herself and her brother. If she had a brother like Simon she’d be all over him, but there was probably stuff she didn’t know. ‘Fine. Thanks. I love to swim.’ She looked at him. Saw him glance at his watch. ‘I’m guessing you want to go now?’

Simon nodded and he seemed happy enough that she’d agreed to come. She’d hate to think all these people were forcing her on him but what the heck. She’d enjoy it while it lasted.

‘Five minutes enough time? Out the front?’ he said.

‘I’ll be there.’

Simon watched Tara towel her shoulders vigorously and then rub shapely calves and stand on one leg and dry her toes.

He suffered a brief adolescent urge to metamorphose into her towel. Apart from her delightful breasts her body was firm and supple and he suspected she would feel incredibly sleek and smooth in his arms.

The swim had proved to a little more bracing than they’d both expected and he saw her shiver. He guessed she’d had a cold start. ‘Sorry. I was hot from my run so it feels good to me.’

She shrugged. ‘Hey, it’s summer in Queensland. I can swim all year round.’ The idea was sound but the rows of goose-bumps covering both arms and her delightful thighs made Simon want to bring her in close and warm her against his chest.

Or maybe it wasn’t the goose-bumps he wanted to warm against him. It had been a while since the last time he’d noticed so much about a woman. Passing glances, inner appreciation, sure, but this little firebrand had him constantly ready without any effort on her part. Danger. Alert.

Thankfully she remained oblivious to his shift in thoughts. That was a good thing.

He could see her mind was still on the swim. ‘And Lyrebird Lake’s too far south for crocodiles.’

Crocodiles. Now, there’s a thought. He’d bet she wasn’t afraid of any animal. ‘Not sure why but I get the feeling it would take more than a crocodile to scare you off something you wanted to do.’

She grinned at him and that was an added bonus. Her whole face lit up and warmed him more than any towel could. ‘Thank you, kind sir. I’ll take that as a compliment.’

‘It was.’ And a bit of a surprise. He didn’t usually go for the daredevil type. ‘So you have an interesting bucket list?’

‘I’ve always wanted to go skydiving. Birthday present for myself next week.’

Of course she was. ‘Seriously?’

‘Yep.’ Her eyes shone at the thought.

Well it was the last thing he wanted to do. ‘Birthday wish I wouldn’t be keen on.’

She shook her head and her spiky hair flicked droplets around like a little sparkler. ‘They say you’re never the same after you do it. All to do with my belief to live life so I know that I’ve been here before I leave this earth.’ She looked so intense when she said that. There was something incredibly gloomy about such a vibrant young woman contemplating her mortality that chilled him.

‘You planning to leave this world?’

She shrugged. ‘Not planning to, but anything can happen. My dad and mum died when I was six. That’s why I’m always glad when people driving arrive safely. I was made a ward of the state. I grew up in an orphanage.’

‘I’m sorry about your parents.’ Hard reality to face at that age. At any age. ‘What about her mother? Your grandmother?’

‘Died in childbirth. No siblings.’ No expression. No plea for sympathy. And he was guessing not much childhood—which explained a lot. But there was a wall that said as good as a raised hand, ‘Don’t give me any sympathy.’

‘Nasty family history.’ Understatement. He seriously wasn’t being flippant. It was a shocker and he could see how that could be a trigger for more risky, adventurous behaviour. ‘My life is boring in comparison.’

‘Tell me about boring.’

He shrugged. ‘Nothing to tell except my mother didn’t tell my biological father she was pregnant, a minor glitch I didn’t find out about till after I grew up. That was as adventurous as I got.’

‘That’s adventurous. Especially searching him out as an adult.’ There was wistfulness in her eyes when she said that and he knew she wished she had someone to search out. He’d never actually looked at it like that.

‘So, anyway, maybe I should be up for exciting escapades.’ His voice trailed off as she pulled her T-shirt over her head and it stuck, alluringly, in a few damp places.

He closed his mouth and glanced away. Regathered his thoughts with some difficulty. ‘One day I will try being adventurous for a change.’

She looked him up and down and he sucked in his belly. Not that he was ashamed of his six pack, and not quite sure why he should even think about it because he wasn’t usually a vain man, but he had no control over the reflex. She just did that to him.

‘You could jump with me on Tuesday if you like.’

He knew the horror showed on his face.

To make it worse, then she laughed at him. And not even with him. Not sure he liked that either.

Tough. He wasn’t jumping. ‘How about I come and be ground support? Hold a glass of champagne for you.’