Cindy Kirk - The Doctor's Baby

July straightened her shoulders and took a few deep breaths of crisp mountain air.

The tightness gripping her chest slowly eased.

“I know you said you wanted to be alone, but I was worried.”

Her heart fluttered and she turned. David stood silhouetted in the overhead light. His shoulders were broad and there was a strength to his face that said this was a man who could handle whatever life threw at him.

A man whom a woman—and a child—could count on.

Dear Reader,

The Doctor’s Baby is special to me because this story shares some components of the first book I wrote as an adult. I called that book Somebody’s Baby, and the rejection I received from Mills & Boon ®Cherish™ was my very first rejection on the road to publication. It was a nice rejection, as rejections go. They encouraged me to start the book when the heroine is in labor and then resend it to them. At the time I was already working on another book, so I never did resend it.

That was over ten years ago. But I still liked components of the plot. Last year I reworked the story line, and this time it sold. Want to know what the two books have in common?

Baby is in the title. The couples initially meet in Chicago. The hero is a physician. The pregnancy is unplanned. The baby is a boy. That’s about it.

Still, in some small way I feel that first book has been given a second chance at life.

I enjoyed writing The Doctor’s Baby, and I hope you enjoy reading it.

Warmest regards,

Cindy Kirk

CINDY KIRKhas loved to read for as long as she can remember. In first grade she received an award for reading one hundred books. Growing up, summers were her favorite time of year. Nothing beat going to the library, then coming home and curling up in front of the window air conditioner with a good book. Often the novels she read would spur ideas, and she’d make up her own story (always with a happy ending). When she’d go to bed at night, instead of counting sheep, she’d make up more stories in her head. Since selling her first story to Mills & Boon in 1999, Cindy has been forced to juggle her love of reading with her passion for creating stories of her own … but she doesn’t mind. Writing for Mills & Boon ®Cherish™ is a dream come true. She only hopes you have as much fun reading her books as she has writing them!

Cindy invites you to visit her website at www.cindykirk.com.

The Doctor’s Baby

Cindy Kirk

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To my wonderful co-workers: Sue McHargue,

Pam Black, Vickie Richter, Janae Svagera and Jackie

Couron. I’m still working because of you.

You’re the best!

Giving birth in an emergency room wasn’t on July Greer’s agenda. Neither was having her one and only one-night stand be the doctor striding through the door.

Though a mask covered his mouth and nose, she’d have recognized those electric-blue eyes anywhere. For a second the pain and pressure gripping her body paled in comparison to her shock.

You’re not supposed to be in Wyoming.

The accusation never made it to her lips. Instead she cried out as another viselike pain gripped her belly.

“I’m Dr. Wahl.” Without casting a glance her way, he rushed past her to take a seat at the other end of the exam table. He dropped out of sight for a moment then pushed the sterile drape down.

“The nurse is right. We don’t have time to get you to the delivery room.” The tense set to his jaw and the concern in his eyes did nothing to ease her anxiety. Thankfully, if he recognized her it didn’t show. “How far along are you?”

July prided herself on her even temperament, but the pain had taken over her body again and now her temper flared. She’d given that information at the admissions desk and to at least two E.R. nurses. Couldn’t one person have written it down?

“Thirty-six weeks.” Her irritable tone morphed into a pant even as she fought to not bear down. The urge became overwhelming though the nurse standing beside her chanted in her ear that she must.not.push.

July vowed to stay strong, to pant like a dog for as long as it took to protect her baby. If only there was some guarantee her efforts would be enough. She wasn’t due for another month. According to all the books, a baby did a lot of growing those last few weeks.

“He’ll be okay, won’t he?” July asked when she could breathe normally again.

David, er, Dr. Wahl, must have heard the fear in her voice because he lifted his head. “If your dates are accurate, lung maturity shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Is that a yes?” July snapped as another sharp pain ripped through her body.

“The baby is crowning. Take a couple breaths, then hold and push,” he instructed.

Though it seemed like an eternity, minutes later her son made his appearance, wailing loudly and weighing in at a respectable five pounds two ounces.

The baby was carefully inspected before Rachel Milligan, the nurse who’d been at her side, brought him close. A check of fingers, toes and body parts confirmed that while he might be small, her son was indeed perfect.

The breath July had been holding came out in a whoosh. All the sacrifices she’d made these past eight months had been worth it. Gazing into his unfocused eyes, she vowed that no matter how rough life got, she’d always be there for him.

She was only beginning to get acquainted with her new son when an RN July hadn’t seen before swept into the room. With competent hands, the nurse took him from her arms and whisked him off in an isolette. July’s heart twisted as the baby disappeared from sight.

“You did fantastic.” Rachel squeezed her shoulder. “Don’t worry about your little boy. We’ll take good care of him.”

Her little boy. The tidal wave of emotion continued to build. “I’m going to call him Adam.”

July was sentimental when it came to names. Unlike her own, which was simply the month she was born, she wanted her son’s name to mean something more.

“I like Adam.” Rachel rolled the name around on her tongue. “Is it a family name?”

July nodded. Adam “A.J.” Soto was like a brother to her. Had been ever since they’d done the foster home circuit together. For as long as she could remember A.J. had been her confidante, her sounding board and, most of all, a good friend.

“He certainly is a handsome boy with all that dark hair,” Rachel said.

Lots of dark hair had been what July had noticed first about her baby. While she loved her own reddish-colored hair, she was glad Adam’s hair was more like his dad’s.

“Does he look like his father?”

“He does,” July said without thinking. She wasn’t sure what David was “finishing up” down there but she felt him pause. Though she couldn’t see his hair under the blue cap, she vividly remembered running her fingers through the dark wavy strands that long ago night.

The words had barely left her lips when he stood. With one gesture he brushed off the cap, lowered the mask and fixed his gaze on her. For the first time since he’d entered the room, he focused, really focused on her. Though it was barely noon, lines of fatigue edged his eyes. Yet a curious glitter shone in the blue depths.

A sense of danger snaked its way up her spine and she started to shake. If David discovered Adam was his son …

For a second the room spun but July refused to give in to the fear.

You’ve gotten yourself out of worse.

The realization steadied her. She took a deep breath and forced the fear from her mind. One step at a time. That’s how she’d managed to get through life so far and it was how she’d get through this unexpected calamity. First, she needed to stay calm and not overreact. David had no reason to think their one night together had resulted in a pregnancy. That’s how she intended to keep it.