HEART OF MIDNIGHT Read online

  Ben stifled a snort of laughter from his lounging position on the porch hammock, where he had retired after the Sunday lunch that had sent them all, except for Bunny, into lazy-afternoon-sleep mode.

  Bunny regarded Gray with a level, unblinking stare, and in her completely feminine way chose to ignore his comment. She plonked a naked baby doll on his bare stomach to punctuate the change in subject. "Get up, Uncle Gray, you gotta practice."

  Gray knew an order when he heard one. "Yes, ma'am," he said, and saluted.

  Bunny giggled again and pulled on one of his hands, helping him up. When he was sitting, she thrust the doll at him. It was a faithful rendition of a male newborn, complete with landing gear.

  "Watch," Bunny instructed, as she spread out a frayed and slightly grubby diaper and began folding it in an intricate, totally mystifying shape that Gray decided would probably stump an origami master. She summarily snatched the doll from his incompetent hands and proceeded to truss the doll's lower parts up tight. When she was finished she jammed a safety pin through the front of the diaper with a satisfied grunt.

  Bunny surveyed her handiwork, brushed her hands off on her overalls, then turned her laser gaze on him. "That's what ya gotta do. Now you try."

  *

  Gray was almost getting the hang of it when Sam stepped out on the porch. She was in her ninth month of pregnancy and had been napping in the cool of Ben's spare room.

  "Gray."

  Gray looked up from the wreck of the diaper. He had bent the safety pin that time and was trying to hide that fact from Bunny's critical gaze. He was also pretty certain that, if the doll had been a real baby, his reproductive future would have been sadly curtailed.

  Sam's face was flushed with excitement; her eyes were sparkling. "I'm in labour," she stated baldly.

  Gray's heart stopped, then just as abruptly pounded back to life. A hot rush of adrenaline flooded his system. For a second he thought he was having a heart attack.

  Ben sat bolt upright in the hammock – a difficult feat at the best of times.

  Gray sprang to his feet and eased Sam into the rocking chair that was set out on the porch.

  Sam didn't even try to protest. She had long since learned that sometimes it was best to simply let Gray have his way, then calmly continue on with what she wanted.

  "You can't be in labour," he insisted, a hint of panic in his gravely voice. "It's too early."

  Sam couldn't understand the panic in Gray's eyes. She had had a wonderful pregnancy. Apart from a little morning sickness in the first months, she had never felt so well or so happy. Gray had looked after her like she was a piece of precious porcelain, but for the most part she had been quite capable of living a normal, energetic life. The only reason she had let Gray coddle her so much, aside from the fact that she just plain enjoyed it, was that he had needed to do so.

  They had honeymooned on one of the remote Fijian islands, and when he had found out she was pregnant, he had taken her back for a second honeymoon. Ever since they had gotten home, he had all but carried her around on a satin cushion. He hadn't wanted her to travel after that, but Sam had put her foot down. This trip was special.

  The day before they had attended Jack and Milly's wedding, and there had been no way she was going to miss out on that event. Besides, she had wanted to catch up with everyone at the new Lombard hotel, which was still under construction, and see for herself how happy and content they all were with the new premises and their new jobs.

  It had also been an opportunity for them both to finally come to terms with the miscarriage she'd had all those years ago.

  While they were at the graveside, Sam had had the oddest notion that they had their daughter back, that they were being given a second chance with this pregnancy, just as she and Gray had had a second chance.

  Gray had watched her like a hawk this whole trip – as if he fully expected her to do something wild and unpredictable, like give birth without providing him with due notice.

  She had got used to his concentrated attention, although not without adjustment. He loved with a single-minded intensity that was formidable and, at times, could be a little uncomfortable. They had their moments, like when she had to explain that she was quite capable of doing simple tasks like lifting a casserole dish from the oven to the table, or hanging curtains in the nursery.

  She was learning to live with Gray's natural instinct to control and protect, because she knew it would take him a while to shed the insecurity of everything that had happened between them, and with Harper. If he was dictatorial at times, it was only because he needed her as much as she needed him.

  She took his hand and laid it against her stomach so he could feel the strength of the next contraction.

  His black eyes glittered over her, and she could almost see the gears shifting in his mind as he began formulating his plan of action. He would try to run this birth like a military operation, the same way he had tried to run her pregnancy.

  "How long?" he muttered.

  Sam smiled serenely. "Now."

  *

  Gray walked out into the waiting room in a daze. He was still wearing denim cut-offs, although he had taken the time to pull a T-shirt on. God help him, there hadn't been time for much else.

  "Is the baby here yet, Uncle Gray?"

  Ben was sitting with Bunny snuggled on his lap. Bunny had her doll pressed close to her cheek while she listened to the story Ben had been reading her. They had all been at the hospital for a total of thirty minutes.

  Thirty minutes.

  So much for planning this birth as if it was a military operation. Sam had blown every plan and contingency to hell, just as she had always done.

  His wife was early, and she was fast.

  If they had been held up in traffic, he would have had to play midwife in the back seat. Gray broke out in a fresh sweat at the thought of that eventuality. No point in buying trouble, they had made it – just – even if the speed of the delivery still stunned him.

  "She wants you to come in," he said hoarsely, then held the door while Ben carried Bunny through to the delivery suite.

  Sam was sitting up in bed. The nurse had sponged her down, and she was wearing a delicate blue nightie she just happened to have packed in her handbag, along with various other items needed for an overnight stay.

  Gray was still in a state of shock. Sam looked as fresh as a daisy.

  Gray realised that while he hadn't been prepared for any of this, Sam had quietly been carrying around everything she needed in her handbag. He would never again question why women carried handbags; he now knew the answer: it was because they were organised.

  A thin, reedy cry sounded. Gray went stock still, his heart beginning to hammer almost as fast as it had during the hell-on-wheels ordeal of labour and birth. Just the thought of it brought back the panicky feelings; he had never felt so helpless, so out of control.

  He picked up the tiny bundle, his stomach tightening on a rush of awe and tenderness. His hands were so big and rough, his baby daughter so soft and fragile. Rheumy eyes fastened on his; then the little head turned, and she began nuzzling his thumb. The crying stopped.

  The breath shuddered from Gray's lungs. Carefully, supporting the baby's head, he cuddled her on his shoulder, dipping his head to breathe in her sweet scent.

  The reality of what had happened struck him anew as he reluctantly handed his baby daughter over to Sam for feeding. He eased himself behind Sam, pulling her in against the support of his chest and enfolding both her and the baby with his arms as the baby's tiny fist kneaded the plump roundness of Sam's breast. A tremor started deep in his belly, rippled through his big frame as emotion built and broke over him with the rolling power of a big ocean wave. The last of the darkness that had held him in thrall for too many years was extinguished by the sheer, blazing joy of his family.

  Sweet heaven. He was a daddy.

  "Welcome to the club," Ben murmured dryly, letting Bunny's wriggling little body down
so he could shake Gray's hand and bend to kiss Sam on the cheek.

  Bunny leaned on Gray's thigh and watched, absorbed, as the baby fed with a single-minded, ferocious hunger, then, in the blink of an eye, fell asleep. Fascinated, she plunked her baby doll in her daddy's hands. Dolls were okay to practice on, but she knew the difference between a doll and the real thing, and this was definitely the real thing.

  "Yep," Bunny said matter-of-factly, as she surveyed the second baby just waking up in his crib, his little face screwing up while he got ready to holler. "Just as well I gave you training, Uncle Gray. You're gonna be busy."

  * * * *