The Doctor & the Runaway Heiress

CHAPTER ELEVEN

THEY were indeed having a baby. Lucy was crouched like an animal in pain on the living-room settee. She moaned as they arrived, a deep, primeval moan that told Pippa they were deep into first stage.

‘How far apart?’ she asked Amy. There was no use asking Lucy anything for the moment.

‘Two minutes,’ Amy said. ‘And she won’t go to hospital. She’s scared. She just wants you guys. Gee, I’m pleased to see you.’

‘But Amy’s fantastic.’ Adam looked terrified but he gave Amy a sheepish smile as Lucy’s moan trailed away. ‘She’s real bossy.’

‘Yeah, well, I know what to do,’ Amy said.

See one, do one, teach one. Pippa almost grinned. Then she glanced at Riley and her grin died. He looked like she never wanted a support person to look. Fear was infectious. What was he doing, with a face as grim as death?

‘We need to get you to hospital,’ he told his daughter as the contraction eased and her body slumped. ‘No argument. I’ll phone Louise and take you now.’

‘Hey, how about, “Hi, Lucy, great to see you, we brought you some fish?”’ Pippa demanded, astonished. The last thing Lucy needed was an implication of fear from her doctor.

But, then, she thought, Riley wasn’t Lucy’s doctor. Riley was Lucy’s dad. Maybe terror was understandable.

So maybe someone else had to take charge.

The contraction was easing. Lucy looked up from the settee and gave them a wavering smile. ‘Fish?’ she managed.

‘Three beauties,’ Pippa said, deciding normal was the way to go. Who needed panic? ‘Your dad and I caught them from the helicopter. Sort of. While you’ve been having fun here. But now we’re here… Okay, fish aside, it looks like baby’s next.’

She gave Riley a sideways glance, trying to figure what to do for the best. He looked under such strain… He’d want Louise, but most obstetricians only worked in hospitals. To have Louise take on her care, that’s where they had to go.

‘Lucy, love, why don’t you want to go to hospital? It’s two minutes away.’

‘I’m not going to hospital,’ Lucy said, in a voice where the fear came through. ‘Please. I don’t want to. This feels like family. You guys can deliver babies. I don’t want my legs in stirrups.’

Where had she learned about stirrups? The internet, Pippa thought, or old documentaries, pictures of labour wards where obstetricians put their patients in stirrups in second stage as a matter of course.

‘Why can’t I stay here?’ Lucy wailed, and grabbed Adam’s hand and held it like she was drowning. ‘I don’t want to do this. I’m so scared. I want to go home.’

‘To England?’ Adam sounded terrified. ‘We can’t.’

‘I won’t go to hospital. Dad’ll help.’

‘Lucy, I’m your father. I can’t be your doctor.’

‘Lucy’s not asking you to be her doctor,’ Pippa said, figuring she had no choice but to intervene. Riley sounded strained to the limit.

He was right. He was Lucy’s father. That had to be his role. Nothing more. But Lucy also needed a professional.

That would be her.

‘You all know I’m a trained midwife,’ she said, speaking more confidently than she felt. ‘The checks Lucy did with Louise on Wednesday showed no problems. Everything’s beautifully normal. Lucy, you’re delivering a week early but that’s fine. I suggest we let Louise know what’s happening in case we need back-up. Then we settle down here, with all of us supporting you every step of the way. But if you get exhausted, or if there are signs that your baby’s exhausted, then we take you to the hospital straight away and Louise takes over. That has to be the deal. Do you agree?’

‘Yes,’ Lucy managed, but it was a strangled gasp.

‘Cool,’ Amy said. ‘Do you want us all to stay?’

‘Yes,’ Lucy yelled, gripping Adam’s hand so tight that Pippa saw him wince in pain. ‘I want you all.’ Then… ‘I want my family.’

Family…

Was she still talking about wanting to go back to England?

Somehow Pippa didn’t think so.

But she had no time to think about it. Riley was grabbing her wrist as Lucy rode her contraction. ‘I’ll talk to you outside,’ he said through gritted teeth.

‘It’d better be quick,’ she told him. ‘That’s a minute and a half between contractions. I need a quick shower to get rid of fish before I can turn into a midwife.’

He wasn’t interested in showers. He hauled her through the door then tugged her along the veranda until they were out of earshot.

And let fly.

‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ he demanded, practically apoplectic. ‘She’s going to hospital.’

‘Why is she going to hospital?’ His face was dark with anger. She tried to stay calm, but her very calmness seemed to infuriate him.

‘It’s safer. We need incubators, resuscitation equipment, oxygen, a fully trained obstetrician. Louise is a specialist. Lucy needs the best.’

‘You delivered Amy,’ Pippa said, striving to keep her voice even. ‘Amy didn’t deserve the best?’

‘Amy was frightened. She didn’t know anyone.’

‘And Lucy?’

‘She has Adam. She has all of us.’

‘In a labour ward in hospital? Louise can’t work with five of us. Amy and Jason would have to stay here, and Amy’s giving Lucy courage. Look at her.’ She glanced in through the window-the contraction was past and Amy was making some sort of a joke-making them all smile. ‘This is like gold.’

‘She could have Amy with her.’

‘And Adam?’

‘Yes.’

‘And you?’

‘I don’t…’

‘She needs you. In the background yes, but she does need you. You’re her dad. She wants family.’

‘Her family’s in England.’

‘I don’t think so,’ Pippa said. ‘What mother would pack her eighteen-year-old to Australia to have her baby? Didn’t you hear her? Her family’s here.’

‘You can’t make a family in a week.’

‘You can if you’re desperate. Lucy’s desperate.’

‘You have no right-’

‘To tell her she can have her baby here?’ Pippa hauled her wrist away and stepped back, anger coming to her aid. ‘Actually, I do. This isn’t your house. You’ve never bought it. You’ve never thought of it as home. But I’m working for Flight-Aid and I’m renting part of this house. Contrary to you, I’ve put up decorations. I’ve bought rugs and made curtains. So this is my home, Riley Chase, and I have every right to ask Lucy to stay. And you know what?’

She tilted her chin, knowing she had no right to say what she was about to say but she was saying it anyway.

‘Lucy wants family,’ she said, and she couldn’t quite stop a wobble entering her voice. ‘If you know how much that means… It’s the reason I finally said yes to Roger. It’s the reason I almost married. I’ve never had family-not a proper, loving family-and I want it more than anything in the world. I know it’s the last thing you want, but that’s your problem. For now Lucy and Amy need me. When Amy’s gone I’ll somehow figure how to get a family of my own, even if it means dogs or parrots, but right now the only semblance of a family I have is here. Lucy needs my help to deliver her baby. So if you’ll excuse me, Dr Chase, I have a baby to prepare for. Your grandchild. Family, whether you like it or not. And by the way, you stink of fish, too. Do you want to take a shower and join us, or do you want to go surfing? Alone? While your family operates without you? Your choice. Your choice alone.’

So Lucy didn’t go to hospital.

Riley and Jason were consigned to the background.

He and Jason paced. Talked. Lit the barbecue, made a big fire, stoked it. Watched logs crackle and burn and turn to embers.

They’d cook the fish in the embers, Riley decided, when the baby was born.

‘Did Amy go through this?’ Jason asked, awed, as another moan rocked the house.

‘She did.’

‘I shoulda been here,’ the kid said. ‘Only she said she didn’t want me. Not if I was just going to hang around. Then she went to Sydney and I missed her and I thought… okay, I’ll get a job. If that’s what it takes. So she went through this by herself. And look at her now. She says she wants to be a nurse. You reckon she could?’

‘She’ll need to do part of her training in the city,’ Riley said, watching through the open windows. Adam holding Lucy’s hand. Or rather being clutched by Lucy. Amy was designated coach, talking Lucy through every step of the way.

‘Luce, this is brilliant. Pippa says six centimetres, and you remember the book? Every time it hurts you’re opening up a bit more. Every time it hurts it means your baby’s closer. That contraction was awesome. You’re awesome.’

It was amazing for both of them, Riley thought. For all of them. For Lucy had a team second to none.

She had Adam, whose love for her was transparent. She had Amy, who was even younger than Lucy but wise for her years and whose assistance now could, Riley sensed, validate and direct Amy’s existence for the rest of her life. And she had Pippa, preparing warmed towels, organising the sterilised equipment she’d sent him over to the hospital to fetch, overseeing her little team…

Pippa looked happy.

She was a woman he hardly knew. A woman of independent wealth, British, straight from the English class system he’d thought he loathed.

He’d made love to her out of need. Her need.

But…

As he watched through the window, as he saw her smile, chuckle, give steady encouragement, he knew things had changed. She was wearing jeans and T-shirt. Her feet were bare. Her hair was wet from her shower…

She was beautiful.

He thought of her down the crevice and he felt himself shudder.

‘Hey, it’s okay.’ Jason put his hand on his shoulder, searching to comfort. ‘She’ll be great. She’s got my Amy and your Pippa helping her through. You gotta trust women, mate. Amy says if I toe the line we can get married. How awesome’s that? To have your own woman… And Amy…’ He glanced in at his Amy. ‘I mean… not that Pippa’s not great. She is. But it’s one woman for every guy, right? Look at Adam. He’s in a blue funk now ’cos of Lucy. Look at me. I’ve even got a job. I’ll even come to the city to help her if she wants to train as a nurse. And you… what would you give up for Pippa?’

He and Pippa weren’t a couple. He should explain. But there was no time for explanation. Lucy hit full roar in mid-contraction. There wasn’t space for a reply and it was just as well.

But the question stayed.

What would he give up for Pippa?

What would he gain?

‘You’re so close.’ The labour had moved fast-five hours from the first contraction and now she was fully into second stage. Youth, Pippa thought. Emotionally, young mums had it hard, but physically they had so much going for them. Lucy was practically shooting this baby out.

‘I can see the head,’ she told her. ‘Adam, do you want to help deliver your baby? Amy, can you support Lucy’s shoulders so she can see?’

‘Awesome,’ Amy breathed. ‘Lucy, you’re fabulous. Do you want your dad to see?’ She hesitated. ‘And… Jason didn’t see my Riley born. Lucy, would you mind…?’

‘You can bring in the whole bloody army as long as they stay up my end of the bed,’ Lucy moaned. ‘Oooooohhhh…’

‘Nearly there,’ Pippa said. ‘One more push.’

‘Get my dad,’ Lucy yelled, suddenly desperate. ‘I need my Adam and I need my dad. Oooooooowwwwwww…’

So after eighteen years of not being permitted to do a thing for her, he was there beside his daughter as she gave birth. Riley knelt at the head of the settee, supporting Lucy’s shoulders as she saw her baby born, and he didn’t feel like a doctor at all.

One more push and the head slipped into view. Pippa was there, with warmed towels, warming the tiny head even before the shoulder came out.

‘Stay underneath with the towels,’ she told Adam as a last massive contraction ripped through.

And so, as Amy and Riley held Lucy up to see, Riley’s grandchild slipped into the world, to be caught by Adam, who looked like the sky had opened to reveal the secret of the heavens.

‘What…? What…?’ Lucy gasped as Adam gazed down in awe and Pippa did a fast check of the baby’s airway, making sure that everything was in working order. ‘What is it?’

‘Look for yourself,’ Riley growled, and felt a bit… a bit like Adam looked.

‘I have a boy. Oh, I have a boy!’ Lucy burst into tears. And then… ‘Ohhh…’

For Pippa was quietly directing Adam, showing him what to do, and Adam was settling his tiny son onto Lucy’s breast. The tiny baby hadn’t made a sound, but his eyes were wide open, wondering, and now…

He stirred and wriggled, skin against skin against his mother’s breast. Without prompting, Adam carefully guided the little mouth to where it needed to be.

He found what he was looking for. His tiny mouth centred-and Riley’s grandson found his home.

And Riley’s world shifted once more. He glanced up and saw Pippa’s eyes filled with unshed tears-and maybe his were the same.

His grandson had arrived into his family.

His family.

It was almost midnight before they ate their fish, and for all of them it was a truly memorable meal.

Jason and Amy cooked the fish. Pippa produced a salad. Riley found some chocolate biscuits.

You could spend thousands on a meal and not get better, Riley decided. They were all out on the veranda. The boys had lifted Lucy’s settee, Lucy and all, out where she could see the luminescence of moonlight off the ocean. She ate her fish and her chocolate biscuits-she was starving. She had a little name discussion with Adam, then she snuggled down to sleep, her baby beside her.

Adam watched their baby as if it was only he who stood between his son and all the threats of a dangerous outside world.

Adam had grown ten years in this afternoon, Riley thought. He’d make a good partner for his daughter.

He’d be a son-in-law to be proud of.

Part of a family to be proud of?

Until the meal was ended there were things to do, but now… Amy and Jason were snoozing on the sun loungers. Soon they’d roll into bed. Both babies were asleep.

‘I’m going to the beach,’ Pippa said abruptly. She’d been carrying stuff into the kitchen. Now she came out and walked straight down the steps to the garden. ‘See you later.’

He let her go. He was feeling… discombobulated.

His grandson was right beside him. He was thirty-eight years old and he felt a hundred.

He was watching Pippa in the moonlight.

She was wealthy. English. Good family.

He was a guy from the wrong side of the tracks. He was a guy who’d had a kid at nineteen, who was a grandpa at thirty-eight.

Pippa reached the gate leading down to the beach and he realised with a shock that she was no longer wearing jeans. She was wearing a sarong.

He’d seen it before. She wore it over swimmers.

‘You’re not going swimming?’

‘I won’t go out of my depth.’

‘What about night-feeders?’

‘I’ve painted my nails with Anti-Chew. Precautions R Us. You going to sit on the veranda for the rest of the night… Grandpa?’

Grandpa… The word still had him stunned.

She chuckled, she tossed her towel over her shoulder and she headed down the cliff path.

Grandpa.

Family.

Pippa.