Her Christmas Baby Bump

Her Christmas Baby Bump
Robin Gianna

One Christmas night with consequences!Talented midwife Hope Sanders’s dream of holding a baby of her own is finally coming true! She’s just weeks away from beginning her fertility treatment—and then meeting gorgeous hot-shot fertility doc Aaron Cartwright throws a holly sprig in her plans…Aaron’s mistletoe kisses might be dazzling, but after they spend one magical Christmas night together Hope never expects to end up pregnant! Now she’s faced with telling Aaron her surprise baby news…but has she finally found the man of her dreams too?Midwives On-Call at ChristmasMothers, midwives and mistletoe—lives changing for ever at Christmas!

Dear Reader (#ulink_8d5d8357-58d1-55c8-a709-abdd2f1af76f),

This book is the first I’ve written as part of a continuity, and it was fun and challenging. I really enjoyed the way the editors came up with story ideas and connected the different books. It would have been hard to choose which hunky hero I wanted to write about, so I’m thrilled I was given sexy Aaron Cartwright to fall in love with in my story.

The other authors in the series set up an online chat so we could discuss the storylines and ask questions of each other. A thank-you shout-out to Louisa George, Scarlet Wilson and Tina Beckett for their help—particularly Scarlet who, as the only author in our group currently living in the UK, was always happy to answer the numerous questions I had about medicine and midwives in England as compared to the US … and there were plenty of surprising differences.

Aaron and Hope share an attraction they’ve felt just from noticing one another in the hospital corridors even before they officially meet. When they finally do, it’s zing with a capital Z! But both have baggage from their pasts that make a relationship impossible. Not to mention Hope’s secret plans to have a baby on her own through IVF very soon—a decision that rips open Aaron’s old wounds when he finds out. But a fling isn’t a relationship, right? Or so they think …! :)

I hope you enjoy Hope and Aaron’s story, and the way they both come to see that the things they’ve always believed about themselves aren’t necessarily true. Learning this isn’t easy, and it takes falling in love with one another to see it.

I’d love to know what you think of this story! You can email me at Robin@RobinGianna.com (mailto:Robin@RobinGianna.com), find me on my website, RobinGianna.com (http://RobinGianna.com), or look me up on Facebook.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Robin xoxo

After completing a degree in journalism, working in the advertising industry, then becoming a stay-at-home mum, ROBIN GIANNA had what she calls her ‘mid-life awakening’. She decided she wanted to write the romance novels she’d loved since her teens, and embarked on that quest by joining RWA, Central Ohio Fiction Writers, and working hard at learning the craft. She loves sharing the journey with her characters, helping them through obstacles and problems to find their own happily-ever-afters. When not writing, Robin likes to create in her kitchen, dig in the dirt, and enjoy life with her tolerant husband, three great kids, drooling bulldog and grouchy Siamese cat. To learn more about her work visit her website: RobinGianna.com (http://RobinGianna.com).

Her Christmas Baby Bump

Robin Gianna

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

This one is for you, Flora Torralba!

Thanks so much for your steady willingness to help in any way, for tolerating my nuttiness, and for keeping me sane.

I don’t know what I’d do without you—you’re the best! xoxo

Contents

Cover (#u32268073-303c-5c62-8b57-756ab73fd1e6)

Dear Reader (#ulink_a3024bcb-6140-5c3a-8a65-b5c027be42cb)

About the Author (#u7d57c416-9555-5b73-83ff-199befd90449)

Title Page (#u9ec84a94-1f62-5d3f-9059-d6f6ac2a24bb)

Dedication (#ub564255e-72bd-5b2c-b1e9-21c8aab06b30)

CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_2da64ef3-53a9-5df4-9f4e-a9567940305a)

CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_b53058a5-c139-5427-833d-c16e57bd3e5a)

CHAPTER THREE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_04e41c27-d478-5538-bb50-7ad5a6eae4ff)

“HELLO, KATE? IT’S just me.” Hope Sanders gently knocked on the door and stepped inside her patient’s room. “Let’s check and see how it’s going, shall we?”

Kate kept sucking on her ice cube and just stared, apparently so exhausted she couldn’t conjure up any kind of response. Hope gave her a positive smile, sending up a silent prayer that, this time, the poor woman would finally be ready to deliver. After thirty-six hours of labor, any soon-to-be mother was beyond ready, mentally and emotionally, but sometimes her body and her baby just wouldn’t cooperate the way everyone wished they would.

“Are you feeling all right?” Hope asked as she washed her hands and snapped on green examination gloves. “Contractions any worse or more frequent?”

“I’m not sure. I just want the baby out. Why can’t you get it out?” Kate asked in a tearful voice.

“I know. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?” Hope gave Kate’s huge belly a gentle pat. “And you’ve been so tough throughout all these hours. But you’re making good progress, so the doctor and I are pretty positive we can avoid a C-section. Maybe you’re there now, so let’s see.”

“I’m sorry,” Kate said, sniffing back her tears as Hope began an internal exam. “I shouldn’t snap at you like that. Why on earth did you want to become a midwife and have to deal with cranky women like me?”

“First, you’re not cranky, believe me. You’ve been very brave and stoic all this time.” And the truth of that made Hope smile as she thought of the many mums who’d been so far past cranky during labor that there wasn’t a word for it. “I enjoy helping mums through the difficulty of labor and delivery, and on to the joy of getting to hold their newborns for the first time. There’s nothing as beautiful as a baby, is there? That’s exactly why I became a midwife.”

As she said the words the truth of that statement, and the emotion that came with it, closed her throat. Was she really, hopefully, about to have a baby of her very own? What she’d dreamed of when she’d first studied midwifery? When she’d thought she had all the time in the world to establish her career before having children, never imagining she’d still be alone at thirty-four?

“Well, you’ve been great, Hope, helping make all these hours more bearable,” Kate’s husband said. “We really appreciate it.”

“Thank you. That means a lot to me.” Hope’s findings from the internal exam sent a huge sigh of relief from her lungs. She gave Kate a big smile she didn’t have to force this time. “Guess what? Great news! You’re there, Kate! Fully dilated at ten centimeters. Baby has decided she’s ready to come into the world.”

Kate kept licking her ice cube, almost as if she hadn’t heard Hope, but her husband practically leaped out of his chair and came to stand by the bed. The poor man had dark circles all around his eyes and was about as disheveled as a person could look, but his beaming smile banished his obvious fatigue.