Surprise Double Delivery

by Therese Beharrie

  Of course they weren’t failing.

  ‘I give up.’

  ‘So easily.’

  ‘Baby.’

  ‘Fine. What’s worse than twin toddlers...is another baby.’

  He blinked. ‘I’m not sure I follow.’

  ‘I’m pregnant, dummy.’

  ‘You’re...’ He trailed off. Looked at the twins. ‘But they’re only three.’

  ‘They’ll be four when the baby gets here.’

  ‘You’re sure?’

  ‘I’m pretty good at maths,’ she said, rolling her eyes.

  Now he rolled his. ‘No. I meant, are you sure you’re pregnant?’

  ‘Doctor’s results came back this morning.’

  Because he had no words, he drew her in, holding her so damn tightly. Their lives together had been tough. Their family situations weren’t easy. His father had passed away round about the same time he’d got the restaurant, but his mother had refused to live with him and Alexa. She’d found herself an assisted care facility, visited them occasionally, and Benjamin had had a tough time accepting that. Alexa had, a year after Lee had promised not to contact her, agreed to see him. It had taken them a lot of work to get to where they were now: Lee’s monthly visits.

  But all of that had been okay because they’d had one another. Their family, their kids... It was a life he’d never imagined. It was better than anything Alexa had imagined, she’d told him one night after the twins were born and they were staring at them.

  ‘I can’t believe they’re yours.’

  ‘Ours,’ Alexa had replied, gripping his hand. ‘You were here through everything, and you know you love them as much as I do. They’re ours.’

  She’d changed his life. And now she was doing it again.

  ‘You’re the best thing that ever happened to me,’ he whispered.

  ‘Wait until we’re outnumbered before you say that.’

  But she was smiling when he pulled away.

  ‘We’re having another baby,’ he said.

  ‘We are.’ She leaned forward and kissed him. ‘I love you.’

  ‘I love you.’

  A vase crashed as the twins rolled against the table. He and Alexa both jumped up, but the vase had been on the kitchen table, and the twins had knocked the coffee table, which had then knocked the vase to the ground in the kitchen, away from them. Their children were unharmed. The vase? Not so much. Tori and Tavier stared at them with wide eyes.

  ‘I guess this means they love us, too,’ Alexa said when they each had a twin in their arms.

  ‘What a life.’

  ‘What a life,’ she repeated, and kissed him again.

  * * *

  Their One-Night Twin Surprise

  Karin Baine

  Karin Baine lives in Northern Ireland with her husband, two sons and her out-of-control notebook collection. Her mother’s and her grandmother’s vast collections of books inspired her love of reading and her dream of becoming a Harlequin author. Now she can tell people she has a proper job! You can follow Karin on Twitter, @karinbaine1, or visit her website for the latest news—karinbaine.com.

  Books by Karin Baine

  Harlequin Medical Romance

  Pups that Make Miracles

  Their One-Night Christmas Gift

  Single Dad Docs

  The Single Dad’s Proposal

  Paddington Children’s Hospital

  Falling for the Foster Mom

  Reforming the Playboy

  Their Mistletoe Baby

  From Fling to Wedding Ring

  Midwife Under the Mistletoe

  Their One-Night Twin Surprise

  Healed by Their Unexpected Family

  Reunion with His Surgeon Princess

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.

  For Jane xx

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  Izzy Fitzpatrick ran blindly out into the night, uncaring about the rain soaking through her clothes and bringing goosebumps out over her skin. She didn’t know where she was going, only that she no longer felt safe in her own home. Her whole life as she knew it seemed to have unravelled completely over the course of the evening.

  It was bad enough she was still mourning the loss of the man she’d thought she was going to marry and raise her much-longed-for family with, but to discover Gerry had sold her a lie all along was something she knew she’d never recover from.

  Now she needed to be somewhere she felt protected, be with someone she could trust. It was no wonder she found herself standing outside Cal Armstrong’s house. He was her friend, her colleague, and a man she knew she could turn to in a crisis.

  She jabbed at the buzzer on the gate, desperate to get inside and close the door on the nightmare haunting her out here.

  Eventually the voice of a sleepy-sounding Cal came over the intercom. ‘Hello?’

  ‘Cal?’ The sheer relief of hearing his familiar voice was enough to completely break her and the dam broke on the tears she’d been trying to hold at bay with every revelation she’d uncovered tonight.

  ‘Izzy, is that you? What’s wrong? I’m coming down.’ The gates swung open and she ran towards the house as though she was still being chased by Gerry’s invisible demons.

  He was pulling on a T-shirt as he opened the door and Izzy launched herself at him, making him stagger backwards into the hall. ‘Oh, Cal, I didn’t know where else to go, who else to turn to.’

  ‘Calm down and tell me what’s wrong. You’re safe now.’ He kicked the door closed behind her and she was inclined to believe him. His solid presence was just the reassurance she needed right now.

  She let him hold her, enjoying being cocooned in his strong arms and the heat of his body warming hers as the cold reality of Gerry’s betrayal hit home.

  ‘There was a man at the house...he said Gerry owed him money...something to do with a card game.’ Her teeth were chattering now with the shock of having a visit from the kind of people she’d thought only existed in gangster movies.

  ‘Did he hurt you?’ Cal tensed beneath her, his biceps bunching and flexing as he demanded the truth.

  ‘No. He was just...intimidating. I told him about the accident, that Gerry had been killed, but he didn’t seem to care. He wanted the debt paid. I had to give him every penny I had in the house to make him leave.’ She shivered, remembering Gerry’s associate standing with a foot inside her door, knowing she was there alone and terrified he’d want more than cash from her.

  Cal swore and pulled her tighter into his embrace. ‘You’re freezing and soaking wet. Go inside and get warm by the fire. I’ll get you some towels and warm clothes.’

  He led her into the living room, put a blanket around her shoulders and handed her a glass of amber liquid. ‘For the shock,’ he said, making her drink it before he went to get her the dry clothes he’d promised.

  Her throat burned as she downed the alcohol, but she was grateful as it took the chill from her very bones and warmed her from the inside out. That unpleasant house call had only been the start of unravelling Gerry’s secrets and lies and now she was afraid there could be a string of debtors turning up on her doorstep looking for recompense.

  ‘I’m sorry I didn’t have more in your size,’ he said with a half-grin and she appreciated he was still trying to make her laugh even at a time like this. She needed Cal’s stability, this normality, to prevent her from tipping completely over the edge.
>
  ‘That’s fine. Thank you.’ Izzy took the fresh towels and Cal-sized outfit from him, but she didn’t have the energy, or the inclination, to leave the room to get changed. She simply sat and stared at the pile of laundry on her lap, unable to move.

  ‘Let me.’ Cal knelt at her feet and gently tugged off her shoes and socks, followed by her sodden trousers and blouse. He moved swiftly and efficiently to strip her of her wet things, leaving just her underwear before wrapping her in a warm, fluffy robe.

  He took one of the towels, sat beside her on the sofa and began to dry her hair. She closed her eyes as he massaged her scalp, finding comfort in the intimate gesture. It had been a long time, if ever, since anyone had done that for her.

  ‘I’m sorry for imposing on you like this. I know I’m making a habit of turning up here unannounced.’

  ‘There’s no need to apologise and as for your previous visits, I think they were more of an intervention for my benefit. If I hadn’t had you chivvying me along after Janet left me I’d either still be in bed, unable to face the world again, or in rehab for jilted men whose fiancées had run off with the actual fathers of their babies.’ Cal’s dark humour failed to disguise how much Janet had really hurt him by stringing him along, pretending they were going to have a baby together.

  Izzy understood his pain more than ever since Gerry had essentially done the same thing to her. He’d promised to marry her one day and give her the family she’d always dreamed of but that would never have happened.

  ‘Well, if we’re playing who had the worst relationship, I’ll see your lying fiancée and raise you a gambling addict.’ That was the only way she could see him now, tonight’s revelations overriding everything she’d thought she knew about Gerry.

  Cal’s soothing hands stilled on her scalp. ‘Oh, Izzy. I’m so sorry.’

  She shrugged but the tears made a resurgence as she thought of all her hopes and dreams for the future that had been doomed from the first time they’d met. ‘I’ve been mourning him for two months, but I wasted my grief on a stranger. That knock on the door tonight prompted me to finally look at all the post and paperwork he left behind. He’d taken out bank loans in my name, forged my signature on goodness knows what and racked up debt wherever he went. It’s going to take ages to sort through the mess he’s left behind. I just feel so alone, Cal.’

  With no family to turn to and her best friend, Helen, living miles away, those old feelings of rejection were surfacing again. She was lucky she had Cal to lend her a shoulder to lean on.

  ‘You’re not alone. I’m here for you, day or night, the way you were for me.’ He put his arms around her neck and kissed the top of her head.

  ‘What did we do to deserve Janet and Gerry?’ Izzy had seen him in the depths of despair where she was currently languishing, and it just didn’t seem fair.

  ‘Absolutely nothing.’ He tipped her face up and made her look at him. ‘None of this is your fault. Okay?’

  ‘I remember saying something similar to you not so long ago...’ Somehow just being in Cal’s company was enough for her to stop panicking and provide her with some comfort. She hoped she’d managed the same for him in the aftermath of Janet’s departure, even though turning up, unwanted, with home-cooked meals and taking the beer out of his hands had seemed like a thankless task at the time.

  ‘Well, I think I needed reminding then and now so do you. You’re a good person, Izzy.’ Izzy snuggled into the crook of his arm, gazing into his eyes and realising how special he really was.

  She’d never looked at him in a romantic way before but now, wrapped in his embrace, her body was responding to him altogether differently from what she was used to. The comfort she’d found with him had turned into something new and thrilling, desire stealthily making itself known so she was aware of every spot where his body was pressed against hers, that tingling sensation electrifying every inch of her skin.

  He was looking at her now with the same hunger in his eyes as she was currently experiencing and the atmosphere between them was suddenly crackling with sexual tension.

  She tilted her head up to his, stopped when she thought it might be an unwanted advance, then rejoiced when he bent to meet her lips with his.

  They sealed the strange new dynamic with an exploratory kiss that soon obliterated Izzy’s doubts that he might only be offering her comfort. She could tell from the increased passionate intensity of his kisses that Cal wanted her as much as she wanted him at that moment. Their mouths were clashing together, they were tugging at each other’s clothes in their frantic need to make that ultimate connection, and Izzy knew things between them would never be the same again.

  Chapter 1

  Three months later

  The minute the call came in Izzy knew it was going to be a tough one for her.

  ‘We have a thirty-one-year-old pregnant woman badly hurt after a car accidentally reversed through a shop window.’ She paused to clear her throat before she continued relaying the harrowing details to the rest of the crew on board the air ambulance. ‘The patient was shunted through the glass and has suffered severe lacerations and potential crush injuries. Her wrist and main artery have been severed but police on the scene have applied a tourniquet to her arm and require immediate medical assistance.’

  ‘What about the driver of the car?’ Cal’s voice came over the headset and she knew, as the attending doctor, he was concerned for everybody’s safety at the scene.

  ‘Superficial injuries and shock, as far as we can tell. The ambulance can take him to hospital by road, but time is of the essence for our pregnant lady.’ Depending on how much blood she’d lost and how long it took for them to get her to the hospital, there was a chance both mother and baby might not make it. Unfortunately, death was a part of the job but under current circumstances this one felt a bit close to home when Izzy’s hormones were already all over the place.

  Once the pilot found a clear place to land they hurried towards the melee of people and flashing lights. Thankfully the police had cordoned off the area so they could get to work without interference from the general public who were watching the drama unfold.

  ‘This is Tara Macready. She’s four months pregnant and has sustained substantial wounds to her left arm. We’ve been applying pressure to the wound since we arrived on scene.’ One of the young police officers talked them through events as his colleagues did their best to stop the patient bleeding out. With their first-aid training they’d known to elevate the arm and apply pressure to reduce the flow of blood and had probably saved her life in the process. They’d done their part and now it was up to Izzy and Cal to get her transferred to the hospital as soon as possible.

  Despite the police officers’ good work, the ground was heavily stained with the scarlet evidence of the patient’s trauma and Izzy had to fight against the unexpected emotions welling up inside her. ‘Tara, we’re with the air ambulance crew. We’re going to take over now and get you transferred to the hospital.’

  ‘What about my baby?’ she mumbled, battling against unconsciousness.

  ‘We’re going to monitor you both, but we need to do a few things first, Tara. Izzy, she needs a bilateral cannula as quick as you can.’ Cal set to work getting a pressure bandage on to replace the makeshift tourniquet that had been applied to Tara’s arm and Izzy inserted the cannula so they could administer fluids. Once she was at the hospital they could do the blood typing necessary for a transfusion.

  ‘I’m giving you some morphine for the pain, Tara.’ With the bleeding halted Cal went ahead with pain relief. In this situation, even though they wanted to save both lives, the mother took priority.

  Their portable kit enabled them to monitor Tara’s blood pressure and heart rate and Izzy made sure everything was in place before they transferred her to the helicopter. They both climbed into the back with their patient so they could keep a close eye on her for the durati
on of the flight.

  ‘I’m going to take a listen to your baby while the doctor checks your progress. Okay, Tara?’ Izzy kept talking her through what was happening, reassuring her everything was going to be all right, even though she was slipping in and out of consciousness.

  With a special stethoscope she was able to put her ear down to Tara’s belly and listen for the baby’s heartbeat. Hearing that faint rhythm felt like winning the lottery and Cal mirrored her smile when he realised the baby was still hanging in there too.

  ‘Your baby is fighting right along with you, Tara. We’ll get you both to the hospital as quickly as we can.’ It was all down to timing now and Izzy was taking this one more personally than anything she’d ever witnessed before. Apparently, the prospect of becoming a mother made a woman fight harder than ever and that was one symptom of pregnancy she could get on board with.

  * * *

  Izzy could have kissed the tarmac when the helicopter touched down back at their Belfast base after transferring their patient into the hands of the emergency staff at the hospital.

  ‘Are you okay, Fizz? You’re looking a little green around the gills there. Don’t tell me you’ve developed a sudden fear of flying? We’d have to ground you and then who would I have to wind up on a daily basis?’

  She rolled her eyes at a grinning Cal. He knew she hated that nickname he’d foisted on her when they’d first met at air ambulance training and she’d let her temper get the better of her, striving to prove she was better than any of the men there.

  At least, she used to hate it. In the five years of working together it had grown on her and she’d missed it of late when things between them had become awkward, to say the least. Things weren’t going to get any easier between them once he heard her news.

  They’d both been hurt by people who’d purported to love them. Cal’s pregnant fiancée, Janet, had run out on him with the man who was apparently the real father of the baby she was carrying, leaving double the void in his life and double the hurt.