Their Miracle Baby
The baby they said wouldn't happen...
A sexy pregnancy romance by Shanade White of BWWM Club. Features another free bonus book.
Venetia is a busy doctor, happy to be working at the clinic she established.
But when handsome neurosurgeon Lewis comes into her life, she’s swept off her feet.
Suddenly she’s making time for love again, and couldn’t be happier.
But when Lewis wants a child, she feels that’s too much change too soon.
Feeling disillusioned with love, she signs up with Doctors Without Borders and is sent to Brazil.
Lewis not being one to give up, he follows after her to declare his love.
Unfortunately, Lewis falls ill, and Venetia’s beginning to have a change of heart.
Do they have the strength to push through all obstacles and become a family?
Find out in this emotionally intense yet sexy romance by Shanade White of BWWM Club.
Suitable for over 18s only due to sex scenes so hot you’ll need a doctor on standby.
Tip: Search BWWM Club on Amazon to see more of our great books.
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Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Epilogue
Free Book – Marrying My Childhood Sweetheart
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
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Chapter 1
Venetia stumbled into the breakroom and slumped down into the nearest chair; eighteen hours on her feet with nothing to eat had seriously depleted her reserves. She knew better than to skip meals, but today had been one of those days when it had been impossible to get a meal in. With the flu epidemic sweeping the city, her services as a doctor were even more necessary right now than ever. But if she kept up this pace without taking care of herself, she knew that she’d be the one needing treatment.
She leaned back in her chair and shut her eyes, thinking that just a few minutes sleep might help. But before she could dose off, her favorite nurse, came bustling in with a tray laden with food. There was also a steaming cup of coffee on the tray which she reached for first, only to find her hand slapped away before she could take it.
“You eat something first and then maybe I’ll let you have it,” Bernice said, knowing all too well that once she’d had the coffee she’d never eat anything.
“Okay, I’ll eat, but I want that coffee when I’m done. Thanks for taking care of me, Bernice,” she said, after she’d taken the first bite of the huge hamburger on her plate.
“Well, someone has to do it. I expect you to eat all of that,” Bernice said, pointing to the tray.
“I’ll do my best. But this is a lot of food,” Venetia said, pushing a plate with a muffin on it across the table knowing that Bernice got it for herself.
Bernice and Venetia had been working together for almost three years, ever since she’d taken over at the free clinic. The doctor who had run it previously had been more interested in billing the government for treatments he didn’t give than taking care of the people the clinic served, but when Venetia took over, with Bernice’s help they’d turned things around.
It had taken years of hard work and sacrifice, days where she’d slept at the clinic rather than making the hour-long commute home. She’d begged and pleaded for supplies and equipment from everyone she could, making a nuisance of herself at times to get what she wanted. But all her hard work had been rewarded when the mayor announced the clinic had won a major award.
Besides the recognition, it had included a sizable grant, enough money to fund the clinic for years to come including a salary for herself as well as another doctor. It would be a welcome change to have someone to help her at the clinic; of course, first, she had to find the right person. It wasn’t that easy to find someone to work for the meager salary they had to offer.
But once that was done, she’d not only have more time to volunteer at the hospital, but she could think about pursuing her ultimate dream of working with Doctors without Borders, a goal she’d had since the summer she’d spent in Brazil volunteering in a small village deep in the Amazon.
It had been exhilarating to really help people, she didn’t even care that most of her time was spent digging ditches to connect the village to a clean water source. When that first drop of water had come out of the pipe, she’d felt the power of what they’d accomplished. From then on, she’d known that someday she’d have to come back; she’d promised herself that she would, there was so much that could be done to help the people there.
But first, she’d had to fulfill another promise she’d made, a promise that had come from desperation many years ago when she had been sitting in a hospital waiting room. It had been the middle of the night, and alone in the room she’d felt the desperation of one who knew she was about to lose someone she loved.
Her parents had never been religious. God wasn’t a being that was present in their house, but that night she’d prayed to anyone who would listen. Promising that she’d devote herself to helping others if only her prayers would be answered. When her mother had come bursting through the door to report that her brother was going to be okay, she’d known then how she was going to spend her life.
Getting her medical degree had been a struggle, but she’d made a promise, and no matter how hard it had gotten she’d pushed though the exhaustion and frustration. She’d finished her residency, earning respect of nurses and doctors alike, then taken on the free clinic and its challenges.
Now at only 26, she was the only African American woman to ever be the director of an award-winning clinic in the city. But the pace was beginning to take a toll on her. She was going to have to make a bigger effort, eat on time, drink more water, and sleep. She knew the signs of burn out, and she was showing some of them. However, before she could do that, they had the flu epidemic to deal with.
While she’d been ruminating about the path her life had taken, Bernice had slipped out of the room. She’d turned down the lights and pulled a blanket out of the closet. Venetia knew a hint when she saw one and laid down on the couch to get a few minutes sleep. Since she was on call and it was quiet at the moment, she felt no guilt as she laid down to get some much needed rest.
Lewis paused, his hand on the door to the breakroom, debating whether or not he really needed the cup of coffee he’d come in search of. He’d been at the hospital for almost eighteen hours now, one of the worst on-call days he’d had in a while. It wasn’t that he
minded the seven days a month he was required to be on call, it was the fact that this time he’d had three emergencies in a row and was exhausted.
Unlike many of the other branches of medicine, neurosurgeons didn’t usually work that many hours in a row unless absolutely necessary. Exhaustion could easily interfere with a steady hand and a steady hand was a must when you were dealing with the brain. He’d learned that the hard way, but this had been one of those times that it was necessary for him to work the long hours and he’d done it gladly.
Deciding that a cup of coffee was a necessity if he was going to make the long drive home safely, he pushed open the door and stepped into the breakroom. The lights were all off, the only illumination in the room a small bulb over the coffee pot. He reached for the light switch then realized that there was a still figure on the couch. She was covered with a blanket, her long hair streaming across the pillow under her head.
He crossed the room and silently got himself a cup of coffee the leaned against the counter, not wanting to risk waking her if he sat down at the table. As his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, he realized that it was Dr. Bradford sleeping on the couch. He shouldn’t have been surprised; with the flu epidemic in full swing, all able-bodied doctors with ties to the hospital had been put on emergency duty.
It had been a week since the emergency call had gone out, and he was sure she’d been there every day since then. As he stood watching her sleep, he began to feel uncomfortable, it probably wasn’t right that he was standing here when she was so vulnerable, but he had to admit that he had a bit of a crush on her.
He’d been trying for weeks to introduce himself to her with little success. If his interest had only been professional, it would have been simple, but his interest was anything but professional so he had to tread carefully. As one of the members of the committee charged with choosing the winner of the Community Health Center Award, he’d become aware of Dr. Bradford when her clinic had been nominated.
Initially, his interest had been purely professional, but the more he learned about her the more interested he’d become in this strong driven woman. Once he’d seen her picture, all professionalism had gone out the door as the blood had rushed to his lower regions. It had been embarrassing to have such a physical reaction to her picture, and he was glad no one was in the room with him.
That had been almost two months ago and the attraction was still just as strong. As he drank his coffee, he thought about making enough noise to wake her, but that wasn’t the way he wanted to meet her. Besides, he wasn’t at his best right now either, eighteen hours of surgery didn’t leave one looking their best.
He finished his coffee and quietly put the cup in the sink then slipped out of the room. There would be other opportunities to meet Dr. Bradford, she was at the hospital every day since the clinic was in the basement. He’d just have to catch her another time.
Venetia awoke a few hours later, feeling much better thanks to the food and sleep. Dawn was just beginning to lighten the sky, which was full of clouds and the promise of more snow and cold that day. It was both a blessing and a curse; the cold only made those who were sick worse, but it also kept people home reducing the spread of the virus.
She stretched, hoping that there was enough coffee left for at least one cup. She had a vague memory of someone coming into the breakroom when she’d been sleeping, but she’d long ago learned to ignore noise when she was sleeping. Relieved to find enough coffee for her first cup left in the pot, she poured it into her cup, started another pot, and headed for the doctor’s locker room and a much needed shower.
Showered and ready to face another long day, she made her rounds, checking on her patients who had been admitted last night before taking the elevator down to the basement and her pride and joy. It was still early so no one was in yet. She knew Bernice would be right behind her, but she always loved those few minutes when all was quiet and she had the place to herself.
Unlocking the door and turning on the lights, she took a second to look at the waiting room. One of her first accomplishments had been the refurbishing of the room; what had once been a sad and depressing place was now a soothing area of comfort. Patients first entering the room often stood speechless before gingerly finding a place to sit on the comfortable furniture spread around the room.
It had been important to Venetia that patients were comfortable while they were waiting, often for an hour or more, before being seen by the doctor or nurse. She could remember all too well spending hours in one depressing waiting room after another when her brother had been sick and had promised herself that her waiting room would be the complete opposite.
She’d worked on the exam rooms as well, designing functional but soothing rooms which seemed to relax patients and made it easier to treat them. It would be another long day, appointments in the morning and early afternoon, then another shift in the emergency room, hopefully her last for a few days.
By the time she reported for her emergency shift, she was feeling upbeat. For the first time in days, most of her appointments weren’t patients suffering from the flu, but the usual mix of complaints. The emergency room staff reported the same experience, and they all breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t long before her bubble was rudely burst when in the relative quiet of the early morning hours one of her patients from the clinic came in complaining of headaches and dizziness.
Within hours, she’d diagnosed him with an aneurism that needed immediate surgery or he might die. As the sun began to rise, she watched as the patient was wheeled into surgery, one of the best neurosurgeons in the city already scrubbing in. This had been her lucky day, Dr. Zeihr had been at the hospital covering for another doctor which meant that her patient would have a real chance of survival.
The surgery was a success, and the patient was back in his room by the time she’d seen her morning appointments. She’d gone without much sleep last night, but since this was her half day, she only had to make it through the morning, make a few quick visits upstairs, then she’d be free for two days. She’d finally have time to catch up on some much needed sleep.
Saving the man who’d had surgery early that morning for last, she checked on her patients, pleased that they had all shown improvement overnight and most would be released that day. When she got to the room to check on the aneurism patient, she was informed that he had been taken down to have a scan done.
“He should be back in just a few minutes if you want to wait, Dr. Bradford,” the nurse had said when she stopped at the nurse’s station.
“I think I will. I’m off for a couple of days and I’ll rest easier if I can see him. He’s alone in the world so a friendly face might make a difference.”
“I don’t think you have to worry about Mr. Scott getting enough attention. He’s already got half of us wrapped around his little finger,” the nurse said, laughing.
“Well, that’s a good sign. Sounds like he’s back to his old self,” Venetia said, heading for his room planning to wait there for him to return.
After only a few minutes sitting quietly, sleep over took her. She’d underestimated just how tired she was and fell deeply asleep. A commotion in the hallway woke her up, but she was disoriented at first until she finally remembered she was waiting to see Mr. Scott before she went home.
Just as she’d expected, the commotion was Mr. Scott flirting shamelessly with the nurses on his way back to his room. He was wheeled into the room smiling from ear to ear, talking to a doctor she didn’t recognize. There was a quick flash of attraction when she looked at him, but she pushed it aside as a product of her exhaustion. But as she watched him giving Mr. Scott a physical exam, the attraction only got stronger.
Obviously several years older than her, his blonde hair just brushed his collar, slightly disheveled and curly; she wanted to run her hands through it. Shocked at her thoughts, she tried to pay attention to what was being said, but her exhaustion was getting the better of her. Finally, satisfied that Mr. Scott was on the
mend and not in need of a pep talk, she quietly left the room.
It was all Lewis could do not to shout at Dr. Bradford to stop when she quietly left the room. When he’d seen her standing in the room, his heart had soared, finally a chance to talk to her. But his plans were again derailed when she’d slipped away, clearly in need of some well-deserved rest. It was beginning to look like he was going to have to plan a meeting between them, chance just wasn’t providing the opportunity he needed.
Lewis didn’t have to arrange a chance meeting after all because only a few days later he and Venetia literally ran into each other. Venetia was coming through the doctors’ entrance, her arms loaded down with patient files, her laptop, and several presents for her patients who were still in the hospital.
She wasn’t watching where she was going and ran straight into Lewis as he was leaving. Everything she was carrying scattered across the floor, including the contents of her purse. Venetia just stood there looking at the mess for a second, hoping that this wasn’t going to be the way her day was going to go. Still exhausted, even after her time off, she heaved a great sigh and began to collect her things.
“I’m so sorry,” Lewis said, bending to help her, his heart hammering in his chest. He couldn’t believe how nervous he was, but the meeting he’d been wanting had finally happened.
“It’s okay. I shouldn’t have been trying to carry all of this,” she said, gesturing to the pile of her things.
“Let me help you then,” Lewis said, handing her the patient files.
“That’s okay. I can manage,” she said, but stopped when his hand brushed hers and a shimmer of awareness passed between them.
“I don’t mind. I’ve been wanting to meet you anyway.”
“You wanted to meet me?” Venetia said, meeting his eyes as they stood up.
“Yes, I’ve been hoping we’d run into each other. I’m Lewis Zeihr, one of the neurosurgeons on staff, as well as a member of the award committee. I was very impressed with the work you do.”
Their Miracle Baby (BWWM Romance Book 1) Page 1
