The Doctors’ Baby Bond

by Abigail Gordon

  * * *

  ‘I’ve been thinking,’ Drew said when he arrived home later. ‘We should arrange a christening. When do you think it should be?’

  Andrina’s face had clouded. The thought had been in her mind, too, but the images that it brought up had been upsetting. Christenings were usually joyful affairs where thanks were given for the birth of the child, and the parents and godparents made suitable vows.

  There would be nothing joyful about this one, with both parents gone, and who could they ask to be godparents?

  ‘I have thought about it myself,’ she said slowly, ‘but couldn’t face the idea.’

  ‘I’m happy to arrange it. Would you like me to?’

  ‘Yes. All right. Who will you ask to be godparents?’

  ‘Good question. It would probably have been us in different circumstances.’

  ‘What about Marion?’

  ‘Yes. I suppose so. It’ll give her a buzz even if we find it hard going. And maybe I’ll ask my friend Eamon, who has the garage. I know that he rubbed you up the wrong way that first day you were here, but he’s really a decent sort and thoroughly reliable.’

  ‘Whatever you say,’ she agreed, and went to stand by Jonathan’s pram as if to protect him from life’s hurts. On this occasion he wouldn’t know what it was all about, but there would be other times when he would be vulnerable.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  ON THE morning of the christening Andrina awoke to a typical autumn day. The sun was melting the sparkling frost of what had been a chilly night and the first falling leaves were scattered around the gardens that surrounded Whistler’s Farm.

  There was no sound coming from Drew’s room and when she looked into the nursery Jonathan was only just beginning to stir, so for a little while she had time to herself.

  With elbows resting on the wide windowsill in her bedroom, she could see the steeple of the church rising heavenwards, a reminder of the solemn service they would be taking part in later that morning. It had been three weeks since Drew had suggested it, and in that time they’d been waiting for the vicar to come back from holiday and lining up the godparents.

  Marion had been delighted when he’d asked her to be godmother, and Eamon, who she’d discovered was unmarried, had agreed to be godfather after he’d got over his initial surprise.

  There was silence all around her and maybe because of it her thoughts were crystal clear. She had fallen in love with this place. It would break her heart if she ever had to leave it, yet it could happen. If Drew got back with Tania they wouldn’t want a third person hanging around, and that could create problems. He wouldn’t want to let Jonathan go and she, Andrina, wouldn’t let that woman anywhere near Jodie’s child, so it could all turn out to be very awkward.

  But she was doing it again. Crossing her bridges before she got to them. If Drew ever went back to his selfish wife he would not be the man of integrity and sweet reason that she thought he was, but the human mind was a strange thing.

  There were noises coming from the nursery now and she padded across to the cot. Big dark eyes looked up at her and suddenly the child lying there smiled. Not a windy movement of the face, but a toothless little beam of recognition, and her heart stood still. It was a moment of bonding. Another stepping stone in the new life that she’d been persuaded into.

  Tenderness was spreading through her in a warm, cleansing tide in that sweet moment of communication. She’d loved Jonathan from the start, but the smile he had just bestowed on her had come from a person, not a worrying responsibility. Someone who was going to be part of her life for ever.

  She bent and picked him up, holding him to her as if she would never let him go. Then the tears began to flow. Tears of happiness for a special moment on that day of all days.

  ‘Andrina!’ Drew’s voice cried frantically from the doorway. ‘What’s wrong? What’s happened?’

  He was flinging himself across the room and when he saw the baby lying serenely in her arms he went limp with relief.

  ‘What is it?’ he wanted to know, his gaze switching to her tear-blotched face. ‘You frightened the life out of me. I thought for a ghastly moment…’ His voice trailed away and, choking back the tears, she finished the sentence for him.

  ‘That we had a cot death or something like that? No, Drew, it’s me. Jonathan smiled at me. Really smiled as if he knew me. It was wonderful.’

  The panic had subsided and his face was softening in the rays of the early morning sun. He didn’t offer to take the baby from her, as he might have done under normal circumstances. Instead, he put his arms around them both and with her head resting beneath his chin he said softly, ‘Your face was one of the first he saw in this world and you’ve been looking down at him and watching over him ever since. You’re so wonderful with him. So caring and meticulous about his welfare. In spite of his lack of parents, Jonathan is a fortunate child.’

  With her head buried against Drew’s chest, she could tell that he was smiling as he said, ‘And he’s a charmer like his father was.’

  ‘And his uncle is,’ she said in a muffled voice.

  Drew put his finger under her chin and lifted her face to his.

  ‘I don’t know about that, but you’re quite something yourself.’

  ‘Me! Tania thinks I’m a frump,’ she told him with a watery smile. ‘She wanted to know if I was hoping that you would take pity on me and take me down off the shelf.’

  He laughed low in his throat.

  ‘Did she, now? If anyone is likely to end up alone, she’ll be the one. Tania didn’t care about her own child, let alone anyone else’s, and as far as I’m concerned that says it all.’

  He was still looking into her reddened eyes.

  ‘It’s fitting that today of all days Jonathan should capture your heart all over again. We have a big day before us, Andrina. The christening this morning, followed by lunch at the Grouse with the godparents. Then this evening I’m going to take you out, just the two of us, to say thank you.’

  She blinked.

  ‘What for?’

  ‘Being there for Jonathan…and me. You’ve cared for my precious nephew, filled the empty slot in the practice and brought some light into my life.’

  ‘It’s you that’s brought light into my life,’ she protested.

  He was laughing as he held her close.

  ‘We’ll not argue about it. Suffice to say that we’ve both benefited.’ And bending his head, he kissed her lightly on the brow.

  Andrina became still. There had been little physical contact between them until now, but at the touch of his lips she was so aware of him that she barely heard Jonathan start to remind them that he wanted his breakfast.

  She was drowning in Drew’s blue gaze, longing for him to kiss her on the mouth. As if he read her mind she saw warmth kindle in the eyes looking into hers and held her breath.

  But quite unaware that the magic of the morning was wrapping around those who loved him, the baby in her arms was getting restive. The faint wail was about to become a full-volume protest and relaxing his hold Drew said, ‘Which would you rather do? Make the breakfast or feed the baby?’

  ‘I don’t mind,’ she told him, still bemused by that moment of awareness and the promise of some time alone with him that evening, though she had a question to ask about that.

  ‘Who’s going to look after this young man tonight if we’re dining out?’

  ‘His godmother,’ he said. ‘She volunteered.’

  * * *

  The christening was to take place in the middle of the morning service, and as Andrina dressed the main participant in a smart white romper suit instead of the usual christening gown that Drew hadn’t been keen on, she was trying not to let the thought of those who would be missing take the glow from the morning.

  She’d often thought her stepsister shallow, but Jodie must have really loved Drew’s brother—so much so that she couldn’t bear to be in the place where they’d been together. If she’d stayed, as
Drew had wanted her to, she might be alive today. But she’d gone away and then almost on the eve of the birth of her child tragedy had struck, which meant that today she and Drew would be standing in for the absent ones.

  The church was full. The news that the doctors were having the orphaned baby christened had spread like wildfire and attracted the curious and the well-wishers.

  On the way there Andrina had begun to feel apprehensive, but the moment she walked into the old stone church with Drew at her side she began to calm down. He was very serious. In a dark suit with a white shirt and a sober tie, she knew that he, too, was remembering those who were missing, and tears threatened again.

  As if he guessed her thoughts he said in a low voice, ‘No more tears, Andrina.’ He looked down at the baby in her arms. ‘For his sake.’

  She nodded sombrely and as she did so the brim of the hat that she was wearing for the occasion tilted with the movement.

  ‘I like the hat,’ he whispered as his glance took in the pale cream straw she’d chosen to offset a smart black suit, and the dark moment passed, just as he had intended that it should.

  They lunched at the Grouse, just the four of them and the baby, and now Marion had gone to her own pursuits until she was required that evening. But Eamon had come back to the farm with them and seemed in no hurry to depart.

  His continued presence was explained when he took Andrina to one side and said. ‘What sort of a relationship do you have with Drew?’

  The man in question was strolling in the garden with Jonathan in his arms so wasn’t present to hear what his friend had said, or her reply when it came, and Andrina was glad of it.

  For one thing she wasn’t sure how to answer. She was taken aback. Didn’t know why he’d asked what he had. Except that she’d felt his glance on her a few times during the service.

  ‘We have an arrangement whereby we are both equally responsible for Jonathan,’ she told him. ‘That is all. Drew adores him. When we first met we were both in a position where it would have been difficult to care for him alone and he suggested that I move in and at the same time fill the gap at the surgery.’

  ‘And is it working?’ Eamon wanted to know. ‘Because in case you’re not aware of it, Tania is still hovering. She’d like to get back to how it used to be.’

  ‘Yes, I do know that,’ she told him with feeling. ‘And it puzzles me that Drew can tolerate having her around after what she did to him.’

  ‘He might put up with her hanging around but Drew won’t have her back,’ his friend said. ‘After the first anger and bitterness had died down he decided to get on with his life, and little Jonathan is just the kind of thing he needs to focus on.’

  ‘Is all this leading up to something?’ she asked curiously.

  ‘Sort of. I’d like to spend some time with you. Would you come out with me on a date?’

  ‘I see,’ she said slowly. ‘It’s nice of you to ask, but I don’t think so. I haven’t a moment to spare. My time is fully occupied with the baby and my job at the practice.’

  It wasn’t strictly true, but she didn’t want to offend the garage owner. He was a likable sort on further acquaintance, but he wasn’t Drew and thereby lay his failure to attract her.

  He didn’t seem too put out by her refusal. ‘Maybe another time, eh?’

  Drew was back and observing them questioningly.

  ‘Everything all right?’ he wanted to know.

  ‘Yes, sure,’ Eamon said easily. ‘I was asking Andrina for a date and wanted to make sure first that I wasn’t muscling in on anything that might affect you. However, she tells me that she’s too busy.’

  ‘I see,’ Drew said abruptly, and went back into the garden without a backward glance.

  Andrina watched him go and wondered what he was thinking. Was he annoyed that his friend had asked her out in his house? And was he thinking that maybe she’d encouraged him? She hoped not. His good opinion mattered—a lot.

  Eamon wasn’t wasting any time, Drew thought edg ily as he strolled among the shrubs and flowers that he’d lovingly planted in the gardens of Whistler’s Farm. But he was like that with women.

  And what about Andrina? She’d told Eamon she was too busy. Was she feeling that she was too tied to their arrangement to make any outside commitments? He hoped not. It was the last thing he would want—for her to feel she had to stay in all the time.

  And yet, if he was honest, that was exactly what he wanted her to do. Stay with Jonathan and him.

  What did she think of him? he wondered. Did she see him as an amiable wimp who was latching onto the lives of others because he hadn’t got one of his own?

  He’d been no wimp when he’d sorted Tania out. His hurt and anger had kept him going, but he had to admit that the arrival of Andrina and the baby had lifted him out of an all-time low.

  It might seem a peculiar arrangement, the three of them all living together in the same house, but so far it was working. Jonathan was receiving the best of care, and both Andrina and himself were benefiting, too.

  Well, he was anyway. He wasn’t so sure about her. She seemed happy enough, but her face wasn’t like an open book. Sometimes he caught an expression on it that made him uneasy. Made him feel that he didn’t know her as well as he thought he did.

  It was great having her with him at the surgery. She had a cool yet friendly approach that went down well with both staff and patients alike. For as long as he could remember, the doctors at the village practice had been men like himself and his brother. Now, according to Marion, the garrulous godmother, the women of the neighbourhood were delighted to be able to consult a woman doctor if they so wished.

  Jim Sowerby, who had a pig farm down one of the many country lanes that were part of the parish, had been in to see him about a prostate problem, and when he’d been about to take his leave he’d said, ‘My missus has been in to see the new doctor. She’s had a lump in one of her bosoms for weeks and because she’s a tidy size around those parts she was too embarrassed to come and see you. But the moment she heard there was a lady doctor here she made an appointment. We’ve both been worried sick about it and needn’t have been. Dr Bell sent her for a mammogram and it turned out to be a non-malignant cyst.’

  Drew had smiled.

  ‘So I’m not going to be seeing your Janice any more, then.’

  ‘Looks like it,’ the weatherbeaten farmer had said. He’d shuffled awkwardly from one foot to the other. ‘How’s the little ’un doing?’

  ‘Fine,’ Drew had told him with the smile still there. ‘Just fine.’

  In fact, everything had been fine, and it had continued to be so until today.

  Eamon asking Andrina out had brought him to earth with a jolt. All right, she’d refused the invitation, but it was making him think that there might be others coming along that she might want to accept and he didn’t like the idea.

  He’d been enjoying playing at happy families, having an attractive woman and a child in the house. Andrina didn’t have the same kind of voluptuous attractions as his ex-wife, but heaven forbid that she should. He’d been down that road once and it hadn’t been smooth.

  Andrina was slender, fine boned, with bright intelligent eyes and a firm yet generous mouth. All Tania had to offer was her allure and she’d sacrificed their child for the sake of it.

  He and Andrina looked after Jonathan together, ate together, did the chores together and even worked together. The only thing they didn’t share, for obvious reasons, was a bed, because theirs was strictly a working partnership and he wouldn’t want it any other way…would he?

  The thought of having her beside him each morning when he woke up was a pleasant one, very pleasant indeed. Yet it had only entered his mind since he’d discovered that Eamon was sniffing around her. Or had it?

  He’d once stood and looked down at her while she’d been sleeping. Jonathan had been grizzling in his cot beside her and he’d tiptoed into the bedroom to pick him up so that she wouldn’t be disturbed.
>
  She’d been beautiful in sleep, with one bare arm flung across the pillows and the soft mounds of her breasts rising and falling inside a silk nightgown, but aware of the deal they’d made he’d ignored a sudden rush of feeling and taken the restless child into his own room.

  Bringing his thoughts back to the present, he looked and saw that Eamon was on the point of leaving, and with his nephew still cuddled close to him he went to say goodbye.

  When he’d gone Drew was aware that Andrina was avoiding his glance and he thought that the other man hadn’t been very tactful, trying to date her and then mentioning her refusal in front of him.

  She must sometimes think that privacy was in short supply in her life. Living with a man she hardly knew, caring for a child that wasn’t hers, and then having the clown Eamon spouting off in front of her.

  Impulsively he said, ‘I hope you didn’t say no to Eamon because of the situation here.’

  What was that supposed to mean? Andrina wondered as the colour rose in her cheeks. Was Drew trying to tell her that she didn’t always have to be glued to his side like a second rib? Or did he guess that she was beginning to have feelings for him and was warning her off by impressing on her that she was still a free agent, in spite of their domestic set-up? And that he didn’t mind who she went out with?

  It would appear so, as now he was saying, ‘Don’t forget, this is an equal partnership. We are both entitled to do what we like socially as long as one of us is there for Jonathan.’

  ‘Yes, I am aware of that,’ she told him stiffly. ‘And if you want to get me from under your feet sometimes, you have only to say so. As to your friend Eamon, I hardly know him and don’t particularly fancy him. Does that clarify matters?’

  Drew was listening with head bent as he looked down at the baby, and she couldn’t see his expression. If she had been able to, Andrina might have seen there a mixture of relief and annoyance.