effort to see Mariska regularly, she’ll forget who I am,’ Flora pointed out ruefully.
Angelo answered a phone call and while he was talking Flora kicked off her shoes and curled up into a comfortable position, resting her cheek down on the cool leather back of the passenger seat. A blink of an eye later she was fast asleep again and he had to shake her awake at the end of their journey.
‘Sorry,’ Flora framed, politely shielding a yawn before finger combing her tumbled coppery hair backfrom her brow in some embarrassment. ‘I’ve a lot of sleep to catch up on.’
In the waiting room she watched Angelo, only to redden uncomfortably when she realised that he was watching her. On their previous visit to Dr Ellwood’s surgery, Angelo had very effectively tuned out of the proceedings and done as much business as if he were still at the office. Now his obvious disquiet touched her and stirred her conscience because she knew she had made things difficult when he had tried to stay in touch with her. If he had asked her why she would not have had a ready answer for him, because even she did not fully understand her often hostile attitude to him. What she did know was that when she focused on Angelo van Zaal’s darkly handsome features she felt intensely vulnerable and scared and that was more than sufficient to ensure she stayed away from him and avoided his influence.
Natalie called Flora into her surgery and discussed her symptoms before giving her an examination and a blood test. After that the nurse showed Flora into the small room where the ultrasound scanning machine was kept and helped her get up onto the couch in readiness.
‘Angelo wants to know if he can join us,’ Natalie told her, popping her head round the door.
Startled by that request, Flora started to sit up. ‘Er …’
But Angelo appeared in the brunette’s wake, and to object struck Flora as petty, particularly when she was about to receive her very first view of the baby in whom Angelo appeared to have an equal interest. She lay back down again while Angelo stationed his tall,powerful frame in a discreet location by the wall, his keen gaze welded to the screen while Natalie talked about what they could hope to see at this stage of Flora’s pregnancy.
‘Ah, yes, this is what I suspected,’ Natalie remarked with satisfaction as she moved the transducer over the gel slicked across Flora’s stomach. ‘There to the left, is the first baby … see the heartbeat … and there is the second baby …’ for an instant the doctor paused and then drew in an audible breath before continuing ‘… and tucked in behind that one, is the
third
baby! My word, I already suspected that you might be expecting twins, but you’re carrying triplets, Flora. That’s probably why you’ve been feeling so very sick. Your hormones are in override.’
’Triplets? ‘
Flora parrotted, her voice sounding as squeezed as if someone were bouncing up and down on her lungs. ‘You mean that there’s three of them?’
A large hand closed over her nervously clenching fingers. ‘That’s amazing news,’ Angelo pronounced with admirable conviction.
Astonished, Flora tipped back her head to look up at him and noted that he was unusually pale. She reckoned that he too was shocked by Natalie’s revelation but simply better at hiding his reactions than Flora was. Flora was stunned and totally overwhelmed by the prospect of three babies rather than one. She had naturally imagined how she might cope if she won custody of Mariska but had calculated her niece would be a toddler at a different stage of development by the time she gave birth.
The news that she was carrying triplets turned all hercareful plans for the future upside down. It would be a challenge to continue her bed-and-breakfast business and even part-time childcare costs would be
huge.
For the first few months of motherhood she would definitely have to live off the money in her bank account. On the other hand,
Angelo answered a phone call and while he was talking Flora kicked off her shoes and curled up into a comfortable position, resting her cheek down on the cool leather back of the passenger seat. A blink of an eye later she was fast asleep again and he had to shake her awake at the end of their journey.
‘Sorry,’ Flora framed, politely shielding a yawn before finger combing her tumbled coppery hair backfrom her brow in some embarrassment. ‘I’ve a lot of sleep to catch up on.’
In the waiting room she watched Angelo, only to redden uncomfortably when she realised that he was watching her. On their previous visit to Dr Ellwood’s surgery, Angelo had very effectively tuned out of the proceedings and done as much business as if he were still at the office. Now his obvious disquiet touched her and stirred her conscience because she knew she had made things difficult when he had tried to stay in touch with her. If he had asked her why she would not have had a ready answer for him, because even she did not fully understand her often hostile attitude to him. What she did know was that when she focused on Angelo van Zaal’s darkly handsome features she felt intensely vulnerable and scared and that was more than sufficient to ensure she stayed away from him and avoided his influence.
Natalie called Flora into her surgery and discussed her symptoms before giving her an examination and a blood test. After that the nurse showed Flora into the small room where the ultrasound scanning machine was kept and helped her get up onto the couch in readiness.
‘Angelo wants to know if he can join us,’ Natalie told her, popping her head round the door.
Startled by that request, Flora started to sit up. ‘Er …’
But Angelo appeared in the brunette’s wake, and to object struck Flora as petty, particularly when she was about to receive her very first view of the baby in whom Angelo appeared to have an equal interest. She lay back down again while Angelo stationed his tall,powerful frame in a discreet location by the wall, his keen gaze welded to the screen while Natalie talked about what they could hope to see at this stage of Flora’s pregnancy.
‘Ah, yes, this is what I suspected,’ Natalie remarked with satisfaction as she moved the transducer over the gel slicked across Flora’s stomach. ‘There to the left, is the first baby … see the heartbeat … and there is the second baby …’ for an instant the doctor paused and then drew in an audible breath before continuing ‘… and tucked in behind that one, is the
third
baby! My word, I already suspected that you might be expecting twins, but you’re carrying triplets, Flora. That’s probably why you’ve been feeling so very sick. Your hormones are in override.’
’Triplets? ‘
Flora parrotted, her voice sounding as squeezed as if someone were bouncing up and down on her lungs. ‘You mean that there’s three of them?’
A large hand closed over her nervously clenching fingers. ‘That’s amazing news,’ Angelo pronounced with admirable conviction.
Astonished, Flora tipped back her head to look up at him and noted that he was unusually pale. She reckoned that he too was shocked by Natalie’s revelation but simply better at hiding his reactions than Flora was. Flora was stunned and totally overwhelmed by the prospect of three babies rather than one. She had naturally imagined how she might cope if she won custody of Mariska but had calculated her niece would be a toddler at a different stage of development by the time she gave birth.
The news that she was carrying triplets turned all hercareful plans for the future upside down. It would be a challenge to continue her bed-and-breakfast business and even part-time childcare costs would be
huge.
For the first few months of motherhood she would definitely have to live off the money in her bank account. On the other hand,
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