Miracle Babies at Paddington's Children's Hospital - Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

Anything else Zach had meant to say was drowned out in a sea of howls and cries of ‘I want to push!’ He shot a glance at Robyn who had taken pole position.

‘You go ahead, love—these babies want to come out and meet their mother and father.’

Father.

Ingesting the word felt like being filled with helium. The lightest he’d felt in months. Years even.

‘C’mon, babe. You can do this. We can do this.’ He swept a hand across her brow, wishing he had a cool cloth to clear the beads of sweat adding yet another layer of glow to the woman who had captured his heart.

‘We?’ Isla asked, knowing there was more hope in her eyes than she’d wanted to betray.

‘We.’

‘How do I know you won’t go away again?’

‘I wanted you to know everything that happened. Let you make the choice to let me go.’

‘Let you go? You weren’t here to keep!’

‘Easy there, firecracker.’ Claire, the Australian appeared on her other side and drew a mercifully cooling cloth across her forehead. ‘Your blood pressure is shooting way up. Any problems during pregnancy we should know about?’

‘No.’ She shook her head before returning her full attention to Zach. ‘I thought you’d decided what we’d had was a fling.’

‘Oh, my sweet love.’ Zach bent and pressed a kiss on her forehead, his scent filling her like a healing tonic. ‘What we had…what we had was one of a kind.’

‘Was?’ Isla heard the crack in her voice. Felt the hint of tears predicting a full-on meltdown depending upon what he said next.

‘Maybe this conversation should wait until after the babies are born.’ Dominic appeared by Claire’s side with an oxygen mask. ‘We’re going to have to get you some of this if your breathing doesn’t steady up, Isla. Do you want him to go?’ Dominic flicked his chin towards Zach.

‘No!’ She replied vehemently. ‘I want him to tell me where I stand.’ This time there was heat in her words. She was going to be a mother. There was no room for wishy-washy wavering in her life. ‘You need to decide right now if you want to be part of these boys’ lives. My life.’

She watched his Adam’s apple dip and rise as he swallowed, lips pressed together as if holding in everything he’d planned to say until he put the sentences in the right order.

‘Nothing about how I feel about you has changed,’ Zach finally said with the certainty of a judge laying down the law. ‘You’re the only woman I have ever loved. The only one I will love, but—’ He held up a hand, not wanting her to interrupt. ‘It’s you who has the choice to make. You who needs to decide if you want me to be in your life.’

‘I—can’t—’