Читать книгу Christmas Secrets Collection - Laura Iding - Страница 19
CHAPTER TEN
Оглавление‘WHAT’S this?’ Sara asked as she took in the fact that the parcel looked rather hastily wrapped … most unlike the meticulous way he’d wrapped the present they’d given to her parents when they’d visited them to announce their intended marriage. ‘It’s a bit early for a Christmas present. That’s nearly a month away.’ Although it didn’t look very much like it because the paper wasn’t in the least bit Christmassy.
‘No, it’s not for Christmas, but I’m hoping that what’s in it will make this the best Christmas ever,’ he said, managing to look as excited as a child on Christmas morning. ‘And I hope you’re not going to take for ever to unwrap it,’ he added, clearly impatient for her to see what was inside. ‘I can’t bear it when people unpick each knot or peel off the tape.’
‘Well, then, this is just for you.’ She chuckled, infected by his air of excitement, grabbed hold of the wrapping paper in both hands and pulled.
He groaned as the contents of the parcel flew in two directions and he had to retrieve them one by one.
‘These first,’ he directed. ‘I took that packet of ugly harvest festivals back and swapped them for the sexiest ones I could find,’ he said with a grin, and waggled his eyebrows when she blinked at just how risqué the delicate lingerie was.
‘Harvest festivals?’ she repeated with warmth in her cheeks, remembering the vastly oversized knickers she’d bought to fit over her cast and then never worn.
‘My grandmother used to call them that,’ he said with a laugh. ‘She said it was because they were so all-encompassing that they reminded her of that hymn that’s always sung at harvest festivals, “All is safely gathered in”.’
‘Well, if they were harvest festivals, what are these?’ She was almost embarrassed to look at them while he was watching for her reaction. She’d worn that thong out of sheer necessity when she’d first broken her leg, but these definitely had a different purpose if his expression was anything to go by. There was absolutely nothing utilitarian about them.
‘Those are definitely Mardi Gras, or even Copacabana,’ he suggested, ‘and I can’t wait to see you modelling them.’
The heat in his eyes was enough to send her temperature and pulse soaring and it wasn’t something she was used to from Dan. While they had their agreement to wait until he was finally free of his marriage to Zara, she’d recognised that he’d been walking a torturous tightrope. On the one hand he’d been at great pains to make sure that she knew just how sexy he found her ripening body and how much he desired her while preventing the situation getting out of hand.
This, today, was so out of character that she scarcely …
‘And this is the other “Happy Christmas” present we’re going to share,’ he said, more seriously this time, as he handed her the other half of the parcel. It was a bulky envelope and looked quite official … almost like …
‘The decree absolute,’ she whispered, hardly able to believe what she was seeing when she slid the document out. ‘Oh, Dan, you’re free.’
‘Exactly,’ he said with delight, flinging both arms around her. ‘And tomorrow morning we’re both going to present ourselves with all our relevant documents and information and we’re going to book our wedding for twenty-one days later.’
‘Twenty-one days?’ she repeated, quite shocked that everything suddenly seemed to be moving so fast. ‘But that’s so close to Christmas and … and … Dan, you’ve been crossing off the days until you’d be free. Don’t you want a little while to get used to the idea that you’re not married to Zara before you tie yourself to—?’
‘Sara, my love,’ he said as he tightened his arms around her and settled her head on his shoulder, where it belonged, ‘there’s only one reason why I’ve been counting every last second until I could get this decree in my hand, and that’s because I can’t wait to be married to you.’
‘But …’
He stopped her speaking with a hungry kiss, although that was becoming more difficult without some careful positioning as her bump grew ever larger.
‘And don’t you start trying to come up with all sorts of ulterior motives, such as “he’s only doing it so fast because he wants to be married before the babies arrive to make sure they have his name.” I can tell you categorically that, while it would cut down on a bit of paperwork, I’d be in just as much of a hurry to marry you if you weren’t pregnant at all.’
He gave her another kiss that went a long way to convincing her just how much he desired her, then cupped her face in his hands and drew back, but only far enough for her to focus on green eyes that now blazed with all the love she could ever want. He drew in a noticeably shaky breath then declared fiercely, ‘Sara, I just can’t wait to be able to tell the world how I feel … that the woman I love to distraction has given me the best Christmas gift in the world and is finally my wife.’
In the end, it hadn’t mattered in the least that she’d been feeling as if she was the size of a small house, because Dan had been right—all that mattered was that they were married at last, and there wasn’t a dry eye.
With so few days to go before Christmas there was evidence everywhere from the beautiful display of scarlet and green poinsettia around the room to the fine streamers of red and green ribbon spiralling down from Sara’s bouquet of Christmas roses.
Sara suspected that her mother probably hadn’t been able to resist comparing this small gathering in the nearest registry office with Zara’s elegant ceremony. No doubt she was regretting that neither she nor Dan had been willing to give her the chance to arrange something similar for them.
This was far more intimate and more meaningful, with just their closest friends in attendance to wish them well; and she didn’t have to look much further than Sean O’Malley to guess who had suggested that they should all celebrate the unique time of year by wearing red or green.
But there was no way that even Audrey could miss the loving way Dan had ushered her into the room or the supportive arm that had encircled her throughout the proceedings.
Even the registrar had looked ecstatic when she declared them husband and wife, but that was probably because the poor woman was so relieved that she hadn’t had to witness a precipitate delivery all over her brightly polished floor.
‘Still, it’s a bit of a shame,’ Sean teased when he came up to congratulate them. ‘It would have been so handy for registering the birth.’
Sara was the only one who didn’t laugh.
All morning she had been feeling ominous tightenings and Dan hadn’t completely been able to convince her that it was just more Braxton-Hicks’ contractions. She’d been horribly certain that she would never get this far before going into labour.
‘I told you it would be all right,’ he murmured smugly when their little gathering had filed out of the office to make way for the next couple. He stroked a loving hand over her ivory silk-draped bump. ‘I had a little word with these two in here and told them we had big plans for today, so they were to stay put just a little bit longer.’
‘Dan? Sara?’ said a hesitant voice behind them, and there was Zara, looking almost unrecognisable from the sickly person Sara had last seen in a hospital bed. For just a moment the sight of her sister looking so vibrant and healthy reminded Sara all too forcibly that she must look like a hippo draped in a marquee by comparison, and her hand tightened reflexively on Dan’s arm.
It only took one glance from those deep green eyes to restore her confidence that he was finally married to the twin he loved.
Standing beside Zara was a man at least twenty years her senior and not nearly as handsome as Dan, but it was obvious from the way he looked at her sister that he was completely besotted.
‘This is Zach,’ she said, almost shyly, and this new side to her otherwise confident sister took Sara by surprise.
‘I’m the guy who’s putting the finance together for Zara’s film debut,’ he announced in an unmistakable American accent, holding his hand out to each of them in turn. ‘When she told me that her sister was getting hitched, I just had to do everything I could to make sure she was here.’
‘That’s very kind of you,’ Sara said weakly, slightly overwhelmed by the man’s ebullient personality. ‘Have you been to Britain before?’
‘Oh, many times,’ he said with a broad smile. ‘My plane could probably fly here by itself, it’s been so often. So don’t you worry about your sister missing out on being an aunt to those kids of yours.’
‘Oh, that’s very—’
‘And don’t you worry about anything,’ he added, dropping suddenly to a confidential tone, his shoulder turned so that neither Zara nor Dan were privy to what he was saying to her. ‘First, I’m going to make sure she’s fully recovered, then she’s going to get her shot at stardom, but somewhere down the line I’m going to do my best to persuade her that she’d like to marry me and have some kids of her own.’
He stepped back and caught Zara’s hand to tuck it in his elbow. ‘Now, I know this is only a flying visit, but you just send us the pictures when these two decide to arrive and let us know when the christening is. We’ll be back for it.’
Sara’s last secret fear—that because she’d agreed to carry these precious babies as a surrogate for her sister, Zara might have a claim on them—had just been completely demolished.
She met Dan’s eyes to ask a silent question and his smiling nod gave Sara the answer she needed.
‘She’ll have to come back for the christening,’ she announced softly, knowing her next words would send her sister the signal that all had been forgiven, ‘because she’s going to be their godmother … if she wants to?’
The hug they shared was awkward but heartfelt and Zara took advantage of the closeness to whisper, ‘Oh, Sara, I’m so, so sorry for everything. I was such a blind fool.’
Stepping back, she managed to find a tremulous smile. ‘Rather their godmother than their mother,’ she joked, but Sara caught the gleam of determination in Zach’s eyes.
The next day Dan and Sara had just finished decorating their very first Christmas tree together and were about to settle down to tea when there was a phone call from someone in Human Resources.
‘That’s ridiculous!’ Dan muttered impatiently when the call ended. ‘There are some papers I’ve got to sign … something about insurance cover for you and the babies now we’re married … and they want me to come in to do it today.’
‘Today?’ Sara’s heart sank with disappointment. They’d had some rather interesting plans for the rest of the day and some of them involved stoking up the fire in the fireplace and just leaving the lights on the Christmas tree while they … Later, she reproached herself, silently. We’ve got all the time in the world.
‘Well, I suppose it’s good that they’re getting everything sorted out now, rather than later,’ she conceded. ‘It shouldn’t take you long, should it? We’ll still have the rest of the evening … and night.’
‘You needn’t think you’re staying here, tucked up all cosy and warm. There are some things for you to sign, too, so you’d better get something warmer than that robe on.’
Sara groaned and held her hands out so that he could help her to escape from the embrace of his blissfully comfortable settee. Unfortunately, it had never been designed for an easy exit for a woman heavily pregnant with twins.
They were just walking into Reception when Sean hailed them from the other side, his red hair a beacon in spite of all the tinsel and glitter on the enormous tree beside him.
‘Hey, you two! Have you come to say hello to the gang?’ he asked as he came across to kiss Sara’s cheek.
‘Several of them were asking how you were after I saw you at the wedding. They were complaining that haven’t seen you since you started your maternity leave.’
‘We’ve actually got to see someone in Human Resources about some paperwork,’ Dan said with a grimace. ‘Can you believe they phoned us on a Friday afternoon this close to Christmas?’
‘Ah, sure they can wait a few minutes,’ Sean said dismissively, beckoning them in the direction of A and E. ‘The department’s quite quiet at the moment so you’d better take advantage of it. By the time you’ve finished with the paper-pushers, we could be rushed off our feet.’
Dan and Sara both knew just how true that was, so they didn’t need any more persuading, but they hadn’t realised that the whole thing was a complete set-up until they walked into the staffroom to a shower of confetti and a united chorus of ‘Surprise!’ and found the room packed with waiting colleagues.
‘They couldn’t be there for the ceremony but they weren’t going to miss out on the reception, even if they had to lay it on for themselves,’ Sean told them with a broad unrepentant grin. ‘Can’t have A and E missing out on anything this special!’
‘And the appointment with Human Resources?’ Dan asked wryly, wondering how they could have been so gullible.
‘That was the only ploy we could think of to get you out of your love nest,’ Sean said with a teasing wink that had Sara blushing, remembering just what they’d had planned for the rest of the day. ‘Now, has anyone got a spare suture trolley somewhere? Because you look as if you need it to carry some of that weight around for you.’
The thought of Sara wheeling her bump around in front of her on one of the department’s trolleys … ‘Suitably decorated for Christmas, of course,’ Sean had added … was enough to have them all laughing.
It wasn’t until Sara and Dan had circulated for an hour, greeting each of their colleagues as one after another they managed to snatch five minutes between patients, that they finally felt they could reasonably make their farewells.
‘A final toast,’ Sean announced, holding up a plastic goblet of something fruity and strictly non-alcoholic that almost exactly matched the carroty colour of his hair, apparently having appointed himself master of ceremonies. ‘To paraphrase an old Irish toast—May the road rise up to meet you, the rain fall soft upon your head, the wind be always at your back, and may you get to heaven half an hour before the devil knows you’re gone! To the bride and groom!’
‘The bride and groom,’ the rest chorused amid laughter, saluting them with similarly colourful glasses, but when Sara went to raise her own glass in return, she felt a sharp pain somewhere deep inside and gasped.
‘Sara? Are you all right?’ Dan asked, and tightened his hand around her shoulders, instantly aware that something had happened.
The sudden cascade of fluid onto the tiled floor told him everything he needed to know.
‘They’re over two weeks early,’ she whimpered as she gingerly sat in a wheelchair that had appeared from nowhere.
‘That’s par for the course with twins,’ Dan said reassuringly, then bent closer to whisper in her ear. ‘And it’s probably due to our enthusiastically thorough consummation of our marriage. They say that the application of male hormones can set things going. And, anyway, Christmas is the perfect time for the very best gift of all … new life.’
Sara hoped it was that same delightful application of male hormones that had been responsible for an absolutely textbook-perfect delivery, with one healthily squalling little boy following the other out into the world in perfectly normal cephalic deliveries.
‘Oh, Dan, look! They’re beautiful!’ she sobbed as she lay there in the specially subdued lighting of the delivery room with one precious dark-haired baby in each arm. ‘They’re identical and they look just like you.’
‘You’re the beautiful one,’ he argued as he stroked her joyful tears away with gentle fingers. ‘You’re amazing, Sara Lomax, and I could never tell you how much I love you in a million years. As for you two,’ he said as he turned his attention to two little boys that were so perfect that any man would be proud to be their father.
He leaned a little closer, and under the cover of the activity still going on around them said, ‘I need to have a word with the two of you for spoiling things. I had big plans for your mother tonight, involving a certain black lacy thong.’
‘You idiot!’ Sara laughed, knowing she’d had some similar plans of her own.
She loved Dan all the more for teaching her to have confidence in herself as an attractive woman, confidence that she’d never developed when she’d always felt herself to be in Zara’s shadow.
‘We’ll just have to remember what we had planned and save it up for later,’ she suggested, her heart so full of love that it felt as if must be overflowing. ‘After all, we’ve got the rest of our lives to love each other.’