The Baby of Their Dreams (Contemporary Medical Romance) by Carol Marinelli

arrived on the scene, neither Gemma nor Cat were surprised to find that it was a smudge high.
    ‘I can’t believe that he’d just show up like that,’ Cat said as her friend undid the cuff.
    ‘Well, I think it’s a good thing that it’s all being brought to a head,’ Gemma said. ‘Go and lie down so I can have a feel.’
    They carried on chatting as Cat did so and she opened up her wrap-over dress.
    ‘Ooh,’ Gemma said as Cat’s stomach danced away while she lay there. ‘Someone’s wide-awake.’
    ‘I just grabbed a glass of orange juice,’ Cat said. ‘I think it’s woken him up.’
    Gemma examined her bump as they chatted and this evening she made an exception to their rule and was both doctor and friend.
    ‘He’s furious.’ Cat sighed.
    ‘Which makes two of you,’ Gemma said. ‘Ask him if he’s told his wife yet! That might knock him off his high horse a touch...’ Then she was kind. ‘Cat, you had many reasons for not telling Dominic. Given all you’ve been through and Mike’s reaction to the bad news, of course you’re protective of this baby...’
    ‘I just wanted to know it was okay before I said anything to Dominic.’ Cat admitted what Gemma already had guessed. ‘Then I wanted to get further along than I had with Thomas...’ She closed her eyes for a moment because tears were on the verge of spilling out. Getting past twenty-five weeks had been a huge milestone. ‘The last few weeks I’ve had no excuse, though.’
    ‘So why didn’t you tell him?’
    ‘It was supposed to be a one-night stand. I don’t want to discuss Thomas with a man I spent one night with. Do you know, I didn’t even particularly like him? I thought he was a bit mean and dismissive.’
    Gemma said nothing.
    ‘Arrogant,’ Cat said. ‘Chauvinist... He wouldn’t let me pay half for dinner.’ She mimicked a deep voice. ‘“Why would you ruin a perfectly good night?” He’s all the things I don’t want in a man.’
    Cat frowned as a blob of warm jelly was squirted onto her stomach. ‘What are you doing?’
    ‘An ultrasound.’
    ‘I’m not due for one. Is there a problem?’
    ‘No problem at all,’ Gemma said, ‘I just thought it might be nice for you to have a peek at your gorgeous baby. I’m recording it,’ she added. ‘Maybe Dominic might want to see it too.’
    ‘Do you think?’ Cat frowned. She loved having Gemma doing her ultrasounds—all her ultrasounds with Thomas had been fraught affairs. Mike had actually taken the probe out of the radiologist’s hand once in an attempt to take over.
    ‘I think that it might be a very nice olive branch,’ Gemma said. ‘It must be a shock for him and this might help him get used to the idea. When things get tense between the two of you, this might serve as a little reminder that it’s your baby you’re discussing...’
    Cat nodded and looked over at the screen.
    It was a fun ultrasound. Gemma wasn’t taking measurements, just a brief check that all was okay, which it was, and then they took a lovely long look.
    There it was, opening its little mouth like a fish, and it was the most beautiful thing Cat had ever seen. ‘What am I having?’
    ‘You’re sure you want to know?’
    ‘I already know,’ Cat said. ‘I just want to hear it.’
    ‘You’re having a little girl,’ Gemma said, and Cat felt as if the examination couch had dropped from beneath her, a little like turbulence on a plane.
    ‘I was convinced it was a boy!’
    ‘I know that you were,’ Gemma said. ‘She’s beautiful. Look at those cheeks...’
    It felt so different to look at the screen and to know it was her daughter that she was seeing. There she was, wiggling, waving and content in her own little world.
    ‘Happy?’ Gemma asked as Cat lay there.
    Yes, she was dreading facing Dominic, yes, her life had been turned upside down and inside out but ‘happy’ was the right word.
    Here, now, seeing her little girl, Cat was exactly that—happy.
    ‘You’re going to be a