Read Online The Baby of Their Dreams (Contemporary Medical Romance) by Carol Marinelli - Free Book Online Page B

Glaswegian accent, checked.
    ‘Dominic Edwards—he’s an emergency consultant.’
    ‘Oh, you mean Dom!’ There was a long pause. ‘No, he was only here for a couple of months... Sorry, I’ve no idea where he is now.’
    And that ended that.
    Though, not quite, of course.
    Now into February and thirty weeks pregnant Cat and Gemma caught up one Monday morning for breakfast in the canteen. They were interviewing for Cat’s maternity leave position and she didn’t want to be around for that.
    Pregnancy suited her and she was enjoying this one. Colour had continued to come back into her life since that weekend and she was wearing the paisley dress that she had bought for the twins’ christening, along with chocolate-brown high-heeled boots. Her hair hadn’t been straightened since and hung over her shoulder in a thick, long ponytail.
    ‘I really don’t want to see who’s replacing me,’ she admitted as she peeled the lid of her yoghurt and, having licked it, added, ‘Temporarily, of course! I’ll be back.’
    ‘Full-time?’ Gemma checked.
    ‘That was the plan,’ Cat admitted, ‘and I’ve told Andrew that I shall be returning full-time but I’m starting to really wonder how on earth I’m going to manage it.’
    ‘Have they had many applicants for the role?’ Gemma asked.
    ‘There have been a few, but only two standouts—two women who are looking at job share,’ Cat said.
    ‘You could think about doing that,’ Gemma suggested.
    ‘I don’t like sharing at the best of times and especially not my job,’ Cat said. ‘Still, I’m going to have to work something out. I can’t believe how quickly my due date is coming up.’
    Cat had always heard women saying that their pregnancy seemed to drag on for ever, yet hers seemed to be galloping along at breakneck speed.
    Work was as unrelenting as ever and she did her level best not to bring any aches and pains with her, but by the end of the day she was exhausted. The nursery hadn’t been sorted out; instead, her days off were spent looking at child-care centres. All to no avail. Even the crèche at the hospital wasn’t geared to a baby whose single parent worked such erratic hours.
    ‘If I’m going to work, then I’m going to have to get a nanny,’ Cat conceded as she added sugar to her tea. ‘But even that comes with its own set of problems.’
    ‘Such as?’
    ‘I have a two-bedroom home.’ She sighed. ‘A small two-bedroom home.’
    ‘And you don’t like sharing.’ Gemma smiled. ‘Can’t you get somewhere bigger?’
    ‘I’m going to have to at some stage but the thing is, I love my home. I’ve just got it exactly how I want it but, yes, I guess I’m going to have to look at moving. Not yet, though,’ she said. ‘I think I’ll stay put for now and once I’ve had the baby I’ll think about putting the house on the market. I’ll have six months to move...’
    ‘So you’re planning to have your house on the market, find another one
and
move, all with a new baby?’
    ‘It’s a baby,’ Cat said. ‘I’m not going to be working...’ She let out a sigh. ‘I haven’t got a clue, have I?’
    ‘Well, if anyone could do it all, then it would be you,’ Gemma said. ‘Though I just can’t imagine how I’d have managed when the twins were tiny. Just having people viewing the house when you’re trying to feed or you’ve just got...’ Gemma hesitated ‘...
it
off to sleep...’
    ‘You were about to say
him
.’ Cat smiled.
    ‘No, I wasn’t,’ Gemma refuted. ‘What I’m actually trying to say is that I wouldn’t count on getting too much done during those six months of maternity leave. It’s isn’t an extended holiday, Cat. If you are considering moving to somewhere bigger, it might be a good idea to start that ball rolling now...’
    ‘I guess.’ She sighed. ‘Even if the new place does need some work, I could do that while I’m...’ She stopped when she saw Gemma’s small eyebrow rise and then laughed. ‘Okay,