Read Online The Midwife And The Single Dad by Gill Sanderson - Free Book Online

right when we came here but recently he’s getting more and more tired. Spends a lot of time just lying on his bed.’
    Alice frowned. ‘I thought this was your first child?’
    ‘Oh, it is, Albert is Freddie’s child. There was this messy divorce—and I suppose I was a bit to blame. But Albert is with us now and we both love him.’
    ‘You say he’s been getting tired easily. I’d like the doctor to—’
    ‘Albert is fine,’ a voice boomed from behind her. ‘There’s nothing wrong with him that this fresh Scottish air won’t cure. Midwife Muir, thanks for your concern but people rely too much on so-called medical science. There is no problem with Albert and I’ll not have him hauled before a doctor. The great majority of people who go to see their GP need nothing more than rest. Albert is just needing time to fit into his new home.’
    Freddie had come out of his study. And looking at his angry face Alice realised that he intended to have his own way. Unfortunately for him, she intended to have her own way—but she realised this wasn’t the time to start a fight.
    ‘Of course there’s no problem,’ she agreed. She knew that to win this fight she had to have reinforcements.
       
    She’d enjoyed her visits but now there was paperwork to do. She spent the rest of the afternoon filling in forms, reviewing all the cases that she had been left, in general trying to get her new little empire ready so that she could concentrate most on the work that mattered—her patients. So far things had been quiet.
    She left a message for Ben that she had finished all that she could usefully do for the day and would drive herself home. This was an evening when he had to work late. She had only been with Ben for two days—and yet she was thinking of his house as home. She would have to be careful. She and Ben were colleagues and friends—nothing more.
    For a while she chatted to Mrs McCann and then she took Fiona out onto the lawn and they played with a big red ball. Fiona loved it, laughed whenever Alice missed a catch. Alice wondered how often Fiona managed to play with other children and decided to take it up with Ben. Was there a nursery school in Soalay—or even just a playgroup? If there wasn’t a playgroup, could it be considered part of her job to organise one? She’d have to think about that.
    Fiona had her evening meal and then, to give Mrs McCann a rest, Alice bathed her and then read her the bedtime story. A quick kiss on the forehead and soon Fiona was asleep. Alice checked the baby alarm and then went downstairs to wait for Ben.
    She was definitely liking her new life, she decided.She liked being with Fiona. She was staying in a beautiful house, she would shortly have an excellent meal with Ben. And then they would spend a pleasant, uncomplicated evening together. Yes, she was looking forward to being with Ben for a couple of hours. It was as if… She had to stop herself. She was living too much with the memories of the past. Now was now; things were different and she should have learned her lesson. What was thought of as permanent too often was not. You may think you were in love but there was no certainty to it. It was a bitter lesson but she had learned it well. This situation was great—but it could only last a few days.
    So when he came home and they sat down for another of Mrs McCann’s lovely meals, she decided to try to be a little more formal. He asked her about her day and she said she had a case to discuss with him.
    ‘I went to see a woman called Debbie Laws, who’s about thirty-two weeks pregnant. I think I’m going to have problems. She’s a primigravida and her husband is insisting that she has the baby at home. Also there’s a bit of a history of asthma.’
    ‘A home birth is not a good idea when you’re at least an hour from the midwife and there’s the risk of asthma. And I’ve heard of her husband—it’s Freddie, isn’t it? A man who likes his own opinions.’
    ‘True.