Read SH Medical 08 - The Baby Dilemma for Free Online

tended to get suspicious about everything.
    * * *
    P AIGE HADN ’ T EXPECTED the hormones to hit this hard, this early. While that didn’t guarantee she was pregnant, she resolved to administer a test at the first chance.
    If she was pregnant, dramatic changes were taking place right now inside her body. The baby might be a millimeter long and its tiny nervous system, bones, blood and other organs were developing as layers of cells. Unfortunately, thinking about that didn’t help her queasiness.
    From the far side of the room, she caught Dr. Mark Rayburn’s concerned glance. He knew about her artificial insemination, since he’d performed it. Luckily, his wife, Dr. Samantha Forrest, spoke to him and drew his attention away. Much as Paige liked Mark, she was in no mood for fatherly intervention.
    She glanced toward the cake line. While she couldn’t see the bridal couple through the crowd, she did have a great view of Mike’s commanding head and shoulders rising above the other guests. A shiver of pleasure ran through her at the memory of his hand on her waist and his cheek brushing hers.
    She was impressed by the way he’d taken her rebuke to heart. He seemed genuinely concerned about her well-being. And now that he’d dropped the annoying jokes, they’d talked easily, skimming across subjects, leaving her hungry for more. More conversation, and more of his touch.
    I like him. Not much of a revelation, Paige supposed, but until today she hadn’t considered Mike a guy she wanted to date, let alone anything more.
    Before deciding to have a baby alone, she’d ruled out any likelihood of meeting a suitable man. Her aunt’s death, followed closely by Paige’s thirty-fourth birthday, had made her keenly aware of time passing. Delivering babies and being surrounded by pregnant women had stoked her longing, while observing the struggles of fertility patients reminded her that, despite modern technology, women had a relatively narrow window of opportunity for conceiving.
    What rotten timing to discover, just when she might have reached the next step of her journey, that Mike had a likable side. Contrary to the way she usually thought of herself, she was enjoying his protectiveness. Was pregnancy awakening some susceptibility, a primal yearning to depend on male support? Paige bit her lip at the troubling notion.
    Her sister Juno would lecture that she should have waited until she found a husband. Maeve would counter that things were unfolding this way for a reason. Funny how, even though Paige rarely talked to her sisters, she still heard their voices in her head.
    She pushed away her distressing thoughts. One dance with Mike fell far short of a long-term relationship. In any case, she wasn’t about to rethink her decision. If she were lucky enough to have a baby, she’d be forever grateful.
    A child was so much more than just a cute little infant. Parenthood meant bringing a whole person into the world, nurturing him or her, and becoming part of a vast ongoing experience. It meant offering a gift to the future, to that child’s spouse and their own children and everyone their lives would touch. It was a tremendous responsibility and a blessing beyond measure.
    Still, Paige had no illusions about how a guy was likely to react to the news that she was bearing someone else’s baby, especially a macho guy like Mike. Thank goodness she’d refused to rent to him. After today, she’d make excuses to avoid his company. Any further contact could only lead to discomfort and awkwardness.
    Anyway, once the first flush of pregnancy passed, Paige expected to recover her resilience. Mind and body would normalize. She’d do fine on her own.
    In her purse, her cell rang. Although her 12-hour on-call shift didn’t start until 8 p.m., she’d left a standing request to be notified when any of her own patients went into labor. But instead of the familiar hospital designation, the display said Security.
    Why was her alarm company