Read Twins for Christmas for Free Online Page B

up, Alex,’ the other boy said.
    ‘No,   you   shut up, Rhys.’
    Lucy glared at them. ‘Mary was riding a donkey because she was too fat to walk to the stable.’
    ‘She was having a   baby !’ Rhys crowed triumphantly.
    Alex leaned forward. He stared at Kate’s stomach and then up at her face.
    ‘You’re fat,’ he told her. ‘Are   you   having a baby?’
    Kate smiled. ‘Yes, I am.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘Ah…’ Kate caught Rory’s gaze, still smiling. How huge was   that   question?
    She was having a baby because of one amazing night. A night when she’d been needed by the man she loved as much as she had ever wanted to be needed. It had been her gift and it could never be something she would regret.
    Especially now, knowing that he’d remembered it. That it had been important.
    To her amazement, Rory smiled back at her. A real smile. The kind she remembered, but hadn’t seen for so, so long. And something inside Kate melted.
    Alex bounced up and down, trying to catch Rory’s attention. ‘Why?’ he demanded again.
    Rory cleared his throat. He didn’t take his eyes off Kate. ‘Sometimes it just happens, mate,’ he said cautiously. ‘And it’s a surprise. A really big surprise.’
    ‘I like surprises,’ Alex nodded. ‘’Specially at Christmas.’
    ‘Are you having a baby because it’s Christmas?’ Rhys asked. ‘Like Josie?’
    Nicola’s eyes were wide. ‘Is it a present?’
    Kate’s smile wobbled. ‘Kind of,’ she said. She was holding Rory’s gaze, talking to him, her voice quiet and sure. ‘It’s certainly a gift as far as I’m concerned. Something very special.’
    ‘We’ve got presents,’ Alex told her.
    ‘Not any more,’ Rhys said sadly. ‘They’re in the bus, remember? They’ll be all mushed up.’
    ‘I want to go home,’ Nicola said in a small voice. ‘And I want to see the presents under our tree.’
    ‘We could ask that Santa.’ Alex was leaning around Kate so he could talk to Rhys. ‘Did you see him?’
    ‘I didn’t like him,’ Rhys said worriedly. ‘He sounds cross.’
    Their anxiety level was increasing. Rory eased him self from the bed, gently disentangling the small arms that wound themselves around his neck.
    ‘He’s not the real Santa,’ he told the children. ‘He’s just dressing up like one. Kate and I are going to find out what’s happened to those presents,’ he promised. ‘And about Aunty Mary and everybody else. And then I’m going to find a nurse who can get you all something to eat. Who likes ice cream?’
    ‘Meee!’   The combination of several enthusiastic voices made the word into a verbal bomb.
    Judy appeared as if by magic. ‘What’s going on in here?’
    ‘We need ice cream,’ Rory told her seriously. ‘It’s an emergency.’
    Judy grinned. ‘I’ll see what I can find in the freezer. Are you going to see Florence?’
    ‘We’re almost there.’ Kate lifted the edge of the neighbouring curtain and was horrified to see the woman with the bandaged head sobbing silently.
    ‘What’s happened?’ she gasped, rushing to the head of the bed. ‘What’s wrong?’
    ‘I was listening…’ Florence caught her breath and gave an enormous sniff. Then a tremulous smile. ‘What a lovely man that doctor is.’
    ‘Yes.’ Kate knew perfectly well that Rory had left his following with Judy and was now standing right behind her. ‘I think so, too.’
     
     
     
    R ORY LEFT   K ATE TO   in filtrate the impressive laceration on Florence’s forehead with local anaesthetic and then clean the wound thoroughly.
     
    ‘I want to check on my mother,’ he’d said.
    ‘We’re fine,’ Kate assured him. ‘I’ll let you know when we’re ready for suturing.’
    He’d only been telling half the truth. Of course he wanted to check on his mother, but he also needed the comparatively private space of her cubicle.
    Amazingly, given the noise level, with only the curtain for a screen, Marcella was fast asleep. Her face had lost some